Mud and Gold Read Online Free PDF

through the door into the passage.
    ‘See?’ Thomas said proudly, leading Amy
through the door of her old bedroom. ‘I got my own room now!’
    ‘So you have, Tommy,’ Amy said, fighting
back tears. A few toys were lying on the floor, and some of
Thomas’s clothes were on the bed.
    Susannah followed them into the room. ‘I
thought Thomas was old enough to move out of our room. I’ll put
George in here with him in a few months.’
    ‘You can sleep in my bed with me,’ Thomas
said, beaming up at Amy.
    ‘No, I can’t, Tommy.’ This time Amy could
not hide the catch in her voice. ‘I’ve got another bedroom
now.’
    ‘Don’t you want to sleep with me?’ There was
disappointment in the little boy’s voice.
    ‘Shh, that’s enough of that,’ Susannah cut
in. ‘Come out of here, Thomas, I don’t want you making this room
any more untidy than it is.’ She took hold of Thomas’s arm and led
him back to the kitchen, with Amy following at their heels. ‘Do you
want to have a cup of tea before you go home, Amy?’
    Amy pictured herself sitting at the familiar
table in the comfortable kitchen. ‘Thank you. But I’d better get
back. Charlie’ll want a cup of tea himself soon.’
    ‘Where you going, Amy?’ Thomas asked.
    ‘She’s going home. Don’t you go making a
fuss, Thomas,’ Susannah said. ‘Amy will come back and visit soon.
Here, have some more raisins.’
    With Thomas successfully distracted,
Susannah walked Amy to the door. ‘Your hair looks rather odd
hanging down on one side like that, Amy—here, I’ll tidy it for
you.’
    ‘Don’t,’ Amy said, but it was too late.
Susannah lifted the stray lock, revealing Amy’s bruised cheek.
    ‘I see.’ Susannah let the hair drop. ‘That
didn’t take long, did it? What did you get that for?’
    Amy looked down at the floor. ‘Burning
breakfast.’
    ‘Is that all? I thought you might have done
something silly, like tried to fight him off. He is difficult,
isn’t he? You’ll have to be more careful.’
    ‘I know,’ Amy said through clenched teeth.
‘Please don’t tell Pa.’
    ‘Of course I won’t. He’d only go making a
fool of himself. It’s none of his business now, anyway.’
    ‘It won’t happen again, as long as I’m
careful,’ Amy said, trying to sound confident. Charlie will like
the apple pie. Maybe he’ll even say something nice about
it .
    She walked back across the paddocks, holding
the bottle of yeast in one hand so it would not get too shaken
about. When she saw the back door standing open she was grateful
that she had refused Susannah’s offer of a cup of tea; Charlie had
come home a little early for his own.
    Amy took her boots off in the porch and
hurried into the kitchen, vaguely taking in the fact that every
door in the house seemed to be open. ‘You haven’t been waiting
long, have you, Charlie? I’ve just—’
    Charlie rushed at her and took hold of her
shoulders. ‘Where the hell have you been?’ he roared.
    ‘I-I went next door,’ Amy stammered. His
face was wild with rage, but something else seemed mixed with his
anger. If the idea had not been so ridiculous, Amy might have
thought it was fear. ‘I needed to borrow a few things from
Susannah.’
    ‘Don’t you ever,’ he punctuated each word
with a shake that jerked Amy’s head painfully back and forth,
‘don’t you ever set foot off my land without asking me. I’ll not
have you roaming around wild. You ask me. You
understand?’
    ‘I d-didn’t know,’ Amy gasped out between
shakes. ‘I didn’t know I w-wasn’t allowed. I’m s-sorry.’
    ‘Your pa let you run around where you
pleased, didn’t he?’
    ‘Y-yes. I w-was allowed out b-by
myself.’
    ‘And look what you did! You found a man to
roll in the grass with. Didn’t you! I’ll not have you making a fool
of me, you little bitch.’ He gave her a hard shove, slamming her
against the wall. Her head snapped back, hitting the wall with a
thud, then her legs gave way under her and she