Racing the Moon by Michelle Morgan

Author:Michelle Morgan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: JUV000000, book
ISBN: 9781743434444
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Published: 2014-01-19T16:00:00+00:00

THE FARM

CHAPTER 21

A tall nun wearing a long brown habit and a large set of rosary beads around her waist was striding towards me with her arm outstretched, ready to shake my hand. ‘You must be Joseph Riley. Welcome to the Farm. I’m Sister Agnes, the School Principal.’

The only nun I’d ever met before was Sister Monica, the nurse at St Bart’s. I’m not exactly sure she was a nun, but she was an angel sent from heaven. Sister Agnes doesn’t look like an angel – she walks and talks more like a man. I could feel the bones in my hand crunch as we shook hands.

‘Unfortunately you missed Mass this morning – it’s the highlight of our week. Father Brian comes out from Dapto early every Sunday morning to hear confession and celebrate Mass with us.’ She put her hands together and closed her eyes. I wasn’t sure if she was thinking hard about something or praying. Half a minute later she opened her eyes and smiled, rubbing her hands together. ‘I’ll show you the classroom on our way to your cabin. You’ll need to get changed into some work clothes.’

I followed her along the verandah around to the side of the house, and then through some open doors.

‘This is our classroom – on Sundays it serves as a chapel.’

There were five rows of desks facing a blackboard with a big crucifix and pull-down charts at the top. In one corner there was a lectern, and in the other, a statue of Our Lady surrounded by vases of fresh flowers. The room was very neat and didn’t look like it had been used very often.

We walked around to the back of the house and looked through the window at the big kitchen, then we stopped to admire a long table and four benches on the verandah.

‘Henry made all of these from trees that had fallen down on our property,’ she said, running her fingers along the grain of the smooth wood. ‘Most of your meals will be served here. And over there’s the barn where you’ll go for milking duty twice a day.’ She pointed to a huge tin shed that was much bigger than the house.

There was a strong smell of fresh cow manure in the air, and I could hear cows mooing not too far away. I pinched myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming.

We started walking towards two cabins that were opposite the barn and looked like shacks with crooked verandahs out the front.

‘There are sixteen boys in each cabin, and you’ll be sleeping in this one.’ she said, as we stepped onto a creaking verandah, crowded with broken beds, two buckets and a large wooden box. Inside, the cabin was set out like a dorm with eight beds on either side.

‘This is your bed,’ she said, pointing to the fourth bed along on the wall closest to the barn.

I lifted my case onto the rusty metal-framed bed with no bedspread, just a grey woollen army blanket tucked in with a grey sheet.

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