Haunted Creek Read Online Free PDF Page A

good thing,’ Bert said to Martha a few days after they had settled in, ‘our block has a little creek running down to the big one. Plenty of water.’
    They were sitting at the top of the ridge, looking over their land. ‘Yes, Bert. And I’ll tell you something else – if you leave that line of thick trees on the ridge we’ll be sheltered from the worst of the storms.’
    Martha and Bert had strolled through the neighbourhood, looking at the lie of the land and the progress of the local folk. They had visited Rose and walked up the hill to Wattle Tree and now Martha said, ‘Jim Carlyle beat us to the level block, but he’ll have no water on his land as far as I can see. He’ll need to dig out some dams to catch the winter rains. We’ve got the best deal, I’m thankful to say, in spite of the race to get here first.’
    ‘It was no race – you can’t hurry cattle,’ Bert reminded her. ‘They’ll not be pushed.’
    Martha continued. ‘But what worries me is that poor English lass, the mess she’s come to. I was shocked to see their place. That Luke should be horsewhipped for bringing her out, telling her the farm was ready. Everybody knows it’s hard enough for youngwomen in the back blocks, even if they’re used to our climate. Most men make a bit of an effort, build a house that keeps out wind and rain and rats … I wouldn’t live like that for very long and I doubt she will.’
    ‘But if you go back, folks say you’ve failed. And they’re married, so she’ll have to stay. A woman’s place is with her husband,’ Bert said heavily.
    Martha sighed. ‘Maybe she’ll straighten him up, if she’s got the character. Poor Rose! I’ve only known her for a week or two but I feel right sorry for her. I suppose we owe her for pulling Charlie out of the creek, although I know he was shamming. That was quick of her, that was, and she thought he was drowning.’
    ‘There’ll be plenty of chances to help her, you mark my words.’ Bert got stiffly to his feet. ‘It’s time you put those young monkeys to bed.’

THREE
    T HERE WERE FLEAS in the dust of the floor and rats scuttled about in the roof of the hut at night, to say nothing of spiders. Rose was used to the realities of farm life, but nothing like this. They lived for most of the time outside in the bleak back yard. How long would it be before they had a decent home?
    For a few weeks Luke tried to please Rose in practical ways, doing things like putting up shelves in the hut, although she seemed to get no closer to him emotionally. The loving relationship was not developing; it seemed as though a part of her husband was private, shut away. She hoped it was just the effects of isolation and that he would change in time.
    One day as she was washing clothes in the creek, Rose looked up to see a figure towering over her. Then the enormous grey kangaroo turned and bounded into the bush. Were they dangerous? Luke had not warned her of any dangers at all, but Martha Carr had mentioned snakes, so she kept a watch for them. If a snake bites you you’re as good as dead, Mrs Carr said, but they usually avoid people if they can. Perhaps Luke didn’t want to frighten her.
    ‘What about men like Ned Kelly?’ Rose asked one evening. She’d read about bushrangers before she came to Australia; gangs of outlaws could be anywhere. People on the ship had warned her about them. ‘There’s no police anywhere near Haunted Creek. I suppose our cattle are worth money, it would be easy to gallop off with them.’
    ‘Don’t be daft, woman,’ Luke said shortly. He was drinking beer from a bottle that had been submerged in the creek all day to cool it. ‘The Kelly gang’s hundreds of miles from here, up north. Remember, it’s a big country! And, anyway, they mostly steal from rich folks, not poor cockies like us.’
    ‘Cockies?’
    ‘The folks on the grazing runs call the selectors cockatoos – they arrive in flocks and get in the way. Don’t worry so much,