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Mum.’
    â€˜Her mother is there with her. She’ll be more relaxed without people around her.’
    â€˜I promised I’d ring Lawson if anything happened. He’s going to freak.’
    â€˜It wasn’t anyone’s fault. He won’t be angry. Anyway, Marnie is fine. It’s the filly that got hurt.’
    â€˜Do you think I should ring him now?’
    Caroline looked at her watch. ‘It will be daylight in a couple of hours. You can ring him then. No point everyone losing sleep.’
    While the rest of the house fell back to quietness, Jess sat peering out the lounge-room window. A thin stream of light shone from the shed. She pictured Opal lying listlessly in the straw, her legs torn and her lungs full of muddy water. ‘Surely I’m not going to lose another one,’ she whispered to herself. ‘That would just be too unfair.’

5
    THREE DAYS LATER, Jess stood with John Duggin, Shara and Craig outside the yard. Only now had the floodwaters gone down enough for the vet to be able to get through. It was the worst flood the gully had seen for a decade.
    John had given Jess instructions over the phone, but every time she tried to get near Opal’s legs to clean the wounds, the filly bared her teeth and charged at her. She hadn’t eaten and her flanks were sucked in against her hips, leaving caverns of hunger down each side. Now she stood in the makeshift stable with her nose screwed into a permanent scowl and her head cocked awkwardly to one side.
    John stood with his legs apart, arms folded, and a serious look on his face while the girls waited eagerly for his diagnosis. ‘The leg’s not too bad. It probably should’ve been stitched, but we should be able to get that right with some antibiotics and a bit of iodine.’ He paused. ‘I’m more worried about that head injury.’
    â€˜Head injury?’ said Shara, who had delayed going back to boarding school to support Jess and to learn as much as possible from John.
    â€˜See the way she’s holding her head to the side?’ John tilted his own head as he studied the filly. ‘That’s not right.’
    â€˜I thought she was doing that because of the pain,’ said Jess.
    â€˜It’s pain, but it’s from her head, not from her leg. Did you say you dragged her out with a rope?’
    â€˜Yes.’
    â€˜Around her neck?’
    â€˜It was the only way,’ said Jess. ‘She would have drowned otherwise.’
    â€˜With another horse right near her, you say? Could she have been kicked in the head, do you think?’
    â€˜Yes, easily,’ said Jess. ‘She was thrashing around and kept going under the water.’
    â€˜Could it be an ear infection?’ Shara asked.
    â€˜It could be,’ John replied, ‘but I really need to examine her properly to be sure.’
    â€˜I can’t get anywhere near her,’ said Jess. ‘She’s never been handled before.’
    John looked thoughtful. ‘We might have to get her onto a truck and bring her down to the surgery. I’m sorry, but she’s a real mess and she’s going to need a lot of care for a couple of weeks. I don’t think you’ll be able to manage her on your own if she’s not halter broke.’
    â€˜We’ll have to take the mare too, then, won’t we?’ Jess said.
    â€˜It would probably be a good idea.’
    Jess groaned. ‘Lawson’s going to freak. He wants to take Marnie droving next week. We’d planned to be weaning Opal now.’
    â€˜It seems a bit cruel to wean her while she’s so sick,’ said John. ‘Opal really doesn’t need any added stress at the moment.’
    Craig stepped in. ‘I’ll give Lawson a ring and ask if he minds letting the mare go with Opal, at least for a few days. He might lend us his truck too.’ He set off towards the house.
    Jess slumped against the wall, feeling totally