He thought about saying something regarding the reverend and his two boys, but as Jake had already done so, he didn’t want to overload the listeners with information. ‘Over and out.’ He broke the connection and picked up the binoculars again.

It was almost impossible to make out anything at all through the roiling clouds and the thick layer of red dust, but as he made a final sweep over the canopy and down into the valley, something caught his eye. Gripping the binoculars, he clenched his jaw. Those damned boys were at the caves again.

Just as he was about to rush down and haul them out of there, they emerged from the cave, scrambled down the rocks and collected their bicycles. He watched as they pedalled expertly through the hazardous trees and undergrowth until they were out of sight. At least they were heading for home, but something in their manner intrigued him and, although he couldn’t pinpoint what it was, it kept niggling at him as he went back down into the house to monitor the two-way in more comfortable conditions.

He sat by the radio, replaying that little scene repeatedly in his mind until he couldn’t stand it any longer. Those boys had been up to something – he just knew it.

Grabbing his hat, and pulling a neckerchief over his mouth and nose, he snatched up his powerful torch and ventured out into the gathering maelstrom. The hot wind plucked at his shirt and hat as he picked his way swiftly down the boulders beneath Eagle Head Rock, but as he reached the relative shelter beneath the canopy the sting of dust lessened.

He stepped on to the ledge which led into the largest cave. It was dark and gloomy inside, and at first he could see nothing different. And then he switched on his torch.

Danny and Billy Blue had been busy. There was a neat pile of twigs and screws of paper placed on the floor at the back of the cave, with a box of matches and a billycan beside it. A can of corned beef, half a loaf, a bottle of beer, a screw of tea and two blankets were set to one side of the cave on a low natural shelf in the rock – and under a sturdy stone there fluttered a piece of paper.

Ben squatted down and picked it up. Letting the beam from his torch play over the childish writing, his spirits sank. He finally understood exactly what the boys had been up to, but that knowledge had given him a real dilemma.

*

The blades of tinder-dry grass began to brown and shrivel where they touched the hot exhaust pipe of the abandoned car. As the charring began to travel downward to the tightly packed clumps where the grass sprouted, the first wisps of smoke began to rise.