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‘Whose car is that?’ Heather’s voice was thready.

‘It’s a Mercedes. I saw the badge on the back when it turned.’ Kane looked up as Ellie put her hand on his shoulder but he barely registered her touch on his bare skin.

‘Is he drunk?’ she asked.

Kane shook his head. ‘I don’t think so.’ He’d leaned forward to sniff Bill’s breath but there was no smell of alcohol coming from him.

Bill moaned and tried to sit up but Kane put his hands on his shoulders. ‘Stay there, mate. I just want to check you out.’

‘Do we need an ambulance?’ Ellie’s voice was calm.

Kane shook his head as he turned and stared up at Ellie, his stomach clenching. The blood was starting to get to him.

‘It would be quicker to take him to the medical centre ourselves, wouldn’t it?’ He swallowed and kept his voice steady as he searched the ground around them, but he couldn’t see what he was looking for. Ellie nodded as she looked at Kane, picking up the warning he was trying to convey.

‘What’s wrong with him?’ Heather crouched beside them. ‘It’s okay, Dad. We’re here now.’

‘His hand is hurt. I think he’s lost a fair bit of blood and that would be why he passed out. We need to get him to the hospital.’

Kane looked across the car park, remembering the sound of the car slowly driving away. He wasn’t ready to tell them that one of Bill’s fingers was missing.

*

After binding Bill’s hand with a bandage from the first-aid kit in Ellie’s car, Kane drove to the medical centre. Ellie and Heather sat in the back of his Jeep and they’d supported Bill between them as they’d sped up the dark highway.

‘What did you do, Dad?’ Heather asked but Bill just shook his head and stared ahead, his bound hand pressed against his chest.

‘Were you looking for Ellie? Is that why you were down the back?’

‘Button it, Heather. Enough with the questions, can’t you see a man’s in pain?’ Bill dropped his head to his chest and closed his eyes.

There was no traffic on the road and it only took twenty minutes to get to Jabiru. Ellie had called ahead and one of the resident doctors met them in the emergency department.

‘I’m going to admit you, mate.’ The doctor finished his examination and patted Bill on the shoulder. ‘I’m going to give you a good slug of local anaesthetic and antibiotics while I do what I can. And you can tell me exactly how you managed to rip your finger off.’

Bill tried to sit up but the doctor’s hand stayed him.

‘I can’t stay. I have to be in Darwin tomorrow afternoon.’ Bill jutted his chin out and Heather stepped forward.

‘I’ll look after Dad when I get him home.’

The doctor shook his head. ‘I won’t put him in for surgery till the nursing staff comes on at seven in the morning, but he needs to stay here tonight. It’s more than a few stitches. The rest of you might as well all go home and get some sleep.’

Kane and Ellie waited in the car while Heather had a few moments with her father. Ellie sat in the front with Kane and Heather was quiet in the back seat as they returned to the lodge. Ellie turned sideways in the seat and looked back at her friend in the last, dim light from the streetlights before they turned onto the highway. Heather’s hand was over her eyes.

‘Did your dad say any more about what happened?’

‘No.’ Heather rubbed her eyes. ‘But he told me to stay with you and not go home.’

‘That’s a good idea. It’s way too late for you to drive out to your place,’ Ellie agreed. ‘But I still want to know what happened.’

‘Leave it Ellie, it was just an accident. Like we thought.’

‘How could it be an accident?’ Ellie finally gave into the fear that had settled in her chest. ‘The way Bill was the other day, and with what’s happening at the farm I –’

‘Dad talked to me about that after you left.’ Heather’s voice was sharp. ‘He said you’re imagining things, just like your mother.’

Ellie clenched her hands on her lap as anger surged through her. ‘It’s something to do with the Aboriginal council or the environmental committee, isn’t it?’ It was dark now and Ellie couldn’t see Heather’s expression.