Read Online Lillipilly Hill by Eleanor Spence - Free Book Online

boots, ’cause of the snakes. Last one they killed was six foot long, Joe says.’
    â€˜Do they eat people, those snakes?’ asked Rose-Ann, in horrified fascination.
    â€˜No—but they bite people. One of Pa’s mates got bit once, on the leg, and Pa had to cut the leg open with his knife, to let the poison out. The man was awful sick for a while.’
    Harriet shivered. How difficult it was to believe that only a few short months ago she had been leading a sedate and quiet life in Kensington, where snakes were merely creatures shown in picture-books! And what would her acquaintances there have made of Dinny O’Brien? It would have taken much more than a fear of snakes, however, to have sent Harriet back to her former existence, so dull by comparison with the present.
    Rose-Ann was feeling quite the opposite.
    â€˜I wish we could go home,’ she wailed.
    Dinny at once became protective, as she was always to be with Rose-Ann. Harriet she treated as an equal.
    â€˜Don’t you fret about those snakes. They wouldn’t ever bite you .’
    â€˜It’s not just the snakes,’ said Rose-Ann dismally. ‘It’s being so lonely, and having to go to this queer school, and there’s that awful boy who called Aidan names—’
    â€˜I didn’t like school much at first,’ said Dinny. ‘I didn’t go till I was eight, and that was when Ma found out it was the law, that we all had to go to school. But now I think it’s better than being at home, looking after the babies, and helping pick beans and peas, and doing the washing. And that Paddy Tolly won’t call your brother names if your brother turns round and hits him in the eye.’
    â€˜Aidan’s no good at fighting,’ said Harriet.
    â€˜He’d better learn, then. Joe’ll teach him, next time he’s home. And Tim—that’s the biggest one, him that’s working for the butcher in Blackhill—Tim once hit a boy so hard he was asleep for a week.’
    Harriet was to learn that Dinny’s tales were not always strictly accurate, but she always enjoyed them. She was about to demand more O’Brien family history when the bell sounded.
    â€˜Come on,’ said Dinny. ‘It’s a long run from here, and Mr Burnie hates us to be late.’
    As Harriet hurried breathlessly into the schoolroom, she noticed that Aidan was sitting quietly inhis place, and that neither he nor Paddy Tolly showed signs of wear and tear. She didn’t know whether to be pleased or sorry.
    The next half-hour was devoted to a singing lesson, which cheered Rose-Ann somewhat, especially as the song was one she already knew, and Mr Burnie invited her to sing it alone to the class. Rose-Ann, had she but realized it, was well on the way to becoming popular with her classmates. Her prettiness and her good clothes roused little envy in the hearts of the other girls, who for the most part were content to remain as they were, and her anxious desire to please was quite obvious. Harriet, having been adopted by Dinny, was more or less accepted. But Aidan puzzled everybody. Tough and independent as they were, the Barley Creek children looked askance at a boy who did not seem to show the same qualities. So they withdrew from Aidan in a body, and waited to see what he would do.
    All this Harriet dimly guessed at, and despite her own successful morning, she was troubled as she joined Polly and the others at the sliprail at the beginning of the dinner-hour. Aidan was to have his midday meal at home, and although he tried to avoid his sisters during the walk, Harriet eventually caught up with him under the lillipillies at the gate.
    â€˜Where did you go at break this morning?’ she asked.
    â€˜Nowhere,’ said Aidan. ‘I stayed inside and talked to Mr Burnie.’
    â€˜Do you like him?’
    â€˜He’s a good teacher,’ admitted Aidan. ‘But really, Harriet, why you ever