Blackpeak Station by Holly Ford

flagging. She shivered.
    ‘Come on, let’s move over here and get you warm.’ He carried her over to the fire, and settling himself at her back, folded her into his arms and pulled the other sleeping bag around them both. Charlotte went to sleep against his chest.
    Rob woke her for dinner. He’d made camp bread. They ate it with kosher baked beans and then had a tin of peaches for dessert. Charlotte found that chewing hurt, and Rob put her back to bed. A wind got up, driving the rain harder against the tin roof. The lamps stuttered — it was going to be a rough night. Rob brought in more wood and banked up the fire.
    Overnight, the wind blew the rain away, and the morning dawned flat, grey and clear. Knowing that a search party would be up to look for them at first light, Rob had Charlotte ready to go when they heard the helicopter’s rotor. It didn’t take long for the chopper to spot the smoke coming from the hut and put down on the flat outside.
    ‘Cheers for the lift, Carr,’ Charlotte said, as Rob and Rex helped her inside. The dogs jumped in as well.
    ‘Sure you’ll be okay on your own, mate?’ Carrick Fergusson yelled, above the noise of the blades.
    Rob nodded and gave the thumbs up. Charlotte looked down at him anxiously.
    ‘Archie and I’ll see you tonight!’ he shouted, and waved.
    She smiled. Carr eased the chopper up and they headed for home, flying low beneath the cloud.
    Six hours later, Rob made it back with the horses. Kath had kept lunch waiting.
    ‘Nothing broken,’ Charlotte beamed. ‘The medical centre said the leg’s just bruised — I have to stay off it for a couple of weeks and then it’ll be fine.’
    ‘Plus she’s got concussion,’ Jen reminded her reprovingly. ‘So she’s supposed to stay in bed for at least two days.’ She grinned at Charlotte. ‘Seems like she finally met with something thicker than her head.’
    Rob laughed. Coming over to Charlotte’s chair, he put his hand on her shoulder. ‘Okay?’
    She looked up and smiled into the familiar blue eyes. He looked exhausted. ‘Okay.’ She squeezed his hand. ‘How’s Archie?’
    ‘Bit sore, but he reckons he’ll be right in a couple of days.’
    ‘Yeah. I know the feeling.’
    After lunch, Rob went off for a much-needed shower, and Rex and Jen helped Charlotte to bed. The medical centre had given her crutches, but her shoulders and arms were too sore to use them.
    ‘He was so worried when you didn’t show up last night,’ said Jen softly, as Rex closed the door behind him. She traced the pattern on Charlotte’s duvet with her forefinger. ‘We all were.’
    ‘Yeah.’ Charlotte patted her knee. ‘I know. I’m sorry.’
    Kath poked her head round the door. ‘Would you like a hot chocolate?’
    Charlotte grinned. ‘Thanks, Kath.’ God, it was good to be home.
     
    ‘Please,’ begged Charlotte, over breakfast four days later, ‘there must be something useful I can do.’
    Jen shook her head slowly. ‘Which part of
stay off that leg
did you not understand?’
    Raising herself up on the arms of her chair, Charlotte peered out above the mist on the kitchen window. After the wind and hail that had battered the homestead all night, the sky lightening over the hills was clear, a few reddening streamers of cloud high above the snow-covered peaks the only signs of the storm.
    ‘My leg’s fine. I can’t take another day in the office. I need some fresh air.’ God, she sounded whiny even to her. Charlotte smiled at herself. ‘I feel like I’ve been living under a rock.’
    Jen smiled. ‘Well, a little drive wouldn’t kill you, I suppose. Okay, you can come and shift the bulls with me if you like — so long as you promise to stay in the cab.’
    Charlotte crossed her heart. ‘I swear.’
    As they headed out in the ute, Charlotte gritted her teeth. Every bump in the track jarred her leg. But it was worth it to be out on a morning like this. The sun was just climbing over the Rosalie Range, and a