The Painted Sky

by Alice Campion

  ‘Now, tell Heath what you told me about the bore at The Springs,’ Moira said, glaring at Lobby with a look that could strip paint.

  ‘Whaddaya mean?’ Lobby said, his eyes shifting around guiltily. The guy was no match for Moira when she had a head of steam up, thought Heath.

  ‘The bore at The Springs,’ Moira repeated. ‘That you and Hilary were interfering with.’

  Hang on, Heath thought, his interest sharpening.

  ‘It wasn’t … I dunno nothing about it, honest,’ Lobby squirmed.

  Moira glanced at Heath and returned to the attack. ‘Yesterday you said that it happened a year ago. I rang Tip McIver this morning. Tip was checking on Russell every week then, delivering his … groceries.’

  Whisky, more like, thought Heath. That’s about all the poor guy was swallowing by that stage.

  ‘Tip said the bore finally dried up about a month before Russell went into hospital,’ continued Moira. ‘If Russell hadn’t got sick then, he would have had to buy water, like young Nina’s doing now. Russell was really worried about it, Tip said.’

  ‘Really?’ said Lobby, with a nervous smile, still squirming.

  ‘Really.’ Moira crossed her arms and waited.

  ‘I’ll just … get me strides on,’ said Lobby.

  ‘No way,’ said Moira, grabbing his arm. ‘Just tell me what you and Hilary did to that bore, and then you can get dressed.’

  Lobby sighed. He looked at Heath for help, but Heath folded his arms.

  ‘It was Hilary’s idea. She told me it’d increase the pressure if we capped the bore with cement temporary-like and it was a surprise for Russell. That’s why we was doing it at night.’

  Heath felt shock course through him. Nina.

  Moira shook her head. ‘Jesus, Lobby.’

  ‘I can’t do nothing against Hilary,’ Lobby said in a small voice.

  ‘Yer a 43-year-old man,’ said Moira, scornfully. ‘Time you stood up to yer sister. We’re gunna go over there now and tell Nina. It’s a bloody disgrace. I’m surprised at you.’ She pushed him towards his door and he escaped inside.

  ‘We’ve got to get there before Nina gives The Springs away for practically nothing,’ Moira said to Heath.

  ‘I can’t believe it,’ Heath stuttered. Water was life. Compromising someone’s water supply was about the lowest thing anyone could do. ‘I mean, even Hilary isn’t that … that …’

  Moira made a face. ‘Don’t bet on it. She’s nuts. I mean, that’s gotta be fraud, or trespass, or something. Why’d she put everything at risk like that?’

  ‘Ben and I had better come too. Take a look at things,’ said Heath.

  Moira nodded. ‘You can bring droopy drawers with you,’ she said, indicating Lobby’s room. ‘There’s no time to spare. We gotta get to Nina before she heads for town.’

  Moira was already climbing into the minibus.

  ‘Alfie!’ Heath called to the young stockman repairing a gate to the next paddock.

  ‘Yes, Heath?’ The boy hurried over.

  ‘Run over to the house and ask Ben to come quick. Then bring the heifers into the home paddock. I don’t like the look of this weather.’ After the recent wind, the air was ominously still. Sometimes that meant nothing, but now and again it signalled a dust storm was coming up. He’d have to put the radio on in the car, see if there were warnings.

  Nina.

  Maybe there was a chance for her now.

  CHAPTER 20

  A willy-willy of dust swept across the Range Rover’s path as Hilary turned the car onto the main road and floored the accelerator. Sergeant Barry Kemp owed her more than a few favours and now was the time to call them in.

  Phillip might have thought he was giving the O’Sullivan boy his old car, but she knew better. He’d tricked it out of Phillip. Everyone knew you couldn’t trust an Abo near anything that wasn’t nailed down. He’d stolen it, pure and simple. And it wasn’t a cheap car either – a four-wheel-drive ute only six years old.

  Yes, the police. She had brought the registration papers with her and they were still in name of Phillip Flint. While Phillip was in Canberra at his pyrotechnics conference there was no-one to contradict any claim she might make to Barry Kemp. And with the wind rising like this, Phillip wasn’t likely to be flying back today. He might be stuck there for days. Hilary was sure that when she had him face to face she could make him see sense. She would be ready.

  Sergeant Kemp would be only too happy to hear this about Matthew O’Sullivan. He’d be very keen to get a chance to search Moira’s place. What with that dole-bludging, house-breaking lot always hanging around there. Got a nice little racket or two going on, no doubt.

  Hilary shuddered at the image of her daughter’s white shoulders being pawed by black hands. Deborah would never have done anything like that off her own bat. Nina Larkin must have put it in her mind. Ever since that girl had come waltzing into The Springs, everything had gone to hell. She deserved … A shadow fell on Hilary’s mind. A memory and a caution. For a second she wavered, but then gathered herself together again, summoning the anger that would give her strength. The girl was nothing but trouble.

  A blast on the horn of a road train startled Hilary. She had drifted into the oncoming lane. Well, that would solve all of that little bitch’s problems, wouldn’t it, she thought bitterly. Hilary lying broken and dead by the side of the road. She felt tears smart as she pictured them all at her funeral. How beautiful the flowers would be and how lovely she would look lying in the coffin. Deborah would be sobbing, destroyed by the thought of all the wicked things she had done to her loving and caring mother. Finally, they’d all appreciate the sacrifices she’d made for them.

  Hilary glanced at the blueprints on the seat beside her. The magnificent plans she had made for the resurrection of Durham House. Leaning forward, she jabbed a button and Sinatra’s version of ‘The Impossible Dream’ flooded through the car’s top-of-the-range speakers. She allowed the tears to stream down her face as the singer’s voice swooped up to hit the high notes. This was her quest. She would fight for the right. She would never allow her noble vision for the future to be compromised. Matty would be exposed for what he was: just another low-life. Deborah would see sense and reunite with Heath. Nina would bring the transfer papers today – after all, what choice did she have? And then the three properties would be reunited and the grand, pastoral days would return.

  Through the drifting dust she spied the roofs of Wandalla up ahead. The tables were about to turn.

  It took just one look at Moira’s agitated figure behind the screen door for Nina to see that something was wrong. This was no social visit.

  ‘Nina? You haven’t settled yet, have you?’

  ‘Not until this arvo. What is it, Moira?’ Nina opened the door to reveal a strangely mute Lobby in Moira’s iron grip. In the corner of her eye she saw Heath and Ben, holding back.

  ‘Nina, darl, that bloody Hilary ripped you off,’ said Moira, breathless. ‘The property settlement. Don’t do it. That bloody bore, this bloody idiot,’ she said, poking Lobby in the ribs.

  ‘Bloody hell, Moira, whoa,’ laughed Nina. ‘What are you talking about?’

  ‘Lobby here told us the bore was blocked up. It –’

  ‘Please, come out of this wind. Come on.’

  A breathless Moira followed Nina into the sitting room with Lobby and Ben not far behind. Heath, Nina noticed, opted to stand in the doorway to the hall.

  ‘I can’t believe that woman could be such a … a …’ began Moira again.

  ‘A bitch?’ offered Ben helpfully. ‘Well, we know she has been and she is. Get on and tell her, Moira.’

  Moira put her bag on the floor and surveyed everyone till she had their undivided attention. ‘It was Lobby at the wake that got me thinking,’ she began. ‘He told me he’d snuck out here with Hilary to block up the bore.’

  ‘They what?’ asked Nina.

  ‘It was to stop it leaking, you know,’ Lobby finished l
amely.

  ‘What do you mean, “leaking”?’ Nina was unable to comprehend exactly what was being said.

  ‘Well, you know Hilary. When she gets them bees in her bonnet there’s no stopping her. I’m so sorry, Nina,’ said Lobby.

  Nina sat astonished. What did this all mean?

  ‘Neens,’ said Ben. ‘Don’t you get it? There could still be water on The Springs. Lobby, do you think you can get it to run again?’

  Lobby lifted his hands. ‘Maybe.’

  A bubble of hope stirred in Nina.

  ‘What do you reckon, Heath?’ Ben asked, tipping back impatiently on his wheels.

  They all turned to the figure at the door except Lobby, who was perched on the piano stool trying to work out ‘Chopsticks’.

  ‘I guess it’s possible,’ Heath said evenly.

  ‘Really?’ asked Nina.

  ‘Well, anything’s possible, depends what they did to it.’ Heath entered and looked around the room, anywhere but at her, it seemed to Nina.

  ‘Lobby, maybe you should tell us exactly what you did to the bore, and don’t leave anything out,’ said Ben. ‘And, for Christ’s sake, can you give the music a rest.’

  ‘Wha?’ Lobby said as he looked up, his face blank. Moira picked up a book and cracked him gently on the head.

  ‘Pay attention, for god’s sake, Lobby.’

  He turned a hang-dog face towards the roomful of people. ‘Well, Hilary came and picked me up after tea,’ he began, before launching into a long and, to Nina, hopelessly confusing saga about types and cost of cement, mixing methods, pipe gauges and complaints about how much his arms had hurt.

  ‘Geez, mate, you’re a dick,’ said Ben, when Lobby finally ground to a halt.

  ‘Don’t, Ben,’ said Nina. ‘This isn’t about him, it’s about Hilary.’ Images of Hilary flashed though her head – throwing a glass of red wine, her face white with rage; hovering above Nina as she lifted her hand to strike; her proprietorial air at yesterday’s wake, as though she was already lady of the manor.

  ‘She is a psychopath and I am sick of her,’ said Nina, throwing her hands in the air. ‘I’m not taking it anymore.’

  ‘Woo-hoo. Go, Neens!’ whooped Ben, clapping loudly.

  ‘I’ll tell you this,’ she went on, enjoying the cleansing flood of rage as it moved through her. ‘I will never sell her this place. Never. I’d rather give it away. And … and if we can get the bore working again, I’m staying.’ The words surprised her almost as soon as they were out of her mouth. She immediately saw Heath turn to her. He looked surprised … and hopeful. Or was it just her imagination? As soon as he met her eyes he turned away again.

  Did I just say that? Nina wondered. But she pressed on. ‘With water, I could do something really great here. At my place …’ she faltered. ‘My own place.’

  ‘Good for you, love,’ said Moira, giving her a hug.

  ‘I’m hungry,’ said Lobby. ‘Is there any cake left over?’

  ‘In the kitchen. In the tin on the bench,’ said Nina.

  ‘Okay, but before we start getting carried away shouldn’t we go and see whether we can fix the bloody thing? Have you got a spade and maybe a hacksaw?’ Ben asked Nina.

  ‘What about an angle grinder?’ called a suddenly helpful Lobby from the hallway.

  ‘A spade yes, but hacksaw, angle grinder, I have no idea,’ replied Nina. ‘There’s a bunch of tools in the stables.’

  ‘Let’s get going, then,’ smiled Ben.

  But they heard footsteps running in the hallway.

  ‘Heath! C’mere!’ urged Lobby from the doorway, his eyes wide and crumbs on his chin. ‘Come!’

  ‘Hang on, Lobby, we were talking about something important,’ said Moira.

  ‘But it’s … she’s … they’re …’ Lobby shook his head. ‘You gotta come now.’ Bewildered, Nina and the others followed him down the hallway and into the kitchen.

  ‘There, look,’ said Lobby. They crowded to the kitchen window.

  Nina’s mouth fell open. Deborah and Matty were walking towards the house, oblivious to their audience, holding hands.

  ‘Told ya,’ said Lobby.

  Nina glanced at Heath’s face. It was blank with surprise.

  ‘Jesus Christ. I knew it. Didn’t I say you couldn’t trust her?’ Ben demanded.

  Deborah and Matty must have heard, because they froze, startled to see the jostle of faces at the window.

  ‘Wait here.’ Heath’s voice was calm and authoritative. He went out to the yard, closing the door firmly behind him.

  Moira turned to stare at Nina, eyebrows raised.

  ‘Come on now, boys. Nothing to see. Let them work it out,’ she murmured, ushering Ben and Lobby out of the kitchen.

  ‘But –’ began Ben.

  ‘Leave him,’ snapped Moira, pushing his wheelchair down the hall.

  ‘Bewdy, fight’s on,’ Nina heard Lobby say in the hallway.

  ‘Doubt it,’ said Moira.

  ‘Well, while we’re waiting, can I get some more cake?’ asked Lobby.

  ‘Oh, shoosh. You’ve had more than your share.’

  Nina heard the sitting room door close on the hum of voices. There was not a force on earth that could keep her from the kitchen window right now. She hung back but her attention was fixed on what was happening outside. Heath stood with his palms open in enquiry. Deborah’s eyes flicked from Heath to Matty. She turned to Matty, putting two hands lightly onto his arm and said a few words. Matty held his hands up in a conciliatory gesture, nodded to Heath and walked away, disappearing around the side of the house.

  Why had none of them heard the car arrive? wondered Nina, her mind reeling. Why were they here?

  Heath held Deborah’s elbow and walked her slowly away from the house, listening as she talked. After a few steps they stopped again and turned to one another. Deborah held his hands in both of hers, seeming to tell him some kind of story. He stared at the ground. Then he nodded and looked into Deborah’s face. She moved away from him and paced the arid yard, still speaking. Nina caught the odd word. ‘Sorry’ – ‘happiness’ – ‘you know I’m right’.

  Heath drew a hand across his face and shook his head. He said something and Deborah nodded and replied.

  Two mates didn’t hold hands like Matty and Deborah had. What did it mean? For Heath? For her? Thirsty for clues, she took a step to the window so she could see every gesture, every expression. There was silence apart from the ticking of the kitchen clock, as though the whole house was holding its breath.

  After what seemed like hours, Heath nodded decisively and took Deborah in his arms. Nina’s heart sank. He held Deborah tight, rocked her, kissed the top of her head. Nina grasped the kitchen bench for support. A painful surge of emotion twisted inside her.

  But then Heath let go and called Matty, who joined them. They stood in a huddle, their voices low. Nina noticed how Matty stood tall and his face was still. Finally, they nodded and broke the circle. Matty went to put his arm around Deborah, but awkwardly abandoned the gesture halfway through. Heath smiled ruefully, and ushered them, like a maitre d’, towards the house. The couple smiled and led the way, joining hands tightly.

  Powered by adrenaline, Nina shot down the hallway and into the sitting room. Ignoring Moira’s raised eyebrows, she perched on the arm of a chair and tried to breathe normally.

  ‘Well?’ demanded Ben.

  Just then the backyard trio entered, Heath calm, the other two radiant.

  Matty stepped forward. ‘Ah look, everyone, Debs and I –’

  ‘We’re going to be together,’ Deborah finished.

  Nina heard Ben snort.

  ‘Shut your mouth, Ben. You don’t know what you’re talking about,’ said Heath.

  Is this really happening? thought Nina.

  ‘We wanted to have everything sorted out … properly,’ said Deborah, glancing anxiously at Heath.

  ‘And it is,’ said Heath, stepping forward to squeeze her shoulder. ‘We’ll w
ork it out and I wish you both the best. All the very best. My two good mates. The very best.’ He smiled and gave Ben a sharp glance. Ben stared back, incredulous.

  It is happening, Nina decided. She couldn’t move or speak.

  A short silence was broken by Moira. ‘Well, I’ll be the first to say congratulations,’ she said with a big smile, and a bear hug for Deborah. ‘Welcome to the family, love, and as for you, Mister Matty, you always were a lucky bugger, and this proves it, big time.’ Moira ruffled his hair and Matty smiled and smiled, keeping hold of Deborah’s hand.

  Lobby joined in, and even Ben had to shake Matty’s hand and nod at Deborah apologetically.

  Nina watched Heath. His face, as he observed the proceedings, was unreadable. He’d been very genuine with his congratulations, but he must be hurting. He and Deborah had been a couple for so many years. They were all but married, for god’s sake. Heath flicked a half-glance at Nina. She avoided his eye.

  She was shocked to become aware of a bubbling elation growing inside her. What was he feeling? It was all too much. Her head was spinning, and she felt almost nauseous.

  ‘Now let’s make a real morning of it and go and see if we can get this bore working again,’ said Moira.

  Yes, let’s get outside, thought Nina.

  ‘What?’ said Deborah.

  A hubbub of explanation followed.

  ‘Tell me, has Hilary heard the happy news?’ Ben said above the noise.

  ‘She has,’ said Matty. ‘And she’s not too thrilled about it, either.’

  Everyone started talking at once.

  ‘We’ve got to get going – gotta try and catch Mum before she puts out an APB on us,’ Deborah smiled, giving Nina a big hug and whispering in her ear, ‘Fingers crossed for the bore!’

  ‘See you tomorrow?’ Nina asked.

  ‘Big chinwag,’ promised Deborah, grinning and hugging her again.

  ‘What happened to that cake?’ asked Lobby.

  Harrison lay on his back watching the bleak morning light slowly creep across his bedroom ceiling and drift down the wall to the cast-iron fireplace. His stomach felt sour from the half-bottle of gin he had consumed the night before at the wake. But steady drinking had become essential for his own self-preservation since Nina had come to Wandalla.