North Star Read Online Free PDF Page A

constant in Kate’s life, and right now she longed for those old arms to encircle her and for her gran to whisper in that soft gentle voice of hers that everything would be all right.
    Kate’s erratic childhood was the reason she had been so loath to cause her own children any upheaval, the reason she had fought so hard to keep a failing marriage together no matter how bad things got. She’d been determined to spare Georgia and Liam the trauma of constantly being uprooted and displaced, as she had been throughout her childhood. And now look at them—dealing with a divorce and a move to the middle of nowhere.
    Kate could feel the tension of the last few days begin to catch up with her. She stretched her neck and looked skyward. The blanket of stars shining overhead took her breath away. She’d forgotten how beautiful the night sky was. When was the last time she’d gone outside simply to look up at it? She’d done that with Gran sometimes, while they waited for Henry to pass out after a night of heavy drinking. Oddly enough, these memories were some of her happiest. At the time she hadn’t realised that Gran was hiding her out in the garden to keep her safe from her violent grandfather.
    Kate lost track of time after that, staring at the shimmering stars, lost in memories of her past. She must have dozed off because she awoke with a start some time later, then sleepily got to her feet and headed back inside to bed. ‘Everything will be all right,’ she whispered to herself softly, and for a moment she actually believed it.

They’d been working so hard on the house that Kate had barely had a chance to step outside, let alone visit the rest of the property. They couldn’t go very far without a four-wheel drive anyway. Her little Apollo was not suitable for the rough terrain of the property—even the driveway had become something of a challenge each day. She’d have to trade in her little car for something more suited to farm life.
    Across the yard, back from the main house, was a big machine shed where Kate had played as a child. She wandered over there now, stretching out her aching muscles. Inside, she saw that not much had changed in the years since she’d last been here. An old saddle and other horse paraphernalia still hung over a rail along one side of the shed. Bales of hay, all but disintegrated, covered the dirt floor, and the musty smell of mice droppings hung in the air.
    A workbench with long-abandoned tools stood gathering dust; an ancient tractor, parked after a hard day in the field, mud still caked on its tyres, sat looking tired and dejected.
    Funny how you remembered places from childhood differently. Sometimes they seemed smaller, less scary than you recalled, and sometimes they were eerily close to how you remembered them.
    Like this shed.
    This was where Henry meted out his punishment.
    A cold sweat broke out on Kate’s palms and she balled her hands into fists and shoved them deep into her pockets.
    â€˜Stop it,’ she ordered herself quietly. ‘There’s nothing here to hurt anyone any longer, it’s just a bloody shed and nothing more.’
    As she moved towards the old saddle, she caught the scent of leather, horses and sweat. She did wonder if maybe her senses had gone into overdrive—surely after all this time the smell of horse wouldn’t linger?—but bending lower she took a deep breath and realised that it did. A fond smile tugged at her lips as she blinked through happy tears. Poor old Penny with her bowed back, dilapidated old stock horse and Kate’s best friend—next to Jenny Wilson.
    She could hear Liam calling her from outside. Quickly she swiped the tears from her face and hurried out to meet him. He came running towards her with a huge smile on his face and a bundle of something furry in his arms.
    â€˜Mum, I found a cat, can I keep him?’ he asked breathlessly.
    â€˜Where did you find