Read Brumby Mountain for Free Online Page A

settled?’ asked Lawson.
    Luke pulled a face and shook his head. ‘Nup.’
    Lawson walked to the kitchen, and Jess followed. Annie already had a big pot of tea steeping, a mountain of toast and some sausages and eggs sizzling in a pan. Jess’s home-grown asparagus sat on top, warming. It had become the new breakfast tradition.
    â€˜You two looked sweet cuddled up on the couch like that,’ Annie said, rolling some sausages over with the tongs. ‘You reminded me of me and Harry years ago. We used to snog for hours.’
    â€˜Told you she’d be cool,’ said Luke in Jess’s ear. ‘I’m going down to the flat. See you later.’
    Jess poured herself a mug of tea and squirted some honey into it. ‘He’s stressed out about the brumbies,’ she said to Annie. ‘He couldn’t sleep.’
    â€˜He’s always been a bit like that. Can’t keep still for long,’ Annie answered. ‘He used to have nightmares when he was younger.’
    â€˜Yeah, he told me.’
    â€˜We used to find him fast asleep in Biyanga’s stable in the mornings, all curled up in the wood shavings around the stallion’s feet. He used to sneak out the bedroom window, through the courtyard and down to the stables. He said the sounds of the horses made him sleep.’
    â€˜And when the horses don’t sleep, he doesn’t either.’
    â€˜Something like that,’ smiled Annie. She paused and looked thoughtful. ‘But especially so with these ones, I think. They’re from the same country as him. Luke was born in the tablelands. He has the same mountain spirit running through his veins as that old stallion. There’s a connection there, somehow.’
    The front door swung open again and Grace’s mum, in holey tracky-dacks and a flannelette shirt, kicked off a pair of steel-capped boots as she entered. ‘Hey, Annie,’ she called out in her blokey voice. She walked into the kitchen and gave her sister-in-law a quick hug. ‘Came to see the brumbies, but the smell of your cooking got to me.’
    â€˜Get yourself a plate, love,’ said Annie.
    Mrs Arnold helped herself to some sausages and eggs and pulled up a stool at the bench while Annie poured her a mug of tea. ‘Grace reckons the stallion’s a total nut job.’
    â€˜It is. Luke’s really upset about it,’ said Jess, hoping Mrs Arnold wouldn’t go down there and start bullying him around.
    â€˜Poor horse,’ said Mrs Arnold. ‘Brumby-running is a disgusting practice. Bunch of idiots, all galloping around thinking they’re the Man from Snowy River, injuring their horses, injuring themselves.’ She hacked into a sausage and kept talking. ‘The stockmen in Banjo’s poem never used a boat winch to haul them onto a truck, they never chained the brumbies to a four-wheel drive and dragged them through the bush. It’s a disgrace what goes on these days.’
    Jess left Mrs Arnold with Annie and headed down to the yards. Grace was working with the bay colt again.
    â€˜Did Lawson tell you about the clinic?’ Jess called out.
    â€˜Yeah,’ Grace called back. ‘These guys will be perfect for it. This one is catching on really fast.’
    Jess left her to it and went to find Luke. She found him sitting under the coachwood tree with his head in his hands.
    Sapphire paced from one end of the yard to another. The stallion was a sad sight, thin and ribby, so dehydrated that his flanks had sunk into his belly.
    â€˜Where are his mares?’ Jess asked.
    â€˜We had to separate him from them,’ Luke said glumly. ‘He hurt one. He didn’t mean it. He was charging at one of the domestic horses and she got in the way.’ He sighed heavily. ‘I’ve rung John.’
    Jess’s heart sank. She sat next to him and rested her head on his shoulder. ‘Need a therapy pet?’
    He laughed half-heartedly and