“Hayley McCarthy?”

A phone number I don’t recognise rang my mobile seconds ago, and while I’d love to ignore it because I’ve been up since 1.30 a.m, I have to answer it just in case it’s important.

“This is she.”

“My name is Ash Harris. I need your help.”

I don’t need any further introduction. Partway up McKenzie’s Mountain is a massive compound, hectares and hectares blocked off by a massive wall that I assume goes all around the property. Ash Harris is the leader of the people who live there.

From what I’ve heard, his father used to run the commune, and while they tended to keep to themselves, the people who lived there were a lot more open. There are stories of the women coming into town to shop. I have to admit, that place scares the shit out of me.

“What can I do for you, Mr Harris?”

“One of the ladies here. She’s in labour, and the woman looking after her thinks she’s in some kind of trouble.”

My stomach drops. If they’re having babies in there, who’s looking after them? “How long’s she been in labour?”

“Uhh, it started a day ago, maybe? I don’t know a lot about it, but she’s in a lot of pain, and I think she needs help.”

I’ve been up for fifteen hours so far. What I really need is some sleep. “Either myself or Margaret Joyce can be there in the next fifteen minutes.”

“The sooner the better.”

I get Margaret’s voicemail. She was up most of the night too, so it looks like it’s me.

It’s funny. There are times when it’s quiet, but like so many other things in a rural community, babies seem to be seasonal. And it’s the season. Margaret and I cover a massive area between the two of us, and we intersect with two midwives in the next town over to fill any gaps. The population of Copper Creek isn’t huge, there’s maybe three thousand people, but there are a lot who live on farms and not in the town centre. My fuel bill can be insane.

McKenzie’s Mountain is at the back of Copper Creek. It and the mountain range it belongs to wraps the town. There’s one road into town and one road out. It’s off the beaten track and wonderfully peaceful.

I drive up to the large gate. There are no signs of guards or anyone else around, but the gates slowly open, and my stomach flips with nerves as I drive inside. In the four years I’ve lived in Copper Creek, I’ve never been inside this community. They’re so secretive.

A large compound is at the end of a very long driveway. Behind it, there are rows of greenhouses. I never thought about how these people must feed themselves, but I guess they’ve been here long enough to be self-sufficient. For all intents and purposes this just looks like a big farm.

The concept has always seemed sinister to me. People locked behind a large gate, not seeming to venture out into the world. One of the things I love about Copper Creek is that it’s rural and there are a lot of wide, open spaces. Coming from the sometimes cramped city, it’s heaven on earth.

Unsure of where I’m supposed to go, I drive closer to the largest of the buildings. At the entrance is a tall, dark-haired man who waves at me. I guess that’s who I’m supposed to see.

I retrieve my bag from the back seat and climb out of the car.

The man extends a hand for me to shake. “Hi, I’m Ash Harris.” This is the leader of this group.

Ash Harris is beautiful.

There’s no other way to describe him. With short, jet black hair, and piercing blue eyes, it’s enough to make a girl’s heart flutter. But I’m not any girl, and men like him are a dime a dozen in the world my mother wants me to live in.

That doesn’t make him any less intimidating.

He smiles at me like a cat who got the cream. “And you are?”

“The midwife. Where’s my patient?”

His smile disappears, and I immediately regret how short I am. Not because I’m worried about offending him, but it does concern me that he might not let me see her.

He nods. “Come this way.”

If there was a bridge, I think I’ve burned it, but the important thing is that he’s leading me into the building and through a maze of corridors before we stop walking.

A tall, bearded man stands like a guard at the door of the room. I hear the exhausted groans of a woman who’s been in labour too long. Gritting my teeth, I summon my courage and push the door open. No one stops me. Ash follows behind.

In the centre of the room is a bed with the labouring woman in it. Her dirty blonde hair hangs loose, and she’s dripping in sweat. There are women either side of the bed, dressed in the plain grey dresses I’ve heard women from this group all wear.

Ignoring them, I walk to the side of the bed. “Hi. I’m Hayley, and I’m a midwife. You are?”

“Julia.”

“What’s going on, Julia?”

One of the women speaks. “She’s been in labour for hours, and nothing’s happening.”

I wait for any more information. “Is that it?”

“That’s all we know.”

Holy shit.

“I just need to examine you.”

She nods, pain written all over her face. How they let it get to this stage, I’ll never know.

I open my bag and pull out my stethoscope and Doppler. I’ve never been in a room so quiet when someone’s giving birth. It’s like she has an audience instead of anyone helping her.

Her blood pressure’s high, and at first I can’t find the heartbeat of the baby. I swallow hard. I can take her to the clinic for an ultrasound, but that’s something I suspect she won’t let me do, despite needing it a long time ago.

There’s a faint echo of a heartbeat, and it’s too fast to be Julia’s. I place my hands on her to feel how the baby’s body’s lying.

My heart sinks. The baby’s transverse.

This is one of the worst things that can happen.

Lying sideways, this baby won’t come out. At least not here.

“You need a caesarean. The baby’s lying the wrong way,” I say.

“Can’t you turn it?” one of the women asks, and it takes everything in me not to roll my eyes. If they’re going to look after a woman in labour, they should at least know that it’s too late for that.

“No, I can’t. The baby’s transverse. There’s an elbow where the head should be.”

She blanches, and I look toward the door where Ash stands.

“We need to get an emergency evacuation for her.”

“Really?”

“If you want her and the baby to live, yes.” I regret the words, and I would never say anything like that in front of a patient normally, but time is of the essence, and this could easily turn into a tragedy.

Without his reply, I pick up my phone and dial a number Margaret gave me four years ago, which I’ve never had cause to use. I’ve sent patients out of town before to get specialist care, but never an emergency evacuation.

Ash moves beside me. “Whatever you need.”

“The helicopter will land beside the clinic in town. We’ll have to get her there.”

Ash nods. “There’s nothing else you can do?”

He might have a gaze that penetrates to my soul, but Julia’s life is at risk, and I can’t back down.

“The baby can’t come out this way. She needs a doctor.”

“Doctor Paton is in town.”

“She needs an obstetrician.”

He nods again, but his blank reaction irritates me. It makes me want to scream at him, but I need to keep my cool for Julia’s sake. He’s standing over me, and I’m unsure if it’s because I’m putting my foot down and he doesn’t like it, or if he’s hovering because he cares about Julia. Chances are it’s the latter, but it’s unnerving. I doubt anyone has ever told this man what to do.

“We’ve got a van we can use.”

“That’s a good idea. I’ll go with her.”

He gives me a thin smile. “Thank you.”

The man from the corridor steps in and scoops Julia into his arms as if she weighs nothing. She grimaces, and the pain of another contraction is clear on her face. She moans as he carries her out the door.

Following my new patient back out, I watch as a mattress is carried out of the building and placed in the van, and she’s gently laid on it. Without any hesitation, I hop in the back with her and sit on the floor. Ash gets in the front.

“How are we doing, Julia?”

She nods, fear in her face, tears in her eyes.

“It’ll take a while for the helicopter to get here, but I don’t want you to worry. You’re with me, and I’ll take care of you.”

I’m shaking, but I can’t let her know how scared I am. My career’s been on the line once before, but this time I’m in charge and I have full confidence in getting her to help in time.

It’s a fifteen-minute ride to the helicopter pad, and it’s at that point I think about my car. It’s still parked outside their main building, and I’ll have to face these people again to get it back.

We have to wait until help arrives, and I hold Julia’s hand tightly through her contractions. I’m timing them, but I don’t need a watch to know they’re speeding up. The sooner we’re out of here, the better.

When the helicopter arrives, the paramedics move her to a stretcher and into the helicopter.

“Hayley.”

I turn back to see Ash walking toward me.

“I’ll give you my number. Text me any updates on Julia, and let me know when you want to pick up your car. I’d follow but I think she’s in safe hands and I have others to look after.”

Bile’s in my throat because this man makes me uneasy, and yet if he’s the leader of these people I don’t have a choice but to be in contact with him.

I nod, and open my contacts. His much larger hand is on mine to grab it and enter the numbers.

He hands it back to me, and I turn toward the helicopter, the paramedic motioning me to get to it. There’s no time for anything else, and I run without looking back, stepping up and smiling at Julia. She’s pale, and I sit, buckling in before closing my eyes and giving a silent prayer that I’ve identified the issue in time.

If I haven’t, I don’t know if I can live with the consequences.