3

The truck lurched to a stop, snapping Holly out of sleep. She winced as she pulled her head off Jake’s shoulder and straightened her neck. ‘Where are we?’ she mumbled, peering through the dust-smeared windscreen.

‘Gunnedah,’ said Jake. ‘Supermodel capital of Australia. You might get a modelling contract here, Holls.’ He started singing again in a high-pitched voice. ‘I shake my little tush on the catwalk . . .’

‘This town has produced the sum total of one supermodel,’ said Brandon, unclipping his seatbelt.

‘Two actually,’ Jake corrected. ‘Miranda Kerr and Erica Packer.’

Brandon opened the door and let a wash of air billow into the cabin. ‘You slept through a huge dust storm, Holly.’

‘Is that why all the windows are closed?’ The cabin of the truck was like a sauna. Her body was sticky with sweat and she could hardly breathe.

‘Yeah, we couldn’t even put the fan on,’ said Brandon. His hair was damp with sweat. ‘I can’t believe you slept through it.’

‘Could one of you take Marley for a wee?’ Mum got out and Holly noticed her stop and brace herself on the side of the truck. ‘I have to go and make a phone call.’

Brandon stepped out into the heat and slammed the truck door behind him, leading the dog towards a small patch of grass.

Holly climbed out and spent a moment stretching her stiff limbs. ‘How long until we get there?’ she asked.

‘It’s about another half hour up the road,’ answered Dad. To the west the sky was dark and purple. Lightning flickered in the distance. ‘Be good to get there before dark.’

Holly pulled her phone out of her pocket to check her Facebook page but the battery was finally dead. She looked at the big dust-covered tarps over their belongings, and hoped her laptop was okay. And her guitar.

Mum stood under the awning of a shop with her mobile phone clamped to her ear. She walked in circles as she talked, probably to Grandma. She always paced and got agitated when she spoke to her mother.

Within moments everyone was squeezed into the truck again.

‘Be there soon,’ said Dad, reversing out.

It took more than two hours to find the property. The front gate was little more than a cattle grid. Upon closer inspection, there was a sign which had fallen over and lay hidden in the long grass: GLENVALE.

‘Putting that thing back up will be my first job,’ said her father. He shoved the truck back into gear and rolled over the cattle grid. Grass scraped at the doors as they drove towards a cluster of outbuildings. The cottage couldn’t be too far away.

They came to an old grain-storage shed. White paint peeled off the slatted timber sides like sunburnt skin. Behind that was some sort of hut, another small shed and then another, larger machinery shed.

Her dad pulled up in front of the buildings. Everyone tumbled out of the truck into a hot, dry wind, and Holly felt it burrow through her clothes and drink the sweat off her skin.

Dad was on the phone again, with his finger corking his other ear against the wind, trying to reach the boss.

He flipped his phone shut. ‘That’s the workers’ cottage,’ he said, staring at a tiny weatherboard hut with a wonky brick chimney.

‘That weird little building over there?’ said Brandon. He whistled.

Dad nodded.

There was a collective stunned silence beneath the mocking roar of the wind. The whole building could not have had more than two or three rooms, and one of the windows was broken.

‘That is not a cottage,’ said Mum. ‘That is a shack. Did you tell Pat we had four children?’

Dad let out a long sigh. ‘He did say it was small.’

‘You didn’t tell him we had four kids, did you?’

‘It didn’t seem relevant at the time,’ said Dad, scratching his collarbone uncomfortably.

‘Remind me why we had to come and live in Gunnedah again?’ Mum looked grim.

‘Melinda, you know why. It was the first job I could find, and it came with a . . .’ He didn’t seem game to say the word house. ‘. . . Accommodation.’

Holly squeezed her arms tight around herself and bit her lips hard to stop from screaming. She watched her dad yank open the front door of the hut. He waved them over.

Inside there was a strong smell of mouse poo. The main room contained two sagging couches and an ancient telly. In an adjoining room was a small kitchen with an old wood stove. Another doorway led into a small bedroom. Brown dust lay on everything.

Mum walked into the kitchen and wrestled with the tap over the sink. Nothing but a breeze and a clunking sound came out. ‘There’s no water.’

Brandon flicked at the light switches and stared at the ceiling. ‘No power.’

‘But I need to check my emails,’ protested Holly. Her friend Jenny had promised to check up on Rocket for her and send some photos of him in his new home.

Brandon snorted. ‘Good luck with that.’

‘Maybe there’s a generator,’ said Dad. ‘I’ll see if I can get it running.’ He disappeared out the front door.

‘This is ridiculous,’ said Mum. ‘We can’t all squeeze in here!’

Her dad reappeared. ‘No genny.’

‘Where are the water tanks?’ asked Mum.

‘There’s one behind the house,’ said Dad, ‘probably just need to turn the pump on.’ He stalled. ‘When we have power, that is.’

‘We do have gas,’ said Mum, peering out the window at two large silver bottles. ‘That’s if they’re not empty.’

‘Where am I supposed to sleep?’ said Eva.

‘Good question,’ said Holly. There would be zero privacy in this hut. She wouldn’t have a single thought to herself.

‘There’s supposed to be a caravan here,’ her dad answered. ‘The boss hasn’t dropped it off yet. I’ve tried ringing him but I can’t get through. We’ll have to drive to Rockleigh, the main property. Holly, grab those old water drums out of the machinery shed and throw them on the back of the truck. You can come with me.’

Holly sighed deeply. Just what she didn’t feel like – jumping back into the truck. She ran across the gravelly yard, found the drums and tossed them on the back of the truck among everything else, and then pulled herself into the front seat. She whistled to Marley and patted the seat next to her, but he slunk underneath the steps of the front porch.

She wished they could drive straight back to Blue Gum Flats, with its beaches, town water, supermarkets, wi-fi connection and decent beds to sleep in.

‘Welcome to your new life, Holly,’ she said to herself.