Berry wrinkled her nose. ‘I know what you mean. It looks very different from when I arrived. Transformed.’
Uncle Dave walked up behind her and laid his hand on her shoulder. ‘It looks great, Berry. I hardly recognise the place—and that’s a good thing.’
Berry turned her head towards her uncle. ‘I know,’ she said.
Tom wandered into the room. ‘It’s bright, and if you look that way, it has a nice view of the paddocks.’
Berry gave her brother a smile. ‘It does, doesn’t it? Come on, I’ll show you the rest.’
After a tour around the house, Berry led everyone down the steps and into the back yard. There was an awful lot she still didn’t remember from when she was a child, but the memory of her riding her brand new bike around the old clothesline had never dimmed. Sometimes when she lay in bed and closed her eyes, desperately trying to recall her mum’s voice, that was the image which always surfaced. This spot was still one of the hardest places to face. But now, looking at her family, she pushed the memory aside.
‘So, Uncle Dave, are you staying tonight or going back home?’ she asked.
‘We’re going to stay,’ he answered with a nod. ‘I rang the lady at the Cumquat B&B and she said she’d be happy to have us.’
‘Andrea’s the best. I don’t know what I would have done without her,’ Berry said as she pointed down towards the sheds. ‘She even lent me her ute so I could drag all that rubbish to the tip.’
‘You know, I don’t want to sound whiney,’ Tom said as he sidled up next to his sister, ‘but is there anywhere we can get something to eat? I’m starving.’
Uncle Dave let out something that sounded like a cross between a chuckle and a snort. ‘Tommy, you had breakfast and we stopped for food on the way—how can you possibly be that hungry already?’
‘Starving,’ Tom said with a grin.
‘Well, I’m sure I can find you something,’ Berry said. ‘Although, it’s probably going to have to be a snack—the general store’s the only option. The Queen’s Arms does counter meals but only at night.’
Tom looked a little disappointed. ‘There’s really nothing here, is there?’
Jessica gave his shoulder a nudge. ‘Yeah, let’s condemn the entire place because Tommy can’t get a drive thru,’ she said and rolled her eyes.
‘Geez, Jess, can you get any more salty?’ Tom asked as he wrinkled his nose. ‘Besides, you’ve been through the place, there really isn’t anything there. We’re out in the middle of nowhere with nothing to do.’
Uncle Dave let out a low chuckle. ‘Sounds like someone has a touch of culture shock. You’d better give your brother a moment. I guess it’s my fault anyway; it’s not like we’ve ventured into the country often.’
‘But there really isn’t anything here except for one half-empty shop, a handful of houses and a shitload of trees.’
‘Hey, watch your language,’ Uncle Dave said with a shake of his head. ‘You’re not with your mates now.’
Berry slung her arm around Tom. ‘It’s not as convenient as where we live but I’m sure there are pretty much the same things here, you might just have to travel a bit to reach them. Besides, I bet there’s a whole lot of stuff you can do here that you can’t do in Melbourne.’
‘Yeah, like what?’
Berry opened her mouth to answer but got distracted by a ute turning into the drive.
‘Who’s that?’ Jessica asked.
Berry raised her hand and shielded her eyes from the sunlight. ‘I do believe it’s our neighbour, Nate Tarant.’
The ute swung in and parked next to Uncle Dave’s car. As soon as the door opened, Berry saw Nate’s sandy blond hair as he stood up.
Jess gave her a gentle nudge in the ribs. ‘No wonder you’re lingering in Harlington.’
‘Oh, shut up,’ Berry whispered back. ‘I hardly know him.’
‘Sure,’ Jess said with a smile. ‘You just keep telling yourself that.’
Nate walked over, his two sisters following in his wake.
‘Hi Berry. I guess we should have given you a ring earlier,’ he said.
Berry shook her head. ‘It’s fine. Uncle Dave, this is Nate Tarant and his sisters Lia and Em. They live up the road from here.’
Uncle Dave shook Nate’s outstretched hand. ‘Ah, yes, I remember. It’s a horse stud, Tarant … um, Tarantale Downs, is that right?’
‘Yes, I’m amazed that you’d remember.’
‘I met your dad a few times, back in the day,’ Uncle Dave explained.
‘Nate, this is my sister, Jess, and my baby brother, Tom,’ Berry said as she gestured to her siblings.
‘Berry,’ Tom hissed under his breath before reaching out and shaking Nate’s hand, while his gaze was drawn to Lia and Em, who were both staring back at him with interest. ‘Hi, I’m Berenice’s younger brother.’
‘Nice to meet you all,’ Nate said. ‘Look, Berry, I’m sorry, we didn’t mean to interrupt. We’ll take off.’
‘It’s okay, you’re not interrupting. My family decided to surprise me but that doesn’t mean you have to leave.’
Nate seemed to relax a little. ‘Um, well, the girls and I just thought we’d drop by to see if you were up for a picnic? Last time we were here we talked about going over to the island in the dam.’
Berry smiled. ‘We did, didn’t we?’
‘We’ve packed plenty of food—there’s enough for everyone,’ Lia chimed in.
‘That would be lovely but I have to go to the tip,’ Berry said. ‘I’ve borrowed Andrea’s ute and I have to get it back to her.’
‘I can do that,’ Uncle Dave said before adding, ‘but you’ll have to tell me where to go.’
‘Are you sure?’ Berry asked.
‘Of course. I think I’m capable enough to drag a load of rubbish to the tip,’ he said with a shrug. ‘Besides, afterwards I’ll swing by the Cumquat, return the ute and get everything set for the night.’
‘That would be great, if you don’t mind.’
‘Good, it’s settled, then.’ He reached into his pocket, grabbed his car keys and handed them to Berry. ‘Here, swap keys and I’ll see you later.’
‘But don’t you want to stay and eat with us?’ Berry asked.
Uncle Dave gave her a wink. ‘Oh, I think you’ll have much more fun without me,’ he said before he gave a wave and walked towards the old sheds.
Berry turned to Jess. ‘What’s got into him? I mean, he seems almost relaxed.’
‘Weird. Maybe it’s the country air.’
Chapter Eighteen
‘Look, I’m sorry I didn’t organise this with you. I should have thought it through and not put you on the spot,’ Nate said as he fell into step next to Berry.
She turned her head and smiled. ‘It’s all right, really. Besides, you know I always wanted to check out the island.’ Berry looked over her shoulder and saw Tom and Lia carrying an inflatable kayak between them. ‘Are we going to all fit in that?’
Nate grinned and shook his head. ‘Nope, we’ll have to take at least a couple of trips but it’ll be fine.’
‘Well, I guess I’m going to have to trust you on that,’ she said.
‘You can you know—I’m trustworthy,’ he answered with a wink.
Berry kept walking down the narrow track towards the dam and desperately tried to ignore the sudden flash of heat in her cheeks. She took a breath and mentally tried to pull herself together. Out of the corner of her eye she swore that she saw Jess smirking—so much for her sister having her back.
‘What did you pack in here?’ she asked, holding up the basket she was carrying. ‘Everything including the kitchen sink?’
‘No, just the stuff we needed for a picnic,’ Nate replied. ‘I may have gone a little overboard, but I wanted to make sure we had enough to eat.’
‘Well, it feels as if we’d have enough to feed half the town.’
‘Point taken—next time you can pack the lunch,’ Nate said as he reached down and took h
old of the basket handle, causing another wave of heat as Berry’s fingers tingled at his touch.
Berry shook her head. ‘Thanks, but I can manage.’
‘Come on, then,’ Nate said with a smile.
There was a collective sigh of relief when they finally made it to the old wooden jetty that poked over the deep waters of the dam. They sank down on the rough boards and caught their breath.
‘It looks deep,’ Tom said.
‘I guess,’ Berry replied. ‘Not that I know anything about dams.’
Nate chuckled. ‘I’m not sure about the depth exactly—all I can tell you is that as far as I know it doesn’t dry out in summer.’
Jess put her hand up to shield her eyes from the sun as she looked across to the island. ‘So, the only way over is by boat?’
‘Sure is,’ Em answered. ‘Who’s going first?’
‘I’ll take Berry, Jess and the food over first and then come back and get you guys,’ Nate said.
‘That’s a lot of rowing,’ Berry said as she glanced across the water in an attempt to work out just how far it was.
‘Nah, it’s fine. Besides, Lia and Em can row us all back later.’
‘Way to volunteer us,’ Em said. But before she could say anything else Lia piped up, ‘That’s fine. Tom and I can row back later.’
Tom gave her an apologetic smile. ‘Um, I’ve never done that before.’
‘It’s okay, it’s easy. I’ll teach you. I’ve been mucking about in boats ever since I was little,’ Lia reassured him as she ignored her sister’s surprised look. ‘Really, there’s nothing to it.’
‘Well, come on, then—this food isn’t going to eat itself,’ Nate said as he walked over to the discarded dingy.
It didn’t take long before Berry found herself skimming over the water towards the island. There was something incredibly pleasant about being in a boat, lulled by the rhythmic sound of the paddles hitting the water. She couldn’t help but smile as the crisp breeze tugged at her hair. She tore her gaze from the nearing shore and smiled at Nate. ‘It looks smaller than I remember.’
‘Time will do that,’ he said as he rowed.
‘True,’ Berry answered as she looked back to the island. It appeared wilder than she remembered too, which was no surprise after so many years of neglect. There were a couple of weeping willows growing close together near the water’s edge, their bare branches hanging over the surface. Berry could only imagine what they would look like when their leaves returned. Aside from the willows, there was a gum tree in the centre of the island, then only rocks, reeds and a tangle of undergrowth as far as Berry could see.
‘Nate, I was just thinking,’ she said, ‘no one’s been over here in years. There might not be anywhere for us to set up a picnic.’
‘Well, we’ll soon find out. If it’s too overgrown, we’ll just eat on the jetty,’ he said before adding, ‘I probably should have checked that out first.’
‘No, it’s fine,’ Jess said, nudging Berry’s leg, which she chose to ignore. ‘I’m just enjoying the ride—aren’t you, Berry?’
Berry nodded to her sister. ‘Yes, I never realised how relaxing this is.’
‘Glad you both like it,’ Nate answered with a grin.
After a few minutes the boat skimmed into the shallow water at the base of the island. Berry looked over the side of the boat and saw a bed of pebbles beneath the water. There was a small flat area that mainly consisted of rocks and a couple of large boulders. From what she could see there was little vegetation on this part of the island, other than a few straggling weeds growing around the base of the larger rock.
Nate jumped out, turned around and held his hand out towards Berry. As their hands touched, a now-familiar warmth travelled up her arm. With it came a picture of Nate edging closer and wrapping her in his arms. Berry shook her head as if to dispel her imaginings and the flush of heat that engulfed her body like a tidal wave.
‘Thanks,’ she said as she quickly stepped from the boat, but when she lost her footing and lunged forwards, Nate reached out and steadied her.
‘Are you okay?’
Berry nodded as she righted herself. ‘Yeah, I’m fine, thanks,’ she mumbled.
‘I guess we’d better watch out. It doesn’t look like anyone has been here for a long time,’ Nate said as he let her go.
‘Who would come here? I mean, it’s private property,’ Jess asked as she got out of the boat by herself.
‘That wouldn’t stop some people,’ Nate replied. ‘Besides, it was a well-known fact that your dad stocked this dam with trout. I’m not saying it’s right, but I’d bet my last dollar that you’ve had more than one trespasser over the years.’
Berry glanced around the area to where the island sloped up from where they were standing.
‘That’s a track, isn’t it?’ she said as she pointed to it.
Nate looked in that direction. ‘Looks like it, though it’s pretty overgrown.’
Berry started towards it. ‘Come on, let’s check it out.’
‘When you guys were little, did you ever come over here?’ Nate asked as he walked behind Berry.
Berry thought for a moment. ‘We did, but not very often. Mum didn’t think it was a good idea for the two of us to come here by ourselves.’
Jess let out a laugh. ‘You mean you don’t remember the trouble we got in when we snuck over here and Mum found out? It’s funny, you know—being balled out is one of the strongest memories I have.’
Berry turned and looked at her sister. ‘When did that happen?’
‘It must have been the last summer we were here, maybe soon after Christmas. We snuck into the shed and borrowed the little wooden canoe and rowed it over here.’
‘Actually, now you mention it, I do remember taking the boat.’
‘But not the trouble we got into as soon as we got back to shore.’ Jess stopped and pointed to Tom and the girls on the jetty. ‘Mum was standing over there waiting for us so she could read the riot act.’
Berry shrugged. ‘I can’t remember her telling us off at all.’
‘From what I can remember, she generally didn’t. But that day was a whole other thing,’ Jess said. ‘We must have given her a fright or something because she was so cross. I don’t know, I just remember her going off about the leaky boat and being responsible enough to do what we were told.’
‘Hang on—were we banned from coming down here?’ Berry asked as she wrinkled her nose. ‘I think I remember something about that.’
Jess’s laugh ended in a sigh. ‘Hell yes, we were banned from swimming in the dam all summer and we weren’t allowed to go any further than the back yard. You know, there’s a lot that I don’t remember from when we lived here but that is burned into my memory.’
‘It sounds as if she was worried about you, rather than angry,’ Nate said. ‘Boats can be tricky and if you were only little … well …’
Jess blew out a breath as she stared back to the shoreline. ‘Yeah, I kind of get that as well. All my other memories—and I’m the first to admit I don’t have that many—but in the rest, Mum’s always kind and quietly spoken. Guess we must have really frightened her.’
‘Sounds like it,’ Berry said, but at the same time wondered what had really happened; it seemed so out of character from the mother she remembered and kept in her heart. ‘Come on,’ she said, in an attempt to shift the melancholic mood that had settled over them. ‘Let’s find somewhere to have this picnic, so Nate can go back and get the others.’
Jess gave her brother a wave. ‘Yeah, I’m sure they’re anxious to come over.’
‘And I have to tell you that my sisters aren’t that great when it comes to waiting,’ Nate added.
‘Right, then, let’s see where this track takes us,’ Berry said.
Just over the rise there was a clearing that was sheltered by several wattle trees.
‘This is it,’ Jess said as she pointed to the spot.
‘Yep, I reckon that’ll work,�
� Nate replied.
‘Perfect,’ Berry said. ‘It’s perfect.’
Chapter Nineteen
Somewhere down Folly’s Track, 1906
Neddy had been walking for a while but he wasn’t worried. The bunny disappeared every now and again, but he was still able to follow it. The rabbit didn’t seem scared at all but rather to be enjoying a slow ramble in the summer sun just as much as Neddy.
They had been following the dusty track down the hill, further away from the cottage as well as from Harlington.
Neddy stopped for a moment and looked behind him. He wasn’t that far from home and for an instant he wondered if he should turn around and go back. His father would be coming home soon, as well as his brothers.
But when he thought about it, he grew annoyed all over again. Why his brothers had to be so mean sometimes was beyond him.
‘Don’t see why I couldn’t have gone swimming too,’ he said quietly to the rabbit. ‘It’s not fair.’
The rabbit looked up from the piece of grass it was nibbling, but it didn’t look particularly concerned by Neddy’s plight.
He briefly debated about turning around and going home. But Mam was busy with the baby and supper would be ages away, so perhaps he still had a bit of time. Neddy took a step towards the bunny. He wished it would stop hopping away; he really wanted to pat the rabbit and keep it as his friend.
As soon as the rabbit sensed his approach it hopped a couple of jumps further away but this time it changed direction. Up until now, it had been leading Neddy down Folly’s Track, but not anymore. Instead the rabbit left the edge of the track and veered into the tangle of bush.
‘Come back,’ Neddy called out but the rabbit ignored him and, as if to prove a point, took another defiant hop into the undergrowth.
Neddy took one last glance up the track towards his home before following the rabbit through the dry grass and beyond the skinny eucalypt saplings. He hurried, not wanting to lose sight of the animal—it wasn’t scampering off but had certainly increased its pace. The further Neddy wound his way through the bush, the more the heat of the day was lessened by the shade of the trees. He was so intent on following the rabbit as it zigzagged through the dry scrub, fallen branches and clumps of dead grass, that he didn’t take notice which way he was heading.
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