‘I’ve got Jake on the case,’ he assured her. ‘He’s put out a call to all stations to look out for Miller, but the man’s probably harmless.’

‘War does strange things to people,’ she said. ‘He could be up to anything.’

‘I’ll come back tonight and have a talk with Danny and Blue if that would help.’

‘It would, thank you.’ She smiled wanly back at him. ‘What would I do without you, Ben?’

He brushed her forehead with his lips. ‘I’m not planning on going anywhere,’ he said softly, ‘so I reckon we’ll see this through together.’ He reluctantly pulled away from her. ‘I’ve got to get back, darlin’, but if you need me, just call.’

‘Will you keep an eye on the caves and send him home if he turns up there?

He nodded and tugged down his hat-brim. ‘No worries. I’ll do that.’

Sandra slowly descended the veranda steps and came to stand beside her as Ben drove back up the street and disappeared in a swirl of dust. ‘Now that’s what I call a real dish.’ She sighed appreciatively. ‘I hope you realise how lucky you are, Becky. Most girls would give their right arm to have a man like that chasing after them.’

Becky thought of her handsome, clever, sweet brother, who loved Sandra despite the nightmare she was putting him through, and had to bite down on a bitter retort. She opened the utility’s door and climbed in. ‘It’s getting late,’ she said flatly. ‘If we don’t leave now we won’t have time to run the clinic and get back before dark.’

*

Ben quickly drove to all the places he used to haunt when he was a boy, but there was no sign of Danny or Billy, and none of the other kids had seen them either. Not that there were many about, for most of them lived on the stations and were kept busy helping out through the school holidays.

He had an idea and returned to town, stopping at Emily’s little cottage beside the schoolhouse. She would often organise things during the holidays to keep the younger children occupied, and he was hoping the boys might be with her.

Ben had known Emily since he was a boy; she was the daughter of one of the northern station managers and had come to teach at Morgan’s Reach during the war. She was on the plump side, with dark hair, brown eyes and the sweetest disposition. He found her hard at work in the kitchen, cooking up something that smelled delicious.

She pushed back her long hair from her forehead with the back of a floury hand and smiled at him as he came through the screen door. ‘G’day, Ben. This is a surprise. I was expecting Jake.’