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- Колин Маккалоу
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There
had
been
no
rain
.
It
was
as
if
even
the
divine
elements
conspired
to
blight
hope
,
for
1941
was
the
fifth
year
of
a
disastrous
drought
.
Meggie
,
Bob
,
Jack
,
Hughie
and
Fee
were
desperate
.
The
Drogheda
bank
account
was
rich
enough
to
buy
all
the
feed
necessary
to
keep
the
sheep
alive
,
but
most
of
the
sheep
would
n't
eat
.
Each
mob
had
a
natural
leader
,
the
Judas
;
only
if
they
could
persuade
the
Judas
to
eat
did
they
stand
a
hope
with
the
rest
,
but
sometimes
even
the
sight
of
a
chewing
Judas
could
n't
impress
the
rest
of
the
mob
into
emulating
it
.
So
Drogheda
,
too
,
was
seeing
its
share
of
bloodletting
,
and
hating
it
.
The
grass
was
all
gone
,
the
ground
a
dark
cracked
waste
lightened
only
by
grey
and
dun-brown
timber
stands
.
They
armed
themselves
with
knives
as
well
as
rifles
;
when
they
saw
an
animal
down
someone
would
cut
its
throat
to
spare
it
a
lingering
death
,
eyeless
from
the
crows
.
Bob
put
on
more
cattle
and
hand-fed
them
to
keep
up
Drogheda
's
war
effort
.
There
was
no
profit
to
be
had
in
it
with
the
price
of
feed
,
for
the
agrarian
regions
closer
in
were
just
as
hard
hit
by
lack
of
rain
as
the
pastoral
regions
farther
out
.
Crop
returns
were
abysmally
low
.
However
,
word
had
come
from
Rome
that
they
were
to
do
what
they
could
regardless
of
the
cost
.
What
Meggie
hated
most
of
all
was
the
time
she
had
to
put
in
working
the
paddocks
.
Drogheda
had
managed
to
retain
only
one
of
its
stockmen
,
and
so
far
there
were
no
replacements
;
Australia
's
greatest
shortage
had
always
been
manpower
.
So
unless
Bob
noticed
her
irritability
and
fatigue
,
and
gave
her
Sunday
off
,
Meggie
worked
the
paddocks
seven
days
a
week
.
However
,
if
Bob
gave
her
time
off
it
meant
he
himself
worked
harder
,
so
she
tried
not
to
let
her
distress
show
.
It
never
occurred
to
her
that
she
could
simply
refuse
to
ride
as
a
stockman
,
plead
her
babies
as
an
excuse
.
They
were
well
cared
for
,
and
Bob
needed
her
so
much
more
than
they
did
.
She
did
n't
have
the
insight
to
understand
her
babies
needed
her
,
too
;
thinking
of
her
longing
to
be
with
them
as
selfishness
when
they
were
so
well
cared
for
by
loving
and
familiar
hands
.
It
was
selfish
,
she
told
herself
.
Nor
did
she
have
the
kind
of
confidence
that
might
have
told
her
that
in
her
children
's
eyes
she
was
just
as
special
as
they
were
to
her
.
So
she
rode
the
paddocks
,
and
for
weeks
on
end
got
to
see
her
children
only
after
they
were
in
bed
for
the
night
.
Whenever
Meggie
looked
at
Dane
her
heart
turned
over
.
He
was
a
beautiful
child
;
even
strangers
on
the
streets
of
Gilly
remarked
on
it
when
Fee
took
him
into
town
.
His
habitual
expression
was
a
smiling
one
,
his
nature
a
curious
combination
of
quietness
and
deep
,
sure
happiness
;
he
seemed
to
have
grown
into
his
identity
and
acquired
his
self-knowledge
with
none
of
the
pain
children
usually
experience
,
for
he
rarely
made
mistakes
about
people
or
things
,
and
nothing
ever
exasperated
or
bewildered
him
.
To
his
mother
his
likeness
to
Ralph
was
sometimes
very
frightening
,
but
apparently
no
one
else
ever
noticed
.
Ralph
had
been
gone
from
Gilly
for
a
long
time
,
and
though
Dane
had
the
same
features
,
the
same
build
,
he
had
one
great
difference
,
which
tended
to
cloud
the
issue
.
His
hair
was
n't
black
like
Ralph
's
,
it
was
a
pale
gold
;
not
the
color
of
wheat
or
sunset
but
the
color
of
Drogheda
grass
,
gold
with
silver
and
beige
in
it
.
From
the
moment
she
set
eyes
on
him
,
Justine
adored
her
baby
brother
.
Nothing
was
too
good
for
Dane
,
nothing
too
much
trouble
to
fetch
or
present
in
his
honor
.
Once
he
began
to
walk
she
never
left
his
side
,
for
which
Meggie
was
very
grateful
,
worrying
that
Mrs.
Smith
and
the
maids
were
getting
too
old
to
keep
a
satisfactorily
sharp
eye
on
a
small
boy
.
On
one
of
her
rare
Sundays
off
Meggie
took
her
daughter
onto
her
lap
and
spoke
to
her
seriously
about
looking
after
Dane
.
"
I
ca
n't
be
here
at
the
homestead
to
look
after
him
myself
,
"
she
said
,
"
so
it
all
depends
on
you
,
Justine
.
He
's
your
baby
brother
and
you
must
always
watch
out
for
him
,
make
sure
he
does
n't
get
into
danger
or
trouble
.
"
The
light
eyes
were
very
intelligent
,
with
none
of
the
rather
wandering
attention
span
typical
of
a
four-year-old
.
Justine
nodded
confidently
.
"
Do
n't
worry
,
Mum
,
"
she
said
briskly
.
"
I
'll
always
look
after
him
for
you
.
"
