“Thanks.”
“Careful, some of the paint’s still wet,” Keith warned as he opened the fly-screen door.
Greg followed him inside. ‘He moves like Laurence and he talks like Laurence,’ he thought. “You’re doing a good job,” he said, stopping to look at the freshly painted walls and ceiling in the hall. The skirting boards, architraves and doors were shiny with white gloss and the exposed floorboards looked far better than the linoleum had. A huntsman spider ran up the wall.
Keith looked at it. “It’s been disrupted by all the painting. I’m pleased it didn’t leave. I need one in every room. They look better than flypapers.”
“I’m interrupting your decorating.”
“You came at the right time. I’d just put the kettle on.”
The kitchen smelt of turpentine and paint, in spite of the open windows. Units lined the walls. Some of the cupboards were painted white, others were the original brown.
Keith was looking at him as if trying to memorize his features. “Were you my father’s groomsman when he married Francesca?”
Greg nodded. “That was when I worked on Acacia. Laurence was a good cove. Not like the scum that own it now.”
Keith put three spoons of tea into the pot. “Bloody Margot had no thought for anyone except herself.”
“Well,” said Greg. “I was fond of Margot.”
“Get out of my house then.”
“Calm down, Keith. I was upset when your dad lost Acacia, but it wasn’t only because of Margot. Jonathan was cut out of the will because he deserted his wife.”
Keith looked uncertain. “Was he?”
“Yes.”
“What about my father? He didn’t desert his wife. For God’s sake he was married to Margot’s sister!”
“It’s not that simple.”
“It is that simple. Dad had to rent this dump because of his stepmother. He died of a stomach ulcer because of her. If he’d inherited Acacia he wouldn’t have had to worry about money. But his life was one big worry and that’s why he got an ulcer and that’s why he died.” The kettle boiled, but Keith ignored it. “Margot didn’t just wreck my father’s life, she wrecked mine too. Do you think I enjoy being a postman? And it’s not just me, it’s Acacia. The new owners have ruined it. Margot sold it to them so it’s her fault.” Water bubbled out of the spout and made a hissing sound as it flowed down the sides. He turned off the gas. “Anyway, you didn’t come here to talk about Margot, did you?”
Greg shook his head. “Have you told anyone about who you saw at Eumeralla yesterday?”
“Not yet,” he said, pouring boiling water into the teapot. “But I will.”
“Please don’t.”
Keith took a bottle of milk out of the fridge. “Who’s Fiona’s mother?”
“It’s nothing to do with you.”
Keith looked incredulous. “She’s my cousin. Don’t you think that the fact she’s got a twin sister is anything to do with her either?”
“She’s happy – ”
“How would you know?”
“Isn’t she?”
“Not particularly. She hated being an only child. She has dreams about when she and June were babies – ”
“Rubbish,” Greg said. “She was too young.”
“Now look here, Mr. Mitchell, don’t speak to me as if I’m one of your employees. If I tell Fiona she’s got a twin sister she’ll be thrilled. Is Eleanor her mother?”
“Mrs Mitchell to you, lad.”
“Don’t call me “lad”. And I won’t call her Mrs Mitchell. She was married to my uncle so I’ll call her Aunty.”
In spite of his disquiet, Greg was amused. “You sound like your dad. That’s just what he would have said.”
Keith smiled. “Yes. Well ... so, I’m trying to make sense of all this and I’d like to know who Fiona’s mother was. Was it Eleanor?”
“Yes.”
Keith put a mug on the table in front of him. “Was Jonathan her father?”
“Yes.” Greg sipped the strong tea. “Please don’t tell Fiona.”
“I’ve got to.”
“You’ll cause a lot of unhappiness.”
“Fiona will be overjoyed. But even if I kept quiet you’ve got a big problem.”
“What?”
“CecilPlains is the nearest town to Eumeralla, right?”
“Yes.”
“Fiona’s moving to Queensland in August.”
Greg managed to put down his mug without spilling any tea. “To live?”
Keith nodded. “She’s getting a transfer to Brisbane, but at weekends she’ll stay with me or Gabby – she lives in Dalby. One day someone who knows June will see Fiona. Or worse, June and Fiona will see each other. You’ve got about four months to work something out. I’ll tell her as soon as she gets here. You’d better warn June, because Fiona will want to meet her.”
***
When June and Greg finished checking the fences in the western section of Eumeralla they let the horses wander towards the creek.
June saw some sheep and dismounted. She stroked some of the lambs that had been born in the spring. “Better fleeces – finer. That new breeding ...”
Greg nodded absently.
“Dad, what’s – ?”
“Juju, I’ve got to tell you something.”
“Are we bankrupt?”
He shook his head.
She held her breath. “Has Mum sold Eumeralla?”
“No, no.”
“Thank God for that – you had me worried.” His distracted expression stayed the same and her relief dwindled.
“Race you to the creek, Juju. Bet you Digger can beat Monty.” His attempt to smile made him look worse.
“No, Dad, tell me now.” He looked trapped and she panicked. “Has Mum got cancer or something?”
“No. It’s old news.” He dismounted. “It’s about you.”
“Me?” she laughed. “That’s all right then.”
Greg gazed into the distance.
“Dad?” she prompted.
He patted his horse. “We never told you before, Juju, because we didn’t want you to feel different. I was the only dad you ever knew and we wanted you to feel you were as much mine as the others. I’ve never treated you any different, have I?”
Her heart raced. “Am I adopted?”
“No, but I’m not your real dad.”
June looked at him in shock. “Who is?” Her horse jerked his head and she dropped the reins. “Why are you telling me now?”
“Because the other day you saw your cousins.”
“They were my cousins – how come?”
“Your mum’s been married before.”
“What? Who to?”
“She married Jonathan Clarkson when she was eighteen – ”
“What happened to him?”
“Juju, wait. It’s a complicated story. Your mum and Johnny both wanted children – she just wanted them, but he was desperate for them. After nine years he left her. Well, the war had just ended – I was in the Middle East at the time. Johnny left and there was no one to run Eumeralla but your mum. There was no phone, she didn’t have a car, and she struggled alone for months. Because Johnny’s leaving had been such a shock she thought that was why ...” He looked embarrassed. “Well, something that usually happens every month hadn’t. It was quite late when she realized she was pregnant. It must have been because she was freed from his desperation. Anyway, she gave birth to you and ... and another baby — alone in the house.”
“Another baby? Did it die?”
“No.”
June felt breathless. “I’ve got a twin?”
“Yes.”
“An identical twin?”
Greg nodded.
“Fiona?”
“Yes.”
“So that’s who they thought I was!”
He put his arm around her. “I know it’s a bombshell, Juju.”
She pulled away. “Was this Johnny bloke our father?”
/>
“Yes.” He went to touch her hand.
She pushed his arm aside. “Tell me the rest.”
“She was born ten minutes before midnight on the thirty-first of May and you were born twenty minutes later on the first of June. Her name was May at first. I came home from the war shortly afterwards. My feelings towards your mum had always been strong and when she married Johnny I felt glum. When I left for the war I was that miserable I didn’t care if I got killed. But when I came home I heard he’d left her. I told your mum how I felt and we planned to marry as soon as she was divorced. Then Johnny heard about you and Fiona and he came back. I thought I’d had it – he was a handsome cove, and a good one too, but she wouldn’t forgive him.”
“Where is he now?”
“I’m sorry, Juju. He died in a fire.”
“When?”
“A few months after you were born. Then your mum and I got married.”
“Did Jonathan work on Eumeralla?”
“No.” Greg smiled. It was a proper smile not a forced one. “It was Jonathan’s dad who used to own Acacia.”
June’s fury turned to astonishment. “What?”
“Jonathan and his brother were disinherited in favour of their stepmother. When their dad died she sold Acacia.”
“Hang on. What happened to Fiona?”
“Johnny’s sister adopted her.”
“Why?”
“She couldn’t get pregnant. She and your mum were like sisters – they grew up together. Virginia was as obsessive about having children as Johnny was. She came to stay with us to help your mum when she was eight months pregnant with Hazel. The pregnancy was difficult and she was exhausted. You and May were eighteen months old. Eleanor had a rough time with Hazel’s birth. She was a big baby and she was overdue.
“Things got worse after she was born. Your mum had a breast abscess and Hazel was a tiresome baby. They both spent most of the time bawling. We wouldn’t have been able to cope without Virginia. Not only did she cook and clean, she looked after you and May and Tom. When Hazel’s grizzling got too much she’d take her for walks so your mum could get some sleep. She’d done midwifery and she advised Eleanor to stop breast-feeding. It was Virginia who got Hazel onto the bottle. After that things improved, although she was still weak. You and May and Tom had been such good babies, we weren’t prepared for one who cried all the time. Then Alex came up – ”
“Who’s Alex?”
“Virginia’s husband. As the time drew closer for them to go back to Sydney, Virginia got really unhappy. I felt that sorry for her – for both of them. It was your mum who suggested that we let them have May. She had a great rapport with them – you were shyer. Your mum had been through it and she understood how Virginia felt. So when they went home to Sydney they took May.”
“Just like that?” June said. “How could she?”
“It wasn’t easy for your mum. It wasn’t easy for me either.”
“Dad, she gave her baby away. A baby – not a sack of wheat or a horse. Why didn’t you stop her?”
“I don’t know.”
“You didn’t care because we weren’t yours. I bet you wouldn’t have let her give Tom away.”
“I’m making a hell of a mess of this, Juju. I’m no good at explaining.” He ran his hands through his hair. “Look, your mum was finding it rough. From being married for ages and not getting pregnant, she had three pregnancies in three years. It was overwhelming. We never thought she’d get pregnant so fast so we never did anything to stop it.”
“Why didn’t you give them Hazel?”
“Because she wasn’t related to them. Virginia was Johnny’s sister and she was beside herself when he was killed. Eleanor thought she and Virginia could share the only thing that was left of him. You and May ... Fiona.”
“Why didn’t Mum tell me herself?” June, her mind exploding with questions, didn’t wait for a reply. “What did I do after she’d gone – did I miss her?”
Greg nodded. “You cried a lot. But you had Tom. You taught him things. It was as if you were impatient for him to catch up with you.”
“Did Virginia give you money? Did you sell my sister?” She saw his defensive expression change to anger. “Sorry, Dad.”
“How could you think such a thing? Juju, it’s not as if we gave her to strangers. Eleanor and Virginia had been friends since they were born. Virginia’s your aunty – your real dad’s sister. And they were wealthy. They could give a child so much more than we could. Fiona went to one of the most exclusive schools in Sydney.”
“I want to find her.”
“You won’t have to. She’s coming up here to live in August.”
“No. I want to see her now. I’m going to go to Sydney.”
“She lives in Melbourne. But, listen, Juju, wait until – ”
“No.”
“You just can’t turn up on Fiona’s doorstep. People have to be warned.”
“You warn them!” She ran over to Monty, who had wandered off.
Greg caught up with her as she flung herself into the saddle. “Don’t be angry with your mum.”
She turned Monty’s head and galloped away.
Letting Monty go where he wanted, June rode for two hours. When he went to the creek to drink, curiosity nudged aside her anger. “I’ve got a sister, Monty. She’s like me ... not just like me, but identical. Is she like me in other ways too? Would she come to Eumeralla to live?” The unknown had never excited June. Now it did. When Monty finished drinking she rode back to the paddock. She had just taken off the reins when she saw Tom vaulting the fence. As he ran towards her she could tell that he knew. Turning away she went into the tack room and put the saddle on the rack. When she came outside with the brush, he was giving Monty a carrot. For the first time in her life she felt uncomfortable with him. She could tell that he was uncertain about what to say. Normally they would have talked about the quality of the wool, but now he was silent. Monty finished the carrot and Tom stroked him.
“Well,” he said finally. “We know why they were acting strangely. It’s better than Mum selling some of the land, isn’t it?” His smile was tentative. “Or having an affair.”
June stood with the brush in her hand. “I feel dislocated,” she burst out. “My real father’s dead. Dad said he was a good bloke ... that’s why I’m upset. Tom, I feel as if I’ve lost two fathers. And I’ve got a twin I’ve never known and cousins. I feel that they’ve been lost too.”
Tom looked relieved that she had spoken. “It’s a shock, Juju. More for you, of course. Gee, it’s like one of the Agatha Christie mysteries. Except no one’s been murdered.”
“Yet,” said June.
“You’re still my sister.”
“Only half of me is.” She began to groom Monty. “I’ll never forgive Mum, never.”
Tom looked at her thoughtfully. “Why not?”
“I’m not who I thought I was.”
“No one’s going to turf you off Eumeralla. It’s not as if Mum once robbed a bank or killed someone.”
“She lied to me and robbed me of a sister.”
“She never lied to you, Juju.”
“All right – she deceived me.”
“Why?”
“Why what?”
“Did she deceive you?”
June grunted. “Ask her.”
“Do you think she wanted to make you unhappy? Do you reckon she hates you?” He opened Monty’s mouth and inspected his teeth. “Well?”
She couldn’t think of a reasonable answer. “She robbed me of a sister.”
“So you keep saying.”
“Well she did. I could have had a sister that I could have been close to instead of a frivolous thing like Hazel who’s only interested in boys and clothes. I bet Fiona would have loved this place as much as I do.”
“Juju, if Mum had sold your twin or given her to someone horrible, it would have been terrible. But she gave her to her friend because she couldn’t have a baby of her own.
Was that so bad?”
“She shouldn’t have done it.”
“Ever done anything you shouldn’t have done, Juju?”
She caressed Monty’s ears. “It’s different.”
“Of course it is. All situations are different. Are you staying on Eumeralla?”
“Yes.”
“Well, we’ll still play cards and chess after dinner, won’t we? We’ll still ride together. Nothing’s changed. It’s just that you know something now that you didn’t know before. You’ve got to admit it’s exciting. Dad said that you want to find Fiona.”
She nodded. “I’ll go to Melbourne as soon as I get her address.”
“Don’t be too disappointed if she’s a townie.”
“Some townies are okay.”
“You will come back, won’t you?”
She was grateful for his look of anxiety. “I hate Brisbane so I’ll probably hate Melbourne even more. I won’t stay any longer than I have to.” She smiled. “And maybe I’ll bring Fiona with me.”
“Come up to the house and have a look at the photos of Jonathan.”
“Photos?”
“Yes, lots of them ... some in posh frames. They’ve been hidden away since your twin was adopted. Mum couldn’t wait to get them out and show us. Wedding photos too ... Mum was a real looker in those days.”
Eleanor, unaware that Virginia and Alex were on their way to New Zealand for a two-week holiday, tried to phone them. She tried all day and then gave up and wrote to them.
10th April 1972
Dear Virginia and Alex,
June knows about Fiona. She’s flying to Melbourne on Monday. Sorry this gives you so little time to prepare her.
***
“Alex, I won’t be able to enjoy this holiday. I’m too worried about what Fiona will do when we tell her,” said Virginia as they arrived at the hotel in Wellington.
He put the cases on the bed. “Let’s forget everything at home,” he said firmly. “Fiona will be upset at first, but she’ll understand.”
But that night Alex lay in bed unable to sleep. Despite his comforting words to Virginia he was perturbed about Fiona’s reaction. He would never forget the terrible weeks after they had taken her from Eumeralla. They had travelled on the overnight train from Brisbane and at first Fiona had been excited by the new experience. She slept well, but woke in the morning, disorientated and crying. Nothing they did would pacify her.
Eumeralla - Secrets, Tragedy and Love Page 12