Snow, Fire and Gold

Stephen Whiteside knew that Spargo's Hut in the Australian mountains near Mt Hotham had been abandoned for many years. However, when he first visited it in 1982, he got a shock. It looked like it was still inhabited. Could he have been mistaken? Closer inspection revealed that it was, indeed, abandoned. However, its remoteness had allowed it to remain crammed full of all the items necessary for everyday living. There was a bed and pillow, a table and chairs, a Coolgardie safe, pots and pans, crockery and cutlery, a cheese grater, a fly spray pump, an oven mitt, a golf putter, books and magazines, and much, much more.

It looked to him as though a woman had lived there as well as a man. Who were these people who had lived in this one room hut above the snow line, and why? He resolved to find out...

Stephen Whiteside has been walking and skiing through the Australian mountains for most of his life. He has also been writing for many years - mostly rhyming verse, and articles on Australia's history and natural environment. He works as a GP in Melbourne. This is his first novella.