‘Ignore her,’ I whispered to him.

Sadie frowned, perplexed. Apparently, no one had ever ignored her before. ‘Have you saved any lives today, young man?’ she persisted. ‘Talk to me. You’re a hero. I can sense it. CFA. That’s how we’ve met before. Isn’t it?’

I stepped between them. ‘That’s enough. My son needs to rest.’ I turned to Caleb. ‘Come on. Lie down. I’ll chase people away. You’re exhausted.’

He swayed more. Sadie raised her eyebrows but moved on.

‘Do they have food?’ Caleb was hungry. I could look after that. He let me guide him around the hall. We passed Jack in the corner, at the centre of a group of men. Whispers circulated. Greenies blamed global warming for the temperature and the winds; farmers blamed environmental policies that banned back-burning to create firebreaks, and the removal of roadside trees.

‘I heard them say arson on the radio,’ one of them said, setting off a string of murmurs.

‘Bullshit,’ came the rejoinder. ‘That’s just to take attention off climate change. The government has red hands.’

Peter Brin, who ran our nearest service station, had a voice that stood out from the others. ‘There was a $100,000 reward for the 2009 arsonists in Gippsland, why don’t we have that here?’ he demanded.

‘Can you go to my sister’s house to check on her?’ an elderly woman asked. ‘She should be here. She must have stayed at home.’

Jack looked troubled. ‘I’ll send someone out to try. There’ll be more welfare checks in the morning.’ He made eye contact.

‘I’ve found him,’ I mouthed, pointing at Caleb. Jack gave the thumbs-up sign.

‘Can’t you do something about the reporters?’ I hissed.

The next day, police would block all roads.

My email still worked. All around the refuge, people stared at smartphones, portals to another world. News reports mentioned huge financial donations, proof that we were not alone. Marco sent me an image of a statue he’d found.

Hello Latona, he wrote, cheerful in his ignorance. Latona – otherwise Leto – was the goddess of modest motherhood, mother of Apollo and Diana. I’ve wanted to call you that since you ran back to Australia to dedicate yourself to childraising. And it’s the perfect time to bring out the name! We’ve just uncovered a Roman statue: I’m sure it’s Latona. There are frogs at the base. Last time you emailed, you mentioned drought and of course Latona famously responded to the peasants who refused to give her water by turning them into frogs. So, this is like a statue of you…

The smooth stone statue showed a young woman, as I had been when Marco loved me. Marco lived in the past. Things were simpler there, where the worst thing that could happen was being turned into a frog.

5

LARUNDA | Water Nymph

Larunda spread gossip about Juturna and Jupiter – so Jupiter cut out her tongue. Associated with other mute goddesses who could be invoked to destroy hated people, Larunda could be symbolised by the image of a hand over a mouth.