The Drover Comes Home for Christmas by Darry Fraser

Author:Darry Fraser
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Mira
Published: 2020-09-24T00:00:00+00:00

Jenny thought long and hard about writing another letter to Mr Miller. It was all very well for Mr Nicholas to offer to take it, but she didn’t know that man from any other sundowner wandering around the countryside. The letter might never reach Mr Miller. Oh, but what harm could it do? It needn’t say anything overly personal. Just a bit of news of home, some relief from the worry and hard work Shep Miller must be experiencing.

Her nib pen, found right where she’d left it at her writing table, hovered over the paper. The candlewick flame flickered nearby. What should she write? That a couple of strange characters had stumbled onto her land and offered to find him and deliver her letters? That she hadn’t brandished her rifle and sent them packing? That she was guilty of water hoarding by way of inherited land-ownership and hoped to rectify that with the help of one of these characters? That Bidge seemed very taken with both, and Ellery, although reserved, was too?

A light breeze floated in. The parlour faded into the darkness and candlelight cast a low glow around her. It flickered over the little table at which she sat. The stars seemed low in the sky. The cloak of night, silent and serene, embraced her and in her heart she felt as if she had hope for the future once more.

She looked down at the paper and dipped the pen into the ink pot. She would write—

Oh. She had already written, it seemed. There were words on the paper in her handwriting.

Dear Mr Miller,

The days have passed slowly since you’ve been gone, but we are making good progress with Bidge’s letters and numbers, and she knows how many days until Christmas.

Ellery is well, and I believe he has grown somewhat, right before my eyes. He seems to shoulder responsibility as befits his temporary role as head of the household. He has made a significant discovery which I believe will please you.

You can be very proud of them.

I am well, and do fervently hope that you are well too, and that you make a speedy return. You are much missed.

Yours sincerely,

Jennifer Wickley.

Well. Almost as if the letter wrote itself. But was it too forward? Perhaps she should change that last line—

The ink had dried in the pot, and the candle blinked madly, signalling it might soon be spent. Mr Nicholas had said to get the letter to the mail tree, and that he would pick it up later. That meant possibly tonight. Her heartbeat thudded. Perhaps she shouldn’t dither. Re-reading what she had written—had she really written it?—she decided it was as it should be. A man wouldn’t read anything into it that wasn’t there.

With the ink now dry on the paper, she folded the letter, dropped a dab of candle wax on it to seal and addressed it to Mr Shep Miller. A glance into her room at Bidge’s cot and she was satisfied the little girl was fast asleep.

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