“That’s incredible.” Amy placed the backpack she carried on the bench. “Should we wait until the others get here before you read the whole thing?”
Georgie grinned at the looks of utter outrage on Lara’s, Faith’s and Ed’s faces, but she’d felt left out when they’d gone through the cellar without her. “Good idea. They won’t be long.”
“They’ll take forever,” Lara complained.
“Why don’t you have a shower?” Faith suggested. “We’ll get dinner ready.”
Lara pouted, but did as her future step-mother suggested.
“Where did you find it?” Amy asked.
“There was a loose rock in the wall,” Georgie said.
Tess shook her head. “I felt a loose rock the day we discovered the cellar,” she said. “But then the lights went out, and I forgot about it.”
Amy took the lamb out of the fridge. “Do you think she wrote the journal after they’d set up here?”
“She started it the day she married Reginald,” Georgie said. “That’s all I read before Ed stole it from me.”
Ed closed the journal and smirked. “It records her journey out here from England,” he said. “Did you know they came on a convict ship?”
Georgie gaped at him. “They were convicts?”
Ed shook his head. “No, but they came on the same ship as a bunch of convicts. There weren’t many paying passengers.”
At that moment Bennett, their blue heeler, trotted up to the back door and Amy let him in. “They’re back.”
Georgie’s heart clenched, and she braced herself to see Matt. The first glance was always the hardest. Her two oldest brothers clumped up the stairs to the verandah and toed off their boots. Brandon, and then Darcy, hung their Akubras on the hook by the door, just like their father had always done. Georgie wrapped her arms around herself as sorrow filled her. She’d never see her father do that again, or greet his wife with a smile and a kiss. Her brothers’ chocolate brown hair was flattened with sweat, but the same colour as their mother’s, Brandon’s hair shorter than Darcy’s, still growing after years in the military.
“You gotta see what we discovered,” Ed said.
“Hey, Georgie. You got tomorrow off?” Darcy asked.
Georgie forced a smile. “Thought I’d come out and check how everyone is.”
“Good to see you.” Brandon swept Amy up in a hug and kissed her. Moments later, Darcy did the same with Faith. Georgie almost wished she hadn’t come. She felt like the third wheel with everybody loved up and happy. Though if she hadn’t come, she wouldn’t have found the journal. Georgie glanced towards the door. “Where’s Matt?”
“He’s gone to visit his parents,” Darcy answered.
She relaxed. At least she wouldn’t have to deal with him as well.
“What did you find?” Brandon asked, coming to stand next to Ed and Tess at the table.
“Lilian’s journal,” Georgie answered. “Found it in the cellar's wall.”
Both her brothers jolted and stared at her. “Seriously?” Darcy said.
“Yeah.”
“What’s in there?” Brandon asked.
“We haven’t read it yet,” Amy said. “We were waiting until you got home.”
“Bet Lara wasn’t happy,” Darcy said. “Where is she?”
“Having a shower,” Faith answered.
Lara rushed back into the room, showered and dressed in her Wonder Woman pyjamas. “Dad, you’re home finally.” She hugged Darcy and then turned around. “Can we read the journal now?”
