by Tony Parsons
On the drive down to Strath Fillan David used the time to show her the various boundaries that divided the four properties. ‘We’ll call in at Poitrel and Glen Morrison on the way back, Sarah.’
At Strath Fillan they found Greg and Liz in the throes of packing. There were boxes, tied and untied, in the middle of the lounge room.
‘Sarah, this is Greg and Liz Robertson. There are three small Robertsons but I presume they’re at school.’
‘Thank goodness,’ Liz said. ‘They keep pulling things out of boxes after I’ve packed them. Nice to meet you, Sarah.’
David had told Greg that Sarah would be coming here. After getting over his initial surprise that Sarah was to succeed him, and after he had listened while his boss detailed the girl’s credentials, he conceded that she might be okay.
‘Welcome to Strath Fillan, Sarah. We know you’re going to love living here – we’ve certainly had some great years at this place,’ Greg said warmly.
‘Thank you, Greg – I’ve got a good feeling about it already.’
After they had looked through the big homestead David took her over to the stables where they saddled two horses for a quick ride up the valley. Greg had no reason to doubt his boss’s judgement when he saw Sarah in the saddle. She and Dianne had been riding horses since they could walk and she had learnt a lot more about handling horses while at Longreach. After riding around the various paddocks they rode back to the yards and unsaddled the horses. ‘Shall I feed them, Mr Mac?’ Sarah asked.
‘No, Greg and Liz will do that later. What do you think? Still want the job?’
‘Of course,’ she said. ‘This place is perfect.’
‘There’s some outside work I want to do before any renovations to the house. Buying those two places has left me a bit short of money and what I’ve got has to be spent on a priority basis.’
This was the first of many confidences David shared with Sarah and she appreciated him being honest with her.
‘Right, we’ll poke up and have morning smoko with Jean and Julian at Poitrel. Julian is a bit offbeat, but he’s quite a nice fellow and Jean herself is a darling, as Mum puts it,’ he said.
‘Is Jean the same age as Kate?’
‘A wee bit younger, but not much. Jean is an elderly lady now but doesn’t look her age.’
Jean, warned by Anne that David would be bringing his new employee for morning smoko, had buttered teacake ready. Julian had discreetly disappeared, as was his habit when he knew beforehand that someone was coming to see Jean.
‘This is Sarah, Jean. She could be coming here quite a lot in future. Not for you to look after, I hasten to add, but for mustering and drenching. Sarah is taking over at Strath Fillan so she’ll be your neighbour. If something goes wrong and you can’t get hold of me, you should phone Sarah.’
‘I hope you’ll be very happy working for David, Sarah,’ Jean said.
‘I’m sure I shall. Oh, what do I call you?’
‘You must call me Jean as everyone else does. Dear Mr White always called me Sister Jean but I am not a Sister now. Just Jean, dear.’
Later, after a tour of the stables and an inspection of the old mares and poultry they left for Glen Morrison.
‘Jean seems a very nice person, Mr Mac,’ Sarah said.
‘Indeed she is, Sarah. She has looked after Poitrel very well for a long time. I told her she could stay for as long as she wants to. I fancy she’s been happier at Poitrel than anywhere else. Beats me why any man would want to hit a woman like that,’ he said.
‘Is that what happened?’
‘I believe so. Her husband used to get on the booze and become violent. Jean eventually left him, but never remarried or had children. She told Mum she wanted to have children,’ David said.
Glen Morrison was surely the jewel in the MacLeod ‘empire’. It was David’s stud property and the most highly improved, and he was very proud of it.
‘This is Sarah Matheson, Shaun. Sarah – Shaun Covers.’
‘Pleased to meet you, Sarah,’ Shaun offered, tipping his hat.
‘And you,’ she replied.
‘Sarah started with me today. She’s been at Longreach Pastoral College. You’ve met her mother and sister. As I told you, Sarah is taking over from Greg and she’ll be coming here quite a lot. I want her to get to know the stud business.’
Sarah was entranced with the quality of the sheep and cattle in their preparation sheds and with the steers in feed. David then drove her around the property and showed her what he had been doing to improve the quality of pastures. There were small mobs of ewes in some of these paddocks and she thought they looked wonderful.
After an hour or more wandering through the paddocks they went back to the homestead where Shaun told them if they waited a few minutes he would ‘burn some meat’. Sarah, who didn’t usually eat a big midday meal, ravished her steak and said it was delicious.
‘So it should be, seeing what it came from,’ Shaun grinned.
After lunch David took her back to the ram shed where he spent two hours with her while she gave her opinion on the various sheep he held for her to inspect. He was agreeably surprised with the extent of her knowledge. It was much better than he had expected.
From Glen Morrison it was back to High Peaks to meet with Anne and Kate and then down to have afternoon smoko with Catriona and Moira. ‘I’ve been eating all day, Mr Mac,’ Sarah protested when told where they were going.
‘You don’t have to eat anything. I simply want you to meet with Cat and Moira so you get to know them better.’
Catriona felt a pang of apprehension as David walked in with Sarah. She had wanted to be with David as he took Sarah about but realised that it wasn’t appropriate.
‘What have you seen so far, Sarah?’ Moira asked.
Her question saved Catriona from temporary confusion. Sarah was simply too young and too attractive for Catriona not to worry about her being with David. But if Catriona was concerned she didn’t show it to Sarah. Her outwardly friendly greeting shielded her apprehension. She knew that there would be times when David and Sarah were alone, but she resolved to make these as few as possible.
Conversely, Moira welcomed Sarah with an open heart. It was going to be decidedly more interesting working with a female near her own age, and she immediately offered to stay with Sarah for her first week at Strath Fillan. She had discussed this suggestion with her father who had agreed wholeheartedly.
Quite apart from her own feelings regarding her husband and Sarah being together, Catriona still had reservations about a young woman being on her own in what she regarded as a fairly lonely location. Certainly, it was not all that far from Poitrel and Glen Morrison but it was at the end of the road and enclosed by the peaks of the range.
‘Can you handle firearms, Sarah?’ David asked.
‘I don’t like firearms, Mr Mac,’ Sarah said.
‘Maybe you don’t, but I’m going to insist that you keep a shotgun in the house and another in the utility. Moira can show you how to use a shotgun. You may never need to use it, for snakes or anything else, but not to put too fine a point on it, there are some real mongrels about now and, like it or not, women are vulnerable. If somebody threatens you, a shotgun is the most potent deterrent you can have. If there’s a real threat, shoot the mongrel in the legs,’ David said firmly.
‘I don’t think I could,’ Sarah said, and frowned.
‘Then think about what happened to some of the girls taken by creeps. If it’s your life at risk, you have every right to defend yourself. That’s what I’ve told Moira and Cat. It’s better to have a gun and not need it than not have a gun when you are in trouble,’ David insisted.
‘I suppose so, but I really don’t like guns,’ Sarah said.
‘They’re very necessary items in the bush. I suggest you do as I say or we’ll have our first disagreement,’ David told her.
‘Yes, Mr Mac,’ Sarah said meekly. She appreciated that her new boss was concerned for her we
lfare, which did touch her.
‘I’ve told David that I think he’s being very tough expecting you to live at Strath Fillan on your own,’ Catriona said. ‘Daytime isn’t so bad, but I would be frightened there at night.’
‘We’ll put a big chain and padlock on the front gate and Sarah can keep a key,’ David suggested.
‘There’s no need for that, Mr Mac. I’m not at all frightened of staying on my own. If a woman wants to be treated the same as a man, she has to behave the same as a man. I don’t want any favours,’ Sarah said.
‘Well, I’ll let you have a dog, which you’ll need for mustering, anyway. I’ve got a nice young dog going fairly well,’ David told her.
‘What Sarah needs down there is a cattle dog,’ Catriona suggested. ‘Not for working but for a watchdog.’
‘She can have a cattle dog if she wants one,’ David agreed.
‘I’m sure I’ll be all right,’ Sarah tried to assure them.
‘Well, I’m going to stay with you for the first week,’ Moira said. ‘We’ll have lots to talk about and we can try some new recipes. Dad is an old stick-in-the-mud when it comes to new recipes.’
And that was Sarah Matheson’s first day at High Peaks.
Chapter Eleven
The morning the Robertson clan left Strath Fillan was brilliantly clear and crisp. This was Greg’s favourite time of the day. Their furniture truck was ahead of them and Greg was pulling a double horse float to transport the last of his horses. He had taken the children’s ponies in the High Peaks truck a few days earlier.
An hour or so later David drove in to Strath Fillan with Moira and Sarah. Sarah’s possessions were in the back of the utility together with a bed, refrigerator and small wardrobe. David, with the two young women as eager helpers, manhandled the fridge and wardrobe into the house and then left the girls alone. He returned later with Catriona and a table and chairs. He noted with satisfaction that everything from the first load was already nicely in position and that Sarah and Moira seemed to be getting on very well.
What he found later was that Sarah didn’t know much about mustering in hill country, but she was a quick learner. When he showed her how to do something, she never forgot it. She would drench sheep all day without complaint and then get on a horse and take them back to their paddock. No day was too long for her. But where Sarah really shone was in actually looking after animals. She would sit up all night with a mare due to foal and she was as good as any vet when it came to difficult births.
Not long after Sarah came to Strath Fillan she went up to Glen Morrison to help Shaun with an old stud Hereford cow that was in trouble. David had retained the cow well past the age at which the cows were usually culled because she had bred exceptionally well and he wanted to try and get one last calf from her. Shaun rang and told him the cow was going to have trouble calving, and David called Sarah and asked her to go to Glen Morrison to lend a hand. It was after dark when he arrived and he found Sarah and Shaun hard at work on the cow. The poor old cow couldn’t deliver the big heifer calf and they were using tackle to pull it out. Sarah was covered in blood and Vaseline but there was a gleam in her eye as the calf was pulled clear. She pulled it around to the cow’s head and presently the exhausted cow began to lick her newborn.
Sarah looked up at David from where she was squatting beside the cow.
‘You’ve got your calf, Mr Mac, but this will be the last from this old girl,’ she said. She got up slowly, but her legs gave way and she fell against David. He held her and then picked her up and walked her across to a bale of straw and sat her down on it. ‘Stay there, Sarah,’ he ordered her.
‘You be right now, Shaun?’ he asked.
‘Yeah, I’ll be right. I’ll stay here with them for a while and then leave the light on all night. Sarah’s all in, David. She’s a blooming marvel at this game,’ Shaun said, clearly impressed.
David looked across to where Sarah sat looking at the cow and calf. ‘I reckon she is, Shaun.’
He walked back to where the girl sat wearily on the bale of straw. It was the first time he had seen her exhibit any trace of tiredness. He put out his hand and pulled her to her feet. ‘Go and wash your face and hands, Sarah. I’ll take you up to Cat and Moira and you can stay there tonight.’
‘I couldn’t, Mr Mac. I haven’t fed Charlie or Tex,’ Sarah said hurriedly. Charlie was the kelpie David had given her to work, and Tex was the horse she used.
‘They won’t starve until morning, Sarah. I’ll go down early and see to them myself. Go and have a wash.’
There was a small partitioned-off room at one end of the cattle shed that enclosed a toilet and hand basin. David had installed it for the convenience of ram and bull clients who travelled long distances to inspect and/ or buy his stock. Sarah walked slowly across to it. When she reappeared the only blood on her was on her clothes.
‘Mrs Mac will have a fit if I walk in looking like this,’ she said.
‘Hop in my ute, Sarah,’ David said.
She had found that there were times when you could put your point of view to David and he would listen very attentively. There were other times when it didn’t pay to argue with him. This was one of those times.
Catriona and Moira knew that David had gone down to Glen Morrison to help with a difficult calving, so when he walked in with a blood-spattered Sarah they didn’t turn a hair.
‘Sarah needs a bath and a drink and then something to eat. I want her to stay here tonight. Moira, can you find her some pyjamas and a dressing gown – and she’ll need some duds in the morning.’
‘Will an omelette be all right for you, darling?’ Catriona asked.
‘That will be fine, Cat,’ he said, as he watched his daughter shepherd Sarah out of the room. ‘That girl is all in. First time I’ve seen her knocked up. It was a damned difficult job with that old cow. She was up the night before with a mare.’
About half an hour later a much brighter-looking Sarah appeared wearing pink pyjamas and slippers and a crimson dressing gown. David handed her a brandy and soda and watched her drink it slowly. ‘Feel better?’ he asked.
‘Much better, thank you,’ she replied.
‘Good. You’ll feel better still after one of Cat’s famous omelettes.’
When Sarah had eaten and had warmed up by the fire the colour had come back into her face. ‘I want you to have a lie-in tomorrow, Sarah. Then I want you to go home and spend a day with your mother. You can come back to Strath Fillan the following morning.’
‘I’m perfectly all right, Mr Mac. I got a bit tired because I was up with Gretel the night before,’ Sarah protested.
David sighed and looked at his wife and daughter. ‘You will damned well do as you’re told, Sarah. You’ve hardly had a day off since you came here. Go and spend some time with your mother.’
‘Yes, Mr Mac,’ she said meekly. Tough hard men didn’t argue with David MacLeod, she thought to herself, so what chance had she to change his mind?
‘That’s the shot. Take my utility, as yours is still down at Glen Morrison. I’ll bring it back here for you to pick up on your way back through in a couple of days, and you can leave mine here.’
‘There’s meat in the fridge for Charlie, Mr Mac,’ Sarah said.
‘Go to bed, Sarah.’
David was gone when Sarah woke next morning. It was after eight and she felt much refreshed. There were jeans and a blouse and jumper on the chair beside her bed. She was about to get up when Moira appeared in the doorway. ‘Hi, feeling better?’
‘I’m feeling great. I was just about to get up. Thanks for the clothes. I’ll bring them back tomorrow.’
‘No hurry. What about a shower and then some breakfast? We’re having it in the kitchen.’
‘That sounds wonderful, Moira.’
‘Just come out when you’re ready, Sarah.’
‘I suppose Mr Mac has gone?’ Sarah asked.
‘He left at six this morning, Sarah. Dad has a big day. He and I are going aw
ay for a few days to look for some ewes to stock Wirrewarra. Mum doesn’t want to leave Grandma for that length of time.’
With her health increasingly on the decline, Jane Campbell had become very capricious and demanding of late. No amount of persuasion could convince her to have the heart operation and she was convinced that if she didn’t overdo things she would be perfectly all right. Although Jane got on very well with her daughter-in-law it was Catriona she wanted to see every day. So to go away for several days was out of the question. Catriona was disappointed because she loved trips away with David. She had no doubt that Moira was delighted to be going in her place.
Although Catriona was still apprehensive about Sarah working for them, so far nothing had happened to give her any real cause for concern. She wasn’t even anxious about David bringing Sarah to the house because the poor girl was exhausted, and to send her back to Strath Fillan would have been a bit tough. She was compensated to some extent for her fears by the fact that she and Moira had reached a new plane of understanding.
Quite by accident, Moira had discovered Catriona’s secret. She, like many other people, marvelled at the way her mother held her figure. She had seen her in a swimsuit when they were on holidays at Yeppoon and her figure was fantastic for a woman of her age. Catriona could almost wear Moira’s clothes. Moira knew that her mother watched her diet very carefully and she worked out on the exercise bike every day but those things alone didn’t seem enough to be responsible for her sculpted form. In actual fact Catriona was working out very strenuously almost every day with her aerobics regime. It was always done when David and the children were absent.
Moira had left to go to Muswellbrook on a shopping excursion and to have lunch with an old school friend from the area. She was almost at Inverlochy when she realised she had left her wallet behind. It was the first time she had ever done this and she was frustrated with herself. She turned the car around and headed back and the sound of Catriona’s taped music masked the car’s approach.
Moira heard the music as she got out of the car. It was not the kind of music she associated with her mother. She walked up the side path and entered the house by the back door. The music was louder now. It was coming from what she had known as their rumpus room. Her mother’s back was to her so she did not see Moira, who looked on in amazement as her mother, gyrated to the beat of the music, in skimpy shorts and bra top, perspiration dripping down her arms and legs.