Mystic Mountains

and shawl.
    "Bless my soul, dearie, I 've got a job in a posh gent's kitchen, ain't I? Me who didn't even know 'ow to boil water." Gracie took hold of Isabella's arms and looked her over. "You 'appy, girl? You look as if you're doing all right too. 'Ow's the gold nob treating yer? Not so bad 'ere after all, is it?" Gracie let out a raucous laugh and threw back her head. A couple of women on the other side of the store eyed her with disapproval. When Gracie winked at them they resumed their perusal of some rolls of calico, their mouths pinched.
    "Not so bad, Gracie. I have a room of my own, and my belly 's never been so full in all my life." Isabella patted her middle.
    "An ' how's life with the giant of a fellow with the eyes of a tiger, eh? Been warming his bed, 'ave you?" 
    "I have not!" She glanced down at her feet to hide her blush. "He 's got plenty of women to do that for him. What would he need with a scrawny biddy like me eh? Tiger Carstairs don't spare me the time of day."
    "That 's not what I 'eard." Gracie pulled a wry face, chuckling as she tapped the side of her nose.
    "Oh, and what exactly did you hear, Gracie, you nosy old devil you?"
    "I 'eard all about 'ow he came after you and rescued you from that old pile of sheep's droppings, Malloy. An' I also 'eard he arranged for that man's disappearance." Gracie glanced about, then lowered her voice. "Seems he was said to be on the ship heading back to the old country."
    "Aye, that 's a fact Gracie. There's not much that goes on here that everyone don't hear about, is there? Tiger Carstairs looks after his own, and as I'm one of his workers, I'm classed as his responsibility." Isabella shrugged. She was still astonished at the way he'd solved the problem. And it seemed half the colony was aware of what he'd done, yet the constables hadn't come down on him.
    "So it ain 't so bad working for the English gent then?" Gracie pulled at a lock of Isabella's hair that peeped from beneath her bonnet.
    "Not so bad. He treats us well. Dougal is happy as a pig in muck, looking after them fool merinos. Thelma's a grand woman and her husband Gillie is really kind. What more can a con ask?"
    "W hat indeed, girl. We could have ended upriver at Parramatta. Those sluts sewing and laundering uniforms up there are a bunch of whoring, brawling drunken sots. I 'eard the women are sorted into three classes there and that Marjorie is in the crime class, wouldn't yer know. Already she's had her hair cut off as a sign of her disgrace. Always knew she'd end up a no-hoper. 'Tis said the officers use it as a whorehouse.
    "No, we 're lucky we've fallen on our feet, girl. I'd say we're better off than we were back in the old country, scavenging about for a mouthful of food and never knowing when a fever'd strike us down. An' when we're given our tickets we'll be laughing, eh? I'm not sorry I got meself sent 'ere, an' that's a fact, Bella." Gracie pushed her bosom up with her folded arms.
    "I miss me ma though, Gracie." Isabella drew in a shuddery breath. "If I knew she was faring all right I 'd be a lot happier. Mr. Carstairs let me write a letter to her. I can't wait for the ship to get back with her answer." She glanced across the store. "Ah, here's Thelma, looks like she's finished placing her order. I'd like you to meet her. She's the next best thing to a mother a girl could have."
    Thelma nodded to the storeowner, then strolled over to join them.
    "Thelma, this here's Gracie. You remember I told you she looked out for me on the ship. She's got a good job too, working in a nob's kitchen, probably burning the cakes." Isabella laughed as she put an arm about Gracie's waist.
    The two women eyed each other. Thelma nodded and held out one of her bony hands. "Pleased as punch to meet you at last. Bella here told me how you kept the riffraff out of her hair on the voyage. She's mighty lucky to have friends like you and Dougal."
    "And n ow I have you and Gillie. I don't know what I've done to deserve such friends." Isabella clasped one of Thelma's hands gently.
    "And Tiger, don 't forget him, girl," Thelma reminded her. "Without him you might not be here now to tell the tale."
    "Aye, that 's true." Isabella nodded.
    " I've just remembered I need some thread and needles too. I'll see you again I hope, Gracie." Thelma nodded and walked off.
    "She seems a likeable sort," Gracie commented when they were alone.
    "Believe me, she is. I worry about her a lot. Her cough never seems to go away, and