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27/03/2024

Nathan remembered putting his arms around Jacqui and seeing her hair shine in the light of the campfire as she smiled at him. He knew what was in store later and was feeling pretty great about life in general. He wasn’t sure when he’d first noticed Cameron and Jenna together. Maybe when Jenna had stood up to get them both another beer, stretching her arms high above her head and exposing a flash of taut skin as Cam gazed up at her. She had definitely been watching Cam watching her, as she’d walked slowly all the way over to the coolbox, then slowly all the way back, and sat down again right beside him. Nathan could picture that clearly.
‘Jenna was older, I remember,’ Nathan said. ‘I think she was about twenty at the time.’

27/03/2024

‘The girl, Jenna, was working on Jacqui’s dad’s property,’ he said. ‘She was English, out here backpacking with her boyfriend. The boyfriend had had to stay behind and work at the station, so she’d come alone to the party with Jacqui.’
It had been a good turnout, for around there. Fresh beers were cracked open as soon as a bottle ran empty and the sound of laughter and chatter had swelled as mates caught up in person, for the first time in years in some cases. The numbers at the party grew as a handful more people arrived, then dipped occasionally as the booze flowed and the night wore on and couples

– some established, some brand new – made the most of rare face-to-face time by disappearing together into the dark of the dunes for half an hour. Nathan was biding his time. Neither he nor Jacqui was expected home that night and they had plans and a mate’s empty house waiting for them in town. Cam knew where the back of the car was when he was ready to crash out.

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27/03/2024

‘There was this party in the dunes outside town,’ he said. ‘I can’t even remember who organised it. Some of the Atherton guys, I think. Anyway, we all drove in for it. Some kids we’d done School of the Air with back in the day, a few of the station hands, backpackers, that kind of thing. Most people had left school, so were more my age than Cam’s, but he was welcome to come along. Everyone knew him, obviously.’
It had been a good night, Nathan remembered. Warm, but not too hot for once, and the inky sky was heavy with stars as they parked their utes and four-wheel drives in the sand. Someone lit a campfire and cranked up the music as the booze was passed around.
Nathan had driven there with Cameron, and had spotted Jacqui the minute they’d pulled up. She had been sitting by the fire with another girl, who was laughing at something and idly braiding and unbraiding her thick hair in the orange glow of the flames. They were both sipping beer. Jacqui had seen Nathan and given him one of the smiles she’d been giving him lately and Nathan had nearly fallen over himself in his haste to get out of the car. He’d almost forgotten Cameron was even there until his brother appeared at his shoulder, his tall shadow flickering against the ground.

27/03/2024

‘It was all years ago,’ he said eventually. ‘I was nineteen, so Cam must have been seventeen. Yeah, he was, actually, because he was still underage.’ Bub gave an amused grunt from the passenger seat at the suggestion that
Balamara observed the legal drinking age with any real enthusiasm.
‘It was around this time of year,’ Nathan went on. ‘The week between Christmas and New Year, when everyone who’s coming back has come

back. All the property kids were home from school or uni or their city jobs or whatever they’d been doing.’
Cameron had been on holidays ahead of his final year of boarding school in Brisbane, while Nathan had been splitting his time between working on Burley Downs and nurturing a hot and heavy mutual flirtation with golden- haired Jacqui Walker next door.

27/03/2024

He put the car in park and jumped out, walking slowly towards the animal. That was enough to get it moving, followed by the small herd waiting on the other side of the road. Nathan automatically ran an appraising eye over them. They looked healthy and well fed. Cameron – or Bub, Harry, whoever, he quickly corrected himself – would have no trouble finding a market for them when the time came.
‘Anyway,’ Xander said impatiently, leaning forward as Nathan got back in. ‘Who’s Jenna Moore?’
Nathan focused on the road as he drove. He realised he had never actually told the story out loud – he’d never been asked to – and suddenly wasn’t sure where to start.

27/03/2024

‘Jenna Moore,’ Bub said from the passenger seat. ‘That’s who they’re all worried about.’
‘Did you hear much about that back then?’ Nathan said. It had all been before Bub’s time. He would have been – Nathan worked it out – only about seven when it happened.
Bub shrugged. ‘This and that.’
Nathan realised both Bub and Xander were looking at him expectantly. Out in front, a cow stepped onto the track and wandered across. He slowed to let it pass, but it stopped dead, turning its head to look at them. Nathan came to a halt and waited, then sounded the horn. The cow didn’t move, just blinked slowly.
‘Christ. Back in a sec.’

27/03/2024

The house had barely disappeared from view behind them before Xander leaned forward from the back seat. ‘So what’s the story with this woman that everyone’s whispering about?’
He’d clearly been itching to ask and Nathan couldn’t blame him. Dinner the night before had been swiftly abandoned as Nathan had stood out on the verandah with Ilse, Harry and Liz, whispering and talking themselves in circles. It wasn’t long before Lo and Sophie had poked their small heads around the screen door to see what was happening, followed by Xander.
Ilse had hastily bundled the girls back inside, ostensibly to put them to bed, and hadn’t come back. Nathan had shaken his head at Xander – Not now, mate – and the boy had reluctantly retreated. Liz, stiff-limbed and red- eyed, had eventually gone inside without another word. The sound of soft

crying had floated out on the night air. Nathan wasn’t sure who it was. He and Harry had talked until it was time to turn the generator off, then Nathan had lain awake on the couch for hours. His eyes felt gritty in the morning light, and he rubbed them now with his knuckles. It made them worse.

27/03/2024

They set off for Lehmann’s Hill just after dawn. Nathan drove, with Bub next to him and Xander in the back.
He adjusted his mirrors as the sun’s reflection rose, blinding red behind them. They were heading west, towards the desert, and the sky loomed huge above the perfect flat horizon. By the time they hit the edge and turned north, they would be able to see the dunes: huge sandy peaks running north to south for hundreds of kilometres.
Xander had helped Nathan collect the mast repair instructions and tools from Cameron’s car before they set off. The equipment was all there. If Cameron had never intended to go to the mast, Nathan thought, he’d made an effort to hide the fact.

27/03/2024

‘Until all this, obviously,’ he said. ‘Glenn saw the log this arvo, got the story from Matt, and thought he’d better call us and see if this woman’s name rang any bells.’
‘Well, don’t bloody keep me in suspense, mate,’ Nathan said. Liz was examining the floorboards and Ilse was still staring out into the night.
‘It was Jenna Moore.’
Nathan breathed out. ‘Sh*t.’ He hadn’t heard the name in more than twenty years and he had to dig deep to fully unearth the memory. Dusty and buried, it rose up through the years and clicked into place, and by then it wasn’t a bell ringing in Nathan’s head, it was an alarm.

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27/03/2024

Nathan felt a seed of disquiet unfurl and grow. ‘Okay.’
‘Matt doesn’t think too much of it, but he mentions this woman to Cameron when he sees him in town a few days later. Thinking it’s an old girlfriend or whatever.’
Ilse folded her arms firmly across her chest.
‘But apparently, Cam wasn’t too happy to hear this,’ Harry said. ‘Told Matt he wasn’t interested in hearing from her. Not to pass on his number or email. Get rid of her if she calls again. So Matt thinks fair enough. Old girlfriend.’ Harry glanced at Ilse. ‘New girlfriend maybe. None of his business. And that’s that. Quick note in the log, nothing more to see.’
The creases in Harry’s face deepened.

27/03/2024

‘Apparently about two months ago someone rang the cop shop asking about Cameron,’ Harry said, and looked at Liz. ‘You tell him. It was you Glenn spoke to.’
Liz shook her head, a tight jerk of the neck, and glanced at Ilse, who waved her hand impatiently. ‘Christ, you just tell him, Harry.’
Harry sighed. ‘Someone called the police station, but it wasn’t Glenn who took the call. It was when he was on medical leave for that week or so, you remember?’
‘Vaguely,’ Nathan said. ‘Matt covered.’ The usual stand-in sergeant from

St Helens. He was an okay bloke.
‘Right. Well, Glenn noticed a minor entry on the log and asked Matt about it. Matt reckons he got a call at the station from a woman saying she used to know Cameron and asking if he still worked on this property.’
Ilse was now looking out into the night with a thousand-yard stare.
‘So Matt says yes,’ Harry went on. ‘Offers to pass on her details, but she says something like: “No, it’s fine. As long as Cameron’s still there, I’ll get in touch myself.”’

27/03/2024

‘Back in a minute.’
The conversation stopped dead as he stepped outside. Harry cut himself off mid-word and Liz looked up. She had both arms wrapped tightly around herself. Ilse, who appeared to have been looking from one to the other, now fixed her eyes firmly on Nathan. He wasn’t sure what she was trying to tell him, if anything. The yellow porch light cast a sickly glow over them all.
‘What’s going on?’
No-one answered him straight away.
‘Anyone?’ he tried again. ‘What did Glenn say?’
Harry shot a look at Liz. ‘He was going through the police records this afternoon for his report and he found a reference to Cameron.’
Nathan frowned. ‘Did Cam do something?’ ‘No,’ Liz snapped, and Ilse’s jaw tightened.