The Haystack

Maggie torments the boy down the road, sets fire to the dunny, helps with half the district to build a haystack, and sees the tragedy of unemployment. Along the way, Maggie makes new friends, and receives kindness and help in learning what a girl needs to know.
Vintage Jack Lasenby tale set in Waharoa, the same town and Depression years as the setting for Old Drumble, and featuring some of the same characters. this time the protagonist is Maggie, a young girl being raised by her widowed father, with the help of the whole village. the whole of Waharoa is also banding together to beat the weather and bring in the harvest and build the haystack. Warm, witty, delightfully poignant story with fun, mischief, the burning down of a dunny, and ultimately a tragedy as seen through the eyes of a child.