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

“Well, Kirk and I are over,” she said. “I don’t know what I was thinking. He’s way too young for me. Practically a little boy.”


Brandon nodded sympathetically. “What happened?”


“He’s just so immature. I need someone a bit more sophisticated. And rich! Oh, I can’t wait to get out of here.”


Katy slapped him with her tea towel. “You’ve just been out. Ungrateful!”


“Had any visits from Derek, lately?” He asked deliberately, just to see her roll her eyes and groan, and right on cue, she did just that. He laughed.


“Darling, that man has serious problems,” she said, looking disgusted. “Asked me if I liked motorbikes, which I don’t, then said a ride on his purple chopper would soon change my mind. I mean, really. Has anything like that ever worked on a girl? Has any girl, at any time, ever responded to some dirty old pig saying “Take a ride on my chopper” with “Oh heart-throb! Let me jump on right now and ride it into the night!”


Chapter 28