Josh woke up in bed. He threw the covers off to discover he was still fully dressed … even his shoes were on. Dad must have carried me in, he thought.

He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and yawned. He was feeling pretty tired. He stumbled out of his room and into the kitchen.

There was no one around.

He made himself some toast and poured a glass of orange juice. Images and snatches of conversations from the previous night flashed through his mind as he ate.

He wondered where everyone was.

He wondered if Mum was okay.

He wondered about the baby.

It suddenly occurred to him that Aunty Karen had referred to the baby as a ‘he’. A brother! Josh had a brother. I wonder what his name is? he thought.

‘Ah, you’re awake.’ Aunty Karen bustled in. ‘Your father asked me to remind you about your chores.’

‘Did he say anything else?’ asked Josh, hopefully.

‘Just that he was going to be late today,’ said Aunty Karen, putting the kettle on and getting the teapot. ‘Something about supervising the mustering.’

‘Oh.’ Josh looked down at his half-eaten toast, his appetite gone. ‘What about Mum? What about the baby? What’s my brother’s name?’

‘Nathan.’ Aunty Karen stopped to smile at Josh. ‘Your brother’s name is Nathan.’ Then her smile faded. ‘He’s still having some problems with his lungs, so they’ve got him on a ventilator in the Royal Adelaide Hospital. There’s some concern that he might have Infant Respiratory Distress Syndrome.’ She paused to frown. ‘It’s all very complicated and confusing. I’ll hopefully find out more when I get there.’

‘You’re going to Adelaide?’ asked Josh.

‘Yes.’ Aunty Karen poured the water into the teapot. ‘Your mother is okay, but she’s exhausted and quite emotional – understandably so. Since your father isn’t in a position to leave here, I’m going to help out. Which brings me back to your chores. Your father is rather anxious about everything. He’s going to need your help.’

Josh nodded.

Josh swept up the straw and chicken poo. This was probably the task he liked least – the monthly mucking out of the chook shed. Not that he really had any preferences. He’d rather be playing video games, or reading, or drawing his favourite characters from his favourite video games.

Aunty Karen was gone. Dad was out working. And Josh was alone with his chores … and his thoughts.

There was a niggling, fluttery feeling in the pit of his stomach. A nervousness. Would Mum and Nathan be okay?

He wished that he hadn’t slept in this morning. He would have liked to talk to Dad – to find out what he thought and how he felt. To find out why he hadn’t gone to Adelaide with Mum. Yes, there was work to be done, but there was a supervisor to organise the station hands and keep things on track. Surely Dad could take some time off?

Josh swept the straw and poo out the door straight onto one of the chickens. It clucked at him with a disgruntled flapping of its wings before wandering off to peck elsewhere. Josh laughed.

He decided he should hurry. If he got through his chores quickly – he still had to take out the rubbish and feed the two poddy calves – he’d have time to take the bike out. He loved the old Honda trail bike. And he loved the fact that, since turning twelve, Dad allowed him to use it around the station. Another of his chores was to ride along the station perimeter, checking the fencing for damage. He figured he could get away with not doing that today. Instead, perhaps he’d ride out in search of Dad? Ask him about Mum and Nathan. Nate?

‘Nate.’ Josh said the name out loud, as if trying it out. ‘Nate.’

He smiled. He liked Nathan. But he liked Nate even better. I’ll call him Nate, he decided, then and there, amongst all the chook poo.