The Light Horseman's Daughter

by David Crookes

  ‘She’s become a successful businesswoman in Sydney. I saw her picture in a newspaper and went to see her,’

  ‘She’s a remarkable woman, Stephen.’ Leonard poured wine. ‘Have you talked to your father about this?’

  ‘You know I can’t talk to him. That’s why I came here to see you.’

  Leonard smiled. ‘Now you’ve seen her again, how do you feel about her?’

  ‘I still love her.’

  ‘And how does she feel?’

  ‘I’m sure she feels the same way.’

  Leonard’s eyebrows rose. ‘You’re not going to do anything silly are you, Stephen? That New Guard thing still hangs over your head. Eleanor is your only insurance policy, so don’t do anything to get her offside. Nothing would please that policeman Proudfoot more than to get some concrete evidence against you. Don’t go upsetting the applecart.’

  Stephen sighed. ‘Emma made me promise the very same thing. But it’s all so damned hard. I’ve seen my son, you know. He’s the splitting image of me. And I want so much to be near him and Emma.’

  ‘But you can’t. You know that.’

  ‘Emma’s had such a terrible time. That bastard Patrick Coltrane, not only got the McKenna’s property for a song, but she holds him responsible for the death of one of her brothers. I just don’t want her to have to face everything alone as she’s always had to in the past.’

  ‘As I said before, Stephen,’ Leonard said somberly. ‘Emma is a remarkable woman. And somehow she’s always managed to look after herself and her family since she went to Sydney. But she hasn’t always been alone. You should know that. I’ve always stood ready to assist her if she ever needed help.’

  ‘I told you I know about the bank account.’

  ‘I don’t mean that. I mean other help.’

  ‘Has she ever needed any?’

  ‘Just once, and surprisingly, only just recently. She needed money for new equipment at her factory. She went to her bank. As you know I’m a director of the Imperial Bank and I’ve always left standing instructions for Emma’s needs to be looked after. It seems the manager of her branch is new and was never told to refer any matters relating to Emma to the main branch. But for some reason he did anyway and we were able to help her.’

  ‘I appreciate everything you’ve done, Uncle Leonard, ‘Stephen said sincerely. ‘For Emma and for me. I’m so glad it’s all in the open now and we can talk about it.’

  ‘It’s just as well you came when you did, Stephen. In a couple days I’ll be off to Canberra for several weeks—maybe months.’

  ‘Oh, what’s happening?’

  ‘I’ve been appointed to the Royal Commission into banking. It seems the government wants the banks and all financial institutions to be more accountable regarding disclosure of profits, financial statements, and internal monetary procedures. The commission is to delve into the affairs of the entire industry with a view to identifying ineffective procedures and improper practices. We also have to formulate a strict set of rules by which all the players will have to abide, or face being shut down by the Commonwealth Bank.’

  ‘It all sounds pretty boring to me, Uncle Leonard.’

  Leonard laughed. ‘But it gives us old fogies something to do while you young blokes fly around the country enjoying yourselves in aero planes.’

  *

  Emma had accepted money from Stephen to cover expenses for the return journey to Sydney on condition he take the same amount from her wallet when he reached Mascot.

  She had used some of the money to buy Bruce new shoes and a suit of clothes. Now, as they stood with Harmony waiting for the train at the Goondiwindi station, Emma couldn’t help but feel proud of the tall, tanned and erect young man who stood beside her. And she was amazed by how much he looked like their father.

  Emma left the men on the platform and went inside the station to the public telephone.

  ‘I’d like the Coltrane residence at Augathella, please,’ she told the operator

  There was a short silence while the operator searched for the number. ‘Is that on Essex Downs, Madam ?’

  ‘Yes, it is.’

  When Emma heard a distant ringing tone she stepped closer to the wooden box and put her mouth up to the speaker. She breathed a sigh of relief when a female voice answered at the other end.

  ‘Coltrane residence.’ The voice was slow and deliberate.

  Emma knew at once it was Mary.

  ‘This is Goondiwindi calling,’ the operator said. ‘I have a call from Emma McKenna. Hold the line please.’

  Emma dropped the coins the operator required into the telephone.

  ‘Hello?’

  ‘Oh, Miss Emma, it’s so good to hear your voice .’

  ‘How are you, Mary?’

  ‘I’m good, Miss Emma.’

  ‘And Beth?’

  There was short pause. ‘Beth’s not here anymore, Miss Emma. Now wait on while I get Mrs Coltrane.’

  Emma waited a few moments then heard Laura’s familiar voice. ‘Emma, is it really you? How are you?

  ‘I’m well. Aunt Laura.’

  ‘Where are you living now. Is your mother with you?’

  ‘Yes. She lives with me in Sydney.’

  ‘Is that where you are now?’

  ‘No. I’m in Queensland at a railway station near the New South Wales border,’ Emma said, not wanting to be too specific. ‘I just called to thank you for going to see Gordon Braithewaite when you did. It turned out that he did manage to ask someone to go to Hope Farm for the twins before he died ’

  ‘Oh, Emma, that’s marvelous. I’ve been worried for so long not hearing anything at all. I do wish you’d let me know before.’

  ‘I couldn’t. I never knew about it myself, until now. I’ve only just met up with Bruce after all these years. It’s all a bit complicated but I’ll explain it all to you some day.’

  ‘How is Bruce?’

  ‘He’s fine. He’s so tall I hardly recognized him.’

  ‘And Jack?’

  Emma took a deep breath. ‘Jack’s dead, Aunt Laura.’

  Emma heard Laura gasp and there was a short silence. ‘What happened?’ Laura asked after a few moments. ‘When did it happen?’

  ‘We don’t really know for certain what happened. But he drowned around the time you saw Bruce at Essex Downs.’

  ‘Oh, Emma…’ Laura started to sob. ‘I’m so sorry. I blame Patrick for all this. He never lifted a finger to help you after your father died. He just doesn’t care about family, not even his own. Now he’s in politics he’s never home. He’s away for weeks and weeks on end. And with Elliot gone, I’m just so lonely all the time. I…’

  A loud whistle sounded as the train pulled into the station.

  ‘I’ll have to go Aunt Laura. And thanks again…’

  ‘Emma, please keep in touch. Where can I write to you?’

  Emma hesitated for a moment then quickly gave Laura her address in Sydney. But before she hung up the receiver she said:

  ‘For Bruce’s sake Aunt Laura, you must promise me never to give our address to anyone.’

  *

  A strong offshore breeze had whipped up the usually calm waters of Botany Bay as Stephen brought his biplane in to land at Mascot. The first drops of rain from the threatening grey clouds overhead began to fall as he taxied toward the hanger. A storm was brewing and he was glad to be safely on the ground before it unleashed its fury.

  As soon as Stephen tended to the airplane he hurried over to the office in the hanger. A young man got up from a paper-strewn desk and came over to the counter.

  ‘Welcome home, Mr Fairchild. Just got in before the blow, eh?’

  Stephen grinned. ‘Yes... and Harry, I left a wallet on the counter here before I took off the other day. Have you got it?’

  ‘No worries, Mr Fairchild. We phoned your house soon after you left. Mrs Fairchild came and picked it up herself.’

  Stephen headed grimly for his car. The sky outside the hanger wa
s almost black now and it was raining heavily. He slipped behind the wheel of his Aston Martin and braced himself for a bigger storm at Kirribilli.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  ‘You bastard!’

  Eleanor’s tirade began before Stephen had even closed the front door behind him. ‘How dare you humiliate me like this.’ She stood in the hall at the foot of the stairs, dark eyes blazing, her hands on her hips.’

  The housemaid polishing the floor at the end of the hall on her hands and knees, glanced fearfully at Stephen, then got up and scurried off to another room.

  ‘Humiliate you, Eleanor.’ Stephen replied softly, trying to defuse the situation. ‘In what way?’ He couldn’t remember ever seeing Eleanor so angry and knew her rage must have been building since the morning he left.

  ‘You know damn well what I mean,’ Eleanor shouted at the top of her voice. ‘It’s no use pretending, Stephen. I know all about the McKenna woman. It was all in the wallet. Her name, her address, the name of the grotty little clothing firm she runs. There was even a business card of yours in it which must have been years old. Don’t you think you had better tell me how long its been going on?’

  Stephen said nothing. He quickly crossed the hall and brushed past her, heading upstairs to change his clothes. She hurried up the stairs behind him.

  ‘I know where the two of you have been. They gave me the details of your flight plan at Mascot when I was there. And Goondiwindi is a small town. It wasn’t hard to find out where the two of you stayed.’

  Stephen remained silent, But Eleanor refused to be ignored.

  ‘No wonder we never make love. All the extra hours you were supposedly working at chambers were really spent with that common slut from Waterloo, weren’t they?

  Stephen stopped on the landing and turned around. When he had arrived home all he had wanted was to stay calm and avoid an ugly scene. Now it was all he could do to contain his own rage.

  ‘Don’t you dare call her a slut’ he snapped angrily. ‘She has more quality and breeding in her little finger than you’ll ever have in your entire body.’

  Eleanor stepped up onto the landing beside Stephen. She was seething with fury. She stood with her face just inches from his, nostrils flaring, her lips drawn tightly over her teeth. Stephen saw no hurt in her eyes, only hate.

  ‘So you don’t even deny it,’ Eleanor hissed. ‘You’re pathetic, Stephen. You’re defending the little harlot. Next, I suppose, you’ll tell me you’re in love with her.’

  ‘I am.’

  His candor brought on a new wave of rage. ‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ Eleanor shrieked. ‘I don’t care that you sleep with her, but…’

  ‘I don’t sleep with her.’

  ‘Don’t take me for a fool, Stephen. I knew there had to be someone.’

  ‘I could say the same for you.’

  ‘And you’d be right. There has been. And more than one. But I’ve always been discreet. And I’ve never been stupid enough to want anything more than sex.’

  Exasperated, Stephen turned and walked down the landing to the bedroom. Eleanor followed him inside and slammed the door behind her.

  ‘Don’t you dare just walk away from me, Stephen Fairchild.’

  ‘What is it you want from me, Eleanor,’ Stephen demanded. ‘You knew I didn’t love you when we married. Now you tell me you’ve slept with half of Sydney. Why the pretence? Why carry on the charade?’

  ‘Our marriage is no charade, Stephen.’ She spoke more calmly now, trying hard to suppress her anger. ‘Our marriage is part and parcel of my social position in Sydney and I won’t allow your affair with such a woman to jeopardize it.’

  ‘What do you mean by "such a woman"?'

  ‘You know very well what I mean. I’ve made enquiries about her. It couldn’t be worse. It seems she has an illegitimate child and she’s been in the newspapers because of her involvement with communists and subversives. The clothing business she runs only employs riffraff and misfits from the slums, and worst of all she somehow manages to do business with Daddy’s department stores. How could you become involved with such a woman, Stephen? What if it all came to light?’

  Stephen ignored the question. He took a suit of clothes off the rack in the wardrobe and tossed it on the bed, then opened a dresser drawer and took out a clean shirt and underwear.

  ‘Where is the wallet now?’ he asked.

  ‘I sent it to her house in Waterloo by taxi.’

  ‘With everything in it?’

  ‘Yes. So there’s no need for you to go there again, is there? You do understand your little affair is now over, Stephen. You will never see this woman again, otherwise…’

  ‘Otherwise, what, Eleanor?’

  Stephen began undressing to take a shower.

  Eleanor opened the bedroom door to leave.

  ‘I think you know exactly what I mean, Stephen. You will play by my rules or you must accept the consequences.’

  *

  Soon after Laura had spoken with Emma on the telephone, Patrick Coltrane arrived home at Essex Downs unexpectedly after an absence of several weeks. When he entered the house he kissed Laura dutifully on the cheek then went straight upstairs to change.

  ‘We’ve been invited to Royston Silver’s home in Roma.’ Coltrane said as he climbed the staircase. ‘There’ll be some very important state and federal members of parliament there and I have it on good authority he’ll be unofficially announcing my appointment to the cabinet.’

  ‘But that’s wonderful for you, ’ Laura said without much enthusiasm.

  ‘There’ll be a lot of people there whose support I’m going to need in the months and years ahead,’ Coltrane called out from the landing. ‘I think it would be a good idea if you had your hair done and ordered some new clothes in the latest styles. It really is most important that we make a good impression.’

  *

  The train journey from Goondiwindi took nearly three days. Kathleen’s eyes welled with tears of joy when Bruce and Emma arrived home. Emma and Molly watched happily as Bruce rushed to his mother and knelt down beside her wheelchair to embrace her.

  ‘You look the image of your father the day I married him,’ Kathleen said when they drew apart. ‘He would have been so proud of you.’

  Bruce remained on his knees. ‘You’re looking well too, Mother.’ He gently patted the blanket covering her legs. ‘Emma was telling me how lucky you are to have a good doctor so close at hand. It must make things so much easier for you.’

  ‘There’s not much Dr Longbothom can do for me, Bruce,’ Kathleen said skeptically. She looked up at Molly and smiled. ‘It’s Mrs Gallimore here that makes things easier for me.’

  Molly shrugged off Kathleen’s praise. ‘I just do what the doctor tells me to do. I only wish I could do more.’

  ‘Has anyone been able to help at all?’ Bruce asked. ’Doctors seem to be coming up with new things all the time, even out in the bush.’

  ‘Dr Longbothom has been telling us about a Harley Street surgeon he knew when he worked at Guy’s Hospital in London,’ Emma said. ‘Apparently he’s been having some success treating patients with spinal chord injuries. Who knows? A cure may be just around the corner.’

  ‘Well, let’s all hope so,’ Molly said. ‘But while we’re waiting, I’ll go and make a nice pot of tea and butter some fresh scones.’

  As Molly left the room she beckoned to Emma to follow her out to the kitchen.

  ‘Mr Lawrence called by early this morning,’ Molly said as she took a tray of hot scones from the oven. ‘He looked very worried. He said there were some problems down at the factory and for you to go there just as soon as you could. Oh, and yes, a taxi brought your wallet over to the house a couple of days ago. It seems you left it at the airfield in Mascot.’

  Emma arrived at Sydney Styles within the hour. She found Neale the Nib pacing the floor in his office. The frown on his face changed to a fleeting smile when he looked up and saw her.

  ‘Thank heaven’s
you’re here, Emma.’

  ‘What is it, Neale?’

  ‘This came yesterday.’ The bookkeeper went to his desk and picked up a telegram. He handed it to Emma. She froze when she read the message.

  EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY STOP NO FURTHER SHIPMENTS OF GOODS FROM

  SYDNEY STYLES WILL BE ACCEPTED STOP ALL ORDERS CANCELED UNTIL

  FURTHER NOTICE STOP POSTLEWAITE MANAGER BOWES-SCOTT STORES

  ‘But why?’ Unable to believe what she was reading, Emma read the telegram again. ‘Have you contacted Postlewaite to find out what this is all about?’

  Neale the Nib shook his head. ‘I’ve tried to reach him on the telephone. But they won’t put my calls through.’

  Emma anxiously looked through the office window. All the machines were running and their operators were busy at their stations. Neale the Nib read her thoughts.

  ‘I thought it best to keep production running Emma, at least until we know what’s going on If we can’t deliver to Bowes-Scott we’ll still need stock to sell to new customers anyway.’ He shook his head sadly. ‘I made a bad mistake when I suggested we supply Bowes-Scott exclusively, Emma. No one should ever put all their eggs in one basket.’

  ‘But we had no choice at the time, Neale.’ Emma put the telegram in her handbag. ‘I’ll go into town and see old Postlewaite. I’m sure we’ll be able to sort things out.’

  An hour later, Postlewaite looked embarrassed when Emma walked straight into his office unannounced and laid the telegram down on his desk.

  ‘Mr Postlewaite, I think you owe me an explanation. Since you won’t speak with my accountant, I’ve come to hear it from you personally.’

  ‘I’m so sorry, Emma. In all my years with Bowes-Scott I’ve never been put in a situation like this before.’

  ‘What is the situation, Mr Postlewaite? Why have you terminated our standing orders?’

  ‘I was only following instructions.’

  ‘Whose instructions?’ Emma could see Postlewaite was becoming increasingly uncomfortable.

  ‘I’m afraid they came from the very highest level.’

  ‘You mean from Mr Bowes-Scott.’