Ben was about to answer when he saw something that silenced him. He stared in astonishment as the willy-willy spun across the clearing and neatly plucked a blazing ball of tumbleweed from the edge of the inferno which it carried up into the air. Sailing across the clearing like a flying saucer, it flew several hundred yards and dropped on the roof of the homestead.

‘Bloody hell,’ hissed Jake. ‘Here we go again.’

Ben was already running towards it. ‘Get the bowser over here,’ he shouted over his shoulder.

He ran up the steps, stood on the veranda railings and scrabbled for purchase on the guttering. Hauling himself up, he could see the tumbleweed had rolled down the roof and into the guttering by the stone chimney. Flames were already sprouting from the dead leaves which had gathered in the gutter, and the wooden tiles were beginning to char.

Ben suddenly realised that in his haste to get up here he had nothing to beat out the flames. But he crawled towards the spitting, blazing ball of tinder-dry weed anyway and reached out his gloved hands. Grabbing the fireball, he tossed it over the side and watched it sputter out beneath Jake’s boot.

He turned back to examine what damage it had done to the roof. The tiles had been badly charred and could still burst into flame at any moment. He could feel the heat even through the heavy gloves as he yanked the affected ones loose and slung them into the clearing.

‘Look out,’ shouted Jake.

But his warning was too late and Ben was almost knocked from his perch by the powerful jet of water. Drenched and unable to maintain his grip on the now slippery roof, he began to slither towards the guttering. His heavy boots crashed down on it, ripping the metal channel away from its moorings as his fingers desperately sought a hold.

And then he was falling.

He landed on his back with a thud on to something soft, but his breath was punched from his lungs and found he couldn’t move.

‘Get off,’ shouted Jake. ‘I can’t flaming breathe.’

Ben heaved a great gulp of air and blinked the sweat from his eyes as he attempted to get to his feet. But it seemed his body was still in shock from the fall and refusing to obey him. He lay there like a beached whale as Jake wriggled and squirmed to get from under him and his father continued to hose down the homestead.

‘Bloody hell, mate,’ Jake gasped as he finally managed to get free. ‘Next time you decide to take a dive off a roof, find someone else to land on.’