Our Australian Girl (3 page)

Harry whistled softly. ‘Well, I'll be,' he said.

‘I would never hurt an animal,' Daisy said, looking at Harry intently. ‘I have a horse at home. His name is Jimmy. I think he'd like you a lot.'

Harry gave her a grin, and Daisy noticed the riot of freckles across his cheeks. ‘Okay then, new girl, you can pat Hero sometimes, but I'll be watching closely,' he said.

A bell rang from inside the main building.

‘That's lunch,' Edith said. ‘Come on, Daisy, we'll have to run.'

D
AISY
hungrily finished her porridge and slurped down the half cup of milk in front of her. It was sour and warm, but she knew there'd be nothing else till lunch.

She looked down the long table at the other children as they ate breakfast. After two weeks, she'd come to know them pretty well. She knew that Molly was always the top of the class, that Eunice was Miss Dunham's pet and always got out of scrubbing the floors. She knew that Doreen always looked pale and never spoke. Most importantly, she knew who to trust.

Daisy glanced at Edith, who gave her a sly wink from the other end of the table. Daisy smiled back. Edith's the only good thing about this place, she thought. Well, her and Miss Winston. Daisy thought about the kind teacher from their small school next door. Ooh – that reminds me, I must take back Miss Winston's book. She'll get in such trouble if Miss Dunham finds out she let me sneak it back to read in bed.

Apart from Edith and school, the orphanage was a horrible place. Sure, it was good to have food and a bed to sleep in, but knowing that she couldn't leave and that no one had a clue where she was made Daisy feel sick inside.

At night, as she lay on her itchy, straw-filled mattress, she thought about Dad and Flora. Were they together now, and looking for her? What about Elsie and Mabel? They must be so worried. And Amelia too. She must wonder why I've stopped writing. I hope she'll still want to be my best friend, Daisy thought sadly.

Sometimes she daydreamed about riding Jimmy, but it made her feel so wretched that she had to force herself to stop. At least she was able to visit Hero most days. Sometimes Harry let her help brush him down after a day's work.

Miss Dunham stalked up and down the table, keeping a close eye on them as they ate breakfast. She had a cruel, hard mouth and kept a thick wooden ruler in her pocket to swipe at any girl who dared even look the wrong way. But what Daisy hated most was Miss Dunham's hair. It looked as if she'd never washed it, only kept it in the same bun her whole life. I bet there are spiders living under there, Daisy thought with a shiver. Spinning webs.
Disgusting
.

As the last girl put down her spoon, Miss Dunham gave the command for them to stand behind their chairs. She inspected the empty bowls to make sure no food had been left and then ordered the girls to form two neat rows and file into the bathroom to wash.

Daisy managed to get a spot beside Edith.‘Is it Visiting Day again today?' she whispered, looking over her shoulder. She'd already been caught talking a few times, and didn't want to risk another rap on the knuckles.

‘'Fraid so,' Edith said glumly. ‘Straight after church. Waste of a day if you ask me.'

Daisy nodded in agreement, as she noticed Doreen across the room, looking miserable. ‘Why does Doreen always look so sullen?'

‘She didn't use to,' Edith said under her breath, keeping her eyes on the sink. ‘She was jolly good fun. But then her little sisters got adopted. She hasn't said boo to a goose since.'

Daisy's mouth dropped open, but Miss Dunham had stomped back into the room, so she said nothing, just quickly splashed cold water on her face. How could the orphanage break up a family like that?

Once they were in their room, Daisy turned to Edith. ‘How can sisters be separated?' she said. ‘It's not fair! Can anyone just come here and take a kid away?'

‘Look, it's dreadful but it happens all the time. Doreen has taken it harder than most kids do.' Edith paused and patted Daisy's arm. ‘Remember, we orphans don't have any rights.'

‘But . . . ' Daisy interrupted.

‘I know, I know, you ain't a proper orphan,' she said, and gave Daisy a tight smile. ‘But as far as the government reckons, we all are, and they can do what they like with us.'

‘That's rotten,' Daisy said, angrily.

‘Line up for church,' Miss Dunham yelled as she came into the room.

There's no way I'd let anyone adopt me, Daisy thought as she stood in line.

Two hours later, church was over and they were sitting on the uncomfortable wooden benches in the front hall for Visiting Day. Daisy looked around at the other children, dressed in their best clothes and forced to sit here every Sunday, waiting for family that never came. It's just cruel, Daisy thought angrily, getting the little kids' hopes up that a relative might come. Edith had told her that visitors were rare, but the younger children still looked up hopefully every time the door opened.

By day's end some of the them were in tears. Others looked so confused that Daisy wanted to hug them. Imagine if that was Flora, hoping that Dad or I might come. Her thoughts were interrupted by a violent volley of knocks. Miss Dunham stalked toward the door and pulled it open. Two girls stood in the sunlight.

‘Mabel! Elsie!' Daisy cried with joy, and leapt off the bench to run towards her friends.

Miss Dunham swung around to face Daisy, her lips curling back like an angry bulldog's. ‘Sit down!' she bellowed.

‘Well, I never! That's a fine way to speak to our friend, isn't it Mabel?'

‘It certainly is,' Elsie replied as the pair swept through the door. ‘And her descended from royalty and everything.'

Miss Dunham's eyes flashed with interest for a second, then she gave herself a shake. ‘Royalty my foot. She's as common as muck, that one. Now what would the likes of you be wanting with Daisy Sanderson, anyway?'

‘We heard,' Mabel said, and pulled a bag of boiled lollies from her pocket, ‘that it was Visiting Day.' She threw the sweets to her sister.

‘So we decided,' Elsie continued, as she waved the sweets in Miss Dunham's face, ‘to visit.'

‘Well . . . ' Miss Dunham blustered.

‘Yes, very well, thanks,' Mabel said, and gave the confused woman a deep curtsey.

‘Right then, Daisy, perhaps you could take us for a turn around the grounds,' Elsie said as she and Mabel swept past Miss Dunham and rushed to hug Daisy.

‘You have one hour,' Miss Dunham yelled after them as they skipped down the hall.

Daisy gave Edith a smile as they passed. I wish she could come, too, she thought sadly.

‘Oh my goodness, how did you find me?' she demanded as they burst into the yard. ‘How's Flora? Does she know I'm here? Is she okay?'

‘Hold your horses, country girl, you're going to burst your boiler,' Mabel said and untangled herself from Daisy's tight hug.

‘Old Mrs Owens told us the coppers had taken you,' Elsie said. ‘We thought they might bring you here. We came the next day, but they told us we had to come back on a Sunday.'

‘Ma kept us home all last weekend doing chores, or we would have come sooner,' Mabel continued. ‘We haven't said anything to Flora because we weren't even sure you were here till now.' She gave one of Daisy's plaits a gentle tug. ‘Never seen you so posh before,' she laughed.

Daisy groaned. ‘They make us put on good clothes in case people come and visit,' she said. ‘But there's one good thing. Come and meet Hero.' Daisy led the way to the paddock, pointing out the cottages as they went. ‘Here, boy,' she called. Hero wandered over slowly and nuzzled her neck. ‘So Flora doesn't know where I am?' she asked.

‘Well, that's partly why we're here,' Elsie said, and she stepped closer to take Daisy's hand.

‘Your aunt's been boasting up and down the street that she's going to send Flora away to Sydney next month, I'm afraid,' Mabel said as she put an arm around Daisy's shoulder.

‘Send her away? What do you mean?' Daisy cried. She pushed away from the girls and stood facing them, her hands on her hips. ‘Where would she live? Who would take care of her?' She thought for a minute she might be sick.

Behind her, Hero whinnied gently and tossed his head but Daisy ignored him.

‘It's a boarding school,' Mabel said. ‘Turns out your aunt knows some old biddy who works in a posh school in Sydney. Flora's going to live with her and go to her school.'

‘They jumped at the chance to have her,' Elsie said. She kicked at the ground miserably.

‘But . . .  but what does Flora think? How will she even get there? What if she gets lost?' A thousand questions crowded into Daisy's head.

‘Come and sit down,' Mabel said, pulling Daisy to a patch of grass. ‘You look awful pale.'

Daisy put her head on her knees.

‘We told Flora that you was living down at Dudley Flats,' Elsie said. ‘We've been pretending to bring messages from you.' Her face coloured a deep red. ‘I hope that's okay.'

Daisy looked at Elsie's worried face and felt a surge of gratitude. ‘Of course it's all right,' she said quietly. ‘It would have been terrible if she thought I was missing. But what about Dad?' she asked. ‘Has there still been no word?'

Elsie shook her head sadly. ‘Sorry, Daisy.'

‘Poor Flora,' said Daisy.

‘She seems happy enough about the school,' Mabel said softly, and leant in to put her head next to Daisy's. ‘Your aunt is going to travel up there on the train with her just after Christmas.'

‘I can't let her go. It's too far. I'll never see her again!' Daisy said. ‘Aunt May will never tell me where she is. I have to stop them, but what can I do while I'm stuck in here?'

‘They really won't let you out?' Mabel asked.

Daisy shook her head. ‘Not until I'm sixteen.' She leapt up from the ground and wiped her sleeve across her face. ‘But I'm going to find a way to escape,' she cried. ‘I'll
force
Aunty May to let Flora come with me – I'll tell her I'll go to the coppers and have her charged with kidnapping if she doesn't! Then we'll go on the track to find Dad. We'll pack some supplies, and go back to the farm and get Jimmy. I should have done that ages ago.'

‘Good plan, country girl,' Elsie said, flinging her arms around Daisy's neck.

‘Oof, careful,' Daisy laughed.

A bell rang from inside the orphanage, announcing the end of visiting time.

Mabel looked at Daisy with concern. ‘Are you all right in here, then?'

Daisy grimaced. ‘It's good to not be half-starved all the time, but knowing they want to lock me up for years, well . . . ' She shivered.

A Day Girl appeared in the yard. ‘You two have to leave now,' she called to the twins.

‘Right then, we'll be off,' Elsie said. ‘But we'll come again before too long.'

‘Come
on
,' the Day Girl called impatiently, ‘I'll be the one who gets it if you're not out of here in two minutes.'

The twins rushed off. Daisy was longing to talk to Edith, but when she got back to the cottage, Miss Dunham kept her busy with chores until bedtime.

As she climbed into bed, Daisy felt more tired than she could ever remember feeling. She pulled the itchy sheet up to her chin and wriggled around to find a comfortable spot on the straw mattress. A golden crack of summer sunshine peeked in at the bottom of the blinds.

If I was on the farm, Amelia and I would still be out catching tadpoles or picking strawberries, Daisy thought. But that life just seems like a dream now. She sighed and turned over. How on earth can I escape? she wondered. Maybe I could make a run for it on Visiting Day and just keep running until I get to Gertrude Street? The idea of sprinting out of the orphanage gates made her smile.

All around she could hear the slow, even breathing of the other girls, and an occasional snuffle or cough as they slept. The room smelt of disinfectant and sweaty boots. Daisy burrowed further into her mattress and within minutes she was asleep.