by Jane Carter
She didn’t think she’d do that again.
Charlie wasn’t here anymore, she had to get that through her thick skull. But how do you suddenly stop being someone’s wife? He’d been such a huge part of her for the last ten years. Even dead, he was still a part of her. Kissing Patrick was confusing.
No more kissing.
‘Would you like to see the house?’ Patrick asked.
Walking first into the old-fashioned dining room, Diana spotted an Arthur Boyd hanging over the huge oak sideboard that was almost the same size as the table.
‘Oh my, that’s beautiful. Isn’t it interesting how modern paintings can look so right in an old house?’
‘Probably it’s because the rooms are large enough to show them off. Look at the high ceilings.’
‘I guess,’ she agreed. ‘I love wood—look at these window frames.’ She ran her fingers over the beautiful oiled cedar.
‘Mmm. They nearly drove me demented. Do you know how much stripper and sandpaper it took to get them back?’ Patrick shook his head.
‘Did you do them?’ Diana was surprised.
‘Yes. They had coats and coats of cream paint when I started. I took the doors off and had them stripped in Sydney but I did the windows myself. It took me ages.’
‘You’ve certainly done a great job.’
‘It was worth it, wasn’t it?’
Diana looked at him curiously. Charlie would never have had the patience to do something like this. She followed Patrick into the hall where a bronze sculpture stood on the hall table.
‘A Remington! How fabulous.’ She raced over to the group of galloping cowboys and horses and gazed in admiration. ‘How did he do it?’
Patrick chuckled. ‘It’s a copy. But it’s lovely, isn’t it? I found it in a gallery in New York when I was there.’
‘That’s enough surprises, I don’t think I can take any more.’ She grimaced theatrically.
They walked back into the kitchen.
‘I can’t stop thinking about Pete Summers. Dad will be so sad. They used to go off to ram sales together, sometimes. I don’t know whether they still do.’
‘Dinner’s nearly ready,’ said Patrick. ‘Just have something to eat and I’ll get you home.’
* * *
The kids were subdued when they called them in to eat. It had been a long day for them all. Diana frowned at Milo as he squirted tomato sauce over his steak. ‘On the side, remember. Saskia, do you want me to help you cut that up?’
‘I can do it.’
Diana watched as Saskia awkwardly tried to cut through her thick piece of steak with her fist around the fork. She was going through a very independent phase at the moment.
‘Sam and Alex should be up to visit soon.’ Patrick said.
Milo looked up, his mouth full, suddenly remembering to put down his knife and fork.
‘You could come over and ride the motorbikes. Better still, I can send one over for you to practice on, while you’re here. Tom can teach you, or your mother. I’ll get Mal to run it over.’
‘Mum, that’s great. We can, can’t we?’
Diana looked helplessly at Patrick and shrugged. ‘If you’re sure, I think so. Thank you.’
She really didn’t know about the offer of the mini bike, but Milo had looked so excited, how could she say no? It was hard to keep from telling the children to hurry up. Patrick must have sensed her unease since the kiss. It had been a mistake. The sooner they got out of this situation, the better.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Just five weeks they’d been here, these beautiful grandchildren of hers. Stella sat surrounded by gifts from them. There was a large lump in her throat and she was having some difficulty controlling the tears.
‘Don’t you like it? We had to wait ’til you were home, but you didn’t get back ’til after we’d gone to bed.’
Milo looked anxious, like he was hoping his water pitcher wasn’t the thing that was making her unhappy. He was incredibly like Frank, Tom’s father, in his manner. How had that crossed a couple of generations? It was a wonder Peg hadn’t noticed. Though not all that strange, considering she didn’t know who he was half the time.
‘I absolutely love it, all of it. It’s just that I can’t believe you all thought of me and bought me something.’ She blew her nose and sniffed. ‘Goodness, what booty!’
‘What’s a booty, Stella?’ Saskia had propped the stuffed dog on the chair next to her. She turned and grabbed it by both ears and looked deeply into its one eye. ‘I think Spot is hungry. Actually, I wouldn’t be surprised if he was very hungry.’
‘It must be lunchtime then. Sienna, can you get the bread and margarine out of the fridge? Tommo will be in soon, and Mummy’s having lunch with Granny. Milo, you can do the drinks.’ Stella rose, gathering herself together. ‘Saskia, booty is the word pirates use for treasure. It means lots of treasure.’
‘I don’t think it looks like real treasure,’ Sienna said doubtfully. ‘There’s no jewels and money.’
‘I just mean that it’s treasure for me. Thank you so much, all of you. I’m just happy, so happy you’ve come to Australia.’
‘If you’re happy, why are you crying?’ asked Milo, puzzled.
‘Sometimes people cry when they’re happy.’ She went to get some knives from the cutlery drawer.
‘Mummy cries when she’s sad,’ Milo said.
‘Mummies and grandmothers are allowed to cry if they are happy or sad,’ Stella said firmly.
Tom spoke from the doorway. ‘Milo, you’ll find women cry quite a lot of the time. Best not to ask why.’ He paused to kiss Stella on her forehead before going in to wash up.
‘Stan rang and they’re going to be a few days late,’ Stella called after him. Stan was their shearing contractor.
Tom came back into the kitchen. ‘What do you mean a few days?’
‘Well, a week really.’
‘Bloody hell. That’s just not good enough. I’ve got to get the ewes shorn before lambing. They know that. What on earth’s happened?’
Tom had such a short fuse these days. Stella busied herself filling the kettle. ‘Apparently WorkCover came into the shed they’re in at the moment, the Palmers, and said the board was unsound and shearing was cancelled until they got it right.’
‘Damn them. We finally get rid of the unions and now WorkCover makes life impossible. As if the board at Palmers hasn’t been sound enough for the last thirty years.’
‘Well, can you find anyone else?’
‘You’ve got to be joking, who can find shearers these days? Milo, if you’re looking for a career I advise shearing. Shearers are going to be extinct in the next few years!’ With that, Tom stomped off to the bathroom.
‘What’s a shearer, Stella?’ asked Milo.
Stella had to laugh. ‘You’ve been to the shearing shed. The shearers come to take the wool off the sheep, before lambing.’ And hoping to put Milo off from his next question, which she had a feeling she could predict fairly accurately, she addressed Tom, who had come back into the kitchen and was standing in front of the Aga.
‘How is the state of your suit?’
‘Hmm,’ he grunted, ‘it’s been so long since I’ve used it, I’ve no idea.’
‘You’ll need it for Thursday.’
‘Is that Pete’s—’
Stella’s warning glance stopped him. ‘Yes, it’s on Thursday. Eleven o’clock.’ She didn’t want any references to funerals in front of these three. ‘You’ll be meeting your cousin soon.’ She told the children.
‘Is our cousin Phillipa?’ asked Sienna.
‘Yes, that’s right. She’ll be coming home soon, for the holidays. Have you any English cousins?’
Milo looked to Sienna and Saskia and then answered for them. ‘No, Daddy didn’t have any brothers or sisters, and you have to have them before you can have cousins.’
Once again Stella felt a pang for the English grandparents. She’d forgotten that Charlie was an only ch
ild. They would be missing this lot unbearably. She would get them to ring again tonight. Again, she wished they had a computer so they could email and Skype, which everyone was talking about—free international telephone calls. If only, she sighed.
‘Stella, why does the wool have to come off the sheep before they lamb?’
‘Because we are lambing in winter, the shorn ewes find a nice sheltered spot to have their lamb—so they both stay warm and protected.’ Stella smothered a smile. That being exactly the question she’d expected.
* * *
‘Granny,’ Diana called, closing the door gently behind her. She stood for a moment stretching the muscles in her back, before going straight to the kettle and filling it.
‘Would you like a coffee? Granny?’ She paused at the doorway to the sitting room. Her grandmother was sitting in her chair, as usual, eyes closed. She must be sleeping. She did, Diana was relieved to notice, appear to be wearing her hearing aid.
Diana suddenly noticed a large smudge of dust on the front of her T-shirt. She hadn’t bothered to change before coming into town. ‘Blast I’m filthy!’ she said, under her breath.
‘Well, no one’s going to pull up a galloping horse because of that!’ Peg said, opening her eyes and peering at her.
Diana laughed and went to sit on the arm of the chair to give her a swift hug. ‘How I’ve missed you, Granny.’
‘I’m so glad you’re here, Diana!’ Peg beamed at her. ‘I have the most beautiful memories, you know. I was just thinking what fun we had with the horses. Your grandfather was a magnificent horseman. We had a sire called Tinker—he had another name, but we always called him Tinker. He threw a lovely line, very sought after, they were, his foals. People came from all over the place.’ She shook her head sadly. ‘It was a terrible day when your father sold all the horses. Would have broken Frank’s heart, Tom replacing those beautiful horses with his wretched motorbikes. I was just remembering riding up and down the hills, mustering. We’d take our lunch with us in tins in the saddlebags and bring in the sheep. It was very gentle, everyone knew the way, horses, dogs and the sheep, too. I’d just loop the reins over the saddle on the way home and be so relaxed. That was until my wretched horse propped when we got to the creek and I sailed straight over his neck and into the water, much to your grandfather’s amusement! You’d think I’d learn. All the same, I think it was a better pace we lived. Not all this hurry, hurry, hurry.’
‘That’s bizarre, Granny, I’ve just been telling someone all about Gramp’s picnic racehorse. I can’t remember his name, but he had huge teeth and he looked at you as if he could talk.’
‘That was Sputnik. He was a dreadful-looking foal and had been gelded. But he turned out to be a wonderful racehorse. Not surprising, because your grandfather was a much respected judge of horseflesh. Anyway Sputnik won quite a few races. We grew quite fond of him. He ran over a cliff and killed himself in the end, got spooked by lightning, we think.’ She paused. ‘I never forgave your father for not teaching you girls to ride.’
‘Ah, but we rode motorbikes—they were much more fun and you didn’t have to catch them first,’ said Diana. ‘Would you like a coffee or a cup of tea?’
‘Tea, thank you, darling.’
Diana caught sight of Rosie passing the window on her way to the back door. ‘Rosie’s here.’
‘I haven’t seen Cody for a while. You must tell her to come and visit.’
Diana looked aghast at her grandmother
‘Hi everyone,’ Rosie said as she walked in. ‘How are you, Granny?’ She looked curiously at Diana’s expression. ‘What’s wrong?’
‘Rosie, isn’t it lovely to have Diana home?’
Rosie and Diana exchanged looks.
‘Yes, it is.’ Rosie said. ‘You’ve got a mark on the front of your shirt, Diana.’
‘I simply don’t know why Cody doesn’t come to visit me anymore,’ said Peg.
‘Granny, Cody died a long time ago. You must be getting muddled up with Sienna or Saskia, Diana’s daughters.’
‘Diana’s got daughters? No one told me.’
‘Granny having a bad day today?’ Rosie asked Diana, eyebrows raised. ‘I can’t bear it when she talks about Cody as if she were alive.’ She picked up the pile of books on the shelf near the door. ‘I’ve come to get your library books, Granny. Are these the ones?’
‘Oh Rosie, I’ve already done that,’ said Diana.
She put the books back down and sighed. ‘You could have said. I usually do it on Mondays.’
Diana shrugged. ‘She didn’t tell me you changed her books on Mondays.’
‘What about the washing, is that ready?’
‘Diana’s done it already, haven’t you, dear?’
‘Right. It looks like everything’s in order then. I’ve got to get back to work. Enjoy your day. There’s no doubt about it, Diana, when you come back you’re a wonder.’
Diana grimaced as the door slammed a little too loudly behind her sister. ‘Granny, you’re stirring up trouble. You should have told me about the library books.’
‘Now, now. It must be comforting for Rosie to know you’re here to help me and there’s not so much for her to do. She works so hard up at the hospital. I think I’m nearly out of whiskey. Do you think you could get me a bottle when you’re out shopping?’
Diana couldn’t help smiling. Her grandmother could change from weird to perfectly normal in an instant, and she did enjoy her whiskey at the end of the day.
CHAPTER THIRTY
Peter Summers’ funeral had been terrible. Tom was very quiet on the way home. Stella wished they’d stayed a little longer, but Shelley did have family from Wollongong there. Tom went to park the car and left her at the bottom of the kitchen steps. She became aware of raised voices in the kitchen.
‘You are not the boss of me.’
‘You’re only a girl and you don’t know how to.’
‘I can ride the bike, Tommo’s going to teach me.’
‘You can’t even reach the handlebars.’
Stella rushed up the steps. ‘Hey. What’s wrong?’
‘Sienna has to realise she can’t ride the bike.’ Milo was adamant.
‘Sienna is too small.’ Saskia piped in.
‘I am not. It’s not fair, Stella. I’m almost as tall as Milo anyway.’
Stella hid a grin. That much was true. Sienna was growing so fast. ‘I think it might be an age thing, Sienna. Mummy was driving a car when she was ten, but we didn’t let her before that even though she was tall like you.’
‘Mummy drove a car when she was ten?’ Milo was incredulous. ‘Which car?’
‘An old paddock car. She and Rosie used to drive down to the bus in the morning and then drive home in the afternoon.’
That silenced Milo, but he swiped at Sienna on his way out the back door.
‘Milo hit me.’ Sienna started to cry.
‘Milo!’ Stella called after him. ‘Come back here.’
But he kept going down the stairs and unfortunately almost ran into his mother as she came round the corner on the bike.
Diana braked hard. Milo kept running. She called once, looked with amazement after him, then parked the bike, took off the helmet and came up to the kitchen.
‘What’s happened?’
‘Milo and Sienna were having an altercation.’ Stella grimaced.
‘And Milo hit me.’ Sienna proffered her arm as evidence. ‘I can ride the bike, I can, I can. Tommo said he would teach me.’
‘Why did Dad say that? He hasn’t asked me. And I think you’re too young.’
Sienna burst into tears. ‘It’s not fair, it’s not fair, Tommo said I could.’ She raced to her bedroom, slamming the door.
‘Dad didn’t say that, did he?’ Diana turned to her mother.
‘I don’t know. He must have led Sienna to think something.’ Stella shrugged.
‘Don’t you think he should have asked me?’
Stella didn’t know what to say. ‘I�
�m sure he was going to.’
‘Was going to! Mum, these are my children. I’d appreciate some support here.’
‘We wouldn’t undermine you. It’s a mistake, calm down.’
‘I’ll find Milo and then I’ll calm down.’ Diana ran out the back door.
Saskia came over and wrapped her arms around her legs. ‘Don’t worry, Stella,’ she whispered.
Stella bent down and picked her youngest grandchild up and hugged her. ‘Thank you, sweetheart.’ She sniffed. ‘Saskia, you do smell beautiful.’
‘Mmm, I like the way you smell, too, Stella.’
‘What! Is that my perfume?’
‘Mummy calls me the perfume thief.’
Stella burst out laughing. ‘Well, don’t do it again,’ But she hugged Saskia just that little bit harder. ‘Come, we’ll go find Sienna.’
* * *
Milo was sitting in the cab of the old Aveling Barford grader, very high up. Diana slowed to a walk.
‘Hi, you should watch where you’re going.’
Milo said nothing, just sat there with his hands on the wheel, his face set.
Diana leant against the huge tractor wheel. ‘So why are you annoyed about Sienna learning to ride the bike?’
‘Sienna is only eight and her arms aren’t long enough.’
‘You’re right. I totally agree with you.’
‘But she said Tommo said—’
‘I think you have to trust that I wouldn’t let Sienna do something that would harm her,’ she interrupted.
‘You weren’t there. Daddy wasn’t there. I had to.’
‘Thank you, but you don’t, Milo, you mustn’t—’
‘You don’t understand.’ He wrenched himself out of the seat, jumped down and ran back to the house without waiting for her.
* * *
Diana had been expected at the club half an hour ago for dinner with Mal and Rosie. Pushing the door open, she noticed it was quite busy before spotting Rosie at one of the tables in the corner.