I open my mouth intent on a sarcastic reply. To our horror I burst into heaving sobs of one-part relief and two-parts fear. She crouches down, wrapping me up in a big hug. It isn’t long before those first sobs calm and Rhi leans back to look me in the face. Sweeping tears off my cheeks she offers me a watery smile.

‘Come on, cuz, let’s get a cuppa.’

Voice gentle and not demanding any kind of explanation, she stands and holds out a hand. After helping me up, she turns her back and I snag some toilet paper, wrapping it around my left hand. We sit at the kitchen table staring at each other, both unsure what to say.

Rhiannon is two years older than us. She’d been in school with Laney and me every year till she quit after year ten. Uncle Billy named her after the Fleetwood Mac song, and Mum said he was cracked because she turned out just like it. Much as I love her you just never know what she is going to do or how she’ll react.

‘You okay?’ she asks.

‘Mmm.’ I can’t quite lie. ‘Where you been?’

‘Oh man, you wouldn’t believe it,’ she begins … she always begins. In fifty years’ time Laney and I will still expect her to be starting stories like that. ‘I met this bloke down at the pub on Tuesday, totally hot and built for it, too. He was headed for Cracow and wanted me to come so I did.’

I ignore her wicked smirk and just shake my head. ‘Rhi, seriously? Don’t you ever worry one day you’ll get in the car with the wrong fulla? What then?’

Her eye roll doesn’t impress either of us. She is so beautiful, my cuz, I just wish she’d taken a bit longer to figure that out. Her mother is Aboriginal-Italian and she’d passed on some amazing hazel eyes, long lashes and thick wavy hair to Rhi. No one is sure where the flightiness comes from; her parents blame each other. Whatever the case, she’s a walking trouble bundle. Most of the time she comes out of everything with a laugh and a bloody good story, but I worry. No one is lucky forever. Look at Laney.

‘Wait, today’s Tuesday, so this was, what, last week?’ I glare at her.

She shifts in her chair. ‘Umm, yeah well, we might’ve had a fight and I got stuck, but I hitched a lift with a trucker and got in just now. Them fullas down at Keithy’s told me what was goin on so I came straight over.’

I shake my head.

‘So … why did you scream before?’

I sigh. I’d been hoping to avoid this.

‘I’ve had a couple of nightmares that Laney is in trouble. But they’re just dreams … right?’