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

She carried the bag across the tip to exactly the place where the devil had been caught. Squatting, she turned the bag away from her and tugged it open, expecting the devil to bolt. But he didn’t move. She could feel him shivering in there; he must be terribly scared. Slowly, she rolled the bag back until his head was exposed and she could see the dull red of his wound, his scarred pink ears and shiny black eyes. He was beautiful.

‘Give him a little push,’ Dale suggested.

She pressed gently on the devil’s rump. She was humming—a hymn her mother used to sing to her when she was small and having trouble falling asleep. The devil’s ears swivelled as if he was listening. For what seemed a long time, he sat while Miki hummed into the night until something clattered in the rubbish, and the devil sprang from the bag and raced away.

Miki rejoined the others. They were smiling. ‘He’s okay,’ she said.

‘He likes you,’ Leon said.

Dale tossed a chicken wing towards the rubbish, and the devil loped out and snatched it up, apparently unharmed by his experience.

‘That’s the way to a man’s heart,’ Geraldine said. ‘Just feed him meat.’

12

12

Max watched the pups growing, and it happened so quickly. Their eyes and ears opened at eleven days, and by four weeks they had transformed into small dogs. The bigger they grew, the more fun they were. Yipping at each other. Biting with sharp teeth. Pawing at each other’s faces. Chewing on each other’s tails. They were the best thing. Better than his iPhone, and even better than PlayStation.

But Dad didn’t think so. Every time he saw the pups, he scowled and said they cost too much to feed. That wasn’t true—all they drank was Rosie’s milk.

There were four boys and two girls, and Max had names for them all: Bruiser, Footy, Diesel, Patch, Bonnie and Rosie Junior. For the first few weeks, they lived in the shed in a box that Mum made from a few wooden planks. She said she didn’t want them getting in Dad’s way, and Max agreed. When he let them out, they followed him around the yard and he was careful not to step on them. But Dad might not be so careful.

Max loved all the pups, but Bonnie was his special favourite. She always came straight up to him when he got home, and she liked to bark at him and play tug of war with his jumper. She didn’t mind when he put her in his schoolbag and carried it on his chest, so he started taking her around with him. On Saturday night, he took her down to the takeaway when he went with Dad to get fish and chips.