Valley of the White Gold

by Tony Parsons

  ‘Well, I know my sister and I’m betting that Bella walks out on Wally before very long.’

  ‘No Stafford woman has ever walked out on her husband,’ Dan snorted derisively.

  ‘There’s always a first time, Dad. Some of the husbands of Stafford women might have been a bit strange like many of the people in the Half Moon, but I’ll bet they weren’t cruel like Wally. I reckon it’s only pride that’s keeping Bee with him. That and knowing she wouldn’t get any sympathy from you.’ Beth’s eyes flashed defiantly.

  Dan was astonished by the force with which Beth spoke. ‘You must know a lot more about what’s going on down there than your mother and I do. Your mother hasn’t said anything to me. Bella wanted her own home because she wasn’t happy here.’

  ‘That’s not true, Dad. She might have wanted her own home, but if she was unhappy at all it was because you scared off all the blokes who wanted to take her out. And you put your foot down with her riding. She was good enough to win anywhere but you wouldn’t let her go. And then you wouldn’t support her when she wanted to set herself up as a fashion designer. So when you pushed her towards Wally instead of scaring him off too, Bella agreed to marry him. But she’s never loved him, I’m sure of it,’ Beth said, surprising herself with her forthrightness. She wasn’t sure how her father would react, but she knew she needed to be honest with him.

  For once Dan was dumbfounded. Beth was really having a go, and it didn’t stop there.

  ‘I assure you, I won’t be marrying a man I don’t love. As for Wally Osborne, I wouldn’t spit on him,’ Beth said fiercely.

  ‘Beth!’ Dan protested.

  ‘Well, I wouldn’t. This has gone on long enough. We’ve all got to stop pretending we can’t see what’s going on at Glen Avon. If Bella doesn’t leave him, he’ll ruin her life. He doesn’t appreciate her. So don’t come telling me who I can or can’t go out with or marry. I’ll make the decision if and when the time comes!’ Beth was seething with anger and frustration.

  ‘If I don’t like the man pursuing you, I’ll tell you I don’t like him. And I don’t like Drew Stevens,’ Dan said firmly, holding his ground.

  ‘That’s your prerogative, Dad. Anyway, enough of this. I’ll feed the sheep if you want to go and do something else.’

  ‘All right. You do that, Beth,’ Dan said. But instead of doing something else, Dan went back to the homestead where he immediately tackled Dorothy on the subject of their marriage. ‘Have you ever been sorry you married me, Dottie?’ he asked bluntly.

  ‘Occasionally, when you’re being especially unreasonable and pigheaded,’ she replied, only half joking. ‘Why? What brought that up?’ Dan almost never discussed personal matters.

  ‘Beth has just been going to town about Wally. She reckons Bella will walk out on him any time now. Beth blames me for pushing them together. Do you know anything I don’t know about what’s going on at Glen Avon?’ Dan asked.

  ‘Ah… yes, well, Beth might be right. I can’t say that I ever liked Wally either, and I did ask Bella whether she was sure she was doing the right thing,’ Dorothy said.

  ‘But has she said anything to you about being unhappy with Wally?’ Dan pressed.

  ‘I think it’s fairly plain to see that she isn’t bubbling over with joy these days. And she’s taken steps to ensure she doesn’t have a baby. That’s not a good sign,’ Dorothy said.

  ‘Will you stop beating about the bush and tell me what the problem is down there,’ Dan said sternly.

  ‘Well, if you must know, I believe he makes a lot of demands on her in the bedroom, and I’ve also got my suspicions that when he drinks he can become quite nasty, even violent,’ Dorothy said.

  ‘God Almighty, you mean he hits her?’ Dan asked.

  ‘I don’t know for sure, dear. She won’t talk about it, but I saw a faint bruise on her face on one occasion.’

  ‘Bloody hell,’ Dan breathed. The thought that Wally might lay a hand on Bella made him see red.

  ‘Wally is certainly no Rod Cameron,’ Dorothy said with the smile that reminded Dan of how lovely she had remained despite the tough times they’d been through together.

  ‘What has Rod got to do with this?’ Dan asked.

  ‘Maybe nothing. Maybe a lot. Beth thinks Rod is wonderful and she’s going through a tough time because she’s not sure what Rod feels about her,’ Dorothy said.

  ‘Hmmm. What do you think about Rod?’ Dan asked.

  ‘I like him a lot. I think he’s a real man. I don’t say he hasn’t got his faults – what man hasn’t? He might be a bit too preoccupied with where he’s going, because it’s obvious that he has an agenda. That might be more important than Beth right now, and she’s having trouble with that, of course. There’s no doubt that he has been with other women. It sticks out a mile. Beth would have to reconcile herself to that fact,’ Dorothy said.

  Dan looked at his wife in amazement. ‘How the blazes could you tell that?’ he asked.

  ‘I just know, Dan,’ Dorothy said. How could you explain such a thing to a bushie like Dan.

  ‘How could you know?’ Dan persisted. He was having difficulty coming to terms with his wife’s certainty. It was something he wanted to clear up because he didn’t want Beth falling for a womaniser.

  ‘It’s hard to explain,’ Dorothy sighed. ‘You can tell it from his eyes and the way he looks at you. You’d have to be a woman to understand.’

  ‘Is that the way Rod looks at you and Beth? And Bella too?’ Dan asked frostily. He was staggered. He’d never heard Dorothy talk like this and they’d been married a long time. ‘If that’s the case, then I can’t say that I’d be keen on Rod for Beth,’ Dan growled.

  ‘I think he’d be great for Beth. When he finds his property, he’ll come looking for Beth and he’ll make her a fine husband. In the meantime it won’t hurt her to have a few dates with other people,’ Dorothy said.

  ‘Bella’s the one I’m more worried about right now. If what you and Beth say is true, we should see if there’s anything we can do. If Wally’s not treating her right, I’ll talk to him and see if I can straighten him up. I’m not having anyone mistreat my daughter,’ Dan said sternly.

  ‘It wouldn’t do a bit of good, Dan. What would you say?

  I think they need to work it out themselves,’ Dorothy said sleepily.

  Dan didn’t like the sound of that. He liked to be master of every situation involving his family and in Bella’s case he clearly wasn’t. At least Jim and Helen seemed to be going along nicely. He reckoned they’d get married for sure.

  Beth went on having occasional dates with both Drew Stevens and Wes Saunders, but the highlight of her week was still a regular phone call from Rod. Of course she wanted more, but she hadn’t forgotten his request to trust him, and she tried to be patient. And although they never talked about anything important, the phone calls suggested that he really did care.

  Beth and Bella had taken to meeting on horseback on the Mattai–Glen Avon boundary fence to compare notes.

  ‘Rod’s trying to buy a property and hopes to have one soon,’ Beth told Bella one day.

  ‘I suppose he thinks it would impress Dad more than simply being a woolclasser,’ Bella said.

  Beth looked closely at her sister. ‘How are you, Bee? You don’t look the best, if you don’t mind me saying. You’re not pregnant, are you?’

  ‘No way! And nor am I likely to be. It’s–’ Bella broke off and turned her horse away.

  ‘It’s what?’ Beth asked anxiously.

  ‘Nothing, baby sister. Nothing. It’s my problem, not yours,’ Bella said.

  Beth was sure ‘it’ was something, but Bella wasn’t going to tell her. There had been a time when they shared all their problems, but Bella had really clammed up now. Beth determined to make another attempt to discover what was worrying her because something was obviously amiss. Meanwhile there was the Glengarry auction to think about. At last they had received word that the property would be put up for sale. />
  Chapter Sixteen

  Dan slammed the car door and stormed up the garden path to the house. He almost ran past Dorothy and Beth in the kitchen and made a beeline for the whisky decanter. Jim, who had accompanied his father to the Mudgee auction of Glengarry, followed him more sedately but remained silent.

  ‘Dan, what on earth is the matter?’ Dorothy asked anxiously.

  Dan took a gulp of whisky before answering. ‘You wouldn’t believe who bought Glengarry. You just wouldn’t believe it.’ He shook his head in disbelief.

  ‘Then relieve us of the suspense,’ Dorothy said matter-of-factly.

  ‘It was a writer, a blooming writer. Can you imagine it? A fellow who’s written some sort of a dirty, sexy book and made a fortune out of it. Even sold the film rights to Hollywood. Part of it’s about an American woman who came out here and married an Australian stockman. They were all talking about it after the auction.’

  ‘Who is it?’ Dorothy asked.

  ‘A bloke by the name of Julian Saxon. He wasn’t at the auction – someone else was bidding for him. John Stevens was the losing bidder,’ Dan said, as he downed the rest of his whisky and glared over the top of the glass. They hadn’t seen him so angry for a long time.

  ‘Were there many people bidding?’ Beth asked.

  ‘Quite a few at the beginning. Then it came down to three. There was someone else from Sydney after it, so Dalgety’s said. Each time this fellow and John Stevens put in bids, the fellow who was bidding for Saxon jumped on them. He bought the place lock, stock and barrel,’ Dan said in disgust. ‘I knew a few of us in the Half Moon should have got together and formed a syndicate to buy it ourselves!’

  So, Rod wouldn’t get any of the Glengarry sheep, Beth thought. She found it hard to think about Rod at the moment – he still hadn’t been back to see her and whenever she tried to work out why, she ended up confused and annoyed.

  ‘A writer on Hector’s place! Hector would turn in his grave.’ Dan’s expression was becoming darker and darker.

  ‘Hector would do nothing of the kind. He loved books and was a very tolerant person. He’d give this Saxon person the benefit of the doubt. He might be very interesting,’ Dorothy suggested.

  ‘And very nice. At least he’ll be a change for the Half Moon,’ Beth said.

  Dan growled. ‘He wrote a sexy book, mostly about women, and sold it for a lot of money. The estate agents knew a fair bit about him. He’s actually written two books, but the new one is due to go on sale here in the next few days. We don’t want that kind of man here, living next to us. Some of the people in the district aren’t perfect by any means, but I’m not aware that any of them ever wrote a racy book to fund the purchase of their property. Crikey, what’s the country coming to? All those years that Hector and his family put into Glengarry, and it ends up in the hands of someone who wouldn’t know the first thing about sheep and fine wool.’ Dan poured himself another whisky and handed the bottle to Jim. ‘It’s a bad show when genuine bush people can’t buy a property because an outsider can come up with more money.’

  ‘That’s the free market, Dad,’ Jim said. He wasn’t so disappointed that an outsider had bought Glengarry. A new face in the valley was always something to look forward to, he thought. ‘We can’t talk free market for our goods and then try and dictate who buys our properties. I dare say Hector’s nieces and nephews won’t object to accepting Saxon’s money. They received a lot more than they would’ve expected because of him. I wouldn’t knock Saxon because he’s an outsider. You never know, he might do wonders on Glengarry.’

  ‘Don’t talk nonsense, Jim. Nobody could do more on Glengarry than Hector did. Anyway, whatever he does, he’ll be doing it without my help. I don’t see myself becoming mates with a man who writes trashy fiction.’

  ‘Well, he’s generating more interest around here than anyone or anything has for a long time. Everyone will be wanting to get a squiz at him.’

  ‘Here’s one bloke that won’t be,’ Dan said heatedly.

  ‘Dan, just wait until you meet this man before you pass judgment,’ Dorothy said, wishing her husband would calm down. ‘It’s going to be very hard for us to ignore Saxon, given he’ll be our neighbour. It’s up to us to be friendly. That’s the way things have always been – in this immediate area, at least.’

  ‘Dottie, that’s total nonsense. There are people in this area, maybe not our immediate neighbours, who wouldn’t give you the time of day. As for being friendly, I won’t be doing more than is strictly necessary. Jim can talk to him. I don’t want you or Beth associating with him,’ Dan retorted.

  Dan was a very basic man, and what he didn’t understand he mistrusted. Included on his list of pet hates were the Labor Party, trade unions, shire councils (he believed they charged landowners excessively high rates for doing very little in the bush), rabbits (they had nearly eaten him out on a couple of occasions) and politicians (he considered they were all self-seeking liars). Just below this group was a page_203ary tier of hates that were always good for a blast. Artists and writers were included in this group (Henry Lawson and Banjo Paterson excepted because they wrote well about the bush). Much of Dan’s perception of artists and writers was based on a visit he and Dorothy had made to Norman page_203’s home in the Blue Mountains, which was now a gallery. The Lindsay paintings of large-breasted, long-legged nude women had been the catalyst for his antipathy. (Dorothy, on the other hand, had found the images quite beautiful.) It seemed to Dan that a fellow had to be a bit odd to spend his life writing and painting. There were plenty of rather odd people in his immediate vicinity, but they were rendering a national service by producing fine wool that brought money into Australia. Writers and artists lived frivolous existences, it seemed to him.

  Jim was right. The new owner of Glengarry became the focus of everyone’s attention over the next few weeks.

  Now that the worst of the hot weather was over, Dorothy and Beth decided to have a day’s shopping. There was a new shopping complex in Dubbo that was supposed to be worth seeing. It was a longer drive than their usual haunts in Bathurst or Orange and they had to either leave very early or stay overnight to make the trip worthwhile.

  ‘Ask Bella if she’d like to come with us,’ Dorothy suggested.

  ‘A night away would be wonderful,’ Bella said enthusiastically when Beth phoned her. Beth thought she detected something akin to relief in her sister’s ready response. After checking that Wally was out of the house, she probed Bella a little.

  ‘How’s Wally?’ she asked.

  Bella paused. ‘Don’t ask, Beth. Just don’t ask.’

  Beth hadn’t heard her sister speak quite like this before, although she’d revealed a little more about her situation during their last rendezvous at the Mattai–Glen Avon fence.

  ‘That bad?’ she asked.

  ‘Not good. How’s your romance with Rod?’ Bella asked quickly. A shade too quickly, Beth thought.

  ‘What romance? He’s hardly wearing out the road tearing up to see me. For some reason he’s playing the whole situation very cool. He might know where it’s heading, but I have no idea. It’s infuriating, Bee. It really is,’ Beth said.

  Men! Bella thought. You were either wanting one or wanting to get rid of one.

  ‘Let’s forget men for the day, Beth. I’m dying to see the new shops in Dubbo,’ Bella said.

  Beth thought the new arcades were splendid. They were so different from the wide and often windswept streets common to many country towns. She loved the variety of all the new shops and was excited about exploring them. On her list of goods to purchase she had written, ‘Present for Bee’s birthday, perhaps a book’. She walked into a new and smart-looking bookshop to see what was on offer. It was then that she saw him – his face, Rod’s face, looking up at her from the back cover of a glossy new novel. There was a huge stack of the book, titled For Love Alone, and she picked up several in disbelief. The name on the front was Julian Saxon but Rod smiled out at her when she t
urned each one over. In a flash, everything came together in Beth’s mind. This was the sensational book that had been sold to Hollywood and was now the talk of the Half Moon. And Rod was the author who had purchased Glengarry.

  She stood stunned. When she came to her senses and looked around the store, she noted that several women were leafing through copies of the book. Others were taking their copies to the cashier.

  As if in a dream, Beth read the blurb and author biography. As she began to think more clearly, a number of things dawned on her. Glengarry was just the kind of property Rod had been waiting to purchase. He’d played his cards very close to his chest by not revealing his interest because it had been so important to him that nobody stood in the way of his purchase. Not her father, not Wally Osborne, not any other suspicious locals, and obviously not Beth herself. No wonder they had seen so little of him recently.

  Rod Cameron was to be their next-door neighbour. The implications hit Beth like a slap in the face. Dan might have accepted Rod the wool man as her suitor, or even Rod the occasional short-story writer, but he certainly wouldn’t accept Rod the novelist who, in her father’s words, had earned a pile of money from writing ‘a dirty, sexy book’. Knowing her father and his quirks, Beth realised that he would also be peeved by the fact that Rod hadn’t let on that he was interested in Glengarry. Dan would consider this a very underhanded act. Nevertheless, Rod had played it smart – he may not have secured Glengarry otherwise.

  With a sinking feeling, Beth saw what lay ahead. She had no doubt that her father would forbid her from seeing Rod again. Dan was so uncompromising that she would have to do as he ordered and give up on Rod or leave Mattai and her family forever.

  Beth bought a copy of the book and slipped it into her shopping bag. She would read it before she gave it to Bella. Perhaps it would tell her things about Rod she didn’t know. She wondered whether she should conceal what she knew from her mother and sister. It wouldn’t take long for someone in the Half Moon to put two and two together and realise that Julian Saxon was the woolclasser that Dan had employed at Mattai several months earlier, the man who had wowed them all with his fine-wool know-how and his sporting prowess. She just couldn’t keep this news from her mother and sister.