Chapter 6
Nina stood statue-still, looking across to the north side of the river. There — an inquisitive head, staring back. In one swift motion she raised her rifle, took aim and fired. The fox dropped at the base of the red gum. ‘Go,’ said Nina. Jinx, who’d been waiting by her side, trembling with anticipation, launched himself into the water. He reached the opposite bank, dragged the body from beneath the twisted trunk, and started back. The tree’s gnarled old roots, once submerged, now lay naked and exposed, like the clawed fingers of an ancient hand. The soil of the eroded riverbank had long ago slipped from its grasp.
Heartbreaking to see scores of the iconic river red gums, some centuries old, dying along the Bunyip. It was the same all over the Murray-Darling basin. Frightening s
