Before either Tammi or Kathy had time to reply, Eileen shoved her chair back and tossed the remains of her c.o.ke in Dot's face.

Dot spluttered and staggered back, b.u.mping the chair behind her and losing her balance.

Eileen grabbed a handful of Dot's c.o.ke-splattered blouse.

'I said, to p.i.s.s off, b.i.t.c.h,' she snarled through clenched teeth. 'Go get screwed seein' you're so good at it.'

'Stop it you two,' Tammi said, grabbing Eileen's arms.

'Let her go, Cuz, before a teacher sees you. She's not worth it.'

'You b.l.o.o.d.y b.i.t.c.hes! I won't forget this!' Dot angrily tugged her stained blouse into place, glaring at them.

'You'll be sorry!' She pushed past Eileen and strode away furiously.

Eileen raised her eyebrows at Tammi and Kathy. 'Well that was a bit of fun, eh! b.i.t.c.h made me waste my c.o.ke though!'

They all had a chuckle at what had happened. The girls were used to Dot and her catty jibes; she just pushed the envelope too far sometimes. They weren't fazed by her threat. After straightening the table and chairs, they sat back down again and continued with their plans for the summer holidays.

'I'm going to ride Lightning over and check up on old Harry this arvo,' Eileen told them.

'You're so kind to him,' Tammi said, 'He's lucky to have you.'

'Yeah Eileen, you are good to him,' Kathy agreed.

'Yeah, well, the poor old b.u.g.g.e.r has no one else and he's harmless. I hate it when I hear some of the people around here talking about him and saying he's not right in the head! He's just old, he's not nuts!'

The bell buzzed. It was time to head back in for afternoon cla.s.ses.

Across the road from the school, a figure stood up from leaning against a telegraph pole. The shadow it cast on the sunny footpath showed it grinding a cigarette out on the ground, then it disappeared.

THE RELEASE.

A wisp of wind lifted his hair as he raised his craggy face upward, enjoying the warmth of the brilliant sunshine. A sigh escaped his lips as he murmured, 'Ah, free at last.'

He fumbled in the breast pocket of his old coat, a coat one would not see in today's stores. He took out a worn photo, the edges tattered from frequent handling. His eyes filled with tears, then his expression abruptly changed to a scowl. Tucking the photo back into its place of many years, he lifted the shabby suitcase holding his few belongings and ambled down the hill.

'I'm coming blue eyes... I'm coming.'

The guard shut the huge wrought iron gates behind him.

CHAPTER TWO.

Kathy was taking a shortcut back to Kia-Ora through the orchard from her Uncle Arthur's place. It was something she had done many times. This time, however, she felt slightly uneasy. There was no wind to stir the trees and the silence seemed to close in on her; a p.r.i.c.kle of fear ran down her spine.

She sensed someone was watching her. She stopped to look around, but she couldn't see anything unusual. A chill shot down her spine. Twilight had fallen, giving the trees an eerie appearance in the dim light.

'Stop it!' she reprimanded herself out loud. 'You're just spooking yourself!'

Hastening her pace, she hurried on through the trees, but as she neared the edge of the orchard, she heard a twig snap quite close behind her. Her senses were screaming that she was not alone. 'c.r.a.p! That's not my imagination!' she whispered to herself.

'Robert! Is that you? Come out now you little s.h.i.t!' she called, thinking it could be Robert trying to scare her. He had a reputation for his pranks, especially on his cousins.

She stood still to listen... There was not a sound...

Feeling very afraid now and certain someone was following her, she broke into a run, glancing back over her shoulder only once.

She ran as fast as she could the rest of the way up to the house and through the back door into the kitchen.

'Glory be, love, you're in a hurry!' remarked Hazel. She was fussing over dinner as Kathy burst through the door.

'Love, you're as white as a sheet. What is it, dear?'

'Oh, Hazel, just now I could have sworn someone was watching me outside. I couldn't make anyone out because of the dim light and the trees, but I really think someone was in the orchard!'

'Oh, love, are you sure? Maybe it was your imagination. Who would be hiding among the fruit trees, and why would they anyway?'

'I don't know Hazel, but I swear there was someone there. I thought it might have been Robert being his usual painful self.'

'Here dear, sit down and I'll make you a warm drink. I'm sure it was all your imagination,' Hazel soothed. 'Twilight can make your imagination run away with you!'

'Thanks, Hazel.' Kathy smiled at her. 'You always know how to make me feel better.' Kathy accepted the drink gratefully but still could not rid herself of the feeling someone had been in the orchard. For now, she decided to keep it to herself, thinking Hazel was right. Why would anyone want to hide in the orchard? She also knew though, if it was Robert, he would have come out laughing like a hyena.

Tammi had received a letter from Laura Hansen, Muriel and Walter Hansen's granddaughter. She lived in Cooma in the Snowy Mountains region. The letter said she would be arriving in a few weeks for the start of the holidays. Tammi was really looking forward to her arrival. Laura was the same age as her and they were very good friends. Despite being excited about Laura's visit, Tammi was aware that something was amiss with her sister.

'C'mon, Kath, what's wrong with you? For the past few days you've been quieter than usual. Is everything okay?'

Kathy sat for a moment with the book she was reading in her lap. She turned to Tammi.

'I wasn't going to make a big deal of this but I think someone was watching me the other night when I took a shortcut through the orchard.' She told Tammi what happened.

'Maybe it was Robert. He's always sneaking around somewhere.'

'I really don't think so, though he wasn't home when I was at his place that evening. If it was him, he would have come out in b.l.o.o.d.y hysterics, gloating about scaring me. The d.i.c.khead wouldn't have been able to help himself.'

'Well, it might just have just been your imagination. You know at that time of evening everything appears sort of creepy.'

'Maybe, that's what Hazel said too.' Kathy shivered. 'But it felt so real; you know how you just know when someone is there!'

'C'mon,' Tammi urged. 'Let's put some records on and paint our nails, take your mind off it. I have the latest Beatles record. Paul McCartney is such s.p.u.n.k, those gorgeous eyes!' Tammi rolled her eyes heavenwards. 'I'd love to meet him!'

Kathy shook her head and gave her sister a playful slap. 'Get over it Tam, they'll never come to Albury, and if they do ever come back to Australia, I can't see us being allowed to go to the big city to see them. h.e.l.l, Mum and Dad had a pink fit when I asked if we could go to Sydney and see them when they were there in June.'

'Yeah, I know. Still, you have to agree, he's fair d.i.n.k.u.m gorgeous!'

The Beatles arrived at Sydney Airport on 11th June, 1964. Some 1,200 screaming fans greeted them.

Their first show was at Sydney Stadium on 18th June, attended by 12,000 fans. They did six shows in three days, each show attended by the same amount of fans.

Kathy and Tammi kept all the newspaper articles about them. The two were glued to the television every time something had been reported about The Beatles.

Darkness fell over the valley. The family settled down for the night. Hazel and Ted had gone down to their cottage. Karl, who had been out for a stroll and a smoke before bedtime, returned and locked up. Time ticked on. The family had all drifted off to sleep.

Down in their cottage, Ted was restless. 'Think I'll get up and open that front window, Haze. It's a bit stuffy tonight, don't you think?'

'A bit of fresh air would be nice, love.'

Ted went to open the front window. As he pushed it open, he sniffed the air. Peering around, he couldn't see anything in the darkness.

'Haze, I'm just going out to check on things. I reckon I can smell smoke.'

He opened the front door and returned in seconds.

'b.l.o.o.d.y h.e.l.l, Haze, get up quick! Looks like a fire up at Sam's.' He was pulling on his trousers as he spoke. 'It doesn't look like anyone up at the house is awake. Quick, we have'ta get up there and wake 'em up!'

Hazel grabbed her dressing gown. 'Oh glory be, just the thing we don't want to happen!' They hurried to the main house as fast as their old legs could take them.

'Ring the fire brigade. I'll wake Karl and Digger,' Ted said over his shoulder as he clambered up the stairs to wake the men.

With a quick knock on Karl's door, he burst in. Ted was not sure what was burning at Sam's, but whatever it was, it looked like it had a go on.

'Karl, wake up, wake up.' He grabbed Karl's shoulder, giving it a rough shake.

'Wha..? What tha flamin' h.e.l.l... Ted...what's wrong?' Karl glanced at the clock beside his bed. It was nearly midnight.

'There's a fire up at Sam's. Looks like it's got a h.e.l.l of a go on!'

's.h.i.t!' Karl jumped out of bed, grabbed his trousers and dragged them on over his pyjamas, stumbling in his haste.

Digger heard the commotion and met them at the top of the stairs.

'Fire up at Sam's, Dig. Tell Win to keep Dad here. He doesn't need to come with us.'

Sam's property was only a few minutes up the road so they didn't waste time getting the ute out of the shed, instead they ran the short distance.

Because most properties were in close proximity to each other, no one bothered driving to their neighbour. It was just as easy to jump a fence or a make quick dash through a paddock.

What Ted had seen was a gra.s.s fire behind the packing shed, which was rapidly spreading towards the orchard, and from there it could spread straight into the scrub at the foot of the hills.

'How'd this start?' Karl grabbed the nearest thing to him, a hessian bag, soaked it under the garden tap and began desperately belting at the flames that had started to spread closer to the shed.

'Got no idea, mate, just discovered it. We were all asleep. Des woke us. He said the cracklin' woke him. Thank G.o.d he heard it!' Sam told him.

Nat Willis and his brother Rex arrived, followed closely by Arthur, Robert and several other farmers. The sirens had disturbed them all, and seeing the flames, they immediately sprang into action.

Nat had a knapsack and quickly got to work. The others grabbed hoses or soaked hessian bags and began belting at the flames.

Frank Smith arrived with the fire brigade and hurriedly set about organizing the blokes and getting the hoses connected.

'Get that b.l.o.o.d.y fire hose over here. This thing's spreadin' fast. If it gets into the bush we won't stop it!' bellowed Digger. 'Get Eric to move his tractor... hurry! It's right in line with this!'

's.h.i.t! The f.u.c.kin' thing's stalled!' Eric was trying to move the tractor but it kept stalling on him.

'Hurry, hook this chain on the front, I'll tow you with the ute.' Sam backed his ute up and they swiftly attached the chain to the front of the tractor and the back of the ute, and pulled the tractor away from danger.

Down at Kia-Ora, the family had all gathered on the side veranda.

'That fire's got a real go on!' said Dave. 'If they don't get a hold of it and it spreads, there's all that scrub up there...!' His voice drifted off as he watched with a frown, furrowing his brow.

Emmie placed her hand on his arm. 'They'll get it out Dave, Frank's there and I'm sure he'll have it under control in no time. Try not to worry.'

As Emmie spoke, Father Damien walked 'round the corner of the veranda, startling them. He was dressed in shorts, sneakers and had a slouch hat on his head, even though it was dark. The locals often had a laugh about his attire and many a crude joke was spun at the pub about him.

Father Damien was not your usual, everyday priest. The only time he wore his robes was at the seminary when conducting ma.s.s. Otherwise, his attire consisted of shorts, sneakers and slouch hat. In winter, his shorts were replaced with jeans.

Most of the locals thought him quite odd and rather creepy, making jokes about him behind his back.

His habit of wandering around at night often made people wonder about his antics.

'Father..!' Dave exclaimed, 'what're you doin' down this way at this time of night?'

'I'm sorry if I gave you all a start. I was taking a late stroll around the seminary grounds as I do every night. I thought you would all be up because of the fire. Bad thing to happen... bad thing... at least it's not the house or the shed.'

'Oh, so you went across to see did you?'

The seminary was built on the side of one of the hills that surrounded the valley and overlooked Sam's place.

'No Dave, but I could see that gra.s.s patch behind the shed where Eric keeps his tractor was alight. They seem to be getting on top of it now. I thought, seeing everyone would be up there putting it out, you would appreciate knowing what was happening.'

'You're very kind to let us know, Father,' Emmie thanked him. 'Eric has only just bought that tractor. It would have been dreadful if it got burnt. Let's hope they get it out quickly. Here, come sit down with us.'

Up at Sam's, after a hectic battle, the fire was finally under control. The men's quick action prevented a disaster. If the fire had gone unnoticed any longer, it would have destroyed the tractor and shed, with the possibility of causing damage to the house as well.