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- Колин Маккалоу
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It
was
a
hidden
,
unspoken
thing
between
them
,
something
to
buffer
their
loneliness
.
Perhaps
it
was
inevitable
,
for
of
all
her
children
Stuart
was
the
only
one
like
her
.
At
fourteen
he
was
as
big
a
mystery
to
his
father
and
brothers
as
Frank
had
been
,
but
unlike
Frank
he
engendered
no
hostility
,
no
irritation
.
He
did
as
he
was
told
without
complaint
,
worked
as
hard
as
anyone
and
created
absolutely
no
ripples
in
the
pool
of
Cleary
life
.
Though
his
hair
was
red
he
was
the
darkest
of
all
the
boys
,
more
mahogany
and
his
eyes
were
as
clear
as
pale
water
in
the
shade
,
as
if
they
reached
all
the
way
back
in
time
to
the
very
beginning
,
and
saw
everything
as
it
really
was
.
He
was
also
the
only
one
of
Paddy
's
sons
who
promised
adult
handsomeness
,
though
privately
Meggie
thought
her
Hal
would
outshine
him
when
it
came
his
turn
to
grow
up
.
No
one
ever
knew
what
Stuart
was
thinking
;
like
Fee
,
he
spoke
little
and
never
aired
an
opinion
.
And
he
had
a
curious
knack
of
being
utterly
still
,
as
still
within
himself
as
he
was
in
body
,
and
to
Meggie
,
closest
to
him
in
age
,
it
seemed
he
could
go
somewhere
no
one
else
could
ever
follow
.
Father
Ralph
expressed
it
another
way
.
"
That
lad
is
n't
human
!
"
he
had
exclaimed
the
day
he
dumped
a
hunger-striking
Stuart
back
at
Drogheda
after
he
was
left
at
the
convent
minus
Meggie
.
"
Did
he
say
he
wanted
to
go
home
?
Did
he
say
he
missed
Meggie
?
No
!
He
just
stopped
eating
and
patiently
waited
for
the
reason
why
to
sink
into
our
thick
skulls
.
Not
once
did
he
open
his
mouth
to
complain
,
and
when
I
marched
up
to
him
and
yelled
did
he
want
to
go
home
,
he
simply
smiled
at
me
and
nodded
!
"
But
as
time
went
on
it
was
tacitly
assumed
that
Stuart
would
not
go
out
into
the
paddocks
to
work
with
Paddy
and
the
other
boys
,
even
though
in
age
he
might
have
.
Stu
would
remain
on
guard
at
the
house
,
chop
the
wood
,
take
care
of
the
vegetable
garden
,
do
the
milking
--
the
huge
number
of
duties
the
women
had
no
time
for
with
three
babies
in
the
house
.
It
was
prudent
to
have
a
man
about
the
place
,
albeit
a
half-grown
one
;
it
gave
proof
of
other
men
close
by
.
For
there
were
visitors
--
the
clump
of
strange
boots
up
the
plank
steps
to
the
back
veranda
,
a
strange
voice
saying
:
"
Hullo
,
Missus
,
got
a
bit
of
tucker
for
a
man
?
"
The
Outback
had
swarms
of
them
,
swagmen
humping
their
blueys
from
station
to
station
,
down
from
Queensland
and
up
from
Victoria
,
men
who
had
lost
their
luck
or
were
chary
of
holding
a
regular
job
,
preferring
to
tramp
on
foot
thousands
of
miles
in
search
of
only
they
knew
what
.
Mostly
they
were
decent
fellows
,
who
appeared
,
ate
a
huge
meal
,
packed
a
bit
of
donated
tea
and
sugar
and
flour
in
the
folds
of
their
blueys
,
then
disappeared
down
the
track
headed
for
Barcoola
or
Narrengang
,
battered
old
billycans
bouncing
,
skinny
dogs
belly
down
behind
them
.
Australian
itinerants
rarely
rode
;
they
walked
.
Occasionally
a
bad
man
would
come
,
on
the
lookout
for
women
whose
men
were
away
;
with
a
view
to
robbery
,
not
rape
.
Thus
Fee
kept
a
shotgun
standing
loaded
in
a
corner
of
the
kitchen
where
the
babies
could
n't
get
to
it
,
and
made
sure
she
was
closer
to
it
than
her
visitor
until
her
expert
eye
assessed
his
character
.
After
Stuart
was
officially
allotted
the
house
as
his
domain
,
Fee
passed
the
shotgun
to
him
gladly
.
Not
all
the
visitors
were
swaggies
,
though
they
were
in
the
majority
;
there
was
the
Watkins
man
in
his
old
model-T
,
for
instance
.
He
carried
everything
from
horse
liniment
to
fragrant
soap
unlike
the
rock-hard
stuff
Fee
made
in
the
laundry
copper
from
fat
and
caustic
;
he
had
lavender
water
and
eau
de
cologne
,
powders
and
creams
for
sun-dried
faces
.
There
were
certain
things
one
never
dreamed
of
buying
from
anyone
but
the
Watkins
man
;
like
his
ointment
,
better
by
far
than
any
drugstore
or
prescription
salve
,
capable
of
healing
anything
from
a
rent
in
the
side
of
a
work
dog
to
an
ulcer
on
a
human
shin
.
The
women
would
crowd
around
in
every
kitchen
he
visited
,
waiting
eagerly
for
him
to
pop
open
his
big
suitcase
of
wares
.
