The Quilt by Rochelle Carlton Read Free Book Online

driveway, stood a lonely Redwood Pine.  It was obviously ancient.   Its long branches reaching out like the limbs of an old man standing in stark contrast to the vivid and cloudless blue sky.
    Had m otorists travelling on the State Highway taken a moment to stop and read the insignificant sign perched next to a bright red letterbox they surely would have wondered why a farm would boast a solitary tree and bear the name “Twin Pines Station”.
    Allan and James Clarke were born in a time when choices were limited and life was hard.  They had come from a farming family and as with many children growing up in rural New Zealand they had left school with little education to take up their rightful place on the family property. 
    Allan was a tough man; it seemed he was born that way.  He was ruthless, uncompromising and bad tempered.  He was self-disciplined from hours of labour-intensive work.   He rose with the sun and returned after darkness fell, seven days every week. He battled to extract a living from the unforgiving and infertile clay ground and demanded the same dedication from those around him.
    He had little time for people in general and even less tolerance for people he considered of no benefit to himself personally. A strikingly handsome man, Allan could dominate a room with his presence.  But when Allan Clarke entered that room the atmosphere became charged and conversation became muted.  Very few people felt at ease around Allan.  He was a dangerous man, constantly fighting to control a demon hidden only just below the surface.
    While there was much to dislike in Allan’s abrupt, and often rude mannerism, no one could accuse him of being lazy or stupid. 
    James was the younger of the two brothers.  Like Allan, he stood well over six foot, was muscular and devastatingly handsome.  He had the Clarke family’s dancing glacier blue eyes and an easy open manner that invited people to gravitate to him.
    He had grown up in his older brother’s shadow, he was bullied relentlessly and often endured the harsh physical punishment dealt out by Allan.  Had James been an only child there was no doubt he would have excelled.  He was intelligent and athletic; he also possessed a calm strength and confident leadership quality.  Unfortunately his generous character struggled to develop under the constant ridicule and threat of the older Clarke brother.
    Mary and Charles Clarke could do little to protect their youngest child from Allan’s constant abuse.  He towered above them both and did not hesitate to use intimidation or violence to control all of those around him.  
     
    By his mid-twenties Allan had convinced his aging parents to abandon their fruitless struggle with land that would never support efficient farming practice. 
    Allan had seen the opportunity to purchase and develop an eight thousand acre high country station in the North Island King Country district.  It was at a time when land prices were crippled by the devastating worldwide events of the 1940’s.
    Allan was a cunning businessman, despite his lack of education.  He predicted the boom that occurred in agricultural exports when peace and stability were finally restored.  He also predicted that rural land prices would escalate dramatically in the 1950’s.
     
    “Twin Pines Station” as it was later named, became home to Allan, his younger brother James and their elderly parents, Mary and Charles, who by this time were in failing health.
    The only liveable structure on the huge , unruly, and only partially developed property was the Shearers Cottage.  There was no logical reason it became known as Shearers Cottage.  The previous owners had concentrated on farming Angus beef cattle until the property, like many others was left to deteriorate in the 1940’s. 
    Within a few months of moving to the station Mary Clarke had planted a small fruit orchard near the cottage and two tiny Redwood pines one on each side of the rutted driveway