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Earlier that morning, he had driven to the farm at break-neck speed after getting a distressed call from his mother saying she couldn’t breathe. He had heard her rasping breath and her short choppy words, and had immediately hung up and called an ambulance. He’d felt absolutely bloody useless when he’d got her back on the line, but he’d kept talking, reassuring her, keeping her calm as he’d run to his Jeep. By the time he’d arrived at the farm, the ambulance had left. He called the Jabiru Medical Centre but they told him the paramedics had stabilised her and she was en route to Darwin hospital. Kane had collected some clothes and toiletries and picked up his mother’s phone before he’d locked up the house.

But she wouldn’t need any of them if what the doctor had said was right.

‘Kane?’ Her voice was soft but at least the wheezing had eased.

He stood and looked down at her. ‘Mum. Are you comfortable?’

‘Yes. I’m better now, darling.’ Susan reached out, took Kane’s hands between hers and squeezed them but the pressure barely made an impression on his skin.

‘Come closer.’ She took a deep shuddering breath and coughed.

‘Do you want me to call the nurse?’ Kane helped her sit up and waited until she had stopped coughing before he eased himself carefully down on the bed beside her.

‘What about Panos? Did the hospital call him?’

‘I don’t know.’ He tried to keep the disgust from his voice. He was going to have harsh words with his stepfather after –

But now was neither the time nor the place.

‘Call his mobile. His number’s in my phone.’

‘I’ll do it now.’

Kane fought the pricking at the back of his eyelids as his mother leaned back against his arm. Her breath juddered and stopped, and she coughed. The rattle of her breathing was the same as he’d heard many times in the desert.

He pulled out her phone, found the contact for Panos and pressed the shortcut. But the call went straight to message bank. ‘Do you have another number for him?’

She shook her head. ‘Try again later. Talk to me for a while first. Just talk to me. Tell me about some of the good times we had together.’

Oh, fuck. Kane knew what that request meant, but somehow he managed. He spoke softly and soothingly as his mother fought for breath, keeping his voice steady.

‘Remember when I was little and you let me have that cat? I wanted a kitten, and I found that mangy, scabby cat in the bush.’ He let the first tear roll down his cheek. ‘We had Christmas at Aunty Val’s in Brisbane that year. Remember? The last one with Dad? We all went to Redcliffe for a picnic and you let me take the cat on a lead.’

Kane let all the memories fall softly around his mother. Recollections that he hadn’t thought of for years poured from him. In his mind, his mother stood strong and caring in front of him. His father stood beside her. Dad had been killed in a car accident the year before Kane had started school, but Mum had always done her best to be there for him.

She’d always laughed a lot and he realised now how sad she’d been over the past few years – on the rare occasions he’d made the time to visit her, even before she’d remarried. He had failed her as a son. Just like he’d failed everyone else. Now the breathing of this shell, of his once-strong mother, eased and she turned to him with a sigh.

‘We had a good life.’ Her voice was soft. ‘I missed your father so much when he died. But I had you.’

‘Yes, Mum, we had each other.’ Kane moved his arm and she leaned back into the pillow. He rested his head gently on his mother’s shoulder and a memory came to him, sharp and clear, of resting his head on that same thin collarbone when he was a small boy, sneaking in for a cuddle in the middle of the night.

‘I’m sorry I went away, Mum. I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you.’

‘Hush. It’s all right. Panos looked after me.’ Her voice was a little stronger and her fingers smoothed the back of his head. Kane lay quietly as she began to speak. ‘As best he could. I need to tell you something. I know it’s going to confirm what you always thought of him, but Panos is a good man. He’s just weak where money is concerned. He was always looking for more.’ She raised her hand to her mouth and took a deep breath. Kane could hear the crackling in her chest. ‘More than I could ever give him. When Ellie came to see me on Monday, it all came back. I’d tried to forget about it – to put it behind me – but I know that was the wrong thing to do. She told me how her mother is still suffering, and I realise now I should have done more to help them.’

‘Help who, Mum?’ Kane was confused and he lifted his head. Susan stared at him, her eyes clouding over. Whether it was from her state of mind or the medication that was pumping into her veins, he didn’t know.

‘Ellie’s mother.’

‘What happened?’

‘It was before we were married. Panos got tangled up with some man in Darwin who had a lot of different interests. He only made friends with Peter Porter so he could be the intermediary for this man who wanted the land.’ A bitter laugh escaped her lips and she coughed again. ‘He offered him a fortune for it but Panos never knew why he wanted it. He was going to be paid a big commission. He gambles, Kane. Anything. Horses, football, anything he can bet on. It’s an addiction.’

Kane fought showing the disgust that filled him. Susan shook her head from side to side, trying to sit up. Kane gently held her steady.

‘Panos was determined to secure the sale, but Peter wouldn’t accept the offers.’ Her fingers gripped his arm and her sudden strength surprised Kane. ‘What disgusted me most was that after . . . after Peter was gone, Panos came in like the saviour and Sandra was so grateful to take the money from him so she could get away from the memories. She was distraught with grief.’ She leaned forward and coughed. ‘I was disgusted with Panos.’

‘So Panos bought it in the end, not this other person?’