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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

‘It doesn’t mean it’s not the truth,’ Sissy said, hauling a heavy pot of water onto the stove. ‘When you’re both rested and you know Danny is out of danger, that will be your time.’

Adelaide nodded and laid her head on her arms. For now, she just wanted to sleep.

Thirty-Seven

Thirty-Seven

A line of a dozen men waited for Caleb outside his surgery. Like Caleb himself, they were red eyed with smoke and exhaustion and they exchanged sympathetic words and relief at Caleb’s deliverance from the fire. Their injuries were not bad, mostly minor burns and in one case, a broken arm, and Posy had done an excellent job treating the less serious injuries, applying a viscous ointment from a large pot.

Caleb picked the pot up and sniffed. ‘Honey?’

Posy stuck out her chin. ‘My mam swore by honey,’ she said.

Caleb could think of a dozen worse treatments he had heard over the years. If honey did the job, who was he to argue?

A couple of men with more serious injuries had been brought in from the Blue Sailor settlement. The fire had come through too quickly for everyone to get away and three men had died. The rest had managed to shelter in the mine but not before they had been hit with falling debris. The mine’s entire infrastructure had burned to the ground.

Oldroyd offered up one of the upstairs rooms as a temporary hospital and Caleb delegated Posy to nurse them. The girl had an aptitude for the work; he’d seen the way she’d dealt with Mrs Murray and he wondered what he could do to encourage her skills. That was something to look into when the world returned to normal, whatever that looked like.

He sat in his office writing up his log. The words jumped on the page, his exhausted eyes unable to focus. He covered his face with his hands and groaned aloud.

‘That does it. You’re coming with me.’

He peered through his fingers. Sissy stood in the doorway, her hands on her hips.

‘Can’t,’ he mumbled.

‘Yes, you can. The girls sent me to get you.’

‘The girls?’

‘You need a bath and a proper feed.’

‘Here you go, Sissy.’ Posy appeared and handed her a pile of clothes.

‘This way, doctor,’ Sissy ordered.

Recognising he was outnumbered, Caleb dragged his weary, blistered feet up the road to Lil’s Place where the girls had set up a washtub in the kitchen.

‘No argument,’ Lil said, pointing at the bath. ‘You stink.’

‘If you need someone to scrub your back,’ Nell offered.

‘None of that,’ Lil scolded. ‘Out, all of you. Leave Caleb in peace.’

Washed, shaved, dressed in clean clothes and fed, Caleb’s exhaustion was temporarily stalled. He thanked Lil and her girls and returned to the post office to check on Danny.