Ellie turned to the girls. 'Oh loves, come here.' She held out her arms to both girls. 'We're not sure, we'll just have to wait for your mother to come back home. She might be back in a minute.' Her face was a mask of worry as she glanced at Karl who looked frantic.

The flames licked the wooden fence posts at the perimeter of Harvey and Mary's luxurious home. Mick's cabin was in direct line with the advancing demon.

Inside the house, Harvey stood framed in the doorway of the bathroom. Mary was oblivious to what was happening outside. She was so drunk she sat slumped back in her now lukewarm bath.

'You disgustin' wh.o.r.e!' Harvey flung at her. 'You make me sick!'

'Pish off Harvey, you make me shick too!' Mary slurred. 'I'll never give you what you want... NEVER!' she screeched.

Harvey took two steps across the room and dragged Mary by her arm from the bath.

'Oh yes you will, you drunken b.i.t.c.h, Look at you, you can't even stand up!' Mary had stumbled as Harvey hauled her dripping body from the water.

'You will do as I say!' he shouted. 'Now get out of this f.u.c.kin' bath. There's a fire outside!'

Mary tossed back her head and spat as hard as she could in his face.

Harvey went scarlet, his face contorted with rage. Mary started to say something as Harvey clenched his hands around her throat, shaking her violently!

'You stupid drunken b.i.t.c.h! You b.i.t.c.h... You'll be sorry!' Harvey's hands tightened harder. He kept shaking her. She clawed at Harvey's hands, trying to release their hold. He was out of control, possessed with rage. A gurgling sound escaped Mary's throat. Her eyes bulged as her legs folded under her. Her head slumped back and her silky long blonde hair stirred in the hot wind blowing through the bathroom window.

The army arrived with the all their firefighting equipment. All the necessary machinery had been sent to the fire site. Soldiers headed into the depths of the hills in bulldozers, the only machinery that could possibly master the hilly terrain. Their objective was to cut fire trails to stop the fire advancing to the valley. A state of emergency was declared. Hours of trying to hold back the raging inferno had taken its toll on the exhausted men. Ambulance officers treated one after the other for smoke inhalation and burns. One man had been found lying on the ground where he had collapsed, overcome from exhaustion and smoke. His throat parched, gasping for air through a wind pipe burned dry from the intense heat.

Flames exploded high above the heads of Digger, Sam and four other firefighters, forming a crown fire in the treetops.

'This one's headin' for the Jindera village... Only a miracle can stop it,' one bloke said between hacking coughs. 'Look out!' he tried to shout. Another of the men shoved Digger aside as a huge gum tree toppled to the ground.

Flames jumped from its branches and danced off to incur more destruction. Digger breathed a sigh of relief and thanked the man for saving him. 'What a mess. If the army can't stop it, Jindera's village will go for sure,' he gasped.

Harvey stood outside the back door of his lovely home. The fire was all around him. Mick's cabin was a plie of burned debris, and now the evil was ready to devour his house. Flames licked the wooden veranda and snaked up the veranda posts to jump onto the roof.

The tin shed where Harvey had once parked his car was a twisted mess on the ground.

Harvey stood oblivious to the inferno surrounding him. His eyes were glazed and he stared straight ahead.

From out of nowhere, firemen in trucks rolled up, leaping from their vehicles. They dragged down hoses and began pumping streams of water onto the fire.

'Get the h.e.l.l outta here, man!' A Fireman grabbed hold of Harvey and pulled him from the burning veranda. Within minutes it, crumbled into a heap on the ground.

'This's the Winters' place,' another firefighter shouted. 'Are you Harvey Winters?' he asked, coming over to Harvey.

'Mary... Mary...' Harvey just said her name over and over.

The fireman looked at his offsider. 'Seems a bit out of it; must be the shock of the fire. Who's Mary?'

The other man shrugged. 'The wife, I s'pose.'

'Hey... mate... Get over here, quick !' One of the Firemen who had gone inside the house with a knapsack came rushing back out, followed closely by his mate.

The fireman who had gone in response to his mate's shout exclaimed in horror.

'My G.o.d!' He was looking at the limp body in his mates arms.

The limp and lifeless body of Mary!

CHAPTER THIRTY.

Win sobbed hysterically as she sped along Centaur Road. She brushed the tears away with the back of her hand so she could see where she was going. On and on she sped, past Sam's, past Dawn's and deeper and deeper into bushland. The road narrowed and trees hung low, scratching the cab of the ute. She was terrified, not of the fire but of what she was about to face.

Smoke hung low like thick fog and the smell of the bushfire stung her nostrils.

Finally, she braked in front of a barbed wire fence. Jumping out, she didn't stop to close the door nor take the keys from the ignition. She climbed over the fence, the barbed wire snagging the flesh on her legs. The smoke made her eyes water and she could taste ash in her mouth. She knew the fire was close... very close. She could hear it.

'Dear G.o.d, please help me.' She prayed as she ran through the bushland. Panting heavily and coughing from the smoke, she came to the creek. It was very deep at this section, although there wasn't any water in it at this time of year.

She came to a stop and looked around desperately for a way to get to the other side. A gum tree had fallen nearby and part of it lay across the creek. Win took a deep breath. She had been a kid when she last crossed the creek at this very place and then her brothers had made a makeshift bridge out of fallen tree branches. Now, desperation lent her the courage she needed. Swallowing her fear, she climbed onto the tree. Slowly, she edged forward, not daring to tempt fate by looking down into the hollow beneath her. She inched her way across, wishing she had slacks on as the rough tree trunk was grazing her legs. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, she reached the other side of the creek.

Collapsing onto the gra.s.s, she could feel the hysteria rise inside her.

'I have to save her... I can't let that b.a.s.t.a.r.d hurt her,' she cried, pushing herself onto her knees. It was then she noticed the rabbit. It sat looking at her. Their eyes met and she could see it too was terrified, its tiny body was shaking all over. It blinked at her and hopped away a few feet then stopped. His little nose twitched as he stared at her.

'I know little fella... I'm scared too.' Taking a deep breath, she stood up. 'You've got to hold it together,' she said to herself and glanced at her bleeding legs. She could feel the erratic beat of her heart.

The rabbit hopped a little further and again stopped to look at her.

Win looked quizzically at him it was like this little creature was waiting for her. She took one quick look around to get her bearings and broke into a run in the direction the rabbit had taken. She ran as fast as she could. At one point, she caught her foot on a tree root and fell, momentarily winding herself. Gasping for breath, she used the tree to haul herself to her feet and staggered on.

Her throat was dry and it hurt to swallow. A huge hill loomed in front of her and she was forced to slow her pace. She had no choice other than to walk. Her face was streaked from tears and ash, and her chest heaved with every breath. Eventually, she had to sit down to catch her breath.

'Which way is it?' she screamed, looking around her. She racked her brain to remember the secret place they had made as children. The bush had grown in density since all those years ago. Making a decision, she pushed on, stumbling and tripping across rocks and tree stumps. She hadn't been this far into the hills since she was a kid and then she had been with Karl and her two older brothers.

The hills were riddled with caves up here and no one had been up this far in years that she knew of. Soon she realised she had chosen the wrong direction, then she saw the rabbit again. He took a few little hops and stopped to stare at her, then he took a few more hops and again stopped and stared at her.

Win stared back at him. She tilted her head to one side then raised her chin as it dawned on her. 'Dad' she whispered.

The rabbit twitched his little nose, took another couple of hops and stopped to look at her again, his beautiful big eyes pleading... 'Dad,' she said again, louder this time.

The rabbit hopped again then broke into a run... Win followed him.

The hills closed in on her. She could hear the bushfire and ash was falling all around her. It was like she was in another world, a dark, sinister terrifying world!

'I'm coming... I'm coming,' she croaked, her throat dry and her voice raspy from the smoke-filled air.

Then she saw it... the old lean-to they had played in as kids.

The little rabbit stopped. He sat up on his back paws and rubbed his two front ones together. With a twitch of his nose, he turned and hopped away.

Despite the fire trails the army had cut, the fire was still advancing rapidly. All available men and women fought the blaze. Crown fires burned across the top of them while they fought with every ounce of strength to control the ground fires.

The whole scene was horrific. Trees crashed to the ground, allowing flames to leap from their branches and race along to join up with others, merging into a wall of fire.

Salvation Army men arrived to offer the exhausted firefighters refreshments and words of encouragement and comfort. The tired firefighters appreciated them and relied on their comforting presence.

The police had erected a road block on Urana Road to stop the ever increasing flow of sticky beaks. They were only allowing emergency vehicles and property owners had to show identification. Police could not understand people wanting to head towards the danger instead of away from it.

Fire trucks and heavy army vehicles were backwards and forwards along the road and the general public had proved nothing but a nuisance to them. Several accidents had resulted already because the public were out checking out the chaos. A road block had also been erected to prevent the public from access to Hamilton valley. It was already a scene of chaos and evacuation was imminent.

One piece of good news to lighten the load was that the firefighters had managed to control the fires at Jindera. However, there had been several properties lost, Harvey and Mary's being one of them.

Now all they had to do was stop the huge front bearing down on Hamilton Valley!

Hours had gone by. The men didn't know whether night had turned to day. They didn't know how long they had been out there nor did they care. They just wanted to stop this monster!

Karl had gone back to sit on the steps at the back of the house. He felt strange. A cold chill shot through him, making him shiver. He felt upset, almost as though he wanted to cry. A horrible empty feeling took hold of him.

Ellie came to sit with him. The girls had gone inside on Ellie's encouragement to make some sandwiches with Hazel and some thermos flasks. She thought this would be a distraction for them, telling them they might have to evacuate later and they would need food to take. She was hoping Win would return soon. They were frantic about their mother taking off so suddenly. If only they knew where to look for her. With evacuation almost a certainty, it was imperative for Win to come home now.

'Karl, are you okay? You don't look well at all.'

He nodded. 'I'm okay. I felt strange for a minute but I'm okay now. Tell me more about this thing with Win. We have to figure out where to look for her. Wherever she's gone, she's in terrible danger. The fire's outta control an' headin' for the valley.'

'Well, some time ago, this Mick fellow called in with some preserves that Mary had made for Mum. Win was here and she took them from him. She got a strange feeling about him. She said it was his eyes that made her feel uncomfortable. Also, the night the club opened, we went up for a while and we saw Mick, only he wasn't working for Mary then. He said he had just arrived in town. Win didn't like him then either.'

'But that doesn't give any indication that he could be Merv. All that means is that Win took a dislike to him.'

'I don't know what to think, Karl. When he came to see you about the fencing, she really went to pieces. She was adamant that his mannerisms and everything were the same as Merv's.'

'It couldn't be possible though. Merv was put away. As far as anyone knows, he's still there!'

'That's what I told her but she wasn't convinced.'

'What about the phone call tonight? Did you recognize the voice?'

'Well, I can't be absolutely certain, but it had that same gravelly sound about it that Mick's has. I really didn't pay too much attention. Now I think of it, yes, it could have been his voice.' Ellie looked worriedly at Karl.

'Karl... Maybe Win has been right all along!'

Karl shook his head. 'Nah... It's not possible, is it?'

Hazel came bustling out. Ellie looked up at her. She seemed very agitated. 'What is it, Hazel?' Ellie asked, concerned. Poor Hazel was trying to keep the house running despite being almost at her wits end.

'There's two policemen at the door, Ellie. They say they want to see Mrs Mason!'

Karl stood up. 'Send them out here to us, Hazel. Under no circ.u.mstances is Mum to be disturbed.'

Hazel bustled away, twisting her hands in her ap.r.o.n.

Ellie looked at Karl and felt her heart plummet to her stomach. 'What could they want? ...Dear G.o.d! Francis... Beth...Win?'

Karl put his arm around her, feeling distraught himself and very helpless.

Ellie glanced at her wrist.w.a.tch. It was two in the morning. Seven hours ago she had sat at the dinner table enjoying a meal with everyone. Since then, all h.e.l.l had broken loose. The bushfire, the phone call that sent Win goodness knows where, and now this.

'Has Francis been involved in an accident?' He was unusually late for a weeknight as well. She had thought maybe Beth and Francis were somewhere together. 'Beth, Win, what is going on?' she thought. It was almost too much to cope with. She looked anxiously at the policemen as they walked on to the veranda.

Karl extended his hand. 'G' day, mate,' he said. 'What brings you blokes here?'

They introduced themselves as Sergeant Brian Carter and Constable Tony Jones.

'Does a Miss Beth Lowe live here?'

Ellie's heart missed a beat. Karl nodded. 'Yes... Yes she does... Why, what's happened?'

'Has she been hurt?' Ellie asked, afraid of what they were going to say next. Her fists were clenched by her sides.

'This was found this in the laneway behind Coles Supermarket. Is Miss Lowe home?'

'Beth's bag... Where's Beth?' Ellie stammered, her voice shaking with fear.

'Beth hasn't come home as yet, Sergeant,' Karl told them. 'She hasn't phoned either to let us know where she is. Could she have dropped the bag...?' Karl's voice trailed off as he realised how flimsy his reasoning sounded.

The big police sergeant shook his head. 'No, we don't think the bag was dropped. Everything seems to be in it: money, identification. If Miss Lowe had dropped it accidentally, she would have picked it up. You said she's not home and hasn't phoned. Was she due in at a specific time?'

Ellie shook her head. 'She's a young woman, she can come and go as she pleases but she usually is home pretty early during the week. If she goes anywhere, she always lets us know not to keep tea for her. Oh dear... Something terrible has happened... I know it... Karl... Win... The phone call .. !'

Karl put his hand on Ellie's shoulder. 'Calm down, Sis... This has nothing to do with the phone call.'

The sergeant looked from one to the other. 'What phone call? You had best tell me everything because if there is foul play here, and it's looking that way, any little thing may help.'

Karl told him about the phone call and how Win had rushed out.