Moonstone Promise Read Online Free PDF

to be taking the lead and Ryan seemed to be keeping his mouth shut.
    â€˜Up this way,’ said Lawson, reining his horse away.
    Luke loosened the reins and let Biyanga take the lead out in front of the hearse. Lawson and Ryan rode up either side of him.
    â€˜There must be two hundred riders here,’ Luke said to Ryan. ‘There aren’t as many riders as this at most drafts we go to.’
    â€˜He had a pretty long history with horses,’ said Ryan. ‘But yeah, I didn’t expect this many.’
    And he was at the very front. That was a big honour. That was pretty cool. Luke took up the reins a bit and asked Biyanga to arch his neck and walk proud while he sat a little straighter in the saddle.

    The old coach-house was five kilometres out of town, in a large open field by the lake. It was a small timber building with a steeply pitched roof. A verandah ran around three sides and four small steps spilled down to the front path.
    Lawson and Ryan dismounted and passed their reins to Luke. Other people arrived in cars and made their way to the coach-house. With the help of Stanley and a few other blokes, they placed the casket on a stand on the verandah. Annie, Mrs Arnold and other family members and friends seated themselves on chairs next to it. Riders sat on their horses or stood quietly while a minister spoke from the verandah.
    Poems were read and songs sung. Lawson and Ryan made short speeches, and then several other people did too. It took a long time and it was hot. Finally, Lawson nodded to Luke, indicating that it was time to step forward and place his rug over the casket.
    First Annie walked up and placed a small black velvet pouch, drawn closed with a yellow cord, on the casket. She stroked the lid of the casket with a shaky hand and walked back to her seat. As he handed his reins to Stanley Arnold and stepped forward, Luke heard the unmistakeable tune of ‘Amazing Grace’ swim through his ears from Ryan’s slide guitar.
    It gutted him. He stood staring blankly at the casket, letting the slow haunting guitar riffs waft in and out of him.
    â€˜Luke.’
    He looked up at Jess. She was bawling. She took the rug and helped him to fold it neatly in half and hang it over the casket. Then he watched as she placed a green-and-gold striped tie on top, together with a small handful of black powdery soil.
    â€˜He lived like a gentleman, and he should die like a gentleman,’ she whispered without looking at him.
    Lawson put Harry’s grubby old hat on the casket and then he picked up his father’s banjo and joined Ryan. Some old guy Luke had never seen before pulled out a harmonica. It was the saddest music he had ever heard. One by one, other people walked forward and placed flowers, small brass horse statues, envelopes, prize ribbons, crucifixes, bridles, stockwhips, a small hip flask, a stubby of beer, all sorts of things, on the casket. One woman even put a black lacy bra on it. Luke shot a glance at Annie, who was actually chuckling.
    Later, the family took the casket to the crematorium. It disappeared behind a small curtain and Harry was gone, before Luke even had a chance to get used to the idea.

    The wake went on all night. Back at Harry’s place, the arena was full of people, the lights were blazing and various people were playing guitars and singing. Mrs Arnold and Jess’s mum passed platters of food around, but it soon ran out and people drove into town to fetch pizzas and hot chips.
    It was okay for a while. Luke mingled with Tom, Jess and Rosie, but then some of the guests started getting drunk. The voices got louder and the guitars started sounding out of tune. There were empty bottles, cans and pizza trays all over the arena. People Luke didn’t know ran up and down the stable aisle, spooking the horses. In the end, he and Tom let them all out in the paddock where they could get some peace.
    â€˜I’m getting out of here,’ Luke said to