Both boys were dripping with rain, and their eyes were huge in their frightened faces. Libby’s heart dropped to her stomach as she grabbed the reins of the closest horse.
“Mum, the creeks come up, and we can’t find Tom and Holly.” Josh slid from his horse. “They must’ve crossed over.”
“No.” The fear gripped her stomach into a tight knot, which threatened to bring up her coffee.
“Call Nathan, missus.” Winton turned his horse back to the drive. “We’ll ride over to his place and see if we can get to them from that side. Come on, Josh.”
They trotted off down the driveway toward the road, working up to a full gallop before Libby could move. She ran toward the house, suddenly oblivious to the weather.
Please, be there. Oh God, please, be there. With cold hands, she grabbed the phone off the wall and punched in his number.
The phone rang and rang before a stranger answered. He was one of the farm workers, and he told her Nathan was bringing in his cows to the house paddocks but promised to get someone to tell him straight away.
“Stay by the phone; I’ll get the boss to call you back.” He hung up on her and Libby slid down the wall to sit on the floor, her arms wrapped around her knees as her body trembled.
She would never forgive herself if something happened to them. My baby and Tom, I couldn’t bear it if they don’t come back. I should never have let them go out there.
The shrill ring of the phone jolted her out of her horror, and she jumped up, pulling it roughly to her ear.
“Nathan.” The tears began to fall in earnest. “Help me, please.”
“Where did they go?”
“To bring in the cows by the creek.” She winced at the harshness of his tone. “He said he wasn’t going to cross it, but the boys couldn’t find him this side. He’s taken Holly with him, Nathan. What am I going to do?”
“For God’s sake, I can’t believe you let him take her out in this. She’s just a little kid. Stay put and wait for me to call you back. I’ll take some of my men out, and we’ll find them.” He hung up without another word.
Libby walked around the kitchen, moving cups and running her hand over the table moving things aimlessly around while constantly looking out the door into the rain. She couldn’t see across the driveway to the shed now. The rain was falling so hard. Before she could talk herself out of it, she grabbed the keys and ran out to the truck. She drove slowly, scared when she saw how much rain was on the road and in the front paddocks. The stock grate at the end of the driveway was full and overflowing. The dips on the sides of the road were gushing like tiny torrents into any low areas in the paddocks, pushing new rivers through the long grasses. Fences were almost under in some places, and she thanked God they’d moved most of their stock in time. The amount of water coming down horrified her, but she pushed on toward Nathan’s farm.
She turned in and crawled up the driveway at a snail’s pace and pulled up outside the shearing shed, looking for anyone. A head appeared at the window when she slammed the door shut and bolted for shelter of the shed.
“Libby, what’s going on?” Molly came out to greet her. “Nathan’s not here.”
“I know, but I couldn’t stay at home.” Her voice was starting to shake. “Tom and Holly are missing. We think they crossed the creek, and when the boys came back, they couldn’t find them. Nathan’s gone looking for them.”
Molly came forward and took Libby in her arms, and the dam holding back Libby’s tears finally broke.
“Nathan’ll find them.” Molly held her tight. “Come in and sit with me for a bit. I’ll put the kettle on, and we can keep an eye out for them from here.” She guided Libby to a chair by the window of the shearer’s kitchen.
“Was that your boys who came by a little while ago thundering through here like the devil was on their tails?”
“Yeah, it was. Did they go out with Nathan?”
“I think it was the other way around. They went bolting past as Nathan brought the cows in, and one of the boys talked to him, and the next thing I saw, there was Nathan storming off in the truck after them. Now I understand why.”
Molly handed Libby a mug of coffee, and they both watched for any sign of life coming from the direction of the river.
Nathan drove as fast as he could through the heavy rain toward the bottom paddocks where he thought Tom would have crossed the creek. The window was down in the truck, and the rain poured in, soaking him. His hat was pulled firmly down on his head as he scanned the paddocks for Tom and Holly. How could any mother let her child go out in this kind of weather? Typical city folk, they have no idea of the force of Mother Nature.
Through the sleet, he spotted a dark shape, and he cursed Libby again as he drove toward it. Tom’s horse stood with its back to the rain, and Puddin’ was tucked in beside it. Throwing open the door, Nathan jumped from the truck, his eyes scanning the paddock for Holly and Tom.
Putting his hands up to his mouth, he looked around before he called out. “Holly, Tom. Tom, answer me, damn it.” Nathan pushed through the soaked, long grass to where the creek was a raging torrent of dark, churning water. “Tom, Holly.” He yelled against the wind, trying to see through the
