‘We had that at Rathgarven.’
‘But we don’t have Rathgarven any more, do we? Anyway, I’m going to go ring Deb and tell her what’s happened. I think she’ll be really pleased that we’re staying here. You’d like her. She’s good fun. I don’t like her as much as Sheelagh yet. But at least she’s a friend. Someone to talk to who’s not crabby like you often are.’
With that, she patted Dingo on the head, got up and went inside, leaving her brother sitting on the verandah. As she walked towards the phone she was excited. They mightn’t be able to go back to Rathgarven, but at least now the family had a place to live. And Eureka Park did sound quite nice.
* * *
Ronan watched Lillie go inside. When his father was to be a partner with Uncle Finn, he had held onto the hope that once they made a bit of money they would all return to Ireland and buy another place. That was unlikely now. He still found it strange to be living in a different land. Much as he tried not to, at times he still hankered for Ireland and the school friends he had left behind. And at times he felt a bit like a square peg in a round hole at school here.
After one boy took to him on the rugby field trying to knock his teeth out and called him a goddamn paddy he soon worked out, after giving the fellow a piece of his mind, that if he spoke with an Aussie accent he would fit in better. So he started speaking with a twang when he was at school. He found that helped. There were a couple of Italian boys and two Greeks, but they’d been there since they were kids so spoke with broad Australian accents and seemed to get less hassle.
But it wasn’t all bad. He and Dave had quickly become good friends, and Dave often stood up for Ronan if he was in a scrape. Ronan repaid him by taking a lashing with the leather strap for the cigarettes found in Dave’s school satchel, telling the head brother he had put them there. If it had been proved that Dave had cigarettes he would have been expelled, as it was a third offence. At the Thompsons’ place they hung out listening to records or throwing a ball around in the back garden, or they might wander down to town to get an ice cream or milkshake at Fitzroy’s milk bar. Mrs Thompson even made him a cake for his seventeenth birthday, which his family celebrated the next weekend with a picnic to a swimming hole along Quirindi Creek.
Just yesterday Dave asked Ronan to come out to his uncle’s sheep and cattle property in a couple of weeks’ time.
‘He needs some help mustering the sheep and branding the cattle. Would be good if you could come. I’ll show you what to do.’
Ronan looked forward to that. When he left school he thought he’d like to study something to do with the land. Now, as it turned out, the O’Sullivans would have their own property here in New South Wales. What would Clara make of that? He touched his side pocket where Clara’s latest letter rested.
Are they being nice, or absolutely ghastly to you at that school? And is the family you’re staying with still treating you well?
In Australia he felt so remote from her. Clara had her life in London. And with Uncle Finn leaving them Eureka Park, it seemed more than ever that Ronan had his life mapped out for him here in Australia. Ronan had seen Uncle Finn drunk on a few occasions, but he’d always seemed a happy drunk, singing at the top of his voice and playing the harp. To think he’d become so gloomy as to actually kill himself made Ronan very sad.
And now they were going to go and live in his house, run his stud and virtually take over his life. It was such a peculiar situation that it took a bit of getting used to. For a moment he sat there, playing with Dingo’s ears.
‘Now you can come back to your home at Eureka Park,’ he said to the dog. ‘How about that, my friend?’ When Dingo looked up at him, wagged his tail and licked his hand, it was almost as though he understood.
Ronan took out Clara’s letter. Although it was a bright, breezy letter, reading it again Ronan worried that she was holding something back. She didn’t even mention what she was doing outside of school. What she did say was that her mother had come back to England again and was renting in the centre of London, which she thought was terrifically expensive and she didn’t know how she could possibly afford it.
She and Phillip seem really unhappy, so that’s probably why she’s back here. But God knows who’s paying Mummy’s rent. Maybe she’s got a rich lover hidden away somewhere. Wouldn’t put it past the old girl!
Ronan folded the letter up and went inside to his bedroom, where he placed Clara’s letter in the top drawer of the chest, alongside her other letters. And as he did, he too wondered who was paying Jessica’s rent. Surely she was a bit old to have a rich lover supporting her? Then again, knowing Jessica, maybe she wasn’t.
The next weekend Ronan went with his father to take a few things out to Eureka Park and have a look around. Although it would be a while before Uncle Finn’s will would be settled, the lawyer had arranged for the family to take possession. It felt both odd and sad to be walking around a dead man’s home. But Ronan had to admit, although the place had been let go, it was certainly a good parcel of land. Ma and Dad had been right — the homestead was in a great spot overlooking the river. He could imagine catching a few fish there quite easily. Although it was nothing like Rathgarven at all, he could see the family living there. But they sure would need the twenty thousand pounds Uncle Finn had left them to get it up to scratch.
PART THREE
Eureka Park November 1963 to December 1966
CHAPTER
18
Goodness, not more bottles, Kathleen thought to herself as she came across three more empty whisky bottles in Eureka Park’s pantry. The pantry was the last room she had to tackle. Since the crack of dawn she and Lillie had scrubbed the floors, knocked down spiderwebs, swept up mouse droppings, shaken and washed the curtains, polished the furniture and taken the rugs outside and beaten the accumulated dust out of them. They’d also cleaned out the cupboards and the fridge, which was crawling with maggots. James was meanwhile tackling the sheds and the garden.
‘Yuk, Ma … It looks as though Uncle Finn hasn’t cleaned the place for years. Probably not since Mrs Malone left,’ Lillie said as she carried another load of rubbish out to the bonfire James had made near the sheds.
‘Maybe he’d been going to get someone in to do it before we arrived. And … well, it all became too much for him.’
‘And then he started drinking like he did.’
‘Yes.’ Kathleen sighed, as she brought in the curtains to put them back up. ‘I can’t believe how much dust came out of these. I don’t think they could’ve been aired in years.’
‘Why don’t we have a break after I get rid of this rubbish? Then I’ll help you put them back up. Lucky, lucky Ronan is all I can say, missing out on all of this.’
‘He’ll have to do his share when he gets here on the weekend.’
‘And Marcus should be helping.’
‘I know, but quite frankly, darling, I’m happy to have him and Freddie out of the way down by the river.’
Kathleen slumped into one of the old armchairs on the verandah. James had wanted to take them to the tip, but Kathleen had said she would cover them in canvas and they would do just fine. She gazed out over the garden, which she was looking forward to getting under control. Was this spot where Finn had sat, nursing a whisky and deciding to leave all he owned to the O’Sullivans? What had been going through his mind when he made that decision? Surely by that stage he must have had a premonition of what he might do to himself if he couldn’t overcome his demons. Kathleen felt tears fill her eyes and she lifted her hand to wipe them away. When he was at Rathgarven Finn hadn’t been drinking at all that Kathleen was aware of. Or had he been drinking in Dublin before he came down to Rathgarven and they didn’t know? Even when he went to Hannigan’s Pub in Killarney with James, James told her he only had a bottle of ginger beer. She patted the wooden arm of the chair fondly. The hardest thing she and James had had to do was going through Finn’s belongings. Keeping some things, throwing others out. She could have crie
d when James held up one of Finn’s jackets.
‘I was with him when he bought this Donegal tweed at Brown Thomas,’ he said. ‘He must’ve had it for twenty-odd years.’
‘Will it fit you?’
‘I’m not sure. I’ll try it on later.’
Kathleen doubted he ever would, but it could remain in his wardrobe as a reminder of his friend.
Now James came up to the verandah and slumped down in the other chair. He put a hand out to her. ‘You must be exhausted. You and Lillie are doing a great job.’
‘It was certainly a mess. But at this rate we’ll soon have it in order.’ She nodded towards the neglected grounds. ‘And we’ll have that garden in order before we know it with the flowerbeds a riot of violets and petunias.’
James smiled. ‘We certainly will. Paddy will be proud of us.’
‘Poor Maisie would’ve had kittens if she’d seen the inside before we got stuck into it.’
When Kathleen had first seen the state of the interior of the homestead, she’d had grave doubts whether they could ever clean it up. The smell of rotting food was horrendous and the flies had found a hole in the flyscreen in the open living room window. The sound of their buzzing was like a lawnmower running at full throttle. Even so, today she and Lillie had started to make headway, and she was beginning to see what a lovely family home it would make.
‘Thank you, darling,’ she said as Lillie came out carrying three glasses of water. ‘Dad was saying what a great job you’re doing.’
Lillie sat down on the edge of the verandah, cradling her glass. ‘Although parts are yukky yuk … like the fridge, it’s quite fun seeing it come to life.’
Kathleen had to agree. Later, when they had hung the curtains in the living room, Kathleen and Lillie went to see how Marcus and Freddie were getting on and were greeted by Dingo, who shook himself all over them before scuttling off down the bank again.
‘Thanks a lot, Dingo,’ Lillie cried. ‘Now I’m soaked.’
Kathleen smiled and gazed down on the water, which was the colour of a field of ripe corn in the late-afternoon light.
At that moment Freddie came rushing up the bank, screaming and holding onto his head. ‘That horrid black and white bird’s chasing me. It tried to fly off with my hair.’
Sure enough, a magpie was chasing him and diving onto his head.
‘You must’ve gone near its nest,’ Lillie admonished him. ‘Deb said they do that if you disturb them. They think you’re going to steal their young.’
‘Well how the billyo was I supposed to know there was a nest? It’s not as though there was a signpost.’
Kathleen and Lillie burst out laughing and scrambled down to the river where Marcus was throwing sticks for Dingo to retrieve.
* * *
Kathleen and James decided on bedrooms: Lillie would have the room out the back, off the verandah. At the other end of the verandah would be Ronan’s room. Marcus and Freddie would have the one in the middle of the house and James and Kathleen took the lovely bedroom at the front, which had a window seat looking out onto the garden. The manager’s cottage would be a sort of sleep-out for guests. That’s if we ever have any, Kathleen thought.
That night, when Ronan had returned from the Thompsons for the weekend, they all sat around the pine table in the kitchen with the fuel stove in the corner now alight. They had managed to get the fridge going first thing that morning, and now James opened it and got out a bottle of Hunter Valley riesling. Kathleen knew he’d been saving it for this occasion, when they were all gathered together at last in their new home. He poured the wine into two glasses and gave one to Kathleen.
‘To our new home,’ he said, holding his glass in the air. ‘We may have a few hard times ahead, but here’s to our future at Eureka Park.’
‘Hear, hear,’ the children and Kathleen chorused.
‘And,’ James added, ‘to our dear friend Finn, who has given us so much to be thankful for. And a huge thank you to the Hogans, who came to our rescue.’
‘Mrs Hogan looked really well when they came back yesterday,’ Lillie said.
‘I think they thought we’d done a good job looking after the hotel,’ Kathleen added. ‘Particularly your father.’ She laughed, eyeing James. ‘Mrs Hogan said the locals will miss you no end.’
‘There were some real characters there. It was a great way to get to know the place. As old Joe, who held up the bar most evenings, would say, “I wouldn’t have missed it for quids, mate”.’
Kathleen smiled, and as she looked around at the children she had a warm feeling inside. Life had not turned out as she had imagined it would, but at least now they had a chance to look forward to a future. Even though that future would not include Finn Malone, at least the O’Sullivans could try to do justice to the wonderful thing he had done for them in leaving them Eureka Park. Not to mention the twenty thousand pounds to put into it and tide them over until they started to make an income of their own. She had no illusions that it’d be an easy run. Still, as James had said, if they all knuckled down and got stuck into their new life, surely they would make a success of it, and Finn would be proud of them.
CHAPTER
19
When James got in touch with Brian Medlow, Finn’s friend who had been looking after the horses, he was relieved to hear his friendly manner down the phone.
‘Good to hear from you, mate,’ he said in a slow Australian drawl. ‘I’ve been away in New Zealand looking at a couple of mares, otherwise I would’ve come to Malone’s funeral. He was a good bloke. I was more than happy to help him out with his horses, I’ve got more feed down here than I know what to do with. He’d sold most of his yearlings, so there’s only fifteen horses all up down here, plus the stallion.’ There was a pause down the line. ‘So the bugger left you Eureka Park, eh.’ James heard the chuckle in his voice. ‘Have you any idea how to run a horse stud, mate?’
‘I’ve had a lot to do with horses. Not so much with racehorses. Mostly hunters. I’ve got a young local fellow starting with me next week, recommended by one of the sheep farmers who’s a regular at the Telegraph. He said the fellow has had plenty to do with horses and is a good worker. I spoke to him on the telephone and he seems keen enough. He’s picking fruit down in Victoria at present. Said he’d be able to get up here next week.’
‘Well, how about coming on down here for a couple of days before he arrives? You can see how we run the place. I might be able to give you a few hints. Then we can load up the horses and get them back up to Eureka. Malone left his float here. The stallion’s a fine-looking beast. Believe he’s sired a few good foals that are causing a bit of a stir around the place. And a couple of the mares are in foal. So you’ll be kept busy.’
When James got off the phone and told her what Brian had said, Kathleen said he should take up his offer.
‘It’ll be a great way for you to learn the ropes. We’ll be fine. Lillie will be here to help me.’
* * *
Two days later, when James had finally managed to crank Finn’s truck into life, he drove down to the Medlow Stud. A group of whitewashed stables sat next to a two-storey brick building, presumably the house. Everything was set back from the road behind a thick row of poplars. Driving up the avenue James thought the land looked rich and fertile and he could see a sizeable racetrack running around the outside of the paddocks, which were enclosed by post-and-rail fences.
‘G’day,’ Brian Medlow said when James found him with a couple of strappers outside the stables. Over six feet tall, he was thickset with greying hair and a wide smile that revealed slightly crooked teeth. He was wearing what James now realised was more or less the uniform of men on the land in New South Wales: a wide-brimmed felt hat, checked shirt, V-neck jumper and moleskin trousers, though Brian’s were more spattered with mud than most. He put down the shovel he was using to unblock a drain and held out a roughened hand. It was obvious he did his fair share of the hard work around the place.
‘Come
on inside,’ Brian said, indicating a doorway at the side of the building. ‘I’ve got a kettle in there. I’ll make us a cuppa.’
As they sat at a laminex table sipping tea from enamel mugs, Brian told James how he had bought four hundred acres twenty years before and set it up as a stud. He pointed out the window to the two-storey white brick building set in a lush garden surrounded by tall trees. ‘Built the family home with my own two hands and the help of a couple of local brickies.’ He grinned. ‘I managed to snaffle the land next door not long ago. That’s why I’m a bit under-stocked at present and was able to help Malone out.’ He paused, crinkling his brow. ‘You knew him a long time, eh?’
James nodded. ‘Since we were at school in Dublin together.’ He took out his pipe and fiddled with the bowl. ‘You mind if I smoke?’
‘Go for it, mate. I’m not a smoker myself. If I was I reckon it’d be the pipe. Now, come and I’ll show you around. Maybe I can pass on a few tips. First let’s go on down and have a look at Malone’s horses. I got Joe, my head bloke, to put them all in the bottom paddock. Apart from the stallion, Caesar. I’ve got him held up in the yard out the back of here. Malone had a couple more stallions and he sold them off last spring. But this one’s a bloke you wouldn’t want to get rid of. In fact, why don’t we start there? Then go on down to the others.’
James thought the stallion was indeed a fine-looking beast. As black as the ace of spades, he stood about 15.3 hands with a powerful shoulder and hip. And when he moved, James could see he had an impressive gait.
‘Wouldn’t mind that bloke myself,’ Brian said. ‘If you’ve no objection I might send a couple of my mares over to Eureka for him to service a bit later on when they come in season.’
The Homestead on the River Page 18