Seamus had sensed it too, for after those first few clumsy kisses they had drawn apart before standing hand in hand to look back on Warratah. They had seen the acknowledgement in one another’s eyes that their lives were meant to follow separate paths, and although there was a tinge of sadness in that acceptance, there was also a certain release. For now they were free to follow their own destinies.
Seamus had left for Cloncurry the next day and Ellie had shed tears into her pillow as she prayed he’d return safely.
She emerged from her thoughts and eyed her daughter. ‘I want you to imagine how it was back then,’ she began. ‘War was looming, the young men were leaving and everything we knew was changing. The “phoney war,” as the Yanks called it was only the start of real hostilities and although we were far from Europe, our lives were about to be changed for ever.’
She sighed. ‘Seamus had already left, and we heard later he was in the same training camp as Charlie and that the two of them had become close friends. Aunt Aurelia and I were beginning to despair for the drought had returned and apart from Joe, we were left with old men, boys too young to enlist and our tribe of Aborigines to help run Warratah.’ Her voice dropped to a murmur as she returned to the past. ‘I was seventeen.’
*
Aurelia was now the proud owner of a radio, and each night she and Ellie sat in the kitchen and listened to the BBC news. ‘What happens now?’ asked Ellie as she switched the radio off. ‘No one seems to be doing anything. Perhaps the Yanks are right about it being a phoney war and Seamus can come home?’
Aurelia concentrated on ramming tobacco into her pipe. ‘Don’t be naïve, darling,’ she muttered around the stem as she put a match to the tobacco. ‘Hitler won’t stop until he’s got it all,’ she said between puffs. ‘With Russia on his side, he’ll make a clean sweep right through Europe. I just hope the Brits have learned from the last war and are properly prepared – but I have a nasty feeling that isn’t the case.’
Ellie thought about her elderly grandparents. She’d never met them, but felt she knew them through their letters and Aurelia’s stories. They lived in a country mansion in England which had been the family home for three centuries, and if her aunt was right, they could be in danger. ‘What about Mum, and Grandpa and Grandma?’ she asked.
Aurelia chewed on her pipe stem. ‘I very much hope it doesn’t come to it, but I have no doubt Mother and Pa will defend their home to the last. They won’t be pushed around by the likes of Hitler.’ She dipped her chin and eyed Ellie from beneath her brows. ‘Alicia is another matter. I suspect your mother is already on her way back to America.’
Ellie pursed her lips. ‘There’s nothing in the States for her any more,’ she said thoughtfully. ‘Chuck’s houses and apartments have been sold off to pay his debts, and since the divorce, she’s lost contact with all her friends over there.’ She thought about it for a moment. ‘She’ll fall on her feet whatever she does,’ she said finally. ‘You know Mum.’
Aurelia nodded. ‘It’s not her I’m worried about,’ she said thoughtfully. ‘The risk of invasion is high and I wish Mother and Pa would take my advice and get out while they can.’ She sighed and tamped the tobacco down before relighting it. ‘But they won’t. Too English and far too stubborn.’
Ellie smiled. It was the pot calling the kettle black, only Aurelia would never understand.
Their conversation was interrupted by a rap on the screen door. ‘Now what?’ said Aurelia crossly. ‘If that’s another of the men coming to give me notice, I’ll box his ears.’ She hauled herself out of her chair and stomped out of the room.
Ellie smothered a giggle. Poor Aunt Aurelia – she’d always sound like a bossy schoolmistress. She listened to the mumble of low voices in the hall and looked round at the approach of tramping boots.
Joe was standing in the doorway, his hat screwed up in his hands, his green eyes seeking her out. ‘G’day, Ellie,’ he said quietly, following up his greeting with a grin that had a way of reaching right to her core.
Ellie smiled as she took in the broad shoulders, the muscled arms, square chin and wonderful eyes. She felt the flutter in her stomach, and the lurch of longing as she stood before him. ‘G’day, Joe,’ she said with unaccustomed shyness. ‘Good to see you back.’
Joe, who’d been on the long spring drove, grinned again as Aurelia pushed past him and began to clatter glasses and beer bottles. ‘I brought a visitor,’ he drawled. ‘Caught up with him when I went to see Seamus off in the Curry.’
He stepped aside, and Ellie finally became aware of the man standing behind him. She took in the rusty-brown halo of hair, the broad nose and amber eyes. ‘Snowy,’ she shrieked. ‘How’re ya goin?’
‘Yeah,’ he drawled. Good.’ His face creased in a wide smile as he shook her hand. ‘Don’t need to ask about you,’ he teased as he looked her up and down. ‘You fair grown up since I last seen yer.’
‘How’s Wang Lee? Is Gowrie still as beautiful as ever? Have you seen any of the other blokes from the muster we went on?’ Ellie finally ran out of breath.
‘Reckon you ain’t changed much, though,’ he drawled as he rolled a smoke. ‘Still full of bloody questions.’ He grinned. ‘But I ain’t been Gowrie way in a while,’ he said as he lit the cigarette. ‘Been working for Vestey. But I heard Wang Lee’s still there, and I met a couple of the other blokes in the Curry.’
‘I suppose you’re looking for work?’ said Aurelia abruptly as she poured the beer into glasses. ‘There’s plenty of it now half Australia’s men have rushed off like scalded cats looking for a scrap.’
Snowy shook his head. ‘I’m off to boot camp in two weeks time,’ he said proudly. ‘Joined up in the Curry. First black feller they took on. Reckon they didn’t quite know what to do with me, but I heard there’s more black fellers joining up from The Top End and Torries Straits, so I won’t be alone.’
Ellie flinched as Aurelia slammed the beer on the side-table, spilling it on the polished wood. ‘Of all the damn-fool things to do,’ she stormed as she whipped round to face him. ‘You Australians just love a fight, don’t you? You’re so macho and tough you can’t see you’re just being used as bloody cannon fodder.’
‘Fair go, missus,’ Snowy drawled as he shuffled his feet and backed off from the withering attack. ‘Pig Iron Bob says we gotta help defend England – and I’m proud to do it.’
Aurelia gave an exasperated sigh. ‘Prime Minister Menzies should think before he speaks,’ she muttered. Then, as Ellie and the two men watched, she seemed to realise how unpatriotic and rude she’d been and made a tremendous effort to make amends. ‘I apologise for my rudeness, Snowy,’ she said finally. ‘But with all the men leaving, how the hell am I supposed to run this place?’
‘The same way you’ve always done,’ said Joe firmly. ‘You managed through the drought with only a handful of men and the stock-boys. You can do it again.’
Aurelia looked at him gratefully, and for the first time Ellie realised her aunt had grown fond of Joe despite her initial misgivings. ‘Does that mean you’ll be staying on, Joe?’ Aurelia asked hopefully.
Ellie had to sit down. For in that moment she realised that if Joe left Warratah her world would collapse. She was in love with him. So deeply and passionately in love with him she suddenly couldn’t imagine life without him. The realisation took her breath away – the force of it hammering with her pulse as she awaited his answer.
‘For now,’ he said as he glanced across at Ellie. ‘Pig Iron Bob also said we should consolidate our strength and our industries. The world’s going to need meat and leather as well as wool, and we gotta see they get it.’
‘Well thank goodness for some common sense in all this madness,’ Aurelia breathed. She looked across at Ellie and smiled, seemingly unaware of her niece’s inner turmoil. ‘Seems we won’t be losing all our young men,’ she said brightly. ‘We’ll survive somehow.’
Ellie caught the glance exchanged between Snowy and Joe, and felt the chil
l of premonition. The light of battle shone in Joe’s eyes just as brightly as in Snowy’s. Joe wouldn’t stay here in the middle of nowhere when his mates were at war. He wouldn’t want to be called a cowardly dingo for not fighting. She could have wept. For she had only just found him. And now she was about to lose him.
*
The two week visit was almost over when Joe and Snowy left early one morning to ride out on to the plains and check the fences. There was no real need, but it was an excuse to spend time away from the homestead and the women to discuss how they really felt about the war and to catch up with news of old friends.
Heat shimmered across the horizon, and the gum trees wilted, their dappled shadows dancing over the grass that was already turning brown despite the rain they’d had in the past year or so. The latest drought was beginning to bite, and Joe had helped Aurelia and Ellie move the stock several times to find better grazing. A kookaburra chortled in the distance, and the mournful three note caw of a crow seemed to be a portent of disaster as the two men rode easily in the saddle, in no hurry to get anywhere.
‘How long you reckon you’ll stay?’ asked Snowy.
Joe looked out over the land and sighed. ‘Not for long,’ he said finally. ‘I know Aurelia and Ellie are relying on me, but I gotta do my bit, Snowy. Can’t let you blokes down by hiding away out here.’
‘Times are gunna be hard for the women, I reckon,’ said Snowy. ‘Outback’s no place to be left on their own.’
‘Aurelia’s tough,’ said Joe firmly. ‘She’ll be right.’
They rode in silence, enjoying the sun on their backs, the warm breeze in their face. ‘I gotta a girl down Longreach way,’ said Snowy eventually. ‘She was pretty crook about me joining up, but her old man’s a tough old bludger, he’ll see her and her ma through. They got a sheep station out in mulga country, but the drought ain’t so bad over there.’
‘Strewth, Snowy. You ain’t got yourself hitched?’
Snowy grinned. ‘No worries, mate. Me and Shirl ain’t tied the knot. But it was a close thing I can tell you. When I said I was going up to the Curry to enlist she fair bit me ‘ead off. And I reckon her old man would’a got his rifle out if I hadn’t shot through when I did.’
‘She ain’t in the family way?’ Joe’s voice was sharp.
‘Bloody hell, Joe. Give me some credit.’ Snowy laughed and tilted back his head. ‘I just ain’t ready to be tied down yet, that’s all. If she still wants me when the war’s over, then I’ll consider it. I’ll have had me share of adventures by then and be ready to settle down.’ He chewed on a match-stick for a moment. ‘I’ll still need to go walkabout now and then, mind. Can’t lose sight of tradition, and a bloke needs space and time to think. But Shirl’s mum’s from the same tribe as me, so she’ll understand and keep the old white fella off me back.’
The silence of the outback closed in around them as the horses plodded through the crisp grass. Joe’s thoughts returned to Ellie as they always did when he was away from her, and he tried to imagine life without her and Warratah. His feelings had changed towards Ellie, for in the past few months she’d grown from a kid into a beautiful young woman. Gone was the easy way he’d once had with her, the camaraderie of an older brother diminished in this new and rather frightening depth of affection. Yet he was well aware that declaring himself now could destroy that delicate bond. Ellie was still only seventeen. She had carried a crush for Seamus right through the early years and now he was gone he wasn’t sure if she was truly over him.
‘Looking thoughtful there, mate,’ said Snowy, breaking into his thoughts. ‘Wouldn’t have something to do with Ellie, would it? She’s grown into a beaut little sheila.’ He grinned, showing a broad gleam of very white teeth. ‘Bit different to the larrikin she was on the drove. Fair wore me out with her endless questions and demands for Dreamtime stories.’
Joe shook his head. He had no wish to discuss Ellie – it was too personal. ‘Have you heard anything more of Charlie since he joined up?’ he said finally. It was a question he’d wanted to ask ever since he’d bumped into Snowy back in the Curry, but the time had never seemed right.
‘Last I heard he was on his way to Europe.’ Snowy fell silent, the shadow of his hat brim masking his expression.
‘Good on him,’ muttered Joe. ‘Mighta known he’d be one of the first.’ He blinked as he stared into the sun. ‘But he coulda come and said goodbye first,’ he added.
‘Reckon he weren’t too sure about his welcome here,’ said Snowy thoughtfully.
Joe stared out at the miles of waving grass. The cattle were widespread, still sleek and fat despite the onset of drought. He loved this land. Loved it with all his heart. But he’d have given it all up for the chance to talk to his twin again. ‘He knew I’d forgive him,’ he said finally. ‘A brother’s more important than any horse.’
Snowy wiped the sweat from his forehead and hat band, his eyes screwed up in the glare from the sun. ‘Charlie’s not the kind of bloke to admit he was wrong,’ he said slowly. ‘After what happened to Satan, he slipped out of sight and no one knew where he was for months. I think he was genuinely sorry, but couldn’t face the humiliation of seeing you again.’
‘Just like Charlie,’ said Joe sadly. ‘Always going off half-cocked without a thought in his damn head for the consequences.’
‘He had it rough, mate,’ replied Snowy. ‘Lost nearly everything before he got work over in Western Australia. Big Stan told me he turned up with holes in his boots and his arse hanging out of his strides.’
‘And all because of a horse.’ Joe looked across at Snowy as the question burned to be asked. ‘Was it you told the racing committee about Satan?’
Snowy brought his horse to a standstill. ‘Not me, mate. Wouldn’t do it to a cobber, even though I thought what he’d done was dingo mean.’
Joe looked at him thoughtfully. Snowy had always been straight with him, but this time he wasn’t too sure. ‘So who was it then?’ he demanded.
‘One of the other jockeys,’ said Snowy flatly. ‘Bloke from Hells Gate who’d worked on this place over the few weeks Charlie was here. He recognised Satan immediately. Seems he had a lot of money on the local favourite and the jockey was a mate. They cooked it up together when they saw who they were up against.’
‘I’m sorry, Snowy,’ said Joe with a sigh. ‘I thought it was you dobbed him in.’
‘Nah, mate. Had a few quid on him meself. Reckon I was as cut up as Charlie when that beauty had to be put down.’ He chewed on a matchstick as he rested his hands on the pommel and stared off into the distance. ‘Didn’t have the heart to face Charlie after the race. I only heard what happened in the weighing-room through the bush telegraph. By then it was too late and Charlie had shot through.’
Joe gathered up the reins and adjusted his hat. It was a beautiful day and he wasn’t prepared to let the storm clouds of war and family estrangement dull what was Snowy’s last day of freedom before boot camp . Time would come when he too would have to leave this wonderful place, and he needed to embrace it so he could carry it with him into war. ‘Let’s put all this talk of war and Charlie behind us and ride. I don’t know about you, but I’ve got the feeling things are going to change for all of us, and I want to make the most of this while I can.’
*
The rumble of war was the only dark cloud that hovered over the outback as drought once again took a stranglehold on the thousands of miles of grazing. Denmark and Norway surrendered in the spring of 1940, and this was swiftly followed by Holland in May. Belgium fell and the battle of Dunkerque began.
Ellie and Aurelia had long ago said their goodbyes to Snowy, and promised to write. Now they stayed close to the wireless, making sure they were never too far from the homestead. They sat huddled with Joe over the ugly black box in the corner of the lounge as if by their nearness, they too could become a part of the great battle. They listened in awe as the BBC described the thousands of little ships which sailed into the enemy bombardmen
t and rescued hundreds of thousands of men from those bloodstained beaches. Cheered as the new English Prime Minister Churchill gave his rousing speeches, and cried as some of the rescued soldiers told their stories.
Yet the reality of their own battle was bringing them to despair. The outback was undermanned at the best of times, but since Dunkerque the steady stream of men signing up to be enlisted had grown into a flood. Warratah was at crisis point. They were gasping from lack of water, the price of feed was high and the grass – already brown and lacking any kind of goodness – was being hit by an explosion in the rabbit population.
‘It’s going to be a devil to survive this,’ said Aurelia that evening as she switched off the wireless. Joe had left the homestead to return to his bed in the bunk-house. ‘We’re down to old men, boys and Aborigines. When Joe leaves we’ll virtually be on our own.’
Ellie looked up from her knitting. ‘He won’t leave,’ she said stoutly. ‘He knows how desperately we need him.’
Aurelia’s smile was sad. ‘That sounds more like your heart talking, than your head, my dear,’ she said softly. ‘He’s nearly twenty two, Ellie. We both know he has to leave.’ She put a work-roughened hand on Ellie’s shoulder. ‘If you love him as much as I think you do, then you have to let him go.’
Ellie rammed the needles into the ball of wool and stuffed it down the side of her chair. She didn’t like the way this conversation was going. ‘He’s never said anything,’ she said defiantly. ‘And I’d have known if he was keeping a secret from me. I can always tell.’
Aurelia polished her monocle. ‘Men like Joe don’t share their thoughts and feelings,’ she said evenly. ‘They aren’t the kind to make a fuss.’ She fixed the monocle and folded her arms. ‘These men of the outback are the strongest, bravest men I know, and you mustn’t pin your hopes on Joe staying. He’s an Australian, with an Australian pride in himself and his country that will never keep him tied to this place when his mates are doing their bit. You of all people should understand that.’
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