Pat Ritter. Books

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'The Shearer' - Page 120:

Sighting the sign leading to the property Joe said, ‘not far now.’ Their journey uneventful up to this point. Sun shone brightly with a cool breeze.
‘I’m excited to see Mother and Pa as well as Nana and Grandfather. You’ll love them both when you meet them,’ Hannah said.
‘I hope so,’ Joe muttered, flicking the reins to get the horse to jog a little quicker.
‘There they are!’ Hannah waved. ‘We’re here!’ She called, as a smile spread across her face.
Joe pulled on the reins to stop near the pathway leading to the homestead. Nat and Martha hurried to their visitors. ‘Welcome, Ma, Hannah and Joe to our home. Nice to meet you at last Joe,’ Martha said and helped Ma step down from the sulky whilst Hannah jumped down to wrap her arms around her Pa’s neck and kiss him on the cheek.
‘How are you Pa? Merry Christmas!’ She ran to Nana and her Grandfather ran throwing her arms around them wishing them a Merry Christmas.
‘Let your horse go in the paddock beside the house, Joe, I’ll give you a hand.’ Nat said.
‘Thank you Mr Young; been awhile since I last saw you when I was here shearing earlier in the year.’ Joe put his hand out to shake Mr Young’s hand. ‘Merry Christmas.’
‘Call me Nat. This is my father, he is Mr Young.’ Nat signalled his father to come forward. ‘This here is Hannah’s friend – Joe Ryan.’ Nat said by way of introducing Joe. They shook hands.
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‘Pleased to meet you young fellar. Nat tells me you’re quite a shearer.’ Mr Young pronounced.
Joe felt humble to think his future father-in-law would praise his craft of shearing to his own father, ‘I try hard Mr Young.’
‘Try hard, Pop! He was ‘gun’ shearer here this season.’ Nat slapped Joe on the back.

Chapter 15

‘Don’t worry about the mister, call me George. By gee that’s an honour particularly if Nat says so you must be good at your craft.’ George answered.
‘I try hard. Mr Young…ah, I mean, George, Nat watched over me but he almost sacked me on the spot for cutting the belly of one of his sheep.’ Joe said.
‘You were looking at Hannah instead of concentrating on your job,’ Nat explained. ‘Come on let’s get out of this heat and have a beer – you drink beer, don’t you Joe?’ Nat said sarcastically. The three men walked to the homestead veranda, ‘Take a seat. I’ll get some beers.’ Nat walked inside.
‘So you and Hannah are friends. I see a sparkle in my granddaughter’s eye and it looks more than friends,’ George commented.
‘I love her and want to marry her but I’m only a shearer when it’s all said and done. I could never marry above my station in life. I’m hoping to one day.’ Joe told George.
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'The Shearer' - Page 122:

‘Don’t worry about being a shearer. If we didn’t have shearers the wool couldn’t be taken from the sheep. This country is built on the sheep’s back.’ George explained.
‘Get your ing gear around this,’ Nat said handing a cold tumbler of beer each to Joe and his father. ‘Where have you been shearing since you left here Joe?’
‘Almost every property around the district, mainly around Eulo. Now I own a horse I can travel further out maybe as far as Dyvenor Downs.’ Joe explained.
‘A fine animal. How did you come by the horse?’ Nat wanted to know.
‘You heard about the stagecoach robbery?’ Joe said.
‘Yes Hannah was on the stagecoach returning to school. Billy Wells held it up and stole her money, necklace and ring. She told us.’ Nat replied.
Joe went on to tell his story.
‘You’re a bloody hero.’ George said with a smile in his voice.
‘Not quite a hero because I didn’t know who he was at the time only saw the ring and necklace around his neck and thought something terrible happened to Hannah. I saw red!’ Joe explained.
‘How’s this got to do with getting your horse?’ Nat asked, while taking a sip of his beer.
‘Constable Fitzgerald deputised me to help him escort Billy Wells from Eulo to Cunnamulla Police Station the next day. His horse tied on the back of the buggy and he wouldn’t need the horse where he was going so I bought the horse for five quid. Billy signed horse and saddle over to me.’ Joe answered.
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'The Shearer' - Page 123:

‘You’re not only a hero, but a smart bloke too.’ George said. ‘A man after my own heart.’ He smiled and finished his beer, ‘Got another of these Nat? This one didn’t touch the sides.’ George handed Nat an empty tumbler. ‘What about you Joe – want another one?’ Joe handed Nat his empty tumbler and nodded.
‘Dinner’s ready.’ Hannah called from inside, ‘come and get it.’
‘Joe you sit beside me. Pa you’re beside Mother, Grandfather is beside Nana and Ma.’ Hannah directed each one to their seat. Once everyone was seated, Hannah said, ‘I’ll say grace. Dear Lord bless this food of which we are about to partake. God bless the people seated around this table for I love them all, particularly Joe.’ Hannah wiped a tear from her eye. Martha looked at her, nodded and smiled.
‘Will you slice the turkey please dear?’ Martha asked her husband.
‘Why don’t we have Joe slice the turkey? This is his first Christmas with us and hope it won’t be the last.’ Nat handed Joe the carving knife and fork.
‘Thank you.’ Joe sliced the turkey and forked pieces onto each person’s plate. When Nana held her plate for Joe to place a piece of turkey she used her left hand. Hannah stared at her grandmother’s left hand, particularly the back of it. She saw a birth mark in the shape of a heart. Instantly she looked across to Ma whose eyes fastened onto the same mark. Their eyes met.
‘Thank you, Joe.’ Nana said and placed her plate in front of her.
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Hannah’s mind flew back to the time Ma told her about when she was ten years old and her mother died giving birth to her young sister, Gloria. Could Nana be Gloria? Hannah wondered. They do look similar in appearance. Nana is younger than Ma. These thoughts rushed through her mind. How to find out? She decided to speak with her mother, but she also wanted to know from her mother how her father had suddenly changed his mind about Joe.
After a hearty Christmas Dinner the men retired to the veranda whilst the women tidied the table and collected the dishes to wash them. Hannah washed whilst her mother dried.
‘Mother, can I ask you a question?’ she asked in a quiet voice which only her mother could hear as Ma and Nana prepared refreshments for the men.
‘Of course you can. What do you want to know?’ Her mother answered whilst drying the dishes after Hannah placed them on the table for her mother to dry.
‘How did you get Pa to change his mind about Joe? He’s been nothing but nice to Joe since we arrived.’
‘You will learn we women have a way of persuasion when it comes to getting what we want. Why do you ask?’
‘I need to know your secret in case.’ Hannah ed.
‘Joe is a nice man, level headed, and as for Ma, she is a delight. If Joe was bad or no good Ma would not defend him the way she does.’
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‘Yes I know all that, but what did you do to change Pa’s mind? He was adamant he didn’t want to know Joe,’ Hannah pleaded.
‘We spoke after leaving your home. He thought you could’ve done better by meeting a cocky’s son. I agued we needed shearers to shear our sheep and without shearers we’d be lost. Then he heard about the capture of Billy Wells and how Joe captured the armed robber. He’s since known about Bluey Simpson and what Joe did when he grabbed the snake from Bluey’s neck swung it around in the air and cracked the head off. Actually he was impressed with Joe.’ Martha smiled, ‘I told him if he didn’t like Joe he should tell him straight to his face and not beat about the bush. He saw how much you love him and I think that was the straw which broke the camel’s back in his change of attitude. You’d swear the way he looks at Joe; he is the son he never had.’ Martha finished.
‘Here is another question I want to ask. What is Nana’s Christian name? All my life I’ve known her as Nana.’ Hannah asked while she had her mother’s attention.
‘Gloria – why?’ her mother asked, frowning.
‘You know when I bought Ma here to meet you and Pa? We stopped at the six mile to boil the billy. I asked Ma about her life and family. She told me when she was ten years old her mother died giving birth to her sister whose name was Gloria. Ma hadn’t seen her sister since birth because her father gave them away to different people in Sydney town ‘like a pair of pups’. Ma told me the only time she saw her sister was shortly after her birth. Gloria had a birthmark in the shape of a heart on the back of her left hand,’ Hannah explained almost out of breath.
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'The Shearer' - Page 126:

Her mother stopped wiping the plate, looked directly into Hannah’s eyes and said, ‘Do you think Gloria is Ma’s missing sister?’
‘Do you know her maiden name?’ Hannah asked.
‘Johnson I think I remember seeing her birth certificate one time and asked why the name on her birth certificate differed to her name Gloria Wilson.’ Martha explained.
‘What did she say? Do you remember?’
‘This was when she told me she’d been adopted by a family named Wilson and took their name. They were wealthy and high class in Sydney town.’ Martha explained. ‘Do you really think Nana could be Ma’s missing sister?’
‘Only one way to find out. We’ll ask.’ Hannah wiped her hands. They heard loud sobbing from the other room. When they entered the room they saw Gloria and Ma embraced both sobbing over one another’s shoulder, ‘I think they’ve worked it out.’ Hannah smiled and walked over to the two women.
‘Is everything all right?’ Martha asked when she approached the two women tightly embraced.
‘Martha, this is my sister. We haven’t seen one another since I was born. Ma or should I say, Margaret, saw my birthmark I have on the back of my left hand.’ Gloria showed the birthmark, a small brown coloured heart shape. ‘She saw the birthmark just after I was born.’
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