The Other Wife: A sweeping historical romantic drama tinged with obsession and suspense. Juliet Bell
Читать онлайн.| Название | The Other Wife: A sweeping historical romantic drama tinged with obsession and suspense |
|---|---|
| Автор произведения | Juliet Bell |
| Жанр | Классическая проза |
| Серия | |
| Издательство | Классическая проза |
| Год выпуска | 0 |
| isbn | 9780008284503 |
To Charlotte
The land was empty until the great snake came. He roamed over all the land and, when he slept, deep pools of water formed and flowed into the channels left by his passing. These became the river. As the snake moved from waterhole to waterhole, rainbows formed in the sky.
The lightning man, who the first people would call Namarrgon, came after the serpent. When he was angry, he hurled his spears of light into the ground and woke the fire.
Thousands of years ago, when the first people came to the land, they used the fire. In small groups they moved across the plains, hunting their food and gathering around fires at night to sing and dance, and tell stories of the Dreaming. Sometimes the fire escaped. The trees and the grass burned, and the animals burned. But always the land survived and the first people trusted that the Rainbow Serpent would bring the water back. The plants would grow again. The animals would return and the first men would follow them.
Everything changed when the white men came.
They had tamed the fire. They brought it in guns and trapped it inside the houses that they built, houses that got bigger and stronger as the years passed. They brought new animals too and claimed the land for them. The native animals were driven away by these strange big beasts, just as the first men were driven away by the white men.
In the middle of this plain, a white man built a great stone house. Around that house, there were small buildings and yards for the animals, and, down by the river, the first men had their camp. Sometimes the first men talked of taking back the land that had been theirs. Until then, they worked that land for the white man and for his sons and their sons.
Now the land is dotted with fire. At night, the light gleams from the windows of the white man’s big house and figures can be seen moving. There are lights in the other buildings where the white men work and eat and sleep. And small fires still burn where the first men sit by the river and tell their tales.
But, tonight the fire has escaped and it has taken the big stone house in the middle of the plain. The first men and the white men will try to capture it again. But when the fire is set free, it burns until there is nothing left at all.
Sydney, Australia. 1966
Jane
I was scared. This was my first time in Sydney. My first time in any big city. It was also my first time away from the place where my mother and I had lived since I was a baby. Even looking out of the window of the car was overwhelming – the size of the buildings, the number of cars, the rush and hurry all around me. I sank back into my seat until the car finally stopped and I couldn’t hide any longer.
‘Come on now, child.’ The woman sitting next to me poked me none too gently in the ribs. ‘Get out of the car.’
My new home was a huge mountain of red brick. I strained my neck, trying to see how very high it really went. It seemed to reach up almost to the clouds. I desperately wanted to go home. To my friends. To my mother. To the way things were before the police came.
I stared up at the building again. It was truly huge. I would get lost inside it, just as I was lost in this city. The buildings that towered over me seemed to lean in on each other, and there was nothing green. No trees, not even a blade of grass. I hoped I wouldn’t have to stay here long. Mum must be coming back soon to take me home to the place with the space and the grass and all the people I knew.
The woman took my two small bags from the back of the car. I didn’t own many things. At home everything was shared, so I didn’t need my own things. The woman in the car had told me there were other children in this house. My cousins. Maybe I would share with them now.
When we got to the big front door, I pushed it. It didn’t open. I tried to pull it, but that didn’t work either. The door stayed shut. Puzzled, I looked up at the woman. She rolled her eyes as she reached out to press a button in the wall.
‘Yes?’ The voice was loud and harsh.
‘Child Welfare.’
For a long time there was no answer. ‘All right.’
I jumped as a loud buzz and a thunk sounded from the door in front of me.
‘Well, don’t just stand there. Open the door.’
‘But…’
‘Open it.’
I pushed the door hard, and this time it moved.
It was dark inside after the bright sunlight in the street. There was a big staircase made of wood that seemed to go forever.
The woman carrying my bags went and stood in front of another door. There were more strange sounds, and that door slid open, revealing a very small room.
‘Come on, Jane.’ She was starting to sound impatient.
I followed her into the box. I didn’t mind small places. That was why I almost always won when we played hide and seek. I was little and could fit into the tiniest places. The door slid shut all on its own. I almost screamed when I felt the little room start to move.
‘Oh, for goodness’ sake,’ the woman said. ‘It’s only a lift. Your aunt is on the top storey. Far too many floors to use the stairs, especially in this heat.’
Mum had told me to be brave, so I tried to pretend I wasn’t