When she’d daubed and inspected Clare’s abrasions and was satisfied they were superficial and not too filthy, Faye handed Clare the water and took an energy bar from her bag.

“Eat this. I’m going to make a shelter for us.”

Clare drank and, as Faye turned to survey their surroundings for a suitable spot, she heard the wrapper crinkle and snap open.

Why she had any idea about how to build a shelter in the wilderness wasn’t clear to Faye. Perhaps she’d seen something on television or read a book about it to Zach. It didn’t matter; she was grateful for the knowledge, whatever its source. Faye knew she should cover an area just large enough to accommodate her and Clare. If she made too large a shelter, it would be difficult to keep warm. She also knew the weather generally moved from west to east, which meant the opening should face east. That way, they’d not only be shielded from the wind and rain, but they’d also benefit from the warmth of the sunrise.

She didn’t have to look far for a fallen tree with bare branches that provided a good frame for the place she pictured. She snapped off several smaller branches and twigs, using her boot to hold down the larger pieces as she twisted and broke them. Scooping out the undergrowth and debris to level the floor reminded Faye of raking leaves with Veronica in the garden when she was a girl.

“Rustle around on the top first to give the snakes and other goggas a chance to escape,” her mother had said.

After she’d “rustled around on the top” with a stick, Faye created a space suitable for the two women to lie in. She used the same stick to warn other goggas of her intentions before gathering armfuls of the driest leaves she could find to build an organic mattress. Picturing her mother in hospital after the accident, Faye also made something of a backrest to prop up Clare.

It was like making a nest, she thought, picturing the flock of weavers that she watched building their nests in the willow tree in their garden every season. She wondered if Derek, like many of the birds’ dissatisfied partners in the willow tree, would have found her structure lacking and pull it apart if he were there? She was pleased he wasn’t.

After stacking pieces of wood and leaves against the outer frame of the shelter to cover it, she stood back to inspect her work. There was a drip-drip-dripping sound, and she noticed the leaves above were funnelling the rain directly into the shelter. The offending branch was too high to move or break. Looking around, Faye noticed a tangle of creepers hanging from the next tree. She realised she might be able to loop a creeper around the offending branch and tie it back.