Prologue Quotes

William said nothing, for there was no one to tell … Epilogue

Men grimed with ash and smoke, women busy making tea, or passing out iced water and solemn glasses of beer. Epilogue

Her arm lifted and she slapped him, her hand catching his right ear in a painful, piercing smack. (William’s mother smacking him) Epilogue

Chapter 1 Quotes

’.. he’s not obliged to me and you at all… So when we get there, I want you to behave yourself.’ (William’s mother to William about Uncle John) Chapter 1

She didn’t work and never had – it was accepted that her health was not up to it. (About William’s mother) Chapter 1

He knew that at least part of her behaviour was explained by the simple fact that life was more difficult for them than for other families. (William about his mother) Chapter 1

The light was orange, not white like the farm houses across the plain. It quivered oddly. And it seemed to be moving. He watched it without real curiosity for some time. Then it flickered and blinked out, and everything up there was night again. (William’s first vision) Chapter 1

Chapter 2 Quotes

He forgot to look one last time at his little cottage. Then the thought came to him that he hadn’t sat in the back seat of the car since his father died, and never would now. (William leaving his farm) Chapter 2

But then he was really looking, and the truth sank in. (William notices the state of Kuran House) Chapter 2

His new home frowned at him. (William’s first time at Kuran House) Chapter 2

‘But don’t be fooled,’ she went on. ‘It’s been here for one hundred and thirty years, and it’s not falling down any time soon. (Mrs Griffith about Kuran House) Chapter 2

Chapter 3 Quotes

How had she done that, frightened him so, when he was not afraid of anything? And how was it possible that they would be together one day when he couldn’t even speak in her presence? (John enters Elizabeth’s room) Chapter 3

Chapter 4 Quotes

If he’d had a friend to explore with him, perhaps, or if he had been visiting for a weekend. But he was alone, and this was no visit, so the act of discovery seemed hollow. (William in Kuran House) Chapter 4

Each night the housekeeper served out four meals. She would place the fourth on a tray, and then, with much muttering, shuffle off laboriously towards the office to deliver it. Upon her return she would sit, dour and silent, at one end of the table. She dined as if she was still living alone, gazing ahead fixedly. (Mrs Griffith at dinner) Chapter 4

To William it was plain that the housekeeper considered them unwelcome guests. Maybe she even hated them. (About Mrs Griffith) Chapter 4

His uncle – the greatest mystery of all. The old man’s presence hung over everything, but he remained hidden, heeded and obeyed but never seen. (John McIvor when William first moves to Kuran House) Chapter 4

Chapter 5 Quotes

Fire is a horrible thing. (Dr Moffat) Chapter 5

Black men, looking on from the shadows, their expressions impossible to read. Hostile? Fearful? (Picture in John McIvor’s office) Chapter 5

Dr Moffat glanced happily at William. ‘Glandular fever. That’s what you’ve got, that’s what I’ll tell your uncle.’
‘If anyone else asks,’ his mother added, ‘you’re too sick for school.’ (Dr Moffat and William’s mother concoct the lie) chapter 5

Chapter 6 Quotes

When John McIvor reached his teens, there was something disturbing he came to understand – many people did not like his father. The sentiment was unspoken but ever present, not amongst the station staff, who would never have dared, but amongst people outside Daniel’s sphere of influence. Chapter 6

The newspapers called him ‘The Last of the Pure Merinos’, and it was not a complimentary title. (About Edward White) Chapter 6

… meetings had taken place between Edward’s allies in parliament, his political staff and, of course, Daniel McIvor. Unlike the other mourners, none of them considered the death of the old man to mark an end, although it was certainly an inconvenience. However, the pastoral cause had to go on. Chapter 6

For Malcolm it was the last and greatest in a long line of humiliations. He left the station in Daniel’s hands and escaped to Brisbane with his wife. There he drank ruinously for a month and died … Chapter 6

And something broke in the station manager. The girl had fired him. It was her right to do so. It was inconceivable that she would have the nerve to do so. But she had. All the strength in him drained away, useless. And even through his shock, John understood that he was witnessing something acutely personal. Elizabeth hated his father. (Elizabeth fires Daniel) Chapter 6

Chapter 7 Quotes

William didn’t know what to say. What had he seen? He thought back to his life on his parents’ farm … but there had only been small things. (William questioned by his uncle) Chapter 7

‘Don’t waste what time you have here, Will. You’re no use to me if you just hide away in the house.’ (William encouraged by his uncle) Chapter 7

Chapter 8 Quotes

She wouldn’t even notice he was gone. At least she seemed less irritable, ever since the doctor’s visit. (William’s mother) Chapter 8

Would everything on his uncle’s property be the same, defaced and decayed and torn apart by the slow creep of branches and roots? If so, then what was the point of exploring any of it? Chapter 8

He hated Kuran Station, every inch of it. (William) Chapter 8

Chapter 9 Quotes

One moment he had been whole and young and full of hope. The next, a limb had been lopped away and the blood was draining out, leaving him cold and pinched. Elizabeth White had wielded an axe upon his life. Chapter 9

John’s only hope lay in his father. Kuran Station might be lost to them forever, but Daniel had savings, so why shouldn’t they buy some land of their own somewhere else? Chapter 9

John could think of nowhere else to turn. His mother had always been a silent stranger to him. Chapter 9

He could almost feel the great homestead calling out to him, giant and deserted. The thought of it burned. The house should have been his. It should be his, even now. Chapter 9

Chapter 10 Quotes

A shrug. ‘Just goes to show, doesn’t it? There’s better things to leave behind than headstones.’ (John McIvor) Chapter 10

‘I’ll tell you this – when my time comes, I’m going on the bonfire.’ (John McIvor) Chapter 10

‘The mountains don’t matter to us,’ his uncle said. ‘They’re the old Kuran Station, and we’ll never get that back. Now there’s only twenty-odd square miles left, and that’s what concerns you and me.’ (John McIvor to William) Chapter 10

Glancing at the old man’s face, William saw a warmth there he wouldn’t have thought existed. It wasn’t direct at him, it was directed outwards, to the hills. (William with his uncle) Chapter 10

Chapter 11 Quotes

The young man smiled ironically. ‘Might be more than that, once these new laws come in. With enough historical evidence, who knows, the land council might put in a claim over the park. It’s Crown land, after all.’ (Student to John, William and the ranger) Chapter 11

Chapter 12 Quotes

His father had failed completely, and his last years had only displayed the shame of it in public. Better that he was dead. As for John’s mother and sister, when he said goodbye after the funeral, he had no expectation of ever seeing them again. Chapter 12

All across the mountains there was no other clear sign that people had been there before white men – no dwellings or middens or cave drawings. There were only these notches hewn in the tree trunks, slowly disappearing.
It wasn’t that John cared about the Aborigines themselves. They were gone and wouldn’t be coming back. Chapter 12

As a boy, riding the plains with his father, he had seen all that sweeping expanse of grass and though almost exclusively in terms of sheep and weights of wool. He had come to mountains in the same frame of mind – he was a timber-cutter, and the hoops were a source of trees, nothing else. But the more time John spent in the hills, the more he seemed to perceive the land around him as something powerful in its own right – to hear a voice in it, meant specifically for human ears. Chapter 12

Chapter 13 Quotes

William gazed over the water hole. A secret. Chapter 13

‘That’s the sort of thing you have to know about a piece of land, Will, if you’re going to own it. You have to know where it fits in. You don’t just buy a few square miles and put up a fence and say, This is it. Every stretch of earth has its story. You have to listen, and understand how it connects with other stories. Stories that involve the whole country in the end.’ (John McIvor) Chapter 13

‘The thing is, people like your parents, sometimes they hunger for a piece of land, because they’ve never had anything of their own before, and they think a few hundred acres will make all the difference. But nine times out of ten it’s a disaster.’ (John to William) Chapter 13

This is where I belong. It’s where I was raised. I was taught all about it by my father, and he spent most of his life here too. But you now …’ He paused to regard William again. ‘You don’t know anything because your father didn’t know anything in his turn. (John to William) Chapter 13

Chapter 14 Quotes

It was only when, hesitantly, he reported the final conversation with his uncle that attention lit in her eyes … ‘He’s an old man. And he needs someone to leave all this to.’ She search hopefully in him, smiling as she finally said it out loud. ‘It might be us. It might by you.’ (William’s mother) Chapter 14

Was this the only reason she had brought them to the house – to tender William to his uncle? And was that a bad thing anyway? Surely she only wanted what was best for them both. But he remembered the way his uncle had spoken of her. People like that sometimes hunger for a piece of land. It had made her sound hateful. And watching his mother now, seeing the eagerness in her, William felt an ugly sense of confirmation.
‘You mean, if Uncle John likes me, we can stay?’
She nodded … (William’s thoughts) Chapter 14

William looked away, unseeing. He felt the future sway coldly in front of him, and a terrible weight of responsibility settle. Chapter 14

William suddenly felt a need to shout or laugh or run. It didn’t matter what the housekeeper said. It didn’t matter about his mother. It didn’t matter that everything depended on him alone. For in that moment, he made up his mind. He did want the station. And whatever it took, he would show his uncle he was worthy. Chapter 14

Chapter 15 Quotes

However, he had never introduced any of his workers to his daughter. In honour of his wife, who had died some years before, he had raised Harriet for finer company than timber-getters. Chapter 15

It would change things between the two of them forever. He’d seen it amongst older men who had lived through the Great War – the unbridgeable gulf between those who went and those who stayed. Chapter 15

They were caught up in a bigger history now, vulnerable to its currents. We’ll all come back here, Harriet insisted as they sat there, the night cool and dark about them. She clutched their hands, looking back and forth. When it’s all over, we’ll meet up right here, and everything will be the same. Chapter 15

Chapter 16 quotes

‘Go back to the 1840s, when white men first came here. This was a wilderness, far beyond the colonial frontier. There was no civilisation, no law and order – that was all a thousand miles behind, back in Sydney. So those first men were completely alone, a law unto themselves. Something like that is unimaginable these days. It would scare most people to death.’ Chapter 16

Chapter 17 Quotes

On the second day the weather grew cool again, so the fire was lit, and it felt good to be shut away in the big dark office, with bright flames burning. To William’s delight, Mrs Griffith even brought in his lunch on a tray, next to his uncle’s. The housekeeper shot him a foul look, but for once he wasn’t afraid of her. He felt warm, secure and useful. Chapter 17

‘But what is Native Title?’ he asked at one stage. It seemed to be the central issue, but nowhere in the newsletter was it fully explained.
‘A disaster,’ the old man replied, head buried in the ledger. But when he saw that William was waiting in puzzled silence, he put down his pen. ‘The truth is, at this stage, no one has a clue what Native Title is. That’s the problem.’ Chapter 17

‘So yes, I’ll fight him and his Native Title. No one is taking one square inch of my land away. I’ve kept this station alive despite everything the world has thrown at me. And I did it alone.’
‘And you! You spent a few weeks here and you think all you have to do is wait for me to die!’ Chapter 17

Chapter 18 quotes

… he would get the station back. Indeed, as he turned upon the spot, drinking in every sight and sound of the landscape, he knew that this was the instant in which he took possession. Not legally, not financially, but essentially. The strength of the revelation filled him with a fierce pride, a vitality that flowed into him from the hills themselves, as if all of their age and power was his. Chapter 18

Chapter 19 Quotes

A brief image came to William of his uncle bowed before the objects, as if the room was a hidden chapel. It made no sense, and yet he felt that this was where the real John McIvor was to be found, not in the room of light across the hall. His unease grew stronger, and he turned away. Chapter 19

Chapter 20 Quotes

‘But Mrs Griffith doesn’t think anyone has any business in this house, except her. Not even me.’ He clapped William lightly on the shoulder. ‘No harm done this time. But don’t go up there again, not unless I’m with you.’
William hardly dared believe it. ‘You’re not mad?’
‘You helped me with the newsletter, so let’s call it square’. (John and William) Chapter 20

One other thing – the skull was smashed in. Kirchmeyer hadn’t just wandered off and died, he’d been killed. It was the blacks, of course. They weren’t stupid, they knew the white man was bad news. (John tells William some local history) Chapter 20

‘It’s a lesson.’ The old man regarded William seriously. ‘Discovery isn’t enough. Doing something great isn’t enough. Someone has to know about it, for it to mean anything. Whatever you do in this world, you have to leave someone behind who remembers.’ Chapter 20

When William went to bed that night, he hung the cap on the bedpost. He would wear it all the time now, wherever he went. It was a sign of his uncle’s favour, it was good luck. Chapter 20

Chapter 21 Quotes

He had claimed Harriet now, irrevocably, But far more, he had regained purpose to his life. To think, he had almost abandoned his dreams for Kuran Station. His childhood disappointments had blinded him. The Whites. His father. All along he should have realised that none of them mattered – only his profound link with the property itself. (John McIvor) Chapter 21

The instant of hesitation seemed to last forever. And then John saw a monster step out of the smoke. (John looking at a stranded Oliver Fisher) Chapter 21

Chapter 22 Quotes

Amidst all this excitement, William’s only concern was his ear. The ache was never acute, but it was ever present, a throb that seemed to penetrate deep within his skull. Chapter 22

‘… then the High Court led the way with the Mabo judgment. It recognised finally that terra nullius was always a lie, and now the government is responding to historical reality with the Native Title legislation. This country was Aboriginal land and it was stolen from them without compensation. That was unfair.’ (Television report William hears) Chapter 22

‘William, not now! Whatever your uncle says, that’s fine with me. Just keep on his good side. All right?’ (William’s mother shuts down any discussion about land rights) Chapter 22

‘But even so, this is a special place. A meeting place. I think people have held meetings here for centuries.’
‘What people?’
‘You know what people.’ (John and William at the meeting site) Chapter 22

Fire … a fire burning amidst the stones. A memory chilled William, from months ago. Chapter 22

Knowledge, William decided, that was the issue. Knowledge was the essence of ownership. The black men, it seemed, had held the knowledge when they had owned the land. His uncle held it now. And when William had the knowledge, when he knew everything about the station there was to know, he too would be ready to be own it in his turn. Chapter 22

Chapter 23 Quotes

Terry Butterworth shifted his bulk and sat forward. ‘Direct action is what we need. Protests, blockades.’ Chapter 23

Chapter 24 Quotes

It was a penance, both John and Harriet knew. There was no question of sending him to an institution for care by strangers. (Looking after Dudley Green) Chapter 24

So it was a source of immense dissatisfaction to him that he couldn’t rise to the level which that blood demanded. In the darker moments of the night he would lie in bed next to his sleeping wife, gazing bitterly into a future that might see him die there on his little farm, amongst his inferiors. The same as them, in fact. Chapter 24

For a time John even dared to believe that Kuran Station was not so impossibly far away after all.
Strange, then, that it was around this time that the dreams began. Chapter 24

Chapter 25 Quotes

The two men had adopted William in turn, addressing him as ‘Captain Bill’ because of his hat, and including him in everything they did. They had even found a little nylon tent for him, and set it up next to theirs … (Terry and Henry with William at the rally) Chapter 25

His only worry was that his ear was still aching. And he’d become aware of a bad smell. It was fleeting amidst the smoke of campfires and barbecues, but it came and went persistently throughout the day. (William) Chapter 25

Chapter 26 Quotes

Now, we’re going to be hearing a lot about Aboriginal history and sacred sites in the coming years, and it might seem strange that we, of all people, should gather at one of their special places. But there’s a message in this. The Aborigines are gone. And that’s the point. This is my property now.’ (John McIvor) Chapter 26

‘… black and white always got along out here, everyone knew their place, but now the blacks are getting cocky, they think they’re gonna end up owning everything …’ (Unknown speaker at rally) Chapter 26

‘… it’s open house, it’s Asians and Arabs and God knows who else, and it’s a proven fact, those people bring all their old problems with them … ‘ (Unknown speaker at rally) Chapter 26

… passing from shadow to shadow between the trunks, a flame that flickered and flared. It appeared to be some distance off, and it wasn’t moving quickly. It was as if someone was carrying a fire as they walked, unhurried, picking their way alongside the dry bed of the water channel. But the flame was unearthly too. (William’s vision) Chapter 26

And then the flame shifted slightly, and resolved into a shape, and finally, irrevocably, he saw. It wasn’t a man carrying a fire, as he’d first thought – it was a man on fire. (William’s vision) Chapter 26

‘I don’t care what you saw!’
‘There was a man on fire!’ William wailed.
John McIvor stared down at his nephew then, and for an instant William saw a stunned recognition in the old man’s eyes. Chapter 26

Chapter 27 Quotes

In the past it had just been dancing images of flames, and a creeping sense of dread. But tonight he had actually seen it – a hand reaching out, wreathed in fire, and then a human shape, all ablaze, and yet standing motionless as it burned. (John dreams in the past) Chapter 27

It had seemed a cold and clinical thought then, and he had tried to suppress it, but there was no denying it now, as he stared out over the paddocks of Dudley’s farm. If they did send Dudley away to an institution, what would happy to his property? Chapter 27

Harriet was content where she was, and that far from wanting the House, she was repelled by it. And for her part, Harriet was appalled to discover what really lay at the core of her husband. Chapter 27

She began to hate him then. Chapter 27

Chapter 28 Quotes

William suddenly understood why his mother was upset. And it wasn’t because of the chaos at the rally, or because her son had been sick.
‘He might still die yet’. She was biting at one of her fingers as her eyes flicked back and forth. ‘And what happens to us then?’ Chapter 28

William felt a coldness inside. ‘I’ve tried to make him like me …’
She glared at him. ‘Not enough to make it official.’ Chapter 28

Chapter 29 Quotes

The old man turned cold. ‘There won’t be any more newsletters. I’m through with all that.’ (John McIvor) Chapter 29

He passed his hand before William’s face, and William felt a dizziness as his eyes followed the long bony fingers waving back and forth. ‘But we’re blood, you and me. We must be. We share the same ghosts.’ (John McIvor) Chapter 29

‘Don’t forget it, Will. Two women in this House, and neither of them is on your side. And now there’s a third one on her way. The worst of the lot.’ (John McIvor) Chapter 29

Chapter 30 Quotes

The eager girl John remembered was gone, replaced by a reserved young women, a stranger. She ignored the farm and spent most of her time in her room, buried in books. Chapter 30

Harriet, however, did not find things so simple. She had hoped that Dudley’s passing would allow her to engage with the world again, but the rumours and innuendo that spread about town, and amongst her neighbours, humiliated her profoundly. Chapter 30

Chapter 31 Quotes

A silence fell. William looked from one woman to the other, sensing an unspoken battle of wills, delicately poised. He was also uncomfortably aware of the contrast the two made, and that his mother came away the poorer. (Ruth and William’s mother) Chapter 31

‘My father said that I had to ask William. Apparently, it’s his choice.’ Chapter 31

… A lesson, for both nephew and daughter. A test for him, and a humiliation for her. (William and Ruth tested by John) Chapter 31

Chapter 32 Quotes

Ruth laughed again. ‘That was eighteen years ago. He’s got plenty of money now. No – he likes the house this way. So he can show everyone how badly the word has treated him’.
‘So,’ she said, ‘will you fix the pool, when this whole place is yours?’
William went still. There it was. Spoken out loud. Now the attack would come.
Instead, she smiled. ‘You don’t have to worry, you know. I don’t want it. Not the house. Not the property. Not any of it.’ Chapter 32

Chapter 33 Quotes

He felt nothing at all, only an exquisite isolation. Whatever he did from now on would be for himself, and that would be enough. Chapter 33

Chapter 34 Quotes

This inheritance business is for his sake, not yours. So that his precious station survives after he’s gone. (Ruth to William) Chapter 34

‘But maybe it shouldn’t survive. I don’t think this piece of land has ever brought anyone much happiness. Not the Aborigines. They just saw it get taken away. Not the Whites. It only made them hated. Not my mother. It cost her a husband, and me a father. I don’t think it’s even made Dad happy. Not really. Just look at him.’ (Ruth to William) Chapter 34

Chapter 35 Quotes

And suddenly he wanted to be anywhere but where he was, to be escaping to somewhere green and wet and far away. A place where there were people, and schools, and back yards with grass to play on, and other children … not these deserted hills all around, and the loneliness of the house at his back. Chapter 35

Chapter 36 Quotes

For William, Ruth’s departure marked a point where somehow the real world began to slip away, and where his illness began to consume him. Chapter 36
‘Forget about the lease. There can never be a claim on Kuran Station regardless. There’s nobody who can lodge one.’ Chapter 36

‘When I die, Will, all this will be yours.’
‘You’re not dying.’
‘It’s the only way. You can’t own this house until I’m dead.’
‘I don’t even want it!’ Chapter 36

‘This country will speak to you too, if you listen. The blacks say it flows into you through your feet, and they’re right. But it’s not an Aboriginal thing. It’s not a white thing either. It’s a human thing. Not everyone has it. But I do. And you have it too.’ Chapter 36

Chapter 37 Quotes

The water hole, he reminded himself. All that mattered was that he get there, then dive into its depths and … and do what? It had all seemed so clear in the old man’s room, but William found he was struggling to remember. Illness was seeping back into his head, muddling his thoughts. Chapter 37

You’re a long way from home, boy, it whispered, all fury and hate. But not far enough. This isn’t the place. (Man in William’s first vision) Chapter 37

Chapter 38 Quotes

It appeared on a ridge ahead – a misshapen thing, a tangle of arms and legs, like some giant, gangling insect. William gazed with mute disbelief as it descended towards him. It was the evil spirit-shape of the drought itself, he decided. Chapter 38

It’s not far now. The sound was hissing sand. It’s been waiting for you. (Man in second vision) Chapter 38

Chapter 39 Quotes

William shrinks away. He knows this thing. His uncle had told him about it on the night of the shooting stars. It was a beast that lived in caves or bottomless pools, it stalked hills and mountain ranges, and left broken trails through the forests.
The wild eyes regarded him.
This is the place, child.
Understanding shook William. The hilltop at the campground was not a meeting place, and the stones there had no meaning. This was the only place, and his uncle had never found it. But somehow, through all his wanderings, William had.
You bear the mark, boy. (The bunyip to William in his third vision) Chapter 39

Chapter 40 Quotes

‘No, no. Your uncle said you didn’t want me to come. He said you’d gone camping, that you had food and everything. He said I had to let you be. He got so mad, and you know I can’t afford to upset him. I didn’t have a choice.’
She was abject now, slumped in misery. ‘It should have been me that found you. I can’t explain it. I’m sorry. I just didn’t know what to do.’
‘It’s okay’, William said, his voice hollow.
‘No, it’s not. I was wrong.’ It was a shameful truth for once, stripped of all pretences.
‘Everything I’ve done here has been wrong.’ Chapter 40

‘We’ll go into town. Okay? But not right now. We have to clean you up a bit first. Otherwise a doctor might wonder why you’re all battered and bruised … Do you see?’ Chapter 40

Chapter 41 Quotes

She waved a hand. ‘I don’t blame you. I blame my father for sending you out there in the first place. And your mother for letting him.’
‘She had to’, William broke in. ‘She has to do what he says.’ (Ruth to William) Chapter 41

‘We dispersed this tribe, we dispersed that tribe. It could mean hundreds of dead, it could mean thousands. But the Native Police operated all up and down Queensland, and they went on “dispersing” for over thirty years. It got so awful that it disturbed white people, even back then.’ Chapter 41

Ruth’s voice was flat. ‘My grandfather was one of them. He slaughtered blacks for a living, and wore his hat while he was doing it.’ Chapter 41

Chapter 42 Quotes

He was so weak. How he hated the indignity he had suffered these last months, having to be fed and nursed like an infant. Chapter 42

And there was no mention of Ruth, nor of the other two women. Let them guess and wonder and plot to usurp him. And let them perish with frustration in the end. Chapter 42

‘I have the boy now’, he told the room, grinning hotly at the memories. Chapter 42

… John had stopped pondering the question years ago. But ever since the day of Oliver’s death, John had known that there was a price he must pay to achieve his ends. Friends, family, wife and daughter – he had surrendered them all. Chapter 42

But now it had vanished, and John knew why. It had moved on to William. All unknowing, the boy had assumed the burden, and John was free of it at last. Chapter 42

Chapter 43 Quotes

A grin flared, skull-like. ‘And does she known who owns her house now?’
‘She didn’t. But I told her.’
‘Good!’
‘She doesn’t care. She never did.’ Chapter 43

And again, William felt the ardent touch of his uncle’s mind, the madness in it, and he knew how easy it would be for his own control to slip loose, teetering as it already was.
‘You saw what you needed to see?’
‘Yes’, he said, not knowing if it was a lie or the truth. Chapter 43

‘It’s what I said. The blood is in you.’ (John McIvor) Chapter 43

‘They died trying to keep alive their traditions,’ she said. (Ruth explains what happened to men burned by Dan McIvor) Chapter 43

Chapter 44 Quotes

‘But where’s the proof? You show me the bodies. You show me the bones of those people. You can’t, can you? I know this land better than anyone. And there’s nothing out there.’ Chapter 44

A desperate sadness engulfed William. ‘You said there had to be proof. Proof that it was all true. The thing that happened out there. You said there had to be bones …’
‘The water hole’, the old man breathed. Chapter 44

Chapter 45 Quotes

All evening she has floated around her little flat in a bright bath of joy, putting up Christmas decorations. She’d been transformed by the news of the will, hugging William so tightly that she lifted him from the floor. Chapter 45

‘No one must ever know. You understand, don’t you? They must never have the proof they need. They must never take this land from me.’
William looked up at the old man’s face and saw an immeasurable misery etched there, hollow and wretched and beyond hope. Chapter 45

All she had ever wanted, for herself, for her son, was contained in that one piece of paper. Chapter 45

Epilogue Quotes

She lifted her body carefully, still in considerable pain. Both her hands were heavily bandaged, and her face, bright red and peeling, was slathered in ointment. But worse than the pain was the smell of smoke. She couldn’t rid herself of it – it was in her hair, embedded in her skin, and her throat was layered with soot … Epilogue

Again, Ruth went along, for who else was there to go with him? Epilogue

It was fifteen thousand acres of prime grazing country. In this world, something like that wasn’t just given back. It had to be fought for. (Ruth’s thoughts) Epilogue