Valley of the White Gold

by Tony Parsons

  Beth knew that if these sheep had been at the show, the results would have been quite different. Why then had they been left at home? She departed the shed and drove through the ramp beside the gate Alec had mentioned. There was a roughish track and, beside it, a line of small trees, and then every couple of hundred yards a clump of the same trees. They were mostly eucalypts, running parallel to the old paddock fence but enclosed behind a new fence to protect them from the ravages of livestock. Down the paddock, black poly pipe with upright sprays attached lay in a shallow trench that stretched away for perhaps another half-mile. Beth looked at this work in astonishment. She had never seen anything like it on a grazing property.

  Rod’s ute was parked at the corner of the paddock, and sitting on the tray, drinking tea from a thermos, was the man himself.

  ‘I didn’t expect to see you here, Beth,’ Rod said as he pushed his wide-brimmed hat back on his head.

  ‘Oh, really. Did you imagine that nobody would be interested enough to wonder why you didn’t put in an appearance at the show? You or your sheep,’ Beth said caustically.

  ‘I had my reasons,’ Rod said.

  ‘You had your reasons. They must have been pretty good reasons. I thought we were, well, close, Rod. I’m really disappointed that you didn’t confide in me. I understood why you stayed away when Dad was so uptight about you, but you haven’t had any reason to keep doing it. Don’t you like me any more?’ Her cheeks were flushed. Rod could see she was angry.

  ‘That’s got nothing to do with why my sheep weren’t at the show,’ Rod said quietly.

  ‘Don’t tell me your sheep weren’t up to scratch. I had a look at them and they’re terrific.’

  ‘I see. Would you like a drink of tea?’ Rod asked.

  ‘No, I wouldn’t. I would like an explanation. You owe me that much. You don’t live here in isolation, Rod. You’re part of the community and you opted out of it without a word to anyone.’

  ‘I don’t understand why you’re so angry, Beth. Dan won the Supreme and Grand Champion Fleece, didn’t he? I know how important this show was for him. You Staffords have been here for generations and I’m just the new boy on the block. Your father deserved to take out those awards. I’ll have my day down the track. Dan also needed to win because he’s going to be in debt to the bank again for years. That’s the price he’s paid to get rid of Wally and give Bella some financial security. If I’d knocked him off, his reputation would have suffered and maybe it would have affected his ram sales. He lost two hundred young rams in the fire so he’s down the drain a lot of money in that area, and on top of that he’s got new fencing to erect – but I don’t need to tell you that. I didn’t need to win those big awards but your father did.’

  ‘What about all the other studs who were there? They were all trying to beat Dad,’ Beth said. The magnanimity of Rod’s gesture was now sinking in. She knew that he was a very ambitious man and that he tried to make every post a winner, so it was almost impossible to believe that he had not entered the show. The gesture revealed a side to Rod’s make-up that she hadn’t known existed. The fact was that she probably didn’t know very much about him at all. How could she when they had spent so little time together? It now seemed to her that Rod was bigger in every way than any man she knew. He was certainly bigger in outlook and action than her father and, for a brief moment she wondered if she would make a suitable wife for such a man. But that thought was vanquished immediately by the spectre of a future without Rod. It would be bleak. Come what may, she had to have him.

  ‘Sure, but they don’t adjoin Mattai. Besides,’ he said as he took off his hat and laid it beside him, ‘it was a kind of present to my future father-in-law…’

  ‘What do you mean, Rod?’ Beth asked, bewildered.

  ‘Your father already has one lousy son-in-law. Knocking him off at the show wouldn’t be the ideal way to ingratiate oneself into the family, would it?’ Rod said dryly.

  Beth looked at him and her heart skipped a beat. She was speechless.

  He gazed deep into her eyes and continued talking. ‘I reckoned that Dan would be in the right mood to accept me as a worthy husband for his daughter after the show. I thought I’d invite him here to see my setup and then tell him I want to marry you,’ Rod said, looking uncharacteristically vulnerable.

  ‘Well, that’s a huge relief, but it doesn’t get you off the hook,’ Beth said, desperately wanting to fall into his arms and kiss him but determined to make him realise how she felt. ‘You’ve ignored me shamefully and made me very unhappy.’

  ‘It wasn’t the right time to push my case. There was all the drama about Wally and Bella and then the fire and Jim’s accident, not to mention Dan’s broken leg. You do see that, don’t you?’

  ‘I suppose so,’ she conceded. ‘But a few phone calls might have helped.’

  ‘I suppose they might have,’ he admitted. ‘But you might recall that I once asked you to trust me.’

  ‘That seems like a lifetime ago, Rod. It’s so long since you kissed me.’

  ‘Well, we can soon rectify that,’ he said, getting up from the tail of the ute.

  Beth’s heart beat faster as she threw her hat beside his and his arms went around her and he embraced her at last, just as she had hoped all those long months he would. He drew her into him for a kiss that quite literally took her breath away. It felt even more wonderful for being so long in coming. Now she knew that everything would be all right. She would have Rod and they would be at Glengarry… together.

  A few minutes later Beth stepped back with glowing eyes. ‘We’d better get to and finish this work, then.’

  ‘Oh. Why?’ he asked.

  ‘So you can get Dad up here and ask him the question. We’ve got a lot of catching up to do,’ Beth said.

  ‘Here’s to that,’ he said.

  ‘So, what’s with all the poly pipe and eucalypts?’ Beth asked.

  ‘I’m creating a wildlife corridor for the koalas. The pipe’s for an automatic watering system for those new trees.’

  ‘It’s a beaut setup – I like it. But why koalas?’

  ‘Because they sit in trees rather than run all over the place where foxes can get them. We owe it to them because of the number that have been wiped out. Don’t you like koalas? A lot of people think they’re cute and cuddly,’ he said with a smile.

  ‘I’d much prefer that you think me cute and cuddly,’ she said. ‘And I will have that cuppa now.’

  He unscrewed the top of the thermos, poured out the tea and handed it to her. ‘There’s milk and sugar in the box, and some bikkies,’ he said.

  Beth sat on the tray of the ute and Rod sat beside her with an arm around her waist.

  ‘What you did – not showing your sheep – was pretty wonderful, you know. What will you tell Dad and Mum?’ Beth asked.

  ‘The truth, sweetheart,’ he said.

  ‘They’ll feel so indebted to you, like they’ve won by default,’ Beth said.

  ‘Not when your sheep have beaten more than twenty studs,’ Rod said. ‘Dan won against good competition on the day.’

  ‘I suppose so,’ she said and leaned back against him. ‘You love all this, don’t you?’

  ‘All what?’ he asked.

  ‘The land and animals and, well, the freedom of being part of it,’ she said.

  ‘Yes, I love it. I love what the land supports and what you can produce from it. Australia is unique in so many ways, yet in two hundred or so years we’ve managed to stuff a lot of it right up. As a woolgrower I feel I have a duty to try and redress some of the mindless excesses of the past. So yes, land is very important to me,’ he said.

  ‘I’ve never forgotten that night we went to Gulgong,’ Beth said. ‘I wasn’t interested in anyone until I met you. I really wasn’t.’

  ‘How lucky can a man get?’ he said with a smile, and kissed her several times. He knew now that for the rest of his life it would be Beth who mattered to him most. With Beth beside him, he reckoned
he could face almost anything life threw at him. And life without her would be unthinkable. He had tried her patience and her love and she had come up trumps.

  ‘I think Hugh Johnstone is very keen on Bella,’ Beth said.

  ‘That’s great news. Hugh seems a decent chap,’ he said.

  ‘After what happened I doubt that Bella would go to Tasmania. Hugh would have to come here. Bella says that would test how much he loves her. She’ll own half of Glen Avon. Bee feels safe here with us – I mean, her family – and you,’ Beth said.

  ‘Me?’

  ‘Don’t act dumb, Rod. You must know what Bella thinks about you,’ Beth said.

  ‘Bella has a lot to give, and if Hugh loves her enough to move here, they ought to make a go of it.’

  He kissed her again at some length and then put on his hat. ‘If we’re going to finish this fence, we better get at it,’ he said.

  ‘Are we engaged, then?’ Beth asked.

  ‘That’s up to you, Beth. You haven’t said yes yet, and I’m not assuming anything. I hope you’re not in any doubt that I love you.’

  ‘That’s what I’ve been waiting to hear,’ said a vastly relieved and overjoyed Beth. ‘Sorry, Mr Cameron. Here I am, forpage_391 my manners,’ she giggled. She turned to look him in the eye. ‘Yes, Rod, I will marry you,’ she said, overflowing with happiness.

  ‘Thank you, Beth,’ he said earnestly. Beth noticed a mixture of happiness and relief on his face and realised Rod wasn’t always as confident as he appeared. He went on, ‘We’ll go and look for the ring when we’ve finished this fence.’ He took her hand as they walked back towards the last group of young trees. It seemed to him that the day had suddenly become brighter and the looming winter a little farther away.

  ‘What about some wombats, Rod? I like wombats. They’re so roly-poly and peaceful-looking,’ Beth said.

  ‘They’re huge diggers, though. They dig under your fences,’ Rod said.

  ‘Then can we have a huge dam so we can stock it with fish? You could catch them,’ she said.

  ‘I’ve already got a big dam, full of fish,’ he told her.

  ‘Well, haven’t you got a lot to tell me!’ she said. She took a pair of fencing pliers from the top of a post and expertly twitched tie-wire through the top of the netting. ‘I’d have brought my gloves if I’d known we were going to be fencing.’

  Rod liked the sound of the ‘we’ very much. ‘What about a December wedding? Does that give you enough time to get yourself organised?’ he asked.

  ‘Sounds good to me,’ she said with a dazzling smile. ‘Although December does seem a long way off.’ She looked up at him and laughed. He laughed too, and kissed her for good measure.

  ‘I’m very impressed with being engaged,’ she said.

  ‘Would you be impressed with dinner at The Panner’s Dream?’ he asked.

  ‘That sounds okay, but what say we have dinner here tonight?’ she suggested.

  ‘If you’d prefer that, then that’s what we’ll do,’ he said.

  ‘Oh, I’d much prefer it,’ she said. ‘If you can abide me in my working clobber, I’ll ring home and tell Mum what I’m doing.’

  When Dorothy got off the phone, Bella knew that she’d received some good news.

  ‘Beth’s having dinner with Rod tonight – at Glengarry,’ Dorothy said. ‘She asked if you could feed her dogs.’

  ‘I see,’ Bella said with a grin.

  ‘I think everything is going to be all right, Bee,’ Dorothy said. ‘Rod wants us to go up to Glengarry in the morning,’ Dorothy said.

  ‘Is Beth coming home tonight?’ Bella asked.

  ‘We’ll have to wait and see, won’t we?’ Dorothy said firmly, then looked pointedly at Dan. He had opened his mouth to say something but the look on his wife’s face stopped him. Instead, he turned to Bella.

  ‘What about you, Bella? Are things going to be all right for you?’ he asked.

  ‘I’ll be fine, Dad,’ Bella said. ‘Hugh and I have an understanding. If I agree to marry him, he’ll sell his share of the Tasmanian property back to his family and come up here. You can’t ask more of a man than that. I doubt many men, certainly high-class men like Hugh Johnstone, would want to take on Wally Osborne’s ex-wife,’ Bella said thinly. ‘Hugh is a good man, and I’m sure he loves me.’ Bella looked at her mother, who nodded.

  Dorothy was so relieved that Bella hadn’t fallen in a heap after what happened at Glen Avon. She was now hugely proud of the way her eldest daughter was facing up to the future. It all looked very promising and, with three marriages in the offing, she doubted she would have to wait very long for grandchildren. She didn’t think that either Helen or Beth would be rushing into motherhood but she thought it might not be long before Bella considered a family. Bella had so much love to offer children.

  Dan’s thoughts ran to children too, but his picture was a little different to Dorothy’s. Dan could not in any sense be described as romantic or philosophical. But what he now saw before him was a future in which his offspring would take the production of superfine wool to even higher levels of excellence than had already been achieved in the Half Moon. They would be leaders in this field. Rod Cameron was a rare talent and he would set the pace, and it would be up to Jim and Hugh to try not to fall too far behind him.

  But with any luck, and if the wool industry pulled its finger out and promoted good merino wool the way it ought to be promoted, and if the politicians didn’t stuff up the country with their rules and regulations, his grandchildren would have a brilliant future as woolgrowers. They would carry on the great tradition of superfine wool growing that had begun way back in the 1830s. It was something to savour.

  ‘So that’s that,’ Bella said.

  Bella’s voice intruded upon Dan’s thoughts of the future and brought him back to the present. ‘I reckon it is,’ he said with some warmth and finality.

  There was a gleam in Dorothy’s eye as her husband got up and walked from the room. ‘Wonders will never cease,’ she said.

  ‘Dad got his fingers burned with Wally. I think he’ll stick to his sheep in future,’ Bella said.

  ‘I’m much happier when your father sticks to his sheep, dear,’ Dorothy said. ‘And I’ll never object again when I hear Dan and Jim talking sheep and wool. It is, after all, what the Half Moon is all about.’

  Acknowledgements

  I am indebted to a number of people for my knowledge of the Mudgee and Gulgong districts. Unfortunately, several of them are now deceased. I believe they would have enjoyed this book. First, there was A.W. (Bill) Cox, MBE, who was a Mudgee man through and through. I stayed at the historic Havilah property and talked fine-wool sheep and sheepdogs with the late David White. Really, there were so many people it would be impossible to name them all; people like Teresa Lane who promoted Gulgong all her life, veterinarian David Parry-Okeden who called a spade a spade and with whom I discussed livestock problems, and Stanton Pilley, blade shearer and sheepdog enthusiast. More recently I asked Edna Wells (who was at 2MG for many years) and Ruth Wimble to verify certain facts about the township of Mudgee.

  I also have to thank the Mudgee Historical Society for their cooperation in providing me with a fairly complete history of the Mudgee district from the time of white occupation. Mudgee poet, the late C. D. (Dud) Mills took me about and showed me some of the localities made famous by Henry Lawson.

  To all of the above and the many others, unnamed, who gave me so much hospitality during my sojourn at Mudgee, I shall always be grateful.

  I’d also like to make special mention of the Penguin team. Right through every department, they make publishing a book so professional. In particular I would like to thank Clare Forster, Kirsten Abbott, Nicci Dodanwela, Karen Trump and Ali Watts. I am especially indebted to Ali because we have always got on so well and her advice always contains so much good commonsense. We’re more than editor and author, we’re friends. What a team.

  ony Parsons, Valley of the White Gold