Home Before Sundown by Barbara Hannay Read Free Book Online Page B

this, however, Liz wondered why she bothered to put Michael’s mind at rest. His anger annoyed her. If he actually cared about her he’d be more sympathetic. As it was, he was simply being selfish.
    She was surprised by how relieved she was that there were twelve thousand miles between them.
    Anton was very quiet when Bella told him her news.
    â€˜You do understand, don’t you?’ she prompted, after an awkward silence.
    â€˜Yes, of course,’ he said. ‘You’re a good daughter, Bella. Your parents must be very grateful. Very proud of you, also.’
    â€˜But it doesn’t mean I’ll forget you, Anton. And you still have my horseshoe charm. You know I’ll be back for that.’
    â€˜ Oui .’
    He sounded so sad and doubtful that Bella felt close to tears. She took a deep breath. ‘I miss you already. We’ll stay in touch, okay? I’ll phone you and I’ll send emails.’
    â€˜Yes, stay in touch, Bella.’
    She hung up, slipped the phone into her pocket and stood at the motel window, looking out at the hot, tropical night. The fronds of the palm trees hung motionless and limp, and the snow-laden fir trees of Lanslebourg seemed so very far away.
    She thought about Anton, remembered his eyes of the softest blue and his mouth, so sensual and clearly designed for kissing. She tried to remember exactly what his kisses felt like, but her efforts were ruined by her brother’s voice ringing in her ears.
    By the way, Gabe says hi .

7.
    â€˜The country’s even drier out here.’
    â€˜It’s terrible,’ Liz agreed.
    â€˜First job at Mullinjim will be checking the dams and firebreaks.’
    They’d been driving through cattle country for hours, past dusty paddocks and rocky red ridges. Everywhere the landscape was parched and thirsty, the creeks shrunk to mere trickles or strings of puddles in wide sandy beds.
    Yep, this is definitely the sunburnt country , Bella thought. And, like Dorothea Mackellar, she couldn’t help loving it.
    From the moment they’d left Townsville, heading north-west via Charters Towers in a borrowed, rather inappropriate city sedan, Bella had felt totally sentimental about straggly gum trees and barbed wire fences. At the first sight of Brahman cattle – droopy-eared, humped-backed, and silvery-grey – she’d actually been blinking back tears.
    Now she and Liz were nearly home. They’d been through the tiny country town of Gidgee Springs where the locals had fussed over them as they’d shopped for essentials, where every shopfront, even the empty ones, brought back a different memory from Bella’s past.
    And now they were at the Mullinjim turn-off, leaving the bitumen and taking the red dirt road that led beneath a wooden post-and-rail arch bearing the property’s name.
    The sun was sliding westwards, casting long shadows from the bloodwoods and ironbarks, and softening the dry, dusty paddocks, turning them into fields of beauty. To Bella, every tree, every pale clump of granite rock, every fence post felt familiar.
    â€˜Welcome home,’ she said, sending Liz a wobbly smile.
    â€˜And to you, too, Belle.’ Liz’s voice was tight.
    â€˜Feeling nostalgic after all this time?’
    â€˜I might be, if I wasn’t more concerned about this little toy car and whether it’s going make it down the track in one piece.’
    Even as Liz said this, the car’s tyres began to slide on a slippery patch of gravel.
    â€˜Shit.’ Bella pulled a guilty face. ‘I guess I’ll slow down.’
    â€˜Might be a good idea.’
    Bella drove sedately around the next bend, which was probably why she had time to see the tractor working in the distance.
    â€˜What’s going on?’ she demanded, bringing the car to an abrupt halt.
    Liz raised her sunglasses and squinted. ‘Where?’
    â€˜Over there, near the trees.’ Bella pointed to a distant