Adventures… There’d been too many adventures. ‘They won’t go back onto the cliff?’

‘Are you kidding? I don’t think they ever want to see that cliff again in their lives. William’s told them if they wander from sight he’ll scalp the pair of them, and they’ve promised. You know they’re kids who keep their promises.’

They were, too. But…

‘Grady.’ She was thinking aloud. ‘Where’s Grady?’

‘He’s at the town meeting. Like everyone else except Irene and me-we’re keeping the hospital running.’ She gave a tight, distracted smile, and her pleasure in talking of the little boys faded a little. ‘Which is just as well. Someone has to.’

‘The meeting.’ Morag’s mind focused sharply. ‘Oh, no, the meeting… Louise, I need to be there.’

‘Right, so you can just pick up your bed and leave? I don’t think so.’ The nurse smiled and started to fit a blood-pressure cuff. ‘Stop your worrying, girl,’ she told her. ‘You’ve been doing too much worrying. About everyone. And now Grady’s worrying about you, and William’s worrying about you, and Marcus and May and Hazel and just about everyone else on the island.’

‘But-’

‘You know you’ve got a really nasty fracture of your leg?’ Louise sounded as if she was scolding. ‘Jaqui and Grady worked like fury to try and re-establish a blood supply, and you’re dead lucky your leg didn’t to go the way of Sam’s. So if you think you can just get up and keep going, you’re gravely mistaken.’

‘I must,’ she said in distress. ‘The island… If I’m out of action they’ll evacuate the island and we’ll never return.’

Louise’s kindly face clouded. ‘I don’t know about that,’ she said stolidly. ‘But there’s nothing you and I can do about it, and worrying won’t help. So how about I call Irene to double-check the drugs, and we’ll give you the injection Dr Reece ordered? That’ll stop the pain and let you settle back to sleep. I’d imagine when you wake up, everything will be decided.’

‘Everything will be over.’

Louise pursed her lips and turned to call Irene. ‘Wait and see.’


Morag did sleep. Her body gave her no choice. She drifted in and out of a drug-induced stupor all through that long afternoon.

When she woke, the flap of the tent was closed. She could no longer see the sea, and the light was starting to fade.

She winced and groaned a little as the pain in her leg caught. But that wasn’t what was worrying her. The effects of the morphine had receded, her mind was clear and she was faced with the overwhelming realisation that she’d missed the meeting.

And she was injured. She understood enough of the injury to her leg to know she’d be off work for many weeks. The island would have no medical officer, and that’d be the death knell to the island. The decision about the island’s future was a foregone conclusion.

‘It’s about time you woke up.’

She twisted and Grady was at the entrance to her makeshift ward.

‘Hi, Morag,’ he told her, and he was smiling. What a smile. It was a smile to make her catch her breath. ‘We’ve been waiting for you to wake up for ages. Welcome to your future.’

Her future. What on earth was he talking about? She tried hard to focus, tried to see…

We’ve been waiting for you to wake up?

Who?

Robbie.

Robbie was beside him, clutching his hand as if he belonged there. Robbie and Grady. The two men in her life. Her love for them both was so intertwined, the fact that they stood hand in hand hardly took any explaining. It felt…right.

But Robbie was looking desperately anxious. He mustn’t be anxious.

‘Robbie,’ she whispered, and the little redhead darted toward her like an arrow to its target. She gathered her to him with her free arm and she held him close.

But over his head she looked at Grady.

‘What…? What…?’

But there was more to understand. We, Grady had said, and he’d meant we. It wasn’t just Grady and Robbie. There were people behind Grady.

Lots of people.

And they were all smiling.

‘Your island’s safe,’ Grady told her.

‘Safe?’

Grady opened his mouth to continue, but he was interrupted.

‘We’ve got a plan.’ Jaqui was pushing her way past Grady, elbowing him aside as if he were an annoying obstacle. She was dressed in her yellow overalls-so was Grady. And there was Doug in his overalls and…more…

‘Grady wanted to tell you by himself,’ Jaqui was saying, ‘but I said no way. He said you’re not ready for any more than one visitor at a time, but what would he know? He’s too close to be your treating physician, so I’ve elected myself. And joy’s not going to kill you, girl. Now, is it?’

‘Joy?’

‘The meeting,’ she said in some satisfaction. ‘We knew you’d want to be there. But we couldn’t wait. It was far too soon for anyone to be level-headed. Only two days after something as massive as a tsunami, there’s been so little time to think. But decisions had to be made immediately. Either everyone needs to work like crazy and get some sort of drainage and water system in place, or we all get out of here now. The infrastructure’s so damaged there’s a real health risk.’

‘She knows that. Don’t waffle,’ Grady said darkly, trying to edge her aside again, but Jaqui refused to be edged.

‘Who’s waffling? Who had the best idea?’

‘Grady did.’ It was Marcus, pushing in past Jaqui. The burly fisherman was in front now, and likely to stay that way. After all, he was the biggest. ‘It seems Grady’s brother’s a politician in Sydney, with more clout than we know what to do with. So he’s pulled strings like you wouldn’t believe.’

‘But it’s my husband who clinched it,’ Jaqui retorted. ‘My Craig is the head of a big public works department on the mainland and he’s bored. We’re both bored. And we have four adult sons living with us who are driving us crazy. Craig’s been talking of retirement, but who wants to retire and do nothing? Anyway, we’ve been thinking about getting away-doing something completely different-and now I’ve met the island goats…’

‘What are you talking about?’ It was as much as Morag could do to whisper, and Robbie pulled away from her to stare into her face in concern. Like he was worried she might have bumped her head.

Like she was being adult-obtuse.

‘It’s easy,’ the little boy told her. ‘Hubert explained it to me and Grady told me again. Dr Jaqui’s husband is an engineer and he’s going to come over and start digging drains so we can stay on the island. And Dr Jaqui wants to help with the goats.’

‘Craig doesn’t exactly dig,’ Jaqui conceded. ‘But he’s really good at organising. And Robbie’s right about the goats. Anyway, with Grady’s politician brother pulling strings to keep the army lads over here to help, and William’s friends moving mountains…’

‘William’s friends?’ Maybe Robbie was right. Maybe she had been hit on her head. Her head was certainly spinning.

William was there, too, she saw, stunned. He was standing at the back, grinning like he’d won the lottery.

‘William has the arts community in the palm of his hand,’ Grady told her. He was one of ten or so people crowding around her bed now, but suddenly they may as well have been alone. He was smiling and smiling at her, his eyes locked on hers. Promising the world.

But still talking practicalities.

‘From the time William got Mutt back, he’s been on the end of a phone, contacting every land council-every human rights group-every arts board-to the end that if we take anything away from the Koori people that’s been given to them already-like twenty-four-hour medical support-there’ll be a national uproar.’ Grady turned to smile at William-who was blushing, for heaven’s sake. ‘It seems the Koori artwork here is known worldwide, and that’s given us even more leverage. The elders worked with William on this, Morag, and Yndilla and Nargal even consented to use our radio to confirm their needs with the mainland Koori organisations. You’ve gained the Koori people’s trust, Morag. They want you.’

‘But…’ She was too dazed to take it in but it wasn’t making sense. ‘They can’t… I have to leave…’

‘That’s the best bit.’ It was Hubert, piping up from the other side of the canvas, and Morag’s flimsy side wall was twitched aside to reveal the old man lying in the next cubicle. Like Morag, he was attached to IV lines, but his colour had returned and his voice had a strength that said he might well be good for a few years yet. ‘Tell her the best. Tell her.’

‘I’m trying to,’ Grady said, half laughing.

‘He’s trying to tell you we’re staying,’ Jaqui told her. ‘Craig and I are staying. I just looked at this place and I knew…’

‘You and Craig are staying?’

‘I told you,’ Jaqui said with exaggerated patience. ‘I’ve fallen for the goats. One licked me on the face when I was trying to sleep in the sun and I was hooked. Craig will oversee rebuilding and I’ll be a medical partner. With goats on the side.’

‘Me, too,’ Grady told her, and the whole world seemed to hold its breath.

‘You…you, too?’

‘You haven’t asked her,’ Jaqui told him. ‘Bill and Louise can’t share their goats with everyone-and Morag might not want a medical partner.’

‘That cuts you out, then,’ he retorted.

‘Well…’

‘Jaqui, shut up.’

‘Only if you tell her, stupid.’

‘Jaqui and I have been talking,’ he said a little bit desperately, and she gazed up at him in disbelief.

She was still cuddling Robbie. The little boy was curled against her, but he was gazing up at the crowd around his aunt’s bed as if this were a theatre spectacular. And he had the best seat in the house.

‘You and Jaqui have been talking?’ Morag prodded, and Grady cast a despairing glance around at his audience.

‘I don’t suppose there’s any chance you lot will go away,’ he said, and got unanimous grins.