Christine Harris - Fun for kids: Audrey of the Outback

Read chapter 1 of 'Audrey of the Outback'

Australian Outback, past and present ~
Web-links

Audrey of the Outback - Chapter 1

Audrey Barlow parted the hessian curtains and leaned out of her bedroom window. Her fair plaits swung forward like heavy ropes.

'Stumpy,' she whispered. 'Quick, come here.'

She checked back over her shoulder. Her left plait tickled her neck as she turned. Douglas, her three-year-old brother, had 'sneaky feet'. At least, he did when he wore his kangaroo-skin slippers. When he walked over the skins spread across the mud and crushed ants' nest floor he didn't make a sound. But there was no-one else in the room.

Audrey leaned further out. When she was in a hurry, like this, she was glad her parents could not afford glass. She could stick her head through the window opening quickly.

'This is our chance, Stumpy. We're going to find out the swagman's secret...' She tilted her head, straining to hear Stumpy's soft words. 'What was that? Yes, it is a secret.'

The swagman had arrived the previous evening, just before the sun set. Swaggies turned up from time to time, hoping Mrs Barlow, Audrey's mum, would give them flour or sugar. They didn't have houses of their own and slept outside under the stars.

Most swaggies offered to work in exchange for food. But some arrived as the sun was going down and left early in the morning so they didn't have to do chores. When Dad was home, he called those sort 'sundowners'.

This swaggie arrived just as the family was sitting down to kangaroo stew. The sudden knock on the door made Audrey squeal. Lightning, the blue heeler dog, used to announce visitors with his bark. But a month ago a snake bit him and he was buried out the back.

Price leapt up to open the door to a swagman who was taller and more solid than anyone Audrey had ever seen. He blocked the doorway with his large body. His dark beard was bushy enough to make an eagle's nest. Years in the sun had pouched his eyes with wrinkles. His scuffed boots were dusty. Audrey noticed a split in the side seam of his brown jacket. He didn't have anyone to sew for him, and his own fingers looked too thick to hold a needle.

But it was not his size or his thick beard that made Audrey stare. It was the bulging chaff bag he carried. Swaggies always had their bedrolls strapped to their backs, with a tea billy or saucepan hanging from it. But the large chaff bag was different. Audrey itched to know what was inside it. The bag bulged unevenly, with bits sticking out as though it was packed with fingers. And it rattled mysteriously.

Audrey pleaded with Stumpy. 'You have to come with me to the swaggie's camp. Or I'll never sleep again. Last night my eyes kept popping open all by themselves.'

She couldn't get the rattle of that chaff bag out of her head. It made her shiver.

^ top

Australian Outback, Past and Present
Weblinks

Aussie Words and Phrases – Ettamoga Wildlife Sanctuary

Enter the Lair of the Bunyips: National Library of Australia
This page leads to Aboriginal stories, Evidence of Bunyips, games and all sort of wonderful surprises

Grow a Bunyip face activity: Department of Education, Tasmania

Bunyip Visual Arts Touring Exhibition dates 2008 - Country Arts SA
This exhibition will go to Peterborough, Port Lincoln and Port Augusta in South Australia.

Outback Voice
Slideshow of the outback: towns, people, flora and fauna