Achmed Aziz (Panda Likoudis), an Iraqi agronomist, arrives on a study tour and Kate (Rachel Ward) fears he will submit a report on the condition of the local sheep.

Having rebuffed Jill's attempts to empathise with her, Kate then forces her to co-operate with a plan to cover up the sheep problem until the drought breaks, after which it will be irrelevant. Jill is morally and professionally challenged by this, but then finds herself defending Kate to James Campbell, a vet in a nearby town who has designs on Kate's practice (and Jill's body).

Meanwhile, Achmed meets diverse characters such as the mysterious Larry Riley, a wealthy man with no known source of income, and Harry Greene (Shane Withington), the ultimate pragmatist, known locally as the Grim Reaper for his blithe exploitation of others' misfortune.

After the sale of the Huppatz farm for a knock-down price reignites a feud between Tom Huppatz (Tom O'Sullivan) and local bigwig Lachlan Balfour (Kim Knuckey), Kate is furious when she discovers Jill, unable to suppress her personal and professional curiosity, has conducted laboratory tests on the diseased sheep.

Kate is injured in a cattle yard accident, forcing Jill to run the practice on her own.

It seems the order of the world has been restored when Jill gets to do some refreshingly routine vet work and achieves results, mostly without Kate's help or interference.

But her world is thrown off kilter again when she and Kate perform highly illegal life-saving surgery on Larry Riley, who has managed to acquire a gunshot wound. Then Kate tests Jill's courage, watching her destroy Larry's mortally wounded dog.

While Kate seems able to justify breaking the law to achieve the right result, Jill now feels completely compromised. By helping to save Larry's life, she has become part of the skewed morality of the Rain Shadow country. Ironically, having longed to be accepted, she is now wondering exactly what it is that she's embraced.

Relieved of the burden of her secret, Kate appears to have lost the will to challenge the area's destiny.

Threatened by the fact that rival vet James Campbell will expose her decision not to notify the authorities about the sheep disease, she agrees to sell him her practice, mostly in order to save Jill's career.

But Jill, realising she is the only person who knows what really happened to Kate's husband, and in view of the new bond created between them following Kate's confession, refuses to allow her to give up so easily.

Even when Kate is determined to sacrifice herself yet again, Jill comes up with a radical plan that could save the farmers of Paringa and allow Kate to embrace the possibility of a happy and guilt free future - but only if Kate can overcome her notorious stubborn streak.