He never lied to her and he had an uncomfortable feeling that she would immediately spot the falsehood, but she dropped a kiss on his forehead and stood on the doorstep to watch as he scampered around the side of the house.

He hurried up the main street, feeling more than a stab of guilt as he passed the schoolhouse, which at this hour still sat silent and dark. He could see Mr Emerton moving in the front room of the school teacher’s cottage, but he didn’t slacken his pace until he passed the burned ruins of the Murray house and the Chinese gardens.

He rounded a corner and the stand of gums loomed in front of him. Uncle Richard waited in the shadows with two horses, a bay mare and the sturdy black pony with the white star that Danny had ridden when Caleb took them up to the Shenandoah Mine.

‘Ready to go, Daniel?’ Uncle Richard smiled as he handed him the reins to the pony.

Danny nodded. It struck him that Uncle Richard seemed rather oddly dressed for such an adventure, in a heavy tweed wool jacket and pants. With the northerly wind blowing down the valley, he would be very hot before they got far.

‘Where are we going?’ Danny asked.

Uncle Richard produced a paper from his pocket and consulted it. ‘Aberfeldy,’ he said.

Danny frowned. ‘Aberfeldy? That’s a long way. Are you sure you know the way?’

Uncle Richard smiled, but again it seemed to Danny that his eyes didn’t echo it. ‘I’m quite sure,’ he said.

The acrid smell of the smoke that had been blowing through the town for the last two days seemed stronger and once they had climbed to the ridge above the town, Danny could see a thick plume rising above the mountain ridges. He had lived in the bush nearly all his life and he knew a serious bushfire when he saw one.

He shifted uneasily in his saddle. ‘Uncle Richard,’ he said. ‘I don’t think this is a good idea. There’s a bushfire ahead of us.’

‘Nonsense,’ the man replied. ‘I asked about it and they assured me we would be quite safe.’

An hour outside town, they met Sergeant Maidment, Constable Prewitt and two other Maiden’s Creek men.

Maidment stopped them. ‘Mr Barnwell,’ he said, his gaze moving to Danny. ‘May I enquire where you are going?’

‘Just out for a ride,’ Uncle Richard replied with a smile. ‘Heading back to England soon and young Daniel wanted to show me some of the countryside.’

‘I’d advise you to turn back. The bushfire’s moving fast and we expect it will cut the Aberfeldy Road just a few miles north of here.’

‘Thank you for your advice, sergeant,’ Uncle Richard replied.

‘You better come back with us,’ Maidment insisted.