Hi guys.

My absolute profoundest apologies! I am so so so sorry that I haven't finished Change Of Life, I have always intended to finish it and well, its two years later... *facepalms* Soooooo, I've had some time on my hands lately and I've started watching The Flying Doctors, what I can find on the world wide web that is again, from the beginning. I decided to scrap my previous idea and story lines and instead rewrite and renew what I've previous written. This takes place just after the start of Season two, not from where I had previously started in Season 5 or so... The original version will remain un-completed, I will be putting my efforts into writing this story instead. There will be changes with what characters are used ect but for the most part the original 10 or so chapters follow with the first version. I had to rewrite it all though so that I could start off with the new ideas and such that I have had.

I'm not promising that I'll finish off this story, life hasn't been the kindest to me this year. I'm quite sick so I'll just have to wait and see what happens... I do intend on finishing it off, it just depends if that will happen or not...

Also, if someone else wants to upload the rest of The Flying Doctors episodes *cough cough* I'd really love that. I don't have the money to buy DVD's myself otherwise I would. One person on Dailymotion has uploaded up till the start of season 7 or 8 (can't remember) but hasn't finished putting them up... I think the channel is TFDkj or thats what it's called... If anyone knows of a way that I can finish watching the rest of the series please let me know!

Anyway, enjoy!

Prologue

For as long as young Jasmine Brown could remember, she had been unwanted, an article her father would have been happy to dispose of, like a used rag. It had always been that way, she had never belonged, never been loved, just threatened into doing what he would ask of her. It had started when her mother had died, giving birth to her, taking the only thing her father cared for more than his whisky. She had been raised by her elder sister till she was six, then her sister left in the dead of night with her boyfriend to start a new life in Sydney without her. She was used to the rejection, used to the abuse the town drunk of a father would give her, and expected that It was how she was going to be treated all her life. But one day, a twist of fate would change her life forever, for the better…

Chapter 1

'Going out to the Dallyworth Station today Geoff?' DJ asked as he placed his shoes on the desk and leaned back against his chair.

'Yep, me, Kate and Chris.' He checked that he had everything in his bag. 'It should only be a short trip, there's only a couple or so patients to attend to.'

'Oh, that's good then. Hopefully you won't run into the beast of Coopers Crossing, he's out that way or so I've heard on the Galah session. Might send you packing if you did.'

'Beast?' Geoff raised his eyebrows.

'Aw, don't worry about it Geoff.' Kate replied, joining the conversation as she leaned against the door post. 'He's just a drunken old coot that took up squatters rights. Gill Brown his name is an ornery fellow if I ever did meet one.'

'Yeh, it's no wonder his daughter took off to Sydney, with a monster like he is.' DJ agreed. 'I've never heard what happened to his other girl, I expect Sara took her with her when she left or so I've heard.'

'How long ago was that?'

'From what I've heard, about eight years ago.' Kate finished gathering the things for the clinic run. 'Alright, let's get going, we don't want to be late.'

'I want to thank you for coming out this far. You guys do a great job.' Brett Robinson said as he drove them back to the plane after they had finished taking care of the station hands. 'I don't know what we would do if we didn't have the RFDS.'

'That's what we are here for.' Geoff replied as the car pulled up beside the plane. 'Thanks for the lift.'

'No problem.'

'We just about ready to go Sam?' Kate asked, the car heading back towards the station as she put her stuff into the plane. 'I so can't wait to get back and sit under the air conditioner.'

Sam chuckled as he finished his pre flight checks. 'Almost done Kate, just a couple things left.'

'You might have to wait a bit longer Kate.' Chris replied to her as she saw a horse and rider coming up onto the air strip, headed in their direction. 'Hello.'

'Hi.' The young girl managed to reply as she pulled her horse to a stop, glad to see she had been right. It was the flying doctors. 'I don't want to be a bother, but I saw your plane fly over, and I'm in need of a little medical help.'

Geoff walked over to the girl and patted her horse, noticing that the girl looked rather weak. 'What seems to be the matter?'

'Had a run in with a star picket.' She began to pull up her pant leg, showing a dirty bloody bandage. 'I did the best I could to clean it, but it's gotten so bad I can barely ride, let alone walk.'

'Let's take a look at it then.' He helped her get off the horse, noticing that Sam had taken hold of him, then carried her into the plane, the other two following. 'Why haven't you come for help earlier? You could have radioed.'

'Don't have a radio.' She replied, gritting her teeth he put her on the bed, then began to unbandage the wound. 'Well, one that works anyway. I tried to keep it as clean as I could, but the star picket was quite rusty. I flushed it out with hot salt water, but it mustn't have gotten it all out.'

Kate made a low whistle as she looked over Geoff's shoulder at the wound. 'When did this happen-' She asked questioningly, realizing the girl hadn't told them her name.

'Oh, sorry. I'm Jasmine.' She apologized, then bit her lip because of the pain she was in from the wound. 'I forget my manners most of the time.'

'Don't worry about it Jasmine.' Kate smiled. 'Happens to the best of us. I'm Sister Kate, this is Doctor Geoff Standish, Doctor Chris Randall and our pilot Sam, who's holding your horse. How did you get injured like this anyway?'

'I came off my horse while I was chasing a dingo and landed on the picket. It was hidden, buried in the dirt and there was only a few inches of it above the ground.' She explained as Geoff began to listen to her lungs and heart with his stethoscope 'I'm just glad it was my leg and not my stomach or chest, cause I know that It would have turned out a lot worse. I think the picket won the fight fair and square though, it doesn't have a scratch on it.' She tried to crack a joke, then winced as she felt Chris pull the wound apart wide to clean it. 'I'm just glad that I have a high pain tolerance, but it's starting to really hurt.'

'I can see why.' Chris exclaimed as she gently began to clean the wound out and measured how deep it was. The gash went almost to the bone and it was a giant hole in her leg. 'How long ago did this happen?'

'About four days ago. I tried to keep it clean with the stuff I had, but this is a little out of my scope. It's going to need stitches, isn't it?'

'Not when it looks like that.' Geoff replied, checking the girls pulse and breathing rate while Chris and Kate worked on her leg. 'Why didn't you try and get help earlier? The station house isn't far from here, you could have called us from there.'

'My father wouldn't let me.' She bit her lip again, the reopened wound really starting to throb. 'He wouldn't let me leave to find help, and he wasn't bothered to go and call. I only just managed to get away today because he's passed out, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to leave.'

He raised his eyebrows at the girl. 'What's wrong with him?'

'Oh nothing. He's just as drunk as a skunk that drank an entire ocean of beer.' She looked out the window. 'I just hope he doesn't wake up soon and find me missing. He'll kill me if he does, and I mean literally. He's threatened to do it before, and I believe him.'

'Surely you're over exaggerating.' Kate said, hoping it was the case as she handed Chris more dressings, soaked in colloidal silver. 'Why does he get so drunk?'

'To forget.' She conscientiously pulled her sleeve back down after the nurse had taken her blood pressure, not wanting them to see the bruises her father had given her. 'My mother died giving birth to me, he blames me for her death. My sister raised me till I was six, then she took off and left me here with him. As for exaggerating, I'm not.' She paused for a moment, looking at their confused faces. 'I know what you're wondering. Why haven't I run away? Well, I can say this. I have tried, and every time I have, he's found me, and it's not pleasant when he does, so I don't bother any more, and I also don't want any pity either. He might be mean and have a bad temper, but I can put up with what he does. I'm not a weakling, and besides I have nowhere else to go.'

'What's your father's name Jasmine?' Chris asked as she began to write up a file for her. 'We might be able to help you get away from him, for good, especially if he's abusing you. The police can help in this matter.'

Jasmine shook her head, knowing what would happen if he thought she had gotten the cops onto him. 'I can't let the police get involved. I can't betray him, after all he is my father.'

'You could come with us Jasmine, till it can get sorted out.' Geoff insisted, hearing in her voice how frightened she must be. 'We would like to help you as much as we can.'

'Thanks for the offer, but there's nothing you guys can do except just patch me up, he would never let me go, and people could get hurt. Badly.' She wrung her hands together, something she did when she was nervous. 'My father is a deaden out drunk, and my sister said before she left that he's a psychopath. As for his name, the guy needs no introduction. You all know of him.'

'Gill Brown.' Kate replied, figuring out the pieces of the puzzle. There was only one man who fit that description in and around Cooper's Crossing. So, this was his daughter, after all these years suddenly appearing again. 'Everyone thought you had gone with your sister. They never saw you after she had left, or else they would have tried to help.'

'They never saw me because he locks me up in my room whenever he goes to town to get his booze. He doesn't want anyone to know I exist, so that he can do whatever he wants and no one can stop him.' She closed her eyes momentarily as she felt a wave of pain flush over her. 'It's better if no one knows about this, for your safety. If my father finds out you know about me, you all could be in danger, and I don't want that to happen. He's capable of anything.' She went silent, then looked at her leg, wanting to get away from the subject. It was something she didn't want to talk about much. 'The wound's bad, isn't it?'

Geoff nodded, noticing she had shied away from the conversation but decided not to push it. 'Yes Jasmine, it is, but you already figured that one out.'

'What can you do about it?'

'You really should come back with us so we can take care of you properly.' He replied, placing his hand on the girl's forehead. 'Your burning up, severely dehydrated and that leg needs an x-ray.'

Jasmine shook her head at the mention of going with them. 'I already told you I can't. Just patch me up and I'll be on my way. I've already been gone too long, I really need to get back.'

Chris and Geoff looked at each other. They all could see how bad the girl's injury was, and they knew she needed to be in hospital, but they couldn't force her to go with them. Finally Geoff relented. 'Alright, but Jasmine, I would really think it a better idea for you to come back with us.'

'I would if I could, but I can't.' She sighed. 'Just tell me how to look after the wound and I'll take care of it, it doesn't matter to him if I die anyway, he'll just have to wash his own clothes if I cark it.'

Kate handed Geoff the rest of the dressings for the girls leg, then looked at Jasmine, deciding that it was best to change the subject while they finished taking care of the wound 'Nice horse you were riding out there. Does he have a name?'

Jasmine nodded, watching how Geoff bandaged her leg so she could do it right herself later on. 'His name is Aztec, he's a race horse, purebred thoroughbred with papers and everything. That's the only good thing my father did, and that was win him as a yearling in a poker game about four years back. I took care of him because he doesn't like my father, he has a pretty bad temper and he can get quite vicious so he stays out of his way. Honestly, I'm surprised I've been able to keep him so long. I think his plan is to sell him, but to do that he has to be able to get near him, which he can't. He's pretty fast though, I reckon he's good enough for a few races. '

'Well, I'd bet on him if he was entered. I can always pick a winner when I see one, and he definitely is a winner.' Chris gently finished bandaging the girl's leg, then pulled her trouser leg down for her over the bandage. 'How does that feel now?'

'A bit better thanks.' She went to stand up, but suddenly felt a little light headed and sat back down. 'Don't think I'll be mending fences for a couple weeks, Aztecs going to be stuck with me plating his mane to fill in the time.'

Geoff chuckled as he gently tapped her on the shoulder with his clipboard. 'I'm sure he's going to love it, but you'll need to stay off your leg when you get back home, you don't want to make it worse than it already is.'

'That's one thing we can agree on.' She teased back, then turned serious. 'I want to thank you for your help. I'm not sure what I would have done if I didn't see you guys fly over.'

'That's okay Jasmine.' Chris assured her as she handed her a bag with spare bandages, cream and dressings. 'Is there anyway at all that you could get into town in a couple of days so we can check on it?'

'I can try.' She mused, thinking for a moment of how she could work it. 'I can't make any promises though, but I will attempt to come in. It might be late, cause I'll have to wait till I could get away without him knowing.'

'It will be okay Jasmine, just whenever you can get in. Nurse Kate and I are scheduled on Wednesday night at the base, but if you can't get in just keep it clean and drink lots of fluids, we'll be back out this way, over at Clifton Downs, so you can come to the clinic at the station if you need to.' Geoff quickly checked his watch, adding up how long the girl had been with them. He didn't want her to get into more trouble then she already was due to her father. 'Do you want me to give you a hand back to your horse?'

Jasmine nodded, holding onto the things she had been given. 'I'd appreciate that.'

'Alright, up you come.' He easily picked her up, then whispered to Kate to grab his lunch so that he could give it to Jasmine as he carried her out and put the girl onto her horse. 'There you go.'

'Thank you Dr. Standish.' She picked up the horse's reins that Sam handed her, then put the bag into the saddlebags. 'Well, I'll be on my way now and let you get back to Coopers Crossing.'

'Just wait a minute Jasmine.' Kate asked as she got out of the plane and jogged over to her, handing her the paper bag with Geoff's lunch . 'Thought you might be hungry.'

"Thanks Sister Kate, it will save me finding something instead. I'm getting rather tired of wallaby." She picked up Aztec's reins, bringing the horse in to get ready to ride. "With a bit of luck, I'll see you guys again soon, so till then, bye for now."

"Bye Jasmine." Chris waved as the girl cantered off back into the trees on the edge of the forest, then turned to Kate, walking up the stairs into the plane. "I think I'll be having a little chat with Jack when we get back."

"Are you sure we should get involved?" Sam asked as he took his seat in the cockpit, Geoff joining him. "Is there really much we can do?"

"We have to do something." Kate replied as she sat down next to the window, behind his chair. "I could see the fear in her eyes and hear it in her voice when she spoke about him. There has to be some way that we can get her away from him, she doesn't deserve to be treated like that."

Chris noticed that Geoff had been rather quiet about the whole matter as the plane took off, headed back to base. "What's your opinion, Geoff?"

Geoff was staring out the window when he heard his name mentioned and turned around. "Sorry, what did you say? I didn't hear you."

"I'd say." Chris teased. "I asked what's your opinion about the girl? Should we try and do something or not?"

"I don't really know, to be honest." He replied, looking at his hands. "If she did get taken off him, where would she be sent? Into the foster care system? Where she could end up might be worse than being with him, at least she knows what to expect from him. She's being abused, I'll grant that, but would we want to get her into a worse situation? When I was a kid, there was a girl at school who had foster parents, and it didn't end well for her, probably worse then what Jasmine is getting."

"Well, what do you say we should do?" Sam questioned, knowing that there was more to what Geoff was saying then he cared to let on. "We can't just leave her there, knowing what he's doing to her, physically and mentally."

"I think we should have a talk to Jack." Geoff replied after a moment. "But only a talk. We need to find out where the law stands on the subject, but we also need to be prepared to take her in if necessary, until other arrangements can be made. She seemed to have taken a shining to you Kate."

"I kind of guessed that, thanks for pointing it out Geoff." She looked out the window as they flew over an empty paddock, then saw the girl and her horse galloping across the field to an old shack, an old red ute parked beside what looked like a run down slab stable. "That's where she must live."

Chris walked over to her side of the plane and glanced out. "That there is government land." Her eyes followed the girl as she rode up to the house, then couldn't see her anymore as they flew out of view. "It's a fair way out of town, there isn't another soul around for at least thirty kilometers."

"And that's the way Gill would want it." Sam replied, checking the direction the plane was headed in, having heard bits and pieces of the conversation they'd had with the girl. "I knew him before his wife died, he was always quite an eccentric man, but whenever he goes to town to get his beer, I stay clear out of his way. He's as mad as a cut snake, that one."

Sam checked the time then picked up the radio microphone and held down the talk button. "Mike Sierra Foxtrot calling to Victor Charlie Charlie, do you read me?"

DJ back at the base heard the call come in and picked up the mic to reply. "Victor Charlie Charlie, go ahead Mike Sierra Foxtrot."

"The clinic is finished and we are headed on our way back. What's the weather at the strip like? Over."

"All clear for landing, just be careful of the easterly wind, it's blowing at thirty kilometers an hour. Over."

"Alright, make sure that the plane gets filed as soon as we land, it's almost empty. Our ETA is about forty-five minutes.'

Geoff motioned that he wanted to talk and placed the headphones on. 'Dj,can you please get in contact with Jack and ask him to meet us at the base when we get back?'

'Roger that.'

'Thanks DJ. Mike Sierra Foxtrot, over and out." He hung the mic back up, then glanced back at Geoff. "I feel sorry for that poor girl, I know that man, and he's dangerous. He would be using the girl to do whatever he wanted, his own personal slave. He won't want to give her up without a fight, he'd be losing too much."

"You're probably right there." He sighed. "I hope she's going to be alright though, if blood poisoning sets in, she could lose her leg, or worse."

"Do you think that's possible?" Kate asked as he returned to his seat. "I mean, her wound looks bad, but I think it's under control."

"It depends on other factors too Kate." Chriss joined the conversation. "From my observation, she's already not in great health. What were your thoughts on her condition Geoff?"

"She's severely malnourished, I could tell that when I picked her up, but your right. She's already so weak that the infection could quickly take over if she's not careful, but I think she knows what to do. If she's allowed to do it though, I think that's another matter entirely. I guess all we can do is hope she manages to get into town so we can check on her again. Other than that, and talking to Jack, I don't think there is much else we can really do for her right now. She really needs to be on an antibiotic drip though, I just wish she could be convinced to come with us to the hospital."

"She seemed pretty adamant against that, she doesn't want us to be in danger from her father." Kate grabbed her lunch out from under her seat, then handed Geoff some from her bag. "She's a thoughtful one, I'll grant her that, but she seems to be strong as well, for a child her age that's been through so much. I saw the bruises on her arm, even though she tried to hide it. Geoff, she's getting beaten by him. That's what she was trying to say without saying it. It's going to take a strain on her too.'

"I know Kate. I just hope she's strong enough to make it through with a wound like that, and her already weakened state won't help her any." Geoff turned back to the window as he began to eat his lunch, absorbed in thought about the young girl they had just met, hoping that there was some way that they could help her…..

Jasmine wearily pulled her black stallion to a stop beside the slab hut stables and gave him a pat well done. She had ridden him hard and fast, trying to make up for the time she had been gone, but she could guess that by now her father would be awake and in a drunken stuber. Sighing with exhaustion, she pulled out the food that the nurse had given her and unwrapped it, finding a thick sandwich inside. Slowly she began to eat it, letting her stomach get used to the food that was different from her usual meal of wallaby, kangaroo or goanna. She savored every bite as she let Aztec drink from his water trough, then gave him another pat as she put the cloth the sandwich had been wrapped in back into the saddlebag. 'You did good today boy. Thank you. Sorry for running you so hard on the way back, but you enjoyed it, didn't you?'

Aztec closed his eyes slowly, relaxing as he felt her scratching the spot behind his ears, just where he liked it, the motion sending him to sleep.

Jasmine chuckled slightly as she felt the stallion under her go to sleep, then sighed with relief. It looked like to her that her father didn't know she had been gone and she was thankful for that, and for the RFDS service that had helped her with her leg. As she ran her hand across her sweaty forehead, she wished that she could have accepted their offer of looking after her in town, but as she thought about it, she knew she had done the right thing.

She sat there for a few minutes, then decided she might as well not procrastinate the inevitable punishment she knew her father would dish her, even though she had done nothing wrong. Gently she swung her bandaged leg over the back of the saddle and jumped down, the pain as she hit the ground almost sending her to her knees. She stood beside the horse for a few moments, catching her breath from the pain, then she untacked him and let him loose into his pen, placing the tack inside the stable where it would be out of the weather. She looked at the house from the door of the stable, then grabbed the crutches she had made and started the agonizing trip back to the shack.

When Jasmine got to the door, she placed the crutches against the outside wall and leaned against it, taking a break so that she could rest for a few minutes before she walked inside, her supplies for her leg hidden securely in the stable. After she had rested for long enough, she pulled the heavy door open, the smell of vomit and stale beer assaulting her nose. Try as she might, the smell was always too much, and she had to stop herself from gagging.

'Where the heck have you been?' Gill asked gruffly, sitting up from where he had been sleeping on the filthy couch, his hangover over and his temper taking its place. 'Well, answer me!'

Jasmine gulped as she leaned against the wall, letting her father rave on. 'I had to go check my traps. That's all.'

'Well, did you get anything for my dinner?'

'No, I'm sorry. The traps were empty.' She looked at the ground, avoiding his angry bloodshot eyes. 'There wasn't anything at all out to hunt. I'm sorry.'

'Sorry isn't going to put food on the table!' He yelled as he stormed over to her, shoving her hard into the wall. 'You have to try harder, you useless excuse of a human.'

Jasmine finally snapped as he held her with her face and chest pressed against the wall, her patience gone. 'I tried! There was nothing at all! If you weren't such a deadened out drunk, you could go and get your own dinner, but no, you sit here instead and drink yourself to hell, then boss me around and get me to do everything while you sleep off your hangovers. Well, no more, because I have had enough. You are nothing more than an old coot who wants to waste his life away on the bottle, but not me. I never asked for this life, and I'm through with it. No more cooking you dinner, no more doing what you ask. I'm done.'

'You'll do as I say or suffer the consequences!' He screamed at her as he flew into a rage, throwing her to the ground. The girl cowered but he didn't care, pinning her down as he laid into her with his fists. 'You don't backchat me, you cad, and you can't tell me what I can and can't order you to do. I'm the boss here, and what I say goes. If you don't like it, there's more of where this came from.'

Jasmine tried to protect her face from his blows and get away from him but she couldn't get away. He had her right where he wanted her, under his control. 'And you wonder why Sara left!' She yelled in between him punching her, hoping to distract him enough that she could get away. 'She was the smart one, you couldn't control her like you do me, and it makes you angry, doesn't it? That she left for her boyfriend in Sydney. She was always the favorite, you would never have hit her.'

'Don't you ever mention her name again!' He landed one final blow hard into her chest, then stood up, kicking her in the stomach across the dirty floor into the wall. 'That will teach you a lesson.' He gave her one more whopping kick, her body thrown against the wall then stumbled out the door, slamming it so hard that the entire shack rattled loudly. He was swearing and cursing as he got into his ute and started the engine, furious that the girl had even tried to stand up to him.

Jasmine tried to move, crying out in pain as the door was slammed shut, then she heard the ute start and roar off towards town. She gasped as she tried to get her breath back from being kicked in the chest, and tried to sit up, but cried again as her ribs throbbed. She laid on the ground for a few minutes, tears flowing down her cheeks, then she rolled over onto her stomach yelping in pain as she sat up and reached for the wall, pulling herself up till she was standing.

Leaning against the wall, she wiped the tears away, thankful that her father had left. She knew she needed rest, her whole body was sore, but she could barely move enough to make it to her bedroom. Slowly one step at a time she forced herself forward till she was in her room, then she collapsed onto the bed, gasping from the pain. Desperately she pulled out a bottle of paragora from underneath her mattress and gulped down a couple of mouthfuls, detesting the horrible liquid, but knowing she needed to drink it if she was to get any relief. Putting it back into its hiding place, she flopped down on the flat pillow, wishing she had just kept her mouth shut. If she had, maybe he wouldn't have beaten her, but what was done was done…