- Duncan leaves town just before Rob returns. In town, the stables are going up for auction and Rob wants to buy them, but can't afford it on his own. He must try and convince Colin that they are a good buy.
- Surprises await Rob McGregor following his return from the cattle drive. First, Colin involves him in a dispute with a stable owner, then Montana comes clean about her romance with Duncan. Rob and Colin invest in their future by purchasing the public stables in Patterson's Ridge.
- During his journey home to Langara from the cattle drive, Rob ("Guy Pearce") comes across the new manager of the Paterson's Risge stables, Bill Smiggins ("Barry Langrishe") brutally beating a horse in the woods, he stops the man by force. Enraged, Smiggins tells Rob he has made a big mistake in interfering. Once back in town, Colin ("Brett Climo"), having heard about the altercation, advises Rob to settle down in his behaviour, as he's no longer living by bush standards.
Rob learns that he has missed seeing his old friend Duncan, but is unaware of the relationship which had grown between him and Montana ("Gabrielle Fitzpatrick"), until Danni drops a hint to that effect which raises his suspicions. He asks Montana outright if there had been anything between Duncan and herself, and she denies it, countering his questions with some of her own about how familiar he had been with the establishment Jessie McCluskey ("Josephine Byrnes") had run on the gold fields. He is evasive in his answers, leading to further speculation that the 'hotel' she owned was in fact a house of ill repute.
Jessie finds that Bill Smiggins is an unscrupulous businessman, as well as an abuser of animals, when he deliberately over-charges her for stabling horses belonging to guests of the hotel. She tells Rob about this, as well as talking to him about her plans to continue trying to win back Emily's trust and affection. He offers to help on both counts and, unknown to Jessie, visits the stables and tells Smiggins to recalculate her stable fees.
When Montana scolds Danni for telling Rob about Duncan and herself, Danni retorts that if she is serious about Rob she should do something about it.
When Smiggins sends men to repossess Red Wind, the horse belonging to Mei-Li ("Mika Tran") the McGregor's housekeeper, Matt ("Andrew Clarke") goes to the stables to find out what's going on. Smiggins tells Matt that Mei-Li was behind with her payments, although the housekeeper insists that she and her husband Chiu Kwan had bought the horse outright and has a contract signed by Chiu to prove it. When Matt conveys this information to Mei-Li, she insists that she and Chiu paid for the animal in full, and that Smiggins is trying to cheat them.
Montana asks Jessie for advice about whether to tell Rob the truth about what happened with Duncan. Jessie tells her that it's best to be honest.
When it becomes known that the stables are up for auction, the McGregors have reason to believe that Smiggins has somehow already struck a deal with the auctioneer, Bradley Linstead ("Jeremy Kewley") to ensure that he be awarded the winning bid. Rob decides to scupper these plans by putting in a bid of his own, and asks Jessie to enter into a business partnership with him to jointly buy the property. She turns him down however, saying that she can't afford it, so he turns instead to his father for backing. Matt agrees, but when they tell Colin about the deal the minister angrily accuses Rob of acting out of a spiteful vendetta against the stable manager. Undeterred, Rob presses ahead with his plan and registers his interest in the stables with the auctioneer. As a registered bidder, he also now has the right to examine the accounting books of the business and in exercising this right he finds proof that Smiggins had indeed cheated Mei-Li out of her horse. He returns the animal to a grateful Mei-Li.
The next day he attends the stables auction, a little nervous about the fact that he has heard that Smiggins has some heavy hitting financial backers from Melbourne behind his bid. On the way to the auction Montana catches Rob and tells him the truth about what happened between her and Duncan, but adds that she now realises that Rob means more to her than Duncan ever could have. Rob takes the news surprisingly well, and leaves for the auction without really responding.
While everyone else is at the auction, Colin visits the stables and sees clear evidence that the horses there have been beaten, causing him to change his assessment of Rob's plan to buy the business. Thus informed, he enters the bidding himself, effectively securing the stables for the McGregor family.
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