by Janet Woods
A man came out from behind the counter wearing a stained shirt with a waistcoat over the top. Wally resembled him. He wiped a smelly grey cloth over the bar. ‘Oh, it’s you, is it, Wally? Who’s the sheila with you?’
Wally grinned. ‘Hello, Dad, long time no see. This is Min.’
Minnie lowered her case, prepared to do battle. ‘My name is Minnie James, and I’m Wally’s wife.’
‘You’re Minnie Prichard now,’ Wally reminded her, giving a bit of a smirk.
She threw him a look, knowing she’d made the biggest mistake of her life by getting involved with him. ‘I’d be obliged if you’d ask your parents not to call me names.’
‘Ask them yourself, they’re not deaf. Look, Minnie, they didn’t mean anything by it, you’ll have to get used to Aussie ways.’
A heavy-looking woman joined her mate. ‘Here, who’s she to be issuing orders round here?’
‘I’m not issuing orders; I’m trying to introduce myself. I’m Wally’s wife.’
‘Wally’s wife, is it?’ She put her fists on her hips and looked her up and down, her eyes lingering on her stomach. Minnie blushed. The women smiled and took a stab in the dark. ‘Got one in the oven, have you? I told you to keep your snake inside your trousers, didn’t I, Wally boy? Now look where it’s got you; hitched up to some flighty British bit. Serves you right.’
‘Give it a rest, Ma,’ her husband said and held out a hand to her. ‘I didn’t mean nothing by that, Minnie, love. It’s just the way we say things round here. My name’s Harry, and Wally’s ma there is called Marlene . . . Ma for short.’ His palm was as moist and as cold as a slug, and he gave a bit of a chuckle. ‘While we’re talking about snakes, I had a parrot called Minnie when I was a lad. It used to swear like a trooper. Then along came this hungry python. The bugger climbed the tree Minnie’s cage was hanging from, and it slithered through the bars in the cage. It swallowed the bird whole. The snake’s stomach was so big it got stuck trying to get out of the cage. My pa took up an axe and chopped its head clean off. Damned me if my Minnie didn’t come walking out swearing her head off.’
It had the sound of an often-repeated story, and Minnie dutifully cued in on the punchline and produced the expected laugh.
What had she got herself into? Unobtrusively wiping the sweaty residue from Harry’s palm against her skirt, she shuddered as Ma gave a squawk of laughter more raucous than any parrot could produce.
Wally opened the flap in the bar and they passed through. ‘We’ll use my room, all right, Ma?’
‘It’s all right as long as you can help out with the expenses. This place is only just paying its way, and I can’t afford to keep the pair of you, not the way things are. You can help out in the bar, and teach Minnie how to draw a pint. A pretty face behind the bar will bring the customers in. Oh yes . . . and we don’t have a slate, any more, otherwise the customers will swill like hogs and won’t be able to settle up at the end of the week.’
‘Minnie’s going to try and get a job as a nurse. She has the name of an agency. As soon as we’ve got a few quid behind us we’ll be going up country to Saltshaker Lake. I thought we could live off the land for a while if I can’t get another job.’
‘Good luck to you then. The last time I saw the place it wouldn’t support a row of rats, let alone a mob of sheep.’
If anything, upstairs, the hotel was worse. A narrow corridor with hanging cobwebs had living quarters at one end, consisting of a living room and two bedrooms.
‘The pump is in the yard outside the kitchen door. If you want hot water you’ll have to boil a kettle.’
‘What’s in those two rooms at the end of the corridor?’
‘Guest bedrooms. We get the odd salesman or two stopping by.’
Dust flew when Minnie opened the windows, and yellowing curtains billowed under the flow of unaccustomed air. She sneezed.
‘I wouldn’t do that too often.’ Wally laughed, and then looked around him as though he was seeing it for the first time. ‘I’d forgotten what a bloody awful dump this place is. Mum and Dad only come up here to sleep. Our bedroom’s this way.’
It looked out over a back lane with a little shed at the end. ‘What’s in there?’
‘It’s the dunny.’
‘The what?’
‘The dunny . . . the lavatory, old girl.’ His words were a mockery of British upper crust. ‘The cart comes along every night to empty the pan.’
Gorge rose up in her at the thought. ‘It’s a bit primitive isn’t it?’
‘Yeah, well, I suppose it is. You’ll just have to put up with it, won’t you . . . the same as we all do. It will be better when we go to Saltshaker Lake. You can use the nearest bush as a throne, and there’s nobody to see.’
The bed was unmade, but at least there was room for two in it. ‘Where’s the clean linen kept?’
‘It’s in the cupboard at the end of the hall. Leave it for now,’ he said pulling her down on to the mattress with him. ‘Let’s celebrate our marriage, Mrs Prichard. You haven’t let me touch you since that night.’ He placed his hand over her stomach.
She shook him off. ‘You only got to touch me then because you got me too drunk to realize what I was doing. Isn’t the coming baby celebration enough?’
His eyes were hard as they met hers. ‘That was a mistake, and I did my part by putting a ring on your finger. After all, I have no proof the brat’s mine, except your word. It could be any joker’s kid and I want more than a mistake for my trouble.’ He slid a hand under her skirt and jerked her knickers down to her knees. ‘Let’s get rid of these passion killers for a start. There’s not much use having a blue-eyed blonde in my bed if I can’t make use of her.’
Wally was too strong for her, and soon overcame her initial resistance. A few minutes later the bedhead banged against the wall and the springs creaked in unison. Wally began to pant. Eventually he collapsed on top of her with a little shudder. Lighting a cigarette he lay back in a cloud of stinking smoke and watched her retrieve her knickers and step into them, his eyes half closed. ‘You’ve got a nice arse, Min.’
She fetched some well-patched sheets, which were clean, and stared down at him. ‘Are you going to move so I can make the bed?’
After a moment of childish resistance at being told what to do, he rose and adjusted his clothing. ‘I’ll be going off to see my mates, then,’ he said, avoiding her eyes, and he checked his wallet.
The folded wad of notes looked familiar, as did the string tied round it. ‘Where did you get all the money from, Wally?’
‘What’s it to you?’
‘That’s Esmé’s money, and she’s my friend.’
‘So what? I just borrowed it, that night we got drunk. You owed me the money that you’d lost, and you told me you’d borrow it from your friend, and she kept it in her case under the bunk. I saved you the bother of getting it yourself, since you were too drunk to stand up. We can pay her back the next time we see her.’
‘You can go and pay her back now, before the ship leaves for Wellington. How could you, Wally?’
‘It’s already gone. Stop telling me what to do.’
‘I’ve only just started. And don’t smoke your fags in the bedroom, when you can use the living room. I have to sleep in here too, and a smoky atmosphere is bad for a growing baby.’
‘Don’t nag, Minnie; I’m not in the mood. Make yourself useful; you can tidy this place up a bit while I’m gone.’
She was angry that he’d stolen Esmé’s money, and furious at herself for drinking so much that night. What would Esmé think of her when she discovered the money was missing?
Wally didn’t return in time for dinner, but came back during the night, his breath smelling of whisky. She tried to fight him off but he pushed her nightgown up, spread her legs apart and rolled on top of her, naked. After a few minutes he grunted in satisfaction then rolled off and went to sleep. He was a pig, she thought.
A month later Minnie had washed the curtains and
scrubbed the place clean, and was coming to terms with her in-laws. They were rough, but straightforward. She was beginning to like the thought of having a baby to love, even if it was Wally’s. One morning cramps woke her, only to discover that her body had begun to abort the tiny foetus. Tears pricked her eyelids. It was obviously not meant to be.
Wally blanched at the sight of the blood, though it was only a little heavier than a normal period. She would douche herself with vinegar in water when it was over.
‘Do you need a doctor?’
‘I can manage without.’ She hadn’t thought losing her infant would hurt so much.
‘Good; because they cost money.’
‘You always seem to find some for gambling. Don’t you care that I’ve lost our baby?’
There was something insincere about him when he said, ‘Of course I do, but it’s no good worrying about it now. We can always have another baby sometime.’
Minnie registered with the nursing agency and was offered a post at a small town called Pepperpot Creek. The agent showed her its location on the map, one hundred and twenty miles from Melbourne. She saw Saltshaker Lake a little further along. That must be where Wally’s farm was.
‘What happens at Pepperpot Creek?’
‘Gold mining, mostly . . . there’s a general store and a bar, and a few houses where families have joined their menfolk and thrown up a bush shack. There are a couple of smallholdings like your husband’s that run a few sheep and cattle, mostly in the Pepperpot Creek area.’
‘How did it get that name?’
He grinned. ‘The place was salted with fool’s gold back in the gold rush days. The owner made a fortune selling off the claims.’
‘And Saltshaker Lake?’
‘The miners diverted the stream in the early days and the salt levels rose. There’s also a mission, so having a nursing post there is convenient. Think it over and let me know, Mrs Prichard. There’s no rush, the current nurse doesn’t leave for a month or so.’
‘What if there was an emergency . . . something I couldn’t handle?’
‘You’d have back up. There’s a pedal wireless, so you’d be able to get advice from a doctor.’
A pedal wireless? She couldn’t even imagine what that was.
The day after that Wally had a sizeable win. ‘On the horses,’ he’d said.
Jubilant, he’d arrived home driving a battered Ford. ‘You’ll be able to take that job now, Minnie. The money will help see us over the first year while I’m setting the farm up, and I’ll teach you how to drive the car so you can get yourself to work and back.’
‘We’ll be off in a day or two,’ he told his parents.
‘Don’t forget you owe your pa and me for board.’
‘With all the work that Minnie put in on the place, you should be paying us.’ He took out his wallet, and, reluctantly extracting two pounds from the several notes it contained, laid them on the bar. ‘Will that do?’
Ma’s podgy hand beat Harry’s to the prize and she slid it into her pocket, laughing. ‘You’re getting a bit slow, darls, I’ll have to swap you for something faster.’
Harry gazed at his son, his expression dubious. ‘You’re a bit flash with your money, aren’t you son? You’ve been getting up to your old tricks and running a book, I reckon. You’d better be careful that John Teagan doesn’t come looking for you.’
‘I’ve heard that he’s inside.’
Horrified, Minnie stared at him. ‘You shouldn’t associate with criminals.’
Ma shook with laughter. ‘You haven’t told her, then.’
Staring from one to the other, Minnie asked him, ‘Told me what?’
‘Shut up, Ma. It’s none of her business.’
‘She’s your wife and she’s got a right to know what she’s let herself in for. Wally’s been inside a couple of times . . . mostly for illegal bookkeeping, but also for taking part in a robbery. Mind you, he was young then, and easily led. John Teagan and his thugs used him as a lookout.’
Minnie gasped. The next moment she remembered the money he’d taken from Esmé, and knew her own behaviour had been just as bad as Wally’s in the eyes of the law. She should have insisted on him giving it back to her friend. Had Esmé reported her loss, the police would be looking for her, and would probably have caught up with her by now. Minnie intended to repay Esmé when she could, but it was still theft.
‘I haven’t done any of that stuff for years.’ Wally gazed at the floor and dug the toe of his shoe into the beer-stained linoleum, a sign that said he was lying.
‘So where did all that money come from?’
Without looking up, he shrugged. ‘Not that it’s any of your business, Ma.’
Ma made no bones about who was in charge of the conversation. ‘It will be if the cops come knocking on my door.’
Wally’s face was red when he finally looked at his mother and said a trifle aggressively. ‘Oh, all right . . . so I ran a book. I only did it to give Minnie and me a good start. My luck was in, so I went on to a poker game and put all we had on it, and I won a heap.’
‘Where did you get your stake from?’ Minnie asked.
His eyes flickered towards her and her heart sank. She didn’t have to ask to know where from.
‘Somebody on the ship . . . it was only a loan. Never mind, I’ll pay it back the next time the ship’s in port. Besides, it will be the last time.’
Ma’s eyes mirrored her scepticism. ‘Make sure it is then. You’ve got a wife to support, and I don’t want any trouble brought to my doorstep.’
It would be her own wage supporting them until they got established, Minnie thought, but she’d put something aside in a safe place each week, so eventually she’d have enough money to pay Esmé back.
They left early the next morning, a crate of fluffy yellow chicks tweeting in the back seat, a gift from Harry and Ma for Christmas.
Ma gave her a hug. ‘Goodbye, Minnie love. You’re more than our Wally deserves, and if you ever need help, you know where we are. I’m sorry about the baby, truly I am.’
‘Best of luck,’ Harry called out as they moved off. ‘Watch out for the snake, especially the trouser snake.’
Minnie turned to grin at them, and waved.
The pair was still cackling with laughter when they turned the corner.
‘They liked you,’ Wally said, his hand going to her knee and squeezing it.
She moved her knee away. ‘I liked them too. What’s the house at Saltshaker Lake like?’
‘It’s nothing fancy as I recall, but I haven’t been there since I was a kid . . . Well, for some time, anyway. My uncle had lots of plans for the place. Let’s see. Inside, there were two bedrooms and a living room. The kitchen is tacked on the back. There’s a tub and a pump. Oh yes . . . and a veranda. It’s a bit on the primitive side.’
The understatement of the decade, Minnie thought later, when she set eyes on it. The place was crude, a hovel built of wood, and with a brick chimney at one end. Half the roof was missing.
‘It probably blew off in a storm. I can see it over there.’ Wally pointed.
‘Where?’
‘That piece of corrugated iron hanging from the tree.’
‘But it’s rusty and full of holes.’ Minnie didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, so she did both.
He patted her on the head as though she was his pet dog. ‘It’s all right, love, the holes will give us some fresh air. The roof timbers and ceilings are still intact. I’ll fix it up for you with some tar paper and nails, and we’ll soon be as snug as bugs in a rug. I wonder where Uncle Jim kept his tools.’ He gazed around him, scratching his head as though they’d suddenly appear.
Her uncertain emotional state changed her ire into a definite giggle, and then uncontrollable laughter ripped from her.
He gazed at her, raised one eyebrow and grinned. ‘She’ll be right, Blondie, you’ll see.’
There was something totally irresistible about that grin of his, and for a moment
Minnie forgot he was a con man, and that she disliked him.
Seven
Soon after they’d auditioned in London, Esmé and Liam were on the train to Dorset.
‘What did your friend say?’ Esmé asked, for the auditioning agent had taken Liam to one side and they’d spoken together, their backs turned towards her.
Liam hesitated, then said, ‘I’m to contact him in a few days.’ He’d been preoccupied on the train, gazing out of the window as though he had something on his mind.
She sympathized with him because she knew how badly he wanted to dance, certainly more passionately than she did. The thought of dancing back and forth across the North Atlantic wasn’t all that appealing to her, now she’d been confronted with the constant closeness of perspiration, aching muscles and blistered feet, and the dictate that she be perfectly groomed at all times when she was on the passenger decks.
She’d rather stay on firm ground. Even the thought of Hollywood held very little appeal. That was Liam’s dream, one he’d had since before she’d come on the scene. He was certainly good-looking and talented enough. But then, Rosemary Mortimer, who’d been married to Major Henry, had also been good-looking and talented, and had possessed a wonderful singing voice. She’d gone to Hollywood with dreams of fame and fortune, and now her name was hardly ever mentioned.
March winds buffeted them as they stepped on to the crude wooden platform at Creekmore Halt. Liam gazed at her as the engine puffed off, asking for the second time, ‘Are you sure your family won’t mind me coming home with you?’
Head to one side she slanted a smile at him, hiding her own uneasiness. ‘If we’re to be married you’ve got to meet them sometime, Liam. My sister will probably be relieved because I haven’t been carried off by pirates or eaten by cannibals.’
‘We could run away and get married . . . tell them afterwards.’
‘It would hurt their feelings terribly. They’re my family, Liam. I love them, and I want them to be at my wedding. You’ve been gloomy ever since the audition. What’s wrong?’
‘Nothing . . . I’m nervous, that’s all. I’ve never contemplated marriage before.’ He slid his arm around her waist and held her against him as they walked. A few minutes later he began to sing his own lyrics to the latest routine they’d used in the audition.