Read Online Beyond the Sunset by Anna Jacobs - Free Book Online Page A

chopping potatoes to put in a stew.
    It was hard working in such heat, though her sister didn’t seem upset by it. And as for Reece, he positively loved the warmth. The Southerhams stayed out of the sun during the middle of the day. Lucky them! She wished she could do the same.
    The food they ate was fairly monotonous, though they’d now brought back quite a few much-needed ingredients from the shop on the highway, which was close to where their other two sisters lived. To call a dusty track a highway had surprised them both. The track was quite narrow, with an occasional wider part. Kevin next door said this was where the wheels of wagons made deep ruts in winter so that other drivers took their vehicles to one side to keep to firmer ground.
    The track led all the way down to a port called Albany on the south coast, about three hundred miles from Perth. Mail to England was sent from there because of the sheltered anchorage, which seemed strange when most of the population of the colony lived in and around Perth.
    ‘I’m looking forward to living with Kevin. He’s so interesting to talk to.’ Cassandra scooped the potato pieces off the chopping board into a bowl.
    ‘Reece seems fond of him.’
    ‘I am too. I don’t care if he was once a convict. He’s kind and helpful, and that’s what matters. Reece is building an extra bedroom for us on the side of Kevin’s wooden house. There was a spare bedroom, but it was tiny, so he’s removing the inner wall to that, which will make the living area bigger.’
    Pandora suppressed an envious sigh. She didn’t think she’d ever get used to living under canvas, or to the horrible insects and creeping things that joined them there. She lived in terror of finding a snake in her bed. Kevin said Australian snakes were very poisonous and some could kill you with one bite. She checked her bedding every night before she lay down because her bed was only a straw mattresses on a piece of old canvas. Reece said he’d build her a wooden bed frame before winter. She didn’t like to trouble him to ask for it earlier because he worked from dawn to dusk every day.
    ‘Have you decided what you’re going to wear for the wedding, Cassandra?’
    ‘The dress I wore at Christmas. It hides this better than my others do.’ She laid one hand briefly on her expanding belly.
    ‘I’ve got a lace collar you can borrow.’
    ‘The one on your blue dress? Won’t you need it yourself?’
    ‘I’m not the person getting married, am I?’
    ‘Thank you. I will borrow it, then. I do want to look as nice as I can.’ Her face briefly took on the blissful glow it got when she spoke of marrying Reece, then the smile faded and she looked at her sister in concern. ‘I keep worrying about how you’ll go on when you’re alone here afterwards?’
    ‘I’ll be fine.’
    ‘You could look for another job if you’re unhappy. Something closer to the twins, perhaps.’
    ‘I’d rather stay near you. Truly.’ She patted the lump of dough into shape and thumped it down into the second of the pair of heavy bread tins they’d persuaded the Southerhams to buy. ‘There. That’s done. I’m sick of making soda bread every day. Do you remember how easy it was when we just popped round to the baker’s for a loaf?’
    ‘Yes. But it’s different here, with the nearest shop an hour’s cart ride away. If we want to eat bread we have to make it. And at least we have a proper stove to cook on now.’
    ‘Mrs Southerham didn’t provide very well when it came to food supplies and cooking utensils, did she?’
    Cassandra looked over her shoulder to make sure no one was near. ‘They’re the most impractical pair. Why on earth they wanted to become settlers, I can’t think. If Mr Southerham didn’t have Reece to help him, he’d be in serious trouble. Once Reece has served the agreed time to pay back his fare to Australia, we’re going to set up on our own and I can’t think what Mr Southerham will do then.