Undara Read online

  Emlyn put her hand on Alison’s arm. ‘Is it okay if I take Travis across in my car? I want to show him something on the way over. We’ve got a few minutes spare.’

  ‘You go with Travis, and we’ll go with David in your car. I can help with your little man.’ Alison held her arms out for Ethan, and Emlyn smiled as he laughed at her.

  Travis was quiet and his mouth was set as he drove them towards the cave. Emlyn glanced across at him. He stared ahead at the paddocks as they flashed past. She didn’t speak until they reached the site of the old homestead, letting him enjoy the land that he had leased to the university and the museum.

  ‘Pull over here for a minute.’

  The grass was still long and wild, and the old chimney of the original homestead stood as a sentinel guarding the old graveyard. Travis climbed out and closed the car door quietly. Emlyn walked behind him as he crossed to the graves. There were two new headstones.

  One white marble, and one dark grey.

  Travis crouched in front of the grey headstone and looked up at Emlyn as she joined him. He put his hand on top of the most recent addition.

  ‘It was very thoughtful of you to order a headstone for Bluey,’ he said. ‘He took a liking to you.’

  The old stockman had passed last winter.

  Travis leaned across to the white marble headstone and traced his fingers across the words.

  Thomas John Carlyle and Missy Lila Carlyle. Born September 23, 1866, departed this life together, 1879.

  Laid to eternal rest, June 2019.

  ‘Joel is transcribing their mother’s diary entries from the time they went missing,’ he said. ‘It’s heartbreaking to read her anguish.’

  ‘It’s so sad,’ Emlyn said.

  ‘It is, but they were found.’

  She was pleased to see a wide smile cross Travis’s face.

  He stood and held out his arm to her. ‘Now, come and show me what you’ve done to Hidden Valley, clever lady.’ His grin grew wider. ‘A lot’s happened since a skinny, feisty woman turned up at my place on New Year’s Eve a couple of years ago.’

  Emlyn bumped him with her shoulder as they walked back to his car.

  ‘Not to mention the cranky bloke who didn’t want a bunch of scientists poking around on his farm.’

  They stood at the car and looked down over the flat plains. The sky was a brilliant blue, and the stillness of the landscape and the bright light over the brown paddocks filled Emlyn with serenity. She was learning to love this land.

  Travis looped his arm around her shoulder.

  ‘Thank you, Emlyn.’

  ‘Thank you, Travis. We’ve done well together.’

  They turned away from the landscape that was the same as the one that two small children had looked over before they’d climbed down into the cave many years ago.

  ‘Come and show me what you’ve created.’

  As they drove off, a puff of wind blew across the graves, dispersing the red dust that hung over the brown grass.

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  From the moment the first germ of the story idea comes to mind, to the wondrous moment when you hold your book in your hand, many people play a part. Publishing a book takes a team, and I would like to acknowledge the wonderful people I work with.

  It would be impossible to write without support in your personal life.

  To Ian, the love of my life and my partner in research, as we travel this magnificent country seeking stories each winter. My sounding board, my research assistant, my chef, my driver on outback trips and my rock, I could not do this without you.

  To our children and their partners, and our grandchildren: thank you for your love and support. Again, my love and appreciation goes to my wonderful aunt, Maureen Smith, who not only supports me, but supports so many Australian authors by reading, loving and sharing their stories. And she has a shortbread-baking character named after her in this story too.

  Thanks to my agent, Haylee Nash of The Nash Agency who has shared my journey and found me a wonderful home at HarperCollins Australia with the Harlequin Mira team. Her support and her belief in me keep me writing every day.

  To my publisher, Rachael Donovan, my publicist Sarana Behan, my editors, Alexandra Nahlous and Laurie Ormond, and to the rest of the team at Harlequin who answer queries, proofread, provide stock and are always at the end of an email or phone call, a huge thank you.

  To the many friends I have made in the writing world, too numerous to mention, thank you to each one of you for your support and friendship.

  A special thank you to: Susanne Bellamy for providing moral support on a daily basis, answering grammatical questions and being a true friend; to Roby Aiken, your proofreading skills are extraordinary; to Colin Noy for the inspiration that made my heroine an entomologist.

  A special mention to Elly Gooch, who took time from her Higher School Certificate studies to create the map of Hidden Valley and Undara in the front of the book.

  And to you, the reader. Thank you for choosing this book to read. I hope when you read Undara that you love it and talk about it and that maybe you will want to visit this unique part of Australia for yourself. Drop me a line at [email protected]. I would love to hear from you.

  AUTHOR’S NOTE

  Some sources must be mentioned as they provided a research background for the early settlement of the Undara region, gold exploration in the nineteenth century, and scientific exploration in contemporary times.

  Cattle in the Blood by Anne Smith. Kinwan: Collins Management Services Pty Ltd, 2004.

  Undara Volcano and its Lava Tubes by Anne Atkinson. Brisbane: Vernon and Anne Atkinson, 1995.

  Back O’ Cairns by Ion L Idriess. Sydney: HarperCollins, 1958.

  River of Gold by Hector Holthouse. Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1967.

  ISBN: 9781489261724

  TITLE: UNDARA

  First Australian Publication 2019

  Copyright © 2019 Annie Seaton

  All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher:

  Harlequin Mira

  An imprint of Harlequin Enterprises (Australia) Pty Limited (ABN 47 001 180 918), a subsidiary of HarperCollins Publishers Australia Pty Limited (ABN 36 009 913 517)

  Level 13, 201 Elizabeth St

  SYDNEY NSW 2000

  AUSTRALIA

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  ® and ™ are trademarks owned by Harlequin Enterprises Limited or its corporate affiliates and used by others under licence. Trademarks marked with an ® are registered in Australia and in other countries. Contact [email protected] for details.

  www.harlequinbooks.com.au