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by Terry L. Probert (Author), Merlene Fawdry (Editor)
Holding the Mint receipt up to the light, Joe scans it again searching for answers, but there is only one verse of a childish rhyme scrawled on the back. His father's constant taunting him with it gave him nightmares as a kid and now, it's again running an endless loop in his mind.
Why would Les have an assay receipt from the Perth Mint anyway? It looks genuine, and registered as mined by him in the Orroroo district, means the gold was his. So why wouldn't the cranky old drunk just come out and tell him about it before he died, or was this just another of his dead father's ways to keep niggling, taunting his only son for years after he'd gone. Besides, if there is a gold mine on Gillespie land, where is it now?
Forty years after burying a man he came to hate, Les's last verse comes flashing back, bringing with it only the harsh memories of anger. No space for love, just a son's memory of the hundreds of lashings that came from a liquor drenched tongue are now ringing in his ears. He thought he had put it all behind him. However, Les was taunting him again and finding his note now was making Joe hate him even more. What did the rhyme mean and why didn't the old bastard say anything?
Believing there are riches to be had, someone is prepared to do whatever it takes to sieze them. Powerful and conniving, these people think nothing of bribing politicians or police and they will do everything they can to run Joe off his land. All they have to do is peel off the Gillespie's topsoil and steal their gold from beneath it. That might be their plan, but Joe Gillespie isn't one who gives in easily.
