Flight of the Jabiru (51 page)

Silence fell in the pub as everyone waited for the answer.

Lara blushed. “We only found each other again yesterday,” she said.

“But you were always meant to be together,” Betty insisted. “We all know that.”

Her words were followed by mumbles of agreement.

Rick looked at Lara, his eyes warm with love. Then he turned his attention to Walter. “Do I have your permission to marry your daughter, sir?”

Walter glanced at Elsie, who smiled her approval. “I wouldn't dare say no,” he said, looking at Lara. “You take good care of my little girl,” he added proudly.

“Then I guess we're getting married in Shady Camp,” Rick said. “If you want to, Lara. I shouldn't assume you do.”

The room fell silent as Lara looked at Rick. Slowly her lips moved in a smile. “Nothing would make me happier than marrying you here, in front of my parents and all these people whom I've come to love,” she said. She kissed her fiancé amid cheers of delight.

After several more drinks the subject of crocodiles came up again.

Monty got the attention of Walter and Elsie and pointed to the croc's head above the bar. “See that croc up there,” he said. “He took this leg right off in one bite.” He rolled up his trouser leg and knocked on his wooden leg.

The locals all groaned, despairing of hearing the story again with another twist, but Lara smiled at the horrified expressions on her parents' faces.

“That croc is just a hatchling, isn't it, Rick?” Rex suggested, enjoying the look of annoyance on Monty's face.

“Oh, shut up the lot of you,” Monty growled, rolling down his trouser leg again. “I'm getting another pig to replace Fergus.”

“You do and I'll be roasting him for dinner first chance I get,” Betty threatened and everyone laughed.

“Were these people like this when you lived here?” Walter asked Lara quietly.

“Yes, Dad,” Lara said with affection. “And I've missed them all so much.”

THE END

More dreamful Australian sagas

Elizabeth Haran
UNDER A FLAMING SKY

 

Australia, 1933: Arabella Fitzherbert, a young English lady, and her parents travel to Australia hoping the dry climate will help their only daughter to recover from a long illness. Their journey takes an unexpected turn, however, and Arabella finds herself in the desert – all alone. Her fate might have been sealed if not for a group of Aborigines that take her to Marree, a small town in the outback, cut off from the rest of the world. While her parents believe her dead, Arabella is all on her own …