Chapter 23
Christmas morning dawned clear and hot. The storm system was long gone and the northerly wind whipped everything into choking dust again. We were feeding out massive amounts of hay because all the grass had turned to short dry stubble. Despite the sweltering heat we kept up the ridiculous traditions of a snowy Christmas by preparing a huge roast complete with baked potatoes and mulled wine. The woolly stockings hanging from the wood heater and the fake snow sprayed on all the windows were totally out of sync with the scorched landscape, but for us the decorations just meant Christmas, not winter.
We had always celebrated Christmas by having lunch with Noah’s family, so after we finished all our morning chores we packed up all the presents, the food and one rambunctious joey, a
