Off the noisy gravel at last, she ran down a side path and around to the back of the house, to the servants’ entrance. Timidly, she knocked.
The door opened almost immediately. Nellie had hoped that her dear friend Mary Connell would be there to greet her, but she was unlucky. Mary was the family’s nursery maid, and she must be busy with the children. Instead, the doorway was filled by the broad, white-aproned figure of Bessie Rudge, the Lefroys’ cook.
Nellie’s heart started to beat very fast. Mary had told her many stories about Bessie Rudge and her permanently bad temper.
‘I’m Nellie O’Neill, if you please, ma’am,’ she said, ‘and I’m here to be the kitchen maid.’ She held out a crumpled piece of paper. ‘I have a reference from my last mistress, ma’am, to say I’m capable.’
Bessie took the paper, holding it between two fingers. She looked Nellie up and down, and shook her head. ‘You’d better meet the mistress,’ she said. ‘Come with me.’
Nellie wiped her sweaty hands on her skirt and followed Bessie Rudge at a respectful distance, feeling more like a beggar girl than ever. She’d never seen anything like the inside of this house. It was a bit like being in church, but without so many candles. She half expected to see Father Donnelly, the kindly priest she’d known back in Ireland.
The walls of the front parlour were hung with paintings, and there was a piano in one corner. Everything shone with polish, even the floorboards. But it was the carpets that Nellie noticed most of all. She wished she could take off her boots and dig her toes into that lovely warm softness. It would be the most wonderful feeling, even better than walking through a peat bog. Instantly she was back in the fields outside Ballycasheen, with the sun warm on her back, and Dada lifting the turves of peat with a spade …
Meet the other Australian girls
Meet Alice
1918
It’s 1918 and Alice lives with her big family by the Swan River in Perth, while on the other side of the world, the Great War rages. Alice’s deepest wish is to become a ballerina, and when she auditions for a famous dance teacher from London, it seems as if her dream might come true. But then there’s a terrible accident, and Alice must ask herself whether there are more important things than dancing.
Meet Alice and join her adventure in the first of four exciting stories about a girl with a beautiful gift in a world at war.
Davina Bell, author of the Alice books, is a West Australian writer and editor who works in the world of children’s books. Her short stories have been published in various journals and anthologies. The Our Australian Girl books are her first novels.
GRACE
1808
It’s 1808 and Grace is living with her uncle in London. They have no money, and Grace is always lonely and often hungry. One afternoon she can’t resist taking a shiny red apple from a grocer’s cart – and in a split second, her life changes forever…
You can read all the books in the Grace series …
MEET GRACE
FRIEND FOR GRACE
GRACE AND GLORY
A HOME FOR GRACE
LETTY
1841
It’s 1841 and Letty is on the docks in England, farewelling her bossy older sister, who is about to take a long sea voyage to Australia. But then there’s a mix-up and Letty finds herself on the ship too! How will she manage on the other side of the world, and what will life be like there?
You can read all the books in the Letty series …
MEET LETTY
LETTY AND THE STRANGER’S LACE
LETTY ON THE LAND
LETTY’S CHRISTMAS
Poppy
1864
It’s 1864 and Poppy lives at Bird Creek Mission near Echuca. When her brother, Gus, runs away to pan for gold, Poppy plans her own escape… Will she ever find Gus, whom she loves more than anything in the world?
You can read all the books in the Poppy series …
Meet Poppy
Poppy at Summerhill
Poppy and the Thief
Poppy Comes Home
Rose
1900
It’s 1900 and Rose lives with her family in a big house in Melbourne. She wants to play cricket, climb trees and be an adventurer! But Rose’s mother has other ideas. Will Rose ever really get to do the things she loves?
You can read all the books in the Rose series …
Meet Rose
Rose on Wheels
Rose’s Challenge
Rose in Bloom
ouraustraliangirl.com.au
To play games, enter competitions and read more about your favourite characters, visit our website.
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Follow the story of your favourite Australian girls and you will see that there is a special charm on the cover of each book that tells you something about the story.
Here they all are. You can tick them off as you read each one.
A girl like me in a time gone by
PUFFIN BOOKS
Published by the Penguin Group
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Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
Published by Penguin Group (Australia), 2012
Text copyright © Penny Matthews, 2012
Illustrations copyright © Lucia Masciullo, 2012
The moral right of the author and the illustrator has been asserted. All rights reserved. Every effort has been made to contact the copyright holders for material used in this book. If anyone has information on relevant copyright holders, please contact us.
puffin.com.au
ouraustraliangirl.com.au
ISBN: 978-1-74253-459-6
Meet Nellie Page 6
