The River is Down by Lucy Walker

Author:Lucy Walker [Lucy Walker]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: small town and rural, outback romance, clean romance, clean and wholesome, australian romance, autstralian rural romance, australian author, australian rural novels
Publisher: Wyndham Books (Small Town & Rural Romance)
Published: 2019-09-11T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

‘Golly, you do look nice, Cindie,’ Jinx said, as the children, washed and spruced for dinner that night, came into the living-room.

Cindie was straining the vegetables as Mary sliced the roll of steaming corned beef.

‘Like a lovely lady,’ Myrtle added reflectively, as she looked over Cindie’s white dress with the pink spots. ‘I thought that when you first came. Then when I got used to your face I stopped thinking it. Now I think it all over again. It must be the dress, but your face looks nice too ‒’

‘And only corned beef for dinner!’ Jinx grumbled. ‘It’s hardly a party, is it?’

‘Don’t make personal remarks,’ Mary corrected them sharply. Out of the corner of her eye she had seen Cindie’s face tinge with pink at the children’s comments. ‘Don’t listen to gossip, you children. Don’t ask people their religion or bank accounts. Most of all, don’t make personal remarks.’

‘Mum’s legend! That’s what Nick calls it,’ Jinx put himself in front of his place at the table and began at once to draw figures on the cloth with the prongs of his fork. ‘The four Don’ts. That’s what Nick calls it! Our teacher on the air says there should be more doing than don’ting ‒’

‘Like playing with your fork and likely to make holes in the cloth?’ Mary demanded, bringing the children’s plates to the table. ‘Put your knife and fork in place, Jinx, and wait till Cindie and I are ready to sit down.’

Cindie brought a bowl of potatoes and carrots and began to serve large helpings to the children.

‘Do you think I’m over-dressed, Jinx?’ she asked. ‘Every girl wants to wear a pretty frock sometimes. Besides, I bought it from Coles ‒ in case you think I’m showing off. Very light and cool: not expensive at all.’

‘You don’t have to explain to them, Cindie,’ Mary said. ‘It’s a nice dress and you look nice. Thank goodness for that. I like to see a young girl wear a pretty dress. If she doesn’t do that when she’s young, she won’t have much chance later. Too much hard work to bother about dressing up when you’ve two children, a house, and two hundred and seventeen men to look after.’

There was a touch of heart-burning in those last words.

‘You look very nice yourself,’ Cindie said quickly, hiding a sudden compassion for Mary. ‘Your hair is so dark and thick. That little white streak makes it very distinguished. And you’ve wonderful eyes ‒ when you don’t snap them. Jim said you were “spry”. I think he admired you ‒’

Mary smiled more amiably. ‘Thanks for that lot,’ she replied. ‘Next I’ll be dressing up like Cleopatra. Couldn’t be those three talkative wives up there giving us a jolt, could it, Cindie? Or maybe it’s only the newcomer from Baanya.’

‘Cindie’s blushing,’ Myrtle said. ‘I guess it’s Jim Vernon. Are you wearing that dress anywhere special to-night?’

‘Yes ‒ actually ‒’ Cindie was a little confused.

‘Not to see Nick or Miss Erica, of course,’ Jinx was supercilious about this.

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