South of Capricorn

by Anne Hampson

  ‘No,’ he said unsmilingly, ‘you’re not a cub.’ Still thoughtful, Gail noticed, and she wished she could see what was going on in his mind.

  ‘Oh, a beetle!’ Leta bent down; the brooch was still in her hand and she was all ready to stick the pin in the insect when Gail snatched at her wrist and dragged her away.

  ‘You naughty girl! How many times have I told you that it hurts little creatures when you treat them like that!’ She was furious, and for the moment Kane Farrell was completely forgotten.

  ‘I like hurting them! I’ll stick it in you in a minute! And I’ll stick it ten times in that lady, because I don’t like her! You know, the lady we saw at Daddy’s house!’

  ‘Lady?’ Kane looked at Gail, the words of censure he had been going to say to Leta having been stemmed for the present. ‘She had black hair?’

  ‘That’s right.’

  Kane’s eyes took on a darkling expression, but at the same time he had that faraway look mingling with it. Gail waited, half expecting him to make some further reference to the woman who was his stepmother. But he lapsed into a silence and she began to stir restlessly. At length she asked about the Overlander, adding that she wished to get away from here as soon as possible.

  Turning lazily, he regarded her with a mild inscrutable stare before he said, staggering her so that she could only gape at him unbelievingly,

  ‘If my daughter stays then you stay too, Miss Stafford.’

  ‘W-what did you say?’ she managed at last.

  ‘I believe you heard me.’ Totally unaffected by this moment which was to Gail overcharged, he took up the reins which he had previously hooked over the broken branch of a eucalpyt. ‘You don’t leave Leta with me unless you stay with her.’

  ‘Don’t be ridiculous!’ Her mind was so confused that she scarcely knew what she was saying. But she was acutely aware of the impregnable, granite-like quality of his face, and also of the fact that, should he prove to be immovable, then the whole point and purpose of her journey here would be destroyed. ‘It’s quite impossible for me to stay!’ She gestured with her hands, her mind still clouded by what he had said. ‘This ultimatum’s stupid! What would I want to stay in a place like this for?’

  Ignoring this, he said calmly,

  ‘I need a mother for my child.’

  ‘You must be out of your mind!’

  ‘On the contrary,’ he rejoined smoothly, ‘my mind was never more ordered.’

  ‘But-’

  ‘I have no intention of entering into any argument,’ he broke in gently. ‘It should be plain to you that I can’t have Leta unless I also have someone to look after her.’

  ‘You want a nanny? But you said a mother.’ ‘A mother, yes.’

  Gail made another impatient gesture with her hands, ‘What are you trying to say, Mr. Farrell?’

  His grey eyes seemed to smile with amusement.

  ‘I’m not offering you marriage,’ he began, then stopped a second or two to watch the colour creep into her cheeks. ‘All the same, it’s a mother I want for Leta—not a nanny.’ He paused a moment as Leta came closer to him. She looked up and smiled. He flicked a finger and to Gail’s utter amazement the child instantly obeyed the unspoken command and moved away, out of earshot. ‘What I want is for you to pose as my wife— No, please don’t interrupt me! I want you to pose as my long-lost wife. We parted—a misunderstanding or silly quarrel caused it—but now we’ve come together again, a happy family—’

  ‘You are out of your mind,’ she interrupted, but even as the words left her lips the truth burst in upon her. So there had been some basis for her suspicions that he was planning something!

  ‘Either you remain here with Leta or you take her back to England with you,’ Kane Farrell was saying implacably. ‘And if you do take her back, then you mustn’t trouble me with her ever again.’ He sounded callous, she thought, but she made no comment, her mind being totally absorbed by what she had discovered. Kane Farrell wanted her, Gail, to pose as his wife, so taking his stepmother’s place as mistress of his home. And of course Leta was an important part of the plan; a few weeks of that little delinquent and Mrs. Farrell would know only one way to turn—towards the door!

  It was an ingenious scheme, and it had come to Kane when he saw what kind of a child his young daughter was. She would quite literally drive his stepmother out, he had concluded. Gail had to smile despite the tenseness of the scene. How fortunate Kane must have felt himself to be—with his daughter coming along at a time like this!

  ‘Mr. Farrell—’ she began, when he interrupted her to say,

  ‘Kane’s the name. I’m sure I’ve made myself clear,’ he went on to add. ‘Either you both stay here, at Vernay Downs, or you both leave. The choice is yours.’

  ‘I’ve already made my choice. It’s impossible for me to stay, even if I wanted to, which I don’t. I have a job; I live with my parents—I’m their only child— Oh, the whole proposition’s so absurd that it’s not worth my entering into explanations as to why I can’t accept it!’ She spoke resolutely, meaning every word she uttered, so why this subconscious thrusting away of the intruding vision of life out here, in this wild and lonely land with its endless plains, its strange animals and trees, its perverse climate and the almost feudal manner in which most of its properties were run.

  ‘In that case, there’s no more to be said. I’ll arrange for you and Leta to be taken back to the station—’ He broke off and turned, as did Gail. Leta, obviously having heard what was being said, was standing just behind Kane Farrell... and her lovely eyes were brim-ming with tears.

  ‘Aren’t I staying with my daddy, after all?’ she cried, stepping towards Gail and clutching her skirt with both hands, having dropped her doll on to the ground. ‘Why won’t you stay, Gail? I want to have a daddy of my own...’ The tears flowed, but before Gail could stoop to comfort her she ran away and sat down on the fallen tree trunk, then began rocking herself to and fro, crying softly, ‘I wanted a daddy, like Susan and Diana and Emma. I wanted a daddy of my own ...’

  Gail looked up at Kane Farrell, and his eyes flickered strangely as he noted the tears in hers.

  ‘I had no idea she could be like this,’ she quivered. ‘What must I do—?’ She stopped, astounded by her weakness ... and yet how could she ignore the plight of Sandra’s child? No use telling herself that, having honoured her promise by bringing the child here, she could not help it if all had not gone according to the wishes of her mother. No, that was shirking the issue. And if she did shirk then she would be no less blameworthy than Kane Farrell himself. And yet Leta, despite this moment of weeping for her father, was still Leta—the unbridled creature for whom no one had ever had a good word.

  ‘I could never manage her!’ Gail was distressed and it showed. Kane Farrell’s expression became exceedingly curious as he watched the quiver of her lips, the rapid blinking of her eyelids as she endeavoured to prevent the tears from falling on to her cheeks. He moved, restlessly, and his brow was furrowed in a frown. She saw a movement in his throat, as if he were swallowing with difficulty something that had lodged there. ‘No, I could never manage her!’

  ‘I’ll be good !’ The cry came urgently, but Leta remained motionless on the trunk of the tree. ‘Stay, Gail! Stay here so that I can stay too! I want to have a daddy of my own!’

  Although she felt dreadful about it, Gail resolutely ignored Leta’s first sentence, since she knew for sure that she could not be good if she tried. And she never did try! There was in her a bit of the devil himself and nothing less than a miracle would drive it out.

  ‘I can’t stay...’ But her voice faltered to silence. It was not only Leta’s plight that was driving her from the path of reason; it was also the man himself, Kane Farrell, Boss of Vernay Downs cattle station, who was responsible for this swinging of her emotions. It was as if he possessed some impelling mental pressure with which he could bend her to his will. Reprehensible he might be, yet she was puzzled because there seemed t
o be so much about him that was contradictory. She was unable to fight against the attractiveness of him, vaguely wondering if it was partly his outward appearance which affected her—his powerful physique or tough, sun-bitten good looks. Or was it solely his dynamic personality and aristocratic air?

  She shook her head, her mind too clouded in any case for her to be able to find an answer to so difficult a question. He began to speak, rather gently and with what could only be described as infinite understanding. His confidences went in his favour and as he continued she found herself carried away on a tide of helplessness until, in the end, her decision was made and she gave him her answer. He smiled and thanked her; she knew a half pleasant, half disturbing tingling sensation rippling throughout her body.

  Had she made her own decision, or had it been made for her by some subtle mechanism worked by Kane Farrell? More important, had she made the right decision? Gail just had to mention this to Kane, speaking impulsively and with a tremor of anxiety in her voice.

  ‘Yes, Gail,’ he said gently, ‘you have made the right decision. Have no doubts about it; you’ll not regret what you’re doing.’

  She looked up at him, and then down at Leta. The child’s eyes were shining through her tears and a smile trembled on her lips.

  ‘She looks so ... different,’ murmured Gail, dazed and wondering where the familiar mulish expression had gone.

  ‘People do,’ returned Kane in his quiet unhurried tone, ‘when they’re happy.’

  Gail shook her head, more bewildered than ever by this strange man who obviously had two very contrasting parts to his nature.

  ‘I don’t understand how you came to neglect her for so long,’ she just had to say, and in return Kane said, looking directly at her,

  ‘Remember what I said about parts unknown?’ And when she nodded her head, ‘Try to keep that in mind, Gail—it might help you in the difficult task which you’ve taken on.’

  CHAPTER FOUR

  THE sun was setting and in the garden a couple of kookaburras sat on the forked branch of a white gum tree and growled throatily. Leta, walking with Gail along the path bordering the shrubbery, gave a loud laugh, then complained pettishly when the jackos failed to join in.

  ‘Why don’t they laugh?’

  ‘They will, when they’re ready.’ Gail, enchanted by the marbled effect of light and shade brought about by the ever lowering angle of the sun’s rays, had no ear for the murmurings of a fractious child, even though it was her job to look after her.

  ‘Why aren’t they ready now?’

  ‘They seem to laugh more in the mornings.’ Her eyes wandered to the long line of mountains, the MacDonnall Ranges, rising above the more gentle landscape, their peaks crimson on the sky line. And as she watched there appeared the dark silhouette of a brumby, a magnificent creature with mane flowing as it raced across her line of vision. Nearer to, and with considerably less movement, could be seen two Aborigine stockriders, appearing to glide about among the mob of cattle roaming the plain. Excellent horsemen and mus- terers, their numbers were high on Vernay Downs Station. Kane Farrell always spoke in praise of them.

  ‘I know they laugh in the mornings! But why don’t they laugh all the time?’

  ‘Because they’d get tired. You’d get tired if you laughed all the time.’ The shadows were deepening on the plains and Gail had the impression of a vast sea of darkest blue. ‘Come, it’s getting dark; we must go in.’

  ‘I want the jackos to laugh first!’

  ‘I want - I want - I want!’ The interruption came from the woman sitting on the front verandah, the words being called in a raised tone so that they would be heard. Turning her head, Leta put out her tongue before twisting her face into the most grotesque lines.

  ‘Mind your own business, Mrs. Nosey-Parker! Go in and shut your door!’

  ‘Leta!’ began Gail, then realized that the child’s father was there, having approached silently after leaving his horse, Golden Light, in the tender care of Jimmy, the Abo rouseabout.

  Kane Farrell’s glance was stem, but to Gail’s surprise he made no attempt to admonish his daughter. Instead, he put out a hand to ruffle her hair.

  ‘Happy?’ he asked her, but his eyes were on Gail’s face.

  ‘Yes, Daddy, I’m happy!’

  ‘Do you know how long you’ve been here?’

  ‘One week and one day!’

  ‘That’s right. Good girl for keeping count.’

  ‘I’m not a good girl,’ chuckled Leta, seizing his hand and putting it to her cheek. ‘I’m a very naughty girl!’ She glanced slyly at him. ‘You don’t want me to be good, do you, Daddy?’

  Was he put out by this? wondered Gail, trying to read that impenetrable expression even though she knew the futility of her efforts. For what Leta said was true; her father had no desire for an immediate reformation in his errant daughter ... no, not until his plan had succeeded. And after that? A wry expression entered Gail’s eyes. Young Leta was in for a shock! Gail had never been so sure of anything as she was of Kane’s ability to bring his child to heel. A week in his house had more than proved to her the supreme mastery of the man, even though she had seen little of him, as he was out for practically the whole of each day, returning to the homestead merely for lunch and then at dusk, when he was finished work - at least, outside. After dinner he usually went off to a private room of his own — an office-cum-snug - one of the lubras had termed it one day when Gail had met her coming from the room, which she had just been cleaning.

  ‘You haven’t answered my question,’ Leta was saying. ‘You don’t want me to be good, do you?’

  ‘I’ve never said such a thing.’ His voice to Gail held an edge that warned, but it was not meant to be heard by Leta and as she continued to look at Kane, Gail could not suppress a smile. His eyebrows shot up inquiringly.

  ‘Something amusing you, Gail?’

  She nodded, but glanced at the verandah. Following the direction of her eyes Kane nodded too, but he made no comment and Leta began chattering, demanding to know how she could make the kookaburras laugh.

  ‘You can’t. They laugh when they feel like it, just as you do.’

  ‘If I tell them they must—’

  ‘You can’t order them the way you order people,’ chided Gail. She was awkward in Kane’s company, as always, and she would have escaped were it at all possible. She had no desire to be with him, and this was - she admitted quite freely - owing to the manner in which she was affected by him. She had hated him before meeting him and she intended to go on hating him, because of what he had done to Sandra. But the more she saw of him the more she was tom by doubts, not only that there might have been some excuse for his conduct, but that she herself might reach the point when she no longer even disliked him.

  ‘Do you generally order people about?’ he was inquiring of Leta and, when the child said yes, he then added, ‘I think I must get to know you a little better, young lady. Eight days you’ve been here and I still know practically nothing about you.’

  ‘You know her character - to a great extent,’ put in Gail shortly.

  ‘I know she’s not well-behaved, yes.’

  ‘Her mother was so gentle and unoffending,’ mused Gail without thinking.

  ‘So Leta doesn’t take after her? Is that what you’re telling me?’

  He had asked for it, decided Gail, and she answered, looking directly up into his face,

  ‘It is, yes.’

  ‘So she must take after me?’

  ‘That’s what I was implying,’ she returned with honesty, and to her surprise, his only reaction was to say, with a quality of amused satire in his voice,

  ‘I won’t argue with you, my dear.’

  My dear ... She wished he would not say it; it always awakened some strong but unfathomable emotion within her.

  ‘Do you mind if I go inside?’ she asked, constraint in her manner. ‘I would like to wash my hair before dinner.’

  ‘By all means,’ he assented
. They had drawn nearer to the verandah and were now so close that his stepmother was able to hear what they said. And for her benefit he put his arm around Gail’s shoulder and touched her cheek with his lips, an action which he had done once before, and which then, as now, left her blushing adorably.

  Gladly she made her escape to the elegant bedroom which had its spectacular view to the mountains whose summits were now bathed in the honey light of evening. She was glad to be alone because Leta was a drag on the nerves. No improvement had taken place, and none would until Kane Farrell’s purpose was served and his stepmother and her daughter driven out of Vernay Downs.

  Sitting down on a chair, Gail leant back among the cushions, determined to relax for a few minutes before washing her hair. And not unnaturally her thoughts took a backswitch, drifting on what were now familiar lines, since on the rare occasions when she was alone, she invariably went over that unforgettable scene which had culminated in her accepting Kane Farrell’s offer.

  He had confided in her the reason for his wanting her to pose as his wife; he had offered her a salary quite beyond her wildest dreams; he had promised that, at the end of her stay, he would give her a lump sum and also pay all the expenses incurred by her return trip to England. He would keep Leta, he had promised - although Gail sensed a strange hesitancy before he answered her question about this.

  ‘She’s your daughter,’ Gail had said, ‘and if I do this for you you must promise to keep her.’ It was then that he had seemed to hesitate. Nevertheless, once he had made the promise, Gail had not the smallest doubt that he would honour it.

  Immediately after she had accepted his offer they discussed the problem of Leta.

  ‘She’s extremely intelligent,’ Gail informed him, ‘so she’ll grasp what you want to tell her. She’ll carry out the instructions if you bribe her—’

  ‘Bribe?’ he murmured, at this moment bending down as he made some billy tea for them to drink while the discussions were taking place, and the necessary plans made. ‘Bribe?’ he repeated, glancing at his daughter.