Novels 01 Blue Skies Read Online Free PDF Page B

his day’s toil exhausted; his body was still adjusting to the unaccustomed labour. He slumped in front of the smouldering fire at the front of his hut.
His vision for Kyleena – as he’d named the thousand-acre property – remained strong, even though the inroads he’d made in the last three months were small. He was fortunate to have more capital than most and had put some of that into building a small hut, which was now his home. The vegetable garden that he’d established in the first week of moving to Kyleena was producing magnificent leafy vegetables, although he was fighting a never-ending war with rabbits. On the last trip he’d made into town, he’d bought a roll of rabbit-proof wire netting and, thankfully, it seemed to be proving effective. His next big project was to finish clearing the land for his stock. Other farming families had plenty of sons to help with clearing, but Michael had only himself, so he had had to hire labour. He had found young Thomas Cramm, who was the son of the boardinghouse owner, Anna Cramm, on one of his trips into Esperance. Thomas was proving most obliging. Michael always worried about his stock when he had to make the two-day trip. Having Thomas staying on Kyleena while he was absent eased the concern.
Michael wondered what his mother would say if she could see him now. His hands were blistered and his skin burnt. The heat had dictated that he shave off his moustache, and the bowler hat that he’d worn so proudly on the docks of London had been replaced by a wide-brimmed felt hat with corks hung on string roughly punched through the edge in the hope the swinging movement would keep the flies away.
He moved slowly about his small camp, his dog Bowy at his side as he cut strips from the pig carcass he had strung from a tree, wrapped in wet calico. As Michael threw the meat into the cast-iron camp oven and then lowered it into the coals, he made sure the three horses, fifty sheep and two cows he had purchased were in their holding yard right next to his shed. If the dingos the settlers had been having trouble with lately came hunting that night, Bowy and Michael would be able to run them off.
Once his nightly chores were completed he sat in front of his fire and wrote a letter to his family by firelight. It must be completed tonight as he was once again leaving to collect his monthly supplies in Esperance tomorrow. The trip would be arduous, as the two-wheel track that followed the telegraph line would be deep with sand. His journal sat alongside of him, and once he had finished his correspondence, he would carefully document his daily work, so future generations could see how he’d made Kyleena a profitable farm.

Chapter 8
    ‘Yeah, I have been blaming you for your mother’s death.’ Brian looked down at the table, his elbows resting on the edge, his hands clasped in front of his mouth.
    Tears sprang to Amanda’s eyes with the admission. It was what she had surmised, but to actually hear it . . . well, she didn’t know how to respond. She reached across the space dividing them to touch his arm. ‘I’m sorry, Dad. I blame myself too. If only . . .’
    ‘If only we hadn’t been on that bloody road going to your graduation!’ Brian slammed his fists on the table. ‘She’d still be here . . .’ His voice cracked.
    ‘I’m not sure that kind of accusation is helpful here, Brian,’ Malcolm interrupted.‘We’re not here to apportion blame; we’re trying to work out a future plan.’
    Brian’s face turned red as he asked gruffly, ‘So you think Amanda’s plan might help the cash flow?’
    ‘I’m sure of it,’ Malcolm replied.
    ‘Tell me then, Amanda, what’s this grand plan of yours?’
    Amanda, still teary from Brian’s accusation, took a few deep breaths before answering. ‘Kyleena is really productive country, as we know – it’s quite special in the Esperance shire, with so much land being sand plain or mallee country. We’ve got this rich river