There's a bad drought in the neighbourhood, making everybody in a bad mood. Vic has to go to Broken Hill to get more beer, but Lucy, who will look after the pub, falls ill. Marty offers to help, but leaves the pub unattended. When he comes back, Paula has taken over, making him a bit upset. They decide to help, but everything gets out of hand, and the pub is totally wrecked. Emma is angry with Marty, for helping out at the pub instead of the garage and he fires him. When Vic gets back, he doesn't get too upset about the brawl, and he convinces Emma to give Marty his job back. In the end, the drought is broken and it starts to rain!

A new nurse, Penny, arrives as a stand-in for Kate. This upsets Maggie, since she and Penny both are from Windoona, and Penny might have a few stories to tell about Maggie. Sam and Emma lets Maggie stay with them, and Maggie tells Emma she had a son when she was very young. The father had shot through, and therefor her son David was raised as her brother. When David turned 21 Maggie told him the truth, which made him run away. There's a big cattle sale going on in the district, and DJ meets a friend called Jean, whom he only knows from radio conversations. She has a funny relationship to her stationhand Russ. She wants to have a baby with him, but he wants to marry her. They've worked out an agreement, if she gets pregnant, they will marry. In hospital Russ finds out he can't have children. He asumes Jean won't marry him because he can't give her a baby and he leaves. DJ and Jean manages to track him down and convince him to stay with Jean.