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of one of the newly-established overland telegraph repeater stations, so an accessible track from Adelaide was already in existence.
    The Overland Telegraph Line, traversing the continent from Adelaide in the south to the furthermost northern port of Palmerston, had been completed just the previous year, in 1872, and had very much followed the route of explorer John McDouall Stuart, who, a decade earlier, had led the first successful expedition north through central Australia. A massive undertaking, the Line had linked Australia by undersea cable to Java and therefore Great Britain. Two thousand miles of telegraph line had been painstakingly erected through the desert heart of the country and telegraph poles and materials for the construction of repeater stations had been transported into the barren wilderness. It was an extraordinary feat all round and, as James was wont to point out when enthusing about his new business venture, one that could only have been made possible by the camel.
    â€˜Couldn’t have been done without the camel,’ he would declare in a tone that defied argument. ‘Not only is Australia now linked with the rest of the world, but the vast interior of this country is opened up for settlement, and all thanks to the camel! Just think of that! A splendid animal, splendid!’
    The construction of the homestead on James’s property was completed well before Emily’s sixteenth birthday. The mud-brick and timber house consisting of five rooms with surrounding verandahs was modest, but comfortable; several smaller outbuildings and sheds housed employees and supplies; and there were corrals for the horses and camels. Already, within only three short years, Eleanor Downs Station was running smoothly, although yet to turn a profit, which was hardly to be expected at this early stage.
    James had named the property in honour of his wife and Eleanor had accepted the tribute although they both knew it was doubtful she would ever travel there. The gentle foothills outside Adelaide were as far afield as Eleanor McQuillan wished to venture.
    Now, as his daughter’s sixteenth birthday approached, James intended to fulfil his promise. Indeed he couldn’t wait. He was excited beyond measure by the prospect of showing Emily the glories of the outback.
    â€˜Oh James, must you?’ Eleanor couldn’t stop herself saying. ‘Must you really?’
    â€˜Of course I must, my dear, a promise is a promise.’
    Eleanor breathed a sigh of resignation, knowing any protest would go unheard by both her husband and daughter.
    Several months later, final arrangements were made.
    â€˜No, Emily, of course you can’t take Nell with you.’ James laughed at the preposterousness of his daughter’s suggestion. ‘Nell’s a city horse. She’s not made for the bush.’
    â€˜But she’s tough and she’s spirited, Father – that’s why I called her Nell Gwyn. My Nell’s afraid of nothing. And she can go like the wind,’ Emily added eagerly in the hope her father’s favourite catchphrase might clinch the matter.
    It didn’t. ‘There’ll be plenty of outback ponies at Eleanor Downs,’ James said firmly, ‘I can assure you of that. And they’ll be tough and spirited and fast enough even for you, my girl.’
    Realising the response was a definite ‘no’ Emily didn’t persist any further. But she would miss her Nell.
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    Now, as she urged the hardy little chestnut on to its very limits, Emily tried to keep her panic in check. Normally she would not work a horse so hard in such terrain; there were rocks and the mare could injure herself. But these were not normal circumstances. She must trust in the outback pony’s sure-footedness and ability to avoid danger.
    â€˜Ride like the wind, Emily! Ride like the wind!’ She kept hearing her father’s voice in her head as she rode, little knowing that, a mile