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figures slipped silently into the room. Sam flicked on his bedside lamp.
    ‘Hey, guys. We knew you wouldn’t be asleep yet …’ Tess sat down on Sam’s bed, and Darcy on George’s.
    ‘How’s Uncle Mac? Mum won’t tell us anything, just says we shouldn’t worry.’ Darcy looked irritated and concerned at the same time.
    Sam sat up and hugged his knees to his chest. ‘We saw the doctor in the hospital before Dad flew out. He’s hurt pretty bad. They said he’s got a fractured spine, and he needs an operation in Adelaide.’
    Tess and Darcy were silent for a moment and then Darcy said, ‘A fractured spine? Does that mean he’ll be paralysed … you know, in a wheelchair?’
    ‘ Darcy! ’ Tess hissed at her brother.
    ‘It’s okay,’ said Sam bleakly. ‘The doctor said he’s got a really good chance with this operation, ’cause he’s strong and healthy. Mum went down with him on the plane.’
    ‘So how’d it happen?’ Darcy asked.
    George answered him: ‘A tree fell on the schoolroom last night – we had a big storm out there – and they were trying to get it off with the tractor, but something went wrong and Dad got hit by the tree. It kind of fell on him somehow, and he got hurt. And Charles wasthere, in a helicopter, so he flew Dad and Mum to the hospital straight away.’
    ‘Charles was there? How come?’ asked Tess.
    ‘He’s got some new job, with Customs,’ said Sam. ‘He was flying around looking for illegal boats coming ashore, you know, illegal immigrants, and he saw a boat down at Deception Point.’
    George took up the story. ‘We’d already found it, when we were out checking the fence lines with Dad and Uncle Mungo. We found bits of stuff washed up on the beach, and then Sam saw the boat out on the reef. Or what was left of it. It’s pretty wrecked.’
    Tess and Darcy absorbed this information, and then Darcy asked incredulously, ‘A tree fell on the schoolroom ?’
    ‘Yeah,’ said George, his characteristic good humour resurfacing momentarily. ‘Squashed it as flat as a tack. I was hoping it might’ve been blown away, but this is even better …’ He was quiet then, a bit horrified at what he’d just said. ‘Well, you know …’
    The others nodded mutely.
    ‘Yeah,’ said Tess, ‘we better let you get to sleep. Mum said we can stay home with you tomorrow, too. C’mon, Darce.’
    Sam nodded, and when the door closed softly behind them, he switched off the light. George was quiet fora few moments, and then turned towards his brother. ‘Sam? Everything’s gunna be different now, isn’t it?’
    ‘I don’t know,’ said Sam, his throat getting tight. ‘I just don’t know.’
     
    At breakfast, Aunty Lou chattered on at Sam and George about how brave they were being, and how they were not to worry. ‘Mac’s a big strong man, he’ll get through this, you’ll see. And he’s got Sarah down there with him, and all of us up here thinking about him. All that positive energy is going to help him. We all have to think positive thoughts and send all that good energy to him …’ She burbled away while they pushed cereal around their plates, neither of them really paying any attention.
    The back door opened, and Uncle Mungo’s big frame blocked out the sunlight. ‘Mornin’ fellers, Lou.’ He nodded at Tess and Darcy as if he couldn’t remember their names. He took off his hat when he came in, and stood awkwardly by the sink, as if he didn’t quite know what to do with himself. In spite of how miserable he felt, Sam was intrigued. Where was the big, grumpy, opinionated man who had argued with everyone when he was out at Brumby Plains? Sam felt a rush of pity for him. He doesn’t really know anyone here except me andGeorge , he thought. He must be really worried about Dad, just like I would be about George, poor bloke.
    Sam lifted the teapot. ‘Hey, Uncle Mungo, want a cup of tea?’
    Uncle Mungo looked for all the world like he was about to cry, but he didn’t.