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“Where is here?” she said.

“At the end of the fence near the creek,” he called. Molly kept barking, obviously recognising Violet’s voice.

Violet set off on a light run, watching where she was stepping with the light shining on the ground ahead of her. She stopped and flashed it around the trees, seeing the end of the fence only about thirty metres away.

“Where are you, Joe? I can’t see you.”

“A bit further ahead of where you are.”

“Where?” she called back.

“Keep coming! I can see your torch. Just keep straight ahead, and then when I yell out, veer a little bit to the right.”

Violet wasn’t game to ask if he was okay. He obviously wasn’t. She couldn’t see him so he must be on the ground.

It was only a minute or so later when he called again and his voice was louder. “Good, come into the bush now, I’m just in here.” She ran over and Molly gave a strange bark and then flopped to the ground, whimpering beside Joe.

Violet tried not to panic as she shone the light on both of them. Joe’s face was pale and he was perspiring heavily.

‘What’s wrong? What have you done. It’s not a snakebite, is it?”

“No, I’ve wrenched my shoulder, and I think Molly’s about to have her pups too,” he said.

“What on earth did you do?” she asked, crouching beside him.

“Stupid, actually. I was walking along here, checking out a place to dig for the new posts, and I obviously came across an old hole. My foot went into it. I didn’t hurt my ankle, but when I fell, I landed bang on my shoulder. I’m hoping I’ve just popped it out, but I’ve got a feeling I might have broken my collarbone.”

“Oh, no, that’s terrible! If you’ve broken your collarbone, you won’t be able to work.”

“That’s why I’m being positive and hoping it’s just popped out. But I can’t get up, Violet. Every time I try to move, the pain is excruciating. The first time I tried to get up, I actually passed out for a minute.”

Concern lodged in her throat, and she reached out and put one hand gently against his cheek.

“Well, it’s okay now. I’m here to help. How can I help you up without hurting you?”

“I’ll have to grin and bear it. I can’t stay out here all night.”

“Okay, let’s get you up in stages, and then when you’re sitting up for a while, we’ll try to get you on your feet to walk back to the house.”

He gritted his teeth and nodded.

“Do you think I’d be better off going back and calling for help?”

“No, I can get through this. Besides, I want to get Molly home. I don’t want her having pups out here in the bush. You never know what’s out here at night.”

“Okay, let’s go.”

***

Joe

Joe had never heard anything as welcome as Violet’s voice when he’d heard her call out. He gripped her hand.

“Thanks for coming looking for me. After my rant this morning, I thought you might not even come back.”

“We’ll talk about that later, Joe.”

“Okay, now I’ve got to stop being a wuss and get up.”