Meg is full of preparations for her and Jodi's leave-taking, but in her excitement fails to notice that Jodi harbours a sliver of doubt, which isn't helped when one of the new applicants for a job on Drover's Run turns out to be Kate Manfredi, an old boarding-school friend of Jodi's. Unlike Jodi, Kate has turned out to be a very high achiever, going to uni and getting her Wool Classing certificate, among other things. They had been great friends at school despite their differences, and Jodi is thrilled to see her again. While Kate's qualifications impress Tess and Stevie, they worry about her lack of hands-on experience. Tess hires her on a three-month probation period--they need all the help they can get, as Killarney and Drover's are uniting in shearing their flocks, and they're short a number of shearers. At Killarney, Harry and Sandra arrive back from their honeymoon, and proudly announce to Nick and Alex that Sandra's pregnant. The boys are not overly thrilled, especially Alex, but with prompting from Harry, they do their best to sound pleased.