Pat Ritter. Books

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'The Shearer' - Page 22:

‘Ryan, you cut my sheep again, you’re sacked!’ a voice bellowed. Hannah smiled and walked away.
Sweat formed on his brow, around his armpits and down his legs. Get a hold of yourself. He kept working until the bell rang to break for lunch. His companion, Bluey, made a sly remark when they left the shearing shed to make their way to the kitchen, ‘Don’t go fooling yourself with that pretty little bonny woman, Joe. She’s too high and mighty for you and our kind.’
‘What’d mean Bluey. She’s beautiful,’ Joe whispered.
‘You know, a cocky’s daughter wouldn’t entertain the likes of you Joe. Give it up man while you can. You like shearing here don’t ya?’ Bluey asked.
‘Yeah Bluey, but she is the one I want to marry.’ Joe was determined.
‘Best of luck to you mate wish you all of the best, but I think old man Young will have something to say about that.’ Bluey walked into the kitchen to take his seat closest to the door. The kitchen was getting hotter.
After eating his meal Joe retired to the veranda. Wonder what he meant when he said Hannah wouldn’t be interested in the likes of me? What’s wrong with me? I work hard and I’m a good person, only I might drink a bit heavy when I’m with me mates. I’d stop drinking to be with Hannah.
Sleep overtook his mind, dreaming of the day when he and Hannah would be joined at the hip as husband and wife. She’d make a beautiful bride, dressed in white for purity, he standing beside her dressed in his Sunday best.
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'The Shearer' - Page 23:

In the background, Joe heard a bell ringing. Could it be wedding bells? He felt a hand on his shoulder. ‘Wake up dreamy head – back to work.’ Bluey stood over him.
‘I dreamt I married Hannah.’ He told Bluey.
‘Bloody hell mate, lucky it was only a dream for that’s all it’ll be – a dream’, he pronounced before walking ahead of Joe to his stand ready to commence an afternoon of shearing. Bluey’s total for the morning was thirty-five he was well on his way to shear seventy for the day. Joe on the other hand, scored only twenty-nine because after he cut the first sheep it slowed his tally.
By the final bell for the day, Joe was pleased to have shorn his last sheep. His tally was under fifty. Tomorrow will be a different day.
After dinner, he decided to take a bath which was uncommon during the week because shearers only body-washed with a tin basin, soap and cloth over the important smelly parts of their bodies.
The shower room in the quarters - if one could call it a room was large enough for one person to stand upright under a gallon can raised above the person’s head. A rope hung from a lever on top of the can so the person having a shower after soaping their body pulled on the cord to release the water from the can above their head. If the person showering needed more water; the top can needed to be refilled with water from four gallon kerosene tin.
Joe felt refreshed and alive after his shower. He towelled himself off to dry and changed into his town clothes. He felt good, his mind clear and knew what he needed to do to capture the heart of Hannah Young. It didn’t worry Joe that the woman he was seeking was the daughter of one of the richest property owners in the district.
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'The Shearer' - Page 24:

‘Where’re you off to Joe? You going to see that gal of youse?’ Bluey commented seeing Joe leave the compounds of the shearing quarters to walk across to the sheep yards adjoining the shearing shed.
‘I’m going for a walk – if that’s alright.’
Leaning against the railing of the sheep yard, he rolled a cigarette and lit it with his hand covering the flame at the end of the cigarette. A soft female voice echoed from the next yard, ‘You come here often?’
Joe stopped lighting the cigarette.
‘Cat got your tongue?’
‘I thought I heard someone – never in my wildest dreams ever thought it would be you.’ Joe’s heart pounded in his chest. ‘Does your father know you’re here?’ Hannah looked like a dream come true dressed in a dress, frilled at the bottom to show off her womanly shape rather than the riding britches she’d worn that morning.
‘Pa’s smoking his pipe on the veranda. See, have a look, you can see the glow.’ She continued to look Joe in the eye.
‘How did you know I’d be here?’ He asked.
‘I didn’t. Pa asked me to take a walk and check on the water in the yard. I’d forgotten this afternoon before I left.’
‘So he doesn’t know you’re with me.’
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'The Shearer' - Page 25:

‘No. Does that matter? I was hoping to bump into you if I could,’ she murmured.
‘Have you checked the water yet?’
‘No – not yet, do you want to help me?’
‘Sure – where is it?’
‘At the top of the yard. Water flows into a trough to water the sheep from the bore. They have a drink before I take them to the paddock in the morning.’ Her demeanour highlighted the brightness in her eyes.
‘Okay, let’s go check on the water, shall we?’
Together they walked around the sheep-yard to the front section. ‘Can you see, it’s getting dark,’ Joe asked, Hannah walked beside him.
‘Yeah, I see in the dark, green eyes like a cat.’ They walked to a wooden water trough. Joe shut down the water flowing into the trough.
‘There you are. All done, you can tell your Pa water’s turned off.’ Joe wanted to say more but couldn’t find the correct words. Bluey may be right when he said she was too good for the likes of him. He was only a shearer, not a cocky. He didn’t have much to offer.
‘Why don’t we sit on the log over there for awhile and talk? Hannah beckoned Joe to a nearby log. He followed and when she tried to sit beside him he moved, so they were apart. ‘Don’t you like sitting beside me Joe?’ she asked beckoning him to move closer.
‘Na – it’s not that,’ he stammered, ‘I’ve never spoken to a beautiful woman like you before.’ He stumped his smoke out on the ground with his boot, nerves thundering through his body.
‘You think I’m beautiful?’ She turned her head toward him.
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'The Shearer' - Page 26:

‘Gawd damn right you are. You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen,’ Joe spoke openly for the first time.
‘You should meet my mother. She’s more beautiful than I.’
‘I’d love to sometime but I think your father would have something to say about that, wouldn’t he?’
‘Pa’s bark is bigger than his bite. You should know after you cut the sheep today. I though he was going to sack you on the spot. He usually does.’ Hannah explained.
‘Yeah, I’m lucky he didn’t. You know I haven’t cut a sheep since I was learning to shear at fifteen years old.’
‘How old are you Joe?’
‘Twenty-six this birthday, 26th July. Just imagine twenty-six on the twenty-sixth! This could mean an omen. How old are you if I may ask?’
‘You may ask. I’m eighteen. Celebrated my birthday the other day and that’s what I’m doing home from school. I’d better get going, Pa will think I’ve been accosted.’ She rose, looking at Joe who stood and their eyes met. ‘Might see you tomorrow Joe. Sweet dreams.’ She walked away toward the homestead.
Joe returned to the shearer’s quarters with a smile so wide nothing could wipe it from his face. He couldn’t wait to see Hannah again; his determination to become ‘gun’ shearer was uppermost in his mind.

‘What took you so long? You only needed to turn off the water,’ her father barked when she returned to the homestead.
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'The Shearer' - Page 27:

‘I’ve been talking Pa.’
‘Not to that shearer who I should’ve sacked today for cutting the sheep.’ His voice softened.
‘Yes I spoke with Joe Ryan. He’s okay Pa, he’s a gentleman. He showered and shaved and wore town clothes. He looked good Pa,’ she explained in the hope her Pa would accept Joe as a person and not a shearer. She never understood why cocky’s were different to other people. Why did they need to segregate themselves from the working class?
‘How many times have I told you to keep away from the hired help? They’re not like us. They only need to shear the sheep and when they’re finished their job, off to the next shed. In the meantime we have to cover the costs and help run this country. You know Australia was born on the sheep’s back. Without wool the country would be broke.’ He finished his time on the soapbox and continued to suck on his pipe.
Hannah loved her father, but at times like this she’d wish he could see the other side of the coin and relent to the hired help instead of always coming down hard on them. She understood the worker didn’t receive sufficient wages for their work and although the conditions were better at their property than most others in the district, she continued to have a soft spot for the hired help, especially Joe Ryan.
‘Pa, I’m off to bed.’ She leaned down, kissed her father on the cheek and put her arm around his neck to whisper in his ear, ‘I love you’.
Her dreams weren’t of her father but Joe Ryan. What was it Joe had over her to have him in her dreams? Although she loved her father, she felt a warm feeling whenever she was near Joe.
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'The Shearer' - Page 28:

Joe couldn’t sleep, his mind focused on his beautiful Hannah. Her image stayed preventing him from closing his eyes and falling into dream world.
‘Can’t ya sleep mate?’ Bluey’s whispered.
‘Haven trouble mate. Can’t get Hannah out of my head.’
‘If you don’t get some sleep shortly, you’ll be buggered for tomorrow and how are you going to beat me to be ‘gun’ shearer?’ Bluey rolled over and closed his eyes.
Joe thought about Bluey’s comment and decided it was no use wondering if Hannah was thinking of him at the same time he was thinking of her, so he rolled over in his swag and sleep overtook his weary body.

Chapter 5

For the remainder of the week Joe forced himself to shear more sheep daily than he’d ever before done, in his life. Was it to impress Hannah, or was it to become ‘gun’ shearer for the shed? His mate, Bluey, kept pace with Joe until the shed ran out of sheep to shear. Cocky Young tallied the number shorn by each shearer for the run to show Joe shorn one more sheep than his mate Bluey to make him the ‘gun’ shearer.
‘Congratulations Joe.’ Cocky Young called, after he’d completed the tally. ‘You’re the ‘gun’ shearer for the shed.’ They shook hands and looked one another in the eye. Joe felt that if Cocky Young’s eyes were daggers, he would be dead on the spot.
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