by C. Fonseca
At the top of a small hill, Alexa pointed down into the valley. “It’s hard to tell from here, but that’s a historical cemetery. Want to take a look?”
Eleanor raised her arms in the air. “You’ve brought me all the way to the mountain top, just so we can go down again?”
“Hardly a mountain. Come on, it’s all part of your education.” Alexa laughed, and took off without a backward glance.
They wandered amongst crumbling old gravestones and stopped beside a large headstone commemorating the gold-rush pioneers.
Eleanor crouched down to read the inscription. She nearly fell backwards. “Over two hundred children were buried here. Why so many?” she asked.
“It was a gruelling life.” Alexa shrugged. “Whole families lived in one-room shanties. Dysentery and other contagious diseases swept through the diggings due to poor sanitation and contamination of the rivers.”
Eleanor could only nod. She had seen for herself the appalling conditions in many countries where she’d worked on assignment. It was an outrage—far too many people were still dying from bad sanitation.
Reaching gratefully for her water flask, she lifted it to her lips and looked across to find Alexa watching her. Eleanor pulled at her collar. Did she look as hot and sweaty as she felt?
“Thirsty?” Alexa licked her own lips.
Eleanor swallowed hard and held up her flask. “Want some?”
“Thanks, but I have mine right here.” Alexa leaned down and picked up a bright purple bottle with a flower decal plastered over it. “At least the weather’s cooled down a bit,” she said before taking a large swig. She’d rolled up the pant legs of her denim dungarees, showing off bright-coloured socks and toned calves. Pretty cute, Eleanor considered, but not in a puppy dog way.
“I was a bit worried when you went off track and took me along the riverbed to those old mine shafts.” Eleanor had been alarmed to find that many of the huge holes in the ground were not fenced off. “I wouldn’t want to wander around here on my own—but you’re clearly familiar with this area.”
Alexa laughed, her voice throaty and low. “We were never far from the trail.”
Eleanor watched her draw another healthy swig of water, flip down the top, and place the bottle in her satchel. Alexa set off again and gestured for Eleanor to follow her between some large boulders and into an unsignposted wooded area.
“Take a look at this,” Alexa called after a few minutes. “Here’s the gravestone of one of the only female gold miners—a widowed Englishwoman who travelled to Australia in 1851, with eleven children, to make her fortune. Sadly, she and three of her daughters didn’t survive the hardships of the diggings and were buried here.”
Eleanor shivered, imagining they’d walked over many unmarked graves, and wondered how many ghosts roamed the forest. She stopped to lean against a knobby ironbark tree trunk, took another swig, and let the cool water wash away the layer of dust from her throat. She wiped a stray drop from her lips with the back of her hand.
“Your work’s taken you all over the world,” Alexa said. “Surely, you must be used to travelling off the beaten path?”
“Only when I’ve planned the route and I’m the one in charge.” Eleanor shoved her hands into her trouser pockets, glanced up, and was captivated by Alexa’s bright smile and those vivid hazel-green eyes. She reached for her camera, tempted to record this moment, but instead—recalling Alexa’s reluctance at being photographed—turned and scanned the forest backdrop.
Despite not being in charge in this situation, Eleanor didn’t give a toss. It was a nice change to be led around by a knowledgeable woman, an expert in the goldfield’s history, who had taken time to plan ahead.
“Once you’ve finished taking photos here, a little further on is the Garfield Waterwheel. It’s a huge stone relic looming out of the trees that once had a towering wooden wheel providing power to the mine for gold extraction.” Alexa kicked the toe of her burgundy boot into the dust. “But you must be tired of all this by now. How about we leave visiting that for later and head back to Castlemaine for lunch?”
“I would really like to see it, and I’m not tired of you talking, but I am a little peckish,” Eleanor admitted.
Alexa stared at the sky with her hands on her hips, a scowl on her face. “Look, you can see the change of weather coming over the hills. The clouds are getting darker and heavier, and the wind is picking up.”
“What do you suggest? Shall we take shelter inside an old mine shaft?” Eleanor giggled behind her hand.
Alexa arched an eyebrow. “No way. Fingers crossed the rain holds off. Let’s get going.”
“I was joking.” Eleanor patted her abdomen. “You may have heard strange noises. It’s my stomach rumbling.”
“Oh, is that what it is? I thought it was a bunch of ravenous possums scrambling around in the bush,” Alexa said with a straight face.
* * *
“Now that my hunger is satisfied, can we take a look in that?” Eleanor tapped the lid of the black archival box that was on the seat between them. “I can’t wait any longer.”
“Righto, let’s get started.” Alexa rubbed her hands together and placed the box in the middle of the cleared table.
Eleanor wriggled her chair closer to Alexa’s and eagerly looked on as Alexa set each of the prints out in front of them. Leaning in together, heads almost touching, they poured over the high-resolution prints.
“Look at the incredible tonal range here.” Eleanor pointed to the picture of the herbalist’s box. “Such gloriously intricate details. I can clearly make out the symbols on the bottle labels.” She frowned.
“What is it?” Alexa’s eyes widened.
“It doesn’t matter how long I stare at these; I’m no closer to understanding why Helen had the slides.” Eleanor let out a long sigh.
“Not yet, no. Small steps, Eleanor,” Alexa said. “I have a plan to identify the locations. We can get started if you like.” She brushed her fingers over Eleanor’s forearm. Her touch was slow and tender. “Is that okay? You never know what we’ll discover around the corner.”
Eleanor nodded and closed her eyes, comforted by the warmth of Alexa’s skin against hers. Although she had a sizable online fan base and thousands of Instagram followers, the opportunity to develop a real, in-the-flesh friendship with Alexa was very appealing. The last few weeks had been especially tough, and Eleanor did feel lonely sometimes.
Soon after, they were parked across the road from a two-storeyed red brick, vine-covered façade. “This is the place I was telling you about,” Alexa said. “It must have been a grand home back then. It’s still impressive and really does look like the house Mabel is standing in front of holding the gold nugget.” She opened the car door and gestured towards the building. “Come on, let’s take a closer look.”
Alexa had done her homework. Of course, she had. This time, for the sake of practicality, Eleanor grabbed her digital camera while Alexa examined the image of Mabel she’d lifted from the archival box. Eleanor’s fingers itched to raise her camera and snap a series of photographs of Alexa, but she wouldn’t do it without her consent. Maybe Alexa would agree if she had a good reason.
“So, Alexa, hmm…you said you didn’t want me to take your photograph, but for the purpose of recreating the image, would you pose as Mabel in front of the doorway?” Eleanor leaned down and scooped up an egg-sized rock. “Here, you can hold this gold nugget in the palm of your hand.”
Alexa looked up and quirked an eyebrow. “Perhaps. But why? I’m not entirely convinced by that nugget.”
Eleanor laughed. “If you stand in the exact same spot as Mabel, we can determine the dimensions of the doorway, configuration of the brickwork, and height of the entrance steps.”
“I’m way taller than Mabel. I can tell from the family photo she wasn’t much taller than her young children.”
Eleanor placed one hand on her hip. “Well, that’s easily taken care of. Why don’t you kneel down?”
Alexa handed the picture to Eleanor and turned her palm upwards. “Give me the nugget and tell me exactly where to stand,” she said. “We’ll have to pretend I’m short.”
“Thank you.” Eleanor grinned. She handed her the rock, examined the photograph, and pointed just to the left of the wooden door. “Right there, but come forward a foot.”
Alexa took her position, shading her eyes with her hand. “Hey, that’s a different camera.”
“Just a more modern variety of grandfather’s,” Eleanor said. “It’s a digital.”
“Why do you have a piece of tape on the front? Is it broken?”
“No. It’s not broken. I have the badge covered because thieves tend to target expensive brands.”
Alexa smirked. “I’ve read your profile, so even with the disguise, I’m guessing it’s a Leica?”
Eleanor stared in surprise. “You read my profile?”
“Sure I did.”
Eleanor fiddled with the camera strap around her neck. Fair enough. As soon as she’d met Alexa, she couldn’t wait to check out her profile, either. She’d enjoyed Alexa’s contributions to the state library’s online memory bank, especially her talk on the transgressive behaviour of ‘dog-earing’ books. She smiled to herself. Alexa could probably make any subject engrossing. “Okay, are we going to get this done before those clouds move in?”
Alexa gave her a little wave with her fingers. “Hurry up, then.”
“Just give me a second.” Eleanor looked through the viewfinder and set the focus. “I’m ready. At least you don’t have to stand like a statue for two minutes like they did in the 1800s.”
Alexa shook her hips and smoothed down her make-believe starched dress. She struck an austere pose, with the ‘nugget’ held in the palm of her hand, and Eleanor quickly held down the shutter button, not wanting to miss Alexa’s endearing performance.
When Alexa stood still, Eleanor took a series of pictures, from a tight shot of Alexa framed in front of the doorway to a wider shot to show her height in relation to the front of the house, even though Alexa would have towered over Mabel.
After she was finished, Eleanor checked the screen and started flicking through the images. She chuckled to herself. The ones of Alexa play-acting were priceless.
“Can I move yet?”
Eleanor lowered the camera and smiled. “Sorry. Yes, come and have a look. We’ll pick up finer details on the computer, but I’m pretty sure this is the same building.”
Alexa moved beside her and peered at the screen. She nudged Eleanor lightly in the ribs. “You’d better delete those first ones.”
“I don’t think so,” Eleanor exclaimed happily. She pulled Alexa closer and zoomed in on the next image. “Look at the intricate pattern of the cast-iron lacework at the top of the veranda posts.”
Alexa rested her chin on Eleanor’s shoulder. The intimacy of the gesture sent a wave of pleasure all the way to Eleanor’s toes. It wasn’t just positively identifying the location of the first image that had her pulse racing.
“And the patterns on the brickwork are identical.” Alexa raised her head, took a small sideward step, and turned to Eleanor.
Eleanor met her gaze and held it. Disarmed by their shared private moment, she tried to speak, coughed, and cleared her throat. “Yes, that’s right,” she said eventually.
Alexa tossed the rock she was still holding up in the air and did a little dance around Eleanor, jiggling the pretend skirt once again.
“You’re crazy.” Eleanor laughed; she couldn’t help herself. “I can almost imagine you in Mabel’s dress.”
Alexa’s eyebrows shot up. “In Mabel’s dress?”
“You know what I mean. Wearing her dress.” Eleanor looked down at her feet to hide her blush. “Mabel’s dress on you would be just below your knees,” she said hurriedly. “Your instincts were spot on finding this house. That’s one off the list. What’s next?”
As they drove towards Chewton, a light drizzle settled in—not enough to dampen Eleanor’s spirits.
Alexa parked outside the red brick Chewton Post Office, and Eleanor recognised the tiny town hall building that sat beside it. It really was the smallest town hall she’d ever seen. While Alexa was checking something on her phone, Eleanor pulled on her raincoat, grabbed the umbrella from the back seat, and darted to the driver’s side door. She opened the umbrella and held the door ajar for Alexa. “All set?”
Alexa slid her phone back into her bag and gave Eleanor a smile that didn’t really light up her face. In fact, she looked a little strained.
“Is something wrong?” Eleanor asked.
“The Town Hall isn’t open today. I should have checked. We may have to return another time. I mean, that’s if you are actually interested in trolling through the photographs and archives in their collection.” This time, her smile reached her eyes. Eleanor smiled back; she wasn’t opposed to a return trip with Alexa; in fact, she looked forward to it.
Alexa popped her head out of the car and quickly ducked back inside, as if only just noticing the drizzle. “Look at the colour of those clouds. It could be a spring storm on the way. Oh, what the cuss!”
Eleanor gave her a perplexed look.
“I know, sometimes I sound like my Granny,” Alexa said. “And here you are gallantly holding the umbrella for me.” She stepped out of her car and stood beside Eleanor. When she bent her head to shelter under the umbrella, her hair tickled Eleanor’s ear. Eleanor had the urge to run her fingers through Alexa’s soft wavy tresses, but she gripped the umbrella with both hands to stop herself.
Alexa gently squeezed her forearm as they stood side by side in front of the single-storeyed Town Hall. “This is where the Yang family were photographed—on these very steps.”
Eleanor could easily picture the family standing here, as very little about the old building seemed to have changed since the photo was taken. She dared not retrieve the image from the box in the back seat for fear the rain that had now developed into a steady shower would damage it.
As far as Eleanor could tell, the slide locations had no connection to Helen. Eleanor felt a pang of disappointment, but maybe—as Alexa had surmised earlier—Helen knew Yang’s relatives in China. It was a possibility. If anyone could help her get to the bottom of this mystery, Eleanor was hopeful it would be Alexa—she was as immersed in the exploration as Eleanor.
With Alexa’s hand still resting in the crook of her arm, Eleanor was guided back to the car.
“If it rains heavily, my car springs a leak under the dashboard. I have to protect the wiper spindles, or it will affect the electrics,” Alexa said.
“Maybe we should park Farina under cover?” Eleanor scanned up and down the street and shook her head. “Maybe not.” There appeared to be nowhere in the street to park out of the rain.
Alexa removed her hand from Eleanor’s forearm and strode to the rear of the car.
Eleanor briefly looked down, regretting the absence of Alexa’s firm grip.
“It’ll be okay if I cover the windshield.” Alexa turned the lock and lifted the boot lid. Quickly extracting a small blue tarp, she shook open the roll of thick plastic. “Help me throw this over the front of the car.”
“Sure.” Eleanor moved closer to Alexa and waited for instructions.
Alexa looked up at the sky. “If that rain develops into a storm, we may have to hold up at my cottage for a while until it passes over.”
Eleanor’s excitement mounted at the prospect of seeing Alexa’s cottage. “Whatever you think best. Hopefully it won’t last too long.” With her left hand, Eleanor held the umbrella over Alexa and helped secure the tarp over the leaky windscreen with her spare hand.
Alexa had obviously done this many times before,
and a minute later, she surprised Eleanor by winding her arm around her shoulder. “All done, thank you. Are you prepared to risk the rain and take a stroll along Main Road?”
“Okay, why not?”
Eleanor smiled as Alexa linked arms with her, and they walked companionably away from the car.
“During the 1860s, this little place was a busy commercial township. It had a court, a mine’s office, two banks, as well as a butcher, a bakery, and—”
“Let me guess.” Eleanor pursed her lips. “A candlestick maker?”
Alexa glanced at Eleanor sharply, gave Eleanor’s arm a squeeze, and said, “Probably. I was going to say fourteen pubs.”
“Fourteen? I can only see one hotel.” Eleanor looked around. A peculiar little wooden building was set back from the grassy verge. She pulled Alexa to a stop, intrigued. “What is that?”
“That’s the portable lock-up, circa 1850s. When the jail was overflowing they’d hold prisoners in here before a court hearing. The lock-up was found in pretty bad shape in a rubbish tip decades ago and rescued.”
“Let’s take a closer look—”
A very loud thunderclap directly overhead had Eleanor nearly jumping out of her skin and Alexa grabbing hold of her even tighter. The old pine and elm trees that lined the street swayed, their branches bending in the gusty wind, and rain started to fall in great dollops, drenching everything around them.
“Maybe not,” Eleanor yelled over the rainstorm.
Alexa yelled back, “We’re out of here.” She started to run, dragging Eleanor along with her.
Eleanor’s shoes squelched on the wet pavement, and the umbrella all but collapsed as the wind whipped the rain into their faces.
Thankfully they quickly reached the car, separating to clamber inside.
“Oh no. We didn’t take the tarp off.” The damp air rang with Alexa’s peals of laughter as she pushed her hand through her tangled hair. “I can’t see a thing through the windscreen. How am I going to drive?”
Tiny raindrops beaded on Alexa’s impossibly long eyelashes like little diamonds, accentuating the emerald hue in her eyes. Impulsively, Eleanor ran her thumb along Alexa’s cheek and gently wiped away the moisture that ran down the silky, smooth skin of her face.