impending pain. ‘I don’t know.’
‘We’ll look,’ Morag promised, but she couldn’t promise that they’d find him.
They knew the odds.
The odds were dreadful.
Lucy’s arm had a simple greenstick fracture. Morag assisted while Grady carefully prepped the arm, wrapped it and then put a backslab on the forearm. There was considerable swelling around the wrist. Given that it had happened over twelve hours ago, it was probably as swollen as it was going to be. It’d have to be checked in a few days.
In a few days Lucy would be in Sydney, Morag thought. Hopefully with her recovering mother and father.
And her brother?
The impending tragedy stayed with them while they worked. Lucy was white-faced and silent, and they knew her silence wasn’t caused by her own pain. She was terrified for her parents and for her brother-and she had every right to be.
‘I’ll contact Sydney,’ Grady said, grim-faced, as they left Lucy with a nurse and came out again into the little reception area. ‘Maybe the father might know where Hamish might be?’
‘I’ll contact him,’ Morag told him. ‘Peter’s my friend.’ She grimaced. ‘And Christine is Robbie’s aunt. Christine’s brother was Beth’s husband-Robbie’s father. He drowned when Robbie was tiny, so they know already what tragedy is.’
That hurt. ‘Oh, hell…’
‘It is,’ she said bleakly. ‘Hamish is Robbie’s cousin and they’ve been extraordinarily close all their lives. If I hadn’t come back when I did, Robbie would be part of their family.’
‘They would have taken him in?’
‘Of course.’
He frowned. ‘So why did you come back?’
Why had she come back? Did he understand nothing?
‘That’s a great question,’ she snapped. ‘Very empathetic. Look around you at this community and use your head. Is Jaqui back from the Koori settlement?’
‘She’s been back for a while.’
Morag stilled. ‘So they didn’t let her help.’
‘I gather not. They said there were no problems.’
‘Oh, sure. No problems? They’d hide them.’
‘Why would they hide them?’
‘They just would.’ She raked her hair in distress. ‘I should have gone.’ None of the Koori people would admit to Jaqui that they needed help, she thought grimly. She’d been stupid to hope that they would.
‘If Jaqui can’t help, how can you?’ Grady asked.
‘They trust me.’
‘But-’
‘There’s no but,’ she snapped. ‘Of course they won’t let Jaqui near them. I should have been out there this morning. Or last night! It’s taken my family two generations to get their trust, and I have it. So I’m needed. Ask me again why I came home, Dr Reece.’
‘I never meant-’
‘I know you never meant,’ she said softly, almost under her breath. ‘You never meant anything.’
First she had to make the phone call to Peter-Hamish’s father-and it was dreadful. For this little family, the drowning of Beth’s husband-Christine’s brother-followed by Beth’s death, was still real and dreadful, and Morag could hear the horror of past pain as well as terror for the future in the way Peter spoke to her. Peter was badly injured himself, just coming around from anaesthesia. His wife was still not out of danger. And…where was his son?
‘I was sure he’d be with Robbie,’ he told her. ‘I was sure. When they said he was still missing… I just said find Robbie and he’ll be there. They said Robbie was up with Hubert so I just assumed…’ His voice broke. ‘I can’t believe I left the island not knowing. I was just so worried about Christine. And I couldn’t find May.’
May was Peter’s mother. At least she could reassure him there. ‘I’ve seen May and she’s OK. She’s worried to death about Hamish, of course, but she was out of range when the wave hit and her house is undamaged.’ She was worried to death about Lucy as well, but Lucy still wouldn’t let her close and she wasn’t about to burden Peter with his mother’s distress. ‘She’ll be here for Hamish when we find him. And you were so badly hurt yourself,’ Morag said gently. ‘Peter, we’re doing all we can.’
‘He must have followed you up to Hubert’s.’ Peter’s voice cracked with desperation. ‘Maybe he’d guess that you’d be up there. Maybe…’
‘I’ll check everything,’ Morag told him. ‘Meanwhile, we’re sending Lucy over to be with you.’
‘But if Hamish needs her… If May needs her…’
‘I’ll be here for Hamish and for May, I promise.’
Distressed beyond measure, she put the phone down and turned to find Grady watching her. His face was etched deep with concern.
‘Dreadful?’
‘Dreadful,’ she agreed. ‘That little family’s lost so much already. I’m worried Peter might crack up completely.’
‘He can’t,’ Grady said bluntly. ‘His wife and daughter depend on him.’
‘Yeah.’ She shrugged, still cringing inside from the pain she’d heard in Peter’s voice. ‘It does hold you up. This feeling that if you fall over it’ll have a domino effect.’ She took a deep breath. ‘Maybe I need to speak to Robbie. He and Hamish were planning to spend the afternoon together before Hamish’s mum said he had to spend the afternoon on homework. I wonder what were they planning to do?’
‘Homework together?’ Grady queried, and she managed a smile.
‘Or not.’ Her smile faded. ‘I need to phone Robbie before I go out to the settlement.’
‘I’ve cleared the way to come with you.’
‘You don’t want-’
‘I need. As you say, there may well be medical imperatives out there. If I’m assisting you, will that be OK?’
‘Maybe. If you’re seen as the junior partner with no authority.’ Her worry receded for a whole split second while she thought of the impossibility of Grady being the junior partner in anything.
‘I’ll be the junior partner,’ he said, with a meekness that had her glancing at him with suspicion, but his face was impassive. ‘Phone Robbie. I’ll start loading gear.’
Robbie knew nothing.
‘I dunno where he’d be.’ Robbie had held up so well, but the thought of losing Hamish had him almost incoherent with anguish. ‘We were just going to do…stuff.’
‘What sort of stuff?’
‘I dunno.’ There was an audible sniff on the end of the line. ‘Morag, can you come and get me? Now?’
‘I need to go out to the aboriginal settlement,’ she told him, almost twisting inside with pain. He needed her. He needed her so much, but she was stuck. To take her with him when she didn’t know what she’d find…she couldn’t. But she had to go.
He had to see it.
‘Robbie, the Koori people…many of them may well be hurt and they won’t let anyone near except me.’
He gulped and she heard him fight back tears. ‘Do you…do you want me to stay another night with Hubert?’
‘If you can, Robbie,’ she said gently. ‘I know it’s a lot to ask, but so many people here need me. I’ll come up later and share Hubert’s bed again.’
Then she was forced to listen while he fought panic. But finally he managed to do the right thing. The adult thing. The thing that a nine-year-old shouldn’t have to do when he was faced with what Robbie had faced in the
