Valley of the White Gold

by Tony Parsons

  It was after ten-thirty when Rod arrived back at the scene of the accident. A police car and a tow truck had their lights shining on Charlie’s crumpled vehicle. Rod got out and went over to them.

  ‘You were right about the petrol. It’s pretty strong,’ Senior Constable Burke said. ‘We’ve called for the fire engine so we can hose it down. It’s too big a risk to tow.’

  Rod nodded. ‘If you fellows are okay here, I’ll go home and get myself some dinner. If you need anything, I’ll be there.’ He was exhausted, and looking forward to his own bed after being away for two days.

  ‘Pretty late dinner,’ Constable Lee said with a grin. ‘Thanks for all your help, mate.’

  The two constables watched Rod as he walked to his ute. One of them nodded. ‘Looks to me like the sort of bloke you’d like to have on your side.’

  Charlie Dillon’s accident happened while the Stafford family was in Sydney for the Royal Easter Show. But it didn’t take long for the news to reach them once they returned home. Sister Helen Blake, who had been on duty the day after the accident, phoned Jim in her lunch hour.

  ‘What do you know?’ Jim said when he got off the phone and relayed the news to his family. ‘Another car accident. Charlie turned his car over near the Glengarry turn-off. Swerved to miss a big roo just on dark. Apparently it was Rod Cameron who found him unconscious in his car, got him out and rushed him to hospital. He was the one looking after Dolly, too. Even paid for her to stay in town at the motel. What do you reckon about that?’

  Dorothy saw Beth’s face light up at Rod’s name before her forehead creased with concern for Charlie. ‘Is Charlie all right?’ she asked.

  ‘Helen said he’ll be all right – but things would have been grim if Rod hadn’t come along and acted as quickly as he did.’

  Dan sat pretending to read the latest issue of The Land as he digested Jim’s words. Charlie was as much a part of the Half Moon as Dan was – the Dillon family had lived in the valley for as long as the Staffords and their forebears. Charlie was a tough old fellow and he could be damned prickly at times but Dan respected him. He was profoundly stirred by what Rod had done for Charlie. Although things had changed a little since the old days, Half Moon people mostly tried to help each other in times of trouble. That was the way it had been with Hector McLeod and himself. Now, here was a newcomer to the Half Moon who had done just as much or even more for Charlie than he would have done himself. For the first time in his life, Dan Stafford felt very small, although he wasn’t about to admit so to his family.

  Despite his age, Charlie made a good recovery, and after two weeks in hospital, was allowed to go home. One val0001556 soon after, as Rod was overseeing the construction of pens in his new sheep shed, he turned to find Charlie val0002413 behind him. The two men shook hands and together they stood and watched the two carpenters working on the pens.

  ‘I suppose you’ll be wanting someone to shear your studs,’ Charlie said, making no reference to his accident. ‘With the blades, I mean.’

  ‘Yes, I will actually. I was going to come and see you but I thought you’d be out of action for a while,’ Rod replied, a little bemused by the gruffness of Charlie’s tone.

  ‘Nothing the matter with me,’ Charlie grunted. ‘I shore a few of my own sheep yesterday.’

  ‘Well, if you can manage a few for me, well and good. They’re ready when you are.’ Rod grinned at the old man.

  ‘I’ll come and do them in the morning, if that suits you.’

  ‘Fine by me, Charlie. I’ve got them out in the small paddocks close by.’

  Rod spent part of the next day watching a truly professional blade shearer in action. He was well aware that blade shearers didn’t grow on trees and that Charlie Dillon was one of the best. In fact, he was an artist in his field and Rod knew how fortunate he was to have Charlie’s services.

  After smoko, Rod ran his show ewes into the shed. The Supreme ewe and her younger sister again drew unqualified praise from the old shearer. ‘They’re two lovely sheep,’ Charlie said. ‘They’ve got a lot of wool on them and it’s very even. A ram from either of them should be worth a power of money.’

  ‘I’m in the market for a real top ram, perhaps two,’ Rod said. ‘The sire of these two ewes and the ewe that produced the Grand Champion Fleece at Mudgee was a very nice sheep but he developed urinary calculi and we couldn’t save him. A couple of those young rams you shore are by him, too. I was going to put semen down from him but didn’t do it in time. What I need now is a top fine-wool ram and a top superfine, but they’d have to be good.’

  ‘I know what you mean,’ Charlie said, nodding sagely. He realised only too well how tough it was to not only locate top rams but have the money to buy them. He had never had the money to outlay on such sheep.

  ‘How much do I owe you, Charlie?’ Rod asked when his neighbour had shorn the last sheep.

  ‘You don’t owe me a razoo,’ Charlie said.

  ‘Of course I do. I don’t expect you to shear my sheep for nothing,’ Rod said firmly.

  ‘You looked after Dolly and me really well. I’m in your debt, Rod,’ Charlie said with equal firmness.

  ‘That was nothing. It was really the least I could do,’ Rod protested.

  ‘Dolly and me don’t think it was nothing. I’m just paying you back a bit of what I owe you,’ Charlie said.

  ‘I won’t have you shearing for me for nix. I’ll either pay you or you can take a ram – if there’s one you happen to like,’ Rod offered.

  ‘There’s a few of the buggers that I like,’ Charlie mumbled, taken aback by Rod’s generosity, not realising just how grateful Rod was to have benefited from his expertise with the blade shears.

  ‘You’re welcome to take one of these rams or you can wait until I’ve got a few more for you to look at. I expect to have a lot more good sheep and, with the lucerne I’ll be able to grow, they should have plenty of size, too.’

  ‘I reckon they should,’ Charlie agreed. ‘By the way, I was at Merryville a couple of days ago and I saw two really good rams. One’s a superfine, a great-woolled sheep, but they’ve got a fine-wool ram that’s as good as I’ve seen for a long while. They’re going to Melbourne for the sales there. They’d be too expensive for me but if you’re looking for top rams, I reckon they’d be the ones for you.’

  ‘Thanks a lot, Charlie,’ Rod said warmly. ‘If I get one or both of them, I’ll see that you get some semen.’

  ‘Aw, you’ve done enough for me,’ Charlie mumbled. He hadn’t expected Rod to react so generously.

  ‘When I first went out to the bush, what struck me most was how well bush people worked together to achieve results, whether it was constructing a new building at the local showground or pulling together in an emergency. I reckon it’s a lot better to work with a bloke than to work against him,’ Rod said forcefully.

  Charlie was touched by Rod’s words. He reckoned the big fellow might be the best man in the Half Moon. He was just as sure that Wally Osborne was the worst.

  Chapter Twenty

  Dorothy didn’t come out with her announcement until after breakfast when she and Beth had the house to themselves. Dan and Jim had gone to Dubbo for the day to inspect some sheep in the saleyards.

  ‘Go and put on something nice,’ she said. ‘We’re going to visit someone.’

  ‘We are?’ Beth asked, raising her eyebrows questioningly.

  ‘We’re going to visit Rod.’ Dorothy smiled mischievously at her daughter.

  ‘Are you serious?’

  ‘I’m deadly serious. I just hope he’s home while you and I have the day to ourselves,’ Dorothy said.

  ‘I think he mostly is now. Bella said that he’s doing a lot of work around the sheds.’ Beth’s excitement at the thought of finally seeing Rod again was clear. ‘Mum, why are you going with me?’

  ‘Well, if your father finds out, he’s hardly likely to ask me to leave home,’ Dorothy said, rolling her eyes. ‘If he ever does find out, I’ll t
ell him it was my idea. Your father has had his own way for far too long. Anyway, it would be nice if we went and acknowledged in person what Rod did for old Charlie.’

  ‘Should I wear a skirt or will jeans and a shirt do?’ Beth asked. Given the scarcity of opportunities she had to make a good impression on Rod, she wanted to look her best. ‘I don’t want to appear overdressed. I think he likes me in jeans.’

  ‘I can understand why, dear,’ Dorothy grinned. ‘Well, clean jeans and a nice bit of makeup. We want to remind him of just how beautiful you are!’

  As they drove up the track to Glengarry and neared the homestead, it was easy to see the many changes Rod had made since taking over the property. There were now a number of small paddocks, and lanes had been built to lead from these paddocks to the enormous new sheep shed. A second shed and a line of grain silos had been erected adjacent to the sheep shed, and a little further away they could see more new fences around ploughed ground. Beth assumed that this was where Rod would plant lucerne or maybe a pasture mix.

  ‘Rod’s been busy,’ Dorothy observed. ‘That’s good. No time left over for romancing anyone else, I hope.’

  ‘Dad would like to see all of this,’ Beth said, ignoring her mother’s comment but feeling pleased because she agreed with her.

  ‘He could see it if only he wasn’t so pigheaded,’ Dorothy said.

  As they pulled up near the back entrance to the homestead, they saw Rod walking from the new sheep shed towards the house. He stopped when he saw the unfamiliar vehicle, but as he recognised its occupants, a broad smile spread over his face.

  ‘Aren’t you risking excommunication or eternal damnation or something along those lines?’ he asked as he came up to them. He gave both women a peck on the cheek and squeezed Beth’s hand, his eyes glowing as he looked closely at her. ‘Fraternising with the enemy is a serious offence.’

  ‘Dan and Jim have gone to Dubbo. While the cat’s away…’ Dorothy said with a brilliant smile.

  ‘You’re a very bad influence on your daughter, Dorothy. Fancy visiting me behind your husband’s back. The world will never be the same again,’ Rod grinned.

  ‘If you ever refer to it in a book, I’ll bring my snake gun up here and deal with you, young man,’ Dorothy joked. Beth was wide-eyed at her mother’s audacity. It was as if Rod released her from the more sensible self she felt compelled to wear when Dan was around.

  ‘Shall we stay out here or go in the house?’ he asked.

  ‘We’ve come for smoko and lunch, and we’ve brought both,’ Dorothy said. ‘It’s not that we thought you wouldn’t feed us, but, with all the work you’re doing, you’re probably not geared for unexpected visitors. We’ve got fruitcake and pikelets for smoko, and cold corned beef and salad followed by apple pie for lunch.’

  ‘Beware of Greeks bearing gifts,’ Rod said with a chuckle.

  ‘I suspect there’s an ulterior motive behind this visit. I suppose you want a donation for the CWA or the Red Cross or something.’

  ‘Beth, you didn’t tell me that Rod was such a wit. If you must know, curiosity got the better of us. And I wanted to say my piece about what you did for the Dillons.’

  Rod groaned. ‘It was nothing and it’s ancient history now.’

  ‘The valley people won’t forget what you did in a hurry,’ Dorothy said, shaking her head in wonder.

  ‘Well, I have. But I’m very pleased you’ve come. I want some ideas for the house – furniture, rugs, even the curtains. Mum is coming to stay for a week and I want to have the place in good shape for her. Sort of surprise her. I don’t have much of a feel for decorating,’ he said, a mite sheepishly.

  He led them through the big house and pointed out the rooms that he felt needed the most urgent attention. He listened to their suggestions, especially Beth’s, jotting them down on a pad. When they had been through the unfurnished rooms, he took them down the hall to the rooms he had shown Bella.

  ‘Are you still writing?’ Dorothy asked as she surveyed the large study.

  ‘I find it hard not to, Dorothy. It keeps me occupied at night. Don’t be concerned, though; there’s nothing I’ve written that anyone could associate with the Staffords – though I must admit that Dan is a big temptation,’ Rod said, winking at Beth.

  He opened the door to his bedroom and stood aside to allow the two women to enter.

  ‘What a huge bed! It’s by far the biggest bed I’ve ever seen,’ was Dorothy’s first remark.

  ‘Mum!’ Beth protested. She exchanged a quick glance with Rod and blushed. She could still feel his eyes on her as she looked away.

  As Rod and Dorothy chatted, Beth gazed longingly around the room before they all went back downstairs. If things worked out right, this would be her domain one day, and the sooner the better. The whole house felt so right to her, and with a few alterations and additions to the furniture and floor coverings, it would be a wonderful home. She could see herself and Rod living in this house, and their children growing up there too. She thought Hector and Flora would be just as thrilled to have them in residence at Glengarry.

  ‘Mum and Flora used to gossip for hours in this kitchen, Rod,’ Beth said once they were all downstairs preparing smoko. ‘If you’d had a tape recorder going then, you’d have been able to write another book.’

  ‘Beth, don’t tell fibs,’ Dorothy said good-naturedly.

  ‘I can distinctly remember you and Flora gossiping about heaps of things,’ Beth continued to her mother. Then, turning to Rod, ‘Half the fellows in the Half Moon were in love with Mum because she was so lovely and beautiful. Still is, of course. Matt Jackson used to bring her flowers. That was until Bella grew up and then he brought her flowers,’ Beth said with a laugh.

  ‘Shhh, Beth. Rod doesn’t want to hear a lot of old gossip,’ Dorothy scolded.

  ‘Hang on a moment while I get my notebook,’ Rod said, rising from his chair in jest.

  Dorothy smacked the back of his hand lightly and affectionately, then turned back to her daughter. ‘You can’t talk, missy. How many young fellows have there been making eyes at you lately?’

  ‘Mum!’ Beth protested again. The last thing she wanted was for Rod to think she was a flirt. Her dates with Wes and Drew hadn’t led to anything. Neither of them made her heart flutter. If Rod had been more attentive, she wouldn’t have needed to look for other escorts. Was he deliberately testing her? He’d asked her to trust him, but he couldn’t expect her not to go out, and a girl couldn’t go to a dance on her own.

  ‘I reckon Beth would be a magnet for them,’ Rod said evenly.

  Beth looked at him intently and tried to decide if there was a message in that for her. She couldn’t tell what he was thinking, so instead passed him a plate of fresh buttered pikelets, which he proceeded to demolish in very short order. Would things ever become clearer between them, she wondered?

  After smoko Rod took them on a tour of the changes he had made to the property. They surveyed the newly equipped bore and the pipes leading away from it to the paddocks that would be sown with lucerne and pasture. The sheep Charlie Dillon had blade shorn were sprinkled through the small paddocks. ‘There’s Lady Beth,’ Rod said, pointing to a big shorn ewe. ‘She was Supreme Champion at Mudgee. She looks different with her wool off, though.’

  ‘Rod, you called her after me,’ Beth observed shyly.

  ‘It’s probably a strange compliment, Beth, but she really is my lucky sheep. I’m hoping to find her a super husband,’ Rod said, his eyes twinkling.

  I’m hoping so, too, Beth thought.

  ‘Hop in,’ Rod said when they reached his ute. He drove towards the back paddocks. The track was a little rough in places and Beth lurched against Rod three or four times. She wished her mother was elsewhere so that Rod might stop and kiss her. She’d waited so long! If he had any idea how much she wanted him to kiss her, he’d find some way of page_391 her on her own. Surely she couldn’t be imagining the electricity between them. ‘I’ve put in a new set of steel sh
eep yards at the far end of the place,’ he said. ‘It saves bringing sheep all the way into the house yards. It should cut down the amount of dust in the wool, too.’

  ‘You’ve certainly been busy in the short time you’ve been here,’ Dorothy said.

  ‘I want to get Glengarry set up well so that I can concentrate on the stud side of things as numbers build up. The stud and also showing the sheep will require a lot of time and effort later. I didn’t have to worry about the fencing and water, but I need what I’ve added if I’m going to be a force in the stud-sheep game. I also have to concentrate on growing more, and better, feed so my sheep will grow well,’ he said matter-of-factly. ‘And there are other very important things I want to do. I’ll get on to them as quickly as I can.’ Once again, his eyes caught Beth’s momentarily.

  Both Dorothy and Beth wondered what these things might be, but as Rod didn’t elaborate, they felt disinclined to ask him. What Beth was sure about was that she wanted to be here and involved in everything Rod was doing. Today had confirmed that for her.

  Rod explained apologetically that he had a two o’clock appointment with an agent. ‘He’s doing a bit of business for me – helping me buy some rams,’ he said.

  ‘Well, we’d better leave you to it,’ Dorothy said.

  ‘It was great to see you both. I really wish we could do it more often and more openly,’ he said, with a smile full of regret. Dorothy got into the car and left Beth and Rod standing together. Rod bent his head and kissed Beth on the cheek and his hand pressed against her back. ‘Until next time,’ he whispered, and saw her into the car.

  Once they were heading back to the Mattai Road, Dorothy asked Beth, ‘Feel like you made any progress?’

  ‘Yes and no. Enough to know he’s interested anyway, but not enough to get really excited about.’

  ‘Well, he’s certainly playing things cool. I think he’s hoping Dan will come to his senses. If he doesn’t, we’ll just have to read the riot act to him. Rod is too fine a man to mess about,’ Dorothy said firmly.