November 1854- Ballarat goldfields, Victoria

Mattie-Jane-
I sighed to myself as I walked aimlessly around the goldfields, nodding to miners who were up at the crack of dawn. I'm nineteen years old, my parents say I should be getting married and having children of my own. I stumble back a bit "oh I'm quite sorry" I looked up at the young man who bumped into me , he had piercing blue eyes, a boyish smile gracing his thin, pale lips and sandy coloured hair. "Nonsense it was my fault, I should apologise. I was in my own little world again" I scolded myself "it was my fault, do not argue with me. As an apology let me walk you around you the goldfields" he smiled at me, extending his arm to me, I linked my arm around his and smiled "I'm Mattie-Jane" "I'm Benjamin Hall" he smiled and started walking.

We walked all around then goldfields, I pointed out some of the main sights such as the corner store, the church and the tent where you pay for your gold license.

"Young lady! I've been worried sick, both your mother and I!" My father scolded me, grabbing my arm and pulling me away from Benjamin "I've been walking around seeing what the diggers have been doing, father." I replied calmly "and who is this..?" He replied sternly,eyeing Benjamin up and down "Benjamin Hall, sir" "what are you doing with this..with this Animal..?" "Father!.." I scolded "how dare you, Benjamin is quite the educated lad, you know." "Oh is he now..?" "Yes, sir. I am" Benjamin replied with a small smile playing at his thin lips. Dad huffed in annoyance and stormed off in the other direction "is he always like this..?" Ben looked over at me "yeah, sometimes he does a lot worse" I mumbled "he hits you..?" "Oh yes many times." "How could someone ever do that to their own daughter.?! When I have kids of my own, I would never lay a finger on them! Only if they have something really, really bad.!" Benjamin said with his fists clenched at his sides. "Come now,Benjamin it does not matter. Shall we continue our walk, I have some miners you should meet" I smiled up at him, before linking my Arm around his and walking towards the miner's tents.

A/N-
Hello! This is my first Australian story. If you do not know what or who some of the people and places are I will post a glossary below:-

Benjamin Hall-
Ben Hall (9 May 1837 - 5 May 1865) was an Australian bushranger of the 19th century. He and his various companions roamed an area of NSW from Bathurst to Forbes, south to Gundagai and east to Goulburn. He was known as "Brave Ben Hall" and has become part of Australian folklore.

Mattie-Jane-
Purely a fictional character of my creation.

Ballarat-
A Victorian town, which the Eureka stockade occurred in 1854. One of the big gold-rush towns In Victoria.

Eureka stockade-
The Eureka rebellion, which is often referred to as the 'Eureka Stockade', is a key event in the development of Australian democracy and Australian identity, with some people arguing that Australian democracy was born at Eureka. The rebellion came about because the goldfield workers (known as 'diggers') opposed the government miners' licences.

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Georgia
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