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

“Two thousand dollars,” his father told him. “Just sitting in a garage gathering dust.”


It didn’t look like an old bomb. It was a white Toyota Corona. It had a black leather interior and his mother had bought a whole heap of goodies to go with it—a leather steering wheel cover, a Perth city street directory, and a deodoriser in the shape of a pine tree.


“That’s your birthday present as well,” his mother added.


“Fine with me,” said Brandon. “Who’s coming for a spin?”


“We’ll go for a quick drive,” said his mother. “The family will be here in an hour or so and I haven’t done a thing.”


“Don’t worry. I’ll help,” said Brandon. “Get in.”


He took them for a spin around the block, but it wasn’t until he was speeding back to the city, three days after Christmas, that he truly appreciated the freedom a car could bring.


Chapter 37