by Tony Parsons
‘Oh well, time will tell, Anne. I have to say that I’m full of admiration for what David has achieved. Winning the National Trial was one thing but what he’s done since then has surpassed anything we could have imagined. I mean that sincerely. Andy would be very proud of him. I know that, Anne,’ Angus said.
‘Andy was always proud of David, Angus. David risked losing Catriona to win that trial for Andy. If Catriona had been a different kind of girl she would have told David to get lost. I must say I was very pleased that she didn’t, because I wanted her for David from when she was just a small girl. Something told me that she was the girl for him. Andy told me I was silly, but I was right,’ Anne said.
‘I have to admit that you were, Anne. And didn’t David give me the rounds of the kitchen when he came to me to get our approval to marry Catriona! Called me a damned snob when I wouldn’t agree. Never had anyone talk to me like he did. Not before or since. Not much I could do about it, either. I was right to want the best for my daughter but wrong in my judgement of David. Told him so, too. We get on very well, Anne.’
‘So David has told me. It takes a big man to admit that he was wrong, Angus. And you were wrong about David. He was absolutely the right man for Catriona. She knew he was and you didn’t because you were looking at other values.’
‘Granted. But Jane and I wanted the best for Catriona and her children. At that stage there were young men who could have given her a lot more than David had to offer. You can’t blame us for wanting the best for her, Anne,’ Angus said.
‘I suppose not – but it’s all water under the bridge now, Angus. Material benefits matter a lot to some people but I think love is important. The first time I saw Andy I knew he was the man for me. I knew it in my heart, Angus. It didn’t matter that he wasn’t A-one socially. Catriona felt the same way about David. I never once regretted marrying Andy or coming to High Peaks, and I still miss him after all these years,’ Anne said with a sigh.
‘I know how you feel – or I think I do. It’s damned lonely without Jane, and you lost Kate as well as Andy. Nothing is the same when you’re on your own. I’ve thought I might make a last trip to Scotland but without Jane it just wouldn’t be the same. Old age is the very devil, Anne.’
Anne chuckled. ‘It comes to all of us, Angus, and some don’t get to live as long as we have. I’m thankful for every day I have because before too long I shall be gone. While one keeps reasonable health old age isn’t so terrible. David and Catriona keep me well informed about what’s going on and Moira calls almost every day. Now Angus is home, he comes too. I get taken to town and to the other properties so I’m not neglected. Then there are books and now and again, some good programs on television. I have some wonderful memories, Angus. Except for losing Andy so prematurely, it has been a good life. David has been a great joy for me. Yes, I would have liked more children, but that was not to be, and it was no good feeling down in the dumps about it. Other women have had worse misfortunes,’ she said.
After Angus had left High Peaks he thought about what Anne had said. There was no woman he had ever met who he liked or respected more than Anne MacLeod. There was no artifice or pretentiousness about Anne. She was essentially the same woman she had been when she first came to live at High Peaks – a woman of good sense, integrity and compassion. Her son was now one of the wealthiest and most respected graziers and stud breeders in Australia, and he could afford to put his mother into a seaside unit or whatever she desired, for that matter, yet she continued to live on in the old homestead that meant so much to her.
The next day Angus rang the travel agent he and Jane had used on their last trip overseas. He booked himself on a trip to London for the following month and then made several changes to his will.
Catriona was furious when her father told her that he was going overseas.
‘It’s insane,’ she said forcefully. ‘You aren’t in any condition to travel, and certainly not on your own.’
‘Nonsense. They look after you very well on the planes. I’ll stay a night or two in London and then head up to Scotland. I want to see the relations for the last time and take in a dog trial or two. I’m rusting away here and Stuart is quite capable of managing everything.’
‘It’s madness, Dad,’ Catriona pleaded. ‘Can’t you wait and take one of the family with you?’
‘I don’t want one of the young people with me,’ Angus replied, indignant. ‘They wouldn’t be interested in where I’m going and what I want to see. I might find a good young border collie to bring back for Stuart. Be the last one, Catriona.’
Catriona sighed. Her father had always done his own thing and had never been answerable to anyone. Her mother had occasionally exerted a moderating influence but essentially her father was his own man, and would be until the day he died.
Catriona asked David to intercede with her father on her behalf but David shook his head. ‘I’m sorry, Cat. I’d do anything for you, as you well know, but this is something I won’t do. If Angus wants to go to Scotland, I say let him go – if it kills him, so be it. Your father has sentimental ties to his relations and to Scotland, and I can well understand why he would want to make this last trip.’
‘You’re no help to me, David,’ Catriona said. ‘I thought you would support me.’
‘There’s an old saying that a man has to do what a man has to do, Cat. Angus has had a good long life and maybe this is his final fling. I agree it would be good if someone was going with him but he’s made it clear he doesn’t want company. I say leave him be, sweetheart.’
David wondered whether his mother had had something to do with Angus’s decision to make the trip. She had told him that Angus had spent a morning with her and that they had talked about a lot of things. He called in and gave her the news and asked whether Angus had given any intimation that he might go overseas.
‘Angus told me that he would like to go,’ Anne answered.
‘I wondered if perhaps you might have said something to influence his decision to go,’ David said.
Anne looked at him thoughtfully, while trying to resurrect the conversation she’d had with Angus. There was nothing she could recall that would have influenced Angus to go. Unless …
‘Not specifically, David. I did say that I was thankful for each day that I lived because before long I would be gone from this house and this place. Or words to that effect,’ Anne said.
‘Ah,’ he said.
‘Why ah?’ she asked.
‘I think you may have unintentionally spurred Angus to action, maybe to shortcircuit him feeling sorry for being old and useless. Catriona is upset about Angus going and asked me to talk to him. I refused because if that’s what Angus wants to do, let him do it. He wants to see his relations for one last time and maybe he’ll buy a dog. He knows a lot more about sheepdogs than he used to. At the very least he’ll feel he’s doing something, which is more than he’s doing over at Inverlochy.’
‘You may be right, David. I certainly didn’t tell him to make the trip but having made up his mind, Angus will take some dissuading,’ Anne said with a smile.
Catriona tried to get Stuart on side but Stuart had talked with David and he agreed that if his father wanted to go, he should go. He was like a lost sheep without Jane, and too old to do any actual work.
So Stuart and Catriona took their father down to Sydney and saw him on the plane. David had intended to go but an urgent call from Greg Robertson sent him to Molonga instead. Jamie, the middle Robertson child, had come off a horse and had been badly knocked about. He’d been taken to Newcastle Hospital and Liz had gone with him. Greg was waiting to go to them as soon as David could get out there. Linda Barden was looking after the other two children. The devil of it was that Molonga was in the middle of crutching. So there was no hope of David going to Sydney to farewell Angus.
David called at Inverlochy on his way to Molonga. He explained why he couldn’t accompany Catriona to Sydney. Angus understood David’s predicament.
‘She has, Angus. Cat tried to get me to persuade you not to go. I wouldn’t be in that. If it should happen that it’s too much for you and you cash in your chips, too bad. You could do that in bed here, which was how Dad died. I reckon that if you feel you want to go, you should go. I told Cat that if Angus Campbell didn’t know what he was about, who did?’ David said with a smile.
‘That’s the kind of thing I would expect from you, David. As it happens there are a couple of things I want to do before I die. I hope I get time to do them. That’s besides finding another dog,’ Angus said.
‘You won’t get another strong-eyed clapper, will you, Angus?’
‘No, I won’t, David. I’ll be looking for something that works on its feet and covers well,’ Angus said with a frosty smile.
‘Good show, Angus. I’ll look forward to seeing him,’ David said.
‘It could be a bitch this time. I’ve a notion to get a good bitch to put with Rob Roy,’ Angus said.
‘Dog or bitch, it wouldn’t matter as long as the work and the nature is right. I hope you find what you want.’
‘The Americans seem to be buying up a lot of the good borders now. Money is no object. I wouldn’t mind seeing what the Yanks are doing with them. I believe the trial scene in the US is expanding rapidly. But maybe that’s a bit optimistic on my part. I doubt I could cope with America now,’ Angus said.
‘I think you’re better off tackling one continent at a time,’ David agreed. ‘You do what you want to do in Scotland and then come back to us.’
Angus nodded. ‘If anything should happen to me, you’ll keep an eye on the family, won’t you? Stuart thinks a lot of you, David. He’d listen to you before anyone.’
‘Of course, Angus, you have my word. And many thanks for your help over the years. Those Herefords you let me have made a big difference,’ David said.
‘You were a grand boy and you’re an even grander man, David. I was a fool not to see it when you asked for Catriona. But we’ve been over that ground before. I’m full of admiration for what you’ve achieved and for the way you’ve lived your life. Catriona couldn’t have a better man or husband by her side,’ Angus said with some fanfare.
‘Thank you. Coming from you that is something I won’t forget in a hurry, Angus. Good trip – I hope you find what you’re looking for,’ David said, and shook hands with his father-in-law. Then he turned and walked away. Angus watched David’s car until it was out of sight and then went back into his homestead.
The fact was that Angus had not been entirely open with David – or with anyone else for that matter – about his reasons for making this last trip to Scotland. It was true that he wanted to say goodbye to his relations and it was also true that he wanted to find a good border collie for Stuart. In so far as the dog part of his trip was concerned, what he really wanted was to try and find a good Rutherford-strain collie – he had read the history of the kelpie and it seemed that it was largely founded on Rutherford-strain collies from Sutherland. He had no idea whether the family remained to this day or if there were any Rutherford-strain dogs still being bred. Yet it would be a great coup if he could locate a dog of this family and send it back to Australia. Even David would probably acknowledge that this was an extraordinary feat.
But above and beyond these reasons for going was one that transcended all others. Angus was aware of a growing sense of his mortality. All his life he had been a great supporter of the church, like Old Angus before him – family, church and public duty weighed heavily with Angus Campbell. Although a Christian by belief, he held doubts about a life after death. He didn’t see how eternal life could be possible, yet it was the major plank of the Christian faith. What Angus now sought was something that could convince him that eternal life existed.
Once, years earlier, he had been very moved when he visited the ruins of Glastonbury. Here, he felt, was a truly holy place. There was one other place he very much wanted to visit before he died. This was the island of Iona, the holy island near the island of Mull in the Inner Hebrides. On the trip he and Jane made with David and Catriona they had got as close to Iona as Oban. At the time the wind was blowing half a gale, forcing them to turn back and he had never made it to the legendary Iona.
A few days before Angus left the high country his parish minister came to see him. The Reverend James Currie had come to Australia from Scotland as a small boy. He had lost all but the occasional word of the Scottish vernacular. The Reverend Currie had a lot of time for Angus Campbell. He was not only a great benefactor of the church but a good man.
After they had been talking for a little while Angus asked him the question that had been uppermost in his mind since the minister arrived.
‘Did you ever get to Iona, James?’
‘No, Angus, I never did. Why?’
‘I thought you might have gone there. I had it in my head that Iona would be the place to visit for a man of the cloth,’ Angus said.
The Reverend Currie looked at Angus and pondered a while before he spoke. ‘Is something troubling you, Angus?’ he asked shrewdly.
‘As you’ve asked the question, the answer is yes. I’m concerned whether there is anything beyond all this,’ and Angus waved one arm about to encompass the homestead and his lands.
‘And you hope to find the answer on Iona? The scriptures aren’t enough to convince you?’ the minister asked.
‘Maybe I’m looking to find something that will add to what the scriptures tell me,’ Angus said. ‘I felt something when I visited Glastonbury. I couldn’t put a finger on it, yet it was there.’
‘You have lived a good life, and you’ve been a good husband and father. On top of that you’ve been a pillar of the church and probably the most public-spirited citizen of the district. If there were more people like you upon whom I could depend, I would be a happy man. If I need help I go to you or David MacLeod and I have never been refused,’ the minister said.
‘Did you say David MacLeod?’ Angus asked.
‘I did.’
‘I wasn’t aware that David attended church,’ Angus said, astonished. ‘The only times I’ve ever seen him in a church have been at weddings and funerals.’
‘True. David doesn’t attend church, but he supports it. And very generously, Angus.’
‘Well, I’ll be damned,’ Angus said, shaking his head.
‘I doubt that you will be,’ the Reverend Currie said.
‘Sorry, James. It’s just that so often you think you know someone and you find that you don’t.’
‘I would say that David MacLeod is one of the most Christian people I’ve known. As to this business of Iona I would say that if you believe you will find your answer there, you should certainly go.’
‘I will do my best,’ James. ‘God willing, I shall get there,’ Angus said.
‘For my part I shall be interested to hear what you find on Iona. It would be trite to say to you that the Lord works in mysterious ways, but in my experience it is nevertheless true.’
‘Perhaps you have put your finger on the heart of the matter,’ Angus said. ‘Perhaps the Lord is guiding me to Iona and perhaps He will reveal what it is I’m seeking. Anyway, that is where I am headed, James.’
Catriona had given Angus a handsome leather-covered diary, which she had asked him to use for his trip. While away at boarding school her father used to write to her two or three times a term. They were usually quite formal letters with unemotional accounts of successes gained by the Inverlochy cattle or a win by a Campbell horse at a picnic race meeting. Conversely, her mother’s letters were quite bright and filled with news of her activities. So Catriona wasn’t hopeful that her father would pen anything greatly interesting.
‘Please write something in the diary every day, Daddy. Promise me you will,’
she said.
‘I’ll try, Catriona,’ he said.
Now he was about to leave them. He gripped Stuart’s hand, and wished him a heartfelt farewell, and then turned towards Catriona. ‘You’ve been a lovely daughter, Catriona. You’ve also been a lovely wife and mother. You’ve got the best man and husband a woman could have. I was wrong not to see that long ago. I’m very proud of you, Catriona.’
He held her close for a while and then turned and walked from the lounge. Catriona watched him with tears falling down her cheeks. She had a premonition she would never see her father again. He turned and waved and she tried to memorise how he looked that last time. There was the thick white hair above the slightly beaked nose and bushy eyebrows. Even now, stooped by age, there was the same eagle look that made her father stand out in any company. And then he was gone.
Reluctantly, Catriona turned and followed her brother from the lounge and the terminal. It was as if another page in her book of life had been turned. She had done her best to persuade her father not to go, and yet he hadn’t heeded her. But Catriona then didn’t know about Iona.
Chapter Sixteen
Back at High Peaks and Inverlochy, Angus’s path was followed via his postcards and a few hastily written letters. Later, Catriona was to compile a fuller account of her father’s pilgrimage to the land of his fathers.
Upon arrival in England, Angus stayed a couple of days in London before flying to Edinburgh. There he hired a campervan and stocked it with food before leaving for the west country. He travelled to Inveraray via Sterling and then by Aberfeldy and Kenmore along the north side of Loch Tay. He motored from there to the Breadalbane country where he stayed a night with a cousin. From here he travelled to Dalmally and thence on to Inveraray by the magnificent Loch Fyne. This was the shire of Argyll, hereditary home of the Campbells of Argyll. According to a postcard, Angus stayed two nights with his relations in Argyll, during which time he visited the old family burial ground at Kilmun.