Free The Quilt by Rochelle Carlton Page B

neither Jean nor Sean were listening. 
     
    Without question Jean arrived at Twin Pines to cook for the workers. Without complaint she slid easily into the routine.  She made delicious pots of stew, mutton roasts, cottage pie with the leftovers, baked loaves of bread, scones and cold meat sandwiches all good hearty food to keep the tired men happy.  She never asked for thanks, it wasn’t in her nature.  There was a job that needed doing and a person that needed help, she was more than happy to give her time.
     
    When the shearing gang had moved on to their next job, Jean still turned up to help.  She always carried sweet smelling treats and nourishing meals.
    As the framing for the new house went up Sean politely listened to Jean when she shyly made suggestions for the building.
    As the roof went on and the locals turned up for the traditional roof shout he paid attention when she made suggestions.
    As the bricks went on and the insulation was installed, as the walls were gibed and stopped, Sean listened to her suggestions and encouraged Jean to choose the wallpapers, carpet and drapes. 
     
    The spring lambs and dry stock cattle were finished and ready for the pre- Christmas sales. They drafted the lambs into two lots, with the larger and heavier mob fetching a local record price for the season.
    The days shortened and autumn’s slight chill came on the breeze.
    Jean and Sean had found an easy familiar comfort in each other’s company.  Jean no longer hesitated before speaking; she no longer spoke softly or spoke with any hint of shyness. 
    I t was in this first autumn that Jean put forward the idea of the large man-made ponds.  Of creating rustic private places, established and planted to allow thought and rest, with no compromise to practicality or profit. 
    Before the first sp ade turned the earth, she visualized the oaks, claret, elms and maples displaying their brilliant reds, gold’s and scarlet’s providing pleasure each and every autumn.
     
    Autumn was tupping, repairs and maintenance.  They moved the dry stacks of macrocarpa, ti tree and pine firewood closer to the house in preparation for the bleak high country winter.
    It was in that first autumn that Sean had proposed to Jean. 
    The King Country suffered a harsh winter.  Stock was moved to higher ground as rivers raged and deep crippling snow seemed to be followed by relentless rain or gale force winds.  The huge fireplace in the house was stoked all day to provide a welcome refuge from the conditions outside.  Romance blossomed in front of the warm friendly flicker of that fire.  They had been a couple from the very first time they met. 
    W ith relief the end of winter approached and the ewes were brought in, vaccinated and crutched in preparation for spring lambing. The cycle was about to begin again.
    In the early summer of 1951 Jean and Sean were married in the small local chapel. There was no one in the Clarke family left to attend.  The Saunders remained too deeply affected by Anne’s unexplained disappearance to celebrate the marriage of their only grandson.  The jovial Hollingway’s filled the tiny room to witness the marriage and welcome Sean into his first real family. 

Chapter 7
    “ Jean, Sean and Paul Clarke”
     
    In the plan of nature, a species survival relies on the nurturing protective environments into which the young are born.  Why then, is it so often the couples most suited to parenthood, with the most well thought out plans and with the most to offer a child that have the most problems bringing new life into the world?
    The months faded to years.   At last, just before Jean turned thirty years of age she tested positive for pregnancy. The couple sat beside the picturesque pond looking at the reds and gold of the leaves.  The tree’s reflected on the surface of the still water as they sipped homemade lemonade and watched the dragonflies skimming across the shining silvered surface. This was their