The Boys From Brokenback
 
At the height of production at the Brokenback Mine over two hundred men were employed. This novel - a sequel to ‘Brokenback’ - is a collection of short stories about these men, their working environment and their private lives.

Roger Scott is a young growing boy itching to follow his father into the mines, but fate intervenes forcing him to take the role of the breadwinner in the family and look after his mother and sisters before going underground. There’s Danny McQueen as a ten-year-old, who, along with his older siblings, demonstrated against the given rights of a company to mine coal in their own back yard. Rimfire Jones was a crack-shot on his father’s farm keeping the kangaroos and foxes under control. The mining industry welcomed him and, later, so did the war. There are other stories of men working underground - like Cliffy and Charlie: Cliffy had a good luck charm – a seven pound hammer. There’s the belt hand who didn’t like locomotive drivers; and an outsider, a union man from a government mine whose employees were out on strike. He was at Brokenback addressing a generous mine crew - as he called them - eager to pass around the hat and top-up the strike fund for his union members. There are humorous stories of the bricklayers: Whisper and Kendall; of ex-army Sergeant Harry Truman – now a deputy at the mine – and the tale of Dick Mason and his loveable greyhound, Molluballoy. Crib room discussions are frequent; some that couldn’t be repeated anywhere else but the underground.

Published May 27, 2017

Available as an e-book on Amazon and Smashwords.