’ personal
insecurities dominate the family, but she understood his frustration with the
world. She would try to counsel him, but it would only end in yelling. When he
was at the end of his rope, he would go behind the gallery and have a
cigarette, and Ned could hear him from his bed inside, grunting and snorting
profanities, most of which were aimed at Skyquakers .
He kept preaching about how ‘ his ’ country
was being invaded, that this was ‘his’ land they were taking, ‘his’ people and
‘his’ freedoms. Once or twice, Elizabeth caught James talking to a few of her
male students, Andrew and Ned among them, about how they needed to start taking action . He wanted guns, and he
knew some of these farms were packing rifles to hunt foxes and rabbits. He
wanted to head back to the Ivanhoe dam, maybe even all the way back to Darwin,
and do some damage to the invading forces.
‘They ’ re just fucking farmers, ’ he grunted. ‘ What have they got, huh?
Shovels? Glow-in-the-dark sheepdogs? Why should we be living like prisoners in
our own country? This is our home. They came here to pick a fight
with us . We have every right to fight back. If we don’t, who will? ’
Elizabeth despised this kind of talk, and would drag James
away if she ever caught him.
‘How dare you brainwash these kids with your moronic ideas, ’ she snarled. ‘ What do you think they are?
Soldiers? They ’ re students , for God ’ s
sake! ’
‘Not anymore, ’ he sneered. ‘ We
need to teach these kids some discipline. They need to know how to defend
themselves. They willcome back for
us one day, Liz. Those Suits will come back with flamethrowers and guns and
they will murder us all . ’
‘I will not let you put a gun in a child’shand and send them off into a
war we can’t win. Have you wondered why we haven ’ t been
disturbed in months? It ’ s because we haven ’ t
caused them any trouble. If we show them that we are, in any way, a threat,
they will destroy us. ’
But James relentlessly hammered the fear of invasion into
them all: ‘ They ’ re taking our land. They ’ re
growing their hybrid cattle and bird freaks. That means there will soon be
billions of them. Once they establish enough farms, grow enough food, the rest
of them will come. They don ’ t just want the earth and the
water; they want the whole bloody planet. ’
13
CARNIVORE
At the beginning of March, the heavy summer rains stopped.
It was still very warm, creating a humid atmosphere along the Ord, but with the
dreaded dry season on the horizon, the settlers prepared for the droughts. They
had to keep careful watch over their water tanks and the flow of the river in
order to monitor and predict what type of season was ahead; if Zebra Rock was
to become their permanent residence, they may as well start preparing months –
years – in advance.
While food was still plentiful, the settlers had had to
resort to vegetarianism over the past three months for obvious reasons: the
cattle, the birds, and all native wildlife larger than a spider had long ago
vanished, leaving a blank slate on which the Quaker farmers could begin anew.
Besides Sarah, the only true vegetarian, the rest never quite adjusted to it.
Almost every night they would sit around the fire and dream about bacon or a
greasy cheeseburger. Once in a while they caught a barramundi from the Ord
using a catchment system Tim had engineered from scratch, but it was not
frequent enough to rely heavily on. As a result, the settlers could not keep up
their physiques and, by the end of summer, they found themselves quite
lethargic and severely lacking in muscle mass. In the mirror they could see
their cheekbones, and the pallor of their skin gave them a hollow, ghost-like
appearance; their clothes were much baggier on their frames, belts needed new
holes. It was becoming more difficult to muster the same energy and enthusiasm
as before; most preferred to sleep now instead of play
insecurities dominate the family, but she understood his frustration with the
world. She would try to counsel him, but it would only end in yelling. When he
was at the end of his rope, he would go behind the gallery and have a
cigarette, and Ned could hear him from his bed inside, grunting and snorting
profanities, most of which were aimed at Skyquakers .
He kept preaching about how ‘ his ’ country
was being invaded, that this was ‘his’ land they were taking, ‘his’ people and
‘his’ freedoms. Once or twice, Elizabeth caught James talking to a few of her
male students, Andrew and Ned among them, about how they needed to start taking action . He wanted guns, and he
knew some of these farms were packing rifles to hunt foxes and rabbits. He
wanted to head back to the Ivanhoe dam, maybe even all the way back to Darwin,
and do some damage to the invading forces.
‘They ’ re just fucking farmers, ’ he grunted. ‘ What have they got, huh?
Shovels? Glow-in-the-dark sheepdogs? Why should we be living like prisoners in
our own country? This is our home. They came here to pick a fight
with us . We have every right to fight back. If we don’t, who will? ’
Elizabeth despised this kind of talk, and would drag James
away if she ever caught him.
‘How dare you brainwash these kids with your moronic ideas, ’ she snarled. ‘ What do you think they are?
Soldiers? They ’ re students , for God ’ s
sake! ’
‘Not anymore, ’ he sneered. ‘ We
need to teach these kids some discipline. They need to know how to defend
themselves. They willcome back for
us one day, Liz. Those Suits will come back with flamethrowers and guns and
they will murder us all . ’
‘I will not let you put a gun in a child’shand and send them off into a
war we can’t win. Have you wondered why we haven ’ t been
disturbed in months? It ’ s because we haven ’ t
caused them any trouble. If we show them that we are, in any way, a threat,
they will destroy us. ’
But James relentlessly hammered the fear of invasion into
them all: ‘ They ’ re taking our land. They ’ re
growing their hybrid cattle and bird freaks. That means there will soon be
billions of them. Once they establish enough farms, grow enough food, the rest
of them will come. They don ’ t just want the earth and the
water; they want the whole bloody planet. ’
13
CARNIVORE
At the beginning of March, the heavy summer rains stopped.
It was still very warm, creating a humid atmosphere along the Ord, but with the
dreaded dry season on the horizon, the settlers prepared for the droughts. They
had to keep careful watch over their water tanks and the flow of the river in
order to monitor and predict what type of season was ahead; if Zebra Rock was
to become their permanent residence, they may as well start preparing months –
years – in advance.
While food was still plentiful, the settlers had had to
resort to vegetarianism over the past three months for obvious reasons: the
cattle, the birds, and all native wildlife larger than a spider had long ago
vanished, leaving a blank slate on which the Quaker farmers could begin anew.
Besides Sarah, the only true vegetarian, the rest never quite adjusted to it.
Almost every night they would sit around the fire and dream about bacon or a
greasy cheeseburger. Once in a while they caught a barramundi from the Ord
using a catchment system Tim had engineered from scratch, but it was not
frequent enough to rely heavily on. As a result, the settlers could not keep up
their physiques and, by the end of summer, they found themselves quite
lethargic and severely lacking in muscle mass. In the mirror they could see
their cheekbones, and the pallor of their skin gave them a hollow, ghost-like
appearance; their clothes were much baggier on their frames, belts needed new
holes. It was becoming more difficult to muster the same energy and enthusiasm
as before; most preferred to sleep now instead of play
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