Chapters (58)
- COVER PAGE
- ABOUT THE AUTHOR
- DEDICATION
- Prologue
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-one
- Twenty-two
- Twenty-three
- Twenty-four
- Twenty-five
- Twenty-six
- Twenty-seven
- Twenty-eight
- Twenty-nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-one
- Thirty-two
- Thirty-three
- Thirty-four
- Thirty-five
- Thirty-six
- Thirty-seven
- Thirty-eight
- Thirty-nine
- Forty
- Forty-one
- Forty-two
- Forty-three
- Forty-four
- Forty-five
- Forty-six
- Forty-seven
- Forty-eight
- Forty-nine
- Fifty
- Fifty-one
- Fifty-two
- Fifty-three
- Acknowledgements
Cate put her arm around Wendy. ‘I really hope we find the gold, for your sake.’
Strange how they didn’t know how rich she already was, for having them in her life. She’d never found the right person to share her days with, never had children of her own, but these two had needed her when their parents died.
She watched as Lewis swept the metal detector around the base of the angel and between the smaller headstones. It had been hard to believe that quietly spoken Lewis, dedicated schoolteacher and shire councillor, had seized the initiative and had a quiet word with a friendly developer when he’d heard the Lorrimers were wanting to sell. It wasn’t long before Lewis had made his personal interest in the house and cemetery known to the developer.
‘It’s not going off anywhere around here,’ Lewis said, looking down at the machine. ‘Where do you think I should try next?’
Cate pointed to the hedge closest to the house. ‘Why don’t you have a go over there?’
Lewis continued to sweep the metal detector in a wide arc.
Beep beep beep.
Lewis froze.
Cate gasped, then charged towards him while Wendy happily looked on.
These two were more precious than any nuggets they hoped to find. Not that she would spoil their fun, she thought, as she bent down and laid the flowers she’d brought with her on Henry Buchanan’s grave.
After all, they’d done this for her.
Acknowledgements
To Annette Barlow and the wider team at Allen & Unwin, including editors Courtney Lick and Lauren Finger, proofreader Tessa Feggans, publicist Laura Benson and cover artist extraordinaire Nada Backovic, thank you.
To my Sydney writing group of four years, aka ‘The Dream Team’, Vanessa Hardy, Kristine Charles, Nicole Webb and our fearless leader Bernadette Foley of Broadcast Books, thank you. I love having four fabulous women to share this writing journey with.
To pilots Helene Young and Ben Merkenhof, for generously sharing your expert aviation knowledge with me during my work on the prologue, a scene I’d never anticipated writing until this story wormed its way into my mind, thank you.
To Len Klumpp, for your ‘on the job’ knowledge of a working airport and for sharing that vital piece of tractor information that a city gal like me would never have known, thank you.
To my detective friend in Sydney who prefers to remain nameless, for the hours you spend answering my police procedural questions, thank you. I am forever grateful.
To filmmaker and storyteller Jamie Lewis, for your lively and engaging conversation during several of my live Newcastle appearances, thank you. Your unexpected questions always keep me on my toes. Many thanks also for putting together the video footage for the Dead Horse Gap trailer.