The Snow Pony by Alison Lester

Author:Alison Lester
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Published: 2015-03-31T16:00:00+00:00

Jack put the casserole Rita had made for them – lamb again – in the oven, then sat at the streaky red laminex table and rang the Banjo police. Tom Jackson’s voice was so loud that Dusty and Stew could hear both sides of the conversation from the lounge room, where they were lighting the fire. Jack chatted for a while, then described what they had found at The Plains. The kids smirked at each other as Tom began to speak. He had the odd habit of grunting before he answered a question. Rita thought it was a nervous thing, but Jack said it was something he’d developed over the years to give himself time to think. Whatever the reason, his snort meant that everybody called him Grunter behind his back, which, as Rita pointed out, was an unfortunate name for a policeman.

Jack continued. ‘Anyway, Tom, I thought I should let you know. Have you had anyone causing trouble?’

Dusty looked at Stewie. He was nearly bursting with laughter. Here it came …

‘Hmmnnff … Well, there was a group at the pub yesterday. They didn’t exactly cause trouble but they looked like they could, if you know what I mean. Hmmnnf. Had some hounds and a stack of guns. Three blokes and a scraggy looking girl.’

‘Do you know where they were from?’ interrupted Jack.

Dusty grinned, it was coming again.

‘Hmmnnf. One was from way over the other side of Melbourne. A mean looking begger. The hounds belonged to him. I checked their gun licences and I wrote down all the details, Jack, so we’ll be able to track them down. The girl looked right out of her depth. The younger bloke was her brother. Anyway, you look out for them because the two bigger ones were nasty types. Pity you haven’t got a two-way you can call me on. I guess once you get out to the leases you’ll be out of touch.’

The fire started to catch and soon its crackling drowned out the conversation.

Dinner was delicious. Food always tasted good at The Plains. Dusty forgot how she hated lamb, and mopped up the rich brown gravy with bread. Dad made a cup of tea, and the three of them sat at the table and planned the next two days. Tomorrow they’d ride out to the hut and the holding yards that Jack’s grandfather had built nearly a hundred years ago, and muster the cattle from there. They’d reach the hut before lunch, and muster all the south side of their lease that afternoon. After staying the night at the hut, they would muster the northern section in the morning, then bring the mob back to The Plains. The three days after that would be easy, droving the cows down the road to home. Jack would trot his horse back and bring the truck to their camp each night. Dusty loved it when he did that, when she felt like she was in charge of the whole show.

Jack pushed back his chair and stretched.

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