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He closed his eyes as the doctor at the palliative care ward told him that Joe had passed through the night. He disconnected and got straight in the shower, allowing himself a few tears and then tipped his head up for the hot water to wash the tears away. His chest ached and he felt empty but, in a way, cleansed. The only person he had to ring was Ryan, but that could wait until a decent hour. Once dressed in the work clothes he’d brought over to the house last night, Cy opened his door quietly and walked to the kitchen in his socks. All was quiet at the end of the hall in Tarni’s room.

Cy considered making a cup of tea in the kitchen but thought he might wake Tarni, so he took his keys out and unlocked the doors. He crouched down and examined the lock on the screen door and noted a deep scratch beside the silver lever that locked the door manually. He hadn’t seen that in the dim light last night. Someone had broken in.

He crouched and examined it more closely.

Maybe the scratch was new, maybe it had always been there. The wooden door looked fairly new, with not a mark on it. If anyone had come inside yesterday, they had either had keys or were a master lockpicker.

Cy’s thoughts were churning as he closed both doors, key-locked them and walked quietly down the steps. He’d keep a close eye on the house until Tarni appeared for the day. He hesitated, wondering if he should check on her, and then decided to let her sleep.

He looked around as he walked down to the shed. There were tyre tracks in the dust on the road from the gate. The road that the paved circular driveway came off. Crouching, Cy examined the tracks closely and decided that it was not the tread of his tyres. And Tarni’s Jeep hadn’t been out of the shed since she’d arrived.

He was thoughtful as he walked down to the shed. The morning was crisp and mist still lingered over the trees. The night had been cool; his ute was covered with condensation. He unlocked the shed and took a jacket from his bag. He hoped Tarni was feeling better; he should have been more receptive when she’d asked about coming down to the dam. If she hadn’t come down by smoko, he’d come back up and make her a cuppa and invite her down.

He felt unsettled. He couldn’t stop thinking about Joe since he’d had the call. Putting his jacket on, he checked the shed but everything looked okay. He walked into Tarni’s section to check it as well.

Who knew? Maybe it was someone from another mango farm trying to sabotage Kane’s work. Cy didn’t think the best of anyone these days. He’d had too many experiences with people you couldn’t trust. But thinking about a neighbour coming in with intent to sabotage was a bit far-fetched. He’d been watching too many Netflix shows in Darwin; television had filled the lonely nights.

Cy boiled the kettle, dunked a teabag in the cup, and headed outside. He sat in the chair by the fire pit and put his feet up on the log. He pulled his phone out and glanced at the time; it wasn’t too early to call Ryan.

His cousin picked up straight away. ‘Cy, I was going to call you later. How goes it?’

‘It’s good here. Making progress and looking after the place. I think the trees’ll survive until Kane and Ellie get home.’

Ryan chuckled. ‘They’d better.’

‘Before you tell me what you were going to call me about, you need to know I had a call from the hospice earlier. Joe passed away through the night.’

There was a long silence before Ryan spoke. ‘You okay?’

‘Yeah, I guess.’

‘I’m sorry for your loss, mate.’

‘Thanks.’

‘Funeral?’

‘Haven’t thought about it. Prison’s organising it all.’

‘Are you gonna go to the service?’

‘No. I went to see him yesterday afternoon.’

‘Fair enough. I’ll have a beer for Joe tonight.’

‘So, what were you going to call me about?’ Cy stood and walked around the side of the shed. He thought he’d heard a car drive in but there was no one there.

‘I wanted to know if you could spare me a day or even half a day over the weekend. My crew have gone to a rodeo and I’ve got a mob to drench.’

‘I should be able to come. A bloke’s coming to see me later about digging the last of the irrigation trenches. If he suits, I’ll hire him for a few days. I’ll give you a call and let you know after I talk to him.’

‘Be good to catch up for a few hours even if you haven’t got time to help me.’

‘Yep, we’re long overdue for a catch-up. Listen, would you mind if I brought someone with me for the day? Would it bother Dee if she had a visitor?’

‘Sounds interesting. You finally got yourself a lady friend?’

‘No, not a “lady friend”, just a lady and a friend. Tarni’s the researcher working here on Kane’s hybrid program. She’s good company, and she’s never been to the Territory before. She’s keen to see a cattle station.’