Chapter 1
Shotguns boomed and boomed again, shattering the morning peace of the marshlands, startling the roosting nankeen night heron into laboured flight. What on earth? Nina lowered her camera and steered the little runabout towards the gunshots. There, in the distance, past the bank of river red gums weeping in the heat – a tinny with two men in camo gear, weapons raised. A succession of deafening blasts echoed off the water, drowning out Nina’s air horn as she powered towards them. The stench of gunpowder reached her nose and rage rose in her throat like bile. Damn them.
A mixed flock of wood ducks and teal were flapping away, well outside the fifty-metre range of an average shotgun. These men were the most incompetent poachers ever. As Nina drew near, they turned their heads at the
