CBC - Origins

Egan  (by: pioneerwoman ©07/2005)

I lived in the high Alpine region on the border of New South Wales and Victoria. My mum and dad lived in the lower, more settled region running the large station they owned. Since I was the oldest son, I spent all but the winter months in the mountains tending to our cattle. One particular summer seemed to last forever. It was the year after the infamous creamy stallion dove off that cliff.

I hadn’t talked to anyone or even seen another person for what seemed like a very long time. I was running low on supplies—lower than I should’ve been. I always brought enough with me to last me for a season, but that year things were different and I was running out. So I saddled up Echo, put a lead on Golden—she had come back to me one stormy night that year, no sign of the foal—and Cody and I set out for town to stock up.

It was the strangest thing. The closer I got, the more unrecognizable my surroundings were. The places where I used to get supplies were gone and the buildings that were there were big and shiny and flashy. I remember looking around and trying to find hitching posts. I finally found a place that looked like a farm supply and tied the horses to a rail. I walked in and looked around and couldn’t believe my eyes.

I know I must’ve looked dazed and confused, because I was. Then this bloke came up to me and he looked familiar. I was trying to place him and he said to me, "Excuse me, mate, but are you Egan Cassidy?" I just nodded, still trying to figure out who this bloke was and what the bloody hell was going on.

He led me back outside and took me over to a bench to sit down. Then he said, "You don’t know me Mr. Cassidy, but I’m your brother, my name’s Terence Thorne." He started telling me this wild tale about how there’s a whole bunch of us Brothers and how he’s going all over trying to find us all and bring us to a place called Central where we can live ‘happily ever after’. It all sounded pretty far fetched, but I was looking around and didn’t see anything left of my life that I recognized so when he said I could bring the horses and Cody, I agreed to go with him.

Most of the Brothers were here by the time I arrived, so I got settled into a little place near the stable and got acquainted with Cort and East and started helping them with the horses.