Like most girls reduced to earning their living in such establishments, Sissy and Nell had only the most basic literacy skills. When Sissy had come into the post office and asked Adelaide to write a letter to her sister in Melbourne, Adelaide had offered to help the girl with her reading and writing. The lessons had become their regular Sunday afternoon activity. Lil observed the Sabbath and the girls took full advantage of their day off. With the advent of the warm weather, the women had taken to meeting at the rock rather than in Adelaide’s cosy parlour.

‘I brought you a present.’ Sissy drew out an orange from a canvas bag.

Adelaide took the fruit and pressed it to her nose. It brought back memories of Christmas in the kitchen of Oldfield House, where the cook would make the orange souffle Sir Daniel had loved so much.

‘Where did you get it?’ Adelaide asked.

‘A present from a friend,’ Sissy said.

Danny stared at the orange with avaricious eyes and Adelaide took out her paring knife to carefully cut the fruit into four segments. Danny sucked the flesh dry then positioned the skin in his mouth so it resembled bright orange teeth. The girls laughed.

‘Eh, you’re a one,’ Nell said, ruffling his hair.

‘Danny, it’s time for you to get home,’ Adelaide said. ‘I will be testing you on those Bible verses the Reverend Johnson set the Sunday School to learn.’

She knew Danny would have liked to have stayed, but he kept his peace and dutifully packed his notebook and pencil into his canvas satchel and tossed the dessicated quarter of the orange into the bush. But she didn’t miss the look he cast her—a look so like her father’s when he disapproved of something.

The three women watched the boy lope down the path in the one-sided gait of a child pretending to ride a horse.

‘He lives in his head, that one,’ Sissy said. ‘I hope one day I’ll have a boy like Danny.’

Nell poked her friend’s arm. ‘Aye, well, you play your cards right with Mr Penrose and you’ll be wed by winter.’

Sissy’s sad eyes belied her smile. ‘Mr Penrose’s uncle wouldn’t ever let him marry the likes of me,’ she said. ‘If wishes were fishes …’

The mine’s engineer, Will Penrose, worked for his uncle Charles Cowper, who was a major shareholder and manager of the Maiden’s Creek Mine and one of the most important men in the town. As long as Will worked for his uncle, any fondness he may feel for one of Lil’s girls had to stay within the four walls of Lil’s establishment.

‘When is Mr Penrose back?’ Adelaide asked.

Sissy laughed. ‘I don’t know, Mrs Greaves. Depends on what machinery the ship is bringing into Port Albert.’

‘To work,’ Adelaide said. ‘Did you bring your slates and the primer?’