Thirty-three
Disappointment blended with bulldust as the day progressed. So much for her date, because when they got through the Stoneys, Ash bundled Harper and Mason into his ute, telling her to drive back to the farmhouse, while the others continued mustering their new herd towards some paddock.
That left Harper following a dirt track—on her own—with Mason tucked up in his booster seat, without a map or a blipping dot on the GPS to tell her she was travelling in the right direction. All she had was the crappy track she could barely make out after that dust storm.
When the sheds and the farmhouse came into sight, she then realised how hard she’d been gripping the steering wheel, her shoulders ached.
But it was getting inside the house that bothered her. She had to deal with Sarge.
Her fear fell away when she spotted the labrador, Ruby, leaping off the front porch, her tail wagging, giving them a happy dance that had Mason eager to hug his nanny dog. Scout, the beagle, did laps of joy chasing its tail, to then lean against Harper’s leg and smile. Even Sarge seemed pleased to see her.
It was a homecoming she’d never expected, even though they had Cap’s special five-day dog feeders and plenty of water, she was eager to spoil the dogs too.
Showered and changed into clean clothes, Harper felt human again. With Mason playing on the lawn, Ruby beside him, Harper tackled a load of washing.
At the old top-loader washing machine, she sprinkled in the powder, dropped the lid, turned the dial to wash, and the water flow kicked in, rushing through the pipes. Ah, yes, the joys of indoor plumbing.
‘We should have dinner, Mason. Pity we can’t order takeaway.’
Something moved in the corner of her eye as the machine shook. The washing machine was known to walk across the concrete during the spin cycle, so she checked the wood chocks were in place to keep it stationary.
When she spotted a strange brown stick lying beside the washing machine.
How did that get there?
Suddenly it moved.
She blinked, taking a step back. Her eyes widening, holding her breath as her brain finally registered what it was.
A snake.
A big one.
The washing machine knocked, and the hot water tap came on with a whoosh. The snake reared up as if covered in hot boiling water and propelled itself across the concrete, heading for the dead lawn. Straight for Mason.
‘SNAKE.’
She grabbed the nearby house broom.
‘ Mason, move. ’ Harper tried to outrun the snake that had to be over six feet long.
Ruby pushed Mason over to put herself between the child and the snake. It reared up as Mason wailed and Ruby growled, and then struck out at the dog. Ruby whimpered.
‘NO.’ Harper slammed the broom down onto the snake, where it coiled around the handle. She flicked it to the nearby trees as Sarge and Scout came running from around the front of the house.
‘Stop. Please stop. Sarge, Scout, halt. STAY!’ The dogs obeyed. ‘ Come .’ And they did, as she dropped to her knees beside Ruby.
‘Rubeeee?’ Tears trickled down Mason’s chubby cheeks as he crawled to his dog.
‘Where is it …’ Harper searched Ruby’s fur for the spot. And found it. The red blood was bright against the dog’s cream coat, coming from the bite mark on her lower leg.
Harper ran back to the pile of sheets that were from her swag. With her teeth, she ripped one into strips and quickly bound the labrador’s leg. She wasn’t sure if her first-aid training from the embassy worked on a dog, but she wasn’t stopping.
She picked up Mason and ran for Ash’s ute still parked nearby.
With Mason safely in his baby seat, her muscles strained as she carried Ruby to the ute and lifted her to the passenger floor. Doors closed. Her handbag dumped onto the passenger seat with a bunch of water bottles beside it. ‘Stay, dogs.’ She rolled up the passenger window, adjusted the mirror, and her heart squeezed at the sad sight of Sarge and Scout guarding the farmhouse that was soon hidden behind a trail of dust.