Rain lashed against the windows like buckets of water being thrown at us by a giant. The wind screamed as if said giant was right outside whining in a high-pitched voice. When Bindi started to cry, Jedda scooped her out of the bath, wrapped her in a fluffy yellow towel and brought her to join Charlie and me in the living room, where she dressed her in soft flannelette PJs. But while Charlie had distracted Bindi earlier, neither of them were able to be distracted by anything else now.

While Jedda rocked Bindi in her arms, singing her favourite nursery rhymes, which were barely audible over the cacophony, I tried to calm Charlie, who was also beside himself. Eventually the little girl cried herself to sleep but we had no such luck with the dog. It was going to be a long night and I silently berated Adrian for not taking care of Charlie properly in that first week. If he had, then the dog would be safe in Perth now, rather than terrorised here with me.

This thought had barely left my head when a light sparked from within my handbag, which I’d discarded on the coffee table hours ago. I reached inside for my phone and was both surprised and happy to see a message from Adrian.

Are you okay? It’s pretty hairy down here but I hear it’s worse where you are.

I felt chastised that he was worried about me when I hadn’t even thought to call him or the kids to let them know what was going on. And also overjoyed that he still cared enough to worry.

Due to the noise, I’d also missed three calls from Hayley.

There was barely any charge left on my phone, but I tapped out a quick message.

I’m okay and safe. Staying with a friend tonight. Phone about to die but will make contact as soon as I can. Give my love to the kids and keep them safe too. xx

I second-guessed the kisses and deleted them right before I pressed send. Then I sent a quick message to Hayley, almost identical to the one to Adrian, but adding that I’d safe-proofed the shack as much as possible and would assess any damage as soon as I could and let Wei know.

‘Want to play Uno?’ Jedda asked as she risked taking her hand off Bindi’s back. The little girl had screamed blue murder when her mum had tried to put her in the travel cot and now slept fitfully on the mattress next to Jedda.

‘Sure,’ I said, placing my phone on the coffee table.

Jedda went to get the cards and returned a few minutes later, also carrying a bottle of wine and two glasses.