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(Revised)
The Western movie story continued in this chapter, written by Erin. The chapter delved further into the background of Augusta Hardwicke, the woman who fled Victorian England as a youth, traveled to Australia and later went to America. The character of Augusta was introduced in Chapter 11, "The Stateroom and the Room of Guns."
This is the story of Augusta's time in Australia, where she lived in disguise as a man named August, and did a man's work alongside the Australian stockmen. Like other newcomers, she started out as a jackaroo (equivalent to a young, inexperienced American cowboy).
En route to Australia on the ship Liberty Belle, Augusta, traveling as the male August, met an Englishman, Ciaran Hamilton, who owned cattle stations in Australia. (See Chapter 11.) They became good friends during the long voyage, and when Ciaran learned that the young man needed work, he asked about Augusta's background. By the beginning of Chapter 13, Ciaran had decided to offer August a job.
Augusta was in awe of the beautiful, rugged coastline of Australia upon her first view from shipboard. Shortly after disembarking, she was further invigorated by a wild ride on an untamed horse. She, Ciaran and his cattle station partner Gideon, a half-caste aboriginal, traveled on horseback to Ciaran's main Homestead in Southern Australia. At the Homestead, she met Gideon's wife Hanna, also a half-caste, and began to learn the art of Australian cooking under Hanna's tutelage. During those first few weeks, Ciaran also assessed Augusta's ability to perform the various duties of a stockman.
As she was settling into her new job asisting Hanna in cooking large meals for the stockmen, Augusta made several friends in the group, both human and animal. She became close to the Homestead's two Australian Shepherd dogs, CJ and Derby, although she learned to keep her distance from the local wombats and kookaburras.
Augusta was already an accomplished rider, shooter and archer, but there was one skill she lacked. Intrigued by Gideon's mastery of the bullwhip, she was pleased when he offered to teach her how to use it. After much practice, she perfected various bullwhip techniques, such as the Cattleman's Crack and the Figure of Eight.
Ciaran offered to send Augusta to work at his cattle station in New South Wales, Kikaburrah Station, when the cook there became ill.
Jumping at this opportunity to work in the Outback, Augusta set out eagerly on the long journey with Gideon and Jax. Arriving at Kikaburrah, she faced an immediate challenge from an ill-tempered stockman, Bill, but succeeded in getting the group of stockmen to give her a chance. Due to her strong personality, willingness to do hard work and the high quality of her cooking, all of them except Bill soon accepted her as one of their own. She learned even more exotic cooking skills, such as the baking of food in a underground oven, and was instructed in the use of local plants, herbs and edible insects by her colleague Jarli.
Augusta improved her stockman skills during her time at Kikaburrah Station, beginning with observation of how the stockmen and their horses worked seamlessly with the trained Australian Shepherd dogs to manage the cattle.
She also saw the mysterious and magnificent wild steer, Red Boy, a "piker" who was allowed to run free. All of the stockmen exept Bill shared Augusta's admiration and respect for the animal. Eventually there was a confrontation between Bill and Red Boy, and something terrible happened despite Augusta's efforts to intervene.
Augusta had to put her developing stockman skills to the test when Joseph, one of the older stockmen, was badly injured by an aggressive wild animal. She soon became a competent stockman, and continued to work seasonally at Kikaburrah Station for several years.
Eventually, Augusta's true gender was discovered by Hanna and Ciaran. She had proven herself to be an excellent stockman, cook and friend by then ... but will it be held against her that she lived as a man?
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