‘Not lately.’ Jock shrugged. ‘She’s not that forthcoming.’ Then he pursed his mouth. ‘I do remember Mim mumbling something about how she missed out on meeting him and Mum being all flustered. Then our mother shut her up. Maybe she’s not game to mention him in case Mim starts again?’

Zac could tell Jock thought it wasn’t an interesting topic, yet Ava leaned towards her brother, particularly intrigued. The dynamics amused Zac and he wondered what it would have been like for his own childhood to have had siblings to squabble with. Roslyn had been an only child as well, and hadn’t taken teasing well, and that was possibly why she’d been in no hurry to have babies. Another regret … He pulled his mind away from the past.

They rounded a large outcrop of rock and tufts of some flowering grass, and he saw the first of the cattle under a tree not too far to the left of where they were driving. ‘Are they Brahman?’

‘Mostly, though we have Charolais, Senepol and Brahman crosses as well.’ Ava pointed out the different breeds.

The beasts were bigger than he expected, predominantly white or brown, most with the Brahman floppy ears and long noses. ‘Is there a water source around here?’ He couldn’t see how. They were out in the middle of what looked like a desert.

‘There’s a bore that feeds a trough, so we’ll check that while we’re here. The cattle come between one and three times a day to drink. This is another area I want to put the yards on, but for the moment the musterers would just drive them back towards the main yards from here. Some of the other properties are remote-controlling the far bores and bringing the cattle in closer to the yards by shutting off the water sources the way I’m looking to do.’

‘Ava said I could join the muster.’

Jock nodded. ‘Sure. The more the merrier. Mustering’s a big workload when it happens. Up before sunrise, doesn’t finish till after dark, sleeping out in a swag, so it’s cold and no showers. Can’t waste time getting to and from the mob by driving back and forth, so we need to cook and maintain a camp as well.’

Ava cut in, ‘If you’ve got a dozen people that’s a bit of work.’

Zac was seeing that. ‘I can imagine.’

Ava’s gaze flicked to her brother and she smiled. ‘That’s where Mum comes into her own. She’s the best camp cook in the Territory and Granny Mim is good at sorting problems. Jock is good at managing the stock problems.’

Ava was bouncing on the seat beside Zac, and he realised he’d lost her hand when she’d pointed something out earlier. He might have to get that back. ‘And what are you good at?’ he asked.