‘I dunno,’ murmured Bob. ‘I had a look around out there and found some fresh tracks of what look like army-issue boots, and a few shreds of camouflage cloth caught in the barbed wire. Don’t reckon it to be a black fella.’

‘Just be thankful that whoever it was caught it in time, Dad.’

‘Too right, but I don’t like the thought of some stranger on my land, no matter if he is a good Samaritan. I’ve had enough trouble with Big Mac Mackenzie’s men over the years. Lost too many clean-skins to their poddy-dodging – and I’ve warned him I’ll put buckshot in the arse of the next man I catch.’

Ben smiled. Carey Downs Station was almost a hundred miles away and shared a long northern boundary with Wilga, and his father and Big Mac had carried on a feud ever since he could remember. Accusations of stealing unbranded calves had flown back and forth over the years, and it seemed they would never come to an armistice. ‘I’d be careful, Dad,’ he said. ‘Shooting people is against the law.’

Bob Freeman cleared his throat. ‘That’s as maybe, but it’s every man’s right to defend his property, and Mackenzie has a very free idea of what boundaries mean.’ He paused for a moment. ‘I don’t suppose you or Jake know about anyone new coming into the district?’

‘There haven’t been any reports so far,’ he replied. ‘And as long as there’s no damage done, I can’t see there’s a problem.’

‘Fair enough,’ Bob muttered at the other end of the crackling line. He cleared his throat. ‘By the way, I’ve had Gwyneth Morgan on the two-way this morning, asking me if I’ll take on the reverend’s boys during the school break. What do you think?’

Ben chuckled. ‘They’re a couple of larrikins, but I reckon a few weeks of hard work among tough men might put them right. You know what it’s like, Dad – their father’s a bully, they have too much time on their hands and they’re bored and rebellious. It’s no wonder they get up to mischief.’

‘There’ll be no bloody mischief here,’ he rumbled. ‘I’ll have a word with the reverend and, if he’s willing, I’ll take them on a week’s trial at basic rate. But if they step out of line even once, I’ll send them home again.’

‘Sounds fair to me, Dad.’ Ben smiled. His father stood no nonsense, but he had a kind heart under all that grumpiness.

‘Good to talk to you, Ben,’ his father drawled. ‘Yer ma sends her love and says she’ll see you at the races. Over and out.’