‘Wish them luck,’ Emily said with a grin to her father.
‘Same every time, isn’t it? Sam and Flo pretending to fight, but loving every minute of each other.’
But it wasn’t going to be the same any more, for any of them, Emily thought again with a jolt. Rod and Flo still owned one hundred acres of private land surrounding the homestead on the plains, but the loss of the government licence spelt the end of their cattle enterprise up here. A small number of cows could be trucked up next summer, but it really wasn’t a viable proposition.
Bob, as the owner of three hundred acres of private alpine land, was the only family member who could still make a living from the plains. Despite her efforts to keep her thoughts positive, Emily still found it a crime that Bob should be left with land, when he didn’t look after it. Yet her father and aunt, who managed land with respect and love, had been evicted.
Emily looked at the red hindquarters of the healthy cows and their calves as they moved along the gravel road, the tops of their tails sporting little fat rolls from spending months on the lush summer alpine pastures. Emily loved following a herd, getting to know each and every beast at the tail end. The one that would turn and argue with a dog, the old girl that would try to sneak off in the bush for a pick of green, the slow ones, the lazy ones, the stroppy ones who bunted others. They were all individuals and she loved each one of them. Collectively, cattle were peaceful, obliging and curious creatures.
Now most of them would have to be sold. The sorrow rose in her again when she thought of the letter Rod and Flo had received from the government, declaring they were entitled to compensation. They just didn’t get it! No amount of money could compensate for the loss of their cows.
These cows were special, for they held the memory of droving days past. They weren’t so much ‘trained’ for the road, but instead had shared the journey with the humans and the dogs over the years. Their memory of each curve, each climb, where to rest and where to drink would be lost too.
With her emotions swinging again from joy to despair, Emily was suddenly grateful her dad was here to ride with her on this last stretch, along with Sam and Flo, and soon her daughters on their ponies. Her family steadied her, made her feel calm within the storm of her life. Her family and Evie.
She knew Evie would be at the high-plains house packing the back-up vehicle for the day, while the girls got an extra sleep-in. There was no sense in getting them up at the crack of dawn on the first day of the week-long drove. Evie, with the girls, would act as a pilot vehicle, bringing the riders drinks and ferrying them to pick-up utes at the end of the day and helping to set up camp.
‘You happy riding up the back with me?’ Rod asked Emily now. She nodded. She wanted the distraction of the cows and her dad’s conversation, rather than the isolated job of riding in the lead where she knew she would mull over the situation with Luke. She also didn’t want to think anymore about the cattle bans. All those anvils she was carrying. It was a wonder Snowgum wasn’t buckling at the knees from the weight.
Droving was a lengthy, slow business. It sounded romantic, but the reality was droving could be a challenge mentally when the weather was rough. Emily had endured days where the cows began tonguing from heat or were frisky from cold, or they battled howling winds so wild it was hard to keep them mobbed. This morning, though, the weather was mild and the cows content to walk along.
She dismounted and led Snowgum for a time, checking her wounds, worried the mare would not be up for the entire trip. There were spare horses, but Emily liked to travel the road with old Snowgum. She was an easy-natured creature who enjoyed the work, flicking her ears forward, looking about the bush, occasionally hunting in Emily’s pockets for an apple. Other horses on droving days were not so obliging, wearing sour faces the whole way with ears pulled back, or baring their big, horsey teeth to bite at the rumps of slow-moving cows. Other horses jig-jogged or pulled when they were fresh. But Snowgum was made for the road.
Hours later, as the sun was getting low, the Flanaghan drovers made it to the Twelve-Mile yards, a cattle camp used for generations by the family. Sam, riding ahead, had already dropped the rails and the lead cows walked straight in.
With the sun gone, Emily’s fingers felt like ice. Evie had already lit the fire outside the hut and Emily was looking forward to spreading her hands out before the dancing flames. She knew Tilly and Meg would be camping in the old hut with her tonight and she smiled happily at the thought.
As she unhitched Snowgum’s girth she felt the mare flinch. Emily swore under her breath when she ducked her head to look at the old wounds from the race-day fall. The slight press of her fingertips made the mare stomp her foot and flick her tail, her ears pinned back in an uncharacteristic expression. Emily could see the proud flesh opening up again and bright blood freshly weeping from the wound.
‘Flo,’ she called out, ‘come here.’
She indicated the mare’s wound and Flo shook her head.
‘Well, that’s buggered that. Still, it was worth a try. I’ll get Evie to run me back up to the plains and fetch me float and grab another from the mob. I’ll see if I can radio her now and get her to bring some of her goop to put on Snow’s wound.’
‘I knew I shouldn’t have tested her. I should’ve left her longer to heal.’
‘Nah, she loves it, don’t ya, girl?’ Flo said, giving Snowgum a good scratch on the neck. ‘Tell you what. I’ll get your new gelding, if you like. Good chance to give him some work. We’ve got to put a positive spin on it, remember?’
Emily smiled sadly. She no longer wanted the gelding because he was a constant reminder of Luke, but she knew this was a good chance to train him as they went. Flo took Snowgum’s reins from Emily. ‘I’ll see her right. You go get yourself warm.’
At dawn the next morning, Bonus stood as Emily dragged the girth tight. She lobbed into the saddle and soon they were tailing the mob, her belly full of Evie’s hot breakfast and rich coffee.
‘You travelling okay?’ Emily asked her girls as she looked down from her new eager horse to Tilly and Meg, who were riding by her side on Jemma and Blossom.
Tilly beamed at her mum. ‘Are you serious? Yeah!’
As the girls chatted happily to each other, Emily tipped her head back and let the swaying movement of the horse relax her. She gazed skyward to the azure blue that shone through the canopy of gumleaves. It was a glorious, gentle autumn day. Perfect for droving. Then she flopped forward, pressing her cheek to the gelding’s neck. While she missed Snowgum’s predictable calmness, Bonus was taking to the life of a drover’s horse with ease.
By one o’clock, the cattle had reached Evie’s house. Sam and Flo herded them into one of Evie’s house paddocks for the time being, while Emily helped the girls hitch their ponies to a nearby shady tree. They were expecting Evie to come out and join them, but to their surprise it was Bob who appeared from the house and scuttled down a side path.
‘What’s he doing here? The sly old dog,’ said Flo to Rod, then she called after him, ‘You here to do your share of the work, eh, Bob?’
He didn’t look up. As he rounded the side gate, he nearly ran smack into Emily, who was stooping to fill a bucket of water for the horses from the corrugated-iron tank.
‘Bob!’ Emily looked at his face and was shocked to see the strain on it. He’d been crying, the tears still fresh, his brow knitted in a frown, his mouth slanted sideways. Emily was stunned to see he was in agony. Emotional agony. He said nothing, brushed past her, fired up the engine of his ute and was gone.
‘What’s with him?’ Flo said, arriving on the ground with a thud as she slid from her horse.
‘I really don’t know,’ Emily said, still stunned from seeing her rough, tough uncle crying like a baby.
From over the stone wall Evie popped up her head, her white hair almost glowing in the sun.
‘Come in! All the two-legged ones, mind. Not the four.’
Jesus suddenly went nuts, barking and
leaping up and down behind the wall.
‘Jesus Christ!’ they chorused.
As she walked towards Evie, Emily asked, ‘What was Bob doing here?’
‘You and he, aren’t …?’ Flo wiggled her eyebrows up and down. ‘I mean, you’re not …?’
‘No,’ said Evie, eyes twinkling, ‘we’re not. Of course we’re not. He came to me for a healing.’
‘A what-ing?’ asked Flo.
‘A healing,’ Evie repeated mildly. She turned and began to walk away, calling over her shoulder, ‘Everyone needs one at some point.’ Then she tactfully changed the subject. ‘I like your horse, Emily. He’s very handsome. Thought of a name for him yet?’
Emily jogged to catch up with Evie, shaking her head. ‘Luke called him Bonus, but all I can think of is Trouble.’
‘Trouble? That’s not something you want to focus on or attract.’
‘I know, but it’s a name that keeps coming back to me. I just don’t know what’s coming. What my life’s going to be like from now. I don’t even need a new horse. Not now all this has happened.’ She waved her arm about to encompass the cattle in the bush yards.
Evie looked at Emily with gentle green eyes.
‘He’s no trouble. He’s a stud muffin.’
‘Well, I can’t exactly call him that.’
‘A hunka-spunka? Hot stuff? Like his previous owner, eh?’
‘Evie!’
‘C’mon,’ Evie said, linking her arm with Emily as Jesus danced about their feet. ‘You’re all invited for a quick bite.’
‘Oh, Evie, don’t worry,’ Emily said. ‘We’ve got tucker left over from yesterday. That’ll do us for the rest of the day.’
‘No, you’re all my guests, please,’ Evie said. ‘Sam,’ she called out from the garden. ‘Lunch inside for you all.’
‘We’ll be along soon,’ called Sam from where he stood with Rod, making hasty repairs to one of his stirrup leathers.
Evie walked Emily along the path where wild hollyhocks and lupins flowered colourfully amid Evie’s new plants. The girls ran on ahead, happy to have arrived at what had become their second home.
Emily kicked off her boots, stepped into the cool stone cottage and walked along the hallway to the back of the house where Evie had built a sunny kitchen.
Evie lifted a quiche from the oven and set it beside a fresh and colourful array of dishes: salads and homemade pasta in a free-range egg mayonnaise, steamed new potatoes garnished with mint and drizzled with pale butter made from Evie’s milking cow. Crisp lettuce, snow peas, carrots and cucumber set out on a platter. It looked so inviting.
‘Yum! What a feast,’ Emily said.
‘If you’re going to do great things with your life, Emily, you’ll need your body to support you. Fuel it with the good things.’
‘What great things am I going to do? What now? After the cattle are taken down to the lowlands and sold, what then? Dad’s already worrying about how we’re going to manage.’
Evie just smiled up at her as she sliced the quiche.
‘You will know your path,’ she said calmly.
Emily had become used to the way Evie spoke. At first it had unsettled her, then amused her, but now she knew there was truth in all Evie said.
With the special meals Evie had cooked up at the high plains station, Emily had been amazed by how the weight had fallen from her body. At Brigalow they had lived near a corner store, where ice-creams and chips and lollies were always a temptation. Eating Evie’s meals, she and Sam had felt their bodies detoxing of sugars and preservatives and the junk food they’d slowly become accustomed to.
Their tastebuds had adjusted quickly to the simple yet delicious food Evie set before them. Even the girls seemed to shine with more energy. Each day, Emily had seen her own dark hair growing longer and more glossy, the scars on her body smoothing over, her breath coming more easily, her bones meshing, her energy restored.
Sam came into the kitchen, followed by Rod and Flo.
‘What a spread!’ said Flo. ‘This is the best droving fare we’ve ever enjoyed.’ She gathered up a plate and passed it to Rod.
‘Thank you, Evie,’ Rod said, ‘for everything.’ There was weight in his words. He wasn’t just thanking Evie for the lunch, but also for her care and love of his daughter and granddaughters.
Emily looked around the clean, tiny kitchen. There were herbs hanging from rafters and tomatoes growing on the windowsills. On the bench was a big bowl of fresh apples, a jug of homemade lemonade and a special plate of honeyed natural sweets for the girls. From the old wooden chairs to the kitchen table, the whole house had the same serene energy that radiated from Evie.
As Emily bit into the nutritious food, she could taste Evie’s love. For the first time, Emily felt as if she had a mother caring for them. How ironic was it that someone like Evie had at last come into their lives, on the last drove?
With the meal over, Rod, Sam and Flo stood and thanked Evie, giving her warm hugs, Rod’s embrace lingering longest of all. The girls, eager to get back on their ponies, danced down the hallway and banged their way through the screen door. On the way down the path, Jesus had a go at Flo’s leg, his teeth meshing with the cloth of her jeans. She responded with a high kick that sent the little dog sailing into a snapdragon patch. He rolled over, wagged his tail and jumped up onto the stone wall to bark at her with a dog’s grin ear to ear, as if it were a game. Flo passed him, muttering profanities.
Inside the cottage, Emily started gathering up crockery and stacking it neatly in the sink.
‘You’re a good girl, Emily, but I’ll do that. You go on with your family. Enjoy the rest of the day.’
‘Part of me doesn’t ever want this day to end. Part of me knows that once these days are over, this is it.’
‘Are you thinking in negatives again?’
‘Oh, Evie! I just can’t seem to stop my thoughts running away with themselves.’ Such was the challenge of a soon-to-be jobless drover, Emily thought, with miles of dusty road ahead and endless space for thoughts to run riot.
‘You need time, my darling.’
‘Time? Time for what?’
‘To truly heal. You can see Snowgum’s still not wholly healed. Well, neither are you, my dear.’
‘So what should I do?’
‘Go where your heart and soul calls.’
‘You mean up top?’ Evie nodded. ‘For the winter?’
Emily had seen photos of the old-timers in their snow shoes, as if they had tennis racquets strapped to their feet, outside the high-plains homestead. Looking at the pictures, she had shivered to see they were wearing not much other than waistcoats and jackets, or the women in long thick skirts, but their smiles radiated a warmth all of their own.
Emily imagined being there with her daughters, skiing or riding in the snow down to Evie’s little cottage.
‘It’s doable and it would do you good.’
Emily sat, contemplating winter on the plains. It would be tough, but no tougher than living in the tiny town of Dargo and wondering each and every day if she might bump into Luke, or even Clancy, who she knew was still seeing Penny there. Evie sat down and pulled Emily down to sit next to her.
‘There’s something else on your mind, isn’t there?’
Emily nodded.
‘A man? Two men? The old and the new?’
Emily nodded again.
‘Until you truly love yourself it isn’t wise to try to love another. Heal first, darling, then love.’
‘I know,’ Emily said. ‘Deep down, I know.’ She looked into Evie’s eyes and felt such utter trust that she was suddenly blurting out the story of being down by the Wonnangatta River with Luke and the terrifying sound of the horses.
‘What does it all mean, Evie?’ The fear was back in Emily’s voice.
Evie smiled. ‘It means you both have a gift. That your union created an energetic freedom for the earth. Horses mean freedom.’
Emily frowned, confused. ‘But the energy
felt dark.’
‘You know there was a murder in the Wonnangatta and the station manager was chased to his death on horseback?’
Emily did know of the folklore of the place, but had not connected the two incidents. She shivered.
‘You and Luke share a special power. United, it’s a strong light energy that draws out the dark and dissipates it.’
‘So we should be together?’
Evie shook her head. ‘Not if there’s no anchor of self-love on which to tie your passion for him. Time, Emily, is what you need. You and Luke are for another time.’
From the hallway came a shout from Sam. ‘Time to go, gasbagging girls!’
Evie gave Emily a quick hug and then Emily was gone, jogging along the hall, feeling altogether sad that she and Luke were not to be. Not this time.
Twenty-seven
On the very last day of the drove, it poured. Instead of cursing the weather, Emily viewed the low grey skies and the heavy silver streaks of rain as a gift. A good autumn break would set them up well for winter on the lowlands. But just one good season on their former mountain runs would be enough to fuel fierce fires next summer, given the right conditions. Without the cattle keeping the grasses in check, the annuals would soon seed, go rank and lodge flat on the ground from the wind, stifling the soil and growth of other less vigorous native grasses below. For the umpteenth time, Emily tried to shove the negative thoughts about the fate of her mountain landscape from her mind.
With just a few steep bends to go, Emily was riding alone at the back of the herd with no one to distract her. Think positive, she told herself.
The cattle were travelling well. Her father was riding slowly ahead on the gentle curve of the road. He was close enough to steady the lead cattle and far enough on to warn oncoming traffic to slow down. It was nice that it was just the two of them today. Emily could savour these last hours of droving in solitude. Just her and her dad and the bliss of rain.
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