The Distant Legacy by AnneMarie Brear EPUB & PDF – eBook Details Online
- Author: AnneMarie Brear
- Language: English
- Formats: PDF / EPUB
- Status: Available For Free Download
- Series: None
- Price: Free
- File Size: 2 MB
Berrima, NSW, Australia
February 1866
In the morning sun, Bridget Kittrick galloped through the brown grass
edging the river, laughing. She looked back at her stepfather, Rafe Hamilton,
and grinned before slowing down her horse, Ace, and whirling him round to
wait for the man she called Papa.
Puffing, Rafe reined in his horse beside her. ‘A fair win.’
‘Ace will do it every time, Papa. I don’t know why you dare to race me,’
she said cheekily.
‘Because I am a fool,’ he replied, amusement in his eyes. ‘Come along, we
should be getting back. It’s going to be another hot day. Besides, your mama
will have the servants scurrying about, making everything perfect for your
birthday.’
‘I told her I didn’t want a fuss.’ Bridget shook her head wryly. ‘I am
twenty-one now, not ten. I do not need a birthday party every year. We can
leave that to my younger siblings.’
‘And you know she cannot help herself.’ Rafe relaxed in the saddle as they
rode side by side. ‘Poverty in Ireland will forever haunt your mother. Ellen
still believes she has to make it up to you older children for all you missed
out on when you were younger.’
‘County Mayo and the Great Hunger in Ireland was years ago. Mama
needs to let it rest.’
‘Easier said than done, dearest.’ Rafe reached over and patted her arm. ‘Let
your mama have today. Both she and your aunt Riona enjoy their
celebrations.’
‘I will. After all, it is all for me!’ She laughed. Despite her protest that she
was too old to have birthday parties, Bridget enjoyed a good get-together.
Mama said it was the Irish blood in her, for her ancestors had loved to sing
and dance.
As they took a gentle walk away from the river and up the hill towards the
homestead, Bridget reflected on the beauty of the house, which was situated
on a flat-topped ridge overlooking the Wingecarribee River and hundreds of
acres of prime grazing. She understood how privileged she was now, and
how it was a world away from Ireland and their life there.
Her memories of their little cottage in Ireland were growing hazy now. She
had no clear recollection of her birth father, Malachy Kittrick, who died in a
drunken fight when she was six years old, leaving them even more destitute
than they already were. Her mother couldn’t pay the rent and the English
landlord had their cottage burnt to the ground. They had been desperately
poor, homeless and only through the aid of two decent Englishmen, Mr
Wilton and Rafe Hamilton, had they managed to come to this new country
and begin again.
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