Sandra nodded, although she would have loved to play with the little girls again and hold the enchanting baby for a while longer. There were tears in her eyes as she watched the regal black girl walk down the corridor, her baby at her chest, the two little girls clinging to her narrow hips. Delilah was not only brave and serene, but very, very lucky.

She turned away and headed back along the corridor. If Hugh needed an operation, it would be unethical for Jane and Becky to assist – and Terry couldn’t manage on his own. She sniffed back her tears, tamped down the treacherous thought of how good a glass of whisky would taste right now and pushed through the doors into the small theatre.

18

The hours of battling the fire were beginning to take their toll, especially on the older men, and Ben watched with concern as Sean O’Halloran dropped his axe and staggered away from the blaze as if he was drunk. The Irish storekeeper managed just a few steps and then he stopped, swayed and toppled like a felled tree, his face hitting the ground with a resounding thud.

Ben raced over to him, fearing he’d been knocked unconscious or had suffered a heart attack. But Sean was fast asleep, his resonant snores puffing up the dust.

‘It looks like someone’s had enough,’ he said with a smile as Jake came hurrying over to see what had happened. ‘Help me get him to the first-aid station.’ They carried the slumbering Sean across the clearing and left him with the injured and exhausted. He’d given his all and would be taken back to Morgan’s Reach on the next wagon.

Jake wiped the grime and sweat from his face as they headed for the tucker wagon. ‘I envy him,’ he muttered. ‘Reckon I could sleep for a week – and I’m half his age.’

Ben nodded as they fetched tin plates of food and began to eat voraciously. ‘The oldies are certainly showing their metal,’ he agreed through a mouthful of delicious beef and gravy. He glanced across and saw his father driving the bowser back from the borehole. Bob Freeman hadn’t stopped for more than a few minutes during the past eighteen hours, and by the looks of him, he didn’t intend to rest until Wilga was safe.

‘At least with the wind changing direction we can get this bugger beat,’ muttered Jake. ‘Hitting it on both sides and keeping it contained should send it straight into the desert.’ He looked up at the scudding clouds. ‘Rain would help,’ he said wryly.