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

“What I meant was, even though they’ve known, they haven’t treated you any differently, have they? I can’t believe you thought you were getting away with it. His car’s parked outside your room almost every weekend.”


He couldn’t deny it. How did I think I was getting away with it?


“Not almost every weekend. A fewweekends.”


“And your dirty weekend in Port Hedland.”


“Oh come on, darling. You can’t have thought no one noticed your absence. Or that no one saw you being driven off in Frank’s car. You’re unbelievable!”


Despite wanting to wring her neck every time she opened her mouth, Katy was actually doing some good. And people gossiped and laughed at everyone up here. He’d even joined in with them when they were taking the mickey out of Mark and Trina, two stuck-up yuppies.


“Okay, okay,” Brandon said. “You win. You’re right.”


“Darling, I’m always right. Now give me a hug.” She leaned forward and they embraced for a moment. “So everything’s alright now?”


Chapter 29