BooksBarbecue
Back The Orchardist's Daughter Save as PDF
Chapters (57)
  1. COVER PAGE
  2. PRAISE
  3. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  4. DEDICATION
  5. PROLOGUE
  6. PART I SEEDS
  7. 1
  8. 2
  9. 3
  10. 4
  11. 5
  12. 6
  13. 7
  14. 8
  15. PART II GERMINATION
  16. 9
  17. 10
  18. 11
  19. 12
  20. 13
  21. 14
  22. 15
  23. 16
  24. 17
  25. 18
  26. 19
  27. 20
  28. PART III GROWTH
  29. 21
  30. 22
  31. 23
  32. 24
  33. 25
  34. 26
  35. 27
  36. 28
  37. 29
  38. 30
  39. 31
  40. 32
  41. PART IV UNDERSTOREY
  42. 33
  43. 34
  44. 35
  45. 36
  46. 37
  47. 38
  48. 39
  49. 40
  50. 41
  51. 42
  52. 43
  53. 44
  54. 45
  55. 46
  56. EPILOGUE
  57. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

‘Yeah, well, that doesn’t include you.’ Mooney stretched up and grabbed at one of the men on the machines.

The cameraman was filming as his teammate tried to push Mooney away with his foot, yelling, ‘I’ll go you for assault.’

The young woman had shimmied aside, and now she went on with her commentary. But Mooney knocked the loudhailer out of her hands. Then he reached for the other woman’s drum.

‘Shit, Mooney,’ Leon shouted. ‘Be careful.’

Mooney swung his way and scowled. ‘You on their side?’

‘I don’t want you to get in trouble.’

‘This lot are trouble.’ Mooney snatched the drum and tossed it away. It bounced on the grass and cracked. Then he turned back to the men on the machines. The cameraman was still recording.

Shane was there now too. He scaled the skidder like a monkey, hooked on to the demonstrator’s leg and pulled. The guy attempted to shake him off but Shane didn’t let go.

More men were sprinting across the field, rushing past Leon and Grandpa.

‘Call the police,’ someone yelled. ‘The cops can get rid of them.’

Somehow the young woman fastened on to her loudhailer again and ran to one side, shouting, ‘You don’t like hearing this, do you? Because you know we’re right. You’ve been trashing our forests for years. Of course you don’t want to stop. You’ve had it good for too long.’

Leon was worried that things were about to get worse. ‘Come on, Grandpa, we have to go.’

‘No, wait. Look.’

The greenies were being hauled down from the machines. Mooney had the sheets and was tearing them up. But the demonstrators weren’t going to stand by and watch. Both sides began yelling and pushing, grabbing each other’s shirts, the two women shrieking. The man was still filming.

Grandpa was suddenly anxious. ‘They won’t hurt those women, will they?’

‘Sorry, Grandpa,’ Leon said. ‘We can’t stay to find out.’ He grasped Grandpa’s arm and led him away.

‘We should call the police.’ The old man was overexcited. ‘That might protect them.’

Leon glanced back. ‘Someone might get done for assault. And it won’t be the greenies. Those loggers are angry.’

They worked their way through the crowd towards the exit, and it was slow going against the flow of people. Near the entry, Leon left Grandpa and went to fetch the car. It was a good time to be gone before people started pointing the finger and calling him Parkie.

23

23