A Sow's Ear

Geoffrey Gilbert

Description

The first parts of the book looks into the life of Archie Mulley, who during his early years, befriends a part aboriginal boy. But their friendship is shattered by a tragic incident and they go their separate ways.
On the other hand, Virginia Moreton, a young country girl has moved to West Melbourne after her father inherited the family home. Her father, however, died and she was forced to work in a local factory to make ends meet.
Archie, with his wife Marilyn, took Virginia in after her attempt at taking a new direction is thwarted by prejudice and misguided relationships in the work place. The story follows Virginia's struggles to create a new life.

Sujets

• Friendship
• Geoffrey
• Redirect
• Prejudice
• Redirection
• Gilbert
• Fiction

Informations

• Publié par: Xlibris AU
• Date de parution: 15 novembre 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781669832034
• Langue: English

Extrait

Dedicated to my wife, Pam
and my sons Damian and Travis.
 
 
“Born in a land of prejudice, prejudice never touched him.”
- Peter Guralnick on the life of Elvis Presley
A SOW’S EAR
 
VIRGINIA’S GIFT
 
 
 
 
 
GEOFFREY GILBERT
 
Copyright © 2022 by Geoffrey Gilbert.
 
Library of Congress Control Number:
2022917779
ISBN:
Hardcover
978-1-6698-3205-8

Softcover
978-1-6698-3204-1

eBook
978-1-6698-3203-4
 
 
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
 
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
 
Cover photo from Pixabay and Pexels.
 
 
 
Rev. date: 11/03/2022
 
 
 
Xlibris
AU TFN: 1 800 844 927 (Toll Free inside Australia)
AU Local: [phone] ([phone] from outside Australia)
www.Xlibris.com.au
842599
CONTENTS
Prologue
Part 1Mates and the Spirits
Part 2Mates Under Fire
Part 3The Forgotten War
Part 4Virginia
Chapter 1Paddock Drive
Chapter 2A New Beginning
Chapter 3Miss Simpson, Gail, and A New Enemy
Chapter 4Troy Jamieson and the Sales Statistics
Chapter 5Archie, Marilyn, and The Play
Chapter 6Virginia’s Faux Pas
Chapter 7Restaurant, A Fancy Car, and An Unsuspecting Let-Down
Chapter 8It All Goes Wrong
Chapter 9Two People Gain Support
Chapter 10Untimely Incident, Unlikely Assistance
Chapter 11New Start
Chapter 12Maureen, Shamus, and Bull
Chapter 13The Parcel
Chapter 14Music Store Rumble
Chapter 15Johnno’s
Chapter 16Virginia’s Past
Chapter 17The Heist
Chapter 18The Old Warehouse
Chapter 19Late-Night Visit
Chapter 20Next Morning
Chapter 21Protest
Chapter 22Virginia’s Secret
Chapter 23A Glimpse of Paradise
Chapter 24Virginia’s Tragedy
Chapter 25Virginia and Bull
Chapter 26Meeting Gail Again
Chapter 27Virginia’s Trial Begins
Chapter 28Day Two
Chapter 29Day Three
Chapter 30Reunion
Chapter 31Monday Morning
Chapter 32Last Day of the Trial
Chapter 33The Waiting
Chapter 34The Decision
Chapter 35The Accident
Chapter 36Her Last Resting Place
Epilogue
Acknowledgements
PROLOGUE
It was said of WWI that it was ‘the war to end all wars’, but it was only a prequel; worse was still to come, WW2. It touched every continent except Antarctica; loss of civilian life far exceeded those lost in combat. By December 1944, there were encouraging signs that it might be finally coming to an end.
Some soldiers were being demobbed, returning to Australia. However, once back on home soil, finding their own way home wasn’t easy unless they lived in a state capital or a large provincial city or town. The war had taken its toll on the infrastructure of the country, and transport services had been severely diminished, timetables not always regular. A group of soldiers piled onto the Overland at Spencer Street Station bound for Ballarat and destinations beyond through to its final stop in Adelaide, South Australia. The last of the group had some difficulty in boarding the train due to a gammy left leg.
For those who had returned, the hell, the soul destroying, and the suffering from war were over but never to be forgotten. For so many of those who came back, life would never be the same again. The war had left disabilities, both physical and mental, that would haunt them until the Grim Reaper arrived.
Goroke, named after the aboriginal name for the Australian magpie, was a small town in Western Victoria, its railway station a weatherboard structure. Three people stood on the isolated platform, watching a lady and a young boy struggle gamely across the paddock adjacent to the station. She seemed out of place for the environment, dressed in a fashionable short-sleeved dress which fell just below her knees, a white scarf, and a belt; her shoes matched the colour of her dress, although she was now covered in a blanket of fine dust. The boy, well attired in a now rather dusty sailor suit, gripped her hand tightly as they struggled into the wind which was now ripping up dust all around them; she had a round suitcase while he was also carrying a smaller and rectangular one.
Drought had etched its face on the Wimmera in the 1940s; the three people looked past the oncoming pair, seeing only a barren, dusty paddock virtually devoid of vegetation other than sporadic spindly gum trees, some of them nestled amongst broken branches which had fallen off from want of water. Away to the east was Horsham, being one of the towns in which the Wimmera River passed through. The river rose in the Great Dividing Range somewhere between Ararat and Avoca and then flowed north and west, at one stage forming the boundary of the Little Desert National Park till finally flowing into Lake Hindmarsh near Jeparit.
There was a passage of conversation between the two older people standing on the platform, remarking how nice it would be sitting on the banks of the river at Horsham, but little did they know that the Wimmera River had become a series of waterholes and would soon be dry if rains weren’t forthcoming. Along the fence line which separated the paddock from the railway line, sand dunes had been formed so that only the top wire and the tops of the post could be seen, all being the work of the hot summer winds whipping up the top soil, throwing it across the landscape with no care about where it landed. Away across the paddock, the buildings of the town were enveloped in dust, and the only ones that were readily distinguishable was the timber-framed Anglican church with one of its wooden buttresses visible along one side, while the sign of the Royal Mail Hotel stood out starkly in the dust.
Then in the distance came the piercing sound of a whistle; they looked east and saw the trail of smoke billowing into the sky, clear evidence that what they were waiting for would soon be arriving. They looked at one another with an air of expectation mixed with measures of joy, doubts, and misgivings. Their thoughts were interrupted by the lady and the boy bursting out from the station house onto the platform; she exclaimed, ‘Oh, I hope we aren’t too late for the train to Horsham!’
The man stepped forward from the trio, saying, ‘No, I believe it will be arriving shortly, but I’m not sure how long it will take before it heads back again.’
She smiled and then turned to acknowledge the other woman and the young girl beside her and replied, ‘Oh well, at least we didn’t miss it. We will just have to wait until it goes again. Anyhow, my name is Dora, and this is my son, Thomas.’
The man doffed his hat and replied, ‘I’m Reg, this is my sister-in-law Mary, and this charming young lady is my niece Virgie.’ He put his hand on her shoulder.
‘Are you all going to Horsham?’ Then she suddenly put her hand over her mouth and grabbed her son, covering his face with her dress as a gust of wind spewed, swirling dust through the station and across to the paddock opposite.
The other three were caught by surprise as dust swirled all around them, coughing and spluttering, trying to breathe, as well as endeavouring to prevent the dust from getting in their eyes. Mary was the first to find her voice and, although rather croaky, answered, ‘No, we are waiting for the train. My husband and Virgie’s father are home from the war.’
‘Oh, how wonderful for you both,’ Dora replied. ‘We are off to live with my brother and his wife in Horsham.’
‘And your husband?’
Dora’s eyes were suddenly opaque, filling with tears, her words at first indistinct; then as if by an injection of stoicism, she calmed herself and went on, ‘I’m so sorry. No, Larry won’t be joining us. He died building that bloody Burma Railway.’ She put her hand to her mouth, apologised, and then finished what she was about to say. ‘I heard that it was a terribly dreadful way to go, new start in Horsham for Tommy and me.’ She bowed down, patting him on the head.
‘I don’t know what to say,’ Mary replied.
‘That’s OK, you weren’t to know.’
‘Were you on the land?’
‘Yes, but with this goddam weather—oh, I’m terribly sorry,’ she apologised. ‘I’m afraid the farm is practically useless. You see, we didn’t own it. We were leasing it.’ Silence descended on the small group standing on the lonely out-of-the-way railway station.
The steam locomotive began slowing as it started to roll into the station. Reg oddly remarked, ‘What else, eh, but the good old K class. You know they were very versatile, with greater traction on uphill grades than other steam locomotives.’ They all fell into silence again.
Suddenly, Virgie stepped over to the young boy, wrapping her arms around him, and said in a sweet, consoling tone, ‘I am so sorry about your father.’ Tears were running down her cheeks; she was almost 5 years old.
Suddenly, the train whistle sounded again; the locomotive drowned out whatever his reply was. Just as quickly, Virgie let go, returning to her mother. Dora took her son’s hand, bid them goodbye, and