“Well, we’d better hurry. Where are the children, Mary?”
“The girls are at Meg’s, Murd, but Duncan is working on his insects. I’ll call him.”
“Yes, he must go for the girls and then call Malcolm to be ready to go to the farm. Mary, can you believe it? Can it be true?”
“Mr. Forrest seems to think so, but it is all so sudden.”
“Yes, lass, we’ll probably have to make up our minds quickly. This afternoon most likely. Thanks goodness we have £45 saved from the stock sales.”
They quickly changed after dispatching Duncan for the others and were soon making their way up to the big house. Alison Forrest met them at the door and impulsively hugged Mary and said, “I do hope it all comes true. Come in. come in.”
Archie Scattersgood was a man much changed since they last saw him when he used to drive his family through Riverbend. He looked grey and withered after his ordeal. They found him easy to deal with and soon found that he seemed more eager for them to have the property than they were. The questions Murdoch asked him pleased him and he was much interested in the ideas they had had for the farm of their dreams. He questioned Mary about their children, their ages and their interests. On learning that they had lost their son, John, he was almost overwhelmed and teared up, and shared with them that his only son had been John too and had been the same age. After this it seemed as though he wanted to give them the “Dene” as he called it. When Murdoch asked the price he astounded them by saying £25 was half the amount they had expected. He even said, “That is the first figure we will discuss and will speak further on, after Mrs. Macdonald and the family see it this afternoon. William tells me that you can all go this afternoon? I am sorry it has to be rushed, but you see I sail for England at the end of next week, so things must be settled by then.”
Mary clutched Murdoch’s arm as they walked home in silence and it wasn’t until Duncan came racing up to them that they spoke. “Are the girls here, Duncan? Have they changed? Did you get Malcolm?”
“Yes, Mother, to all those questions. Malcolm has gone in to change. What’s it all about, Mother? Father?” replied Duncan.
“Go and change your clothes, Duncan and we will tell you together. Put on your grey trousers. Do go on. We will tell you soon.”
“Right, Mother, I’ll go. This must be something exciting.”
Mary, still clutching Murdoch’s arm, said, “Murd, we cannot possibly do this, can we? It just doesn’t seem right somehow.”
“Right! oh love! It would be quite right for me to put you in such a grand place, for that is where you should be. But possible, yes. Possible because Archie Scattersgood wants to make it possible. I’ve been thinking. You know, William Forrest is a wily man. Tell me, how would you have described Mrs. Scattersgood?”
“Tall, dark, slim, with an olive complexion.”
“Yes, and how would you describe yourself?” said Murdoch.
“Tall, dark - oh, I see what you mean, dear. That and our losing Johnnie. Yes, Mr. Forrest would have thought of all those things. But I feel all right about that, Murdoch. I mean, because I resemble Mrs. Scattersgood and us losing Johnnie, is not playing on Mr. Scattersgood’s emotions. It seems as though we just seem to fit into what he was looking for. We aren’t taking advantage of him. He seems very happy about it all.”
“I agree, love. I wondered why he was so happy about it and now I see why, that’s all. I am sure we couldn’t take advantage of him. He appears to want to practically give us the place. Makes me think of Alec and his gold nuggets. Perhaps we have found one, too.”
“Let’s go and tell the children. I buttered some griddle cakes and put them into a basket with some lemonade, so we can have lunch on the way.”
Before they had discussed it at length, Mick drew up in the carriage and they drove off great excitement. The ‘Dene’ was only two miles from the Park, so soon they were walking across the green pastures of the sloping paddocks. Mick joined Murdoch and the boys in the examination of soil and grass and agreed that they couldn’t be better. The fencing was excellent, so too, the sheds, barns and yards. There was a cottage on the property and Sam Whittle lived in it and tended what stock there was. Murdoch called in at the cottage and explained what they were doing and Sam seemed pleased to see them. He asked quietly if there was a chance of staying there, but Murdoch said that it was too early to make such a decision. He would certainly consider him, though, if he could.
They joined Mary and the girls and walked to where they could see excavations and piles of bricks. A huge shelf had been dug snuggly down a gentle slope and they could see that foundations had been started. The plan was that of a large house and there were cellars and store rooms already built. Part of the walls of the lower floor were laid with the lovely warm-coloured brick and thousands of the same bricks stood in piles waiting to be laid in place, as well as some sandstone blocks that were obviously part of a very fancy plan.
“I am glad it has only reached this stage, Mary, for you can still change the plan to what you want. It has to be what you want.”
“You’ll have it then, Murd?” she asked.
“What do you think, love? I think we’d be crazy not to”
“Well, I know nothing of the farm, Murd, but who could do anything but love it.” She turned away from him and looked down the slope across the green pastures to the river below and the Blue Mountains in the background. “Murdoch, it is breathtaking. I could look at that view for hours.”
“And so you shall, lass, if we buy it. You shall have a big, clear window with just this view and a special chair that is yours.” He gave her a quick hug. “Apart from the view, what do you think?” he asked.
“From the little I have seen, I would say that it is more than we have ever dreamed of. It is, isn’t it, love? Is it possible that we could own all this, free of debt?” Mary said almost dreamily.
“It is hard to absorb. What do you think, lads?”
Malcolm and Duncan came up as he said this.
“Father, everything here already. Sheds, yards and even a milking shed. Not a big one, of course, but it’s there and room to expand. Father, could this really ever be ours?” asked Malcolm.
“Father, do say it will be,” put in Duncan.
Mick came up behind the boys and said, “I reckon you’d do well here, Mac. You have the girls to help you too Mrs Mac, and I would say it is a chance in a lifetime.”
“Yes, I find it a bit overwhelming, Mick. I never thought to start like this. It’s big enough for a dairy, crops and grazing. I still can’t believe it and I half expect Mr. Scattersgood to have changed his mind by the time we return.” said Murdoch.
He hadn’t. Archie Scattersgood had liked the Macdonalds a great deal and felt very happy that he was able to leave the place his wife had loved in such loving and capable hands, to fulfill, his now dead, dreams.
When Murdoch went back to the Park to close the deal, he tried to show his appreciation to the man, but was rebuffed and told, “I feel content that Louise’s house will be lived in and loved as she would have. I feel grateful to William for bringing me to see you and to seal this contract. I am returning to Sydney on the morrow and would be grateful if you could come to my solicitor in Sydney next week when we can have the papers ready for you to sign.”
“I will certainly do that, Mr. Scattersgood. What day would you like me to come?”
“Wednesday should suit. I will look forward to that. Let us shake hands on it, man.”
“I think this calls for a Scotch whisky all round. What do you say? Archie? Murdoch?”
“By all means,” said Scattersgood.
“I’m no’a drinking man, as you know, Mr. Forrest, but I think this is one time I will break my rule.”
“Good man,” Forrest laughed and poured the drinks.
Chapter 25 - The New Farm
Things moved fast and sure enough Murdoch and Mary had the title to the new farm by the Wednesday of the next week.
“Your ‘Duntulm’ will soon be ready to receive us, lass,” Murdoch said as he came in one day. The walls are nearly finished and I think we may set a date for a move.”
“Do you think ‘Duntulm’ is a suitable name, Murdoch? When you made that promise to me before we left Skye, I really didn’t picture anything like this new house of ours. Old ‘Duntulm’ is such a bleak ruin of a place that it really doesn’t compare.”
“But it is the dream castle I always promised you, love, so ‘Duntulm’ it is.”
“Oh, Murdoch, I find it still hard to believe. The house is so huge after this cottage. Do you know, I think I will be sad to leave here.”
“Then you are happy here, Mary? I think you still have your heart back in the old country. Sometimes I feel that only part of you came here with us.”
“Don’t worry about me, Murd. It is only that I find the big house a bit intimidating. So big and empty, it even seems to echo when I’m there.”
“Aye, lass, I know how you feel. When we finish gettin’ our own things in, and all those lovely curtains that you and Meg have made, hung in the windows, you’ll see, it will soon be a home not just a house. When do you think we should move?”
“When did you tell Mr. Forrest that you will go for stock?”
“We should leave next Monday, so Malcolm, Duncan and I will more some of the heavy furniture before then I think, but you and the girls will stay here until we return. You can finish the packing and scrub the place clean for the next tenant. So really, I finish my job here this week. Well, we’ve had a good beginning, thanks to Mr. Forrest.”
“Are you sure he is happy for us to stay until you return?”
“Yes, love, and I promised him that I would ride over each day after we move, to work here until the new man arrives.”
Donald MacLeod had arranged with one of his dairy farmer friends to have stock ready for Murdoch. So he and the boys set off the following week to collect their mixed herd of heifers and cows in calf. By the time all the cows had dropped their calves, all would be in readiness for the dairy to go into full swing. Murdoch was certainly not disappointed in Donald’s eye for stock when he saw his new herd, a good mixed lot that would produce quality milk. The return journey was to be slow so they could get them to their new paddocks in top condition.
Mary and the girls had come over in the gig to hang curtains and were delighted to see Murdoch and the boys turn in through the gate with the herd. She stood at her window and watched the cows saunter down the slope into the creek paddock, a roan beast with high, sharp horns leading the rest to the water. Mary started counting them, but as she looked at each one searchingly she lost count.
“How many do you think, Mother?”
Mary looked at fourteen year old Catherine standing beside her and twelve year old, Mary Ann jumping with excitement. Mary laughed, “I don’t know, dear. I started counting but forgot when my eyes rested on each one, but there seem to be quite a lot. We will think it is a lot when we have to milk them.”
“Can we go down now, Mother? They are nearly all through the gate.”
“Yes, run down and tell the men that I have the kettle on.”
Mary had the fire going for their own lunch, she had not been expecting the men, and she now quickly put some kindling onto the glowing coals and by the time the men came in she had the kettle simmering. She heard a quick step and was soon in her husband’s strong arms. As he kissed her hair and lips, Murdoch said, “A wonderful home-coming, dearest love. If I had a chair to sit on I would have you on my knee. It is grand to see you, Mary love. I am never happy away from you.”
“It’s good to have you home again, my dear. I like you being home, too. Did you have a good trip, Murd? The cows look good to me.”
“Yes, Donald did a fine job for us. There are a few old cows, but mostly young cows and heifers. They are a very docile lot too, only one with any wild ideas.”
“The roan with the long horns that led them in, I’ll be bound.” said Mary.
“Yes,” chuckled Murdoch, “but Thompson said that she is grand a milker and has good calves. We brought some steers up for Thompson and dropped them off at the sale yards. I saw Bill Turner there and he said that I could have that young bull that I had my eye on. I am pleased about that.”
“You seem to have a big herd, Murd. How many are there?”
“Yes, I got more than I planned. I have forty. But they were so cheap that I thought I may as well while I have the chance. We’ll build the herd up to more than that though when we get going.”
“Are the boys coming, Murd?”
“Yes, dear. Where can I wash?” said Murd a little bewildered.
“The water is on in the bathroom, Murdoch. Just fancy having a bathroom with running water. We are so spoiled. There are towels there, too. We’re almost ready to move in” said Mary happily.
Mary listened to him as he splashed in the basin and smiled to herself. It was good to have him home. She laughed as she heard the children come. Catherine was bossing the boys and telling them to wash their hands in the wash-house and wipe their feet carefully.
They sat round on packing cases and whatever they could find and ate their meal while exchanging news of their doings during the last few weeks.
Final moving day came and from early morning to afternoon the two drays from the Park plied between the cottage and the new farm with possessions and remaining furniture. With the last of the loads, Mary shoo-ed everyone away with instructions for Murdoch to come back to the cottage later, after she had finally cleaned the house well enough for the new farmer and his family.
She was surprised how quickly she was done and concluded that houses were much easier to clean without furniture. As there was nothing to sit on she wandered around for a while, then decided to walk through the paddocks to the top of the rise above the Park.
It was a glorious spring day, a soft warm, blue and gold day, and so unlike Scotland and home. Mary sat on a rock looking over the Park’s land. The river glistened in the sunlight and the mountains, that unreal blue. “What a place it is,” she said out loud, “if I didn’t hate the place, I daresay I could love it. What a cruel place it is. It looks so green and soft and friendly and pleasant, and it isn’t. I suppose if one had been born here and didn’t know any other, one could love it. After knowing Skye, with the bright greenness of the fields, the misty days and the soft blue ones, and the purple heather and the wonderful mountains, the white walled thatched cottages and the white and black faced sheep and shaggy cattle, and Mother, oh, it is all so far away and I want it all so much. Dear Mother, will I ever see you again? This horrible cruel land that took my Johnnie and Lizzie Fraser. I can see the churchyard down there with all its tombstones. Those two dear little ones. Oh, Mother, I don’t know how I got through those days after I lost my baby. And look what it’s done to poor Alec and Alistair. What a cruel land it is. Harsh and tough, it just looks nice and hides a nasty heart.” A kookaburra landed in the tree above Mary. “Yes, you can laugh at me, laugh all you can. Even your laughter is harsh. Wha
t a land!” she said. She sat there looking around her, her eyes misty, but not really shedding tears.
“Murdoch loves it so and so does Fergus. What a strong, healthy man Fergus is now. You’d never think he was a frail, sick man as he was when we left home. I suppose I must be thankful for that. I mustn’t wallow in self pity. Try, you silly woman, to make the best of it. Go on, try.”
She took a deep breath and looked around her and then towards their new farm. She mused addressing the kookaburra. “Well, there’s certainly a lot to be thankful for there. Murdoch and the children, although Malcolm and Duncan were children no longer, they all love their new place. Alec, too. Who would have thought that Alec would be the first to own a farm. Such a farm too, and their lovely new home. Well, everything has turned out well there.”
“Alistair and Caroline and their family, too. Lots to be happy about there. Donald, a son to be proud of, and the little girls were promising to be beautiful girls in manner and face.”
“Fergus and Elspeth and their family were right the moment they stepped ashore in Sydney Town. Their new house at Rushcutters Bay. Fergus has the look of a prosperous businessman now and Hamish is only too happy to follow in his steps. Elspeth, too, takes to city life as though she was born to it.”
“Now, our family. Yes, there is so much to be thankful for. Who could have expected to be practically given a farm as Mr. Scattersgood did? That wonderful farm with all its prospects for the whole family. There is enough on the farm to keep the family together, always, so I need never fear that I will lose my children like Mother did. No, I do have a great deal to be thankful for. Why do I hate it so? This land of heat, flies and drought, this land of warmth, sun and plenty. Why do I hate it? Do I? Think, woman! I don’t think I do. I think I have just made a habit of hating it without thinking it through. I can see its potential. I can see its warmth embracing my loved ones. I can see our roots going down into this strange land. I can come to terms with it. I can love it! I do!”
The Heather to the Hawkesbury Page 19