Chapter 1
The sun is rising, shining all its glory on the old homestead, which stands between two old gum trees. A kookaburra sings his greeting to the morning, waking one of the occupants of the house.
The disturbed climbed sleepily out of bed, rested her elbows on the windowsill, and let the cool breeze wash the sleep from her head. She smiled as she idly watched the young foals and their mothers frisking in the horse paddocks.
After a while she turned back to the room and got out her devotional book and her bible. Sitting on the bed she read these for half an hour.
By the time she was finished the rest of the family was awake, so she started to get dressed. She is going mustering today, so she puts on old jeans, and a cool cotton shirt.
As she brushed her hair, one of the brothers bursts into the room yelling,
“Guess what, Nerida, Dad said I can go on the muster, and I get to ride o!”
“Ok, ok, that’s good, Chris, but do you really have to yell like that, and you could knock before you barge in too, come to think of it.”
“Sorry, I guess I got carried away.” Chris was just about to turn away, when Nerida had an alarming thought.
“You are riding at the back of the mob of course?”
“No, Dad said that I can ride on the left wing.”
“What! No! Dad, you can’t let him ride on the wing, because then I have to go at the back!”
Nerida stormed furiously down the hall to the kitchen, where her Mum and Dad were drinking tea.
“It wouldn’t do you any harm; there isn’t any dust around at this time.” Mr Durham frowned at his oldest child, who at 13, felt that she should do the hardest , and found it very annoying that her younger brother who was only 10 could be trusted with such and important one.
“I know that, but what if the mob stampedes?” Nerida like to think that such a thing as a stampede could happen on their quiet property, where the cattle would rather graze, than be walked any distance.
“Nerida!” Mrs Durham looked shocked at the thought of a stampede, as her father had been killed when he was thrown off a horse while chasing some cattle that had spooked during a storm.
“You know there is very little chance of that happening, and I am the one who said he could ride there, and if I thought that he might be in danger for the slightest moment, he would definitely ride at the back, but how about some breakfast, your mother has cooked up some pancakes this morning.”
Nerida cheered up a little at this, and settled down to a good meal.
(this is my first chapter, but I'm doing another one soon)
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