It was close to dawn, and the lightning still flickered above the distant hills as the thunder reverberated with menacing intent. And as the hot winds came from the west the rusty weathervane began to waver. The sails screeched as they moved sluggishly in that first hot breath, and then, as the wind strengthened, they began to spin.

As the first gush of water came out of the pipe the cattle jostled to drink, their fear of the storm forgotten in their terrible thirst.

The lightning bolt cracked a jagged rent across the black sky, hit the windmill and bounced off the metal troughs with a deafening bang that resounded across the empty miles and killed two of the cattle. The survivors fled as the electricity spat blue sparks and sizzled the length of the old landmark, momentarily lighting it up like a beacon before it died out.

But the lightning bolt had rebounded from the trough and hit the barbed wire of a nearby fence. There was no one to witness the spark that dropped into the parched, brittle clump of grass that clung to the fence-post, no one to notice how the first tendril of smoke delicately wove through the undergrowth – or how the hot wind blew on that spark and fanned it into a flame.

*

Becky had slept fitfully, troubled not only by the stifling heat and the crashing thunder, but by the almost impossible situation she was in. Danny had made her feel disloyal to Adam for loving another man, and it was clear her son was nowhere near accepting Ben as a surrogate father. And yet she’d finally come to terms with Adam’s loss and stepped through the fog of grief to realise he wouldn’t have wanted her to mourn him forever – that life had to move on. But until Danny could see beyond his pain and bewilderment, any future she might have with Ben was in doubt. Would he wait? Did he love her enough to understand the awful quandary she was in and be patient? She simply didn’t know.

She realised she must have finally fallen asleep when she opened her eyes to find it was almost dawn and the heavenly smell of frying bacon was drifting throughout the house. Her mind was sluggish as she washed and pulled on fresh underwear and the thin cotton uniform dress. What the day would bring, she had no idea, but as it was Danny’s tenth birthday, and there was a party planned for this afternoon, she hoped he’d woken in a more positive mood and that nothing would spoil it.

She gathered up the card and the neatly wrapped present she’d ordered from a catalogue several months ago and went into the kitchen.