Sal drew strength from his words and his embrace, for despite his own demons Max offered her shelter and solace – had encouraged her to find her real self beneath the hard shell she hid behind, and to explore the talents she’d allowed to wither during her marriage to Bert.

As they stood in that peaceful clearing and heard the storm gathering in ferocity all around them, Sal felt a renewal of hope that, one day soon, she would find the courage to leave Bert and tell Max how she really felt.

*

Gwyneth was of an age when she didn’t need much sleep. Rather than tossing and turning in her bed, she preferred to doze in her rocking chair on the front veranda with Wally tucked up in an old dog basket at her feet. There was always something to watch, something to think about and mull over as she sat there keeping an eye on things, for life in Morgan’s Reach might be slow, but it was never dull.

There had been a fight in the pub earlier and Jake had hauled the drunks apart and thrown them into his makeshift jail to sleep it off and cool down. Louise and Enid Harper had left the hospital after seeing to the evening meals and returned to their little wooden cottage which backed on to Charley Sawyer’s forge. Within minutes of their arrival they’d harangued Charley over the fence about his shaggy, lovesick mongrel having sex on their lawn with their yapping ball of fluff.

It was an ongoing feud and this particular episode had been most amusing. Charley had towered over the two old harridans, waited for them to say their piece and then let them have his viewpoint on the matter at the top of his great booming voice. They’d snatched up their silly dog, retreated into their cottage and slammed the door, and Charley had whistled to his randy old dog and gone stomping off to the pub.

Emily Harris seemed to find an inordinate number of things to do which would take her past Jake’s police house, and from the silly smile on his face, it seemed Jake was quite happy with this arrangement, and Gwyneth hoped something would come of it. Jake needed someone like Emily to pull him up by the bootstraps and make him see there was more to life than sleeping in a hammock all damned day.

Annie and Sean O’Halloran had had one of their usual furious arguments on the boardwalk outside their general store, and he too had gone stomping off to the pub – but would no doubt get it in the neck from Annie when he wove his way home again. Annie’s small, round, motherly appearance hid a fierce temper, and although Sean could shout as much as he liked, Annie always got the better of him.