Free Moonlight Plains by Barbara Hannay Page B

some kind of radio?’
    Kitty shook her head. ‘I’m sorry. It’s very isolated here.’
    ‘What about your men?’ he demanded impatiently. ‘When are they coming back?’
    She wished with all her heart that she could offer him more hope. ‘There’s only Uncle Jim. Most of the other men from this district are fighting or they’ve gone to help the war effort, working in the railways or in offices.’
    Then, apologetically, she had to add, ‘I’m afraid my great-uncle won’t be back for another two days.’ As she said this, the rain began to fall more heavily than ever, drumming on the iron roof. ‘He might take even longer if the creeks come up.’ She hated to add to Ed’s troubles, but he needed the full picture. ‘This is still the wet season.’
    It was more like the middle of a nightmare for Ed and Bobby, she suspected.
    ‘Okay,’ Ed said with weary resignation. ‘What about transport, then? Do you have a vehicle?’
    Kitty swallowed nervously. ‘There’s a truck, but no fuel.’
    Now Ed didn’t hold back on a heavy sigh. ‘How can I get gas then?’
    ‘My great-uncle’s hoping to bring petrol back from Charters Towers.’
    ‘He’s hoping? Goddamn. I can’t believe we ended up so far off course.’ Ed looked down at Bobby, lying at his feet, ran a despairing hand through his hair. ‘I have to get a doctor. I have to find a phone. There has to be someone around here who can help. What about your neighbours?’
    The nearest neighbours were twenty miles away. Kitty looked down at her hands, wishing she could offer more help. Then she threw a frantic glance at the papered windows. ‘I guess you could hitch a horse to the sulky, if it’s in working order. Can you handle one? I can’t.’
    Ed smiled and shook his head. ‘Sorry, I’m a city guy. I barely know one end of a horse from the other. I’d be better off on foot.’
    ‘But it’s such a dark night and you don’t know the way.’
    ‘I don’t have any choice,’ Ed said after only the slightest hesitation. ‘Do you know if your neighbours have a telephone?’
    ‘I – I’m really not sure. I’m so sorry. I’d like to be more help, but I’ve only been living out here a few weeks.’
    ‘Where were you before that?’
    ‘Townsville. With my grandparents.’
    To her surprise, the grimness in Ed’s dark eyes softened. As he rose from his post beside Bobby, he actually smiled at her. ‘You’ve been incredibly brave tonight, Kitty. You came out in the rain to search for us. With a shotgun, no less. Heaven knows what you expected to find.’
    She remembered how scared she’d been when she thought the airmen were Japs. But now, with another glance at Bobby, a new fear replaced the old. If Ed left to search for help she’d be alone with Bobby. She’d be responsible for him, and she couldn’t imagine how she could possibly save him. She was an inept city girl, so unprepared for this emergency.
    A suffocating pressure filled her chest. She went to the window to push it further open, peering out, taking deep, necessary breaths of fresh air. ‘There’s no signs out there, Ed. Not even a proper road. Just a dirt track – a couple of wheel ruts in the bush. And it’ll be wet and muddy. I hope you don’t get lost.’
    ‘It’s a risk I’ll have to take. I
have
to try. It’s what Bobby would do, if our positions were reversed.’
    Kitty nodded. She understood – Ed would never forgive himself if he didn’t try. ‘Will you help me to get Bobby into bed before you leave?’
    ‘Of course.’
    ‘I’ll get the room ready.’
    She wished there was time to make up the bed with good sheets, but her great-uncle had never been well off, and ever since Aunty Lil had died last year, he’d lapsed into living rough, with little pride or care.
    She’d done everything she could to make the place clean and welcoming, but there was no way she could disguise the rustic mattresses made from wool bags cut down to size and filled with corn