Undara

by Annie Seaton

  ‘I saw that. You can be rude, Travis.’

  Joel piped up, ‘Emlyn’s really clever, Mum, and she knows a lot about the different universities.’

  Travis shot him a curious look. ‘And? What’s so good about that?’

  Joel shook his head. ‘Nothing. I was just saying how smart she was.’

  ‘If you’re going to make a go of this place the way things are, you need to be taking every opportunity that comes your way.’ Alison’s voice was cold, but Travis refused to be drawn.

  ‘I’m not going there again.’

  ‘I’m not talking about the gold mine. Look what they’re doing at Undara. They’ve got a multimillion-dollar business going over there.’

  It took a lot for Travis to snap, but talking about money always did it. They’d gone round and round the talk of money and accepting Carroglen’s offer in the days before Alison had left, but up until that time they’d always wanted the same outcome. When she’d taken Gavin’s side over that bloody gold mine, they had clashed.

  ‘It’s not all about money, Alison. We’ve got the history of the place to consider.’

  She stood, and her coffee sloshed onto the carpet, but she ignored it. ‘And that’s going to pay the bills and put food on the table and pay for the boys to go to university?’

  ‘Have I ever missed making one payment to you?’ His voice was clipped.

  ‘No, you know you haven’t, but that’s not the point.’

  ‘What is the point?’

  ‘Dead people. You can’t protect the history of a lump of land forever.’ She shook her head and her voice was loud. ‘I know why you love it. I feel the same about Mum and Dad’s place, but it’s time to move on. Life changes, Travis. And other things become more important than land. You can protect it so far, but not to the detriment of your family.’

  ‘When have I ever let this family down?’ This time his voice came out as a roar, and Cassie whimpered and buried her face in Alison’s skirt.

  ‘You don’t know the half of it, Travis.’

  Travis kneeled in front of Cassie and put his arms around her. His gut clenched when she lifted her small, tear-streaked face to look at him. ‘I’m sorry, sweetheart. Mummy and I were having a talk, and I got a bit loud.’ He looked to Alison for support.

  She brushed back Cassie’s curls. ‘Daddy’s right, Cass. We’re just having a grown-up talk.’

  ‘Go into the kitchen and the boys will make you a milkshake.’ Travis gestured to the kitchen, and Jase and Joel moved quickly, exchanging an uncomfortable glance.

  ‘With ice-creams?’ Cass said with a smile, her tears forgotten.

  When their three children went into the kitchen, Travis shut the door. He dragged his hand through his hair with frustration.

  Alison raised her eyebrows and nodded towards the closed door. ‘Does that mean more yelling?’

  ‘No. I’m sorry I lost it.’ He dropped onto the sofa and put his hand over his eyes. ‘What did you mean about university?’

  ‘Joel is desperate to go to uni after next year, and he’s terrified of telling you. He thinks we can’t afford it.’ She stood stiffly beside the coffee table.

  ‘We probably can’t afford to pay for a residential hall.’ Travis dropped his hands between his knees and leaned forwards.

  ‘It’s no more than the private school fees,’ Alison said.

  ‘I was counting on that money going back into the property. But if he wants to go, I’ll find a way.’

  ‘I’ve picked up more hours at the club. When the boys are home to mind Cass, I go in at five in the morning and clear the pokies and balance the tills. That will help.’

  Disgust curled in Travis’s chest that he couldn’t provide for his family. ‘Sometimes I think maybe I should have let that mine come onto the place.’

  ‘You can’t stop them; they will eventually. They took out a mining lease.’

  ‘What? How do you know that?’

  Alison wouldn’t meet his eye. She crossed to the window as a vehicle revved loudly, and then a door slammed. ‘I thought the boys said Gavin went to the coast?’

  ‘Joel did.’

  ‘Well, he’s come back.’ She shook her head and opened the door to the kitchen. ‘Cassie. Come on, we’re leaving. Now.’

  ‘I want my drink.’ Cass came out of the kitchen holding her sippy cup with both hands. Joel and Jase followed her.

  ‘I’ll make you another one at Aunty Maureen’s.’ Alison threw a hard look at Travis. ‘I’ll call you before I go home, and you can come over to see Cass. If it suits you.’

  ‘I thought Cass was staying here for a couple of nights even if you wouldn’t?’

  ‘I’ve changed my mind.’

  As she spoke, the door opened. Gavin walked in, his bag slung over his shoulder. He glanced over at them and his face flushed. ‘I was too tired to keep driving when I got to Greenvale.’

  Alison gave a rude huff. Exasperation filled Travis and he rubbed the back of his neck as he stood. He knew Gavin was lazy and unreliable, but he had a sweet nature. He’d always been kind to Alison. She had no reason to be rude to his brother, just because they’d had their own marital disagreement.

  She walked past the sofa without looking at Gavin.

  Travis’s chest tightened further. He picked up Cassie and held her close. ‘Give your dad a big smooch, sweetie.’

  Alison got her bag from the boys’ room and held the front door open for Travis. He frowned as she hurried down the steps ahead of him, but he carried Cass down.

  ‘Can you put her in the car seat, please.’ She threw her bag in the back of the small hatchback, and her face was set as she opened the door.

  Travis clenched his jaw as Cass started to cry. ‘Dadda.’

  He belted her into the toddler’s seat, closed the car door, then leaned towards the driver’s window. Alison looked up at him, her eyes wide in a pale face.

  ‘Look, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to pick a fight before,’ he said.

  She shook her head, put the car into gear and backed down the drive, narrowly missing Bits as he slunk out from under the house.

  Travis stared after the car as they disappeared around the bend, and the usual sense of loss lodged in his chest. He loved his little girl and he didn’t get to see her often. He’d made the mistake of saying that in front of Gavin one night, and his brother had suggested perhaps he should take legal action for more regular access. Maybe it was time to think about it now. Gavin must have said something to Alison; his interpersonal skills were sadly lacking.

  He hurried back up the steps and pushed open the door. ‘Joel, Jase. I have to talk to you. Gavin, you can come too.’

  ‘But—’

  ‘Gavin, for God’s sake, just this once without being like a whiny kid.’ Travis’s disappointment at Alison leaving fuelled his temper. ‘Just pull your weight around here. You know you could go on the books if I didn’t have to hire to make up for your slackness. I’ve already told you that.’ He turned to his sons. ‘There’s been an accident. We’ve got some dead beasts to bury.’

  ‘No!’ Jase’s cry pierced the air. ‘What happened?’

  ‘I’ll tell you later. Give me half an hour then I’ll meet you at the yards when I find Bluey.’

  Travis headed for the shed. ‘And the backhoe,’ he muttered to himself.

  CHAPTER

  10

  Travis strode down to the shed, and when he turned around after he checked he’d turned off the pump, he was surprised to see a figure silhouetted in the doorway behind him. For a moment he wondered who it was—he hadn’t heard any vehicles since Alison and Cassie had left—but then he realised it was Joel. It struck Travis how much the boys had grown this year; they were both almost as tall as he was, and they’d left Gavin behind. His temper had blown itself out and a hard core of sadness and frustration had settled in his chest.

  ‘What’s up, mate?’ he asked as he opened a new bag of dog food.

  Joel walked ov
er and bent down to pick up the bucket and the scoop. ‘I wanted to see if you were okay, Dad.’

  ‘Yeah, I’m fine, mate. I’m just angry with myself. We’ve lost stock because of a stupid mistake I made with the lick blocks.’ Travis reached out and took the scoop from his son, and half-filled the bucket. ‘And I’m sorry your mum and I had words in front of you.’

  Joel followed him quietly to the dog enclosure and watched as the dry kibble clanged into the metal feeding bowls. The look on his son’s face broke his heart. He looped his arm around Joel’s shoulder. ‘Come and sit down with me for a while.’

  They walked to the hay bales left over from the winterfeed, and he sat opposite Joel.

  ‘Mate, I’m sorry you’ve had to deal with all this. It hasn’t been a good time for the three of you growing up, either. That long train trip from Townsville every time you boys come home takes away a lot of your school-holiday time.’

  ‘We want to see you, Dad, and we want to be out on the station. This is still home, you know. And besides, now we’re almost in our last year of school. It’s not long and we’ll be home for good.’

  ‘True.’ Travis stared past his son and lowered his voice. ‘If your uncle would help out more …’

  ‘I hate him for leaving all the work for you.’ Joel’s voice shook. He jumped off the hay bale and walked across to the opening that looked out over the paddocks. ‘He’s a leech.’

  ‘That’s a bit harsh, son. Your uncle has always been lazy, and he can be selfish, but he’s still part of our family. I haven’t ever told you this, but you’re old enough to know now, and it might help you understand him a bit better. When my mum was having him, she was sick. Gav’s always been a bit different, hard to deal with. Our mum made me promise that I’d look out for him after she died, and I’ve honoured that promise. You’d do the same for Jase if you had to.’

  ‘So why won’t he help out more? It’s his place, too.’ Joel’s brow wrinkled in a frown.

  ‘Your grandmother left me in charge of the property in her will, and I think Uncle Gavin resents that in his own way. He was fine until a couple of years ago, and now it’s just as though he’s lost interest in the place. It seems his life is down in Townsville now.’

  ‘Well, he should move down there and leave us in peace.’

  Travis put his arm along Joel’s shoulder. ‘I know. But I do want you and Jase to know how much I appreciate how hard you work around the place.’ He leaned forwards and held Joel’s eye. ‘Now tell me about this university stuff.’

  Joel shook his head. ‘It doesn’t matter. I’m happy to come back here and work with you and Jase. I know Jase wants to stay here.’

  ‘When he finishes school?’

  Joel shook his head. ‘I’ll let him tell you.’

  Travis held back a sigh. What else could be thrown at him today? ‘But what do you want, mate? If you want to do something else, that’s fine by me.’

  ‘Really? You wouldn’t be upset?’ The hope in his son’s voice hit Travis in the gut like a fist. Why hadn’t he spent more time talking to his kids? Why had he let work and the property come between them? He barely knew Cassie, and he could see her behaviour needed checking. Everyone spoiled her.

  ‘Dad?’

  He looked up again. ‘Sorry, mate. I was miles away. Tell me what you want to do after school.’

  ‘One day I’d like to go to university and study history.’

  ‘I guess you’re more like me than you know. I was fascinated by the history of this place when I was growing up. I used to read everything I could get my hands on. It’s a shame the diaries are gone.’

  ‘What diaries?’ Joel asked.

  ‘They were in our old homestead that burned down. In your grandfather’s study—diaries, the household accounts, stories about the gold rush in the late 1800s. It was amazing stuff.’

  ‘I could do history at Townsville uni. I’d love to study some of the local records.’ Joel moved to sit beside him. ‘That wouldn’t cost as much. I could stay with Mum and Cass and I’d get a job at night. I’ll get my RSA ticket; there’s plenty of bar work going where Mum works. If you could just help me get set up, I could be independent pretty quickly.’

  ‘If that’s what you want, we’ll make it happen.’

  ‘Let’s wait and see how I do this year at school before we go making any plans.’ Joel laughed and leaned towards him. ‘Maybe I won’t get good enough marks and you’ll be stuck with me here.’

  ‘Never stuck with you, mate. But we’ll do our best to get you to uni.’ Travis swallowed when Joel enfolded him in a quick hug.

  ‘Oh, Dad. You don’t know what that means to me,’ he said, his voice thick. ‘Having your support is the best.’

  Travis patted his son’s back. Now all he had to do was figure out how he was going to support Joel at university. He had a year to get some funds together. If Joel stayed with Alison, and Jase came home to work, maybe it wouldn’t be as bad as he’d thought. But he still needed money to keep the property afloat.

  Maybe it was time to talk to Carroglen Gold again. The idea stuck in his throat like jagged glass.

  ‘Come on. We’ve got to go and get this job done.’

  * * *

  When Emlyn got back to the donga, she turned the air-conditioning on high and stretched out on her bed. The delivery was due soon, and the kitchen was ready. The drive in the heat out to the gate without water had taken its toll, and as well as a bad headache, her shoulder and arm were throbbing. For a moment, she considered taking one of the pills in her medicine bag. The cause was partly emotional, not just the drive and dehydration. Pills might ease it, but they wouldn’t help in the long run. She stared at the fly marks on the ceiling, trying to clear her mind. Being in the house with the Carlyle family—no matter how fractured they were—had been hard. Trying to conduct a conversation had been an effort.

  Emlyn knew what the problem was, but she wasn’t going to admit it.

  Even to herself.

  She sat up and pulled her laptop towards her. If she focused on work, she would settle and get this emotional stuff out of her head. She calmed as she immersed herself in a recent article about the discoveries in the lava tubes in Hawaii.

  The sound of a truck engine revving along the drive interrupted her work after a couple of hours. It would be the provisions delivery from Mt Surprise. She ran her hands through her hair and smoothed down her shirt before she slipped on her boots and opened the door.

  ‘Gawd, that bloody road’s a shocker now.’ The truck driver was a burly older man in a navy-blue singlet and khaki work shorts. ‘Never seen it like that before. I’ll have to have a word to Travis if you’re going to need more deliveries down here. It needs grading.’

  She nodded.

  ‘Blow me down, but I was glad to get here. Now, where do you want this unloaded, love?’

  Emlyn pointed out the main donga, and he backed the truck close to the steps.

  He climbed out and lifted his cap. ‘Sorry, love. Janet’s always getting into me for being rude. I’m Kev.’

  ‘Emlyn,’ she said quietly as he opened the back doors of the truck.

  Emlyn helped unload the items despite Kev’s assurance that he could do it. She left the heavy boxes for him.

  ‘So where are you from, Emlyn? Have you always lived in the big smoke?’ Before she could answer, he’d started talking again. She followed him, carrying the smaller bags of fruit and vegetables into the kitchen, and Kev hadn’t drawn breath.

  ‘Hard life up here. Since the livestock export stuff’s changed out of Karumba and the mines have come in. All our young blokes leave and chase the big money as soon as they’re out of nappies.’ He chuckled at his own joke. ‘Well, maybe when they leave high school. No love for the land anymore.’

  He hoisted a box of tinned food onto his shoulder and headed back inside. Emlyn picked up two more of the plastic shopping bags that were near the front of the hold. ‘But Travis’s two young blokes love th
e land, so he’ll be right. It’s his useless brother that makes it so hard for him. Have you met Gavin?’

  Emlyn nodded.

  ‘Well, that’s another story. He reminds me of that useless old Reg from Mt Garnet. Now, he moved here with …’

  By the time the truck was unloaded, Emlyn knew the history of most of the families between here and Mt Surprise.

  ‘Mind you,’ Kev said as he carried in the last box of meat. ‘We were all shocked when Alison upped and left after she had young Cassie. Broke Maureen’s heart, it did. Did I tell you she lives up the road from us?’

  Emlyn shook her head, bemused. ‘No.’ She managed to get one word in.

  ‘This meat’ll have to go straight in the freezer, love. But you never know, maybe she’s come back to stay this time. I saw her at Maureen’s last night. I think Travis would like that. We can always hope.’

  Emlyn nodded again as he collected the empty cartons.

  ‘Do you want me to stay and give you a hand to unpack the rest of the stuff? Not too heavy for a little thing like you?’ He looked at his watch and frowned. ‘I’m a bit short of time. That bloody rutted road held me up. By the time I get back, Janet’ll have me dinner on the table and I’ll be in the bad books. She told me to get a move on this morning. Hate to say it, but the damn woman’s always right. A man should learn to listen. Should be part of the marriage vows. If you ever get married, love, give the poor man a chance.’

  Emlyn’s head was buzzing. ‘No, no, it’s fine. I can unpack it. The others will be here soon. But thank you.’

  ‘Well I’ll be off, then. You make sure you ring if you need anything else, won’t you? My young bloke’s working here for Travis. He can bring down anything you need.’ He stood back and looked at her before he patted his paunch. ‘You need a good feed of Central Queensland beef.’ He chuckled. ‘That’ll put some meat on those bones of yours. Next time I come out, I’ll bring you some good scotch fillets.’

  ‘Um, thank you, I think.’ Emlyn couldn’t help smiling. She seemed to have been smiling more since she’d arrived here.

  Kev climbed into the cab and tooted the horn as he backed down the circular driveway, kicking up red dust as he left. Emlyn leaned on the door and watched as he drove out. Once the truck roared up the hill, peaceful quiet returned.