The Outback, Australia, August 1989
Rust colored butte loomed on the horizon. Tails swished each other butts as the two sauntered side by side with the daughter of a grazier and the son of a rancher astride. Jerry’s wild tales, although he claimed they were true, peaked her interest—a welcome contrast to the brute and brash stockmen familiar to her on these long cattle drives. As queen of the drove, she exploited her status. A bath in a mound spring at each evening’s destination, a double-wide cot with mattress, and a fresh set of clothes every morning. Dressed in a loose-fitting white shirt tucked into her jeans, she wore a bandana bib of the blue Australian flag with its Union Jack gracing her chest. Her apricot-red hair billowed from underneath an espresso Akubra hat.
“Sleepin’ under the stars meet your satisfaction?” she said as Jerry rubbed the sleep from his eyes.
“Jet lag still on me. I did count the stars.”
“What’s your sign?”
“Taurus.”
“Ahh, the Bull.”
“Yeah. Sheesh.” He rolled his eyes. “I just made the connection. And yours.”
“Bloody oath! Sagittarius. The ‘Bull Killer.’ Did you see it last night? As the Bow of the Archer rose in the east, the Bull disappeared in the west.” She chuckled and coughed and spat.
Jerry shook his head. “I was staring at fantasies in a fire while you were watching a galactic battle bathing in the hot spring.”
“You sound like a Bush poet. Sing with me tonight by the fire. As a girl, the stars kept me awake, their constellations becoming dreams of fantasy figures dancing in the sky. Sparkling diamonds on a duchess’ dress, and dookies chasin’ after her to pluck them until she was nuddy.” She laughed at the remembrance. “But that was a long time ago when my father and brother were on the drove.”
“Your brother, you said you took over the station when he left. Why did he leave?”
“My brother? He didn’t fancy the rich life that my father flaunted in front of the stockmen he meagerly paid. He didn’t approve of the disparity of the rich who took from the land and the poor that lived off of it.
“The Boorman family has owned cattle and sheep stations for as long as your homestead. He wanted a different life than the one he was born to inherit. He left with the shirt on his back, a horse, and a bedroll. Haven’t heard from him since.”
“How long?”
“Five years. Shortly after my mother died. The loss of the two set my father back for several years. Never fully recovered. He has all he needs and relies on no one. A recluse in the richness of his loneliness.”
“Sorry to hear. But that puts you as queen to the throne. How do you feel about that?”
“Attracts the blokes that lie about love to get the quid. My father tried arranged marriages with rich men, but they need neither, money nor love. A rather lonely life.” She paused reflecting. “That’s why I love the range, hangin’ out with the stockmen. They’re real and full of life. They have a song in their heart. You’ll see what I mean tonight.”
“What’s special about tonight?”
“Ask anyone of ’em. It’s what gets ’em through the drive.” She spurred the Paint and galloped ahead, leaving Jerry in the rusty dust of the dry plain.
Time to himself, he contrasted the two lifestyles—her father and his dad—one who relied on no one, the other working sunup to sundown to thrive, her brother leaving behind the wealth of a sheep and cattle dynasty and himself? Stuck between a dream that could not buy happiness and a calling that he didn’t understand. Having it all, it seemed to lead to loneliness. He wondered what her brother found.
v v v
Excerpt from PURSUIT – A Matter of Choice,
a novel by Jeff Cambridge.
Author of transformational
fiction—
Realistic characters in real life drama that tell a story of
growth in wisdom and understanding that changes their outlook on life, where
achievements are no longer about self or competing. Instead, life is about
completing their purpose and planting a legacy of redeeming value.
To
read the scenes sequentially, begin with
“PURSUIT:
A Novel – Prologue”
Located
in the May Blog Archive. Click on the episodes and enjoy.
This
episode is pre-published. The book will be available Spring 2018.
Your
comments are welcomed and appreciated. Check one of the reaction boxes below,
write a comment, or email me at lightbycambridge@gmail.com.
This
novel is a work of fiction. Any references to real events, businesses,
organizations, and locales are intended only to give the story a sense of
reality and authenticity. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is
entirely coincidental.
v
One mistake changes the course of three lives…
Jessie
– chasing the dark side of destiny
The daughter of an
alcoholic father in prison for manslaughter and a mother who has
abandoned her for her latest boyfriend, Jessie has but one objective in life – to find the big ticket out of her
miserable childhood.
Christina
– striving to bring comfort and light
The daughter of a
nurse who served in the Army medical corps, she follows in her mother’s
footsteps, pursuing her passion to care for the disadvantaged. A ballerina – a thousand eyes behold her, the dance
flowing seamlessly.
Jerry
– living in the grey of his circumstances
The son of a
sixth-generation Kansas rancher, his desire is to make it rich – to find the American Dream. A
cowboy with a tender heart and crystal blue eyes, he finds love in unforeseen
places.
An
allegory of destiny and choices,
of
wasted dreams,
of paths
that lead to nowhere…
of
trials, we face every day.
PURSUIT
Where
will the chosen path lead?
v
Copyright 2018 © Jeff Cambridge
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