She attached the article to an email and sent it to Lachy.

The window rattled as another big gust of wind hit it, and she could hear particles of dirt being flung against the glass by the gale.

Getting up, she went to stand in front of the window. The end of the street could hardly be seen, there was so much dust flying around. Good thing it was nearly evening and most people would be tucked up in their houses, she thought. It wouldn’t be too good on the roads with the lack of visibility.

Her phone dinged with a text message. Lachy.

Good piece. How are things looking at home? All okay here.

Typing quickly, she said: Haven’t got out to the farm today. Been busy with the story. Like the distraction.

Dropping her phone onto the couch, she sat down and switched on the TV, letting her head fall back against the headrest. She was exhausted and, as she’d said to Lachy, she hadn’t even been to the farm. When she’d spoken to her mum earlier in the day, Lynda had told her that after Dave’s visit and a good day yesterday, Will had slept all today. It was unlike him not to even try to get out of bed.

Zara had a horrible feeling that time was running out more quickly than any of them expected. Really, she should go out there tonight.

Her email dinged and she looked at the name in her inbox. Liz! She laughed as she saw the subject line: White or red … That’s if you remember me.

There was a photo of Liz with a glass each of red and white wine in front of her, at a bar. Cheers from our fave bar. Missing you like crazy. Hope you’re coping. Love you. xxx

Quickly she typed out: White for me tonight, please. All okay here. Missing you too. Try and call you tomorrow. Any office gossip? Is Mr O’Grady still pinching people’s things?

Nah, must’ve just been focused on you. Some talk it was the cleaner and he just liked your stuff. I’m not convinced though. Sounds a bit weird.

Zara read the message and had to agree.

She was about to type out another message, when her phone rang. She jumped and felt a surge of pleasure as she saw Tammy’s name on the screen. Her friends were clearly thinking of her tonight. ‘Hey you! Haven’t spoken to you for ages. What’s going on?’

‘Oh, Zara, I’ve been meaning to call you for ages. How are you? How are things with your brother?’ Tammy sounded breathless, as if she had been running.

‘Where are you?’

‘Just walking back to the shed. Stu needed me to check the generators to make sure the cooling system for the pigs is working properly. It was pretty warm here today, and tonight the wind has dropped right off and it’s quite humid. Not good for pigs.’

‘You can have some of the wind from here if it’ll help,’ Zara answered with a laugh. ‘Can hardly see the end of the street for the dust.’