And Those Who Trespass Against Us Read Online Free PDF Page A

hand through her wet, cropped curls. "In which case, is there anything else I can help you with?"
    Miss Pelham baulked at the question and, for a fraction of a second, Katherine saw her features change, as though she dropped her guard, but with the same speed with which it had faltered, she quickly regained her composure. "No, thank you, I should be right now." Miss Pelham turned to lift the water kettle from the fire.
    She looked at the back of Miss Pelham with curiosity, almost sure she was about to say something. Why had she turned her back? Was everything all right? Although her education in the convent had taught her to pursue such matters, the hour was late. At that moment Katherine didn't feel strong enough to listen to the troubles of yet another person. She felt all she'd done all day was listen to problems. Katherine caught herself, guilty at such feelings, but knowing her tiredness currently overrode her guilt.
    "I think I'll go to bed. Good night and thank you once again for extending to me the courtesy of your home." The nuns had taught Katherine the last phrase as a convenient way to end a meeting. She wasn't entirely sure she'd used it in its right context, but found again she was too tired to care. Lifting her lamp, she wound her way through the house to her bedroom and said the necessary prayers and climbed into bed.

    CATRIONA LISTENED TO Sister Flynn's footfalls recede. Only then did she trust herself to turn from the fire and look in the direction she had taken. Her face felt flushed, which wasn't unusual when one stood so close to a fire. Only Catriona knew that the warmth of the fire had nothing to do with the heat radiating in her cheeks.

Chapter Three

    KATHERINE AWOKE EARLY the next morning to a cacophony of birds outside her window. Never having heard such a raucous noise in her life, she placed her shift around her shoulders and headed across the room. The tree outside was full of at least a hundred white birds, their heads adorned with an impressive feather comb of sulphur yellow. "You're like washerwomen on market day, shouting and singing at the same time."
    The morning sun's rays beaming through the French windows enabled her the first daylight opportunity to view her surroundings. Brown-green grass, which dominated the landscape as far as she could see, was interspersed with lofty trees of white bark and green leaves, called gum trees--as she'd learned on her train trip. She wistfully smiled. "It certainly isn't the rolling hills of Ireland."
    Her stomach grumbled as she walked to her dresser. Deciding a cup of tea and breakfast might be in order, she pulled a shawl over her nightgown and quietly walked through the house, mindful of not waking Miss Pelham.

    CATRIONA LOOKED UP when the door to the kitchen opened. "Good morning, Sister. I was beginning to wonder if you were going to get up at all." Catriona stood and reached for an extra teacup.
    "Thank you." Katherine took the cup. "I'm sorry. I didn't realise you rose so early. Is it customary out here in Australia?"
    "It's not so much customary, as necessary. There aren't enough daylight hours to get all the chores done and sleep in as well. Alexander and I normally only employ additional workers for the harvest and divide the chores between us the rest of the time." Catriona poured Sister Flynn's tea. "Plus, it gets so hot here in the summer you can't work through the heat of the day. Honestly, I could think of nothing better than to go to bed and not have to worry about what I had to do the next day."
    "Then I expect these early mornings are something I'll have to remember, Miss Pelham."
    Catriona held up her hand. "Before we continue, there's something I need to explain. When I was a child, a particular governess educated Alexander and me. This continued until Alexander was seventeen and I was fourteen. For all the years she taught me, she never called me anything but Miss Pelham. I didn't like her very much and I hated being called Miss