Eumeralla - Secrets, Tragedy and Love

by Joanna Stephen-Ward

  Catriona spun round. “Oliver?”

  “Who’s he?” asked Stefan.

  Catriona picked up a horse blanket and thrust it into his arms. “Quick! We’ve got to get to the creek.” She grabbed two torches and gave one to Kim.

  Bewildered, Stefan followed them. As quickly as the darkness would allow, they ran to the creek and scrambled down the muddy bank to the stones below. The heavy rain that had fallen the day before had been the first for months and the water level was low. The night was cold and their breath emerged as white wisps.

  Catriona flashed her torch downstream. “There it is!”

  The foal was close to the opposite bank.

  Stefan groaned. “It would be at the widest part.”

  They ran down the creek till they were opposite the foal. Stefan followed them into the water, wincing as it swirled round his calves. Kim slipped on the stones and fell before he could grab her.

  “I’m all right,” she panted, ignoring his outstretched hand. “No. It’s easier to crawl.” She reached the foal first. “She’s alive!”

  Using the horse blanket as a stretcher they lifted the foal out of the water.

  Kim checked its legs. “Nothing broken.”

  Stefan took off his jumper and put it over the foal.

  Catriona contemplated the formidable slope of the bank. “We can’t get it up that by ourselves. I’ll run back and get help.”

  “No, Tree. We’ve got Stefan. Time’s crucial. She’ll die if we don’t get her warm and fed.”

  Stefan thought she was going to die anyway, but kept his opinion to himself.

  “She’ll die if we drop her down the slope,” argued Catriona.

  “Shut up, Tree. She’s not going to die!”

  “Wait,” Stefan said. “Let’s work this out. We won’t go straight up the bank – we’ll traverse it.” He heard Catriona’s teeth chattering. “Tree, you and Kim take the front of the blanket and one of you shine the torch.”

  When they reached the top the journey to the stables was easy. They reunited the foal with its mother, but it was too exhausted to feed. It lay on the pile of straw and closed its eyes. Stefan thought it had died until he saw it was still breathing.

  “Kim, I’m sorry, but she’s dying,” said Catriona.

  “Stop being drippy and help me,” snapped Kim, rubbing towels over its sodden fur. “Get me the milk pump and prepare a vitamin injection. Stefan, go and get Dad and Aunty Margot. And we all need dry clothes and jumpers.”

  In the homestead their mother was cooking the dinner. David and Margot were in his study doing the accounts. Watching Margot taking charge, Stefan realized Kim and Catriona had inherited her decisive nature. Compared to Margot, their mother was insipid and vague. It was Margot who told her to go to the cottages and get dry clothes. When she had gone, Margot planned the new dining arrangements.

  “It will have to be in shifts. Two people need to stay with the foal all night. And one of them has to be Kim or Catriona in case there’s a crisis. Thank goodness there’s no ride this weekend.” She looked at him. “You’re soaked. Go and have a shower.”

  To Stefan’s amazement the foal was alive in the morning. Although weak it was taking milk from its mother and looked brighter.

  “Damn,” said David. “Fiona’s coming for lunch today.”

  “I’ll ring her and put her off,” said Catriona. “She’s the last person I want to see after a sleepless night.”

  “It might seem rude,” said her mother.

  Kim stroked the foal. “She invited herself. We didn’t ask her to come. Anyway, we’ll be too busy nursing this little one to entertain Fiona.”

  It wasn’t until Stefan was getting ready to go home on Sunday evening that he and Catriona were alone. They went to her cottage and Catriona spooned coffee grounds into the basket of the percolator.

  “Tree, who’s Oliver?” He saw her hesitate. “Have I got a rival?”

  She shook her head and smiled. “Did you see another man in the stable?”

  “He must have leapt behind a bail of straw when he saw me coming.” He grinned. “Did I interrupt a romantic moment with a man who would have kissed your gory hand?” He stood behind her and put his arms round her waist. “A less squeamish man than I am?”

  Catriona chuckled. “No.”

  He lifted a curl and kissed her neck. “Then who is he?”

  “You won’t believe me.”

  “I might.”

  She turned round and faced him. “All right. He was our brother.” She slipped out of his arms. “Do you want biscuits or sultana toast?”

  “Hang on. You haven’t got a brother.”

  “He died of scarlet fever when I was a baby and before Kim was born.” Casually, as if her statement had been normal, she filled the percolator with water and put it on the gas.

  Stefan frowned. “This is ludicrous.”

  She took a deep breath. “Oliver’s been talking to Kim all her life.” She poured milk into the mugs. “Her first word was “Oliver” – not “mummy” or “daddy.” I can see you think I’m bonkers. I knew you’d be sceptical so I never told you.”

  “You really believe in all that mumbo-jumbo?”

  She folded her arms. “What about the foal? Give me a rational explanation.”

  “The only place you hadn’t looked was the creek. Sounds logical to me.”

  “She knew the foal was alive and she knew its sex.”

  “It could have been dead or alive and it could have been male or female. She made a lucky guess.”

  “Look, Stefan, the chances of the poor little creature being alive were negligible.”

  He laughed uproariously. “Tree, you’re a vet. How can you believe in all this garbage?”

  “You’ve seen what she’s like with animals.”

  “Animals like her – so what? Animals like lots of people.”

  “They more than like her. Animals like and trust me, but when Kim’s around they ignore me. Every pet I’ve ever had ends up being hers not mine. Animals that are fraught, calm down when she’s around. You’ve seen it yourself, and you’ve commented on it.”

  “But there’s nothing spooky or psychic about it.”

  “What would you call it then?”

  He shrugged. “Special or unusual, but not mystical. She’s got a gift, just like someone has a gift for singing or athletics.”

  “No. It’s more than that. When Kim was three and I was four we were playing outside one day. She ran over to Dad and told him that Oliver said there was a snake in the rhododendron bushes. There was. It was a tiger snake and I was about to go and hide there.”

  “She saw the snake herself. Lots of children have imaginary friends – Kim had one and she called him Oliver. She saw the snake and thought he had told her about it.” He kissed her lips. “I’m glad you didn’t get bitten, though.” Slipping his hand under her jumper he unbuttoned her shirt. “Very glad.”

  Melbourne

  March 1972

  Catriona rang this morning to tell me not to come for lunch, and told me some silly lie about a foal falling in the creek. Apparently Kim’s had another premonition. They only have visitors’ rides once a fortnight so I told her I’d come in two weeks’ time. She sounded annoyed, but they can’t put me off. The time has come for Aunty Margot to be shown for what she is.

  ***

  Kim went to the mahogany sideboard in the dining room at Kingower and took out a lace tablecloth. “Where do you want Fiona to sit, Tree?”

  “As far away from me as possible.”

  “What’s wrong with this cousin of yours?” asked Stefan.

  “She’s petrified of horses,” said Catriona. “And she’s boring. All she does is prattle on about her job at Ansett. She’s only a clerk, but she carries on as if she owns the airline.”

  “And she goes on and on about the tennis club,” said Kim. “Being a member makes her feel so important anyone would think she was the Prime Minister.”

&
nbsp; Catriona counted out seven pieces of silver cutlery. “Actually, she’s not really our cousin. She’s adopted.”

  “A dumb blonde,” said Kim, putting a crystal wine glass beside every place. “She wouldn’t know what an oesophagus was if she fell over one.”

  He grinned. “Have you ever fallen over an oesophagus?”

  “You know what Kim means ... she’s a dope,” said Catriona.

  “And she’s a slut,” added Kim.

  ‘And she’s exquisite,’ thought Catriona. ‘And I’m terrified you’re going to fall in love with her.’

  CHAPTER 6

  Catriona and Kim hadn’t always hated Fiona. When they were children they had looked forward to her visits. She invented exciting games and, in spite of her volcanic temper, they got on well. When Fiona had told them she was adopted they had been fascinated. Because she was upset that they were not her real cousins, they became blood sisters in a ceremony held under the oldest tree on Kingower. Catriona and Kim had picked scabs from their knees while Fiona, having no scabs to pick, cut her finger with a knife. Fiona had been in raptures when, after mingling their blood, they had declared she was closer than a cousin. Her inability to ride was the only thing that marred their relationship, but whenever they tried to persuade her to try again, she refused.

  Fiona was a year older than Catriona and two years older than Kim. But, as they grew up, Kim and Catriona had matured faster than Fiona, who was held back by Virginia’s over-protectiveness. When Catriona and Kim discovered that animals were slaughtered for meat, they refused to eat it. Mealtimes became a battlefield, but after a week of wasted meat their parents gave in. Catriona and Kim had been vegetarians ever since. To their disgust, Fiona’s resolve to follow them had lasted until she went home to Sydney. Under Virginia’s threats she had caved in.

  It was when Catriona was seventeen and going out with her first boyfriend, that the first incident that fractured their relationship with Fiona took place. At a party on New Year’s Eve he pursued Fiona and overlooked Catriona. She knew she was plain, but her parents and Margot had told her that her personality, skill with horses, and intelligence were more valuable attributes than beauty. Seeing her boyfriend’s reaction to Fiona had shattered this belief. Now Catriona was conscious of her angular face, large jaw, small grey eyes and frizzy hair.

  “I haven’t even got a good figure like you,” she had wailed to Kim. “I’m too tall, too thin and flat chested.”

  “Since Twiggy became famous, your figure’s just right,” Kim had consoled her. “You could be a model.” She giggled. “Twiggy and Tree.”

  Catriona shook her head. “No photographer would want to take pictures of my face.”

  The next morning they ignored Fiona.

  She railed against their unfairness. “He was a dag!” she shouted, following them to the paddock. “He chased me. I wouldn’t be seen dead with him. He had pimples. If he’s the only boy you can get I pity you!”

  “Your real father was a coward, Fiona,” taunted Catriona.

  “He wasn’t!” yelled Fiona, raising her hand.

  Catriona dodged her slap. “He was. And you’re a coward too – you’re scared of horses.”

  “He wasn’t a coward!”

  “He wouldn’t fight in the war,” said Kim.

  “Liar!”

  “Aunty Margot told us,” said Catriona triumphantly.

  “She’s a liar.”

  Kim climbed over the fence into the paddock then turned to face Fiona. “Have you ever seen a photo of Jonathan Clarkson in uniform?”

  Catriona laughed when she saw Fiona’s expression. “Of course you haven’t – there isn’t one. Your real parents were trash. The Lancasters are too good for you. You were born in the gutter and that’s where you should have stayed.”

  Fiona’s devastated expression sobered Catriona. Before she could apologize to her, Fiona turned and ran down the track. “Fiona! I’m sorry.”

  Kim and Catriona chased her, but Fiona was spurred on by rage. They got to the beginning of homestead gardens just as Fiona tore up the steps past the two sets of parents, Ruth and Margot, who had all been relaxing on the verandah. From the shelter of the trees they saw Virginia jump up and follow Fiona inside.

  “Hell,” said Catriona. “What will we do?”

  Kim chewed her lip. “Aunty Virginia will be furious. And Aunty Ruth and Uncle Alex.”

  “If she tells,” said Catriona. “She’s not a sneak.”

  “No. She’ll get over it, if we apologize.”

  Catriona shook her head. “If someone said that to me I’d never get over it.”

  “But it’s true,” said Kim.

  “That’s why I shouldn’t have said it.”

  “Well she shouldn’t have flirted with – ” Kim stopped when she saw Fiona run onto the verandah carrying her suitcase. Alex and Virginia followed her to her car. She ignored them and flung her case on the back seat.

  Kim and Catriona ran to the gate, but failed to close it before Fiona drove up. She blasted the horn and they jumped out of the way. Catriona was horrified by the speed Fiona was going. She saw everyone hurrying down the drive.

  “What the devil’s going on?” asked David.

  Catriona turned red.

  “We had a fight,” said Kim.

  “What about?” asked Virginia.

  “Last night,” mumbled Catriona.

  “Fiona spent most of the night trying to keep out of his way,” said Alex.

  “Pretending to try,” said Kim.

  Virginia glared at her. “She wouldn’t want a gawky boy with acne – she’s got better taste. If she has an accident I’ll never forgive you.”

  “Just a minute,” objected David. “If she has an accident it’s because she’s driving too fast. And she almost ran over my daughters!”

  “She’s an excellent driver – under normal circumstances,” said Alex.

  “Fiona’s volatile whatever the circumstances,” David retorted.

  “No,” said Ruth. “She sticks to the speed limit and never gets impatient. So – what have you two done to her?”

  “Tree’s upset after the way Fiona behaved last night!” said Kim. “We had an argument about it and she overreacted.”

  “We’re leaving, David,” said Virginia. “Alex will ring you when we get back to Sydney. And you had both better pray that Fiona arrives safely.”

  For a year Fiona sent back Kim’s and Catriona’s letters, and hung up when they rang her. Only when they begged Ruth to intervene did Fiona accept the invitation to the Kingower New Year’s Eve Party. Gradually their friendship was restored, although it never had the same intensity. Two years later, Kim, her father and Margot had caught Kim’s fiancé kissing Fiona. This time it was Catriona and Kim who returned Fiona’s letters and hung up when she rang. Alex, Virginia and Ruth, who believed Fiona’s version of events, had stayed away from Kingower. Then Fiona had gone to England. When she returned two years later she was permitted to visit Kingower, but it was made obvious that it was only because of Ruth and Alex.

  ***

  Fiona chose a selection of her Beatles and Rolling Stones cassettes to entertain her during the two-hour drive to Kingower. She backed the M.G., that her parents had given her on her twenty-first birthday, out of her garage. She considered buying wine and flowers but, as it was her aim to discredit them in front of Stefan, decided that it would be hypocritical.

  “Here comes the Sun,” sang The Beatles.

  ‘Here comes the Truth,’ thought Fiona.

  As she approached Whittlesea, the nearest town to Kingower, she recalled every detail of the incident that had led to her banishment. A family dinner had been held at Kingower on Saturday night to celebrate Kim’s engagement. The next morning, a ride over the GreatDividingRanges and a picnic lunch had been planned. As usual, Fiona, Virginia and Ruth stayed behind making sandwiches, pies and cakes. In the afternoon they would drive in the station-wagon to the place chosen for the picnic. Kim�
�s fiancé was unable to ride because he had sprained his ankle earlier in the week.

  After Kim had set off on horseback with the others, Fiona, Virginia and Ruth prepared the picnic. When they finished, Ruth and Virginia went for a walk. Fiona and Kim’s fiancé sat in the lounge listening to Beatles records. For half an hour they talked about the engagement party which was two weeks away.

  “You’re the most gorgeous girl I’ve ever seen,” he said, touching her hand.

  She looked at him coldly and pulled her hand away. Before she could stand up he pushed her back on the sofa and kissed her. Trapped beneath him she struggled to escape.

  “Fiona!” shouted David.

  He sat up. Fiona leapt off the sofa, trying to tuck in her blouse. Kim, who had her arm around Margot, looked stricken.

  Ruth and Virginia ran in from the garden.

  “Are you ill, Margot?” asked Ruth.

  “My horse saw a snake and bolted. I fell off.”

  “Are you hurt?”

  Margot shook her head.

  “But she was shaken so we came back here and caught these two writhing on the sofa,” said David.

  “No, I was trying to push him away!” protested Fiona.

  “It was nothing to do with me. She just started kissing me,” he said.

  Fiona shoved him so hard he nearly fell over. “You started kissing me.”

  “Your daughters seem to have a preference for tom cats,” said Virginia.

  He limped over and put his arms round Kim. “If I’d known what she was trying to do I would have left the room, but she just jumped on me.”

  Fiona kicked him on his sprained ankle. “Liar! You’re after her money, aren’t you?”

  David grabbed her wrist and pulled her away. “Fiona, leave Kingower and don’t ever come back.”

  “No, David,” said Ruth. “Why don’t you believe her?”

  “She’s done this before! I’m not having my daughters made miserable because she seduces their boyfriends.”

  Margot sat down. “You’ve got no morals, Fiona. You’re a cheat, a calculating cheat.”