Vocabulary

Claim: n. An assertion of a right.  

"And so Dad couldn’t do nothing except take Kellyanne out to the claim called Wyoming, where he had his drives."

Wobbling: v. Shaking. 

"The noise of a car drove into our ears and a four-wheel-drive police jeep came wobbling down the creamy red track that leads to our claim."

Startled: v. Be surprised.

"My dad turned around, startled."

Figment: n. some thing is not real and imaged by others 

"I walked over to where Pobby was supposed to be sitting and punched the air and kicked the air in the head to show Kellyanne that Pobby was a figment of her imaginings."

Rummaged: v. the event that's not real

"He rummaged through piles of rocks."

Ute: n. a kind of people from American Indian.

"Kellyanne watched him, making sure he helped them up into the cabin of the ute,"

Crackpot: n. some crazy people 

"Lightning Ridge was full of flaming crackpots as far as I could see."

Mello Yello: n. a kind of drink 

"I said, hiding my anger in a swig from my can of Mello Yello."

Mates: n. good friends 

“I still say Kellyanne could do with some real-live mates,”

Opal: n. a kind of stone which is very pretty

"My dad would come back from the opal mines covered in dust, his beard like the back end of a dog that’s shat all over its tail."

Fairdinkum: adj. kind of honest people 

“Fairdinkum?”

Imaginary: adj. something that is imaged 

"but I wasn’t crazy enough to talk to imaginary friends, I’ll tell you that for nothing."

Grub: n. Food. 

"She said they were quieter and better behaved than me and deserved the grub."

Fossilized: v. Change to be the stone 

"There’s rumours going that Lucky Jes has taken out a million-dollar stone and a fossilized mammoth tooth with sun-flash in it."

Mammoth: n. A kind of elephant which has long furs

"There’s rumours going that Lucky Jes has taken out a million-dollar stone and a fossilized mammoth tooth with sun-flash in it."