I did. Sobbing breaths into the hollow of her neck, it felt like I emptied everything I had into her and that was what allowed me to collapse down onto the bed. Holding her close, my body gave up the fight, letting exhaustion win. Only with her, I thought dimly as I dropped into sleep.
Trouble is when I woke up, all my problems were still there, waiting for me to deal with them.
“Stay safe,”I told Mackenzie over breakfast. “Charlie, you’ll have the radio on you at all times. Keep an ear out for the Country Fire Service announcements if a fire breaks out.”
“Like I always do, brother,” she said, sliding a plate in front of me.
But the fact my sister knew exactly what to do did little to reassure me. I stood on the veranda, staring after the two women as they got into the 4WD, right as my brothers joined me.
“So, we better get this shit show on the road then?” Billy asked, then shot me a sly smile. “Unless you want to leave moving the stock to us so you can go rescue koalas with Mackenzie?”
“And risk you driving all the sheep into a gully?” I snapped back. “No way. Everyone knows what they need to do today?” Bronson and Scotty nodded. “Then let’s get this shit done.”
In the end, I had to take my own advice and hope that the things I could do would move the needle for the family and the farm, because in the absence of hope?
There was only failure and I could not accept that.
Chapter 22
Mackenzie
“Mom, this is Roo.”
Days later, I cradled the little joey in my arms as it suckled contentedly on his bottle. Mixing up the time zones again, I thought I had more time to finish the little kangaroo’s feeding before I’d FaceTime with my mother.
“Oh my goodness…” Mom’s hands went to her face. “He’s just darling! Like you sent me all those photos.” I’d ensured a steady stream were emailed to her to placate her fears. “But it’s different actually seeing an actual baby kangaroo. Is this another one of those poor creatures affected by the heat?”
“Mother was hit by a car.” I could say that without getting so emotional now. “He just came in a few days ago.”
A few days of raking through the forest, ferrying animals to the vet. A few days of tension rising in the house along with the temperature. It wasn’t just the fact that you could barely sleep, it was so hot at night. Sleep deprivation didn’t help, but neither did the damn northerly winds. Blowing hot and hard, it felt like they converted the land into a convection oven and we were slowly baking inside. Sweat trickled down my spine, forcing thethin fabric to stick to me. Holding the joey wasn’t helping, but I refused to let go.
“The poor little thing,” she sighed. “Why aren’t Australians more careful on the roads?”
“Kangaroo are like deer, Mom,” I explained, because I’d felt the same sense of outrage when I saw my first car crash casualty. “Some crazy instinct has them jumping out in front of cars with no warning. The people that hit Roo’s mom stopped and made sure he was taken to a vet. Their car was a complete mess afterwards.”
“Oh, well, that’s?—”
“Mackenzie!” My name was a muffled shout coming from outside my door. It was pulled open seconds later, and Troy came storming in. “There you are.” He didn’t even glance at the phone, focussed entirely on me. “The CFS has called. Us boys are heading out to fight a fire.”
“Troy—” I hissed, wanting to end this call before my mother caught the details.
“You’re staying here, alright?” His hands went to my shoulders, and he bent down, staring into my eyes and willing me to understand. “There’s no going out to the forest today.”
“I know.”
Charlie had already had a blunt conversation about this with me. Helping wildlife was all well and good when there were no bushfires around, but now the heat had spiked dramatically, we needed to stay put, prepared to protect the farm and the rescue.
“I’ll be back.” That intent look of his, I needed to see it. He believed what he was saying utterly, which helped me feel the same way. “Hopefully by dinner time. You and Charlie…” A hard swallow had the anxiety curling tighter in my belly. “You know what to do. Stick to the plan.”
Without another word, he pressed a kiss to my forehead, then strode back out again, leaving me to face the music.
“Fire?” I could hear the hysterical edge in my mother’s voice, but then her hand went to her heart. “There’s a wildfire burning around you, Mackenzie?”
“Mom—”
“You need to get out, now.” Her eyes creased as she glanced down at Roo. “Take the baby and get out of that place. Head to the city if you need to. You must?—”
“Mom.” Her shuddering breath kept pace with mine. The only person who hated wildfires as much as me was my mother. “I’ve got this. We’ve got this.”
