Sample
from
Australasian Stories
Raintree English Readers
Grade 4
retold by
Margaret Bowering
The Night We Watched for Kangaroos
That winter's day was very cold and windy. As night came on the wind blew more strongly than before. The hungry calves stood close to their mothers. They were trying to keep warm. The big farm horses were hungry too. They kept looking towards the house hoping someone would come out to feed them. The hair on their backs stood up from the cold.
Everyone on our small farm was hungry. Good rains had not fallen for a year. All our crops and plants were dead or dying.
I was sitting near the fire with my older brother Dave. My young brother Joe was walking around. He was wearing our Dad's old thick coat which was so long that his fingers and hands disappeared. We could hear mother and Mrs Brown talking softly in another part of the house.
Dave broke the silence. 'It's that woman again! Can you think of any reason why Mrs Brown is still here?' he asked. 'I'm tired of her being with us all the time.'
'Well, she hasn't left her husband,' I said. 'I saw him visit her here yesterday. The two of them appeared quite friendly. So it's not that!'
Joe stopped walking for a minute.
'Yes, that's right,' he said. 'It's quite funny though. Even Mum doesn't know anything. I asked her a few days ago. She says she has no idea why Mrs Brown's here.'
'Hmm. Well, I wish she'd go away. She doesn't do much work in the house. And she's always telling me what to do. Sometimes it seems as if she owns us,' I said.
The sound of footsteps made us stop talking. Dad hurried in carrying a large piece of firewood on his shoulder. It was almost as big as a tree. Dad was so strong he could carry anything. He stood with his neck and hands to the fire warming himself.
'It'll be really cold tonight. There'll be ice on the ground, you'll see!' he said.
I did not take much notice. The big piece of wood would make the fire last all night.
More of this and other stories in
Australian Stories
retold by
Margaret Bowering
Raintree English Readers
Grade 4
ISBN 967 65 3799 3
This text is copyright Penerbit Fajar Bakti Sdn. Bhd. (008974-T) 1997.
If you can read this sample easily, you can enjoy any Raintree English Reader from Grade 1 through to Grade 4.
Return to the Raintree English Readers bibliography
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