Read Online Freedom's Land by Anna Jacobs - Free Book Online

alphabetical order, ticking them off on a list.
    ‘This seems to be taking a long time,’ Norah said to Andrew with a sigh. ‘I want to see something more of Australia than a big tin shed.’
    ‘Tired?’
    ‘Only of having nothing to do. I prefer to keep busy.’
    ‘Me, too. Ned, come here and stand still!’
    She was glad Andrew kept a firm hand on his sons. She didn’t approve of children being allowed to run wild. No need to tell Janie to stay next to her. She was never more than a few inches away.
    The young man and a clerk then gave them back their landing money. Andrew had had to deposit twenty pounds before leaving England, so that they wouldn’t be destitute on arrival. She wasn’t sure how much he had left after that. Money was another thing they hadn’t really had an opportunity to discuss. She’d got some of her own and hadn’t offered it to him, because it made her feel more secure to have something behind her.
    And then, at long last, they were escorted outside ‘into Australia’ as Janie called it, and directed to a charabanc, which would take them to the old Immigrants’ Home, where they were to stay until they could go down to their farms. Its top was open to the evening sunshine and she wished the drive had taken longer, because she was fascinated by everything, the little wooden houses with verandas, the strange trees and once, what she thought were parrots flying freely over the house tops, only the driver said they were white-tailed black cockatoos. But that was a sort of parrot, wasn’t it?
    So much to learn.
    At the Immigrants’ Home men and women were once again separated, which caused much grumbling. Females were to sleep in long dormitories and males outside on the wide verandas, which would be no hardship in such warm weather.
    Norah was relieved when Susan was assigned to another dormitory and quickly found herself and Janie beds. Irene, looking a lot rosier than she had at the start of the journey, came to take the next one.
    ‘Do you mind if I stay near you?’ she asked. ‘I don’t know anyone else here.’
    ‘Not at all.’ The narrow camp stretchers they were sleeping on were set about four feet apart. Janie sat on the edge of hers with a tired sigh, suddenly losing her energy. ‘Can I go to bed now, Mum?’
    ‘Not till you’ve eaten, love,’ Norah said.
    ‘I’m not hungry.’
    ‘Well, I am. And you must try to eat something or you’ll be hungry in the middle of the night.’
    ‘I thought I’d be with my Freddie tonight!’ Irene said as she took her nightclothes out of the suitcase and then pushed it under the stretcher bed. ‘I do miss him.’
    ‘You’ll be with your husband when you get to your farm.’ So would she, Norah thought. And how would that go? After the one kiss, Andrew had made no attempt to touch her. Was he perhaps not a very passionate man? If so, that would be a big disappointment.
    And what was she doing brooding, when she had a child to feed and was ravenous herself? ‘Let’s go down to the dining room.’
    They rejoined their men folk and found a hearty lamb stew and fresh crusty bread waiting for them, followed by fruit – melons, which many of them hadn’t tried before, and grapes, a luxury item in England. Here, it seemed, they were very cheap at this time of year and many people grew their own.
    Before they went to bed, a roster was read out because the women had to take a share of the cooking and cleaning. Norah found she’d be on early duty, getting breakfast ready, which she didn’t mind.
    As soon as the meal ended, she turned to Andrew. ‘It’s been a long day and Janie’s exhausted. I think we’ll go to bed now.’
    He looked out to where some of the bigger lads were playing catchers. ‘Those rascals of mine seem to have got a new lease of life, but I’m tired too.’
    When would they be sent to their new homes? she wondered as she lay in bed. She was fed up with being ordered around like a schoolgirl, wanted to start