Englishman at Dingo Creek

by Lucy Clark

  Sebastian smiled and enveloped her hand with both of his. ‘Not so nearly as happy as I am.’

  Danny laughed.

  ‘Come and enjoy some good old-fashioned cooking. This way.’ She bustled them through the house to an enormous kitchen and family area out the back. A large wooden table, which had seen many a family celebration over the years, was laid with four places, ready and waiting for them. A big, burly man sat at the head of the table, serviette tucked under his chin, indicating he was impatient to eat.

  ‘Ted, this is Sebastian. Danny’s friend from England.’

  ‘How’s it goin’, mate?’ Ted’s accent was as Australian as his wife’s was English. The two men shook hands. ‘Took ya time gettin’ here, Danny. I’m starvin’.’ He indicated that they should both sit down.

  ‘Well, thanks for waiting, Ted. We couldn’t resist an early morning dip in the billabong and we ran into Andy.’

  ‘Oh, how is the dear boy?’ Ruby asked as she carried a large serving dish to the table.

  ‘He’s just fine. He had a bit of conjunctivitis but I gave him something for it.’

  ‘Just as well you ran into him, then.’

  ‘I actually think he sought me out. He knew I’d be there. I’m a creature of habit.’

  Sebastian listened intently, a frown on his face. ‘When did you treat Andy?’

  ‘While you were still sleeping in, ya slacker.’ She winked at him and lifted the lid off one of the dishes. ‘Ruby’s famous scrambled eggs.’

  ‘Put that lid back down, Dannyella Thompson, or I’ll smack your hand.’ Danny did as she was told. ‘There are only two more dishes to be brought out and then we can all start together.’

  ‘Yes, Ruby. Sorry, Ruby.’ She grinned across the table at Sebastian and he laughed. The sound was rich and wonderful and made her feel as though she could float on it all day long.

  ‘So, did ya sleep out under the stars?’ Ted asked Sebastian.

  ‘Yes. Dannyella insisted upon it and I’m certainly glad she did. It was…majestic.’

  ‘That they are, boy, that they are. Ready, Rube?’

  Once Ruby was seated, Ted said a quick grace before lifting the lids.

  ‘Scrambled eggs, bacon, sausages, fried tomatoes, toast and mushrooms,’ Ruby announced. ‘Help yourself to freshly squeezed orange juice and I have a pot of tea which has almost finished brewing. No doubt you’ll want a decent cup of tea, Sebastian.’

  ‘Is there such a thing, here in the outback?’

  Ruby’s eyes twinkled. ‘Yes, my dear boy. There is.’ She reached for the bone china teapot on the table in front of her and poured him some into a bone china teacup.

  Danny watched as Sebastian added sugar and milk and hesitantly took a sip. ‘Ah.’ He visibly relaxed in his chair and she laughed. ‘Ruby.’ He reached out his hand to her and when she put her own into his, he brought it to his lips and kissed it. ‘Thank you.’

  Colour seeped into Ruby’s cheeks as she blushed. ‘You’re most welcome.’

  Danny poured Ted a cup and he took a sip, then shook his head. ‘Tastes just like tea to me. I’ll tell you, after forty odd years of being married to Rube, I still can’t see what all the fuss is about. It’s a cuppa tea, for cryin’ out loud.’

  ‘Exactly,’ Sebastian whispered with delight, before taking another sip.

  ‘Must be a British thing,’ Danny said to Ted, and they both nodded.

  After stuffing themselves full and helping Ruby to clear the table and stack the dishwasher, Danny went out to the four-wheel drive to get her medical bag. ‘They’re a lovely couple, Dannyella,’ Sebastian said as he walked over to help her unload everything.

  ‘Yes, they are. Oh, I don’t need anything else, here. Just this bag.’ She started to go inside.

  ‘Why? Don’t they have staff we need to see?’

  ‘Nope.’

  ‘But what about the gates…’ he pointed ‘…and all the cattle we saw roaming around?’

  ‘Ruby and Ted share-farm. They own the land, someone else owns the cattle. They gave up farming years ago. Ted has failing eyesight and I’m sure you noticed Ruby’s slight limp and the gnarled knuckles.’

  He nodded. ‘Rheumatoid arthritis.’

  ‘Yes. They both come into town once a month, but it’s nice when I can save them the bother and come out here for their check-ups. Besides, I wouldn’t miss breakfast for the world.’

  ‘Agreed!’ They headed back into the house and Ruby was more than happy for Sebastian to examine her while Danny checked out Ted’s eyes. Ruby kept up a steady stream of questions about her homeland, wanting to hear about new developments as well as the places they both knew would never be touched by a developer’s hand.

  ‘How long has it been since you were there?’ Sebastian asked.

  ‘Just before Ted’s eyesight started going bad, which was about ten years ago now.’ She shook her head. ‘Too many things had changed, too many people had died. It wasn’t the same.’

  ‘And you like living here? In the middle of nowhere?’

  ‘I adore it. The country has its own unique beauty which either captivates or repulses people. I fell in love with this place the first time I saw it and it wasn’t because Ted was here—he was just a bonus. No, I’m a firm believer in the saying “home is where the heart is” and my heart is right here.’

  They stayed for a little longer and Sebastian couldn’t figure out why Dannyella was stalling until Ruby announced the first batch of scones was ready. Freshly whipped cream and jam was provided, as was another cup of proper tea.

  ‘After breakfast I was sure I couldn’t eat another bite, but how could I possibly resist?’ he murmured as Ruby offered him a scone.

  ‘You remind me of my son. He’s an architect in Darwin. Comes home quite often.’

  ‘That must be wonderful for you.’

  ‘Oh, yes, and our daughter is on the next station you’re going to visit. She lives there with her husband. That’s their cattle out there now. Jessie’s always loved the land.’

  ‘Speaking of Jessie, if we don’t get over there soon, she’s going to have a house full of kids ready for health checks and no doctor to do them.’

  ‘Right you are, then. Would you mind taking some boxes over to her, please? I’ve just done a bit of cooking to help her out with her guests today. Can’t stand the noise of so many children myself,’ she explained to Sebastian. ‘Fine with my own grandchildren, but with everyone else’s running around and yelling? No, thank you.’ She laughed. ‘Mind you, wear some earplugs or something, Sebastian, because it’s nothing like you’ve ever heard before.’

  ‘Stop it, Ruby. You’re starting to scare him.’ Danny stood and embraced the other woman. ‘Thank you so much for your wonderful hospitality. I only wish I could reciprocate when you come into town, but you know I’m a terrible cook.’

  ‘Your gifts are in other areas, dear.’

  They took their leave after loading several large boxes, filled to the brim with food, into the rear of the vehicle. She started the engine and then remembered she’d promised Sebastian he could drive.

  ‘Are you sure you trust me behind the wheel?’

  ‘Of course. It’s your sense of direction I’m worried about.’

  ‘Why? We head over there and then follow the track.’

  ‘That’s if we’re going out the way we came.’

  ‘We’re not?’

  She shook her head. ‘We’re going bush-bashing.’

  ‘I presume that doesn’t mean we’re going to knock down trees with the bull-bar on the front?’

  ‘Correct. There’s a track that runs between Jessie’s house and here. Saves time.’

  ‘Excellent. Let’s get this health check over and done with. From what Ruby said, it sounds as though we’re heading into a madhouse.’

  ‘Just for today, Mac, so start her up and let’s get goin’.’

  ‘Where’s the cotton wool?’ Sebastian asked between patients. They’d been makin
g steady progress through the children who had come to Jess’s farm for the health clinic check today but after an hour they’d only scratched the surface of the thirty or so children there. They ranged from babies to teenagers and each mother’s child had a different complaint. Some children only needed a general health check—eyes, ears, nose, lungs, blood pressure. Others took longer.

  Danny smiled at him. ‘Headache?’

  He massaged his temples. ‘Slowly but surely, I can feel it coming.’

  ‘I can guarantee you it will definitely hit before we arrive back in Dingo Creek.’ They were having a five-minute break in the kitchen, both enjoying a long cool glass of iced water.

  ‘How do you do this?’ He looked perplexed but there was a hint of admiration mixed in.

  ‘The clinics?’ Sebastian nodded and she shrugged. ‘I don’t know, I guess I just do them. Having you here today has definitely helped.’

  He took a sip of his drink before saying, ‘Have you ever considered getting another GP to join you here in the practice?’

  Danny choked on a bubble of laughter at his words, accidentally spraying the contents of her mouth around the room. Thankfully, it was just water. She coughed and sniffed while Mac patted her on the back.

  ‘Have another sip,’ he suggested, but she shook her head and coughed once more.

  ‘Don’t do that.’ She laughed.

  ‘Do what?’ He was smiling now.

  ‘Make jokes like that when I’m drinking.’

  He frowned slightly, his confusion increasing. ‘I wasn’t joking. I was being quite serious.’

  ‘No one will come out here, Mac, not on a permanent basis. I have a hard enough time getting a locum here if I need to go to conferences or courses and even then I’m only gone a week—two weeks at the most.’

  ‘But surely you need a break.’

  ‘A break from being on call twenty-four seven? Some days, but everyone’s quite good. I have the help of a few community nurses who cover more territory than I do and then there’s the staff at Katherine, so I’m not totally alone.’

  ‘Have you ever thought about leaving?’

  ‘No. Where would I go? This is my home. The years I spent in Darwin at med school were enough to drive me insane.’

  ‘Med school drives everyone insane.’

  She chuckled. ‘You know what I mean. I came home every chance I got.’ She shrugged again. ‘I get kind of claustrophobic in the city.’

  ‘So you wouldn’t leave here even if you were offered the job of your dreams?’

  ‘You see, that’s just it, Mac. This is the job of my dreams.’

  A crying toddler came through to the kitchen, interrupting what Sebastian had been about to say. Danny bent down and picked the child up. ‘What’s the matter, handsome?’ Her answer was a whole lot of gibberish baby talk, followed by the words, ‘Tummy tore.’

  ‘Is your tummy sore, Brad?’ she sympathised, and carried him through the house to the bedroom they’d set up as the clinic.

  ‘Yeth.’ Brad nodded for emphasis.

  ‘OK, then. Let’s take a look at you.’ She met Brad’s mother, Bianca, at the door to the room and together they went in. ‘You are getting so big,’ she told Brad as she put him onto their makeshift examination bed. ‘Lie down, sweetheart, and let’s take a look.’ She went into the en suite bathroom and washed her hands. ‘What have his symptoms been?’ she asked Bianca.

  ‘He’s been saying his tummy’s been sore for a few days.’

  ‘Has he been off his food?’

  ‘Actually, now that you mention it, he hasn’t been eating as well as he usually does.’

  ‘When is he two?’

  ‘Six more weeks.’

  Brad started spouting his baby talk again before the word ‘party’ was clearly audible at the end.

  ‘Are you going to have a party, sweetheart?’ He nodded vigorously, a big smile on his face. ‘How exciting.’ Danny lifted the light cotton T-shirt he wore and pulled the top of his shorts down a bit. ‘He’s not wearing a nappy.’

  ‘No. I’m toilet-training him.’

  ‘I see.’ Danny felt his tummy. ‘Are all your friends coming to your party?’

  ‘Yeth.’ More gibberish and then, ‘Whithles.’

  ‘You’re going to have whistles?’ Brad nodded excitedly again. ‘That’ll be noisy, won’t it, Mum?’

  ‘Oh, yeah, I can’t wait,’ Bianca said dryly.

  Danny pulled Brad’s clothes back into place and lifted him off the bed. ‘You can go and play if you like, sweetheart.’ Brad stood in the room and didn’t move.

  ‘Uh…lolly?’ his mother prompted.

  ‘Sorry.’ Sebastian snatched up the jar with small lollies in it.

  ‘Gee, I give you one important job to do and you forget,’ Danny teased.

  ‘You can’t get good help these days,’ Bianca added.

  Sebastian merely smiled. ‘Which colour would you like for being such a brave boy, Brad?’

  ‘Lellow.’

  ‘Yellow. Coming right up.’ Sebastian handed over a yellow lolly and Brad happily toddled out of the room.

  ‘So what’s wrong?’ his mum asked.

  ‘He’s constipated.’ Danny reached into one of her medical supply boxes and pulled out a bottle of liquid paraffin. ‘Give him fifteen mils for a few days. By then things should start to move. After that you can slowly decrease the amount until he’s more regular.’

  ‘OK.’

  ‘It’s chocolate-flavoured so it shouldn’t be too hard to get into him.’

  ‘OK. Do you know why he’s constipated?’

  ‘Yes. The toilet-training. My advice is to stop it. Brad’s just not ready yet and the thought of sitting on the toilet and having a bowel motion is a bit scary for him.’

  ‘But Eliza and Maree were this age when I started training them. They were both fine.’

  ‘Each child is different,’ Sebastian said. ‘Sometimes girls are ready earlier, sometimes boys. It all depends on the child.’

  ‘Mac’s right. Brad’s not ready. I know you’d love to get him out of nappies but give him another six months before you try again. If you have the same problem, with him becoming constipated, then back in nappies and try again later.’

  Bianca sighed. ‘I just want the nappies over and done with.’

  ‘It must feel as though it goes on for ever,’ Danny sympathised.

  ‘Here you go. Have a lolly for being such a great mother.’ Sebastian held out the jar. ‘In fact, take two. You deserve it.’

  Bianca laughed but did as he suggested. ‘Thanks.’

  ‘Let me know how it goes and give me a call if you have any other questions.’

  They saw another round of patients and after discussing the pros and cons with a teenager who wanted to go on the Pill, they took another quick break.

  ‘How come there are so many older children here? Shouldn’t they be at school?’

  ‘School of the Air,’ Danny stated. ‘They do schoolwork via the HF radio for a few hours each day but on health check day they get the day off.’

  ‘So that’s why they’re all so happy.’

  Danny smiled. ‘I went to secondary school in Katherine. We lived on the farm back then and Dad would drive me every day into Dingo Creek so I could catch the school bus to Katherine. At that stage there were about thirty of us so it was worthwhile. Not so now. Some of the kids still go but the bus service to Katherine isn’t daily any more so their parents do the run.’

  ‘It’s a completely different way of life.’

  She smiled. ‘It’s what we know.’

  As the day dragged on, they finished with the children and started on the station staff. Everyone seemed to be in good health and as they were packing up their equipment Jess’s husband came rushing into the house.

  ‘Danny!’ he yelled, coming into their room. ‘Mac! Come quickly. Smitty’s gone down.’

  ‘Gone down where?’ Sebastian asked as Danny quickly restocked one of
the medical kits and shoved her hat on her head.

  ‘He’s unconscious,’ Danny replied as they all rushed out the door, Sebastian pulling his hat on. ‘You two take the kit on the motorbike. I’ll ride.’

  ‘Lisa’s horse is already saddled,’ Jess said as she came out with them. ‘Take that, Danny.’

  ‘Right.’ They rushed over to where Jess’s eldest daughter was riding around in the paddock. Soon Danny was riding along behind the motorbike, concentrating on where to lead the horse. She ducked her head down to avoid a low branch sticking out but continued on. Over a slight ridge, she could just make them out through the trees.

  Two horses stood side by side next to a tree. One man was crouching on the ground, another was lying still. She rode up, dismounted and crouched down beside the unconscious man who was half lying on his face. ‘What happened?’ she asked the guy who was beside his mate. Sebastian came over with the medical kit as Danny pressed two fingers to the man’s carotid pulse. ‘Pulse doesn’t feel too weak.’

  ‘Neck and spine feel fine,’ Sebastian said.

  ‘Good. Let’s turn him over.’ They carefully manoeuvred their patient and both winced in sympathy. The man’s face was covered with blood. Danny pulled on a pair of gloves and reached for her torch. ‘Smitty?’ she called loudly, but received no response. ‘What happened?’ she asked his mate again.

  ‘We…um…were riding back to the homestead and, er, the loser is the designated driver for Friday night.’

  ‘And…’ Danny prompted. ‘We were coming through the trees and a flock of galahs came flying out and, well…one hit Smitty in the face.’

  ‘Looks as though he’s broken his nose,’ Sebastian said.

  ‘Pupils equal and reacting to light,’ Danny reported. ‘Call the RFDS. I’d say concussion.’ She felt Smitty’s scalp. ‘A few contusions but no blood.’

  ‘Th-there’s enough on his f-face,’ his mate stuttered.

  ‘Sit down and get your head between your knees,’ Danny ordered.

  ‘I’ll get back to the homestead and organise the RFDS,’ Jess’s husband said, and revved up the motorbike.