fill this up again ‘fore we eat, eh? Dinner ‘bout ready, cook?”
“Oughta be.”
“Hey.” Dizzy dipped his head toward the thief. “Sorry I take a shot at your dog, eh? I was angry.”
“You keep saying my dog. Isn’t that your dog?”
Colin scowled. “Why you think it’s our dog?”
“He stays near that bay mare. I saw him last night, following behind you. He stopped when you stopped here, and he’s been here all day today.”
Colin and Dizzy stared at each other.
“Naw. Couldn’ be.” Dizzy wagged his head.
“You said he didn’t belong to the owner. Maybe he chums with one of the horses we bought?” Colin hopped to his feet and went looking. The wallaby head and hide were missing now. The entrails had been scattered further. Colin walked out to the horses and stood around awhile watching, examining all the bushes about, looking hard at the pink earth and the gentle green.
There. A hundred feet away. Watching suspiciously with steely eyes, so still it appeared as nothing more than a blue-gray mass in the shade of a shrub, lay Max.
C HAPTER S IX
B LUE M OUNTAINS W ONGA
A three-foot length of wool yarn thrown into the air and let fall as it may would lie no more serpentine than this mountain road. Mary Aileen did not have so much a tendency to motion sickness as did Mum; still, the twisty track upset her stomach. Edan sat beside her in the rumble seat, wrapped in his own unfathomable cloak of thoughts. The rough track didn’t seem to bother him, but with Edan you never knew.
Hannah, in the front seat between Papa and Mum, squirmed for the thousandth time. Her dark head bobbed. Could Hannah never sit still?
Papa shifted into first gear and urged their touring car up the final steep grade. Drab dust rolled out behind them. “At last!” Mum heaved an audible sigh. They topped the rise and rolled the remaining quarter of a mile to their traditional family camping ground.
Mary Aileen was born to camp out. She loved this secluded site, though not the ride to it. She loved simply to sit and absorb the silent strength of these mountains. She enjoyed the picnicking and the tenting. The night sounds fascinated her.
Papa unloaded the heavy canvas tent as Edan and Mary Aileen measured out its space and drove stakes. In the past, Colin had driven the stakes. He enjoyed camping almost as much as she. Where was he now? Her heart ached. Hannah began complaining right on schedule as she wandered about the campsite doing the odd jobs requested of her. By now she was always either tired or hungry or bored or all three.
Within the hour Mum had dug out her little kitchen and was heating a casserole of ham and beans over an open fire. Edan and Papa went off to set up the latrine. Hannah curled up in the dust beside Mum to watch the flames play. Mary Aileen carried bedding into the tent and rolled it out. She heard Papa speaking sharply to Edan somewhere beyond the trees.
As her own blanket roll fell open, her sketch pad and pencils dropped out. She sat a few minutes, pretending she was thinking when, in fact, she wasn’t at all. Then she scooped up her sketching materials and walked out into the waning sun of autumn.
Some of the cliffs and canyons in these Blue Mountains dropped precipitously even as others flowed away in gentle undulations. Their campsite nestled on the crest of one of the long rolling hills. Mary Aileen walked the hundred yards to her favorite perch, an outcrop hanging on the brink of forever. She crawled out onto the smooth hard stone and sat down.
Behind her, overhanging gum trees shielded her from the sky. Beyond her the vault arched blue and endless over the gaping canyon. Why did the sky here seem far deeper and bigger than the sky over Sydney? Near the horizon it melted into a gentle gray to match the autumn haze. Sometimes it was difficult to see where sky ended and land began. Tonight the rolling gray-purple mountains drew distinct lines against infinity.
Mary Aileen sketched
“Oughta be.”
“Hey.” Dizzy dipped his head toward the thief. “Sorry I take a shot at your dog, eh? I was angry.”
“You keep saying my dog. Isn’t that your dog?”
Colin scowled. “Why you think it’s our dog?”
“He stays near that bay mare. I saw him last night, following behind you. He stopped when you stopped here, and he’s been here all day today.”
Colin and Dizzy stared at each other.
“Naw. Couldn’ be.” Dizzy wagged his head.
“You said he didn’t belong to the owner. Maybe he chums with one of the horses we bought?” Colin hopped to his feet and went looking. The wallaby head and hide were missing now. The entrails had been scattered further. Colin walked out to the horses and stood around awhile watching, examining all the bushes about, looking hard at the pink earth and the gentle green.
There. A hundred feet away. Watching suspiciously with steely eyes, so still it appeared as nothing more than a blue-gray mass in the shade of a shrub, lay Max.
C HAPTER S IX
B LUE M OUNTAINS W ONGA
A three-foot length of wool yarn thrown into the air and let fall as it may would lie no more serpentine than this mountain road. Mary Aileen did not have so much a tendency to motion sickness as did Mum; still, the twisty track upset her stomach. Edan sat beside her in the rumble seat, wrapped in his own unfathomable cloak of thoughts. The rough track didn’t seem to bother him, but with Edan you never knew.
Hannah, in the front seat between Papa and Mum, squirmed for the thousandth time. Her dark head bobbed. Could Hannah never sit still?
Papa shifted into first gear and urged their touring car up the final steep grade. Drab dust rolled out behind them. “At last!” Mum heaved an audible sigh. They topped the rise and rolled the remaining quarter of a mile to their traditional family camping ground.
Mary Aileen was born to camp out. She loved this secluded site, though not the ride to it. She loved simply to sit and absorb the silent strength of these mountains. She enjoyed the picnicking and the tenting. The night sounds fascinated her.
Papa unloaded the heavy canvas tent as Edan and Mary Aileen measured out its space and drove stakes. In the past, Colin had driven the stakes. He enjoyed camping almost as much as she. Where was he now? Her heart ached. Hannah began complaining right on schedule as she wandered about the campsite doing the odd jobs requested of her. By now she was always either tired or hungry or bored or all three.
Within the hour Mum had dug out her little kitchen and was heating a casserole of ham and beans over an open fire. Edan and Papa went off to set up the latrine. Hannah curled up in the dust beside Mum to watch the flames play. Mary Aileen carried bedding into the tent and rolled it out. She heard Papa speaking sharply to Edan somewhere beyond the trees.
As her own blanket roll fell open, her sketch pad and pencils dropped out. She sat a few minutes, pretending she was thinking when, in fact, she wasn’t at all. Then she scooped up her sketching materials and walked out into the waning sun of autumn.
Some of the cliffs and canyons in these Blue Mountains dropped precipitously even as others flowed away in gentle undulations. Their campsite nestled on the crest of one of the long rolling hills. Mary Aileen walked the hundred yards to her favorite perch, an outcrop hanging on the brink of forever. She crawled out onto the smooth hard stone and sat down.
Behind her, overhanging gum trees shielded her from the sky. Beyond her the vault arched blue and endless over the gaping canyon. Why did the sky here seem far deeper and bigger than the sky over Sydney? Near the horizon it melted into a gentle gray to match the autumn haze. Sometimes it was difficult to see where sky ended and land began. Tonight the rolling gray-purple mountains drew distinct lines against infinity.
Mary Aileen sketched
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