Frontier Wife

Tommy Lindsay wiped her damp forehead

with a lace handkerchief. Perspiration ran in rivulets between her breasts, pooling at the waistband of her gown and leaving a damp patch. She coughed a couple of times to clear the dust clogging up her throat.

“I don’t like it here.” Her little brother Jamie kicked one of the leather sea trunks and she was tempted to join him. “Why doesn’t someone come?”

A few boxes and trunks stacked on the hotel verandah held all her possessions and those of her two brothers. Just thinking about how the once proud Lindsay family had been reduced to such pernicious circumstances caused tears to build up at the back of her eyes. She wouldn’t cry. Couldn’t afford such a luxury, not with a young brother and a sick older brother to worry about. She had to be strong, resolute.

Warrior, a thoroughbred black stallion, stomped and snorted restlessly. “Easy, boy.” David patted the stallion's glistening neck. “How much longer do we have to hang around, Tommy?”

“I don't know.” Her voice trembled even though she fought to control it. “Uncle Henry’s lawyer said someone would take us to the farm. Do you think he might have forgotten? Maybe he got the days mixed up?”

Sick dread washed over her. Oh, God, what if this desperate undertaking of theirs failed? It was sheer madness sailing thousands of miles across the sea to start a new life in an alien, hostile country, but what other choice did they have?

Chapter One

North East Victoria, Australia—1879

Tommy Lindsay wiped her damp forehead with a lace handkerchief. Perspiration ran in rivulets between her breasts, pooling at the waistband of her gown and leaving a damp patch. She coughed a couple of times to clear the dust clogging up her throat.

“I don’t like it here.” Her little brother, Jamie, kicked one of the leather sea trunks and she was tempted to join him. “Why doesn’t someone come?”

A few boxes and trunks stacked on the hotel verandah held all her possessions and those of her two brothers. Just thinking about how the once proud Lindsay family had been reduced to such pernicious circumstances caused tears to build up at the back of her eyes. She wouldn’t cry. She couldn’t afford such a luxury, not with a young brother and a sick older brother to worry about. She had to be strong, resolute.

Warrior, a thoroughbred black stallion, stomped and snorted restlessly.

“Easy, boy.” David patted the stallion's glistening neck. “How much longer do we have to hang around, Tommy?”

“I don't know.” Her voice trembled even though she fought to control it. “Uncle Henry’s lawyer said someone would take us to the farm. Do you think he might have forgotten? Maybe he got the days mixed up?”

Sick dread washed over her. Oh, God, what if this desperate undertaking of theirs failed? It was sheer madness sailing thousands of miles across the sea to start a new life in an alien, hostile country, but what other choice did they have?

“Sorry for being so grouchy but my leg is aching, makes me irritable.” David grimaced as he rubbed his thigh.

His skin looked even more ashen than usual. Perspiration beaded his upper lip, not entirely caused by the fierce Australian sun searing them from a cobalt blue sky.

One glance at them and anyone who wasn’t blind would pick them out as newly arrived immigrants. Their skin was pale, not just because they were blue-eyed blondes, but they came from England’s gentle, temperate climate. David once felt the burning South African sun, but his tan had long since faded beneath the pallor of prolonged illness.

“I'm hungry.” Jamie’s bottom lip quivered.

“Someone will come soon,” Tommy reassured him.

“Why don't they hurry up?” He scuffed his boot across the verandah boards and tugged at the swathe of corn-colored hair flopping across his forehead.

A tall, slim young man sauntered up to them. “Are you the Lindsays?”

David took a step forward and shook the other man’s hand. “Yes, I'm David Lindsay. This is my sister, Thomasina, although she’ll only answer to Tommy.” He gave a strained grin. “And the young fellow is Jamie.”

“Pleased to meet you. I'm Jim Cavendish. Easy to see you're fresh out from the old country.” Smiling, he touched his hat as he glanced at Tommy. “I'll be taking you to your uncle’s place.”

“Oh, Mr. Cavendish, you’re Uncle Henry’s friend. He often mentioned you in his letters.” Tommy greeted him with sincerity. He had been a good friend to a lonely old man.

“How you doing, boy?” Jim ruffled Jamie's hair.

“Will we see outlaws, mister?”

Jim laughed. “They’re called bushrangers out here. We might run into some. This is Ned Kelly country, you know?” He glanced at David. “Fine stallion you’ve got there.”

“He's the best, aren't you, Warrior.” David stroked the stallion's neck, his voice soft, reassuring.

Tommy smiled as her brother's eyes lit up for a moment, before bleakness snuffed out the light.

They waited until Jim returned with a decrepit cart drawn by one horse. She tried to suppress a shudder. The Cobb and Co. coach bringing them to this frontier inn had not been too bad, but this cart looked ready to fall apart at any moment. She did not mind so much for herself, but worried about David, who had still not recovered from his injuries.

Jamie jumped up and down in excitement now. The long sea voyage out from England and the coach ride had not bothered him over much. With the resilience of the young, he soon forgot the traumatic events of the last few months.

On their father’s death, they discovered their manor house and all the land surrounding it belonged to someone else. They were left in such dire straits she sold family heirlooms to pay for their passages out to Australia.

Tommy gnawed her lip as she watched David. He dragged his leg as he started loading their trunks on the cart. Jim didn’t say anything, just hoisted up the heavier trunks, leaving the lighter ones for her brother. Even this task seemed to sap David’s puny strength. Would he ever be strong again?

Jim helped her up on to the cart seat. When David climbed up she sat in between the two of them. Jamie settled in the back amongst their luggage and looked ready to nod off.

Keeping an eye on Warrior, who was tethered to the back of the cart, she watched the passing countryside with interest. Strange trees, with smooth almost white bark, were full of squawking colorful bird life. She drew in a deep breath and inhaled the perfume of the Australian bush; eucalyptus mingled with dry grass and dust. She closed her eyes against the glare of the sun and thought of home. Oh, for the soft green prettiness of England. The fluffy pink and white spring blossoms in the orchards, daffodils and bluebells nodding their bright heads in a gentle breeze. She bit her lip to stop it quivering.

A glance in Jamie’s direction showed him to be fast asleep. Not for him the worries of what might befall them in this strange, frontier land. She couldn’t begin to guess what Uncle Henry's farm might be like. For years he urged them to try their luck in Australia. On arrival in Melbourne they received the catastrophic news of his sudden death.

Her heart wrenched just thinking about what they left behind. Thank goodness their father saw to her tutelage in all aspects of housekeeping.

“No daughter of mine will ever be incapable of looking after herself,” Colonel Lindsay always said.

She learned to cook, sew and manage a household. She could ride and shoot as well as any man. When the Colonel taught David these things, he taught her also, much to the horror of their friends. His unorthodox training would be worth its weight in gold now.

Glancing down at her simple, blue sprigged muslin gown, she gave a deep sigh. The days of wearing expensive gowns were gone. Their survival depended on her now.

“I guess since you’re here, you intend running the farm yourself?” Jim broke the silence by asking David.

“Yes, I hope to breed thoroughbred horses.”

“Best of luck. Did your uncle tell you much about the place, mention the trouble, I mean?”

“What trouble?” Tommy’s heart plummeted like a stone. Not another problem to overcome.

“With the squatters.”

“They're the big land owners. I spoke to some chaps last night at the inn. No, it's called a hotel in Australia.” David gave a wry grin. “They're supposed to speak English out here, yet some of their words take on an entirely different meaning.”

“What about the squatters, Mr. Cavendish?” Tommy broke in.

“Well, the squatters hate the small farmers, reckon they spoil their stations, er, farms.”

She nodded her understanding.

“Back in 1861 the government allowed small farmers to select land, even some leased by the squatters. They got allocated between forty and three hundred and twenty acres of crown land.

“Your uncle selected about eighty acres slap bang in the middle of the Munro station. Others selected nearby, but the Munro's managed to get rid of all of them except your uncle. Try as they might they couldn't budge old Henry.”

Jim paused for a moment as he edged the cart over a narrow wooden bridge spanning a deep ravine.

Tommy expelled a relieved breath when they reached the other side.

“When George Munro died, leaving Adam the station, he continued his efforts, in fact he intensified them. After your uncle died, Adam wanted to buy the land back, never realizing it had been left to you.”

“The lawyers did mention something about an offer to buy the place,” Tommy mused. “I told them to turn it down. Too late for us to return to England besides, and this was a marvelous chance for us to make a fresh start.”

“You might have been wiser accepting the offer, Miss Lindsay. Adam Munro can be ruthless. He’ll make life a misery for you. He owns more than forty thousand acres here and wields a lot of influence in town. A bad man to have for an enemy.”

David leaned forward a little. “What can he do?”

Jim just shook his head, but his sudden silence hovered ominously over them.

Tommy’s heartbeat quickened when she caught sight of a kangaroo. On their approach the creature bounded off into the scrub. “Did you see that? Our first kangaroo.”

David laughed. “You're enjoying all of this, aren't you?”

“Yes, it's exciting. I know everything is going to work out well for us, I just feel it.”

“Hope so. This Munro fellow won't put out the welcome mat.”

“What can he do? We own the farm free and clear.”

She concentrated once more on the passing scenery. Uncle Henry vividly described this area of northeastern Victoria in his letters. The ranges were hideouts for many bushrangers, so rough in places a man could get lost and never be found again. Caves or underground caverns opened into hidden valleys, where men and horses disappeared for months at a time.

The furnace-like afternoon sun poured down on them and she would have given a king’s ransom for a drink of cool water.

“How much longer?” She hoped her voice did not betray her rising apprehension.

“Should have you home before sunset. My wife, Mary, will have the kettle on for us.”

It was late October, just before the start of the Australian summer, although this year it had come early. In fact, the countryside sweltered in the grips of a crippling drought.

David looked drawn now and she instinctively knew he was in pain. He should not have ridden Warrior all those miles in the wake of their coach, but they could not afford to pay anyone to ride him up from Melbourne.

They couldn’t really afford the money it cost to bring him out from England, either. The coal black stallion, with his fiery spirit and impeccable bloodlines, was the only thing David showed interest in after being brought home from South Africa. He was carried off the ship too sick even to walk. Then a few weeks later he dragged himself on board yet another ship to make the voyage out to Australia.

Everyone thought them mad contemplating such a journey, but there was nothing left for them in the old country now. Uncle Henry's invitation to come over seemed like an answer to their prayers, a once in a lifetime chance to start afresh. In a new land opportunities abounded for those not afraid of hard work. She couldn’t remember him ever mentioning this Munro creature in his letters though. Of course, Jim could be exaggerating the squatter’s influence.

****

Tommy awoke with a start to find herself slumped against Jim. She must have dozed off. “David!” Her heart leapt into her mouth.

“He's in the back with the boy. I suggested it. He looked exhausted. Did he have some kind of accident?”

“He got wounded in Africa fighting the Zulus.”

“Your uncle proved to be something of a legend around here.” Jim chuckled. “The way he fought the squatters over the years. Rumor has it he sympathized with the Kelly gang.”