‘Well, of course. I’ve picked up bits of the story from you and Matilda over the years. Clancy is going to find Rose again. Did Flora finally leave him and go back to England? And then old Ezekiel had pink kittens when he heard Clancy and Rose were together, so they went droving, and then they bought the place next door and old Ezekiel died but had never changed his will. They were happy together all their lives.’

‘Well, they were happy. And they ended up at Overflow.’ Nancy shook her head. ‘You really think their story could be simple? A white man and a black woman, then? Have you any idea how hard their lives were? There was no simple happy ever after, not for Rose or Clancy of the Overflow. But I’ll tell you all I know of it, when I can.’ She looked at her hands suddenly. ‘I’ve grown too white.’ Jed wondered if she meant literally or metaphorically or both. ‘A couple of years in the saddle and sleeping on the ground will do me good.’

‘Mattie’s going to miss Clancy. She adores him.’

‘Send her out to camp with us too. Let her sleep with no ceiling, and learn to tell the time as the Southern Cross turns over in the night. That girl needs to start to know her country.’

‘She’s only two years old!’

‘Yes. High time she was learning. Don’t worry. I’ll keep a careful eye on her.’ Nancy leaned over and kissed her, leaving a scent of sheep and Sunlight soap. ‘Once Sam’s settled back home it’ll do you good to camp with us for a while too. You might learn a bit more yourself. Walls, windows . . . you get too used to them. Stop seeing, after a while.’

Jed watched her go. Nancy seemed to have grown shorter over the last few years, and broader in the hips too, till she was almost square in her moleskins, boots and shirt. A woman of her country, staying with her country, teaching her country. And one of the people closest to her heart.

Chapter 29

Chapter 29

Doughboys

Mix three handfuls of plain flour with one handful of mutton fat till it resembles breadcrumbs. Roll lightly into small balls. If you mix them too firm, they will be heavy. Drop into boiling water or a stew. They are cooked when they float to the surface. Serve with the stew, or treacle.

OVERFLOW, 1881

CLANCY

Dusk had descended on Overflow, smelling of dust, sheep and black snake.

‘I paid six hundred pounds for that horse,’ muttered Ezekiel as Clancy and Taylor dismounted, shaking their heads.

And it had been money mostly wasted, thought Clancy. Money that could have bought more sheep. Ezekiel understood sheep.

But the horse had allowed the girl to escape.