Family Farm by Fiona Palmer Page A

they’d all downed tools, parked their headers and run to a friend’s aid without a moment’s hesitation. It was just one more reason why she loved this place so much. She’d be sure to put a couple of blocks of beer at the Gumtree, the local watering hole, to show their appreciation.
    Glancing down, Izzy saw a close-up of her dad’s legs covered in purplish-red burns and white blistery skin. His arms and hands had also sustained burns and looked like they would be causing him severe pain. Izzy looked away. It was all she could do to stop her breakfast from rising up in her throat. With her eyes set ahead, she slipped in under her dad’s free arm and helped him carefully into the ute. Sitting next to him on the seat she poured water from her bottle onto his burns to keep them cool. Will ran towards his truck and grabbed his water bottle as well, then ran back to the ute, jumped behind the wheel next to Izzy and Bill, and sped off to the farmhouse.
    Grabbing the microphone hand-piece off the two-way with her blackened hand, Izzy called her mum to prepare her for their arrival.
    ‘We’re bringing Dad home now. He’s got bad burns to his legs, Mum.’
    She heard her mum swear, probably unaware that she was holding the button down. ‘All right. I’ll get the bath filled up with water … Izzy, how’s he going?’
    Izzy could hear the panic in her mum’s voice and it began to unnerve her. No – she had to hold it together for Dad’s sake. ‘He’ll be okay. He’s a tough old bugger. Will called the ambos, so they can’t be too far away.’
    ‘I’ll give them a ring and see what’s the best thing to do,’ her mum replied, still sounding anxious but focused on the need to prepare for Bill’s arrival.
    ‘Okay. We’ll see you in a few minutes.’ Izzy checked on her dad again. He was pale, and probably in shock, but he still managed to give her a wink.
    ‘I’ll be okay, love,’ were his raspy words of reassurance.
    Izzy glimpsed at his burns and tried to get him to have a drink, hoping he was right. Her eyes found Will and silently begged for his assurance that her dad really was going to be all right.
    Will found the pleading look in Izzy’s eyes unbearable. He knew she needed reassuring but right now he had no idea how things were going to turn out. He could barely look at Bill without feeling sick and the smell of burnt flesh was clinging to the inside of his nostrils. He kept playing the scene over and over in his head – the moment of searching for Bill in the hot blackness, like he was in the middle of hell with a blindfold on. The smoke had been burning his lungs, but that was nowhere near as painful as the thought of not getting to Bill. Then, almost as painful was the look on Izzy’s face when she thought her dad was gone. It was the same look she’d worn at Claire’s funeral and it ripped at his soul. He couldn’t bear the thought of this family going through that again. Looking at her now, he felt just as worried as Izzy. He’d never seen so much emotion in her big blue eyes – the outpouring of strength as she supported Bill amid feelings of terror and helplessness. He couldn’t find the words to reassure her so he just nodded and returned to steering the ute down the rough track.
    Izzy saw Will’s hands grip the wheel. They were black, except where the skin was blistering. She didn’t know what she would have done if he hadn’t come to their rescue. Will had clearly saved her dad’s life. He was a genuine hero, and she could hardly continue to hate him now.
    Carefully, she leaned across and poured some water over Will’s hands while he was driving. His jeans were black and his checked shirt had countless burnt patches all over it. Will turned and smiled through the black ash smudged across his face. Izzy gave him a rare uncertain smile in return and mouthed a silent, ‘Thanks.’ He acknowledged it with a quick nod, then brought his eyes back to the road. No, she thought. It’s