‘It’s practice,’ she said dismissively, ‘and knowing when to re-arrange.’ She glanced at Luke’s attempts and leant across. ‘Like this.’ Demolishing his first line she reset it, which left a blank tile and the letters ‘n’ and ‘i’. ‘There you go,’ she said, arranging the three tiles above the ‘t’ in ‘tiller’. ‘You can’t afford to cling to words you’ve already made. Not if you’ve got leftover tiles. See?’

‘Yeah?’ Luke sounded unconvinced. ‘What’s “int” when it’s at home?’

‘Hint or pint. It’s like Scrabble, the blank tile can be whatever you want.’

‘Crazy game,’ he said. ‘Gimme cards any day. So, what’s on for tomorrow, boss?’

Sophie snorted. ‘You have to ask? We’ll cart and saw firewood and get on with the whipper-snipping. That grass is tall enough to hide tigers in, let alone snakes. Which still leaves the river trail. Also the signs around the camp need touching up. The paint on some is so faded they’re scarcely legible. We’ve enough paint left, I believe.’

‘I could do that if you bring them back here,’ Tilly offered. ‘Or I could have a day out and go over there?’ She felt a surge of energy as she spoke, the first in a very long time. It would be a change, a fresh experience in what she suddenly saw as her humdrum existence. How long was it since she’d last had an outing, time away from the old homestead and the endless round of little chores that filled her days? ‘I’d like to,’ she said firmly, and Sophie, as if recognising and approving the sudden resolution in her cousin’s voice, nodded acquiescence.

‘Good. Then the job’s yours.’

Chapter Five

The following morning, Tilly, cutting lunches for all of them, was stirred from happy anticipation of her plans by the realisation that she lacked transport. The other three would leave immediately after breakfast, Sophie in one four-wheel drive, and the two men in the other. She, however, had her own work at the homestead to attend to first – there were the usual kitchen chores, the animals and the garden, which meant she wouldn’t get away before nine-thirty at the earliest.

‘Perhaps I could take the motorbike?’ she said doubtfully. But it was a temperamental beast of a thing that even Matt had trouble with, and the limited practice she’d had with bikes had been on sealed roads.

‘Can you ride?’ Luke asked. ‘You hit a patch of bulldust with it and it’ll stack you, sure as shooting.’

She sighed in frustration. ‘Maybe I won’t risk it. Damn! I was looking forward to going, too. I don’t suppose you could wait for me?’ But she knew as she asked that it was impossible. Any hour now their first campers could turn up and their custom was essential for the economic future of the sanctuary.