Lillipilly Hill (21 page)

The workers took their cups from the basket, held them out to be filled, and sought a brief resting place on the stone of the Ruins. Above them the sky was a clear blue; beyond the orchard the hills were sharp-edged in the still, fresh spring air. Already the weather was hinting at summer warmth and dryness, but meantime this was the proudest time of the year for the usually sober countryside—the bush slopes glowed with the gold of late wattles and wild broom, and the scarlet of the military waratah and the soldier-vine, while in more secret places bloomed the soft flannel-flower and the dainty bush-orchid. Harriet had gathered a great bunch of flowers only yesterday, and presented them to her mother.

‘Those trees of Mr Bentley's are excellent stock,' said Mr Wilmot, surveying his new orchard with intense pleasure. ‘We shall have to keep our first fruit for him.'

‘They don't look too bad,' remarked Boz, and that was praise indeed.

‘I've put labels on mine,' said Rose-Ann. ‘Then when they have grown, I'll be able to eat my own oranges.'

‘You won't be allowed to eat too many,' said Aidan. ‘We're going to sell them, and make our fortune, aren't we, Father?'

‘Not a fortune, just enough to make us comfortable,' corrected Mr Wilmot. ‘This is not a country where fortunes are easily made.'

Clay whistled to Patchy, who was hunting rabbits on the other side of the fence. She came to gulp her share of scones, and lay down contentedly between Clay and Rose-Ann. Only to these two did she offer any affection, although she tolerated the presence of the others—she had to, now that she and Clay lived in a corner of Boz's shack. For Clay had found a home for both of them, and in return he worked tirelessly in the orchard, the garden, and the vegetable patch, and no longer mourned for his lost cave on Maloney's Hill. So great was his industry that even Boz had been heard to utter a word or two of approval.

‘She's not a bad ole dog, is she?' said Dinny, who was enjoying her day with the Wilmots immensely—helping with the planting was certainly preferable to toiling in her own yard. ‘An' people used to think she was a bunyip!'

‘They thought Clay was a thief, too,' said Harriet, still full of indignation. ‘And all the while it was that horrible man from the mill—what's his name, Dinny?'

‘Alf Turner. Well, they've caught him good and proper now, an' everyone says he was always meant to come to a bad end. Trust Paddy to make such a stupid mistake. I'm glad Paddy's gone to Blackhill to that work on the railway—Barley Creek's much better without him.'

‘Anyway, let's go and plant some more trees,' said Aidan. ‘Charles is coming to help this afternoon, and then we're going to the cricket meeting. You're coming too, aren't you, Clay?'

Clay nodded assent, and one by one they returned to the row of trees, until Harriet was left alone. She had no intention of missing the planting, which to her was a solemn and pleasing ceremony, but she wanted, just for a moment, to savour all by herself the wonder of this spring morning, and the feeling, to be remembered all her life, that her dearest wishes had been lavishly granted. No princess in one of her fairy tales felt more blessed than Harriet, as she gazed upon the rich, brown soil and the brave young trees, and saw in her imagination the slopes bright with golden fruit.

‘When the trees are bearing properly, I shall be a young lady, and Aidan will be quite grown-up,' she marvelled. ‘And Dinny will have gone out to work, and Rose-Ann will be putting up her hair. Clay might even have a beard.'

She contemplated this fascinating vision for a few minutes.

‘I might look like a young lady, but I shall feel just the same,' she decided at last. ‘And anyway, what does it matter? When the oranges are ready to pick, we shall still all be here, and the year after that, and the next year—'

Dazzled by the prospect of the infinite and exciting time ahead, she cast one more glance at the quiet hills and the far-off sea, and ran to join the others.

Dancing on Coral

Glenda Adams

Introduced by Susan Wyndham

The Commandant

Jessica Anderson

Introduced by Carmen Callil

Homesickness

Murray Bail

Introduced by Peter Conrad

Sydney Bridge Upside Down

David Ballantyne

Introduced by Kate De Goldi

Bush Studies

Barbara Baynton

Introduced by Helen Garner

The Cardboard Crown

Martin Boyd

Introduced by Brenda Niall

A Difficult Young Man

Martin Boyd

Introduced by Sonya Hartnett

Outbreak of Love

Martin Boyd

Introduced by Chris Womersley

The Australian Ugliness

Robin Boyd

Introduced by Christos Tsiolkas

All the Green Year

Don Charlwood

Introduced by Michael McGirr

They Found a Cave

Nan Chauncy

Introduced by John Marsden

The Even More Complete

Book of Australian Verse

John Clarke

Diary of a Bad Year

J. M. Coetzee

Introduced by Peter Goldsworthy

Wake in Fright

Kenneth Cook

Introduced by Peter Temple

The Dying Trade

Peter Corris

Introduced by Charles Waterstreet

They're a Weird Mob

Nino Culotta

Introduced by Jacinta Tynan

The Songs of a Sentimental Bloke

C. J. Dennis

Introduced by Jack Thompson

Careful, He Might Hear You

Sumner Locke Elliott

Introduced by Robyn Nevin

Fairyland

Sumner Locke Elliott

Introduced by Dennis Altman

Terra Australis

Matthew Flinders

Introduced by Tim Flannery

My Brilliant Career

Miles Franklin

Introduced by Jennifer Byrne

The Fringe Dwellers

Nene Gare

Introduced by Melissa Lucashenko

Cosmo Cosmolino

Helen Garner

Introduced by Ramona Koval

Wish

Peter Goldsworthy

Introduced by James Bradley

Dark Places

Kate Grenville

Introduced by Louise Adler

The Quiet Earth

Craig Harrison

Introduced by Bernard Beckett

The Long Prospect

Elizabeth Harrower

Introduced by Fiona McGregor

The Watch Tower

Elizabeth Harrower

Introduced by Joan London

The Mystery of a Hansom Cab

Fergus Hume

Introduced by Simon Caterson

The Unknown Industrial Prisoner

David Ireland

Introduced by Peter Pierce

The Glass Canoe

David Ireland

Introduced by Nicolas Rothwell

A Woman of the Future

David Ireland

Introduced by Kate Jennings

Eat Me

Linda Jaivin

Introduced by Krissy Kneen

Julia Paradise

Rod Jones

Introduced by Emily Maguire

The Jerilderie Letter

Ned Kelly

Introduced by Alex McDermott

Bring Larks and Heroes

Thomas Keneally

Introduced by Geordie Williamson

Strine

Afferbeck Lauder

Introduced by John Clarke

The Young Desire It

Kenneth Mackenzie

Introduced by David Malouf

Stiff

Shane Maloney

Introduced by Lindsay Tanner

The Middle Parts of Fortune

Frederic Manning

Introduced by Simon Caterson

Selected Stories

Katherine Mansfield

Introduced by Emily Perkins

The Home Girls

Olga Masters

Introduced by Geordie Williamson

Amy's Children

Olga Masters

Introduced by Eva Hornung

The Scarecrow

Ronald Hugh Morrieson

Introduced by Craig Sherborne

The Dig Tree

Sarah Murgatroyd

Introduced by Geoffrey Blainey

The Plains

Gerald Murnane

Introduced by Wayne Macauley

The Odd Angry Shot

William Nagle

Introduced by Paul Ham

Life and Adventures 1776–1801

John Nicol

Introduced by Tim Flannery

Death in Brunswick

Boyd Oxlade

Introduced by Shane Maloney

Swords and Crowns and Rings

Ruth Park

Introduced by Alice Pung

The Watcher in the Garden

Joan Phipson

Introduced by Margo Lanagan

Maurice Guest

Henry Handel Richardson

Introduced by Carmen Callil

The Getting of Wisdom

Henry Handel Richardson

Introduced by Germaine Greer

The Fortunes of Richard Mahony

Henry Handel Richardson

Introduced by Peter Craven

Rose Boys

Peter Rose

Introduced by Brian Matthews

Hills End

Ivan Southall

Introduced by James Moloney

Ash Road

Ivan Southall

Introduced by Maurice Saxby

Lillipilly Hill

Eleanor Spence

Introduced by Ursula Dubosarsky

The Women in Black

Madeleine St John

Introduced by Bruce Beresford

The Essence of the Thing

Madeleine St John

Introduced by Helen Trinca

Jonah

Louis Stone

Introduced by Frank Moorhouse

An Iron Rose

Peter Temple

Introduced by Les Carlyon

1788

Watkin Tench

Introduced by Tim Flannery

The House that Was Eureka

Nadia Wheatley

Introduced by Toni Jordan

Happy Valley

Patrick White

Introduced by Peter Craven

I Own the Racecourse!

Patricia Wrightson

Introduced by Kate Constable

textclassics.com.au