She began to crumple. ‘What’s happening? They’re everywhere. How did they find us again?’

‘We need to get you kids somewhere safer than this,’ Hirsch said.

‘No!’

She was breathless, close to panic. Hoping it would reassure her, Hirsch walked in a crouch to the lip of the dugout and peered both ways along the creek. No one. He returned to the mattress. ‘There’s no one out there. It’s safe. I’m parked at Craig’s caravan, we can walk there in a few minutes.’

‘No! We need to stay hidden.’

Then, as Hirsch watched, she grew calm. Gave herself a shake, swallowed, and said, firmly, ‘No.’

‘Well. Let’s return to the other night: you okay with that?’

A curt nod.

‘Did you stay in the car-shed for very long after the men had left?’

She shook her head. ‘I could hear Anna screaming.’

Hirsch felt his eyes moisten. ‘You raced in, grabbed Anna and ran off over the paddocks, where a truck picked you up.’

Washburn broke in. ‘You did the right thing, going to the caravan.’

Louise Rennie tucked herself against him. ‘You’re my safe place.’

Hirsch blinked. Washburn’s eyes watered, too.

‘And you’ve been here ever since?’

‘We sneak down to Craig’s when we need stuff and have a shower.’

‘Clever girls,’ Washburn said. ‘The dugout’s perfect: safe, sheltered, and no one knows about it.’

‘They can’t stay here forever, Craig.’

‘We’ll work something out.’

‘You don’t understand. The search has been wound back, but people are still looking. The girls need to be checked over and then we can put them with a relative or a family friend, someone they know and trust. And I’m afraid they’ll have to answer a few more questions from people more senior and experienced than me.’

He turned to Louise. ‘We need to get you somewhere comfortable, with a bathroom, proper beds, people to look after you.’

‘This is safe! Out there’s not!’

Hirsch turned to Washburn for support but Craig shook his head. ‘The wrong people know that the girls are unaccounted for.’

Hirsch shrugged.

Washburn persisted. ‘And these same people know that Louise is old enough to be a reliable witness.’

He’s not stupid, Hirsch thought. He gave the girls an uneasy look. ‘We don’t know that anyone’s after them in particular.’

Washburn seemed disappointed in him. ‘Don’t we?’

‘Craig, let’s get the girls in the hands of the police as soon as possible.’

‘We can’t trust the police!’ Louise Rennie shouted. She was ragged, snotty, furious and frustrated.

‘But what about your mother’s friend? Vita? They worked together.’ Hirsch took out his phone, found the image of Roesch and Hansen in his sitting room. ‘This is her. She arrived here from Sydney a few days ago. She’s worried about you.’