“This place ain’t right. There’s blood on the stone. Ma always said: `stone house, cold heart.”
“Watta ya mean, luv? She’s the best property in the district. The whippersnappers will love it when they come along… swimming and fishing in the creek. Our El Dorado.”
“I sense their starving spirits. Those broken shearers. The native people. Their blood’s still etched in the stone.”
“You’ve got a bleeding heart, Mary. It’s survival of the fittest. We’re gunna spin the golden fleece. Tame the great outback. ”
Charlotte refused to step inside and gave Charlie back his ring. She couldn’t become the Boss’s Wife.
Beyond the Flow 
Probably best to end it now before she gets stuck out there.
Never marry the boss, mines an absolute arse! Good stuff!!
Thanks very much. Sorry about your husband. Not sure I’d recommend a trade in though. Hard to pick a good one, though mine’s going alright. He was exhausted when he got home from work and I’d tripped during the day and though not badly injured, I was cranky and had the sense of being battered and bruised all over as you do when you hit the tarmac. Council’s about to get a serve.
Best wishes,
Rowena
Oooo. Well done. His words focus on gold, and she focuses on heart. Not a good match.
Stone house has a history written in blood. Good that Charlotte put her foot down.
Oh dear hope you’re ok! I’m not married to my boss, I would just feel sorry for any one who has married him as he is an arse!
I’m married to my lovely wife Mrs T, she likes to think she’s the boss!!
What memories the earth must carry, so many stories for us to tell. I enjoyed the line “their blood etched in the stone”
Those who have gone before do not seem to have respected this place, but then again nor does the person coming in with his talk of the golden fleece.
Seems best to follow your instinct. Bad blood is hard to scrub away. Nicely done.
Huge mistake to marry the boss…
I’m glad she followed her heart and her gut and left this man who cared nothing about the past atrocities that happened there for the sake of gold. Your story and the voices are excellently written.
Dear Rowena,
I like Charlotte’s spirit and sense of fair play. Nicely done.
Shalom,
Rochelle
She is better off leaving. He is all commerce and she is all emotion, it would never have worked. Nicely done.
Thanks very much, Rochelle. It was initially going to be more about a class difference between the two and looking at the tension between the landowners and the swagmen who were living on the brink of destitution but I couldn’t overlook the massacres of Aboriginal people. This is not something my generation knew much about and it certainly wasn’t taught in schools. It’s something my aunt, Dr Anna Haebich, has been involved in bringing into the public conscience. Here’s a link to her bio: http://www.womenaustralia.info/leaders/biogs/WLE0415b.htm
Best wishes,
Rowena
She made the right choice. They have totally different outlooks on life.
It ended the best way it could. Great piece well-told.
They’re not best suited for each other, I think.