He knew that before this was cattle country it had been sheep country, and before that it had been the hunting grounds of the Pairelehoinner people and the other tribes of the northwest. As he’d grown and worked and moved about, old men had told him this, just as the old people of the valley had once told him about the Letteremairrener. The Pairelehoinner had shaped the land with fire, creating lush tussock-grass plains bordered by white-petalled tea-tree groves—ideal for maintaining populations of wallaby and kangaroo. At some points in the year they would swim across to islands like the one Ned could see now. There they’d hunt island wallabies, as well as gather abalone and shellfish from the shallow straits, muttonbird chicks from their nests in the dunes. At no point, Ned had heard, were they hungry.

On the farm’s edge he found a camp: trucks, swags, cooking fires. Horses were tethered nearby. In the closest paddock, a herd of cows grazed. The men and women in the camp were drinking tea or beer. Ned found the farmer in charge and introduced himself. Mentioned his cousin’s name. Mentioned the mainland stations he’d worked on. Didn’t mention that he’d been a rouseabout, or more often just a rouseabout’s picker-upper, not a jackaroo or stockman. The farmer said only that he’d been expecting him, and that he assumed he could ride.

In the morning Ned was given a horse. By now he was no longer apprehensive of them, or had convinced himself that he wasn’t. He still felt the dull ache of the stallion’s bite in cold weather, but this morning was warm. He saddled his mount, climbed onto its back and followed the other riders as they moved to the paddock gate.

There the farmer gave them their instructions. They would be taking the herd across the shallows to the rich feeding grounds of the island Ned had seen the day before. For the most part the cattle would be able to walk, although when they crossed the river, and perhaps in other parts, they would have to swim. It was hard to tell exactly where, the farmer said, as the tide regularly tossed the sand about. The riders were to drive the cows forward and ensure they did not turn back or strike out into deeper water.