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Chapters (52)
  1. Cover
  2. Margaret Dickinson
  3. Dedication page
  4. Contents
  5. Part One
  6. One
  7. Two
  8. Three
  9. Four
  10. Five
  11. Six
  12. Seven
  13. Eight
  14. Nine
  15. Ten
  16. Eleven
  17. Twelve
  18. Thirteen
  19. Fourteen
  20. Fifteen
  21. Sixteen
  22. Part Two
  23. Seventeen
  24. Eighteen
  25. Nineteen
  26. Twenty
  27. Twenty-One
  28. Twenty-Two
  29. Twenty-Three
  30. Twenty-Four
  31. Twenty-Five
  32. Twenty-Six
  33. Twenty-Seven
  34. Twenty-Eight
  35. Twenty-Nine
  36. Thirty
  37. Thirty-One
  38. Thirty-Two
  39. Thirty-Three
  40. Thirty-Four
  41. Thirty-Five
  42. Thirty-Six
  43. Thirty-Seven
  44. Thirty-Eight
  45. Thirty-Nine
  46. Forty
  47. Forty-One
  48. Forty-Two
  49. Sow the Seed
  50. Note
  51. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
  52. Copyright page

The Godfreys lent their farm wagon and the two horses – Boxer and Bonnie – to pull it. Jonathan Godfrey drove it to the smithy, helped Walter Maine to load all their belongings and then, with the high load wobbling precariously, drove back along the coast road towards the Point. Later in the afternoon Kate went with her mother in the pony and trap to fetch the rest of the Maine family.

‘Enid, you look done in,’ Kate heard her mother say in a voice that forbade any argument. ‘Ya’ll come back to the farm and rest awhile and let the others unload and settle things in. Kate can look after the bairns.’

‘But, Mam, I want to . . .’ Kate began, but a look from her mother quelled her protest.

It was Saturday afternoon and Danny might be home early from work. She had thought that helping the Maines to move would give her an excuse to go to the Point. Now she had to stay at home and play with Rosie and her two younger brothers.

‘I’m three months gone, Esther,’ Enid was saying quietly to Kate’s mother.

Esther clicked her tongue against her teeth in an expression of exasperation. ‘Well, your Walter might have lost his leg in the war, Enid, but he certainly didn’t lose owt else, did he?’

Enid snorted with laughter and clapped her hand over her mouth. For a moment the tiredness left her eyes as the two women exchanged a joke that the children could not share.

‘You’re having ’em a mite too fast for your health, Enid. You’re thinner than ya used to be.’

‘I reckon it’s livin’ in the town,’ Enid murmured. ‘I’ve never really liked it above the smithy. The smell of the forge never leaves the place.’

At Enid’s words Kate could almost hear the sizzling of the iron and smell the burning hoof as Walter shod a horse.

‘Well, you’re moving back to the Point not a moment too soon to my idea, and ya’ll have ya mam nearby to keep an eye on ya.’

‘She can’t wait to have a brood of little ones running around again.’

Kate watched moodily as the two women smiled at each other.

‘Take them into the front garden, Kate,’ her mother ordered as she drew the trap to a halt in the yard of Brumbys’ Farm. ‘But keep them away from the pond at the side of the house, mind.’