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“Bit prettier than Joe. And I’m Joe, not Joseph, so I can’t even claim biblical connections. Are you going to head to the national park tomorrow?”

Violet pulled a face, gesturing behind him. He obviously hadn’t seen her ute parked in the middle of the creek.

At the same time, he looked around and said, “Where’s your car? You’re not one of those long-distance pushbike riders, are you?”

“Look behind you,” she said, pointing again. He turned and frowned when he spotted her white ute parked in the middle of his creek.

“What’s it doing in the creek??”

“It stopped and I couldn’t start it. That’s why I’m camped here.”

“Fuel?” he asked.

“No. I filled it up less than a hundred ks back. It’s a brand-new car and has only got 2000 ks on it. It made a couple of loud clunks and decided to stop. Then it wouldn’t go into gear. I planned to walk for help in the morning if I couldn’t get it started. Not that I imagine it will; I’ve tried to start it a couple of times tonight with no luck. I did see a farm not far back, but I thought it was too far to walk at this time of night, and I wasn’t even sure if anyone lived there anyway.”

A wide smile spread over Joe’s face. “Well, you’re in luck. My place is only a couple of ks down the road.”

“Oh, that’s a relief. I’ll wander down tomorrow morning and use your phone if that’s okay.” Violet patted her pocket. “I’ve got no phone service here.”

“I don’t have a lot of it at my place either,” Joe said. “It comes and goes on a whim. I don’t know what it is—could be the wind, could be the sunshine, could be the clouds, but it’s not very reliable.”

“The joys of living in the bush,” Violet said.

“Yep.” Joe nodded. “Listen, instead of leaving your car in the creek overnight, I can ride back and get the tractor and pull it out.”

“Oh, that would be great if it’s not imposing too much.”

“Not at all. It won’t take me long to go back and drive it back here.” He looked up at the darkening sky. “I wouldn’t be happy about leaving it there because even though we’ve only had a bit of a shower, there’s enough colour in those clouds to give us a downpour. And if we get enough, that creek will flow.”

“Lucky you came along, Joe. Thank you,” she said.

“I’ll be back in half an hour at most.”

As Violet sat by the campfire, she felt relieved that she wouldn’t have to worry about seeking help the next morning. She had been lucky, and she smiled as she thought what an easy-going guy he was. Joe hadn’t been at all judgemental, and it seemed like nothing was a problem.

Chapter 4

Joe

Joe hurried home, urging Sam to a faster pace than usual. The closer he got back to the farmhouse, the brilliant sky of this afternoon’s sunset faded and the darker the sky got as towering clouds scurried in from the west. By the time he’d put Molly in her dog pen, checked her kibble was topped up, and put Sam in the stable, given him a quick wipe down, and thrown in some fresh hay, it was dark, and he could hear the rain splattering on the roof.

He hurried up the steps and into the house to get the tractor key; if this rain turned into anything, the creek would rise very quickly. He grabbed his oilskin in case the rain hit harder. The clearing Violet was camped on had gone under a couple of times in the early autumn when he’d first arrived, due to heavy spring rains.

As he started the tractor and headed off down to the creek, he thought back to what Violet said about the car not going into any gear. If the gearbox was cactus and they couldn’t get it into neutral, the wheels wouldn’t turn, and they’d have to drag the ute up the short rise.

It might take a little longer to get there, but he was sure the tractor would pull it out. It seemed to take forever to go the two kilometres down to the creek, and the rain got heavier when he was halfway there. As he came down the hill towards the camp area, he could see a light glowing in the small tent Violet had set up before his arrival.

Good, at least she was out of the rain.

She came out of the tent as he parked the tractor at the edge of the creek and he was pleased when she shone a large flashlight onto the stationery ute.

Joe frowned as she stared at the creek. “It must be raining in the hills. The creek’s come up a bit already.”

“I was hoping I was imagining that. I thought it was higher up the tyres,” Violet said wiping her damp hair back from her eyes. “Will we have time?”

“Yep, as long as we get started now. If the water comes down fast it could push your car down the creek. Just in case, do you have insurance?”

She nodded. “I have insurance. That car cost me sixty thousand dollars, and I am not a happy camper,” she said.