Chapter V Summary

Quick is now sixteen, taller than his father, and melancholy, but a lover of the outdoors and fishing who spends much time on the river. He does not do well in school. At fourteen, Rose no longer braves the drunks to fetch her mother from the pub. Her brothers, Ted and Chub, are lazy and careless, and Rose keeps the house in order. By age sixteen, she starts to get alarmingly thin, and begins to despise her mother. Lester Lamb joins the band at the Anzac Club, for returned veterans, and is a big hit with his vaudeville act. Quick announces that he is leaving home to "go bush." Oriel protests, but the next day, Quick races out the door, bowling over Rose as he goes. Oriel decides to respond by driving a competing grocer named G.M. Clay out of...