Return to the High Country

by Tony Parsons

  The big cities of England and Scotland left no lasting impression on David – it was the smaller towns and villages, even tiny hamlets, that really appealed to him. The country people were more genuine and although they spoke in unfamiliar accents, they were still concerned with weather and crops and the price of livestock. But what interested David the most was the country of his forebears, the MacLeods. He reckoned that his ancestors must have been tough people to have survived in the western Highlands and the islands of the Inner and Outer Hebrides. It was spectacular country, but brutal in winter. If people could survive in those winters, it was no wonder they made a success of farming in other countries.

  The trip was finished with a stop in the United States where they inspected more Hereford cattle. David and Angus were particularly keen to see the size and length American breeders were getting into their cattle, which had previously been small and ‘dolly’.

  In between visits to cattle studs Catriona had sandwiched trips to New York, Los Angeles, Yellowstone National Park, Monument Valley and Kentucky. They also took in a couple of sheepdog trials that were closer in character to the trials in the United Kingdom than those in Australia. David was delighted to find that the kelpie was carving a place for itself in the United States. Increasing labour costs were driving stockholders to utilise stock dogs more and more and the kelpie, with its passion for work, was now to be seen in virtually every stockraising state of the United States. Some had sold for several thousand dollars. The kelpie had not displaced the border collie as the premier stock dog but the breed was gaining ground.

  It had all been very interesting and gave David much food for thought. For a young man raised in the hill country of Australia whose longest trips away from home had been to Canberra for the National sheepdog trials, and to Yeppoon for his honeymoon, this excursion had been a ground-breaking experience. He had learnt things that would profit him in the years ahead and he had made contacts that would be valuable, too – as well as friends for life. But while America had its wonders and Britain had its antiquity and history, they weren’t home. Voices, customs and the scenery were all unfamiliar. Much of the terrain they had seen was spectacular, but there were no gum-trees, no Australian native birds, nothing to remind them of home, of Australia, of their beloved range country.

  Eventually, they all made their way home – home to High Peaks and Anne and Kate and Greg and Shaun and home to the kelpies that were so much part of David’s life. David’s first thoughts turned to his dogs. On arrival he went down to the dog yard where he sat on Nap’s log and talked to him while Clancy and Belle, in particular, listened with ears cocked. David reckoned people would think him peculiar if they heard him talking to Nap, but he figured that if you had a dog that knew virtually everything you said to him, why wouldn’t you talk to him? So he told the old dog that he wouldn’t be going away again and that he would see him every day. Later, he let the dogs off and they raced around him in sheer exuberance and pleasure that he was with them again. Not that they had been neglected for a single day. Anne fed them and talked to them and Greg took them for their daily gallop. Greg worked Needle, which had been one of the three dogs David had worked at Canberra. He also worked another younger dog, a son of Nap called Bruce. David considered Greg a fairly good hand with a dog now, though he hadn’t known much when he first came to work for the MacLeods. Greg had been horse-mad, but you couldn’t work sheep in hill country unless you had good dogs and Greg soon woke up to that fact. A horse couldn’t go where a dog could travel and when it came to winkling out straggler wethers on Yellow Rock, you had to rely on your dog. Here, in the high country of the Liverpool Ranges, a good sheepdog was a priceless asset.

  After seeing Anne and the dogs, it was back to their own homestead and the garden Anne had watched over assiduously in their absence. ‘Oh, David, everything seems to have grown so much, and yet we have only been away for six weeks,’ Catriona exclaimed. ‘I must get something to repay Anne for looking after everything so well.’

  ‘Mum wouldn’t expect anything but yes, we must give her something,’ David agreed. They had purchased gifts at various places and Catriona had a length of Scottish tartan cloth that she fancied might appeal to Anne.

  ‘Well, I must say it is nice to be home again,’ David said. ‘Let’s sit down and have a drink o’ tea and a piece of Mum’s cake. After that I might take a run over to Glen Morrison and Poitrel to say hello to Kate and Jean. Want to come?’

  ‘Try and stop me,’ Catriona said.

  David picked her up and kissed her. ‘Thank you for all the organising of the trip, sweetheart. It went off very well and I learnt a tremendous amount. You are a treasure, a veritable treasure.’

  ‘Thank you, darling. And having my folks along didn’t work out too badly, did it?’

  ‘It actually worked out very well. Angus smoothed the way for us in a lot of places. I’ve got to hand it to your father, Cat, he’s got a presence. Maybe he inherited it from having ancestors in authority and owning property.’

  ‘It’s nice to know that you’ve become so matey, darling,’ Catriona said, and rested her face against his cheek.

  ‘Huh, Angus wants me to take his bitch and handle her for a while,’ David said.

  ‘And will you?’

  David sighed. ‘I suppose so. Can’t very well refuse, can I? Angus offered me a top cow to do it.’

  Catriona laughed. ‘Poor Daddy. He does so much want to win a good trial. Is Nell talented enough to win a trial?’

  ‘I think she’s plenty good enough once she gets used to merino sheep. The big question is whether your father can handle her well enough, Cat. I’ve been coaching him but he isn’t naturally a skilled stockman.’

  ‘I suppose he hasn’t had to be with good stockmen working for him. But Daddy is a fine judge of stock. He’s well known for that,’ Catriona said.

  ‘That’s a different matter altogether. The best judge of merino sheep in the country might not be able to work a dog to save his life. On the trial ground you need to think ahead and to be ready to respond instantly to what sheep do because a point or two docked from you could lose you the trial. Now, I’m for that cup of tea,’ he said.

  Chapter Four

  David and Catriona were soon back into the routine of life in the high country. David complimented Greg on the way he had looked after High Peaks and Poitrel in their absence. At Glen Morrison Shaun Covers had superintended the construction of a stud cattle shed and a covered feedlot. The latter was designed to handle a dozen or so steers at a time so that David could evaluate their meat qualities. The first calves bred from the Inverlochy stud cows were still on their mothers, as were other calves bred from additional cows David had purchased. However, before long the first young bulls and steers would be ready to evaluate.

  A draft of Aberfeldy steers had arrived in their absence and were being topped off on Glen Morrison. Kate and Shaun had the property looking first-rate. The sheds had all been cleaned out, and concrete flooring was laid down for the grain silos David was installing. He wanted to lay in large quantities of feed oats which, along with lucerne hay and chaff, was one of the main ingredients of stud cattle rations. It was also handy to have a good supply of feed oats on hand for feeding to sheep in dry times. Later, when he had his merino stud set up, David proposed to show his sheep.

  When Nell came out of quarantine, David took her for three months and re-educated her to his commands. These were quite different from the whistle commands she had known in Scotland, but because she was only young and not yet been completely broken in, David didn’t have a great deal of trouble with her. He found her very quick to learn and it didn’t take her long to work out that she had to move fast to head merino sheep. Unlike the previous border collies Angus Campbell had imported, Nell was not a natural ‘clapper’ and instinctively stayed on her feet rather than dropping to the ground to eye the sheep. This was one of the things about her that had appealed to David when he saw her work for the fi
rst time. He liked a smooth-working dog that stayed on its feet and was ready instantly for anything a sheep might decide to do. Clapping was all right on the slower-moving Scottish sheep, but on merino sheep, some of which broke very fast, it was a damned nuisance. Australian sheepdog breeders had largely overcome the clapping trait by introducing kelpies into their border collie strains – either openly or under the lap. The kelpie had also been responsible for reducing the amount of coat carried on the body and legs. David knew that the late Bill Marshall had twice used kelpie in his Herdsman strain of border collies and had had great success.

  It was not that a handler couldn’t overcome the clapping trait – there were handlers who could do it, but Angus Campbell wasn’t one of them. His dogs had always been too slow to react and as he was also slow, he couldn’t win good trials. Nell was the answer to his first problem but after David had her schooled to his commands, he then had to coach Angus in how to work her. This took a couple of months. He told Catriona that her father would never be a great handler but he might be able to win a trial with Nell. Nell wasn’t up to Belle as a trial bitch but she was pretty good and a lovely bitch to work.

  Two months later Angus won a Novice Trial with Nell. She scored the highest points Angus had ever recorded with a dog. He sent David and Catriona a case of champagne to mark the occasion. David couldn’t abide champagne, but Catriona said she had no doubt it would come in handy before too long. Of more consequence to David was the fact that Angus had given him the cow he had promised him for handling Nell.

  The night that Angus came to tell them he had won the Novice Trial wasn’t the first surprise David received that evening. They had finished dinner and were about to do the washing up when Catriona sprang her own surprise.

  ‘Have you ever given any thought to what you might call our first baby, darling?’ she asked.

  ‘Not really, Cat. I’ll give the matter some thought when he or she is imminent,’ he said.

  ‘I thought Dougal might be nice for a boy and Moira if it’s a girl,’ Catriona said. ‘As we’re both from Scottish families, it would be nice for our children to have Scottish names.’ David still hadn’t caught on. ‘There could never be another Andrew MacLeod so I think Dougal would be nice. And I’ve always liked Moira. You couldn’t abbreviate it like you do mine. I mean, Mo would hardly be appropriate, darling.’

  ‘Are you trying to tell me something, sweetheart?’ David asked with some urgency, turning to her.

  Catriona nodded. ‘It’s confirmed,’ she said.

  ‘Crikey, Cat,’ he said, and engulfed her in a mighty embrace.

  ‘That’s all right for now but you will have to be a little more restrained by and by,’ she said.

  ‘Crikey,’ he exclaimed for the second time, his eyes shining. ‘I’m going to be a father. Does anyone else know?’

  ‘Only the doctor,’ she answered.

  ‘Let’s clear this washing up and go up and tell Mum,’ he said.

  ‘You mean right now?’

  ‘Right now. Mum will be over the moon. She’s got grandchildren on the brain.’

  Catriona could never refuse David anything, so of course they had to walk up to the old homestead.

  They found Anne watching television and she looked up with some concern on her face as they walked in on her. ‘There’s nothing wrong, is there?’

  ‘There’s nothing wrong, Mum. It’s just that we’ve got some news for you. The first is that Angus won a Novice Trial with Nell. He’s pretty excited about it.’

  ‘That’s nice, dear,’ Anne said. ‘And when is the baby due?’ she asked.

  David’s mouth fell open. ‘How did you know?’ he asked.

  ‘I could see it on Catriona’s face as soon as you walked in. That’s wonderful news,’ Anne laughed, and kissed them both. ‘Now I have something really special to look forward to. And Kate will be thrilled, too. Have you told Angus and Jane?’

  ‘Not yet. You’re the first. As soon as I told David he said we had to come and tell you,’ Catriona said.

  Anne flashed her son a quick smile. ‘That was very sweet of you, David. I’m sure Catriona would have liked to tell her own parents first. Oh, this is truly wonderful news. A grandchild on the way!’

  So of course they had to stay for supper and discuss names for the baby, which David thought (privately) was a bit silly. Nothing, though, could affect his excitement because his future plans were so much built around the children he hoped to have. He would have to start looking for a pony for the youngster, because he had been on one when he was only two. Anne had to ring Kate and pass on the news and then relay her reaction back to them. It was all very exciting and he couldn’t be happier, he thought, sitting there with Catriona and Anne.

  Later, as they walked back arm in arm through the orchard Catriona expressed what David had been thinking. ‘My goodness, Anne is sharp. Were you ever able to hide anything from her?’

  ‘Not very often, sweetheart. She was always sharp as a tack and she’s still much the same. I believe Mum was very bright at school and they say she was one of the best teachers ever to come to Merriwa. Your mother told me that. Well, we’ve made Mum’s day so we had best get over to Inverlochy in the morning to give Angus and Jane the news.’

  The following morning at Inverlochy Angus was still on a high over his trial win and confident he could go on and win his first Open Trial. David felt Angus had a long way to go before he could win an Open but didn’t like to dampen his father-in-law’s enthusiasm. While there, they had to inspect Nap’s son bred from a bitch by the imported collie, Toss. This was the dog Angus proposed to breed to Nell. David reckoned that Angus would be better advised to mate Nell to Nap or Clancy but the thought of breeding an imported bitch to a kelpie was too revolutionary for Angus to contemplate.

  With her baby on the way, Catriona began to experience the first manifestations of pregnancy. She had some morning sickness but it didn’t persist for too long. It was the fact that she couldn’t ride with David that affected her most. For a young woman who loved her husband to the extent Catriona did, to be deprived of his company was not a situation she liked at all. She pottered about her garden and took trips with her mother to Tamworth to buy baby clothes, but often found herself walking up the track to be with Anne. If David was going anywhere by vehicle she would accompany him, but he always had jobs to do and had to leave her. Later, as she grew bigger, David became so anxious about her that she had to tell him there was no need to worry. Given what had happened to his mother, David was concerned that nothing should go amiss that would prevent Catriona from having other children.

  Catriona realised that giving David the children he had set his heart on was probably the greatest contribution she could make to his future happiness. She had no doubt that he loved her, but children would be the manifestation of their love. All David’s work and planning, his dream of building a network of properties for his children, would be to no avail if she failed to produce the children he sought so dearly.

  Motherhood, Catriona realised, would probably be the first great challenge of her life. She had had a confrontation with her parents about marrying David, but motherhood was something entirely different – having and rearing children would occupy most of her attention for at least a dozen or so years, at which time the first child would be off to boarding school. Catriona knew that she would have a battle ahead about the children attending boarding school because David would want them home with him. He did not put the value on a boarding-school education that she and her family did. Like Anne, he would think parting from his children was too great a sacrifice. But in Catriona’s opinion there were definite advantages in a boarding-school education, and she would have to convince David to make sacrifices for the sake of his children.

  Unlike a lot of modern young women, Catriona didn’t warm to the idea of having her husband present at the birth. The very thought was abhorrent to her. She had always prided herself on her appearance and the thought of Davi
d seeing her giving birth was too awful to contemplate. Not that David had said he wanted to be present.

  Jane Campbell was also very much opposed to husbands being present at childbirth, and expressed her forthright views to Anne over morning tea. Jane was on her way to have lunch with Catriona but usually called in to see Anne.

  ‘It’s all very fine to say men should see what their wives go through and to talk of commitment, but I for one had no desire to have Angus present at the births of our children. There are some things a woman has to put up with in this life, but having one’s husband there when one presents such a diabolical picture is not one of them,’ Jane said firmly. ‘I mean, Anne, it’s one thing to flounce about one’s bedroom in fancy lingerie when one is young and has a presentable figure but it’s quite another to be seen at one’s worst. Childbirth is such a messy business.’

  ‘I should think it would be up to David and Catriona,’ Anne said gently, disguising her smile.

  ‘Well, I can assure you that Catriona doesn’t want David to be present and I agree with her entirely,’ Jane said.

  Jane had been a young, pretty blonde woman when she married Angus Campbell. She was from a notable grazier family and after her marriage to Merriwa’s leading member of the ‘squattocracy’ Jane assumed, certainly in her own mind, the mantle of the district’s leading lady. The townies thought Jane to be, when they thought about her at all, ‘a snooty bitch’. She was sometimes referred to as Angus Campbell’s ‘silvertail missus’ and, in coarser terms, as being ‘too much up herself’. One old local said that if he could buy Jane Campbell for his price and sell her for hers, he would make a lot of money.