Children of Toil ✔

Chapter Eleven

Lucan waited until the boys were asleep before joining Thaiter in the bar.

"Use to have me a room here when I first come this way. The drinkin' and the fightin' and the gamblin' nearly done me in," Thaiter said.

Taking a mouthful of the ale the barman placed in front of him, Lucan pulled a face and swallowed hard. "Aw...fuck, what's this?" He held the tumbler up and frowned at Thaiter.

"Dat's ale...made the Australian way." Thaiter grinned. "None of that dark Guinness here."

Lucan put the drink down and slid it along the bar toward Thaiter. "Well, you'll be drinkin' that rubbish on ya own."

Laughing, Thaiter lifted the beer. He gulped down the amber liquid as Lucan asked for a glass of rum or whiskey. "Ah...ya don't know what's good for ya, Lucan, but you'll soon learn."

Lucan smiled and swigged the rum. "What made you come to Cairns, Thaiter?"

"Work mainly. I went to The Etheridge to start with. Gold. Harsh country dat." He paused and took another mouthful of his beer. "Didn't do me much good then I heard they was lookin' for men for the rail." He held out his empty glass to the barman. "Fill 'er up, Bill." He continued, "Train goes right to Myola now." He huffed as if in disbelief. "I quit after tunnel three. Shit, that was brutal work. I didn't reckon they'd even get all the way to Kuranda."  

Taking a gulp of the fresh glass of beer, Thaiter then turned his head to look at Lucan. "But you know what? The fuckin' bastards did." He laughed. "They've built this frickin big bridge over Stoney Creek. You'll see it tomorrow." He held his hands up and drew an invisible curved line in the air. "Like dis it is. Not straight mind you. Amazing what a lot of men can do."  

He shook his head in disbelief. "Anyway, Irvinebank's the place ta be. Tin. Stable it is." Thaiter drank from his glass, and then said, "So, tell me how it went for you after Bridie died." He pulled his mouth into a sneer and sighed. "I still miss her." He glanced sideways at Lucan. "Ya Ma was always good ta me when we was little and after you was born and Da died I tried to do the same for her."

Lucan rolled his tumbler in his palms, watched the amber liquid swirl around in his glass, and then looked up at Thaiter. "Will you to tell me about me father, Thaiter? She never would and in the end I stopped askin'."

Sucking in his lips, Thaiter glanced at him, and then gazed at the bar top.

Lucan waited. He'd never thought to ask Thaiter this question before and now it seemed to have come from nowhere. He took a mouthful of his rum, didn't think he'd get an answer, and was about to stand to leave when Thaiter began to talk.

"She didn't want you to think less of her. I'm not sure if I'll be doin' fair by her, but I guess every man has a right to know where he comes from." Thaiter emptied his glass, held it out to the barman once more, and then turned to face Lucan. "It wasn't long after she was seventeen. Harvest season. The gyppers always came around at dat time of year for the work. They camped down on the Avonmore. Anyway, she met one of 'em. He worked at O'Brien's where she was the housemaid. I saw 'im once. Looked just like you." Thaiter paused and took a mouthful of beer. "She thought he loved her and I think he probably did but Da wouldn't hear of it. The gypper's left and soon after she knew she was havin' a baby. Da told everyone he raped her. No man would have her after that." He shrugged. "You pretty well know the rest. I went away to work. Da died. I came back from Cork when you was three or four. You both had a hard spell of it but she loved you, Lucan." Thaiter grinned. "Anyone say a bad word about ya she'd just about rip their fuckin' throats out." He laughed and added, "You remember when Shaun O'Conner called ya a gypo bastard."

Lucan hooted at the memory of his mother rolling a young Shaun O'Conner in a pile of pig dung.

"Lucan. The best thing ya could a done was leavin' Ireland. She knew you had to do it; proud of ya she was for havin' the guts to go. Said the easy way would a been ta stay." Thaiter took another swallow of his beer. "So, tell me what happened after you left. After I sent word your Ma died."

Lucan drank from his glass, and then placed it on the bar. "I worked around England for a bit. Ended up in Scotland. Had a priest write a letter for me so she knew where I was. Same priest read the letter you sent to tell me she was dead." He paused. "I was workin' in the pits by then. I met Kat in the street one day and fell head over heels." Lucan smiled at the memory,  lifted his drink to his mouth and before drinking added, "Kat died givin' birth to Riley."

He swallowed the rest of his drink, put the tumbler on the bar, and then placed his hands behind his head, stretched and released a breath of air. "Father O'Donnell told me God would look after me and the lads and well...almost a year later we got ya letter." He leaned forward, lifted his empty glass and indicated to the barman that he wanted another drink.

Thaiter remained silent in thought, and then spoke, "It's a harsh country, Luc. But a good one. I reckon the cutties here are bigger, stronger. Yours'll get a chance for a better life. You wait and see." 

Photo - Top - AUSTRALIA-Northern-Australian-Breweries-CAIRNS-Bitter-beer-label - PicClick

The Etheridge, as mentioned by Thaiter in this chapter, is a large river in outback Queensland.  This River was the site of a gold rush in the 1870s; the town of Georgetown was established on the site of the diggings. Originally known by the name Etheridge, the town's name was changed in 1871 to honour an early gold commissioner, Howard St George. By 1900 grazing had replaced gold mining as the region's primary source of income.  (This information is taken from the Georgetown-Etheridge Shire Council site)

The Etheridge is part of the largest river system in Far North Queensland, it and many others flow into the Gilbert River.  The Etheridge is seasonal and flows depending on the monsoons. 

Copyright - Weston Langford Railway Photography.

Etheridge River in flood - Copyright - ABC News