Early the next morning they woke and made their way along Shields Street, past the Railway Hotel and across McLeod Street to the train station.

They settled in their seats. The steam train pulled away from the station. Covey and Riley squealed loudly when the whistle blew to signal the train's departure.

"How long did it take to finish the line, Thaiter?" Lucan asked. He stretched his legs out and leaned back against the seat.

"It ain't finished yet. They got plans to go all the way to a place called Herberton. The track runs as far as Myola now but the rest should be quicker because the challenging bit is done." Thaiter paused and rubbed his chin. "They started in eighty-six but I didn't come for the work until ah...would have been the end of eighty-seven. Section two they called it. Up the fuckin' mountain. Jesus I ain't worked so hard in all me life."

He shook his head, looked out of the window, and then back at Lucan. "I went to Cairns for the job and they sent me to see Red Lynch, the foreman, out at the construction campsite." Thaiter laughed. "It's a frickin' town now. When it was a camp this fellow Lynch, an Irishman with bright red hair was running the place and it was him you had to see for a job. They ended up naming the place after him. Called it Redlynch. Can you believe that?" He laughed again. "Anyway the conditions were pretty bad but the men...best bunch you could ever work with. The trees we were cuttin' were dat big!" He leaned forward and stretched his arms wide.  "Fuck! This big they were and I saw this fella get killed at a place they called Beard's Cutting. Hamilton his name was. Silly bugger stood on the wrong side of a log as it was being rolled into the fire. Crushed him. Heavy bastard it was. He was the first to die, but he wasn't the last. There was plenty more after him."

Thaiter stopped talking and gazed thoughtfully out of the window. "Big job! Small towns sprang up along the track. Especially at tunnel three. They say fifteen hundred men were on the payroll. We formed the Victorian Labour League in eighty-eight. Most of us Irish fellas. We wanted our wages increased. Fuck, for the work we did, we deserved it. I quit in eighty-nine. April if I remember rightly. Just after one of the tunnels came down. Biggest tragedy on the rail. Seven men killed." Thaiter went quiet, and then continued, "The maritime strike spread to the rail workers in ninety. They called themselves The United Sons of Toil and a month later the wages went up. Finished it to Kuranda in ninety-one." Thaiter leaned back and rested his hands on his knees in silent thought.

Lucan felt his eyes getting heavy. The motion of the train and his lack of sleep were invading his senses and the last thing he heard was Thaiter saying, "Section three's in the works now...to Mareeba. They reckon it'll be finished by the end of next year."

Waking to a sharp kick in the shins, Lucan jumped ready for a fight.

"Whoa...steady on, I isn't wantin' a fight!" Thaiter held his hands up in surrender.

Lucan slumped back on the seat, rubbed his eyes, and then focused on Thaiter's grinning face.

"Jesus, lad do ya wake up like dat all the time?"

"Only when some pricks kickin' the hell out of me," Lucan huffed.

"Kickin' the hell out of ya," Thaiter scoffed. "What you talkin' about? I just give ya a nudge. Don't want you ta miss seein' the bridge."

Lucan nodded, yawned and stretched his arms.

The two boys were lying on the floor looking up at him. "Da you missed the tunnels. It all goes black. Me and Riley got scared the first one but Uncle Thaiter says no ghosts live in any of 'em."

Grinning, Lucan said, "Well I'm glad to hear that." He raised his eyes to meet Thaiter's then looked back at his sons. "Uncle Thaiter would know he helped build some of those tunnels."

Thaiter grinned sheepishly.

Lucan said, "So where's this bridge?"

"Just ahead." Thaiter pointed forward. "You get a pretty good view from here because it's on a bend."

Hanging his head out of the window to get a look, Lucan hollered, "Jesus! That's some bridge all right. How many men did ya say it took ta build?"

Thaiter shrugged. "I'm not sure exactly, but more en two."

Lucan gave him a sly grin and turned to his sons. "Covey. Come take a look."

The boy scrambled to his feet and climbed onto Lucan's lap. "Wow, Da. I don't reckon I could climb that."

Laughing at Covey's words, Lucan helped Riley scramble up onto the seat beside him. "Here let ya brother have a peek."

Covey slid forward on Lucan's knee. Both boys were able to look out of the window. The train rumbled along the tracks and began to cross the bridge. They were awestruck by the ravine below.

Raising his voice so they could hear above the wind blowing in their faces and the thundering waterfall, Thaiter said, "Take a look out the other side."

Lucan nodded, held tight to the boy's waists and moved with them across the carriage to see water cascading down the side of the mountain and into the crater below.

"We had some heavy rain a few days back, the falls ain't usually this loud," Thaiter yelled.

"Does it always flow or only when it rains?" Lucan shouted back.

"She always flows but not dis fast!"

Covey covered his ears with his hands. Riley started to cry. Lucan grinned and pulled their heads back inside. He sat down on the seat and let Covey slide to stand by the window. He turned Riley toward him and blew gently on his face. "Hey, lad. Tis nothin' ta cry about."

Riley stuck his fingers into his mouth and rubbed his ear.

Holding the small boy against him, Lucan let him rest his head on his chest. Riley snuggled closer. Lucan patted him gently on the back. He looked up to see Thaiter watching him. "He's tired. Always sucks his thumb when he's beat."

"I reckon he needs a ma. They both do."

"They got a mother," Lucan growled. "She's just dead is all."

Thaiter heard the message and said, "I didn't mean nothin' by it. Just? Well they can't go ta work with ya and I was thinkin' you might be wantin' a woman to take care of 'em...and...well...other things ya might be in need of...is all." Thaiter stumbled on. "There are a few widows around. Kids of their own, in need of a man. Lots of fellows marry for the convenience."

Lucan didn't answer.

"Missus Roberts not bad. Maybe a couple of years older than you. Brown hair, soft, curly, good cook I hear and keeps a clean house." He stopped talking. Lucan was ignoring him so he looked out of the window.

Silence reined between them for some time. Thaiter didn't know what to say to ease the strain. He realised Lucan wasn't fully over the death of his wife.

"Why don't you marry her?"

Thaiter looked up stunned at the sound of Lucan's voice. "What was dat?"

"I said why don't you marry her?"

Thaiter frowned. "Who?"

"This Missus Roberts."

Holding his hands up in defence, Thaiter shook his head. "Oh no! It ain't me with lads what need a mother."

"Who says they need a mother. They just need someone ta watch over 'em when I'm at work. So I say why don't you marry Missus Roberts. You said she needs a husband and surely you must have other things...ya might be in need of?"

"Uh, uh!" Thaiter held his hands up and shook his head. You ain't puttin' dat lot on ta me. I'm a man that only has one thing he needs from a woman and I just got me yearly supply, thanks very much."

Lucan roared with laughter.

Thaiter grinned, glad to see his nephew in good spirits once more. He waited until Lucan's laughter subsided, and then grew serious. "It's somethin' ya need to be thinkin' about Lucan. The lads and what you're gonna do with 'em when you're at work. I've already spoken to Mister Moffat and he says he'll give ya a start at the battery."

"I ain't ready to marry, Thaiter. I know she's dead but I still love Kat...think only of her."

Thaiter sighed. "Something'll come up. It always does."

The story that Thaiter tells, in this chapter, about the building of the railway are all true.  I've just written them into my story as a conversation.

Photo images - Top - StateLibQld_1_112616_Streetscape_of_Shields_Street,_Cairns,_ca._1890

2nd and 3rd - Queensland_State_Archives_3384_Building_Stoney_Creek_Bridge_for_the_Cairns_to_Kuranda_Railway_1890

4th - Stoney Creek Falls during the wet season - Cairns-Kuranda - Queensland Places.

5th - Stony-Creek-Falls-Bridge- Auslookup