by Sasha Wasley
‘Only for tempura,’ Jean nodded.
‘Oh, speaking of the deep fryer – that Malaysian girl who worked here, Devi. She got injured, right?’
‘Yeah, burned her hand. Pretty nasty. We had to rush her to hospital with her hand in a bag of iced water, poor thing.’
‘How long was she in hospital?’
‘About three or four days. Maybe not quite that long.’
‘That sounds serious.’
‘Yeah, she took off a few layers. The doctor said she’d need a couple of months off work.’
‘But then she went home?’
‘Yeah.’ Jean bent over her chopping. ‘Back to Malaysia.’
‘Was she here on a working holiday visa?’
‘Some kind of immigrant working thing.’
Willow was puzzled. ‘You mean, she was applying for residency?’
‘Yeah, that’s it.’
‘But her family were still in Malaysia? Did she have a boyfriend here or something?’
‘No, she was single.’
Why was Jean being so reticent? Normally she couldn’t wait to spill gossip.
‘So was Patersons sponsoring her application, as an employer?’ she asked.
‘I’m a bit fuzzy on details, sorry,’ Jean said. ‘It was a couple of years back now that Devi was here. Lovely girl. Happy as a clam, and a bloody hard worker.’
Willow left Jean to it. She didn’t like this new reluctance to chat. She’d thought things were going well with Jean. Maybe Hegney had got to her, too. However, she definitely wanted to know what had happened with this Devi girl. She made her father a cup of tea and presented it to him where he sat attaching hanging wire to one of Free’s paintings in the lounge room. Willow sank onto the corduroy couch beside him and asked if he remembered Devi, as well as her accident.
‘Yeah, we sponsored her for residency, that’s right,’ he said, pausing in his task to sip his tea. ‘But she took off after her burn incident.’
‘Why?’
He shrugged, focusing on screwing an O-ring into the frame. ‘Don’t know, sweetheart. She was gone within just a few days of coming out of hospital. Hegney would’ve taken her to the airport,I suppose. Why don’t you ask him?’
Uh, no.
If it did turn out to be something related to payroll or maybe even her workers’ compensation payments, Hegney was hardly going to tell Willow the truth.
The archive shed it would have to be.
Two hours later the sun dropped below the horizon, cutting Willow’s dusty search in the unlit archive room short. She returned to the house and hunted out her father once more. Willow found him dozing in his favourite chair.
‘Dad,’ she said gently, ‘you awake?’
He mumbled and snorted. ‘Just resting my eyes.’
‘I’ll start dinner. Quick question, does Hegney keep the staff records anywhere other than the office or the archive room?’
‘God knows, sweetheart. I wouldn’t think so.’ He examined her. ‘What have you been up to?’
‘I’m trying to work out what happened to this girl, Devi. She burned her hand badly enough to go to hospital, right? And Patersons was her sponsoring employer for a residency application? But I can’t find anything about the accident, workers’ comp, a letter of resignation – it’s like she just disappeared after her accident.’
‘Sometimes that happens, especially with young people. They just take off.’
‘She was here for about a week after she got out of hospital, though. That’s what Jean says.’
‘Have you asked Hegney yet?’
She fell silent. Her father tipped his head. ‘Willow?’
‘I’m not sure Hegney would trust me to discuss the matter. He thinks I’m out to get him.’
Barry looked bewildered. ‘You and Hegney still at loggerheads? I’ll ask him for you, then, sweetheart, but you’ve gotta learn to get along with people.’
She bit her tongue and drew a deep breath. ‘Please don’t speak to him, Dad. You’re absolutely right and I need to deal with this stuff myself.’
He nodded encouragingly, looking quite pleased with himself. Willow gave him a tight smile and went to find Free. Her sister was creating a stinky oil-painting mess in her studio. Willow shut the door behind her and opened a window.
‘Hey,’ she whispered, ‘I need your help.’
‘What’s the matter?’
Willow ran through the puzzle of this vanishing employee and Free put down her paintbrush, joining Willow on the sofa bed.
‘I got to be good friends with Devi when she was living here. I even went and saw her in KL last year.’
Willow rolled her eyes. ‘This is why I should’ve asked you before. Is she okay?’
‘Yeah, she’s fine. Why?’
‘How’s her hand?’
‘She’s got a tiny bit of scarring but otherwise it’s good as new.’
‘Why did she leave in such a hurry?’
Free’s forehead creased. ‘She had to. Her residency got denied.’
‘Oh, wow. Really? Why?’
Free shrugged. ‘No idea. It was all okay, then suddenly immigration contacted her and said she had to go home.’
‘But we were sponsoring her residency. Paterson Downs was, I mean.’
Free looked astonished. ‘What?’
‘Employer sponsorship.’
Free stared at the wall. ‘Why would she have to leave, then? She would have had to break a law or something. And Devi wasn’t a law-breaker.’
‘Are you still in touch with her?’
‘Occasionally.’
‘Could you ask her about it?’
‘Yeah, I will, but she’s very private. She might not want to talk about it.’
‘Are you sure she didn’t go home willingly?’ Willow asked, her mind racing. ‘Because if she didn’t, it means Patersons must have cancelled its sponsorship.’
Free’s mouth fell open. ‘Why would Dad do that?’
‘Why would Hegney do that?’ Willow answered, lifting an eyebrow.
‘Oh, my God,’ breathed Free. ‘You think Hegney got her sent back to Malaysia?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘But why?’
Willow didn’t know whether to answer that question. ‘Uh . . .’
‘Will?’
‘When someone has an accident in the workplace, the company needs to pay them while they recover, even if they can’t work. That’s one of the reasons we have insurance as a business. We’re obliged to keep them on, fully paid, and give them alternative work if possible. And we have to report the incident to the safe-work agency. I’m not sure any of that happened.’
‘Holy shit. Poor Devi.’
Yes, poor Devi. And poor Patersons, if Willow’s suspicions were correct.
‘Hi, Cathy. Is Tom there?’
‘Yep. Hang on, love.’
Willow waited, jiggling with impatience. She didn’t want to put Tom on the spot but she needed him to ask his staff about Devi and find out what they knew. But when Cathy returned a minute later she sounded odd.
‘Uh, sorry, love. I thought he was here but I can’t find him.’
‘Oh. Could you get him to call me? I’ve been messaging him and phoning his mobile but it keeps ringing out.’
‘I’ll be sure to tell him,’ said Cathy, still sounding a little awkward.
Weird. She shrugged it off and went to help with checking cattle condition. She tried Tom a few more times during the evening but it wasn’t until she tapped out a longwinded text message explanation of what was going on that he finally replied.
Shit, that sounds bad, he wrote. I’ll ask around.
Willow didn’t hear back from him that night. After dinner she sat on the couch across from her father, so he wouldn’t see what she was reading on her tablet, and researched employer obligations regarding workplace injuries. While she quietly panicked about potential fines, Free appeared in the doorway, out of their father’s line of sight, a
nd beckoned silently. Willow scrambled to her feet and they convened in the hallway.
‘I spoke to Devi on chat just now. Apparently Hegney told her there was a problem with her employment sponsorship and it got cancelled, but she won’t admit it was anything to do with the accident. She’s trying to find work in Australia at the moment and I think she’s worried that making an accusation might hurt her chances.’
Willow swore and sagged against a doorway. ‘What do I do, Free? We’ve got no evidence but this is horrible. What he did is illegal in so many ways.’
Free’s eyes were filling with tears. ‘Devi won’t speak out while she’s trying to get residency again.’
‘Without her, I can’t expose Hegney. It will be the station that’s at fault.’ Willow thought for a moment and then the realisation hit her. ‘Oh, God, it’s Patersons that will pay anyway, not him. In the end, it’s down to the business, not the individual.’ She caught Free’s eye. ‘I’m talking fines so big we could go under. For good.’ Tears started rolling down Free’s cheeks and Willow hugged her. ‘I’m sorry, Free. This is my fault. I should have come home years ago. I shouldn’t have let Hegney get such a stronghold here. If only I’d realised how tired and sick Dad was getting.’
‘Not your fault.’ Free’s voice was muffled against Willow’s shoulder.
Willow rejoined her father, who was watching something vacuous on television, and whenever he remarked on the show, she gave him a big, false smile. But all she was doing was sitting there going through the motions, hoping like hell Tom would call back so she could ask his advice.
He didn’t.
Willow had never done anything like this before. She was shaking with apprehension when Hegney arrived in the office.
‘Morning,’ he said.
‘Good morning, Liam.’ She went from terrified to formal. It was the only thing she could think of. ‘I need to talk to you about a very serious matter.’
‘Is this about the chemical store?’ he said, an ugly sneer twisting his mouth. ‘As I said, that was a misunderstanding.’
‘Do you remember a staff member by the name of Devi Lai?’ she asked.
The look on his face told her everything she needed to know.
Ten minutes later, the office door slammed behind him. Still trembling, Willow watched him through the blinds. He stalked towards his quarters, disregarding something called to him by one of the stockmen. She sat at her computer and attempted to focus on the week’s pay run. God, at this rate the pays would be full of errors. She gave up and half-heartedly wrote up an order for non-organic stockfeed.
She wasn’t waiting long before she heard a commotion outside. The staff had gathered to watch as Hegney wheeled his suitcases out of his room, ignoring everyone, striding towards his rusty old 4WD. He had to get a push-start from a couple of the stockmen because it had been sitting unused for so long. He didn’t even stop to thank them. He just roared off down the driveway, leaving a big cloud of orange dust. Willow jumped up to seek out her father. He was in the lounge room doing a crossword with the radio turned up loud and hadn’t noticed a thing. She tossed up what she should do: talk to her father first, or the staff? Barry seemed blissfully unaware of the storm outside as the workers milled around, collecting into worried little groups to discuss what had just happened. The staff must be dealt with first. She went outside and pointed them towards the dining hall. When they were assembled in front of her, looking stunned and deeply uneasy, she spoke, doing her best to keep her voice from wavering.
‘I’m sorry it’s had to happen this way. I’ve asked Hegney to resign.’ The silence thickened and some glances were exchanged. ‘I understand some of you have a sense of loyalty to Hegney and I can respect that. If you feel you can’t work with me after what I’ve decided to do, I will understand. Anyone who chooses to leave will receive their full dues.’ She paused, debating whether to reveal the truth.
‘Why’d you sack him, boss?’ Vern asked bravely.
She took a breath. ‘Fact is, he did wrong by some of our people. When he messed up the pays, I took him at his word that it was an honest mistake. But yesterday I found out it was worse than that. He’s bullied people out of claiming what they’re entitled to. Workers’ comp. And he failed to report workplace accidents . . .’ She was going to continue but Vern piped up again.
‘Do you mean Si?’
Si? The truth came to Willow in a flash. Of course! Hegney had warned Vern’s nephew off, telling him to leave Patersons after the accident with the horses and the broken collarbone. The poor kid had been too scared to speak up. It was just typical of that bastard Hegney. She shoved down the rush of anger and replied.
‘Yes. Si. Hegney told him to leave after his accident?’
Vern nodded. ‘He went home to his mum and she was real pissed off but said he’d be better off working at Quintilla anyway.’
That was why Si had been evasive when she’d tried to get his accident paperwork organised. Maybe Hegney had even threatened him. Bloody hell. She had been going to tell them about Devi but maybe this was enough for them to digest right now. She still had to work out what she was going to do about the girl.
‘That bastard,’ Jean said suddenly. ‘Underpaid us and left poor Si out in the cold. I never trusted him.’
To Willow’s amazement, a few others muttered in agreement. Some of the older stockmen remained silent, just watching, but this had gone better than she’d expected. She lifted her voice again.
‘Look, it’s a big change. Like I said, I’d really appreciate you all staying, but if you stay, you’re agreeing to do things my way. Having said that, there’ll be no hard feelings if you decide you’d rather move on. No quibbling over entitlements and you’ll get a good reference from Patersons. Take a couple of days to think about what’s happened and let me know what you plan to do by Monday.’
She asked Jean to break out the biscuits and fruit for an impromptu morning tea and hurried back to the house.
Noticing Willow, her father switched off his radio and sat back on the couch, closing his crossword book.
‘What’s going on, sweetheart?’ he asked. ‘You look all in a tizz.’
‘Dad, we need to have a chat. I have to tell you something pretty serious but it’s not the end of the world and I want you to remember your heart, okay? What’s important?’ She caught his eye as she sank down beside him. ‘You being here for us, right?’
He nodded and she saw she’d gotten through. She broke the news about Hegney gently but didn’t gloss over any of the facts. She explained what Hegney had done to Devi and Si. Barry looked red in the face after she’d told the story but she wasn’t sure what had upset him the most, so she just took his hand and said, ‘Dad, please. Try to stay calm – for your girls, yeah? For me. For Mum.’
He took a breath and the redness slowly receded. ‘Sweetheart. I can’t believe it.’
‘Neither could I. I couldn’t believe he would so recklessly throw Patersons to the wolves.’
‘I can’t believe I let it happen.’
She saw the weight of guilt in his face. ‘Oh, Dad. It’s not your fault.’
Just like Free assured me it wasn’t my fault. It wasn’t, she realised. It wasn’t her fault or her father’s. But it was still their problem.
‘Willow, thank Christ you came home and found out what that prick was doing before we ended up even deeper in the shit.’ His eyes were shining.
‘I’m going to get us through it, Dad,’ she said, her heart so full of love and the desire to solve this problem for him, it seemed to swell in her chest. ‘I don’t want you worrying. I’m going to need your advice and help, but I’m going to sort it out.’
He nodded and, for the first time in a month, she saw real trust in his face.
Willow was up late that night, looking for legal precedents in case they ended up in court. Confused by legal terminology, and tired of thinking about it, she eventually turned her attention back to stockfeed ordering. Free came
in at midnight, also hollow-eyed.
‘Will, I did something. I hope I didn’t make things worse.’
Willow froze. ‘What did you do?’
‘I was Skyping with Devi a little while ago and – and I offered her a job. I told her Hegney was gone and we wanted her back. She was so excited. Could we – do you think we could employ her? Sponsor her residency again?’
Willow stared at Free, momentarily too stunned to process what she’d just heard. Then she jumped up and pulled Free into a hug.
‘Is it okay?’ Free asked, her green eyes just like Barry’s shining in the glow of the office lamp.
‘Free, you’re a genius. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it. Of course she can come back, if she’ll have us!’ She thought hard. ‘I’m surprised she’s willing to trust us, to be honest. But if we end up in court, she might stand up to say it was Hegney, and then we can —’
‘Will, Devi wouldn’t take us to court.’
‘That’s good, but we might still get in trouble. Oh, well. If we end up in court, we end up in court. Maybe we can convince Devi to tell the truth. Then the court might go a little bit easier on us. Either way, I’m ready for the fight.’
‘You’re brave,’ Free said with a weak laugh. ‘Much braver than me. I’d rather not lose Patersons because of that piece of shit Hegney, but hey, if it comes down to that, I think Devi would stand alongside us. But right now, I think she’d just be happy for us to sponsor her residency again.’
‘I’m not totally clear on how the process works but I can try to claim there was a misunderstanding when the sponsorship was cancelled a couple of years ago. I’ll find out what reason Hegney cited to get her application denied, and refute it. Dad and Jean would both put their names to a sponsorship if it would help bring Devi back.’
‘And me.’
‘Can we pay her airfare here for her?’
Free’s eyes lit up. ‘That would be awesome. Oh, my God. She’s going to freak. Can I tell her?’
‘Do it.’
Free scampered off to her room and Willow sat back. Maybe, just maybe, Patersons would survive this mess. She stared at the order form on the screen in front of her. Normal, non-certified stockfeed from a conventional supplier.