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Chapters (53)
  1. Cover
  2. About Alison Stuart
  3. Also by Alison Stuart
  4. Title Page
  5. Dedication
  6. Prologue
  7. One
  8. Two
  9. Three
  10. Four
  11. Five
  12. Six
  13. Seven
  14. Eight
  15. Nine
  16. Ten
  17. Eleven
  18. Twelve
  19. Thirteen
  20. Fourteen
  21. Fifteen
  22. Sixteen
  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. Forty-Three
  50. Forty-Four
  51. Author’s Note
  52. Acknowledgements
  53. Preview of The Goldminer's Sister

‘That was a generous present,’ she said, her heart breaking at the thought that in his ten short years, Danny had never really been given a toy for either Christmas or birthday; all his gifts had been practical things he had needed. Now, in a few short months, he had received two presents to warm the heart of a small boy: a knife from Caleb and a set of soldiers from Richard.

‘Did you like Uncle Richard?’ she asked, her tongue sticking on the honorary epithet.

He met her eyes. ‘Why?’

‘It’s not polite to answer a question with a question, Danny.’

‘Do you like him?’ Danny compounded the breach of etiquette.

‘Yes. He’s an old friend and I liked him very much.’

‘Then if you like him, so do I.’ Danny hesitated. ‘But he’s not as much fun as Caleb. He let me fire his Colt.’

‘He did what?’ Adelaide quelled her rising anger but made a note to speak to Caleb Hunt about letting her son handle firearms.

‘Only once,’ Danny mumbled, looking down at his best shoes.

‘Mr Barnwell may not be as much fun as Caleb,’ Adelaide said, ‘but sometimes we need more than fun.’

Someone who is reliable and respectable and will give us stability and the life we were born to, she thought.

Twenty-Four

Twenty-Four

7 February 1872

The bell above the door tinkled and Adelaide looked up. ‘Caleb!’

Caleb shut the door behind him and whipped the hat from his head. ‘I came to see if you were feeling better,’ he said.

A smile curved his lips and Adelaide’s traitorous heart beat a rapid tattoo at the memory of those lips on hers.

She fiddled with the brooch at her throat. ‘Much better,’ she said. ‘It’s the heat. Someone was telling me this morning that there have been lightning strikes in the mountains and that will mean bushfires. As long as they stay in the mountains …’

He took a step towards her, a frown creasing his brow. ‘Adelaide, have I done something to offend you?’

Before Adelaide could respond, the door opened and Richard, wearing his fawn suit and bowler hat, entered.

‘Damned hot out there,’ Richard said. ‘I don’t know how you can stand it. How are you this morning, my dear?’

Caleb turned to look at the intruder and his shoulders stiffened.

Richard curled his lips into something that looked to Adelaide like a cross between a smile and a snarl. ‘If it isn’t the so-called doctor,’ Richard clicked his fingers. ‘My apologies, doctor, your name escapes me.’

Caleb’s gaze returned to Adelaide, the grey eyes as cold as flint. ‘You know this man, Adelaide?’

Her heart skipped a beat at the ferocity of his gaze. ‘Yes,’ she said with an unnatural brightness. ‘Richard is an old friend of my family in England. Are you acquainted?’