I staggered up the road, fighting the gale as it tried to blow up my light jumper. Locals nodded distractedly to me as they loaded packs of plastic water bottles into their cars.

‘What’s going on?’ I exclaimed as I stepped inside the cafe a few minutes later.

‘Haven’t you heard? There’s a cyclone coming!’

‘What? But Dan told me that a cyclone only makes it this far once in a blue moon.’

‘Guess tonight’s gunna be a blue moon then.’ Jedda hurried outside to grab the last umbrella.

Holy shit. My head spun as her words registered.

‘Is there anything I can do to help?’ I asked, glancing around. ‘Where’s Bindi? Can I look after her for you?’

Jedda shook her head. ‘She’s napping.’

I raised my eyebrows. How could anyone possibly sleep through all this pandemonium?

‘We’re almost done here anyway,’ Jedda said, reaching for a couple of rolls of electrical tape. ‘Here, take these—I’ve got plenty. Tape up your windows, but leave one at the front and one at the back of the house ajar to relieve air pressure. Then bring anything that’s not tied down in from outside and get the hell back to Perth.’

‘Perth?’

We looked at each other like we were both insane. I’d only just arrived.

‘You may as well go back home,’ Jedda said. ‘I doubt you’ll get a chance to do any work on the shack over the next few days—that’s if there’s even a shack to come back to.’

‘Is it really going to be that bad?’ I asked, ignoring her reference to ‘home’—I didn’t exactly have one this week anyway.

‘They’re predicting the worst we’ve had in forty odd years. Usually they hit far north or south of us.’

‘Oh my God. I had no idea.’ Clutching the rolls of tape, I suddenly berated myself for not paying more attention to the weather reports. ‘But I’m not going back to Perth.’

I’d seen the chaos outside and heard the fear in Jedda’s voice. I may only be a newcomer, albeit a temporary one, but this already felt like my town. Dressing up like a whacko for trivia night along with everyone else had cemented this feeling and I wasn’t about to do a runner and abandon my friends in their hour of need. If things hit as bad as predicted, then I imagined tomorrow, or the next day, or however long these things lasted, they’d need all hands on deck to help put the town back together.

Jedda shrugged. ‘Suit yourself. Then go and get cyclone ready and come back here and stay with me and Bindi tonight.’

‘Okay, thanks. I’ll see you soon.’

‘Have you got any candles?’ she asked as I reached the door.

I turned back. ‘Only some scented, decorative ones.’

‘They’ll do. Bring all you have.’