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Under a Flaming Sky

E-BookEPUB0 - No protectionE-Book
674 Seiten
Englisch
Bastei Lübbeerschienen am17.05.20131. Aufl. 2013
Australia, 1933: Arabella Fitzherbert, a 19-year-old English lady travels with her parents to Australia as they hope the dry climate will help their only daughter recover from her chronic illness. With the Depression in full swing, the wealthy Fitzherbert family will stop at nothing to pamper their sickly daughter. Their journey takes an unexpected turn, however, when Arabella falls from the passenger train and finds herself in the desert - all alone. Injured, she watches helplessly as the train pulls away, leaving her stranded in the middle of nowhere. Nobody notices her missing until what is presumed to be too late. Arabella's fate might have been sealed if not for a group of Aborigines who herd her to Marree, a small town in the outback, cut off from the rest of the world. While her parents believe her dead, Arabella is on her own for the first time in her life. Set in the unforgiving yet alluring Australian outback, 'Under a Flaming Sky' is a testament of one young woman's survival and a willingness to grow into her true self.

With an eye for detail, Elizabeth Haran is the author of numerous other romantic adventures including 'Island of Whispering Winds,' 'River of Fortune,' 'Flight of the Jabiru,' and 'Staircase to the Moon,' available as eBooks.

For fans of sagas set against a backdrop of beautiful landscapes, like Sarah Lark's, 'Island of a Thousand Springs' or Kate Morton's, 'The Forgotten Garden.'

About the author: Elizabeth Haran was born in Bulawayo, Rhodesia and migrated to Australia as a child. She lives with her family in Adelaide and has written fourteen novels set in Australia. Her heart-warming and carefully crafted books have been published in ten countries and are bestsellers in Germany.mehr

Produkt

KlappentextAustralia, 1933: Arabella Fitzherbert, a 19-year-old English lady travels with her parents to Australia as they hope the dry climate will help their only daughter recover from her chronic illness. With the Depression in full swing, the wealthy Fitzherbert family will stop at nothing to pamper their sickly daughter. Their journey takes an unexpected turn, however, when Arabella falls from the passenger train and finds herself in the desert - all alone. Injured, she watches helplessly as the train pulls away, leaving her stranded in the middle of nowhere. Nobody notices her missing until what is presumed to be too late. Arabella's fate might have been sealed if not for a group of Aborigines who herd her to Marree, a small town in the outback, cut off from the rest of the world. While her parents believe her dead, Arabella is on her own for the first time in her life. Set in the unforgiving yet alluring Australian outback, 'Under a Flaming Sky' is a testament of one young woman's survival and a willingness to grow into her true self.

With an eye for detail, Elizabeth Haran is the author of numerous other romantic adventures including 'Island of Whispering Winds,' 'River of Fortune,' 'Flight of the Jabiru,' and 'Staircase to the Moon,' available as eBooks.

For fans of sagas set against a backdrop of beautiful landscapes, like Sarah Lark's, 'Island of a Thousand Springs' or Kate Morton's, 'The Forgotten Garden.'

About the author: Elizabeth Haran was born in Bulawayo, Rhodesia and migrated to Australia as a child. She lives with her family in Adelaide and has written fourteen novels set in Australia. Her heart-warming and carefully crafted books have been published in ten countries and are bestsellers in Germany.
Details
Weitere ISBN/GTIN9783838737379
ProduktartE-Book
EinbandartE-Book
FormatEPUB
Format Hinweis0 - No protection
FormatFormat mit automatischem Seitenumbruch (reflowable)
Erscheinungsjahr2013
Erscheinungsdatum17.05.2013
Auflage1. Aufl. 2013
Seiten674 Seiten
SpracheEnglisch
Artikel-Nr.2271657
Rubriken
Genre9200

Inhalt/Kritik

Leseprobe
CHAPTER ONE

Central Australia, October 1933

Like a mythical serpent from aboriginal dreamtime, The Ghan train slithered north through heat that shimmered over Australia´s arid heart. On the far horizon, which seemed to merge with the endless blue sky, the early afternoon shadows were beginning to creep over an almost featureless landscape, the monotony broken only by the occasional willie-willie that weaved and danced across the desert.

The train consisted of the locomotive engine, one car of seats for day/night passengers, a restaurant car, lounge car, two cars for first class passengers with sleepers, and at the back, two cars carrying freight and mail. It was journeying to Alice Springs at a pace barely fast enough to afford a breeze through the open windows. The train driver was proceeding cautiously as the tracks had been known to buckle in temperatures over one hundred and ten degrees Fahrenheit, derailing the train. This day´s blistering heat had reached nearly one hundred and fifteen degrees in the shade.

Why are we slowing further down, mummy? Arabella Fitzherbert pursed her pretty mouth petulantly. She was nineteen years old, but looked younger, especially in her nightgown as she sat on her bed in their first class compartment with her honey coloured hair falling over her shoulders. She hadn´t been able to wait until night fall to take off her dress, clinging petticoats, stockings and under garments in the privacy of their compartment and put on her loose nightdress.

Clarice strained to see what was up ahead.

We appear to be coming into a small settlement, but from what I can see, it looks quite unsightly.

A few moments later the train came to a jerky standstill at a platform made up of a pile of rail sleepers with a corrugated iron canopy. A sign, nailed to an upright post at a sad angle, read: Marree; Population: 84 people and one billion flies . Clarice grimaced when she read it, but she was thinking the folk that lived in the outback had a strange sense of humour.

There had been almost nothing to see for miles, but even so, the town aroused absolutely no excitement amongst the passengers on the train as a plume of steam cleared, giving them an uninterrupted view of the town. On the main street, little more than a dusty track, there was a two storey sandstone building with a balcony going around three sides known as The Great Northern Hotel, a post office alongside, a police station a bit further along, and three corrugated iron shops. In the distance, through the gusts of red dust, they could see a few fibro houses haphazardly placed amid a few scrawny trees. Clarice observed someone in uniform alight and exchange bags of mail with a man on the platform, but her attention was soon taken by aboriginals and dark skinned men in turbans who approached the train.

Oh, my Lord, Clarice said, recoiling from the window. Will you look at those fearful beggars? We´re not getting off here. I don´t care what your father says. She remembered her daughter´s state of undress as the curious onlookers outside strained to see in the windows.

Cover up, Bella, she said, clasping the sheet and lifting it to hide her daughter´s bare shoulders and arms. Goodness only knows what´s in their minds.

As a turbaned man came closer, she pulled the curtain across and glanced at the cabin door fearfully, wondering whether she should lock it. With the curtain closed, the air in the compartment immediately became stifling.

It´s so hot on this train, Arabella complained.

Tomorrow we´ll be arriving at our hotel in Alice Springs, Clarice said. She imagined herself in a shady lounge with an overhead fan, sipping something long and cool, with lots of ice in it.

Arabella opened a Chinese paper fan bought on their travels and began fanning herself.

This heat is making me feel faint, mummy, she whined. And I have a headache.

You´ll be all right when we get moving again and a breeze comes through the window. Clarice swatted at the flies coming under the curtain. Some nice people have the private compartment next door. Your father and I are going to play gin-rummy with them after dinner. Perhaps you´d like to join us, Bella?

Arabella flopped back on her pillows.

No, mummy and I don´t want any dinner either, she said. I have a tummy ache.

It was one of many complaints Clarice had often heard from her daughter, so she wasn´t alarmed. Arabella had always been something of a hypochondriac and a poor eater, and Clarice was certain her lack of any womanly shape was the result.

It´s the heat, Bella. At least you aren´t coughing. Your father is praying the dry climate will clear up your chest, and it seems to be helping. You know that is the reason we came out to Australia, so please make an attempt to put on a brave face for your father. He was following the doctor´s advice in bringing us out here. Doctor Portman was certain it was London´s damp air and smog that was giving you Bronchitis all the time.

Edward Fitzherbert was a very successful producer of theatre plays. In England he was quite a famous person. But for the sake of his daughter he had decided to leave London for about a year. Though the Depression has gripped the world, the Fitzherberts need not to worry about a year with no income. Clarice descended from a gentry family owning vast properties. They´d been staying in the city of Adelaide since they had arrived in Australia a month ago, and planned to spend at least three months in the country traveling. In Adelaide the weather had been pleasantly warm and the air clear. Clarice had wanted to remain there as she´d been enjoying the shops, but it was her husband´s exploratory spirit that had them heading into the arid heart of the country. Edward had always needed very little excuse to go on an adventure.

Arabella grimaced. Her blue eyes looked vivid in a face that was the same colour as the sheet.

Perspiring all the time is so uncomfortable, mummy, she continued to complain.

I know, darling, Clarice sighed and patted her daughter´s hand.

I think I´m getting a rash, Arabella whined.

Where? Clarice asked.

Arabella showed her mother a tiny red patch on her thigh.

That´s nothing, Arabella.

Yes it is. This heat is ruining my skin.

Clarice wanted to roll her eyes. She loved her only daughter more than life itself, but Arabella never failed to find fault, whereas Clarice was an adaptable person. With a husband like Edward, who´d taken her trekking through Africa before Arabella was born, it had been just as well. Health wise, she was a robust woman with a full figure. But with this being the first long trip she´d taken since becoming a mother, she had to admit, being a little older, she no longer enjoyed not having the comforts of home and she missed socializing with her friends.

Clarice also knew she was partly to blame for the way Arabella was. When she´d showed any signs of sickness as a child, Clarice had mollycoddled her, setting a precedent for her life. And when she became ill with Bronchitis years ago, Clarice´s worries had made her far too lenient towards her child. She was hoping this trip would make Arabella grow up a little and better prepare her to stand on her own two feet, but so far the signs weren´t encouraging.

You´ll acclimatize, Arabella, she said. The staff on the train had told Clarice that there wasn´t much in the desert town of Alice Springs in the way of shops and no theatres, so she hoped Edward wouldn´t want to be staying too long, but she didn´t say so. She didn´t want to colour Arabella´s opinions.

The train began moving again, and Clarice opened the curtains quickly, allowing some air into their compartment. It wasn´t cool air, but any air was better than none.

I´m going to the lounge car, she said.

Can´t you stay here and look after me, mummy? Arabella moaned.

You´ll be all right, dear. If you feel a bit better later, join us in the lounge car. The Harris´ are from Kent and they´re awfully nice.

I don´t want to meet them. Besides, it´s too hot to get dressed, Arabella replied sullenly.

As you wish, Clarice said patiently. I´ll fetch you some sandwiches.

As the train left the town slowly Clarice caught a glimpse of a large pen on the other side of the tracks with lots of camels in it. Some were very big, but there were also a few young, and nearby about twenty Date Palm trees and strange looking buildings set in a small village. In the midst there was a mosque. She realized it must be the place of worship for the men in turbans, and was thankful her husband hadn´t suggested a tour of the town.

Don´t bother, mummy, Arabella sulked. I´ve still got half the sandwich I had for lunch. The bread was dry, and the filling, whatever it was, was horrible. I doubt anything they are serving in the dining car is better, so I´d sooner go without.

It was only egg and mayonnaise, Bella darling. I ate mine and enjoyed it. They serve it wrapped to keep it from drying...
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