Mystic Mountains

bounds to them.
     
    * * *
     
    Placing Annie in her crib beside the tent Isabella dropped with a sigh onto the sawn-off log that served for a chair. "There, my currency lass, you have a nap," she told Annie softly, swatting at a flying insect with a clump of grass.
    "Why do you call our Annie a Currency Lass, Mama?" Tim wondered, coming to stand near her.
    Isabella smiled at her blond boy child, the pride and joy of her life. And of his father's. A sharp ache ran through her each time she allowed her thoughts to dwell on Tiger. What would he say when he found her gone? If she knew anything he would likely say good riddance. But he would not so easily say the same for his son.
    "Well now, that 's what the boys and girls born here in Australia are called, it seems. And those born in England are called Sterling. 'Tis just a bit of nonsense thought up by some pay officer in the army, I heard. He was being smart—the currency pound at the time was inferior to the Sterling pound. But we both know you and our Annie are far superior to those born in the mother country, don't we eh?"
    Tim nodded, his gold flecked eyes narrowing thoughtfully. "Why do we call Sydney Town Australia now, Mama?"
    "I explained that all before, Tim." She sighed on a smile. "'Tis the whole of the land is called Australia, not just Sydney and out here where we live. 'Twas thought up by the government because the colony's growing fast and those in power reckoned we needed a name for the entire continent."
    "What 's a continent?"
    "I told you, Tim. We' re on an island here, only this land is much bigger than any other island so it's called a continent. Go read about it in your books."
    "Do you think Tiger' s back?" he asked, his eyes growing wistful as he patted the dog at his side. "Why did we have to come out here?" he whined. "I want to be back at camp when he gets there."
    Isabella bit her lip, shielding her eyes to look off to the hazy mountains in the distance. She would never admit it to anyone but she missed the tall golden man so much it was as if a part of her own body had been taken away from her.
    "I told you why we came here, Tim. This is your land; yours and Annie's. One day it will be worth a lot of money, and you'll be rich."
    Tiger had said he would be gone a month or more, depending on how long it took him to get all the provisions and supplies needed for the house he was building; how long to hire the laborers required for the work.
    "I miss him, Mama." Tim scuffed his toe in the soil moodily.
    Tim missed him. Ye Gods, sh e never would have dreamed she would miss him this much; as if a part of her had been severed. Lord, was it always to be like this? This longing to see his beloved face. Was she forever cursed to lie in her bed each night longing for the gratification only his body could provide; long for his touch and his kisses? He was like some disease she couldn't shake off.
    Any number of awful things could have happened to him, out there in the mountains where it was like another world; a world where men changed.
    "Do you think he'll fetch us back something special, Mama?" Tim brightened, interrupting her feverish thoughts.
    "I hope he fetches you some books," she sai d, knowing without a doubt he would come for Tim if not for her. "I have to teach you your letters and reading."
    "Ugh!" Tim stuck out his tongue and made a rude noise. "What do I need to learn letters for?"
    "Don 't you wish to be as clever as Tiger one day? Unless you learn to read, write and count you won't know if you're being cheated, and you'll not get rich like him."
    Tim grinned impishly. "Aye, I 'll be as clever as him, Mama, for certain. Then I'll look after you when Tiger's not here."
    "I know that, son, I can depend on you." Isabella reached out to touch his cheek, then caught sight of a movement far off over the meadows. She stood up, taking Tim 's hand. A man was coming towards their camp. He stopped to speak to Johnny, working on the small plot where they had a vegetable garden started.
    "Who is it, Mama?" Tim tugged on her skirt when she let out a gasp. The newcomer had bashed Johnny on the jaw with the pistol he carried.
    Isabella went cold as she recognized Johnny's assailant. Jones! Sweet heavens, what was he doing here? She hated the man. Reaching for the pistol Gillie insisted she bring with her, she aimed it at Jones' head.
    "Agnes, come here," she called to the girl, who was stirring a pot of soup over the fire.
    "Aye, missus, what's up?"