by Tony Parsons
‘You went to Glengarry behind my back, didn’t you? Jim told me,’ Wally said, his words angry and slurred.
‘Rod had a barbecue while his mother and sister were visiting and he invited the three of us. I don’t go to many places and I wanted to see Glengarry again.’
‘Well, you didn’t tell me. Oh, no, I’m only your husband and not the great Rod Cameron.’ He took a step towards her.
‘You wouldn’t have wanted me to go. There’d have been a big row about it. There was nothing in it, Wally. It was just a barbecue,’ Bella said, striving to remain calm as she took a step backwards.
‘From what I hear, women fall all over Cameron. When else have you seen him?’ Wally asked suspiciously.
Bella hesitated momentarily before answering, and this was her undoing. It was all the evidence Wally needed to convince him that Bella had been seeing Cameron regularly. Bella’s throat was dry and she swallowed as she tried to think of how to answer him. But there was no answer really because Wally wasn’t going to believe anything she told him. And she had been to see Rod at Glengarry.
‘Take your dressing-gown off, Bella. Now!’ Wally said harshly as he moved closer towards her.
Bella’s mind raced. Bravado was the only thing she had left to her. ‘No, Wally, I won’t. Not now and not ever again. I told you I wouldn’t allow you near me after you’d been drinking. I gave you that chance last time and you hit me. And that,’ she indicated the riding crop, ‘isn’t going to get you anywhere,’ she said defiantly.
‘Some wife you turned out to be. You’re a lying, deceiving bitch and I’m going to teach you a lesson.’ Wally’s eyes were full of malice.
‘No you’re not! We’re finished! You’re sick – just a cruel, hard man. I don’t know why I was foolish enough to marry you. I’m l-leaving you, Wally,’ Bella stammered.
Wally slapped her hard across her face and her head jolted back from the force of the blow. She staggered up from the chair she had fallen into and retreated across the room until her back touched the wall. She knew she was trapped and searched for a way out of her predicament. Wally gave her face another stinging slap. ‘Take your dressing-gown off,’ he ordered.
‘No!’ she screamed. ‘I won’t. I’m leaving you. I’m going back to Mattai.’
‘We’ll see about that,’ Wally said with a harsh laugh. He grabbed the sleeve of her dressing-gown and tore it from the garment. She tried to slip past him but he blocked her and ripped the gown right off her so she was left in her under-wear. Wally transferred the crop to his right hand and, with a quick movement, twisted her left arm behind her back. ‘Now, move,’ he ordered.
Rod Cameron was having a relaxing night – a rare luxury for him. His mother and sister had returned home and he was on his own again. He had finished dinner early and read for a while before turning on the television to watch an old movie. Feeling peckish late in the evening, he switched on the kettle and was debating what he would have for supper when he heard a vehicle coming up the track. He knew it couldn’t be Alec or Jenny because they had arrived back from Mudgee earlier. A few moments later he heard the vehicle’s horn. It was sounding continuously, breaking the stillness and peace of the night. His heart racing, he went to the front door and opened it in time to see the vehicle fly past. Obviously, it was being driven by someone who was used to coming in by the back door.
Cameron retraced his steps, switched on the outside lights and ran up the back path. The bright halogen light over the back gate clearly illuminated the station wagon and its occupant.
‘Bella!’
‘Rod. Thank God you’re here,’ she said weakly, tears streaming down her swollen cheek.
‘Bella, what is it? What on earth’s happened? Did Wally hit you again?’
‘In spades,’ she said, attempting a feeble smile.
‘Come in and tell me what happened,’ he said.
‘I don’t think I can. My legs are numb,’ she replied.
‘I’ll kill the mongrel!’ Rod said fiercely.
‘I might have beaten you to it,’ Bella said. ‘Can you help me out?’ She held her arms out to him – one sleeve was missing – and he eased her gently from the car. Her legs were indeed wobbly and she would have fallen but he held her to him. He bent over and lifted her and she had to stifle a scream as his arm pressed against the back of her thighs.
‘Shall I put you down?’ he asked anxiously.
She was safe with Rod. Safe. ‘No, don’t put me down.’ She clung to him as he carried her through the house and into the large, comfortable lounge room. He hesitated there for a moment and then carried her into the bedroom his mother had occupied. He lowered her gently onto the double bed so she was lying on her side and stood looking down at her. ‘I’ll get you a drink. I won’t be a tick.’
He was back very quickly and handed her a glass. ‘It’s brandy – it will make you feel better.’
‘I’d need the whole bottle to make me feel better,’ she said.
He looked at her face and swore under his breath. One cheek was red and swollen and the eye was closing. She would definitely have a black eye the next day.
‘Now, tell me what happened. How did you get that face?’ he asked.
‘My face is the least of it, Rod. It’s the other end of me that really hurts. It seems Jim accidentally let the cat out of the bag about me coming here last weekend. Wally came home from cricket all fired up about it, and drunk of course. He got stuck into me with a riding crop. I’ll show you,’ she said, letting the dressing-gown fall away.
Cameron looked down at her and swore loudly. ‘Bloody hell. The rotten sod!’
‘He kept on hitting me. The only way to make him stop was to pretend I’d do what he wanted. When he let go of me and dropped the crop I got away and ran. He came after me, though…’ Bella’s voice shook with fear as she related her story.
‘So how did you manage to escape?’
‘I hit him on the head with his cricket bat.’ Her expression became even more fearful. ‘I hit him pretty hard and he was staggering about. I got out as fast as I could. Luckily, he’d left the keys in the wagon. Will I get into trouble, Rod?’ she asked anxiously.
‘Not if they see what Wally did to you. They’ll call it self-defence.’ Christ, poor Bella. He hoped, for her sake, she hadn’t killed Wally. Rod felt a coldness envelop him. He had seen another woman badly beaten on one of the stations where he’d been classing. He had dealt with the offender and had achieved some satisfaction from giving him a dose of his own medicine. How a man could do this to a woman was completely beyond him.
‘Just relax, Bella. I’ll get you a cuppa but I’ll give you a couple of aspirins before I do anything. They might ease the pain a little. Then I’ll have to make some phone calls. You lie there and leave everything to me. Wally can’t touch you here and everything will be all right. I’ll look after you.’
‘I know you will, Rod. Thank you. That’s why I came here. I couldn’t go to Dad. I just don’t know how he’d react.’
Rod found a light quilt and placed it over Bella, then walked down to his study. He looked at the telephone, pondering who to ring first. He finally decided to ring the Mattai number. He hoped it would be Dorothy who answered and he was in luck. ‘Dorothy, it’s Rod here.’
‘You’re keeping late hours, Mr Cameron. I was just on my way to bed. Is everything all right?’
‘I’m afraid not, Dorothy. I’ve got Bella here. She’s had a major incident with Wally. I think you and Beth need to get up here pronto. You’ll need some nightclothes as I suspect Bella won’t want to leave here tonight. She’s not sure how Dan will react.’
‘Rod, is she all right?’ Dorothy asked anxiously.
‘She wouldn’t win a beauty competition right now,’ he said tightly. ‘If Jim’s in bed, can you please get him up and put him on the phone?’
Jim, still under the influence of several beers, wasn’t over the moon about being woken up. But Rod soon had his attention. He
told him what had happened and said he’d better get straight down to Glen Avon to check on Wally. ‘You might have to drive him in to hospital, Jim.’
Rod then put through a call to Sergeant Dave McDonald, who was second-in-command of Mudgee police. In Rod’s opinion, McDonald was a fine man. He was very interested in livestock and had become friends with Rod when he’d come out to Glengarry to inspect the two new rams.
Rod gave McDonald the details of Bella’s ordeal and told him that he’d asked Jim to go down to Glen Avon to check on Wally.
‘You’d better get a doctor to look at Bella tomorrow. It would be a good idea if you got her photographed, too,’ McDonald advised. ‘We’ll talk to Osborne when Jim brings him into the hospital.’
Rod said he’d see it was done. He went back to the bedroom and smiled reassuringly at Bella. ‘That’s the phone calls attended to. I’ll go and get that cuppa now,’ he said.
Bella gave him a wan smile. ‘Did you get hold of Mum?’ she asked.
He nodded. ‘She shouldn’t be long. You really should be on your way to a doctor. You look like you need something stronger than aspirin.’
‘I don’t want to leave here tonight. It’s too late, anyway. Perhaps tomorrow.’
‘Okay. Definitely tomorrow,’ he said firmly.
Bella was sipping her tea gingerly when Dorothy and Beth drove up the track. Rod was relieved to see them.
‘How is she?’ Dorothy asked as soon as she was out of Beth’s ute.
‘I think she needs some attention but she doesn’t want to leave here tonight. She’s in shock and feels she’s safe here and that’s all that concerns her right now. She’s terrified she might have killed Wally and that’s playing on her mind a lot. Probably part of the shock. But what she did was in self-defence and I doubt that anything will come of it. Wally’s probably just concussed. It serves him right.’
‘I’m so glad to see you two,’ Bella said tearfully when she saw her mother and sister. ‘Beth, I should have taken your advice and left today.’
‘It’s okay, Bee. Just take it easy now.’
‘Oh, Bella, why didn’t you tell me what Wally was doing to you? You should have come to me,’ Dorothy said, blinking back tears, but Bella didn’t respond.
‘Dorothy, I suggest we put Bella to bed now. There’s a double and two single beds in the family room. You can all sleep there and keep an eye on her,’ Rod suggested.
‘Good idea,’ Dorothy agreed.
‘Bella, I’m going to shift you into the family room now. I’ve got a piece of sponge to put under your legs before I lift you. I’ll be as gentle as possible,’ he said with a smile.
He slipped the sponge under Bella and then swung her up off the bed as if she were a child. Dorothy and Beth followed behind and watched as he lowered Bella onto the bed. ‘Right, then, I’ll leave you ladies to it. Let me know if you need anything,’ Rod said and left the room.
Dorothy’s face went white when she saw the condition of her daughter’s body and Beth swore quietly. ‘He’s a monster,’ Dorothy said. ‘Why didn’t I guess what was happening?’ She left Beth with Bella and went out to confer with Rod.
‘Not pretty, is it?’ he said.
‘Poor Bella. It’s terrible that she should have to go through such an ordeal. She should have come home.’ Dorothy paced the room in agitation. ‘Dan kept telling her that she had the opportunity to be married to a good solid woolgrower with a great family background and a man like Wally wasn’t going to come around again in a hurry. Well, that’s for sure! I know she didn’t love him. Who could?’
‘There’s something about him that just doesn’t ring true. Why would someone who owned a property in one of the great fine-wool-producing districts of the world just up and leave it? I’d like to know a bit more about Osborne,’ Rod said.
‘Rod, I thank you with all my heart for what you’ve done but I do feel bad about you being involved in this situation. Bella coming here instead of to Dan and me makes me feel terrible. It’s a sad state of affairs to find your daughter trusts a relative newcomer before her own family.’
‘I’m not such a stranger,’ he protested. ‘Besides, Bella knows she’s safe here because I’ll stand up to Wally. She doesn’t have the same confidence in her father.’
‘After this, I’ll be putting my foot down. Dan is not going to ruin Beth’s life the same way he’s almost wrecked Bella’s,’ Dorothy said. ‘We’ll weather this current problem. We’ll–’
The phone interrupted Dorothy. Rod took the call and nodded a couple of times as he listened. ‘I’ll leave it to you, Jim,’ he said and put the receiver down.
‘Wally’s not dead, anyway. He’s got concussion and a thumping great lump on his head. Jim’s taking him in to hospital,’ Rod said.
‘Well, I guess that’s sort of a relief,’ Dorothy breathed.
‘I hope he has a very uncomfortable night,’ Rod said, his disgust dripping from every word.
While Dorothy inspected the contents of Rod’s medical kit, checking for the best way to relieve Bella’s pain, he told her what had to be done in the morning. ‘You and Beth should take Bella to the hospital. I’ll go and see Dan.’
‘Dan probably won’t welcome you,’ Dorothy cautioned.
‘That can’t be helped. I’ve handled him with kid gloves until now but it’s time to take the gloves off,’ Rod said sternly. ‘He needs to get over his prejudices for the good of his daughters. You’ll have to talk to Sergeant McDonald about a prevention order and maybe get a statement from your doctor,’ Rod said.
Rod realised that there really was no alternative now but to tackle Dan front on. He could see that Beth was chafing under this restraint. If he wanted Beth, and he did, he couldn’t pussyfoot around any longer.
Chapter Twenty-four
Dan was coming through the gate of the house yard as Rod drove up. He stood and stared at the vehicle until its occupant climbed out. Rod walked towards him, watching Dan’s expression change from blankness to hostility. Rod attempted a smile. He didn’t want to come on too strongly because he lived in the hope that eventually he and Dan could live side by side quite amicably.
But right now Dan clearly wasn’t happy. He hadn’t been happy before Rod arrived and he was even less happy now. He had woken to discover that he’d been allowed to continue sleeping while his family had departed in the night. Dorothy had left him a brief note saying there had been trouble at Glen Avon and they were going to see what could be done to help. The phone call he’d made to Glen Avon wasn’t answered and this had left him up in the air and annoyed. He reckoned it was pretty poor of Dorothy not to let him know exactly where she was and what was happening.
‘What are you doing here?’ he asked Rod angrily.
Rod said nothing and ceased any attempt at smiling. He looked coldly at Dan. Some of Dan’s blustery arrogance dissipated. This seemed a different man to the one who had classed his wool, a man more steely, and Dan sensed that he was in for something.
‘I’m here, Dan, because there’s been some serious trouble involving Bella and Wally. That’s why Dorothy and Beth aren’t here. Jim took Wally to hospital and to the best of my knowledge he’s still there.’
‘But I tried to ring Glen Avon this morning and there was no answer,’ Dan said, obviously agitated.
‘No, there’s nobody there. Bella’s on her way in to Mudgee to see a doctor and the police. She, Dorothy and Beth all stayed with me last night–’
‘They what? I’ll–’ Dan began.
‘You’ll do absolutely nothing,’ Rod said harshly. ‘If you’d just listen for a moment, I’ve got something to tell you. Are we going to stand out here or are you going to invite me in?’
Dan swallowed, opened his mouth to say something, thought better of it and, instead, opened the back gate. Rod followed him up the path and into the house. When they were seated in the lounge room, Rod filled him in on the events of the previous night. He left nothing out, and when he had finished, D
an was as white as a ghost and temporarily speechless.
‘Why didn’t Bella come here?’ Dan managed to spit out at last.
‘Don’t you know why? She wasn’t sure what kind of reception she’d have received. She knows you thought Wally was right for her. Bella reckoned you’d blame her for their problems or not believe how Wally was treating her. She had no confidence that you’d stand up to him.’
‘Who do you think you are, butting into my family’s affairs?’ Dan burst out.
‘Don’t be an idiot, Dan. I didn’t ask to be involved. Look what’s happened to Bella. She was too proud to come home and tell you what was going on. Well, she’s not going back to him. No way. The marriage is over. Bella will divorce Wally, and if you won’t help her, I will. And when Wally comes out of hospital, I’ll deal with him,’ Rod said sternly.
Dan shuddered involuntarily. He didn’t like the sound of that.
‘Now I’ll give you the drill about what’s going to have to happen today. Dorothy’s going to ring you from Mudgee and if she doesn’t get an unequivocal assurance from you that Bella will be welcome back here, Bella will have to stay with my mother at Terrigal until she sorts out what she’s going to do next. Bella will be taking out an intervention order, which will prevent Wally from coming anywhere near her. If he breaches that, he’ll be in big trouble. I hope you won’t let Bella down because I assure you I won’t.’ Rod’s face showed his grim determination and, in spite of himself, Dan was momentarily impressed by the young man’s resolve.
Rod stood up and moved towards the door. He had said all he wanted to say and was now anxious to leave. Dan’s voice stopped him.
‘You needn’t worry any more about Bella. I’ll see that she’s looked after.’
Back at Glengarry, Rod hovered about the phone, waiting for Dorothy or Beth to contact him. When Dorothy finally rang, she sounded in a much better frame of mind than when they had spoken last. ‘It seems you can work miracles, too, Rod. Apart from Dan being upset that Bella fled to you, right past our gate, he was really sorry about what happened,’ Dorothy said.