Fiery Possession Read Online Free Page B

in the branches standing out like large brown bumps. Now and again some trunks appeared almost white, so smooth they might have been planed down by a giant hand. In the distance the dark green leaves were tinged with grey. A few blackened stumps bore testament to previous fires.
    Spring flowers decorated the grassed areas between the trees. In one section, the everlastings grew in such abundance they turned the whole hillside into a mass of moving orange heads.
    As they passed by a clump of scraggy bushes, three grey kangaroos bounded off into the opposite direction to them. What a strange mixture this country was. Almost mountainous in some parts, yet quite flat in others, a little like the American West where she had spent part of her childhood.
     
    ***
     
    Two days after her arrival, Jo decided to put her plans for opening a school into operation. Fiona endorsed the idea and gave her directions to several homesteads where school-aged children lived. As soon as they finished breakfast, Jo borrowed a shirt, breeches and boots from Ian, saddled up one of the stock horses and set off.
    Riding through the bush, she laughed aloud at the antics of the multi-colored parrots zigzagging through the trees. What beautiful birds they were. The weather seemed warm for September, the bright blue sky unusual, as summer did not officially start until December. If it wasn’t for the fact they were short of water and feed for the stock, it would be perfect.
    She received a warm welcome at most of the homesteads, and found people eager for their children to attend school. Should she call into some of the larger properties?  No, wiser to control her enthusiasm at this stage. Phew, she wiped a trickle of perspiration from her brow; the heat intensified as the country became dryer, more barren.
    Several thin, miserable chickens scratched in the dirt outside a crude lean-to. It had no chimney, just a pot sitting on a fire outside. Who would live in such a hovel? Curiosity had her dismounting and tethering her horse to a tree stump.
    “Anyone home?”  She hesitated, debating whether to enter. Suppose it belonged to some unsavory individual?
    A sack covering the entrance was pushed aside and a girl, heavy with child, waddled out. A faded torn gown stretched over her swollen stomach.
    “How do you do? I'm Jo Saunders.”
    “M…Mary Smith.”
    “I'm Ian Morrison's sister.”
    “C…come in,” Mary invited, with pathetic eagerness. “I don't get many visitors.”
    Jo tried to hide her shock. Given a choice, she would have preferred to stay outside. Inside, she saw nothing but a bundle of blankets and skins tossed in one corner and a couple of packing cases. A small faded piece of carpet served as a mat.
    “My man's out working.”
    “Oh, does he farm around here?”
    “No, he's a shepherd for C...Camptons.”
    “Is this Campton land?”
    “Yes.”  The girl, probably not more than seventeen, would be quite pretty if she could keep herself clean, and she was obviously having a baby in a few weeks. Jo shuddered.
    “Does Mr. Campton know, er, where you live?”  It was the most delicate way of putting it.
    “This place belongs to him, isn't much.”
    Much! Sickness curdled Jo’s stomach. She wanted to scream out that it was a disgrace for people to live this way. One more thing against Luke Campton, the man acted like a despot. “He should be compelled to provide adequate accommodation.”
    “Some b…bosses don't give you anything. This is better than nothing. Nat burned down the hut we used to live in, got drunk and knocked over the lamp. We always get some meat when there's a kill, and fruit and vegetables.”
    “A rich man with thousands of acres could give you something better than this, surely?”  She couldn’t hide her indignation.
    “My man likes living out here. W…want some tea?”
    She could just about have killed for a drink, but dared not accept because the poor girl might be low on provisions.
    “I'm floating