I crashed the dishes angrily into the sink. Why wouldn’t Dad tell me about Big Blue and Grandad Barney? Didn’t I have a right to know? Anything so terrible needed to be shared, not hidden. I rinsed the plates feeling angrier and angrier.

I snatched the salt and pepper off the table. Why didn’t Dad trust me? I was old enough to understand. Maybe I could even help.

I was about to go to Grandad Barney’s room when I heard a sound. It wasn’t the wind rattling the windows. Or the branches scratching the roof.

It was a short, high-pitched sound.

I stood still and listened. There it was again!

‘Peep. Peep. Peep.’

Could it really be them? My hide-and-seek chicks, searching for me to look after them? The peeps were coming from the other side of the kitchen door.

I checked for Dad down the hallway. When I couldn’t see him, I tugged open the door, spilling light from the kitchen into the yard.

‘Peep. Peep. Peep.’

I stepped outside, closing the door quietly behind me. Rain tore at my face as I peered around the yard. ‘Peanut? Jumble? Where are you?’ I whispered.

The wind ripped at the trees, tossing and turning them like the inflatable men that flapped outside the pizza shops near home. Hundreds of leaves blew like confetti across the lawn.

‘Peanut? Jumble? It’s me, Flynn.’

Crack. I swirled to my right. A huge branch split from a tree and crashed to the ground. I pushed back against the door. Maybe I’d imagined the peeps? I’d better get back inside.

‘Peep. Peep. Peep.’

There it was again! I looked to my left. Peanut! He was huddled under a fern that was growing close to the kitchen door. ‘Here, little guy,’ I whispered, squatting down beside him. He kept his head down as I scooped him into my arms and hugged him close. His heart hammered against mine.

‘Where’s Jumble?’ I asked, peering under the fern. ‘Is he in here too?’

The kitchen door slammed open.

‘Flynnie! Are you crazy? What are you doing outside?’

I fumbled with Peanut, trying to keep my back between him and Dad. ‘Dad, I—’

‘Come inside! Quick! It’s too dangerous out here.’ Dad marched over, grabbed me by the shoulders and yanked me inside. Then he rushed to the radio and began flicking through stations. He didn’t notice the damp yellow lump I had clutched against my T-shirt.

Unable to find a clear channel, Dad began barking out instructions. ‘You go wait in the bathroom!’ he shouted, while jamming old towels under the doors. ‘And fill the bath with water. Grab the torches on your way. I’ll bring a mattress in shortly.’

‘A mattress? But the bathroom’s tiny. We can’t sleep in there.’ How would I hide Peanut from Dad in the bathroom? And what about looking for Jumble?

There was a loud crash outside the kitchen window.

‘Flynn! This isn’t a ride at the Ekka. This is serious. I haven’t got time to argue! Just go to the bathroom and shut the door.’

‘Where are you going?’ My heart thumped. I didn’t want to go to the bathroom. I wanted to go look for Jumble.

‘Flynn, NOW!’

Keeping my back to Dad and Peanut close to my chest, I ran down the hall to the bathroom and crouched on the floor beside the bath. I turned on the taps and then reached down and kissed Peanut’s head. He smelt damp, like a wet school jumper. Where was I going to hide him? In the cabinets under the sink? But then how would he breathe? A shower cubicle might have worked, but Grandad Barney’s shower was only a nozzle over the bath. Maybe the dirty clothes basket? I stood up to check it out, with Peanut squirming wildly in my arms.

‘You’re okay, little fella,’ I murmured. ‘You’re safe in here with me.’

But what about Jumble? What would happen to him all alone out there? I’d seen pictures after cyclones, and there wasn’t much rainforest left. Houses were shattered, and trees were ripped and beheaded, looking like matchsticks jammed into the soil. Jumble would be killed for sure.

I lifted the lid off the clothes basket. Although it was made of plastic, there were holes in the lid for Peanut to breathe. It was perfect. I leant down to stash him inside but, as I did, he wriggled out of my arms. ‘Poor little guy,’ I soothed, as he hopped onto the bathroom tiles. ‘You’re missing Jumble.’ I reached out and stroked him as he pecked at my toes. His feathers, although wet, were soft and reassuring. Touching him seemed to calm him down, and made me feel better, too. I smiled as he pecked my toe again. ‘You’re hungry.’ I rummaged through the box of food Dad had placed on the bench next to the sink. Under the Spam and baked beans, I found three boxes of sultanas. I quickly grabbed one, and tipped the entire box into the wash basket. Then I placed Peanut inside. I’d just lowered the lid when Dad burst through the door.

‘Dad!’ I yelped. ‘I wasn’t doing anything. I was just,’ I glanced at the half-full bath, ‘filling the bath.’

Dad pulled a mattress through the doorway, leaned it against the towel rack, and closed the bathroom door behind him. Just as he went to sit down on the edge of the bath, the lid of the dirty clothes basket popped open. Peanut’s fuzzy head appeared, and he uttered a frightened ‘peep’.

Dad’s face went bright red.

‘Flynn! Is that a—’ He wasn’t able to say the word.

‘Dad, this is Peanut,’ I said, scooping Peanut out of the basket. ‘I found him and his brother Jumble near the swamp.’ I offered my feathery bundle to Dad, but Dad backed away, like I was offering him a burning torch. ‘They’ve lost their dad, and they need me.’

‘No, Flynn,’ said Dad. He moved further away from Peanut. ‘It was bad enough with your grandad, I’m not going through it all again. That bird has to go.’

‘No!’ I shouted. ‘He’s scared. He’s only a baby. I have to look after him!’

‘Flynn! You can’t go around playing with them and treating them like kittens!’

‘But …’

The walls of the bathroom started shaking. Dad gripped the edge of the bath. I pushed myself closer to the mattress, and Peanut leapt from my arms.

‘Flynn! Get him away from me,’ cried Dad, lifting his legs so that Peanut couldn’t reach his feet. If Dad leant away any further, he’d topple straight into the bath.

There was another crash and then a thud. The house shuddered. Peanut hopped closer towards Dad, but Dad leapt from the side of the bath and flung open the bathroom door. ‘Put it out!’ he ordered.

‘No!’ I shouted. My chest heaved. I wouldn’t cry. I couldn’t cry. I had to be brave and protect Peanut. ‘He’s all alone without his dad and brother,’ I said. ‘We have to look after him! Why won’t you listen to me?’

Before Dad could answer, Peanut darted between his legs, and straight out the door.

‘Peanut!’ I shouted, jumping around Dad and after my little hide-and-seek chick.

‘Flynn!’ yelled Dad, grabbing me in a rugby tackle. I tried to push him away, but he held me too tight. I stuck my elbows out and squirmed, and even tried to kick, but Dad wasn’t letting go.