thought we’d have little else but mutton to eat,” I confided, I hoped subtly changing the subject.
“Oh, my word, no! Almost anything can be kept in the freezer these days. We have turkey and home-made hams, beef as well as lamb, and even the odd crayfish flown up from Geraldton!”
Try as I would, I couldn’t restrain my laughter. “And apples!” I said.
“And apples!” he confirmed. “Especially apples!” And thus it was that he brought me home to Mirrabooka, ostensibly as his wife, and I had my first sight of the house where he lived, the place I was tied to until his ward, Mary Fraser, came of age and could take her own place in the world.
CHAPTER FOUR
Mirrabooka w as an awkward kingdom. Mr. Fraser, the king, ruled with an easy hand, but until now he had had no consort to run the house other than as the bachelor quarters of a busy man who spent the greater part of his days out of doors. It had all been different, he told me, when his mother had been there, but since his father had died, she had married again and seldom visited the Murchison,
To my eyes, it was a house of stature . It was built on a single floor, with plenty of rooms, most of them furnished with some of the loveliest furniture I had ever seen, some of it really old and brought from Scotland with the first of the Australian Frasers. But it was the gadgets that truly amazed me. There was a gadget for everything! The whole house was air-conditioned, but that was only a beginning . There were deep-freezers, refrigerators, store cupboards to make one gasp—even an electric kettle and an electric coffee percolator, the li ke of which I had never even thought of possessing. At the manse, we had only the kitchen range and we were grateful for it.
It was sizzling hot outside and there wasn’t a sheep in sight as we drove up the front of the house. Mr. Fraser came round to my side of the old ute and held out his hand to me.
“I reckon it would be out of place to carry you ove r the threshold,” he said.
“I should think so!” I retorted.
“Pity,” he said, without a glimmer of a smile .
“ Oh no!” I exclaimed. “I can stand on my own two feet!” I hesitated, wondering how it was that I was in two minds as to whether I should like him to carry me into the house. “The MacTaggarts—”
“Are independent to the point of being stubborn!” he finished for me.
“And just as well too!” I came back quickly. “ We’re not ones to have romantic notions about a great deal of nonsense!”
He gave me a truly wicked look through his grey steel eyes. “An apple a day keeps the doctor away!” he taunted me.
It was base of him to take advantage of my weakness, There’s not a body in the world who doesn’t feel, the pull of his own native land. I professed not to have heard him, for my pride was somewhat dented, and, ignoring his outstretched hand, I took my first step on Mirrabooka soil.
The coolness of the air-conditioning was as soft as the water from the burn that ran past the manse . Outside the sun and the Frasers could c ru sh my spirits, but inside I felt the advantages were all mine. I could breathe again.
“Well?” Mr. Fraser asked me as I looked around in amazement.
But I never answered him, for a young girl came slowly into the room.
“So you’re back!” she said to Mr. Fraser.
“With a wife,” Andrew returned through clenched teeth.
The young girl laughed. “I’ve heard all about her !” she said with contempt. “Mother says she’ll never do as Mrs . Andrew Fraser!”
“Mary ! ” Andrew rapped out, in a voice I had never heard before and never wanted to hear again.
I stopped him with a look. Mary Fraser was a beauty of some note. Her brave red hair could compete with any that had set the Highlands on fire, any that I had seen at least. It was no wonder that he wanted to keep her near him. I wanted to feast my own eyes on that vivid colour, which was only matched by the grass-green of her
“Oh, my word, no! Almost anything can be kept in the freezer these days. We have turkey and home-made hams, beef as well as lamb, and even the odd crayfish flown up from Geraldton!”
Try as I would, I couldn’t restrain my laughter. “And apples!” I said.
“And apples!” he confirmed. “Especially apples!” And thus it was that he brought me home to Mirrabooka, ostensibly as his wife, and I had my first sight of the house where he lived, the place I was tied to until his ward, Mary Fraser, came of age and could take her own place in the world.
CHAPTER FOUR
Mirrabooka w as an awkward kingdom. Mr. Fraser, the king, ruled with an easy hand, but until now he had had no consort to run the house other than as the bachelor quarters of a busy man who spent the greater part of his days out of doors. It had all been different, he told me, when his mother had been there, but since his father had died, she had married again and seldom visited the Murchison,
To my eyes, it was a house of stature . It was built on a single floor, with plenty of rooms, most of them furnished with some of the loveliest furniture I had ever seen, some of it really old and brought from Scotland with the first of the Australian Frasers. But it was the gadgets that truly amazed me. There was a gadget for everything! The whole house was air-conditioned, but that was only a beginning . There were deep-freezers, refrigerators, store cupboards to make one gasp—even an electric kettle and an electric coffee percolator, the li ke of which I had never even thought of possessing. At the manse, we had only the kitchen range and we were grateful for it.
It was sizzling hot outside and there wasn’t a sheep in sight as we drove up the front of the house. Mr. Fraser came round to my side of the old ute and held out his hand to me.
“I reckon it would be out of place to carry you ove r the threshold,” he said.
“I should think so!” I retorted.
“Pity,” he said, without a glimmer of a smile .
“ Oh no!” I exclaimed. “I can stand on my own two feet!” I hesitated, wondering how it was that I was in two minds as to whether I should like him to carry me into the house. “The MacTaggarts—”
“Are independent to the point of being stubborn!” he finished for me.
“And just as well too!” I came back quickly. “ We’re not ones to have romantic notions about a great deal of nonsense!”
He gave me a truly wicked look through his grey steel eyes. “An apple a day keeps the doctor away!” he taunted me.
It was base of him to take advantage of my weakness, There’s not a body in the world who doesn’t feel, the pull of his own native land. I professed not to have heard him, for my pride was somewhat dented, and, ignoring his outstretched hand, I took my first step on Mirrabooka soil.
The coolness of the air-conditioning was as soft as the water from the burn that ran past the manse . Outside the sun and the Frasers could c ru sh my spirits, but inside I felt the advantages were all mine. I could breathe again.
“Well?” Mr. Fraser asked me as I looked around in amazement.
But I never answered him, for a young girl came slowly into the room.
“So you’re back!” she said to Mr. Fraser.
“With a wife,” Andrew returned through clenched teeth.
The young girl laughed. “I’ve heard all about her !” she said with contempt. “Mother says she’ll never do as Mrs . Andrew Fraser!”
“Mary ! ” Andrew rapped out, in a voice I had never heard before and never wanted to hear again.
I stopped him with a look. Mary Fraser was a beauty of some note. Her brave red hair could compete with any that had set the Highlands on fire, any that I had seen at least. It was no wonder that he wanted to keep her near him. I wanted to feast my own eyes on that vivid colour, which was only matched by the grass-green of her
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