To Chase the Storm: The Frontier Series 4 Read Online Free PDF

his princess and live a good life.’

    Saul was also pleased at the news. Rebecca’s frequent letters to him and his father were treasured documents. He had missed his little sister and often wondered what sort of young woman she had grown into. Did she take after his mother with her long blonde hair and gentle ways?
    ‘I hope you two will be at the wedding,’ Jonathan said quietly. ‘It would mean a lot to her if you were.’
    Saul was about to protest that the property kept them tied down when his father put his tumbler of gin down beside him in the red earth and said in a flat voice, ‘You have come from Solomon to tell us that we are finished. That is why we would be able to go to Becky’s wedding, isn’t it?’
    Jonathan’s expression was grim on hearing his father’s unexpected observation. ‘I’m sorry, Father,’ Jonathan mumbled. ‘But everyone suffered from the crash. Uncle Solomon stretched himself as far as he could to finance Jerusalem and keep you here. He knows what this place means to you and Saul.’
    ‘He has been more than generous over the years in extending the loan,’ Ben said with a sigh. ‘I understand that and will always be grateful. I have known for a long time that this day would come. Maybe it is God’s will.’
    ‘Be buggered!’ Saul exploded. ‘With the war coming in South Africa we could make a lot of money from beef. All we need is a bit more time to pay back everything we owe.’
    ‘No, Saul!’ his father roared angrily. ‘We do not live on charity. We have our strength and I know you could get work anywhere from here to the Gulf. No,it’s time we learned to cut our losses and pay back what we have lived on for so many years.’
    The tough young stockman turned to his father and saw in his eyes a lost soul, beaten down by the harsh land that surrounded them. ‘What about Terituba and Jacob?’ Saul pleaded. ‘Their women are long dead and they are alone like us.’
    ‘Old Terituba will never be alone in this land,’ his father said in a tired voice. ‘He belongs out here, whether we exist or not. I learned that from my old friend a long time ago. No, he will continue to live on when we are gone from here. Jacob is probably as good as you as a bushman and with my recommendation will get work on Franklin’s lease. He will be all right.’
    ‘And me? Where do I go?’
    ‘You are strong and capable.’ Ben flared at his son’s self-pitying question. ‘My old friend Kate Tracy would get you work if you asked her. She once employed a worthless boy from Sydney and gave him responsibilities far beyond his years. She would do no less for that man’s son whose snivelling makes him just about as bad as I was those years ago.’
    Saul bowed his head and fumbled with his broad brimmed hat. His father was right! The inevitable had happened and he could work somewhere else. He did not need to apologise for his weakness to his father, who knew him better than any person on earth.
    ‘Saul will make preparations tomorrow to go to Townsville,’ Ben said. ‘I will follow soon enough.’
    ‘Don’t you think you should come with me, Father?’ Jonathan asked gently.

    ‘No. I have things to do before I leave and it is good that Saul goes ahead to find us a place until we get work. I will be all right. Terituba will be with me. Now we will break bread together and be happy for Becky’s coming happiness. I know your mother would have wanted us to. And then we finish the bottle.’
    The three men ate that night and talked of all things except the coming foreclosure on Jerusalem. They drank outside under the magnificent, slowly swirling canopy of southern stars until their heads swam and the stars blurred, arcing streaks across the black velvet sky. Then they slept where they fell in the red dust of the land. Only Ben awoke in the early hours of the morning when he heard the distant mournful sounds and felt the pain grip his chest with its familiar vice-like fingers.
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