This really provoked the busty blonde. Brandi’s smile disappeared and she lurched at Alice again, pointing her drink can at the tranquil face. ‘This black slurry’s really up herself.’ She spluttered the words, and Alice felt droplets of rum-laced saliva spray her face. ‘You think just because you got Jeddy by the short and curlies that it makes you worth something? Do you really think he’s interested in you? He’s just ginning around with you for a bit of variety.’ Brandi glanced proudly at her friends to see whether they appreciated her cleverness. ‘Look at her!’ she continued. ‘She’s so thick, she can’t even understand what I’m saying!’
Alice was looking over Brandi’s shoulder at Jeremy, who had removed his costume and was walking towards them, now dressed in his normal clothes. She looked back at Brandi and explained, ‘I understand your meaning perfectly, Brandi. I’m not overly concerned, though. You seem to think your opinion is of some significance to me. In that you’re quite mistaken.’
Brandi gaped like a fish. ‘Did you hear her? Significant! Mistaken! Who in hell talks like that? Who the hell taught a Murri to talk like that?’
‘Jane Austen,’ said Alice, saying the first thing that popped into her head.
Brandi was nonplussed. But by now she’d spotted Jeremy approaching, so she reduced her volume and her tone became more conversational. ‘Jane who?’
‘Jane Austen,’ Alice repeated.
Jeremy was within earshot now and his face broke into a surprised smirk at what he assumed was their topic of conversation. ‘G’day, all. Talking about Jane Austen? Moving up in the world, are we, Brand?’
Brandi looked baffled. ‘Is she that posh chick from Willow Tree?’ she asked uncertainly.
‘No, she’s not from around here,’ Alice said quite seriously.
‘Thank Christ for that, she sounds like a stuck-up cow,’ Brandi concluded.
Jeremy exploded with laughter and slapped Brandi on the back. The blonde was elated. Her friends were laughing too. She glared triumphantly at Alice, but she had already turned to go.
The confrontation over, the tipsy girls meandered away to the covered pavilion with Jeremy. Alice had declined his invitation to join them and instead sat down on an upturned drum to take off her boot and straighten out an annoying fold in her sock. She found that Brandi’s attack hadn’t really upset her as it would have done when she was younger. She smiled to herself about Jane Austen – ‘that posh chick from Willow Tree’ – and listened to the dull roar of music and voices coming from the pavilion.
Troy looked up from his beer to see Alice Wilson wandering reluctantly into the babbling throng. Her eyes met his and her face flooded with relief on sight of him. As she approached, he jumped up and pulled a plastic chair over to where he and Mushgang were sitting.
Troy hadn’t seen Alice since he’d returned from the mines. And although he thought about her often, he really hadn’t had much to do with her for years now. But the two of them had spent many hours together as children when Mushgang had been working with Sam on Redstone. Those times were some of Troy’s happiest memories.
The youngest of Mushgang’s children, Troy had been a surprise to his parents, conceived when all his siblings were in high school. He was very close to Mushgang, who often told him that he was the only one of his children who would ever amount to anything. This always made Troy laugh, as his brothers and sisters had all made successful careers in the city, while he was just a messer with horses.
Troy had been a quiet, passive child who’d had a strong affinity with animals even as a toddler. To outsiders his life had apparently been settled and stable, without any major hiccough. But he took small things to heart and was often a victim of his own deep emotions. Now he grinned to himself, recollecting the time when as children he and Alice had been so upset over a dead kingfisher they’d found; together they had performed an elaborate funeral for the little bird.
Alice sat down and smiled her smile at him. She certainly wasn’t any less beautiful. He had so much he wanted to tell her, so much to say, but Alice was seeking tidings of the Arabian filly who had dumped his dad in the dirt. Troy had been so busy working horses for other people that he’d had little time to spend with the mad horse.
‘I don’t think she’s gonna come good,’ he said quietly to Alice. ‘Hate giving up on a horse like that but I reckon I’d be wasting my time.’
‘Will you let me have her then?’ Alice asked eagerly. Troy frowned and glanced at his dad. Alice looked at the older man too. ‘Mushgang, please?’ She spoke imploringly.
‘Struth, Alice, those bloody eyes of yours are hard to refuse. But Sam would never forgive me if that filly hurt you.’
‘Please, just let me try. I’ll deal with Pa. It’ll be on my own head.’
‘Yeah, that’s what I’m worried about,’ Mushgang laughed.
Alice laughed too. ‘I promise, if I don’t make any progress, I’ll get rid of her.’
Mushgang tore open a packet of peanuts, looking thoughtful.
Troy noticed Alice watching Jed O’Donnell. He wondered if the rumours were true. Somehow he couldn’t picture Alice with a loud bloke like that. He followed her gaze. Jed was sitting not far away, surrounded by all manner of females. They had jostled to buy him drinks and drape parts of their bodies over him. It looked like Troy’s worst nightmare.
Apparently enjoying himself, Jed looked across and winked at Alice. She smiled but then turned back to Troy; to his relief, she didn’t appear to give Jed another thought. They continued to talk about handling touchy horses.
Nothing had changed. He still felt the same way about Alice and he couldn’t imagine wanting anyone else.
At eight o’clock Alice felt a tug on her plait and turned to see Jeremy standing beside her. ‘Ready to go?’ he said. It was much earlier than she’d expected he’d want to leave. Some of the girls had followed him and clung to him stupidly, lamenting his intention to go.
‘Settle down, ladies,’ Jeremy said. ‘There are plenty more fish in the sea. What about young Troy here?’
The shy eighteen-year-old looked terrified and braced himself to make a quick getaway. But the simpering girls had eyes only for Jed. Without further ado, Alice stood up and farewelled Mushgang and Troy.
‘I’ll ring you about it tomorrow, Ali,’ Troy called as she and Jeremy left.
The caterwauling procession trailed behind them, and Alice walked briskly ahead to the car park, freedom in sight. She waited patiently in the driver’s seat for the girls to make their repeated farewells, lavishing Jed with hugs and kisses. At last he broke free and leapt into the ute, quickly slamming the door shut.
‘Start her up, Alice,’ he ordered cheerfully, and he blew a kiss through the protection of the wound-up window.
They drove in silence for several minutes, Alice concentrating on the road as she was unaccustomed to night driving. Suddenly she became aware that Jeremy was studying her profile in the darkness. She turned and smiled at him quickly, before looking back to the road.
‘So did you have a blast?’ he asked her doubtfully.
‘It was very interesting,’ Alice answered, nodding the affirmative.
‘Interesting? Never heard that used to describe a rodeo before. That could mean bloody anything.’
‘Your girlfriend doesn’t like the way I talk much either,’ observed Alice.
Jeremy chuckled at the memory, then became serious. ‘Hey, they weren’t giving you a hard time before I got there, were they?’
‘Not particularly. Nothing out of the ordinary. But they do seem to think that you and I are . . . you know.’
‘No, I don’t reckon I get your drift. You better explain.’ He turned his body in the seat and looked at her expectantly. She laughed and shook her head, keeping her eyes on the road.
After another short silence Alice noticed that Jeremy had slumped tiredly in his seat. The euphoria of the rodeo ring had clearly worn off at last.
‘You were really amazing today, Jere
my,’ Alice said. ‘I’m not a rodeo expert, but I’ve never seen anything even close to what you do out there.’
Jeremy sat bolt upright again, his face shining like a chuffed schoolboy. ‘Crikey, Ali, you reckon? Ta.’
‘I can see why they wanted you to come so badly. You’re the star attraction.’
‘Now you’re dribbling.’ He shifted uncomfortably in his seat and looked out of the window into the blackness.
They drove on, Alice enjoying Jeremy’s silent companionship after the din of the rowdy gathering. Then he spoke again. ‘Looked like you were having a good old chinwag with Troy Boy back there.’
‘Yes, I’m glad he came.’
‘He’s a couple of years younger than you, isn’t he?’
‘Six months younger. He’s eighteen.’
There was another short pause while they both thought about Troy.
‘What’re you mulling over?’ Jeremy asked suspiciously. ‘About your secret talk with Troy Boy?’
Alice laughed. ‘I’m surprised you even had a chance to notice what anyone else was doing.’
‘Well, I was a bit worried about you. Thought you might be having a shocker of a time. Didn’t take very good care of you, did I?’ Jeremy looked at her apologetically.
Alice glanced at him in surprise. ‘I’m a big girl now, I wasn’t expecting you to look after me. Anyway, I could see that you were otherwise engaged.’
‘Oh . . . righto.’ Jeremy sounded strangely disappointed.
The Redstone veranda was lit up like a Christmas tree when they pulled in to the shed. Jeremy jumped out while the ute was still moving, so that he could rush around to open the driver’s door for Alice. He bowed low as she stepped out past him into the chilly air. She pushed him lightly with her fist and started for the space between the shed wall and the front of the ute, but he grabbed her hand. She turned to look up at him.
‘Thanks a million for coming, Alice. I was really stoked about having you there today.’
He gave her a quick hard embrace and she winced at the medley of women’s scents that were still lingering on him. Then he held her loosely against him for a moment longer, their breath making clouds of vapour.
‘Alice! Come in out of the cold!’ It was Olive on the veranda, peering out suspiciously into the darkness towards the shed.
Jeremy called back brightly, ‘Hang on a tick, Mrs Day, we’re just getting up to no good here. We’ll be finished shortly.’
They could see the old woman’s silhouette stiffen as she leaned forwards and peered harder.
Alice was feeling tired after the two hour-long drive. How easy it would be to rest her cheek against Jeremy’s warm chest, and wrap her arms around him as his were around her. But after the feelings she’d experienced that day, watching him in the ring, she wasn’t game. She suddenly felt that she was venturing into dangerous territory.
‘Night, King Jed.’ She gently pulled free of his embrace and walked away. At the gate she paused to look back at him still standing at the shed, barely lit by the glow from the veranda, and gave him a little wave. Then she disappeared into the house with her grandmother.
Chapter 19
‘Morning, Jeremy,’ said Alice absent-mindedly.
It was the Monday after the rodeo weekend and Jeremy was trying his best to retain some of the essence of King Jed the Invincible. At least for a few days. Alice’s distracted greeting as he swaggered into the shed wasn’t at all helpful. She was clearly preoccupied with the task at hand, methodically packing the ute with all the gear that she and Sam might need checking the back country. Jeremy knew this process always involved the consideration of the time of year, the current conditions, the general state of the stock and the standard of maintenance of the fences, windmills and other infrastructure in the areas being checked.
He watched her sulkily for a short time, recalling the females who had been clinging to him on Saturday night. ‘Why don’t you ever call me Jed?’ he demanded.
Alice paused for a moment and frowned at him. ‘What?’
‘It’s always Jeremy.’ He piped his name in a posh falsetto.
‘I don’t know. Jed doesn’t suit you,’ Alice said with quiet authority and then went about her business again. She’d dismissed him – just like that. Feeling annoyed now, Jeremy persisted.
‘Everyone else seems to think it does.’
‘Fine, I’ll start calling you Jed then.’ This time she didn’t pause in her efficient movements, her mind clearly on more important things. Jeremy felt as though she was fobbing him off like a wilful child.
While they were waiting for Sam, Alice helped Jeremy add the final touches to two new steel gates that Sam had asked him to make to replace some badly rotted timber ones in Cliff paddock. As they worked, Alice called him Jed several times; Jeremy was sure she was saying his name more often than she usually did, and somehow managing to make it sound corny.
By 7 am Jeremy had begun to miss the sound of his real name on Alice’s lips. Sam came across the yard carrying the esky. They loaded the gates into the ute and tied them down. Then Alice jumped into the driver’s seat beside Sam.
‘Thanks, Jed. We’ll see you tonight,’ she called.
Perhaps noting the unfamiliar name, Sam looked at Alice questioningly but wisely refrained from commenting.
‘I’ll keep working on the other new gates today, Sam,’ Jeremy said in farewell.
‘Thanks, son. Sixteen urgent. Twelve more need doing sometime soon.’
‘Righto. Ta-ta then.’
‘Have a good day, Jeddy.’ Alice dazzled him with one of her rare, full-blown smiles and pulled away.
He swore loudly to himself and kicked a rock with the toe of his boot. It hit the iron wall of the shed with a resounding clang and bounced away.
Shortly afterwards, Jeremy stopped welding and lifted his mask to examine a small body truck that was pulling up at the loading ramp. Mushgang. On board was a single horse. Jeremy recognised the nervy creature at once and muttered to himself, ‘Don’t tell me that bloody lunatic is still kicking round.’
The truck door opened, but instead of Mushgang’s crooked form, a young, lively figure sprang forth.
Jeremy squinted. ‘Troy Boy.’
Troy unloaded the filly and she skittered across to the far end of the yard, where she stood on full alert, suspiciously eyeing Troy and then Jeremy, who strolled towards him.
‘G’day, Troy. How’d you be?’
‘Yeah, not bad, thanks. Ali about?’ Troy asked hopefully.
‘Sorry, mate, she headed off with Sam half an hour ago,’ Jeremy answered. Troy looked crestfallen. ‘Jeez, you must’ve left your place early,’ Jeremy added.
‘Yeah, before five. Bloody nippy too, I tell ya.’
‘I reckon it would’ve been. Hoping to catch Alice, eh? Did she know you were coming?’
‘No.’ Troy continued to look downcast. ‘She was coming to our place tomorrow to pick up this filly, thought I’d save her the trouble. Will she be in later today?’
‘Not any time soon, mate. They’ve gone out to the back country. All day job.’
‘Yeah, I know the one.’ Troy’s voice was full of undisguised disappointment.
There was an awkward pause, and Jeremy realised he and Troy were sizing each other up. Troy Boy didn’t look too sure of himself. But Jeremy wasn’t so convinced of his own advantage. The younger man had a slightly melancholy, artistic appearance to match his temperament. His soulful green eyes had slight shadows beneath them, and an unearthly quality that reminded him of Alice’s own. In spite of his shyness, Troy had an undeniable air of dignity, and Jeremy knew instinctively that this young man was kin with Alice in a way that he himself could never be.
It was well known around town that Troy wasn’t a big drinker, and his apparent lack of interest in girls had resulted in speculation among Jeremy’s friends about his sexuality. But Jeremy knew that Alice had a great deal of admiration for the way Troy conducted himself; he’d heard
her discussing it with Sam on more than one occasion. And her feelings about his own antics were no secret to him either. So he regarded the other man with an element of dismay mixed with grudging respect.
Jeremy broke the silence. ‘Getting plenty of horse work these days?’
‘Lots at the moment. Seems to be all or nothing. And people don’t like paying too much to have their horses broken in.’
‘Must make it hard to do a proper job,’ Jeremy said with genuine sympathy.
Troy looked at him in surprise. ‘Yeah, it does.’
‘Not a miner then, eh? Couldn’t hack it at the big black hole?’
‘No, it was doing my head in.’ Troy shuddered slightly at the memory. ‘Like being the living dead. How’s life at Redstone?’
‘Yeah, bloody good.’ Jeremy grinned. ‘Best job I’ve ever had by a long way. Best boss a fella could have.’
Troy smiled. ‘Yeah, old Sam’s out on his own, Dad always says.’
‘Too right. And you won’t catch me whining about working for Alice either.’
‘So I’d have thought.’ Troy’s smile disappeared and he looked Jeremy directly in the face. ‘Not thinking of quitting any time soon then?’
‘Steady on, Troy Boy – you got your eye on my job or some bloody thing?’
‘Yeah well, if you’re ever thinking of shooting through, let me know first, eh? Would’ve jumped at that job if I’d been about.’
‘’Struth I’m lucky then.’ Jeremy exhaled with a whistle. ‘They would’ve taken one of you over ten of me. Couldn’t get any other bloke at the time. Old Liv still doesn’t trust me as far as she can kick me.’ Jeremy chuckled.
‘That’s not what I’ve been hearing,’ Troy said generously.
‘Fair dinkum?’
‘Sam’s been raving about you to anyone who’ll listen.’
‘What about Alice? What does she say about me?’
‘I dunno, mate. I don’t get to talk to her that much.’
Jeremy examined his face knowingly. ‘You’re a bit sweet on our Alice, eh?’ His tone was gentler than usual. Troy blushed and looked away. ‘I can’t say I blame you. I’d hazard a guess that any bloke who had much to do with that little lady would end up more than half keen.’
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