Sarah’s Path of Courage - Softcover

Mcburnie, Mazi

Softcover

ISBN 10: 150430361X ISBN 13: 9781504303613

Publisher: BalboaPressAU, 2016

Synopsis

In 1853 in Australia, the gold rush is at its peak. In Victoria, tent cities are erected in many parts of the land. Some people find gold but most do not, resulting in poverty and desperation. The tent cities are noisy, dirty, and rife with fights and brawls. Courageous and determined, women have to work extra hard to survive such violent circumstances.

Sarah is a young woman from England who arrives in Australia full of hopes and dreams. Following a brief affair, she becomes pregnant, and those dreams are shattered when she is abandoned and left to survive on her own. But Sarah finds strength she never knew she had. She gives birth to her child and, miraculously, is soon left with a large sum of money.

She moves to Melbourne with her baby where she starts a thriving business. Sarah faces further challenges but confronts them in her calm and gentle way. She is even reunited with the father of her child. When Sarah left England, she had an expectation of where her path would take her. Imagine her surprise as she lives an amazing, adventurous life she never anticipated.

About this title

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Sarah's Path of Courage

An Historical Novel

By Mazi Mcburnie

Balboa Press

Copyright © 2016 Mazi Mcburnie
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-5043-0361-3

Contents

Dedication, vii, 
Prologue, ix, 
Chapter 1. Australia 1853, 2, 
Chapter 2. Tragedy, 8, 
Chapter 3. A New Job, 16, 
Chapter 4. Clementine, 22, 
Chapter 5. Andrew, 28, 
Chapter 6. Bill, 32, 
Chapter 7. Betrayal, 38, 
Chapter 8. The Snake, 42, 
Chapter 9. Alone again, 48, 
Chapter 10. Melbourne, 52, 
Chapter 11. The Fire, 60, 
Chapter 12. The New House, 64, 
Chapter 13. Attack, 68, 
Chapter 14. Will, 76, 
Chapter 15. The Accident, 82, 
Chapter 16. Engagement, 88, 
Chapter 17. Lord and Lady Robbins, 92, 
Chapter 18. The Past, 98, 
Chapter 19. The Wedding, 102, 

CHAPTER 1

Australia 1853

Sarah looked out of the coach window eagerly taking in all of her surroundings as the coach wound its way through dirt tracks to Heathmont, a large gold mining town which was to be her new home in Australia. It was all so different to England, the trees and the weather especially. They had been on the coach for about four hours now and she looked forward to getting off the coach at the next town which was Heathmont, where Harry decided they should live. Harry had heard that there were many large strikes of gold in this particular area of Australia. Harry was very keen to become a gold prospector and to become rich.

As the coach weaved its way through the tracks, Sarah admired the enchanting Australian bush with coloured wattles in full bloom. Bottlebrush and tea trees all grew alongside of the track. Sarah felt like jumping out of the coach to pick some of the lovely wild flowers. The beautiful gum trees were growing all along the road, some of them with bright red blossoms. She even saw an emu running past the coach. Her husband of two days, Harry, lay sleeping in the corner of the coach. He had hardly said a word since they got off the ship. He seemed indifferent to the lovely sights of the new country. Sarah saw very little of him on the long journey out to the new land. It had been his idea to come to the Australia to search for gold which he said would make them rich forever and a day. Harry hated being poor and longed for a better life. He had not enjoyed the voyage out from England, on the passenger ship" Echo". Unfortunately Harry became very sea sick spending most of his days moaning and complaining on his small bunk eating very little and rarely leaving his bunk. There had been an outbreak of measles on the ship with many little children dying. Sarah loved the voyage out, talking to the other passengers and spending time on deck with the wind swirling around her long blonde hair. Sarah helped their mothers care for the sick children. When a child died she comforted the mothers. She was a kind, understanding girl. There were many sea burials on the voyage out on the "Echo"

When they finally reached Melbourne, Sarah and Harry stayed overnight in a small rundown hotel which was all that they could afford.

I Their room was dirty and full of fleas and bed bugs. Sarah could hardly wait to get out of the place, which she thought might have actually operated as a brothel. At least it was a place to stay for the night. Harry made no attempt to make love to Sarah which left her feeling a bit disappointed, as it was in a sense their real wedding night. Somehow being married in a stark office among people she did not know did not make her feel married, even though she knew that it was all legal.

Sarah wished that Harry was more romantic instead of the sullen man he now seemed to be but she thought that perhaps he was still suffering from his sea sickness. She wished that she had some family or friends to share the day with her but it was not to be. Harry was very grumpy after being seasick for the entire voyage and Sarah did not want to antagonise him further by being difficult about little things. Harry seemed to be more stubborn than she had realised in England.

Sarah had met Harry in England when she was working as a house maid at one of the country estates just outside London, where Harry also worked as a junior blacksmith. They used to spend their break times together so that Sarah felt that by now she knew Harry well enough to marry him. On the weekends, or when they both had days off, Harry and Sarah would go for a picnic or a walk in the lovely English gardens. They never had much money or time so their outings were always simple. She was now just eighteen, having worked since she was thirteen in service at large wealthy homes in the area. Sarah had to go to work at thirteen to contribute to the family's weekly income. Her mother took in sewing and was a beautiful seamstress, but there were seven children younger than Sarah and her father was in and out of jobs, rarely keeping a job for more than a few weeks. Her mother said that father was suffering from an illness, but privately Sarah thought he was just plain lazy. The older children did most of the chores such as fetching wood and washing the dishes. When Sarah was home she was expected to mind the youngest children and cook the meals, while her mother worked on beautiful dresses for other people.

Sarah wondered if by marrying Harry, she was really escaping from a life of drudgery. Sarah had very little spare time. Her work as a housemaid in one of England's stately homes kept her very busy, although she was treated well and liked her job. Most of her friends were already married and had moved away to other places. Sarah feared that she might become an old maid. Although she longed for a different life to that which she had in England, Sarah was not keen on coming such a long way from home to Australia, with no family or friends for support. Harry however was adamant, either she came or they did not get married, and he would go to Australia without her. Sarah wanted to be married, so in the end she gave in and agreed to accompany him on the journey. She definitely did not want to become an old maid, and she had grown tired of looking after her siblings and cooking at home for ten people when she was not working as a house maid. She wondered who would take her place as general dogsbody in her home It would most probably be her younger sister who was fourteen now. Sarah was still concerned that Australia was so far away from England and wondered how she would cope in a strange and untamed land. She tried to find out about Australia from books in the library at home, but there was not a lot of information about the country. Sarah dreamt of having a lovely white wedding with bridesmaids and beautiful flowers and getting married in an old country church. She had visions of herself in a lovely white gown with a long train and a little flower girl.

As they came closer to the town of Heathmont where tales were told about lots of gold having been found, Sarah looked out of the window and in the distance she could see a large town set among lovely purple hills, with huge forests of pine trees surrounding the town. As they came nearer, she saw a bustling main street with people walking around and lots of coaches, buggies and horses. There seemed to be a doctor's office and a few shops, plus a number of public houses. Harry and Sarah had very little money, just enough to buy a tent and some cooking essentials, as well as a shovel and pick for Harry to go prospecting. They bought these items on arrival at the town. They went into the main general store in town where Harry obtained leases and licences for gold mining and then set off by foot for a suitable place to erect their small tent. They bought some flour and yeast to make bread and Harry said they could fish in the river and trap rabbits for food. Sarah looked longingly at the dresses in the mercantile shop. She only owned one dress, a plain brown dress with a little collar which she wore each day. Sarah knew how to fish, but not how to trap rabbits. When they walked about two miles, they set up the tent and Sarah went into the forest to collect wood for a fire while Harry fell asleep in the tent. She lit a pit fire to cook over. At first the fire went out and it took her a long while to get it going again. Later she came to know that she needed dry wood for a fire to burn well. Sarah used the yeast she had purchased to make bread in the coals trying not to use much yeast so it would last. They used straw and leaves to sleep on, in the first few days. Sarah was lucky enough to catch some fish, so along with the bread, they were able to eat. Harry set out the next day to start his gold digging with the new shovel and pick, leaving Sarah alone to try to make a home out of practically nothing. They had bought a rabbit trap and she went out to attempt to use it. She had great difficulty trying to set the trap as she was frightened that her fingers would get caught in it. An old miner came upon her and showed her how to set the trap, for which she was very grateful. Harry was gone all day and came home with only a tiny amount of gold. "I will get more tomorrow," he said in a grumpy voice. Sarah was delighted when she caught a rabbit in her trap.

As the weeks went by, Harry managed to get some gold, although not a lot but it was enough to buy a horsehair mattress and more flour and yeast. Harry gave Sarah a little bit of money to buy the mattress and flour. Sarah found a wild crab apple tree and made a pie with dripping and flour and a little yeast. She had managed to catch two rabbits and made a stew with them. At first she found it difficult to skin the rabbits, but she was hungry so knew that it was a matter of necessity. It was autumn when they arrived and winter would be setting in soon. One day when she was out gathering wood, Sarah found another old rabbit trap which meant that she could set two traps at a time. Sarah spent her days gathering wood in preparation for the winter. Harry continued to find small amounts of gold, but at the same time he started to go to the various public houses and to drink alcohol. He never gave Sarah any more money from the cash he got through selling his gold, keeping it all to himself. Sarah had no idea how much money he got from the gold because he did not tell her. One day she asked him for some money and he swore at her and left the tent in a huff. He never helped Sarah gather wood or catch fish, saying that it was women's work. Sarah did not like him going to the public house and told him so, to which he replied that a man needed something after working all day and that she was no company or fun to be with and he wanted a bit more excitement in his life. Sarah was very hurt. She wanted her marriage to be a success and so far it was looking like a disaster. Sarah and Harry's relationship was not very affectionate. They had made love a couple of times just after they arrived and each time, Harry had consumed too much alcohol falling asleep immediately afterwards, turning on his side and snoring loudly, leaving Sarah to wonder, if that was all it was. From talking to her friends who were married, she had expected something a bit more romantic and loving. Things continued on in much the same manner, with Sarah gathering the food and wood and Harry trying to find gold. Sarah wondered exactly how much time Harry actually worked in the diggings because when he came home he had hardly any dirt on him, unlike the other miners who returned covered in dust and dirt. A few weeks after they arrived, Sarah started to notice changes in her body. She seemed to be putting on weight and her breasts were sore. She should be losing weight due to her poor diet rather than putting it on.

CHAPTER 2

Tragedy

After a few weeks she decided to visit the doctor, not knowing how she would pay him. The Doctor was a lovely man and said she could pay him when she could. He examined her thoroughly, then confirmed what she had already suspected, that she was to have a baby in a few month's time. Sarah was delighted, but did not know how she would tell Harry who did not like children much and had often said as much. She fussed about telling Harry for quite a few weeks until eventually she plucked up enough courage when she was about four months pregnant to tell him about the baby. She was terrified of telling him, but knew that she had to, because he would soon notice her changing figure. As she suspected he did not take the news well. He was furious and slapped her across the face. "How dare you do this to me" he shouted. "Now I have to work even harder to keep you and a baby I have no use for" Sarah was horrified. He had never hit her before but had come close to it on a number of occasions. She picked herself up from the floor where she had fallen and walked out of the tent, where she sat down under a large gum tree and cried her heart out. She was deeply hurt and felt awful. When she fell on the floor she hit her head on a small table and it was still bleeding. She placed some tea tree gel on the wound and covered it with a small bandage made of rags. She did not think a baby would eat that much, and besides she would breastfeed as long as she could. Added to that, so far Harry had given her almost no money since they arrived from England so she did not know what he was complaining about. She went to the second hand shop and found a few small pieces of clothing which she could stitch into baby clothes. The ladies in the church run store did not ask her to pay for the little items. They were happy to be able to help her. Harry might not want a baby but she was lonely and wanted to have a child or two. She loved children and had always wanted to have one of her own.

After the incident when Harry slapped her, he began to find fault with everything Sarah did or said. She tried her best to please him, but he said that he hated her food and the miserable tent and in the end he said he hated her. "I would have done better to have come out here on my own" he shouted at her one day when he had been to the public house and came home drunk. Any money he got from gold he spent on himself at the public house. Sarah was only just surviving on the fish and rabbits she caught and the flour and yeast which she paid for out of her meagre savings. Things went from bad to worse for the young couple as Sarah glowed in her late pregnancy while Harry became nastier and nastier as he watched the baby growing inside her. He seemed to disappear a lot and Sarah wondered when he was working or if he was working at all. She pondered that he may have taken up gambling. He hit her on numerous occasions and she had bruises of various shades of purple, blue and yellow, all over her body. Sarah was at a loss as to know what to do. She worried that the beatings might somehow harm her unborn baby. She was an eighteen year old bride in a strange country, with only a small amount of money, having her first baby. Her husband was only earning a pittance in digging for gold, all of which he was spending at the local public houses. Sarah always managed to be in bed pretending to be asleep, when Harry came home. He was too drunk to notice what she was doing anyway. Sarah started to think that the marriage had been a terrible mistake. She never should have come with Harry to an unknown land. Sarah could not believe that the man she married was the same man who had spent time with her in England. He seemed to be a totally different person. Sarah wondered what Harry ate, because he never dined with her at home. The next few weeks went quickly by as Sarah gathered berries to eat for vitamins and slowly added to her wood pile. She had no problems in her pregnancy, not even any morning sickness and she got plenty of exercise when she went fishing and setting her rabbit traps. Sarah dreamed of a better life for her and her unborn child, but could not think of any way out of her present situation.

The weeks turned into months as Sarah prepared for the birth of her baby. Soon it was time for the baby to be born. She felt very big and uncomfortable towards the end and looked forward to the baby actually becoming a real little person. One morning as she was skinning a rabbit to make into a stew, Sarah felt some niggly pains in her back. She did not think too much about it so kept on with what she was doing. As the day wore on the pains started to get stronger in her stomach so she set off alone to walk the two miles to the midwife's home. She had to stop a few times when a contraction came and just before she reached town, her water broke indicating that she was in full labour. Harry as usual was nowhere to be seen, not that he would be of any help anyway. Sarah reached the midwife's home at last, exhausted after her long difficult walk. The midwife was a kind gentle woman who had met many young women like Sarah in her time at the goldfields. The midwife made her very comfortable in a bed. Sarah sank into the soft bed. It was so comfortable compared to her little rough horsehair mattress, even if she was having labour pains. The midwife offered for Sarah to stay with her at her house as it was too far for her to walk back home. By now the pains came very quick and fast towards the end. Sarah was told to push at a certain time and did as she was instructed. A small baby boy came out first. She continued to have more pains after the little boy was delivered. The midwife told her she could see the head of another baby. Soon after, a little girl was delivered. Twins. Sarah was stunned. How on earth would she manage with twins. It was going to be hard enough to manage with one baby, let alone two. The babies were placed in her arms and as she gazed with wonder at the two tiny infants she fell in love with them both immediately, putting them to her breasts. The midwife said she could stay with her, until she felt well enough to walk to her home, such that it was, two miles away. Sarah knew how to bath a baby and to tie a nappy from having done it so many times for her siblings. It was different this time as these babies were her own and already she loved them very much. They weighed about six pounds each and the midwife declared them to both be very healthy which made Sarah happy. After all of the beatings Harry had subjected her to, she was concerned about how well they would be, outside of her womb. The midwife cared well for Sarah feeding her at mealtimes with good food. Sarah was fortunate that she had plenty of milk with which to feed her two babies.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from Sarah's Path of Courage by Mazi Mcburnie. Copyright © 2016 Mazi Mcburnie. Excerpted by permission of Balboa Press.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

Edition details

• Publisher: BalboaPressAU
• Publication date: 2016
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 150430361X
• ISBN 13: 9781504303613
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 120