Durilgai experiences a summer drought, which is quickly followed by wildfires. Before the fires begin, though, Amy delivers two ducks to the Armstrong house for a meal the next day. Apparently, Madeleine is engaged to Tom Armstrong. As Amy travels to the Armstrong residence, she wonders if she will see the lady and feels embarrassed about her appearance.

Amy observes a scene through the window in which Madeleine seems to hold court around the table, with all the men hanging on her every word. The elder Mr. Armstrong disturbs the scene. Amy knows she should move on and heads to the maids’ entrance.

She enters a lively scene where the cook and maids prepare food for the family. Amy tries to remark on Madeleine’s beauty and her dream about her. The women are focused on their tasks and talk frankly about the Armstrongs, which shocks Amy. She is pressured into drinking a glass of wine, and the maids joke about her low alcohol tolerance because of her strange comments about Madeleine.

Smoke appears from The Islands near Wullunya. Townsfolk tell stories of people who have lost everything and some who even burned themselves in the flames. Everyone worries about what they’ll do when the fires get nearer. Even the Armstrongs must accept that their privilege cannot protect them from the whims of nature. As the fires get closer to Durilgai, old Peabody declares that the winds will turn. Nonetheless, men start to fight the first flames in their area before the winds do, indeed, shift. Once the threat has passed, no one can remember why they were afraid.

The relief is short-lived, however, as another fire encroaches on the area between Durilgai and Bangalay, heading to the Armstrongs’ estate. The place, which the family has named Glastonbury, is in immediate danger, and people start evacuating. No one can find Madeleine, though, who apparently had a headache and had gone upstairs to rest. Mrs. Armstrong panics, insisting she must find the lady since her son bought Madeleine an engagement ring.

Amy suggests that Stan go in and rescue the lady from the fire. He sees Madeleine standing, staring at the fire. Both seem fascinated by the disaster, but eventually, they need to take action. Madeleine suggests the back stairs, but the fire has reached them. She stalls, but Stan picks her up, and they run out of the house, though they are burned in the process.

Madeleine is stunned when she is outside and begins retching as young Armstrong approaches, having traveled from Sydney when he got word of the fire approaching. Her hair has burned off.

After Stan and Madeleine make it outside, a storm begins, the rain ending the fire. Amy accompanies Stan home and asks about his burns, which he claims are minor. She wants to know what happened between him and Madeleine in the room but knows she cannot access his thoughts. Amy settles for celebrating her husband’s bravery.

Once the fire is over, late summer rains begin, and the scorched ground soon turns green again. People are filled with hope and resolutions. Bub Quigley, though, still behaves strangely. He likes to visit sites ruined by the fires, and he also goes to watch the reconstruction of the house at Glastonbury.

The Armstrongs remain in Sydney while the project is being completed, but the patriarch sends Stan a check to thank him for rescuing Madeleine. Amy is pleased with the check and holds on to it for a while to show off to her friends. Mrs. O’Dowd is impressed but also grateful it wasn’t her husband who...