‘Bloody hell, Alice!’ he exploded. ‘Even if you blubbered and whined every day for months it couldn’t be as bad as this silent caper.’
Alice winced a little at the frustration in his tone and tried to pull away again, but his grip was too firm.
‘Look at me, Ali. You can’t keep up this sulky act forever. What’s the matter with you anyway?’
Alice became haughty. ‘Let go of me.’
‘Haven’t seen you shed a single tear yet. Why can’t you just have a damn good bawl like a normal girl?’
‘You’re hurting my shoulders.’ Alice’s tone was icy now.
Jeremy released her immediately, then, grabbing a tin bucket from the ute, he filled it with sun-warmed trough water. Before she realised what he was intending he’d doused Alice with a heavy cascade. She stood bedraggled and gasping, strings of green algae draped across her head and shoulders and water dripping from the ends of the little curls on either side of her forehead. Jeremy looked at her expectantly, but still she said nothing.
He growled. ‘I can’t work you out at all. Never met another girl as cold as you are. Must have a hide like a bloody rhinoceros. Have you even cried at all for your old folks yet?’
Alice was angry now. She heard herself shouting, ‘I don’t see how it’s any of your business the manner in which I choose to grieve!’
‘Oh yeah, righto,’ Jeremy shouted back. ‘I’m just the bloody lackey. The paid hand.’ He spun around, flinging the bucket back into the ute in disgust. It made a satisfying clang. He began to pace back and forth. ‘Don’t think of me as a mate or anything, will ya? And whatever you do, don’t let on to me about how you’re feeling. I’ll just keep putting up with this bloody grim treatment then, will I? Maybe I should turn all quiet too.’ He halted and glared at Alice, waiting for a response, but she looked away.
He began to stride towards her again, his features taut with rage, but Alice ran at him and pushed him in the chest with both hands. ‘You don’t understand any of this!’ she screamed into his surprised face. Then her body crumpled and she squatted down, hugging her legs and burying her face in her knees. She began to sob uncontrollably. The dogs, who had scarpered when Jeremy threw the bucket, gathered around her in concern.
Jeremy kneeled down beside her and put his hand on her shoulder; however, she soon calmed herself, wiped her face and stood up.
‘Oh, Jeremy, I’m so sorry.’
‘C’mon, Ali, you were getting angry there a second ago. Having a good old yell. That was a big improvement.’ Jeremy’s tone was pleading. ‘Don’t go all quiet on me again.’ He poked her shoulder hopefully.
She sighed and reached for the ute door handle. ‘Oh no ya don’t, Ali Baba! Not so fast!’ Jeremy squeezed himself between Alice and the ute. ‘How do you know I wouldn’t understand? I might be a bit of a dull sod, but I have had a bit of rough luck myself on and off over the years. Plus I’m stronger than you and I’m not letting you back in there till you spill the beans.’
‘Jeremy, I wish I could explain myself.’ Alice looked into Jeremy’s bright blue eyes, willing him to understand.
‘I reckon you just need to slow down a bit, Alice. Let up on yourself, learn to relax. You shouldn’t have tipped out that gin. It would’ve done you the world of good.’
For the first time in weeks, Alice felt comforted. Jeremy’s face was so full of compassion. The tears spilled over again and began to course down her cheeks.
‘Will you let me give ya a bit of a cuddle? Just a matey one, you know the kind.’ When she didn’t demur he put his arms around her dripping, forlorn little form and held on firmly. Alice felt the tight ball in her stomach begin to loosen.
‘Heck, I had a soft spot for the old digger too,’ Jeremy said quietly. ‘But life goes on. It’s got to, otherwise we’d all better shut up shop here and now.’
Alice cried for several minutes more, her sobs muffled by Jeremy’s stained work shirt. At last she was still. She looked up and smiled at him, hoping that the relief she felt was showing on her face. He grinned back.
‘That’s more like it. But does that mean I have to let you go now? Bugger.’ He gave her a last squeeze before releasing her.
‘Thank you, Jeremy,’ she said, wiping away the last of her tears. ‘I’m so sorry for being difficult. I wouldn’t blame you if you packed up and left me at Redstone by myself.’
‘Yeah, well, no need to harp on about it. Good thing I’m big and tough. If that’s all the hugging I’m getting for today, we’d better go and start on this mill.’
During the days that followed, Alice made an effort to be brighter, more positive and talkative. But thoughts of the bank plagued her night and day. She began to feel swamped by all the tasks that needed to be done, and the idea of losing Redstone was becoming more real by the day.
Then comfort arrived from a most unexpected source. Lara began to telephone, not regularly, but often enough to let Alice know she wasn’t forgotten. One of these phone calls followed hot on the heels of a conversation with Carl Trent, who’d indicated that he intended to visit Redstone again in the next week. To her own surprise, Alice found herself confiding in Lara, who listened quietly.
A few days later, Carl Trent called back. But rather than arranging a meeting, he told her that the bank was prepared to renew the loan. Alice was taken by complete surprise, no less so when he explained that the loan had been re-evaluated because she now had the backing of the Harradines.
In amazement, Alice rang Lara immediately. She discovered that her mother, furious about the bank’s treatment of Alice, had told Conrad, who was even more indignant that someone could have so little faith in his stepdaughter’s capability merely because of her age. He’d wasted no time in contacting Carl Trent and severely dressing him down. He accused the bank manager of discrimination and insisted that he himself had so much faith in Alice’s ability to run Redstone that he wouldn’t hesitate for one moment to go guarantor for the loan. (This measure of support had come as a surprise even to Lara.) The bank had taken up the offer, and Conrad and Lara were now officially behind Redstone.
Alice was overjoyed: Redstone was safe for the moment, but the act of love and support from her mother and Conrad was what moved her most. She told Jeremy the whole story when he came in for smoko.
‘Holy hell!’ He shook his head in disbelief. ‘You’re a good one for keeping a fella in the dark. But Lara – Jeez! And old Con . . . Who’d have thought it? You could knock me down with a feather.’
‘You just never know what’s under a hat.’ Alice laughed, and had a sudden notion that her grandparents were sharing her joy.
After that, Alice began to sleep soundly again at night and her appetite returned. In the first week of December the rain arrived and the land was renewed. The regeneration of the landscape boosted Alice’s own healing, and as Christmas approached, she found that she was able to savour once more some of the simple joys of life.
Midway through December, she made a suggestion to Jeremy at dinner. ‘Now that it’s rained, there’s no need for you to be here over Christmas, Jeremy. You missed out on going home last year because of the dry. You deserve to take a break and spend some time with your family.’
‘Thanks, Ali. I haven’t been home for Christmas in years.’
‘Really?’
‘Must be nearly ten years since I first left home, to work at Sandy Hills. I’d dropped out of school and came home, see, but found out pretty quick that I wasn’t welcome there.’
‘And you haven’t been home for Christmas in all that time?’ she asked, struggling to take it in.
‘I think there was one year I went back. But there weren’t too many laughs that day, so after that I opted for the pub again. Mum was at me about the same thing a few days ago – you remember she rang. But I don’t wanna leave you here by yourself. How about coming with me?’
‘Does that mean you’ll introduce me properly to all your lovely brothers?’ Alice quickly stopped laughing w
hen she saw the look of distaste on Jeremy’s face. Perhaps he’d misunderstood her. Was he worried about his ruthless brothers assuming they were a couple? She decided to let him off the hook. ‘You’re not obliged to look after me, Jeremy. I’ll be fine here, honestly. It’ll be very peaceful.’
‘You don’t wanna come, then?’ Jeremy asked, a little aggressively.
‘Oh . . . it’s just that you seemed a bit . . . reluctant. If I came, I suppose you could always explain to them that we’re not, you know, a couple. That way we can make sure none of your brothers get the wrong idea.’
She’d been trying to reassure him but he looked crestfallen.
‘Yeah, be a bloody disaster if anyone thought we were together,’ he snapped. Alice looked at him in dismay, unsure what she’d said to upset him.
‘Well, I already told Mum you’re coming,’ he went on, huffily. ‘Like a duffer I assumed you’d want to. I guess I’ll just have to tell her you’d rather be here alone for Christmas than with my family.’
Alice bit her lip. ‘Oh Jeremy, of course I’ll come if you’d really like me to.’
‘Only come if you want to. Let me know what you decide.’ He finished his last few mouthfuls in silence, then disappeared sulkily out the door. Baffled, Alice watched him stride across the yard to his cottage.
Chapter 40
‘Does he still fall off his horse every ten minutes?’ Greg asked.
Jeremy’s father and brothers roared with laughter at Greg’s question. Alice was seated at the O’Donnell dinner table just after noon on Christmas Day. When she and Jeremy had arrived before lunch, Mrs O’Donnell had introduced her to everyone. Greg, the eldest of the six O’Donnell boys, had been trying his best to embarrass Jeremy ever since. Now they were all waiting for Alice to reply to his question. Jeremy looked at her apologetically. She answered calmly, looking at Greg.
‘No, I haven’t seen Jeremy come off a horse yet. As you see, he’s a big boy now.’
Greg looked less than satisfied with Alice’s polite response. His neck went slightly red and he swigged on his beer.
Greg was seated at the right hand of his father, Brian, who sat at the head of the table. Alice was familiar with Brian’s square, clean-shaven jaw and stern features from church. On Brian’s left sat the second eldest of the O’Donnell boys, Brent, who had been enjoying all Greg’s digs at Jeremy. Brent’s wife Belinda was close beside him; she giggled occasionally, and darted curious glances at Alice, but barely spoke. The next in line was Roy, the cleverest and laziest of all the brothers. Alice was seated beside him and he looked sideways at her on and off as he chewed large mouthfuls of food.
Jeremy was next to Alice, at the foot of the table. Having his father directly opposite, in his line of vision each time he looked up, seemed to be interfering with his appetite and he was pushing his food around his plate. Mrs O’Donnell was sitting on Jeremy’s other side, across from Alice, and she patted her youngest son’s forearm lovingly at regular intervals. Alice looked at her kind blue eyes and wondered how she’d survived living with all these males for so many years. The other two seats were occupied by Clinton O’Donnell, closest in age to Jeremy, and Clinton’s girlfriend Janine. Janine seemed to be there under sufferance and made no effort to be cheerful. Alice warily met her gaze at one stage and was surprised when she received a wry, good-natured smile from the tall brunette. Alice had been disappointed to discover the absence of John, the only one of Jeremy’s brothers whom she’d ever heard him speak of with fondness. John was spending Christmas with his girlfriend’s family in Emerald.
Greg finished his beer, and reached for another. ‘Jerry, how’re Brandi and all those rough sheilas coping with you being stuck out at Redstone? You’ve toned down a bit, eh? Haven’t been getting as many girls lately, or so I’ve been told.’ Greg glanced at the grinning Brent for support. ‘King Jed losing his touch?’
‘I don’t see any girls falling over themselves to get to you either, mate,’ Jeremy pointed out.
‘Still as much of a smart-arse as ever.’ Greg turned to Alice. ‘Not so cocky when he’s had a good flogging, though. Had plenty of them, haven’t you, little Jerry?’ The brothers and father laughed again.
Brent added his two cents’ worth. ‘Used to beat the crap out of him when he got too clever. Hey, Jerry, remember when I broke your nose for swearing at Dad?’
‘Is that really true?’ Alice asked Jeremy quietly. She was beginning to fume inwardly.
‘Hey, Jerry, heard on the grapevine it’s a dry camp out there at Redstone.’ Now Roy was having a go. ‘Been wondering how you’ve been getting on. Never much good for anything unless you’re half cut, eh?’
Jeremy gave a small chuckle.
Brent picked up again where Roy had left off. ‘Yeah, been meaning to thank you, Alice, for taking the useless bastard off our hands. Just before you took him on, he was talking about coming back to work out here! We wanna know how you put up with him.’
Once again all eyes were on Alice. This time she looked at Brian O’Donnell, her frank gaze challenging him to restore some order and civility to the occasion. She spoke quietly but confidently. ‘Mr O’Donnell, Jeremy has probably been too modest to tell you this, but he has been invaluable to Redstone. Before my pa died, he said we would never have managed to get Redstone back on track in time to satisfy the bank if it hadn’t been for Jeremy.’
Greg snorted disbelievingly and Jeremy stared miserably into his dinner.
‘Must’ve grown a few brain cells since he lived here then,’ was Brian’s unenthusiastic reply.
The brothers laughed again, but Alice continued to look Brian in the eye. The big man squirmed a little. Sue O’Donnell smiled valiantly, overcoming the discord, and said proudly, ‘Sam said as much to us, several times, Alice.’
But Alice was still looking at Brian.
‘Sam was a good man,’ he conceded at last. It was Brian’s attempt at offering an olive branch.
‘Your father passed away recently too, didn’t he?’ Sue asked kindly, clearly hoping to navigate the conversation away from Jeremy.
‘Guess it’s a good thing his lot left you alone,’ Brian said.
Sue winced, but Alice could see that Brian hadn’t intended the comment as an insult.
‘I met my dad’s family just after he died,’ she said. ‘I went to Cairns and spent some time with them.’
At this point Greg piped up again. ‘Bet you’re glad you weren’t raised with those fellas. Would’ve ended up like all those abused Murri kids. Child bashing, drinking and molesting – always going on in those blackfella communities.’
‘You mean like older brothers beating up younger and weaker ones?’ Alice asked innocently. ‘I didn’t see anything like that. I found them to be lovely, actually. I didn’t see any abused kids, just lots of happy ones.’
Greg was a little subdued for several minutes after that exchange.
Over the next half hour, other topics were raised for discussion and Jeremy and Alice enjoyed a reprieve. Greg became progressively drunker and began to bicker with Janine. Sue O’Donnell seemed to be on tenterhooks throughout the meal, and Alice noticed that she barely ate. All her energy was focused on making tactful and well-timed comments, attempting to defuse potential arguments and soften the insults that were traded between the brothers.
Jeremy spoke softly to his mother and Alice, and occasionally to Roy or Clinton, but he was quieter than Alice had ever seen him at a social gathering, seeming to prefer to fly under the radar. Alice also observed that he’d refrained from drinking more than a couple of beers, she supposed to make sure he had full use of his wits.
After lunch, everyone moved outside onto a paved area shaded by two monstrous tamarind trees. Alice helped Sue and Janine serve bowls of plum pudding, jelly and ice cream. Belinda, who had been drinking steadily during the meal and was now very tipsy, set up a CD player in the window and put on a country dance mix. Grabbing Brent, she dragged him out onto the paving and coerc
ed him into a shuffling dance. Clinton, who was also very drunk, came over to where Janine was sitting talking to Alice and pulled her to her feet. Laughing raucously, he spun her into a lurching kind of waltz.
Jeremy and Brian were making a wary attempt at conversation, both endeavouring to choose uncontroversial topics for their stilted small talk. Their mutual effort was being gratefully observed by Sue, who sat nearby.
Seeing Alice sitting alone, Greg approached and grinned into her face, saying loudly, ‘Must be rotten living all alone out there at Redstone with Mr Dick-for-a-Brain Jerry. Does he ever leave ya alone?’ He sat down beside her.
Jeremy and Brian paused in their conversation and looked over at Greg. So did an unhappy-looking Sue.
‘Greg, you’re horribly drunk. Alice doesn’t want to hear your silly rambling.’ She looked threateningly at her eldest son.
But Alice said calmly, her voice full of conviction, ‘It doesn’t bother me, Mrs O’Donnell. It’s clear to me that no one here has any concept of what Jeremy is capable of. That is, except for you.’ She added then, looking back at Greg, ‘I’m afraid it’s your loss and my gain, Greg.’
He snorted, and drained the dregs out of his bottle.
Sue managed to draw Jeremy and Brian back into conversation with one another and Greg took the opportunity to question Alice further.
‘So let me get this straight, you two are just workmates?’ he said sceptically.
‘That’s right.’
‘Well, Mum did say you were brainy.’ Greg heaved himself to his feet and set off to get another beer. He passed by Jeremy; giving his youngest brother a hard shove, he called back to Alice, ‘I guess you’re too switched on to get tangled up with a cocky loudmouth like our little Jerry.’
Jeremy ignored him and continued to talk to Brian, but his face flushed. Alice stood up and went towards Janine, who had convinced Clinton to sit down and drink a glass of water. The two women chatted for a while, enjoying the relative coolness under the tamarind tree.
Redstone Station Page 27