The Farmer's Wife

by Rachael Treasure

  ‘See you on the other side of the world, pooches,’ Bec said, feeling a little sorry for the dogs, but pleased with their decision to take them. Having Funny along was as much for herself as it was for the boys.

  The one major regret was leaving Miss Luella at Rivermont, but the cost of taking the horse with them to the United States was far too high. Bec knew the mare would be loved and ridden a lot by the Rivermont crew and that Joey and Daisy would spoil her.

  ‘Oh, Funny, you’ll be OK,’ said Ben as he stroked the dog’s ears through the wire.

  Evie stooped to peer through too as she laid her hand on Ben’s back. ‘Funny how things turn out,’ she said, then smiled.

  The freight man stepped from behind the counter. ‘Don’t worry, folks, we’ll take care of them.’ He lifted the crates onto a small trailer and tagged them, passing Rebecca back the paperwork. ‘All good to go.’

  Before they left Funny and Jesus, Evie rummaged in her purse and sprayed something over the dogs.

  ‘What’s that?’ Bec asked.

  ‘Rescue remedy and bush-flower essences,’ Evie said. ‘I use it on Jesus every time we travel.’

  ‘And it works?’ Rebecca asked, raising an eyebrow.

  ‘Nothing works on that dog! But animals are sent to teach us lessons,’ she sighed.

  ‘That makes sense. Funny has come to help me see the funny side of life, and to help the boys through a tricky time. The faithfulness and loyalty of dogs are inspirational. But what’s your lesson from Jesus then?’ Rebecca asked.

  ‘To curb my swearing and blaspheming!’ Evie grabbed each person’s wrist and sprayed them with the remedy, just as Jesus started barking. She let out a loud sigh. ‘Bloody dog. Here’s to a smooth, safe journey!’

  ‘Well, if you’ve got anything to do with it, it will be,’ Rebecca said as she recalled the past few days. She’d been amazed by Evie’s fast-talking efficiency on the phone with the various bureaucratic departments as she organised them all replacement passports, new visas and, in Rebecca’s case, work clearances. In conversation, Evie used the house fire to open a door, but if a block came up in the process, she skilfully sidestepped it. Bernard Truman on the other side of the world in Montana turned out to be the same. He was very influential, pulling strings to get Rebecca there in time for the start of their grasslands documentary film project and Andrew’s speaking tour.

  As the travel plans all fell into place, Evie said, ‘Just throw love and light onto the situation and watch the doors fly open for you.’

  Rebecca watched and learned.

  ‘Affirm to yourself that it will all flow!’ Evie had said.

  A year ago, Rebecca would’ve thought the woman was off with the fairies, but now she had seen first hand what a centred, calm mind could achieve with ease. It was giving her the courage to do what she was about to do.

  ‘Let’s flow then!’ Bec said. ‘Come on!’

  Soon they were all piling into the Kluger and Yazzie drove them around the spaghetti bypasses of the airport to the busy kerbside at International Departures. There they joined the throngs of people unloading luggage from cars. Rebecca dragged the suitcases from the back and she, Evie and Yazzie hauled them onto the concrete kerb, ushering the children alongside them. The luggage was packed not only with their clothes, but also Australian Christmas gifts for the Truman family who they were yet to meet and, of course, Andrew. Their first white Christmas with either two kids or three, depending on when the baby arrived. The boys were excited. And with childish delight, Bec was too.

  ‘That’s it?’ Yazzie asked.

  ‘That’s it.’

  They stood for a moment, looking into each other’s eyes.

  ‘I’m going to miss you,’ Yazzie said tearfully.

  A glimmer of doubt passed through Rebecca as her baby did a tumble inside her and a nerve in her back twinged. ‘Should I really be doing this?’ she asked, placing the palms of her hands on her swollen belly.

  ‘I’m sorry, I wasn’t going to get mushy,’ Yazzie said. ‘Of course you should be doing this. Get your backside in there. Dr Patkin’s written you a letter so you’re clear to fly in your third trimester. Evie here has had more than a lifetime’s experience delivering babies on outback stations. The Trumans have lined you up the best baby doctor money can buy and the boys are bursting to go. And finally, Miss Luella will enjoy her Rivermont stay. What on earth is there to stop you?’ Then Yazzie answered her own question: ‘Only yourself. You are the only block. It’s the opportunity of a lifetime! Now go live it up!’ Bravely she gathered Bec up in a hug and planted a kiss on her cheek. ‘I won’t be far behind. I’ll be getting a big metal bird out of here asap to Argentina for the show-jumping season. I won’t last a day at Rivermont with Wife Number Three. And especially without having you both around,’ Yazzie said, turning to Evie.

  She gave Evie a warm hug and Rebecca felt a stab of guilt that Evie would be leaving Yazzie to help her with the boys and the baby.

  ‘A trip for yourself will be good for you, I’m sure,’ Evie said. ‘You make sure you get back on the horses over there! Along with whatever or whoever else is available to ride!’

  Yazzie chuckled. ‘Yes, I’ll find my love interest too, I’m sure. It’s time, like Bec, to get back in the saddle. We’ll meet at Rivermont soon with tall tales to tell, and I may even get over to see you in Montana. All of us together, soon. I know it.’

  They were about to part ways when a shrill of whooping and hollering rose up from behind them. Next they were swooped upon by Gabs, Candy and Doreen. They brought with them so much of their vibrant, colourful country energy to the city airport that people turned to stare.

  ‘You came to see us off!’ said Rebecca, beaming a smile.

  ‘We had to make sure you did fuck off,’ Gabs said, punching her on her arm.

  ‘Shush, children present,’ warned Evie.

  ‘You can talk, you foul-mouthed trollop,’ Gabs said.

  ‘You didn’t give us much notice!’ Doreen said. ‘One day house burns down, next day gone!’

  ‘Yeah, but no more housework at least!’ Bec said. ‘And now, no more farm.’

  The girls looked at her sympathetically, but then Candy excitedly began reaching into her bag. She pulled out a giftwrapped present, tied with a red ribbon. ‘Impromptu airport baby shower!’ she said. ‘Yay!’

  Bec set down her backpack and unwrapped the present, smiling. Inside was an excessively colourful tie-dyed baby jumpsuit in rainbow hues. ‘Wow!’ she said.

  ‘I made it myself.’

  ‘Wow, Candy,’ Bec said again, not sure what else to say.

  ‘Geez Louise!’ Gabs shouted. ‘How’s the baby s’posed to sleep in that? It’s so bloody loud!’

  ‘Shut it, Gabs!’ Candy said. ‘You are so bloody loud! Don’t you know that’s what your life-force energy inside you looks like? Like rainbows. Doesn’t it, Evie? Larissa’s been reading the books in your shop. She showed me a picture.’

  ‘Really?’ Gabs said, holding up the vibrant baby suit. ‘I reckon that’s what I must look like inside after I’ve been mixing my slushie cocktails on ladies’ night at the Bendoorin RSL.’

  ‘Oh, Gabrielle. Four hours in a car with you is far too much,’ said Doreen. She turned to Bec. ‘I got this for you, the mother of the baby.’

  ‘Oh, how sweet of you, thanks,’ said Bec.

  The women snickered as Rebecca folded back the gift paper. Their snickers unravelled to hysterics when she screamed. There in her hands were a selection of jelly butt plugs, a remote-controlled clit-stimulator, a purse vibrator and a giant rotating dildo.

  ‘What are those things, Mummy?’ asked Ben.

  Bec quickly turned her back. ‘Er, just lightsabers for adults,’ she said, then swivelled to the women. ‘You absolute buggers! How am I supposed to get through security with those things? This one could be considered a weapon!’ She thumped the dildo on Gabs’s shoulder.

  ‘I’m sure you can switch them to f
light mode. Mile-high solo club here you come!’ said Gabs.

  Laughing, they began to stash the presents in Bec’s luggage, but fell suddenly silent as they looked behind her.

  ‘Well, see ya then,’ Gabs said abruptly.

  ‘Yep, bye,’ said Doreen and just as quickly as they had arrived, the women were scuttling away. Bec frowned at their behaviour.

  Evie and Yazzie had also, for some unknown reason, ushered the boys to a nearby vending machine and were bent over fumbling for coins in Evie’s purse, even though they’d just had a big airport hotel brunch. Rebecca puzzled at what they were up to. But when she turned to glance behind her, she knew exactly why they had all disappeared from her space.

  There weaving his way through the airport crowd came Sol Stanton. He looked so good. Striking, with his dark hair messed up from the wind, his divine torso sculpted under a black tight-fitting woollen top.

  ‘Rebecca!’ he called out, intensity personified. The women had been stalling her! What did they know? But her questions faded when she took in the fact that he was here! Desire for him swept her up along with an eddy of pain. She felt the wash of longing for him. At last she finally acknowledged that she had been blocking him and fooling herself. She had missed him utterly.

  He came to her, passion and emotion cast on his dramatic face. Then he gathered her up in his arms and held her. They stood like that for a time, just feeling each other breathe, the solidity of their bodies, the intoxicating subtle scent of the other, as the world revolved busily around them. In that moment, she knew: she loved this man.

  He stooped and kissed her deeply. With love too. When he pulled away, she saw he had excitement in his eyes.

  ‘Sol! What are —?’

  ‘Silencio, my love! I have something to show you.’ Sol reached around to his back pocket and handed her a folded-up newspaper clipping.

  As she straightened the paper, Rebecca took in the headline: Stanton Corporation Outbids Mining Giant. Her eyes scanned the print with a mix of joy and disbelief …

  In a dramatic last-minute deal, historic Australian property Waters Meeting was rescued from the fate of open-cut coal mining when Stanton Pty Ltd director Sol Stanton outbid mining giant Texlon. Stanton plans to rehabilitate the property and use it as a study for grassland carbon sequestration to bolster the agricultural sector and the environment.

  Rebecca looked up at Sol. His eyes were searching her face nervously for her reaction.

  Her mouth dropped open in shock. Tears rose to her eyes. Her hand flew to her burning cheeks. ‘You bought it?’

  ‘Sí.’

  She looked at him, the laughter bubbling up in her, a wide smile growing on her face. ‘You bought Waters Meeting?’

  Sol laughed too. ‘Sí! I did. For you, but at the same time, no, not at all for you. It was a business decision. My father and me. Could you see Rivermont next to a mine site? No way. Horroroso! And after our work with Andrew, I am committed to regeneration of land — not destruction. So yes, I love you, but I did not do this for your love. You have my love whether it comes back to me or not.’

  ‘Sol. This … this is …’

  ‘I wanted to tell you in person. I didn’t want you upset that I am now the owner of what was your family farm.’

  ‘Upset?’ Rebecca said, goose bumps sprinkling her skin, her baby girl taking tumbles inside her. ‘Oh, Sol. It couldn’t be better! No mining on Waters Meeting! No more mines! And you will restore the soil!’ She was jumping up and down now, holding his hands. Ecstasy flooded through her very soul that the beautiful property where two rivers met would now be taken care of by a man like Sol. ‘This is the best news!’ She reached up to hug him.

  As he held her, he began to speak rapidly. ‘Soon I start to build a home,’ Sol said, his voice and accent thick with emotion. ‘Not on the site of your old house, but on the flat rock, overlooking where the rivers merge. Comprender?’

  Rebecca nodded and smiled. She knew the exact place. ‘I’ve always thought it would be amazing to build a house there. Beautiful.’

  ‘It will be an eco-house — made from the land, self-sufficient, comprender?’

  Rebecca nodded again.

  ‘With a big kitchen and big oven. I am going to be Bendoorin Man Cake champion for many years to come.’

  Rebecca nodded, her eyes tearing up at the vision he was creating for her.

  ‘You and your boys, and your new little girl when she arrives, are very welcome there. So you must come!’

  Rebecca swallowed. The reality that she was about to get on a plane hit her. And yet here was a man she adored before her. For a moment she felt herself tugged towards him. She drew in her breath. ‘That’s lovely of you, Sol. But I have to go. I have to go to the States …’ Distress was entering her tone.

  Sol held up his hand and smiled gently at her, shaking his head. ‘Rebecca,’ he said, ‘of course you have to go. I would not dream of stopping you. And I will come to you and help with Andrew’s project. Waters Meeting and Rivermont can be used to showcase what results can be gained. This is a long-term project … for both of us. And we shall see what happens between us, sí? Let the stars decide.’ He looked deep into her eyes, imploring her to believe what he was saying.

  ‘Sí! Yes!’ Rebecca said, nodding, laughing, as she laced her fingers into his. ‘Right now I don’t know if that will be my path, but we shall see. OK?’

  ‘OK!’

  She reached up and kissed him gently on the lips and held his face in the palms of her hands. ‘Thank you, Sol, thank you,’ she breathed, resting her forehead on his.

  And as she shut her eyes, she saw the image of herself standing on a timber verandah that cast itself out over a rock ledge overlooking two tributaries, the Rebecca River flowing on from that point as one. And beyond that the land, spread out before her, the plants thriving in soils that could now sing with life. She saw them all there. Her children, Sol, her animals. She saw the ancient pulse of the land, and the celebration of the Indigenous souls who had loved the land too before her time. In her mind’s eye, she saw it all. And in that moment, she knew she was already, and always would be no matter where she was, home.

  As Rebecca tightened her seat belt and felt the massive plane taxi along the runway, she shut her eyes and felt the rush of adrenaline course through her body. The baby kicked and turned within. Beside her she could hear the boys quietly chatting, kept calm by the extraordinary, gentle presence of Evie. She pictured the new version of Waters Meeting with Sol at its heart. She breathed in deeply and thought to herself how lucky she was. How lucky to be alive. To have looked into the fire. To have had her life burned beyond recognition and to have survived.

  As the jumbo’s engines revved, she could feel her heart beating. It was beating for her baby within, her boys beside her. It was beating for the land. And now she knew it was beating for Sol. In her heart, she knew she had to make this journey. It was a new beginning. She had the chance to make a difference not just on a few thousand acres on one farm, but on millions of acres, across the globe.

  She had seen the pictures on the internet of where she would live on the Lucky D Ranch. Dreamy photos of the pine-clad Montana hills that rose up towards mountain peaks. Summer skies swathed with streaks of pink and gold. Then a similar shot from the same angle taken in mid-winter with deep snow coating the landscape in a softness of white. In another photo, she saw the sharp-pitched red timber barn of the Lucky D Ranch where it stood in rustic beauty beside the cottage where she and the boys would live. The dwellings nestled in a cottonwood grove beside river flats where glossy quarter horses grazed lazily beneath cedars. Andrew had also emailed a picture of the office in which she would work and a snap of a jet-black mare named Loretto, the horse Andrew said she would ride, as well as the paint ponies for the boys and the little ranch schoolhouse. It was all ahead of her.

  As she lay back against the headrest and felt the vortex of speed gathering and heard the plane engines roaring, she realised aft
er all she had been through, after all life had dished up to her, she hadn’t just survived — she had thrived. She was stronger than ever.

  As the plane lifted into the blue and soared through the clouds, Bec suddenly decided she would name her baby girl Skye. For it was sky that connected her to everything. To the country she had just left behind and to the idyllic place that would soon be her home. It was sky too that linked her to the universe beyond the clouds where stars hung in nothingness. A place Evie had taught her to feel within, so the craziness of life on this one tiny planet could no longer overwhelm her.

  Rebecca felt goose bumps course across her skin. There was no trace of bitterness or regret in her body. Only the zinging sensation of love. And the knowledge that she had learned and she had grown. And she was a better mother for it. A better human for it. And now, thanks to all those happenings, all those turnings of the world, the slow forming of the days and nights of her life, after all that, from this moment now, Rebecca knew she had a blank page on which to create.

  Acknowledgements

  There are hundreds of people to thank for this book. In fact, it would take up more room than the entire novel. So if your name is not here, you are not at all forgotten. You have stuck by me through it all and I am forever grateful … you know who you are.

  The core team to thank are my children, Rosie and Charlie, Luke Johnstone, Luella Meaburn, Margaret Connolly, Jamie Grant, and my helpful, happy Heidi Latham and her family. Thanks to the inspirational soils saviour, Colin Seis, and equally inspiring grazing god, Graeme Hand, and Barry Hardwick from Natural Resource Management South. Gratitude to my wellness and abundance team: Dr Tim Begbie and his family, Claudette Wells, Joe Bugden, Kim at Sixes and Sevens, and Michael Burnett. Big cheers to Jackie Merchant for the conversations in a German accent and beautiful website, George and Lyn Pickles for the B&S adventures, Kelpie the legend Rodeo Clown for being a clever idiot, blow-in builders Cameron and Ron Jackson for the writing room, Ian and Kay O’Connell for your support, Rod and Leanne Follett for your love, The Wolfe Brothers for the distractions, Kath Mace for the beers, Sally Patmore for the shower incident, Helen Quinn for the hairspray, Sally and Pete Tame for your care, Collette Harrold and Miss Chris for your dedication, Su and Michael Morice for your thick cut, Pru Cotton for the gift of your love of horses and it goes on and on … Pip Wagner, Greg Warren, Lynette Johnstone, Nan, Jodie and Friday the cat. Thanks to my Smith family, Loane family and the Campbell Town Show crew for inspiration in all things Man Cake! And to the lightworkers, Katherine and Kim Bright and our ‘Grader Good’ team, thank you for underpinning my writing with light.