‘You aren’t a terrible woman.’ Pippa placed her hand on Millie’s shoulder. ‘You cannot live in the past. He would want you and Davy to be happy.’
‘We are. That is the problem. I’ve been happy here in the last few weeks and that is wrong. I forgot about James as though he’d never existed. I’ve been so grateful to have this second chance that I forgot to grieve for my son’s father.’
‘Though I never knew him, I think James would understand. He would want Davy’s welfare to be your most important concern.’ Pippa smiled. ‘Perhaps we should have Davy place flowers on his grave when we next go to Berrima?’
Millie returned her smile. ‘Thank you. You are such a good friend.’
Pippa winked. ‘I think we are good for each other.’
Pippa paid for Davy’s sweets and handed them to him. His blue eyes, wide with pleasure, made her smile as they left the shop. He’d been a good boy, visiting his father’s grave and then being patient while she and Millie bought provisions for the camp.
A few feet from the shop’s entrance, she paused and stared. A procession of convicts walked towards them in three long, dishevelled lines. Every now and then the overseer and two local constables shouted at the prisoners for dawdling, though their words had no effect, for the convict men still dragged their feet, their chains jingling.
Davy stood close to her as the miserable lot passed by, heading for the gaol on the hill. Pippa noticed the slumped shoulders and drab prison garb; all wore the look of a whipped dog. She had no wish to witness any more. Unlike most of the general population, her heart ached for the men, women, and children exiled from their homeland for no more than stealing a loaf of bread to feed their starving families. Long constructive talks with Howard Lindfield, a high court judge, allowed her the opinion that the ruling class had, in many cases, a lot to answer for.
She held tight to Davy’s hand and turned to find Millie, who she’d left at the cobblers.
‘Er, excuse me.’ A man in dusty work clothes with a swag slung over his back stopped Pippa as she stepped over the narrow earth gutter running in front of the shops.
‘Yes?’
The tall man, with piercing grey eyes and an angled face, swept off his hat and bowed. ‘Are you Miss Noble?’
Pippa nodded, taking in his over-long copper-coloured hair. ‘Yes, I am.’
‘I’m Neil Chalker and I’m looking for work. I was told that you’ve recently moved here and have land.’
‘That is true, but as for work, I’m not sure …’ Pippa glanced up and down the street, looking for Robson. ‘My overseer handles the hiring.’
Chalker gave her a wry smile that hinted at insolence. ‘I was also told that you were in charge, maybe I was mistaken.’
Raising her chin, Pippa stared at him. ‘It is Noble land and I am a Noble. Therefore, I am in charge.’
He acknowledged her with a dip of his head. ‘Then are you hiring, Miss Noble?’
‘What do you do?’ Pippa stalled. This man was so sure of himself and too friendly.
His smile widened and he straightened his shoulders, showing her the muscles that flexed under his battered clothes. ‘I work with horses mainly.’
Pippa digested this. They needed horsemen: good stable hands and grooms. ‘Do you ride?’
‘Better than most.’ His grey eyes darkened as he watched her.
She nodded and took a quick breath. ‘We need grooms, although our breeding horses haven’t yet arrived from Sydney.’
‘I can turn my hands to other things until they turn up.’ His gaze never left her face, and for some reason, she felt herself blushing at his words as though they held a hidden meaning.
Swallowing, Pippa cleared her throat. ‘Very well, Mr Chalker. I’ll give you a month’s trial, starting tomorrow.’
He smiled slowly and his eyes held laughter. ‘You’ll not regret it, Miss Noble.’
Pippa turned away and, taking Davy’s hand once more, walked down the street. Shivers tingled down her spine and she didn’t need to look back to know he watched her. She already regretted her hasty decision.
Chapter Seven
The sound of Millie’s rooster crowing woke Pippa. It sounded so foreign in the valley amongst the native birdcalls. Wiping the sleep from her eyes, she yawned and stared around the one-roomed hut. Its primitive form still required a little getting used to, but it was better than the tent. She and Millie now slept on a double bed and Davy had his own straw pallet. They didn’t have a lot of room, but more than the tent offered.
In the six weeks since her father left, much had been accomplished. Robson pushed the men hard and the results were more then she’d hoped for. They’d established the hut for her and Millie on a slab of sandstone, uncovered after some shallow digging. Thin sapling tree trunks made up the walls, with larger trunks used as the corner posts. Saplings created the roof’s framework and large sheets of bark covered it. In turn, thin pieces of wood overlaid the bark to prevent it from blowing away.
A doorway, built in the middle of the front wall, faced the creek and the open stretch of the valley floor. On either side of the doorway were small squares cut into the wall for windows, but, at present, like the doorway, only calico hung over them to keep out most of the flies. The hut hadn’t been on the agenda, but Robson assured her it wouldn’t take but a few days to build one and she and Millie would be more comfortable on a proper bed. However, the main thing it provided was privacy from the men. Now she and Millie could wash and dress at night with the lamp on, knowing their silhouette wasn’t shadowed for the men to see like it had been on the tent walls.
After rising, Pippa washed and donned a fawn-coloured linen dress. Over this she wrapped a white apron of Millie’s. She pulled Davy’s blankets up over his shoulders and smiled at his peaceful, sleeping face. Near the doorway, she paused to check for ants on the two wooden shelves.
The shelves held most of the cooking utensils and some tins of the smaller dry ingredients like salt, sugar, tea, coffee, and jars of jam, pickled onions, and chutney. Underneath the shelves stood sacks of flour, potatoes, and oats. Next to them, in small barrels, were salted beef and pork and, lastly, crates of fresh vegetables. All was clear of the awful insects that played havoc with the sanity of the most watchful housekeeper.
Pushing aside the weighted calico door, she went out to join Millie by the fire. ‘You are up early.’
Millie nodded. ‘Yes. I wanted to wash clothes before it got too hot.’
Sitting on a stump, Pippa reached for the kettle and poured some tea. Movement across the creek indicated the men were awakening. ‘I’ll help you.’
‘Actually, if you could peel and chop the vegetables for the stew, that would be better. Then we can go for a walk later and know that dinner is all done.’
Smiling, Pippa added milk to her tea. ‘Have you checked for eggs?’
Millie added strips of fatty bacon to the frying pan. ‘Yes. I did it after I milked Buttercup.’
Pippa looked behind her to where Buttercup grazed. Buying the cow and chickens had been extravagant, but necessary.
‘Did you finish writing a letter to your sister last night?’ Millie added eggs to the bacon.
‘No. The candle was burning low. I shall finish it today and get Robson to post it when he goes to Berrima tomorrow. My family will want to know if I received their news about Father being ill.’
‘I hope he is much recovered now.’
Pippa nodded. ‘Hilary’s letter sounded positive. Father is never ill, so I believe it would have shocked them greatly to have him return and fall sick. Only illness would have prevented him from returning for so long.’ She broke up pieces of the fresh damper bread and her thoughts turned to her family so far away.
Hilary’s letter, which arrived two weeks ago, had alarmed her with the news of her father’s ill health, but thankfully Hilary had enclosed money – money that Pippa desperately needed. She immediately paid the men and then bought the cow, hens, and food.
‘You have a lot to tell them.’
‘Yes. Father will be anxious to know how we are surviving. I’ve told him everything.’ Pippa looked around at the general state of the stud. At the moment there was no beauty. The basic stable buildings looked harsh in the morning light and, up on the rise, Jim O’Reilly’s men had littered the landscape with exposed diggings, piles of rock, timber, tents, and an ever-growing campsite as they erected work benches and made fires. What her mother would say about it all defied imagination.
‘Look! There is someone coming.’ Millie pointed to the lone horseman riding along the valley floor.
Pippa peered to see if she could make out the rider. As he rode closer, she noticed the thickset build.
The man in question pulled his horse to a stop before the clump of trees and dismounted. He took off his wide-brimmed hat, showing a crop of springy brown hair deeply peppered with grey.
Stopping in front of Pippa, he smiled and made a small bow. ‘Good day to you, ladies. Please forgive my intrusion, but I had to introduce myself to my new neighbours. I’m Meredith. Douglas Samuel Meredith, your servant, ma’am.’ He bowed again.
‘Pleased to meet you, Mr Meredith. I am Miss Philippa Noble and this is my friend, Mrs Millie Stroker.’ Pippa held out her hand for him to take. ‘I’m so pleased you took it upon yourself to become acquainted with us, Mr Meredith. I know nothing about our neighbours, or whether we have any.’
‘I have land to the south-west of you, Miss Noble. Over that southern ridge of yours is where my grant begins.’
‘Our land begins at the top of that mount,’ Pippa said, turning to point out beyond the hut, ‘and then includes the entire valley floor and the west, east, and north side flanks of those hills.’ She couldn’t help being proud.
‘Indeed, ma’am, it is as good a spot as any I’ve seen. And this creek is a blessing sent straight from God himself.’ Meredith grinned, stepping a small way with her towards the creek. ‘An ideal situation, being at the base of that mount. It will give plenty of protection from the elements.’
‘We think the same.’
‘And do you have family, Miss Noble?’
‘Yes, I await my father, mother, and sister to come from Sydney. We recently arrived from England.’
Meredith gazed around at the busy hive of men and industry. ‘You’ve wasted no time in establishing yourselves. What do you propose to farm?’
‘We intend to build a grand stud, but we’ll also run sheep and a few cattle until the stud becomes viable.’
‘A sensible plan.’
They returned to the fireside and Millie brought two chairs from the hut. Once seated, Meredith accepted a cup of tea from Millie. ‘I think you would do very well here with a stud. The climate is most suitable and there are many a wealthy gentleman and farmer who live among the villages of this district that would enjoy having quality bloodstock within a short distance of their homes. Yes, I think you will do very well, indeed.’
Meredith stayed for another ten minutes or so before he complained of having to leave their wonderful company and head for Berrima to do business.
‘Thank you so much for coming to see us, Mr Meredith, and thank you for your kind words. My father will be most pleased to know we have a sensible man for a neighbour.’ Pippa and Millie walked with him back to his horse.
‘It is a pleasure, Miss Noble, to have such good quality people for neighbours. Many have come to toil the earth in the area, but not many have the intellect and willpower to make a success of it. So they wallow in filth and become slaves to the gin bottle until they die or walk away and go back to the towns they’d left. It is a sad and sorry business.’
‘I have every confidence that we shall rise above such trials.’
‘I am certain of it.’ Meredith smiled, mounted his horse and donned his hat. ‘I believe I could not face my wife this night if I did not extend an invitation to you and Mrs Stroker to visit our home.’
‘That would be most pleasurable.’ Pippa liked the idea of meeting new people after her prolonged time in the bush. They made only infrequent trips into Berrima, and most times, she let Robson go while she stayed behind and worked in the garden or in the hut.
‘Would tomorrow morning be convenient?’
‘Yes, thank you.’
‘Good. I’ll send one of my men to collect you to save you from riding along an unknown path. The track to our home can be treacherous. It is best to be done by someone who has experience. Well, good day to you, ladies, until tomorrow!’ He cantered off.
Millie nudged her. ‘A gentleman caller already. Shame he is married.’
Pippa laughed. ‘Hold your tongue. I’ll not be married off, thank you. Acquiring a husband is the last thing on my mind.’ Her smile slipped as she thought of Grant. Once, she had dreamed of a husband …
Despite the jarring ride over a rough track, Pippa enjoyed the drive to the Meredith homestead. The scents of the bush, from the moist undergrowth to the strong, sharp aroma of the eucalyptus, refreshed her after weeks of heat and dust in the valley bottom.
Soon the dense bushland gave way to acres of cleared terrain. A large, log house with a verandah along the front and four steps leading down to the grass stood in the middle of the clearing.
Pippa smiled at Millie. ‘The Merediths have done well for themselves.’
Three black cockatoos took flight from the gum trees and screamed out their cry, drowning out Millie’s reply.
Wincing as the sound hurt her ears, Pippa laughed. ‘I’ll never get used to that sound.’
On drawing closer to the house, their hosts appeared at the front door and stood on the verandah. The driver stopped the cart and Meredith descended the steps to help the women down from the vehicle. ‘You made it, then.’
‘Yes. It was a pleasant journey, thank you.’ Pippa smiled.
Meredith beamed and waved his arm wide. ‘Welcome to our humble abode. Please, come meet my wife, she is most delighted to have women nearby.’
Amelia Meredith, small, plump, with light brown hair and a cheery smile, shook their hands. ‘I am so pleased to meet you both.’
Pippa liked her immediately. ‘You have a lovely home, Mrs Meredith.’
Relaxing at the Merediths’ warmth and friendliness, Pippa and Millie sat in the coolness of the verandah. For an hour, they sipped tea and nibbled sweet cakes and biscuits while chatting about the state of the country and local politics.
They finished their tea and a servant girl cleared their cups. ‘Would you care to have a look around the property?’ Meredith asked.
They first admired Amelia’s vegetable garden and Pippa asked numerous questions on the success of growing different vegetables. Next, they inspected an orchard and beehives. Meredith encouraged Pippa to create the same on her land as the surplus fruit was sold to the shops in Berrima and provided a small but welcome income.
‘An orchard and large vegetable garden is a must to survive out here so far away from a village,’ Amelia added, her voice soft.
‘Yes, a successful garden is something that I will endeavour to have as well.’ Pippa smiled, suddenly enthusiastic to reproduce such comforts in the valley.
‘Do you have convict workers?’ Meredith bent down to pick up a twig.
‘We have a pardoned convict and his sons. They are good, hardworking men. I’m sure we will have more ticket-of-leave men soon, though my mother doesn’t approve.’
‘You’re very quiet.’ Pippa looked at Millie as they were driven home a few hours later.
‘Amelia is pregnant. She has a sad history as a mother.’
‘Douglas told me they haven’t been successful in having a healthy baby. He is desperate for a son to inherit the farm.’
‘They have a small graveyard at the back of the house. It’s where they have buried their dead babies.’
Pippa frowned. ‘A tragedy, indeed.’
Millie drew in a deep breath. ‘I know that they are not the same class as you
are used to, Pippa, and your mother will no doubt wish for her own society, but I still think that the Merediths could be valuable friends to all of us.’
Pippa turned to look at her. ‘Do you think that I would only wish to socialise with people of my own class? Haven’t I proven to you that is not so?’
‘I simply meant that maybe the Merediths would not be welcome once your family returns because they are not—’
‘I resent such notions, Millie! Really, I do.’
‘I don’t mean to be—’
‘I know what you mean, Millie Stroker,’ Pippa snapped.
‘Don’t get all heated on me, Pippa,’ Millie scoffed. ‘I am accepting the situation.’
‘There is no situation.’
‘I’m afraid of what will happen when your family returns. The present arrangement of you and I living in a hut together will not suit everyone. I know when they return I shall sleep in a tent with Davy until Robson can build us a hut on our acre, and it’s of no bother to me, but will your mother wish for you to be so close to Davy and me?’
Pippa took hold of Millie’s hand. ‘Never be worried about our friendship. It means too much to me to let it go. Mother is aware of our friendship, I’ve written to her many times about you. She is pleased I have someone with me.’
‘But I’m not, and never will be, accepted into the society your mother entertains.’
‘You think that matters to me? You and Davy will always be a part of my family. I don’t care whether you were a parson’s daughter or a street urchin.’ Pippa winked. ‘As for the Merediths, well, they may not be the kind of people my mother is used to socialising with, but again, she will simply have to get used to it or make other arrangements. The population here is such that we cannot ignore good people for the lack of position.’
‘Do you think your family will arrive soon?’
Pippa shrugged. ‘As soon as Father is well enough, nothing will stop him from travelling. I hope it is soon. I have so many ideas now that I’ve seen the Merediths’ homestead. They have shown me what can be achieved.’
Where Rainbows End Page 9