drinking?’
‘A little.’
‘Have you been doing the fluid chart?’
‘Yes.’ She pulled a tatty piece of paper from her pocket and Darcy studied it with concern.
‘Hell, Margaret, she’s not even close to even fluid balance.’ He lifted the little girl’s wrist, but even from where she was Ally could guess that the pulse would be weak and thready. Sick kids—really sick kids—weren’t the ones that came into Emergency, crying. They were silent and limp and scary.
‘How long’s she been like this?’ she asked, and the woman cast her a distracted glance.
‘Three days now. The other two are a bit better.’
‘That’s something.’ Darcy was putting a thermometer under the little girl’s armpit. ‘You mean they’re eating and drinking again.’
‘Yes. But Marigold’s arm looks really red—she’s been scratching so much we can’t stop it getting infected. She says it hurts under her arm as well, and in her neck.’
‘Hell, you need to let me give antibiotics.’
‘He won’t let us.’
Darcy sat back on his heels. He waited in silence until the thermometer had had time to register.
A chicken wandered in the open door and started to scratch in the dust around the fire.
He lifted the thermometer free and winced.
‘It’s high, isn’t it?’ the woman said, as if it was a foregone conclusion.
‘She’s had high temperatures for almost a week. She’s not getting any fluid on board. Margaret, she must come to hospital.’
‘No. He won’t—’
‘He has to let her come. She needs an intravenous drip to get fluids on board. She needs antibiotics.’
‘Give her fluids here.’
‘You know I can’t. Margaret, look around. There are reasons the kids’ sores are infected.’
‘I can’t help it. We do our best.’
‘I need to see Jerry.’
‘He won’t—’
‘Jerry?’ Ally froze.
‘Jerry’s the head of the community.’ Darcy was totally occupied with the child but he talked to her over his shoulder. ‘There are three women and four men here, but Jerry’s the head.’
‘We do as he says,’ Margaret whispered.
‘Even if it means someone dies?’ Darcy demanded, and the woman gasped. He hadn’t referred to Jody by name but his meaning was unmistakable.
‘No.’
‘It may well happen.’
‘No!’
‘Then let Jody go to hospital. You’re her mother.’
‘Jerry says no. You know he says no.’
‘I’ll have to bring in Social Services.’
‘You know he won’t let them take her. Last time he went into the bush and stayed there. You know what happened then. And even if you report it…’ Her voice broke on a sob. ‘It takes weeks for them to do anything, and when they come he’s so reasonable and he makes them feel like everything’s under control.’
‘It isn’t though, is it, Margaret?’
‘N-no,’ she faltered. ‘But I’m only one. I can’t… The group decides.’
‘Lorraine’s Marigold is sick, too, and she’s just as upset.’
‘Lorraine won’t fight Jerry. Neither will Penny, and David’s sick, too.’
‘You must. You all must.’ But Darcy’s voice was weary, as if he’d had this argument a thousand times before.
But Ally was no longer listening.
She stared down at the sick little girl and she felt like she might explode.
Jerry. Jerome. Jerome was here?
‘Where’s Jerry?’ Ally asked—casually, but her voice was loaded. This whole situation… She might choke, she thought. After all these years.
‘He’s meditating,’ Margaret told her. ‘The men are. Penny and Lorraine are making dinner in the other hut.’
‘The other kids are there?’ Darcy demanded.
‘Yes.’
‘I’ll see them.’ Darcy rose. ‘But when I leave I’m taking Jody with me, Margaret.’
‘You can’t.’
‘If I don’t…’ He glanced down at the little girl who was staring up at him with eyes that didn’t seem to be registering. ‘You know what will happen. It’s happened before.’
‘Sam was an accident.’
‘A burn that got infected. That I wasn’t allowed to treat.’
Ally stepped back and gripped one of the wall supports, leaning heavily against it. The room was spinning. She felt sick. Jerome Hatfield. It had to be him. In this place, after all these years.
And a little boy called Sam had died of burns. Dear God, how much more damage had he done?
‘He’s in the far hut?’ she demanded, and the woman looked at her, startled. The fury in her voice was unmistakable.
‘Yes.’
‘I’ll talk to him,’ she said, and wheeled.
Darcy caught her before she reached the door. He’d moved like lightning, reaching her to grip her arm and stop her from going further.
‘Leave it,’ he said roughly. ‘I’ll see him.’
‘Yeah, like you’ve done a lot so far.’ She was so angry she didn’t care who heard her fury. ‘A little boy dead? And now Jody. I don’t believe this. Let me go.’
‘You’ll do more harm than good,’ he said urgently. ‘If you threaten him he’ll take himself off to the bush and take his people with him. He’s done it in the past. When Sam died.’
‘And you let it happen?’
‘I didn’t have a choice,’ he told her. ‘They watch the road. When Sam was ill I was so desperate I even called in the police. But they couldn’t find them. And now… It’s taken me ages to persuade Jerry to let me come and treat the kids.’
‘But you let the children stay.’
‘There’s been a Social Services hearing,’ he told her, and she could hear years of frustration in his voice. ‘Margaret loves her kids. Social Services knows that. So do Lorraine and Penny. Jerry’s agreed to let the kids be assessed once a month. Hell, Ally.’
Enough. His hands were tied. She could see that. Focus on Jody. Focus on one child’s needs.
Margaret loved her little girl, she thought, watching the woman’s face. But…did she love Jerry more?
Who could possibly love Jerry?
‘Margaret, you can’t possibly want to stay with Jerry when it’s putting Jody in danger.’ She hesitated and moved to face her. She reached out and gripped her shoulders, forcing her to meet her eyes. ‘You can’t.’
‘You don’t know what he’s like,’ Margaret whispered. ‘I’m his. We’re all his. When Sam died, Penny tried to leave but…she came back. He’d find us.’
‘So you’re scared of him?’
‘Of