Read Online As the Earth Turns Silver by Alison Wong - Free Book Online

‘Did ya . . . see . . . the look . . . on his face?’ he gasped. ‘Marvellous . . . Blimmin’. . . marvellous.’
    â€˜Blimmin’ hilarious, if you ask me,’ said Robbie as he lifted the broken gate. Pushed it open.
    â€˜Wait . . . the bugger’s . . . given me . . . stitch . . .’
    Robbie was already bounding up the few steps towards the front door. ‘You reckon that’s what those chinkies get up to? I mean you don’t see any women, do you? You reckon they just . . .’ He laughed, made crude thrusts with his body.
    â€˜You boys better watch out. You know Mum doesn’t like swearing.’
    Robbie turned. He hadn’t seen Edie crouched by the fence. Probably digging in the dirt, playing with worms or chopping up spiders or whatever it was she did. Tell-tale. He gave her the fingers. ‘Bitch!’
    â€˜Robert McKechnie!’ His mother stood in the doorway, basket under her arm, obviously on her way out to do some shopping. ‘One more foul word and I’ll wash your mouth out with soap and water! Now apologise to your sister!’
    Edie poked out her tongue.
    Robbie glanced at Wally, who smiled. He smiled back. ‘I’m really sorry, Edie, that I called you a BITCH . . .’
    All he saw was Edie’s smirk before a hand grabbed the back of his collar, an arm lifted him off his feet and he was half-carried, half-dragged into the house. What the . . . ? He swung his arms and legs hard, twisted and wrenched himself free. But when he looked around Wally was nowhere to be seen. He poked his tongue out at Edie, but for once she didn’t respond. Her face was pale, her jaw dropped.
    He turned. His mother had collapsed on the doorstep, her hand over her eyes. For a moment he didn’t move, unable to comprehend what had happened. Then he noticed a shudder. ‘Mum?’ He ran towards her.
    He wrapped his arms around her, felt her hold onto him, felt the sobs buried within her. He looked up. Edie was standing beside them, her hand gently rubbing their mother’s back, small cooing sounds coming from her mouth, sounds he remembered their mother making when he fell down the stairs, when she’d gently picked him up and cradled him in her arms.

If the Wínd Changes
    Katherine made the children’s lunches – slices of bread spread with jam or dripping, broken biscuits, half an apple – and placed them in brown paper bags on the kitchen table. She set the table for breakfast, left out bread, jam, dripping, then climbed the stairs to bed.
    She lay awake listening to Edie sleep beside her, listening to her own heartbeat, to the hours as they drained slowly from her. She woke head thick, limbs heavy, every movement as if through water. Some mornings she rose and made the children porridge and sprinkled it with sugar; some mornings the children came up to her bed and kissed her before they left for school.
    Sometimes she did not rise till early afternoon, when she forced herself out of bed and down Adelaide Road. If she could bring herself to , she’d look for work. Other times she looked in shop windows, coveting the things she could not afford. She might go into Paterson’s for day-old bread. Not that she liked Mrs Paterson especially – the old biddy seemed to like Donald more than seemed decent – but she was well meaning enough and at least she was someone to talk to.
    Katherine’d had a few good friends at school. But she’d lost touch with Matilda Mulroney when her family moved to Melbourne. Then there was Minnie Ferguson, but she’d married a farmer and moved to the Waikato. At Gilbys, Katherine studied stenography, typing and book-keeping with Felicity Baker, and they’d certainly had fun together, but Felicity had married an accountant and moved to Wanganui.
    Sometimes for want of something better to do, Katherine