Ric waits anxiously as Matilda faces Fisher and Sally. Is Rory ready to jump a year and start at high school? Annie is devastated to realise that Geoff poisoned the sheep. Will she tell Bruce?
Extended Summary
Ric waits anxiously as Matilda faces Fisher and Sally. She’s got no choice but to admit to cheating, to Sally’s dismay. Sally presses Matilda to explain why she did it – but loyalty to Emma sees Matilda keep quiet. Sally can guess there’s more to it and tells Matilda she won’t be making a decision on her future just yet. Poor Matilda is left hanging – does Sally have the power to stop her completing the HSC?
Ric’s frustrated as he does his best to persuade Matilda to tell Sally the truth: if Sal knows Mattie was cheating to protect Emma, perhaps she’ll go easier on her. But Matilda has given Emma her word that she won’t tell anyone, and even though Ric darkly reminds her that Emma probably wouldn’t bother protecting her, Mattie holds firm. But when Sally asks more questions, Mattie finally admits the truth; she was only trying to protect her friend.
It seems that Mattie’s finally out of trouble, but what she doesn’t know is that Sally has been clashing with Fisher, who’s determined to take a hard line in punishing Matilda. Sally argues against this, pointing out the hardship Mattie’s faced this year – and Fisher is left with no choice but to reluctantly accept the authority of his one-time mentee. Sally may have won the battle, but she’s still left with the task of delivering bad news – Matilda’s stunned when she’s told that she failed the Maths exam anyway. Mattie’s devastated, admitting her fear to Ric that she’s ruined her chance of passing this year when she took off with Reuben. Ric tries to reassure, reminding her it was only a trial exam. But it’s clear that Mattie now has serious doubts about her ability to pass.
School’s turning out to be no easier for Rory – he started at the local primary school a few days ago and is having trouble getting along with the other kids. Sam’s quick to reassure, telling Rory there’s no need to keep his distance from people anymore. This is their chance to start a new life – for the first time, they’re not on the run from Shane. Rory promises to try harder to fit in at school, but he’s clearly not feeling comfortable. And Sam’s stunned when Rory’s principal calls her to suggest that Rory be moved up into high school. Rory’s excited, but Sam’s a little wary – will Rory be able to cope with the demands of mixing with older kids and holding his own in class?
Meanwhile Annie is worried about Geoff – since Bruce signed himself out of hospital, he’s been harder than ever on his grandson and Annie fears that Geoff’s spirit is broken. What she doesn’t know is that Geoff is carrying heavy guilt over his decision to poison the sheep – guilt that’s only deepened when Bruce drags him along to the police station to complain to Jack that the police aren’t doing enough to find the culprits. It isn’t the first complaint Bruce has made in the past few days, and Jack points out that they’re still waiting on toxicology results. Through this, Geoff tries not to react – but the knowledge that the police are closing on the investigation only makes him more nervous. He tries to talk to Tony – to admit what he’s done – but the words are too hard to find and again he’s left alone with his guilt – and his fear of what his grandfather will do if he discovers the truth.
Little does he know that Annie has discovered a packet of rabbit poison – 1080 – in his bedroom. She does her best to persuade herself that there’s a good reason – an innocent reason – why Geoff would have hidden the poison. But when Jack arrives at the farm to break the news that the toxicology test has confirmed that the sheep were poisoned by 1080, she guesses Geoff did it, and her heart breaks at the betrayal.