She nodded. ‘I’ve got to get out of the house for a while, so I’m going for a walk. Mum’s in with Will, but it would be better if you didn’t go down there.’

‘Absolutely. Just ring if you need anything, okay?’

‘We will.’

Zara left Kim to her own devices and started a brisk walk towards the shearing shed. Passing the chook pen, which had five chooks in it, Zara wondered when they’d last been fed. Maybe her mum had done it when she hadn’t been here. Quickly she ducked in to check and saw the water trough was down slightly. Grabbing the hose, she turned the tap on and filled it up, before checking the layers’ pellets and nesting boxes for eggs. There were none to be collected, so she shut the gate firmly behind her and kept walking.

She looked around and saw the dogs were following her; all three had their tails up in the air and looked happy to be going somewhere other than the house. ‘I thought dogs knew when their owners were dying,’ she said to them. ‘You don’t look like you do.’

Trixie broke into a run and danced around her feet as Zara walked up the steps into the shed. It had been a while since she’d been in here. The roof creaked as a gentle breeze ran through the openings and a chain hit the wooden pens with a thud.

She couldn’t keep her mind off Will. What was he feeling now? Could he even feel anything? Was he still frightened; did he know that he didn’t have long? Or was there just the blessing of a long, fuzzy darkness? The bliss of heavy sleep that gave him the ability to feel and know nothing?

There was an open bale of wool sitting in the wool bins, and fleeces on the floor next to it. She wondered why it hadn’t been pressed properly. Sinking down, she ran her fingers deep into the wool and smelled the lanoline on them. In the quietness she closed her eyes and listened to the sounds of the wind and the rustling trees outside. Trixie flopped down next to her with a sigh, and Boof and Shadow walked around the board. She could hear the click of their claws on the wood.

Trixie put her head on Zara’s chest and inched her nose along until it touched her chin.

‘You dag,’ she said, patting her head. ‘Anyone would think you were a sook.’

Trixie sighed contentedly and shut her eyes.

It was late afternoon when Zara woke up. The dogs had gone and there was a rug over her. Someone had found her asleep in the wool. She’d been oblivious!

Her mind flew to Will, and she threw off the blanket and stood up quickly.