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    Tales From Down Under
    Tales From Down Under
    Tales From Down Under
    Ebook36 pages25 minutes

    Tales From Down Under

    By Mary Mageau

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    About this ebook

    Tales From Down Under, is a selection of short stories exploring historical and contemporary Australian themes. Spiced with tragedy and humour, this collection of seven tales will lead you through a first convict settlement, life in the outback, pearl fishing off the northwest coast, and even modern-day dilemmas.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDoctorZed Publishing
    Release dateApr 24, 2014
    ISBN9780992447373
    Tales From Down Under
    Author

    Mary Mageau

    Mary Mageau is an award-winning composer and writer. Born and educated in the United States, she has lived in Australia since 1974. Her writings in the Japanese verse forms of haiku, tanka and haibun are published in the United States by Red Moon Press, The MET Press and Kei Books. Mary's poetry also appears in American, Canadian and Australian anthologies and literary journals: Gusts, Atlas Poetica, Eucalypt, Take Five, Paper Wasp and Yellow Moon. In 2010 Blemish Books, published twenty of her haibun poems in Triptych Poets, Volume I. Mary also loves to travel, gathering stories for her historical fiction. Two romances, The Trousseau and An Antique Brooch, explore the early South Pacific settlements of New Caledonia and Norfolk Island during the 1850s and 60s. A third novella, In the Eye of a Storm, is set in Paris during the time of the French Revolution while her latest book, Vanquished, unfolds in medieval France during the Catholic Church's persecution of the Cathars in Languedoc. These four novellas are written for young adults and general readers alike.

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      Book preview

      Tales From Down Under - Mary Mageau

      Gaiman

      NO PLACE FOR A WOMAN

      Marie sat alone. Finishing her evening meal she gazed at the sun, a rim of orange over darkening hills. Her two little girls, a toddler and a four year old, had been fed and put to bed. Like their mother they were slender with an abundance of curly brown hair. Duke, her large guard dog, rested on his mat in the corner as Marie spoke quietly to him.

      ‘Jack should be coming home any day now, Duke. We all miss him so much since he left to go droving. If only two years of drought hadn’t finished us off, he’d be here with us now.’

      Duke lifted his head looking at Mary with his big brown eyes. ‘It will be dark soon. Sometimes I worry about staying alone in this place, no-one else closer to us than the nearest station, a day’s walk away.’

      Marie relished the lingering warmth of early evening, the peace of her surroundings and the sound of birds singing before they settled for the night. As she sat near her door enjoying Duke’s company, the dog suddenly became tense and his ears pricked up. Marie saw nothing to excite him so she quieted Duke with a, ‘Shh now,’ and an upraised hand. Only moments later, she saw a tall man coming around the corner of her log hut. Quickly she rose to face him at the door.

      ‘I’m hungry. Have you got a feed for a traveller?’

      The stranger was filthy and had a strong smell of unwashed clothes about him. ‘This one must have been living rough on the roads for a long time,’ she thought. His beard and matted hair looked unkempt, but his eyes worried her most – they were hard and cruel. Before he could cross the threshold Marie raised her voice.

      ‘Don’t come in! Sit on the bottom step and I’ll bring something out to you.’ She waited until he sat down, never taking her eyes off the stranger. Quickly she filled Jack’s bowl with the remains of the cooking pot, picked up a spoon and carried it to him. He

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