Free Taj and the Great Camel Trek by Rosanne Hawke

were very pretty and that I should marry one called Mary and Peter should marry Jinny.
    â€˜Why haven’t they come?’ Mr Giles asked Tommy, but he just rolled his eyes.
    â€˜There is a lovely young girl called Polly who we met along this track last time. Do you remember, William?’ Mr Giles turned to Mr Tietsken.
    â€˜What a pity,’ Jess Young said, ‘I’d like to see a pretty native.’ Perhaps he wanted to get married too. It made me think. I had never asked Padar how he met my mother. Perhaps that’s how I could start.
    â€˜Could you tell a story?’ I asked Padar.
    Padar had nearly finished his mug of tea, but he didn’t rush. He was thinking of what to say, for now all the men were waiting, even Mr Giles who usually took his books out after eating. Padar cleared his throat. He didn’t talk about my mother and I was glad after all. No, Padar told us how he lost his finger.
    â€˜It was the year 1872 and Mr Warburton, he came to Beltana for camels,’ Padar began. ‘Haleem and I andseventeen of Mr Elders’ camels went with him to Alice Springs. Then in April of the next year we set out for the west.
    â€˜It was a harsh land across the Sandy Desert. Camels, some we lost, some died and some we ate. Haleem and I, we tried to find water. We all had the scurvy and I was so sick I could not use my arms or legs. Allah be praised I became stronger but the camels, they got weaker from lack of food and water. Soon there were only two camels left.
    â€˜Snakes and scorpions crawled everywhere in our camp when we stopped. In the old country I could charm snakes and so I tried to charm the snakes from the men’s blankets. But alas I could not charm scorpions and one night when I was asleep one stung me on the finger. The pain, it was very bad and my arm would not move. But we kept walking towards the coast.
    â€˜When we reached Roebourne we had travelled 4,000 miles across the desert. Mr Warburton could see from one eye only, and my finger, it had to be cut off to save my life.’
    There was silence when Padar stopped talking. I saw the faint lines of worry on Jess Young’s face. Then Alec spoke. ‘What a good thing we have Mr Giles to lead us, Saleh. He will be able to find water in the desert.’
    No one else said a word, not even Mr Giles. Everyone stayed silent with their thoughts while they slurped their tea or coffee.

We didn’t get the string started until after midday and this time Tommy led us on Salmah, then Padar on Roshni. I watched Salmah lurch grumpily to her feet. She was going to calve soon. I wasn’t worried. On trips near Beltana the cows travelled well after a birth and the calf was often tied on the mother’s back for a few days until it could walk with the string.
    Mr Giles rode Reechy aside from the string and was reciting poetry about Wynbring. It didn’t sing like his other poems.
    We’ve left this oasis, this water giving rock, in its silence and solitude, leaving it once again to primeval man...
    Jess Young didn’t keep his strange smile just for Padar and me. I noticed it when he was watching Mr Giles reciting. Then Mr Giles patted Reechy’s neck and called her ‘Screechy’. He was very fond of her.
    We had marched seven or eight miles through the high scrub with Tommy singing songs to himself, when we found an opening in the bushes where Tommy showed us some bare flat rocks. Between them was a small hole of water.
    â€˜Is this it?’ Jess Young said. ‘How’re we supposed to survive on this?’ Mr Tietkens was too polite to say so but I could tell by his frown he thought the same.
    â€˜Taloreh,’ Tommy said. He sounded proud. So this was the first watering place he had mentioned. Taloreh was full of mud and rocks. Padar poked a stick in and found mud for several feet below the surface. He couldn’t tell how deep it was but Mr Giles said there may be 300 gallons,