Linda King is someone who has come late to writing, at fifty years plus, a true novice. Until the CPIT part time creative writing courses (2010), she  had not written since junior high school in Sydney. After completing three terms at CPIT with Frankie and Kerrin, Linda  was encouraged to apply for the Hagley Writers’ course. Two years at Hagley enduring aftershocks and long hours at work as an assistant principal at a special school, produced a series of children’s short stories (2011) and the beginnings of an historical novel (2012). The piece featured is from chapter two of ‘Stebonheath’, based on a true story of the immigration of Sarah Plummer from England to Australia in 1857