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He was a magnificent figure of a man, tall, heavily muscled, bronzed by the sun. His hair was dark brown and curly, and his eyes were a deep dark brown. He stood easily and Frances experienced a thrill of sheer animal magnetism as his hand gripped hers. ‘It’s great to meet such a paragon of virtue, talents and good looks: Jenny’s been singing your praises.’ The lazy smile took a slight sting from the words.
    ‘I hope I live up to expectations,’ she said, struggling for her normal poise.
    ‘If you survive my three nephews for the first week of the school holidays you’ll be fine.’
    ‘Hey, don’t you rubbish my sons!’ chuckled Jennifer as she passed Frances a cup of tea.
    Rupert looked at her quietly, then told them that Ian and he would be out most of the day. ‘Jenny will show you round, have a look at the tractors, then you can ride down to the boundary. It’s the river, so keep going till you reach it. There’s a tank which marks one boundary and a cluster of pines and willow on the other. It’s pretty straightforward. The horses are kept in the first paddock in front; you can ride the grey mare.’
    ‘I’ll show you, Frances,’ put in Jennifer. ‘Greytor is my horse and a beautiful lass.’
    The men had finished their tea now, so they departed quickly. The roar of a motorbike echoed amid the excited barking of dogs, and Frances glanced up to see Ian Burnleigh ride off, his dog perched pillion behind him. She laughed with delight at the sight and Jenny, following her eyes, grinned too.
    When Frances had finished her tea Jenny showed her to her room. Although not a large room, it was attractive, and had its own bathroom and walk-in wardrobe. Flowers had been put in a bowl on the dressing table. Frances thanked Jenny who left her to change and unpack. It took Frances only a short time to slip out of her skirt and top and pull on an old pair of jeans with a cotton blouse. There was no need for any jacket as it was already quite hot.
    Together they went through the house. Next to her room was Jennifer and Rupe’s room, again with their own bathroom, then the boys’ rooms. Thad, the eldest, had his own room, but Ivan and Greg shared a room. As well, they had a large playroom. Two walls were lined with bookshelves which were littered with treasures dear to a boy’s heart. The boys, too, had their own shower and toilet. The hall formed itself into an entrance separating the bedrooms from the living area. The lounge was a peaceful room, ranch sliders wide open to catch any faint breeze from the garden. It was not very large, but space had been given to a formal dining area. The kitchen was a room Frances approved of immediately. It had been given additional space, so a large table formed a natural centre. The latest in cooking and freezing appliances ranged along two sides. The window above the bench looked out to a swimming pool. At one end a windshield had been built partially enclosing the pool.
    Frances loved the house. It was modern yet showed a simple dignity and warmth that reflected Jenny and Rupe more than they knew.
    Frances and Jenny went out into the side garden. It led straight to the pool glinting openly in the sunlight.
    ‘We love swimming,’ said Jenny. Since Rupe’s enclosed that end we can use the pool for much longer. As well it forms a reservoir in case we need it for firefighting.’
    They moved away from the water and walked towards the big garages. A large and a smaller wheeled tractor ranged up to the jeep. Frances had once been on a school trip to a farm and remembered having a tractor ride on that occasion. Seeing her hesitation, Jenny smiled and said she would show her; expertly she started the smaller of the two machines and the noisy splutter of its motor racketed in the still air. She reversed it on to the wide parking area, then signalled Frances to open the gate at the side. When she had driven it through Frances was shown the way to manoeuvre it. Then Jenny stood down