Brandon has just graduated from university as a primary school teacher. As he travels to his first teaching post, he wonders what he’s got himself into. From the airplane, the tiny town of Gunnanilla looks no bigger than a cattle station. And when he lands, he steps into heat such as he has never encountered before. Sweating and feeling faint from the extreme temperature, he meets his new boss Mark Petersen, the racist principal of the only school for miles around. Then he meets the school’s other teacher, Mark’s wife Trina, and the students, most of whom are Australian Aborigines. Life in the small town is no picnic. In the summer, the heat is unrelenting. In the wet season, the town is cut off from the outside world and all deliveries are brought to a halt. There is only one television channel. To top it all off, there are any number of poisonous creatures around, such as snakes, scorpions, and spiders. How’s a poor city boy like Brandon, who’s interested in fashion, music, and clubbing and none too confident with his sexuality, going to cope? Enter the handsome, rough-around-the-edges miner, Frank. When Mark warns Brandon that Frank is gay, it seems this town might finally have something to keep him entertained. But how can he meet Frank without drawing attention to his own sexuality? How can anything possibly happen between them in such rough, tough, and macho surroundings?

Desert Country

“Raylene!” Brandon snapped. “Clean up that mess and then I think you can go outside and cool off.”


“Dumb bastard!” she snapped, throwing Brandon the dirtiest look he’d ever seen.


“Outside!” said Brandon. “We’ll save that mess for you to clean up later!”


Brandon knew he had to punish Raylene, but he didn’t know how. It wasn’t something they taught at university. Nevertheless, she had to learn she couldn’t speak to a teacher, or anyone else, like that, while at the same time showing the other students that swearing was a big no-no.


The playtime bell rang and the children hurried out of the classroom.


“Raylene, come in here,” Brandon said in his sternest voice.


Raylene had been crying. It was obvious she knew she was in trouble.


“I want you to clean up that mess and when you’ve finished, I want you to write down what you did wrong and why it was wrong. Do you understand?”


Chapter 12