Mud and Gold by Shayne Parkinson Page B

the factory and taking
half the morning to get home again, and you’ve never even noticed.
He’s been visiting Jane!’
    ‘Has he?’ Jack looked thunderstruck.
‘Courting on the sly when he should have been working? The young
rascal!’ He laughed. ‘Well, I suppose we’d better get to know the
girl. Harry’s too young to think about getting wed for a few years
yet, of course, but there’s no harm in him getting friendly.’
    ‘He’s not as young as all that, Jack,’ said
Susannah. ‘And he is rather difficult, you know. He might be easier
to get along with if he had a wife to calm him down, and I could
certainly do with some help around the house.’
    ‘He’s only twenty, Susannah. Don’t talk
silly.’ Susannah raised her eyebrows, but said nothing.
    The day wore on, getting hotter as the sun
passed the zenith. Lizzie and Frank, along with Lizzie’s family,
were photographed in the garden, the session taking hours as every
conceivable combination was assembled for portraits. The guests
stood around in small groups, the laughter getting more raucous as
the men emptied the large barrel of beer Arthur had supplied; the
women contented themselves with Edie’s fresh lemonade and ginger
beer. Amy was kept busy for much of the day helping her aunt,
carrying food out from the kitchen and clearing away plates as they
were emptied. The heat inside the house was almost unbearable, but
she forced herself to keep going, despite a growing feeling of
nausea. She caught a glimpse of Charlie from time to time, standing
in a corner of the verandah by himself. In the middle of the
afternoon Edie shooed her away.
    ‘You’ll want to go and talk to your
husband,’ she said cheerfully. ‘I know what you young brides are
like! Anyway, you look all in, dear,’ she added, looking at Amy in
some concern. ‘You’re white as a sheet. You go and sit on the
verandah, out of this crush.’ She took Amy by the hand and led her
outside. ‘Here you go, Charlie, you look after this girl. She wants
to get the weight off her feet.’
    Amy was aware that Charlie had been drinking
all day in the heat, and that it had not improved his temper. She
avoided his eyes and sat beside him in silence, watching Frank and
Lizzie as they stood on the lawn under a large jacaranda tree. They
made a handsome couple, even though Frank was squirming
uncomfortably in his good suit by this time and looking as though
he didn’t know where to put his feet. Lizzie had slipped her arm
through his and he was holding it in a proprietorial way. Amy
smiled at the sight, distracted for the moment from the churning in
her stomach.
    Charlie followed her gaze. He bent down and
said in a low growl, ‘What are you staring at? Did you fancy young
Kelly for yourself, then? Wouldn’t he have you?’ Amy looked at him
in shocked disbelief.
    ‘He didn’t want a little slut like you, did
he? He’s got a decent woman now, it’s no good you making cow’s eyes
at him,’ he snarled; still too softly for the people around them to
hear, Amy hoped.
    ‘Please don’t talk like that here, Charlie,’
she said quietly. ‘It’s not fitting.’
    ‘I’ll talk to you however I want,’ he said,
raising his voice a little. The group nearest them stopped talking
for a moment and stared, then quickly turned away. ‘Don’t you
presume to tell me what’s fitting, you little bitch.’
    Amy rose from her seat and went down the
verandah steps. Charlie got up and followed her. She slipped around
the corner of the house and behind a large lemon tree, which she
hoped would hide them from prying eyes. She did not want people
gossiping about her any more than could be avoided. To her
humiliation, she found the rapid movement had been too much for her
nausea. When Charlie walked around the tree she was bent over the
ground vomiting.
    ‘What’s wrong with you? Eaten too much rich
food?’
    Amy’s body was racked with fierce retching.
When the fit passed she got slowly to her feet and