The Homestead Girls

by Fiona McArthur

  Thankfully, the pilot had finished his meticulous walk around. That was a bonus. With summer here, there’d be plenty of light for hours of flying yet.

  Daphne secured the cabin once everyone was seated. They’d removed the second stretcher in case Morgan needed to be in the rear of the cabin on the way back but for now Morgan had climbed up beside Rex. Billie couldn’t help being thankful they had him along as well. Once they were in the air she and Daphne began to go over the protocols for treatment on arrival. Then Billie quickly re-read the instructions on paediatric treatment for snake bite in case she’d forgotten anything. She stole a look at her watch and winced at the thought of Barbara waiting for them.

  Half an hour later Barbara Tomkins heard the sound she’d been straining for in the distance: the drone of a plane. ‘Thank God.’ She eased herself off the chair.

  Her daughter had twitched uneasily in her arms for the last twenty minutes and Barbara prayed as she picked up her bulging shoulder bag.

  Gwyn had been limp and her breathing shallow while they’d waited, but Barbara had hesitated to try to rouse her in case she shifted Gwyn’s tiny hand and pumped more of the venom around her small body.

  She’d given up trying to reach her husband. She’d left a note but he’d eventually find the missed calls and contact her. Goodness knew where she’d be tonight; not that it mattered as long as Gwyn was okay.

  She didn’t allow herself to contemplate anything worse or her brain wouldn’t remain calmly sensible, which was the most important thing.

  She heard the plane pass over the house and she picked up her keys to the spare truck and hurried out with Gwyn in her arms.

  Driving with Gwyn’s head in her lap, she sent a silent thanks that her husband had made that cattle grid over the landing strip paddock and she didn’t have to open a gate. She parked just as the plane touched down and chewed her trembling lip, fervently pleading with God to let the flying doctor save her baby.

  Billie took one look at Gwyn’s condition, another quick look at Morgan, and decided to intubate right away.

  They moved inside the aircraft to be out of the sun, and without the second stretcher there was room for Morgan and Daphne to put an intravenous cannula into each of Gwyn’s arms. Billie drew up the drugs for rapid intubation.

  In the quickly increasing heat, Billie held the laryngoscope in her left hand, visualised the vocal cords, and, without taking her eyes off the airway, held out her right hand as Morgan handed her the endotracheal tube to slide in. All the while she could feel Morgan’s quiet confidence in her and, surprisingly, she drew strength from that. They barely spoke as all members of the team, despite their relative newness together, anticipated the needs of the others. Then it was done. Gwyn’s airway was secured. Billie inflated the cuff, took the CO2 detector from Daphne to check the position of the airway, and then handed her the tape to secure the tube. They connected the bag. Morgan squeezed the Air Viva bag and Gwyn’s little chest rose and fell with the movement. Everyone in the cabin seemed to breathe out at the same moment.

  Morgan’s murmured ‘Well done,’ came from somewhere in the background, making her eyes sting. Billie heard Barbara’s sob from behind the pilot’s partition, and her fingers trembled involuntarily in response. She blocked the sound out as she concentrated. Daphne had the ventilator to connect as soon as Morgan disconnected the Air Viva bag. They all glanced at the monitor and Billie added a sedative to the IV lines

  ‘Let’s get this young lady to Adelaide,’ Morgan said quietly.

  Daphne rose from the kneeling position and rearranged everyone until she was happy with how they were seated and belted. Billie was in the doctor’s seat, the perfect position to watch the airway, at the top of the stretcher where the little girl was safely strapped in by the special pedi-mate child’s harness. Rex had added the extra adult seats from the wing locker and Morgan was positioned to the side of Gwyn’s abdomen. Daphne was in her usual spot facing backwards towards the cabin with her back to Rex on the other side of the partition, and Barbara had been extricated from the front to sit next to Morgan and could reach across and touch her daughter at an angle.

  Billie saw Daphne check equipment and that IV lines were in place with pressure bags to allow them to run during the flight.

  ‘Everything secure?’ Rex asked.

  ‘Cabin secure,’ Daphne said.

  That flight was the worst of Billie’s life. By the time they’d handed Gwyn over to the specialist in intensive care, and made sure Barbara had been connected to the social worker to find somewhere to stay, it was almost seven o’clock. Her hands, now that they were allowed to, were shaking uncontrollably. Travelling back to Mica Ridge from Adelaide, Morgan manoeuvred Daphne up beside Rex and he sat in the back with Billie.

  After a few minutes of flying his voice broke the silence between them. ‘How do you feel about the care given at the scene?’

  Billie blinked. That was all she could think about. It seemed Morgan knew she was rehashing. She took a breath, and seized the opportunity to talk. She knew it would lessen the chance of it keeping her awake later tonight. ‘I thought the intubation went well, though my hands were a little shaky at times.’ She spread her fingers and grimaced at their steadiness now.

  ‘The intubation couldn’t have been better.’ Morgan’s quiet words did a lot to settle her nerves. ‘You, the rest of us, and Barbara, did everything we could to save Gwyn.’

  Billie’s stomach plummeted. ‘Do you know something we don’t? Is Gwyn still fighting?’

  He smiled at her. ‘Last I heard she was improving slowly. There were positive signs she’ll win. What I’m saying is that if you do that well in all your retrievals the majority of our patients will survive. Some won’t, but you can’t do the impossible. And your best is outstanding. Welcome to the team, Billie.’

  Billie’s throat felt tight with the unexpected release of tension his words allowed. Eventually she could speak and, as they flew into the darkening skies, she and Morgan went over the details of the retrieval until all her questions were answered: what they’d done well, what they could have done better, what they’d do next time. By the end, while she was emotionally exhausted, her mind was quiet.

  They didn’t arrive until late. Billie got her wish to see the town glowing with fairy lights, the multi-orange lights of the mines glowing like decorations, and she fell silent as they circled over the well-lit Mica Ridge. For the first time she had a moment to think of her daughter, hoping that Mia was keeping up her end of the bargain and doing the right thing unsupervised at home. Thank goodness they weren’t in Sydney.

  The next day Daphne kept them updated with Gwyn’s battle in Adelaide and after the last instalment at 3:30 p.m. she left to go home. Billie and Michael had gone to retrieve a station owner with a suspected heart attack, but the trip had become complicated when his condition deteriorated en route and he required cardiac compression mid flight. By the time they’d handed him over to the coronary care team in Adelaide it had been another late night.

  Morgan was still in the control room when Billie went in to collect her bag and he called her over to his desk.

  ‘Good job. I just spoke to the hospital. Tom’s critical but stable and on his way to theatre for a by-pass. His wife has arrived.’

  ‘Thanks.’ Billie shuddered. ‘He was critical when I left and it’s good to know he’s stabilised.’

  His eyes narrowed as if to see what she was really thinking—or see under her skin. She wished he’d look away because she felt raw and exposed after the harrowing trip and she needed to regather herself before going home. She’d had her run of intense emergency medicine over the last two days and she was feeling a bit fraught.

  He said conversationally, ‘How’d the resus go?’

  Better than it could have. ‘It was tricky with just Michael and I but he’s good. Next time I’d be aiming to have my drugs prepared before take-off if there was a chance they might be needed.’

  He nod
ded. ‘Sometimes it’s hard to gauge.’

  ‘It’s reassuring to have managed, I guess.’ She thought about the harrowing ten minutes and the hyper-alert state she and Michael had been in after they’d managed to get him back and shuddered.

  ‘You did well, Billie.’ His voice lowered. ‘Really well. I said it yesterday. We’re pleased to have you on the team.’

  It should have sounded patronising but it didn’t. It sounded genuine. Proud, even. And the underlying relief for another patient making it into the higher level of care at the hospital showed how much he cared about their patients.

  ‘I’ve got to get home.’ It had been a traumatic day, cardiac com­pression and bagging in a small aircraft was hard work, but they’d kept him alive until they’d landed.

  ‘I know.’ There was something in his voice that said that wasn’t all he knew. It was her turn to frown.

  ‘Daphne rang. Mia had an,’ he hesitated, corrected himself, ‘a slight accident on the way home from school. Daphne said not to worry and she’d stay until you came in.’

  Billie’s eyes widened and she grabbed her bag. ‘You should’ve told me that first!’

  His voice was level. ‘You need to debrief from work initially before the next crisis comes along. We’re in a high-stress job.’

  ‘Mia’s accident is a crisis? Why am I still here?’ She spun on her heel and headed for the door.

  It was dark when Billie pulled up outside the dingy flats and all the lights were on in her side of the house. When she opened the door the smell of onions and tomato and possibly basil hit her nose, and she remembered for a second that she hadn’t eaten for about six hours. ‘Mia?’

  ‘I’m here,’ Mia replied in a small voice from behind the back of the lounge in front of the silent television.

  Daphne appeared from the kitchen and smiled reassuringly at Billie. ‘Spaghetti bolognaise when you’re ready,’ she said, then disappeared back into the kitchen.

  Mia had her arm in a sling. No plaster so maybe it wasn’t broken. She was lying on the lounge and Billie could see a graze down her other arm and left leg. Her heart squeezed.

  She sank down on the edge of the lounge. ‘Poor Baby. What happened?’ And she hadn’t been here!

  Mia looked so lost and young, and for a moment Billie could see the unsteady toddler the first time she’d badly grazed her knee. Bewildered by the concept of pain and blood and needing Mummy’s arms.

  Billie felt her throat close up as she knelt down and hugged her daughter gently, all her love for the most important person in her world flooding out in a wave. Heightened no doubt because yesterday she’d spent a large part of her day with another mother who had very nearly lost her daughter. Sometimes she felt that no matter how hard she tried, she wasn’t there enough for Mia.

  Tears rolled down Mia’s cheek. ‘I’m sorry.’

  ‘Sorry?’ Billie’s brow creased. No. These should be her words for not being around when she was needed. ‘Don’t be silly.’ She stroked the hair back from Mia’s forehead. ‘What happened?’

  ‘I stacked Trent’s bike.’

  Trent. The young man. Well, accidents happened. ‘Trent has a pushbike?’

  Mia shook her head and Billie sat back. ‘A motorbike?’

  Then Billie remembered yesterday’s wish list. A vision of her daughter’s hair—and fragile skull—flying free as she risked life and limb. Fabulous. Not. ‘You’ve been riding someone else’s motorbike? This Trent?’ She could feel her face heat so she took a breath. And then another one. She tried not to think how hurt she was that Mia had let her down again. And hoped she’d had a helmet on. She also tried to remember that her daughter had probably had a shock from the accident. And had been waiting all afternoon to break the news. But it was freaking hard. She took another breath before she trusted herself to talk.

  She said in a level tone, ‘I had a big day too. Yesterday, a four-year-old girl was bitten by a snake and almost died. Today I had to ventilate a man in an aircraft until we landed at the hospital. I thought the both of them were going to die for most of the way.’

  She looked at her daughter—battered, bruised, tense and wary—and sighed. ‘I’m glad you’re not too badly hurt. I’m also sorry I couldn’t trust you to not get up to mischief while I was at work supporting us both.’

  She stood up. Closed her lips on more of what she shouldn’t say. Instead she said, ‘I’m going to have something to eat,’ and strode into the kitchen, where Daphne was waiting.

  ‘Thank you, Daphne.’

  Daphne shot her a sympathetic glance and then looked away. ‘I hope you don’t mind that I’ve taken over your house.’

  Billie gave a bitter laugh. ‘Feel free. I’m not doing such a great job.’ She crossed to the stove and lifted the lid. A billow of fragrant steam rose to meet her and rich red meat bubbled.

  Billie eyed the dish of drained spaghetti. ‘You,’ she said with heartfelt appreciation, ‘are a champion.’ When she looked at Daphne, she seemed to be squirming under her mild compliment. ‘Food will help enormously.’

  Daphne smiled. ‘I’m glad.’ She inclined her head towards the lounge. ‘She’s okay. Probably sprained her wrist so I put it in a sling. It was swollen but I don’t think it’s broken. She’s got good movement.’

  Billie nodded. ‘I’ll have a look later when I’ve eaten and cooled down. I might be a bit unsympathetic if I touch her now.’

  They smiled at each other and Billie couldn’t believe how good it felt to have Daphne there. It was like old times with her aunt before she died. She’d missed the company. The shared adult conversation. And poor Daphne was copping it.

  ‘Did she come home on her own?’

  Daphne shook her head. ‘Trent came with her. Knocked on my door. He was shaken. He seems like a nice boy. Must be a reasonable young man because he was more worried about Mia than the bike they’d dragged here, which looked terminal, to my untrained eye.’

  ‘We’ll probably have a visit from his parents, then.’ She put her head in her hands.

  Billie could hear the sounds of Daphne dishing up her plate as she spoke. ‘I’m not a mother. But at least I could see she was worried about upsetting you, Billie.’

  She lifted her head. Daphne was right. And Mia wasn’t badly hurt. Just shaken. It could have been a whole lot worse. She sighed and thought about the retrieval today. ‘Tom from Jinda station arrested mid flight today. We got him back.’

  Daphne sucked in her breath and put Billie’s plate in front of her with a clatter and covered her mouth. ‘I know the family well. I’ve been out there for one of the stockmen.’

  Billie nodded. ‘One of the station hands met us on the airstrip. His wife was away.’

  Daphne looked pale. ‘How is he now?’

  Billie pulled out a chair. ‘Sit down. Alive. Critical but stable.’

  Daphne was shaking her head. ‘Morgan didn’t say that’s where you were when I rang to tell him about Mia.’

  Morgan wouldn’t. He was a professional. A calculated professional. One who could hold information until he deemed it right to impart. She’d known a calculating man before. Note to self. ‘Are you astonished he didn’t tell you?’

  Daphne glared out the window as if she could see him. ‘No. Probably not. No useful reason for me to know, he would’ve thought.’

  To her surprise, Billie found herself defending him. ‘You’re on your day off. And you’ve had a big week, too.’

  But Daphne wouldn’t be diverted. ‘How terrifying for his wife.’ She checked the clock. ‘I’ll ring them tomorrow in Adelaide and see if they need anything. Thank goodness I have another day off.’

  Billie finished the mouthful of truly incredible pasta before she spoke again. ‘He’s stable. I think he’ll come through.’ In an effort to distract her, Billie asked, ‘So what did you do today, before my daughter brought her dramas to you?’

  Daphne blinked. Rubbed her forehead as if to think. ‘Oh. I drove out to Blue Hills Statio
n and looked into boarding there.’

  Billie felt her stomach sink. Daphne gone from next door? Funny how disappointed that made her feel. ‘Move out of here?’ Were they so bad to live next to? Knock it off, Billie. This wasn’t about her. This was Daphne’s life.

  ‘It was mainly to help out a young friend. We flew Lachlan in the day you arrived. He’s lucky to be alive. His granddaughter is doing a great job even though she’s only twenty-two. The drought’s making it tough to make ends meet on the station.’

  Billie could hear the concern in Daphne’s voice. This was important to her. ‘Is anyone else there with her?’

  ‘A German backpacker, a thousand sheep, and a pack of kelpies,’ was the dry reply.

  Billie raised her brows. ‘A lot to manage. No wonder it’s tough. And she’s on her own?’

  ‘If it rains she’ll be fine. For the moment she’s having trouble week to week and I’ve offered to be a boarder. I’ve always wanted to try living on a station and never had the chance. This one’s close to town, and it’s a huge house. Plus it’d bring a little extra cash and company if she wants it. Like an extended farm stay.’

  Billie tried to sound enthusiastic for Daphne. ‘We’d miss you.’ She looked at Daphne’s face and caught the embarrassment and telltale spread of colour up her neck. Her new friend really didn’t take praise well.

  Daphne looked away. ‘I’m sure you won’t.’

  Billie looked down at the food in front of her before raising her eyebrows again. ‘Um. Yes. Of course we will. Though it sounds right up your alley and I’ll still see you at work.’

  ‘I’ve checked out the distance,’ Daphne said hesitantly. ‘Morgan said I could do on-call from there. The actual homestead is just under 10 kilometres out of town even though the property runs almost to the South Australian border.’ There was another hesitation before she said, ‘You never know. You and Mia might be interested in moving out of town as well, one day. There’s a school bus that goes past the door and it would mean Mia wouldn’t have the after-school time lag.’