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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

Netty sighed heavily and said, ‘I don’t know what Adelaide’s told you about Barnwell.’

‘Everything. I know that Barnwell is Danny’s father.’

Netty grunted. ‘When she ran away from her father’s house, we took her mother’s jewellery—it was hers to take. Somehow Barnwell’s managed to get hold of statements from Miss Adelaide’s father and a jeweller in York that makes it sound like I’m guilty of thieving the jewellery. You?’

‘I broke his nose last night.’

‘Pity it was only his nose.’

‘I should have hit him harder.’

In the long silence that followed, he could hear Netty’s breathing.

When she spoke again, her voice was tight with emotion. ‘I’m scared for Adelaide. She’s on her own.’

Caleb leaned his head against the cold, unyielding rock of his cell. ‘So am I. He’s planning something and he wanted us out of the way.’ Beyond the wall of his cell, Netty sniffed and he summoned a confidence he did not feel. ‘Maidment is a sensible man. We’ll sort this out in the morning. He’ll see the charges are nonsense. Give me your hand.’

He reached through the bars, his hand seeking hers. She grasped his fingers and they stood for a moment, grateful for the touch of another human being.

Thirty-Three

Thirty-Three

16 February 1872

Caught between the oppressive heat and his excitement, Danny slept fitfully, waking to the familiar sound of dishes clattering in the kitchen.

He sprang from his bed and packed his schoolbag with all the things a successful explorer would need on a quest to find bushranger’s gold: a candle and tinderbox, Caleb’s knife, a hank of rope, a flask of water and the remains of the day’s bread along with a lump of hard cheese that he had secreted from the kitchen after Mama and Netty had finished for the night.

He found his mother in the kitchen watching a boiling pot of water in which their breakfast eggs rattled.

She looked around and glanced at the clock on the kitchen shelf. ‘You’re early,’ she said.

Danny mumbled something about being too hot to sleep and asked where Netty was.

‘She had some urgent business,’ his mother replied, setting a boiled egg with a buttered slice of yesterday’s bread in front of him.

Danny bolted his breakfast, picked up his satchel and headed for the door.

‘Danny, you are going to be the first at school,’ Adelaide said. ‘Wait for me. I’ll walk with you.’

Danny avoided his mother’s eyes as he said, ‘It’s all right, Mama. I promised I’d help Mr Emerton set something up this morning. You don’t need to walk with me.’ And after the previous day’s teasing, the last thing he wanted was his mother trailing after him.