by Ali Lewis
Dad was laughing and said, ‘Jesus, Ve! Let the fella get a beer before you start hitting on him, will you?’ Aunty Ve laughed. Dad handed all the fellas some beers and then held his in the air in front of him. He said, ‘Thanks again – we couldn’t have done it without you fellas.’ Everyone said, ‘Cheers!’ and then they took a big drink from the bottles. That was when Reg said, ‘And here’s to Danny – the Camel Man – for saving the day.’ Dad smiled at me and I heard his voice clearer than anyone else’s when they all said, ‘To Danny!’ I don’t think I’d ever felt as tall as I did then.
The voices around me hummed. Everyone was talking about the food, the home-brew, or where the fellas would be working next. I was too busy thinking about what Reg had said to join in with them. But then I heard the Pommie say something to Greg and Elliot about getting everything ready for when she left tomorrow. I didn’t know she was leaving. I asked what she meant, and she said Mum had told her that Aunty Ve was going to be staying at Timber Creek for a while to help Sissy with the baby and things, so we didn’t need Liz to work for us any more. She reckoned it was all organised – Liz was going to get a lift back to Alice with Reg and his mob when they left in the morning after the party. I felt funny about that. I didn’t know what to say. My face felt hot. I looked at Liz and she looked at me. I dunno why, but she said, ‘We can write to each other, if you like. I know it can be lonely out here sometimes, but you’ll be at boarding school soon.’ I told her I was OK. I had Buzz. I dunno why, but I couldn’t say anything else after that. My throat kind of closed up and Liz looked a bit sad, or something.
Greg said Liz would be back in civilization soon, as I walked away. I dunno what made me do it, but as I walked past the table I picked up one of the bottles of home-brew and hid it behind my back. I went round the side of the house and took a big gulp of it. It tasted bad. I still didn’t like it and that made me mad. I wanted to be like Dad and the others.
When I heard Mum say the meat was ready, I went back round into the garden. Dad went over to the barbie and loaded the burgers, ribs and sausages onto a couple of plates. Aunty Ve put them on the table and shouted, ‘Get started.’ When everyone sat down and started eating, it was quiet enough to hear the crickets croaking. Bobbie said, with her mouth half-full: ‘That’s shut us up!’ And Dick nodded, he said, ‘Bloody good tucker as usual, Sue and Ve,’ and Reg raised his bottle of beer and said, ‘Hear! Hear!’
After we’d eaten, Mum and the girls cleared the table and us fellas stayed outside and talked about the cattle. Greg and Elliot didn’t join in. They were talking about the Pommie. Greg wanted to know what Elliot’s game was. Elliot wasn’t happy about that – I could tell because his face was red and he looked at the ground, like he didn’t know what to say. ‘Well? You making a move or what?’ Greg asked. By then Dad and everyone else was listening too. Elliot looked at Greg and said, ‘What’s it to you?’ And Greg laughed and said, ‘I just want to know the lie of the land, mate …’ Everyone laughed then – even Elliot. I dunno why they talked like that about Liz. I didn’t like it. I wanted to talk about the cattle, or cricket. I hated all that stuff. It made me want to puke. I noticed a half-empty bottle of beer on the ground and got up and pretended to move it out of the way. No one noticed me take it and put it round the side of the house with the empty one I’d had earlier. I took a quick drink of it and even though it was warm and tasted worse than the first one I didn’t throw up.
Liz came out to collect the last few plates from the table, so the fellas stopped talking about her. She asked, ‘What’s going on out here?’ Dad and Greg both said, ‘Nothing,’ at the same time, so Liz looked at them like they were crazy and went back inside.
Soon after that I noticed the music had gone off. I went round the side of the house with another half-empty bottle of the home-brew, had a gulp of the beer and went inside to change the CD. Then I went outside, round the side of the house to where my empties were. I drank the last of the dregs out of the bottles and sat on the ground. I dunno why, but all of a sudden I wished Jonny was with me.
When I went back into the garden where everyone else was, the Crofts said they had to get back – because it was late. Dick yawned. I said I didn’t want them to go. Dick smiled and said we’d do it all again next year, when Reg and the fellas came back to muster. I said I wouldn’t be around the next year because I’d be at school in Alice. I don’t think Dick knew what to say, so he rubbed his bony hand in my hair.
While everyone else waved the Crofts off, I took another bottle of the home-brew – a full one this time – and went round the other side of the house and necked it, just like I’d seen Dad and the fellas do. It didn’t taste as bad as the other bottles I’d tried. I reckoned it must have been a different batch. My belly felt like it was going to burst, though, and then I did the biggest burp I’d ever done. As I swigged from the bottle, I thought about Liz. I didn’t want her to leave the station. After everything with Buzz and the muster, it felt like we were mates, or something.
As I went back round to where the party was happening, I noticed a light was on in the shop. I thought someone must have left it on by accident, so I went over to turn it off. Walking was kind of strange though – the ground kept moving and everything looked a bit blurred. I reckoned it was just because it was dark. When I got nearer I thought I could hear voices. I tried to remember how much of the beer I’d drunk, but then I saw Sissy and knew what I was seeing was real. She was in the shop with Gil and little Alex. They were kissing. I didn’t even think about what I was doing, I just threw the door wide open and shouted, ‘What d’you think you’re doing?’ But the words didn’t come out right. Sissy turned round and said, ‘What?’ like she hadn’t heard me. I swallowed and told them they’d be in big trouble if Dad found them. That’s when Gil said, ‘I only wanted to see Alex again. I don’t want trouble.’ He had his hands in the air. I pointed at him, but it looked like the room was moving. I felt crook. I swallowed some spit and had to bend over to steady myself. That was when Sissy said, ‘Are you drunk?’ at the same time as I threw up all over the floor. ‘Aww! Gross!’ she shouted, then picked Alex up and carried him outside. Gil tried to get hold of my arm, but I shrugged him off and fell over. As he held out his hand to me I told him he was a mongrel. I heard Sissy say, ‘Jesus, Danny. He’s trying to help you.’ Then I heard them laughing, and that made me real angry. I got to my feet and said I was going to kill him. I don’t remember things too well after that. Sissy grabbed my arm and called me an idiot. She kind of marched me across the yard to the house. I remember thinking she seemed real mad with me. She must have taken me into my bedroom because I can kind of remember lying in bed and her pulling my boots off. But that’s it. Nothing else.
Thirty-three
Alex was screaming his head off when I woke up the next day. It made my head hurt. I’d slept in my clothes and I felt real hot. I sat up and threw the doona off. I felt weird. After a minute or two I decided to get out of bed and went into the dining room. Sissy was sitting at the table having a cup of coffee. I said, ‘Can’t you make him quieter?’ Sissy stared at me. She had the same look on her face as she’d had the night before when she’d walked me back to the house. ‘Sore head?’ she asked and then carried on drinking her coffee.
Aunty Ve came through from the kitchen wearing a dressing gown, with her flabby feet tucked into a pair of little pink slippers. Her hair was stuck straight up at one side and she looked like her eyes had just opened for the first time. Aunty Ve said, ‘If only God made babies with a volume control, eh, Siss?’ Sissy looked away and didn’t say anything.
Aunty Ve picked Alex up and rocked him for a bit before putting him back in his seat. She told me to talk to him, to see if that might calm him down. She told me to sit with Alex while her and Sissy made us all some bacon sandwiches.
Emily came out of her room, rubbing her face and scratching her leg. ‘He’s noisy,’ she said. I couldn’t be bothered to speak to her, so we sat in silence wh
ile Alex screamed at us. Bacon smells came from the kitchen and my stomach rumbled. I was perishing.
Everyone was there for brekkie, except Mum, Dad and the Pommie. She was packing, and Mum and Dad were still in bed. Aunty Ve reckoned that considering how late some of them had stayed up, she was very surprised to see them before lunch time. Elliot, Lloyd and Bobbie just grunted. They looked a lot like I felt.
As Aunty Ve put the plates of bacon sandwiches down on the table and swapped them for Alex, it felt like years since we’d had anything like that for brekkie. After she’d set fire to the kitchen, the Pommie had only ever made us toast and everybody jam. When I thought about the fire it seemed like a long time ago.
Mum and Dad got up while we were eating our brekkie. Mum reckoned the smell of bacon worked better than any alarm clock. Elliot reckoned it was the best hangover cure too, and everyone laughed a little. Aunty Ve went back into the kitchen and cooked us a load more.
Not long after we’d all finished eating, we heard the roar of a truck in the yard. It was Reg’s mob. They’d come to the house to say goodbye. We all went out to see them and I went to get Buzz. That was when I saw the Pommie. She looked tired, her eyes seemed real small compared to normal. She waved when she saw me, so I smiled back.
She had her bag on her back like a little snail. She was saying goodbye to Mum and Dad. She said she’d had the best time ever at the station, and Mum and Dad reckoned she should come and visit again – next time she was in Australia. The Pommie hugged Bobbie and said she’d keep in touch. She nodded and smiled at Elliot and Lloyd and said, ‘Thanks for putting up with me.’ Aunty Ve gave her a real big hug – so big, the Pommie nearly disappeared. Emily gave the Pommie the picture she’d drawn of Elaine flying in the sky. That made the Pommie blub. Emily asked her if she liked it and the Pommie coughed and said, ‘Very much.’ She rubbed Sissy’s arm and told her to take care, as she kissed her little finger and touched Alex’s head with it.
When it was my turn to say goodbye to her, we just stood there.
I couldn’t think what to say.
Liz said she’d miss me and Buzz most of all. I nodded, but I didn’t say anything. We stood there looking at each other for what felt like ages. Then I held my hand out for her to shake. She took it. Her hand felt warm and small, but it was a pretty good handshake for a girl. That made me smile – and she smiled back.
When Liz climbed into Reg’s bull catcher, he was already in it waiting for her. ‘See you all next year,’ he said and waved. He revved the engine and led the others out of the yard. As they passed through the gates Reg’s horn belched and Alex woke up again. Sissy sighed and shut her eyes, so Mum picked him up and gently rocked him from side to side.
I watched the Pommie go. She waved at me, so I lifted my hand to wave back, but Buzz wanted to run along with them, so I had to grab him and hold him still.
I dunno if she saw me wave or not.
Everyone walked back to the house then, but I stayed where I was with Buzz, until the dust cloud Reg and the fellas had left behind them had settled and I knew the Pommie had really gone. That’s when a fat drop of water hit my head making me look up at the sky. Then another hit me on the cheek. It felt cold. I wiped it off and looked at the wet on my fingers. More drops peppered the ground around me like slow machine-gun fire.
I reckoned Jonny must have been in the heaven above Timber Creek, after all, so I looked up again and smiled at him.