Out of Alice (27 page)

It was late afternoon when they pulled up at the gate of the Redhill homestead, the western sun raying in behind them to light the dusty oleander bushes and the spectacle of Becky rushing down the front steps, arms and improvised pinny flying.

‘Hello, Sara! Hi, Uncle Jack! You'll never guess what I'm doing! Mum's helping me fix Nan's cake up. It's a special thank you cake 'cause she's going home tomorrow. Pops is coming to pick her up. Come and see, Sara.'

‘Yeah, I know, Squirt,' Jack interposed. ‘Has your mum got the kettle on? We're dry as lizards.' He reached into the back to swing Sara's bag down, belting off the dust in a red cloud.

Sara nodded. ‘Okay, chicken, I'm coming. I'm grateful for all the driving and your company, Jack. I don't think I could have done it alone. Certainly not the driving.'

‘Well, you were wise not to head off with that twit Markham. He might be a good journo but he's a damned liability in the bush. It's been a rough coupla days for you, but at least you know now.'

‘Yes.' The hat wouldn't fit over the hair grip so she stood with her head angled to keep her face from the sun, which lit coppery gold lights amid her curls. She drew a breath. ‘For better or worse, I know. And heaps of little things have come back to me since. Feeding the lambs with bottles, and playing under a hose somewhere in a garden, stuff like that. Come on then, Becky. How's Sam?'

Sam was doing well.
Making strides
was how Beth described it as she turned from making tea to hug Sara. ‘The kids are just off to get the goats,' she reminded Becky. ‘Go on then. I'm just making a cuppa for the travellers, you won't be getting anything to eat this late in the day.'

Helen greeted Sara with a hand laid against her cheek. ‘How are you, my dear? And how's Frank doing?'

‘He's okay, Helen. And so am I, thanks.'

‘But I've got
heaps
of things to tell Sara —' Becky complained.

‘You can tell her later. Off you go,' Beth said firmly. Pouring tea and reverting to Sam, she added, ‘I really think he might have turned a corner, you know? It's just little things I've noticed since we got home. The reading glasses seem to be helping him. He hasn't had a headache since he got them, so he can do more and it seems to tire him less. His appetite's better too. But enough of Sam. We want to hear what the outcome of your trip was, don't we, Mum?'

‘We do,' the older woman asserted. ‘Frank rang, but all he'd say was that you were back and had remembered it all, which left us no wiser. So,' she folded her hands on the tabletop, ‘we're listening.'

The goats had been yarded by the time Sara finished speaking. She pressed her lips together for a long moment and sighed. ‘So that's it, and right now I honestly can't tell if knowing is better or worse. But I'll always be grateful for Jack's help in finding out.' She turned to look at him where he stood sipping tea by the door. He made a dismissive gesture. ‘No, I mean it, Jack. It's been scary but having a Ketch in my corner throughout has meant a lot. A Ketch in each corner really, and I thank you all for it.'

Helen patted her hand. ‘To have to relive all that! You poor thing. There are parts of life we'd all love to revisit but once through the mill with all that is quite enough.'

‘So you're really Christine?' Beth shook her head, bemused.

‘I'd rather stick with Sara,' Sara said quickly.

‘Well, of course – but JC Randall! He could buy Redhill with his loose change and it turns out his daughter is here, slaving away for us on a governess's wage.' She looked suddenly glum. ‘I expect you'll be going now though. I'm really, really going to miss you, Sara. And Becky will be heartbroken.'

‘She won't, because I'm not leaving until school ends. I'm not making any plans before then.' Sara hesitated. ‘If you don't mind, I'd rather you didn't mention any of this to anyone.'

‘Of course not,' Beth said. ‘You want to meet him first, don't you? It must be a daunting prospect after so long. I imagine adopted children feel the same way about their biological parents.'

‘Yes.' Sara stood. ‘Well, it's what, Thursday? I'd better have a quick look in the schoolroom before I shower.'

‘Don't bother, and it's Friday. You've lost a day.' Beth began clearing the cups. ‘There's a cricket match and a barbecue on at the roadhouse tomorrow. We thought we'd all go in with Mum, have a day out. Could you bear to face the road again so soon?'

‘Oh, why not? The road's pretty good really, compared to the one out to Kings Canyon. But two kids and five adults, are we all going to fit?'

‘We'll take two vehicles; the kids can ride with me,' Jack said. His smile was wry. ‘That's gotta be a first for the mulga. A city gal who thinks the road's not bad.'

‘Well, it isn't.' Sara was stung by the appellation. Since she'd arrived she had made it a point of honour not to complain about anything, so the remark was unfair. Did he think she secretly scorned his country now that life might take her from it? Could that be what he had meant when he said her father's wealth would change her? Ignoring him she turned to Helen. ‘We went into Arkeela this morning. I just loved your garden. It's like a little oasis when you come upon it. And it was a treat to see so much grass everywhere. Oh, and I must remember to tell the kids – I saw some wild camels and brumbies too.'

Helen's brows rose. ‘Not on Arkeela, I hope?'

‘No. The camels we saw on the way out to the canyon, the brumbies coming back. I was so thrilled.'

‘They're a pest,' Helen observed. ‘Still, I'm glad you had the chance to see them. There've been so many changes out here over the last few years. Who knows? There might well be no wildlife left for Sam's kids to look at. Even the pest kind.'

‘I doubt there's much danger of that,' Jack observed darkly and headed off.

The cricket match was kicking off at mid-morning, according to Beth. ‘Though that's just a sort of early warning call,' she explained, twisting around to look at Sara and Helen, who were seated in the back of the station wagon. ‘Not everybody will have turned up by then but they'll be right to kick off around eleven.'

‘Surely there aren't enough players for two teams?' Sara tried to count the number of men she had previously met. ‘Does old Bungy play too?'

Beth grinned. ‘You bet. And numbers aren't important. Anything over five a side is good. Dad'll be there too, so that's an extra. And Clemmy said something about a lad working at the park – there's another.'

‘Nick,' Sara remembered. ‘Yes, I'd forgotten he was still there. Though he'll probably want to photograph the game, not play it.'

Beth ignored the comment. ‘She's pregnant, you know. Clemmy. Colin must be thrilled.'

‘She told me. Actually I guessed and she confirmed it. Are the Hazlitts coming, and what about old Harry? Is he driving the mail again yet?'

‘He is, silly old sod,' Len answered. ‘He went through yesterday. The bone in his thumb was smashed but he reckons he can handle it. He's carrying an extra spare tyre as insurance.'

‘Will Sam play?' Sara asked.

Beth shook her head. ‘Maybe a bit of fielding, ten minutes or so. I don't want him exhausted and I hope to God nobody turns up with a cold. I can't remember when we took him out last. So we might be leaving early, Sara, but if you want to stay on you can always come home with Jack.'

Sara nodded. ‘I'm just glad nobody expects me to join in. It's November, you know. And something about
mad dogs and Englishmen
springs irresistibly to mind.'

‘They're playing in Adelaide,' Len put in unexpectedly, ‘and Darwin. Summer's the time for cricket.'

‘I know, Len.' Smiling, Sara met his eyes in the mirror. ‘But they invented it in England too, didn't they? That's okay. Every match needs its barrackers. I'll sit in the shade and clap for you.'

It was extraordinary, Sara thought, getting out of the car at the roadhouse, how much and how little had changed since she first set eyes on Charlotte Creek. The barren flat and sun-blistered houses were the same and nothing about the roadhouse had changed – perhaps a little more red dust had accumulated on the fuel sign – but it no longer felt alien, only welcoming. Mavis, serving Sara's drink, asked how she'd enjoyed her trip into the Alice, and Bungy, a beer stubby in his large fist, bellowed a greeting. Rinky and her sister Flo had their heads together but paused to ask how she had been, and Clemmy, eyes sparkling, waved her over to a corner table near the fan. Colin was with her and sprang up to get another chair, insisting that his wife keep her feet up on the only empty one at the table.

‘Go and have a drink with Len, why don't you, Colin?' Clemmy said. ‘Go on, I'm fine. Honestly.' She whipped her feet down the moment he turned away. ‘He's driving me crazy! You'd think I was made of porcelain and due to give birth tomorrow.'

Sara laughed. ‘You look very fit to me. How's the whole baby thing going?'

‘I've never felt better, except for Colin's fussing. So you had a trip to town, I hear. Have you decided to grow your hair, then?'

‘Not as such.' She had gathered it into a ponytail, low on her neck, to accommodate her hat. ‘Short notice and a quick trip. I couldn't get an appointment.'

‘Well.' Clemmy observed her, head on one side. ‘I like it and judging by the notice when you came in the blokes do too. You haven't done any modelling, have you? I know I kidded you about it the other day, but seriously? You've got the looks and the height for it, and your hair does make you stand out.'

Sara grimaced. ‘You could say so, especially when I was at school. So, have you been thinking about baby names at all, or is it too early yet?'

The red herring worked and they fell into an animated discussion that was broken into by Colin returning to tell his wife that the match was about to start, but she would be more comfortable inside with the fan than out in the dust.

‘I'm fine, dear.' She waved him off and lifted a brow at Sara. ‘You want to come out and watch? It's not far, just this side of the racecourse. Alec will have put the chairs out and there's a bit of a bough shed for shade.'

‘If you want to,' Sara said.

Clemmy rose with alacrity. ‘Come on, then. I've done my stint as a hothouse flower for today. How long till school breaks up?'

‘Just a few weeks now.'

‘Then you leave – will you come back next year?'

‘I suppose it depends,' Sara said slowly.

‘On the drought, you mean?'

‘There's that.' If it hadn't rained by the end of January, would the Calshots still be able to afford to pay wages? ‘But there's Sam too. Maybe he'll be well enough soon, to stop the chemo. That would be wonderful, only Beth could manage without me then.' Sara shrugged. ‘I'll just have to wait and see.'

They found chairs under the bough-covered shed, which, Sara saw, was a timber framework layered with netting and freshly cut gum foliage – from the banks of Charlotte Creek, presumably. A fitful breeze blew through the wilting leaves and wafted the refreshing scent of eucalyptus over the little group of onlookers.

‘This is the life.' Clemmy wriggled toes free of their sandals, then brought her hands together for a fielder. ‘Oh, good catch, Nick! Who's in next?'

‘It's Bungy,' Flo said. ‘I hope one of the kids is going to run for him. The old fool'll drop dead if he tries it.'

‘The team could use the runs,' Sara observed. Jack was bowling and they had already lost three of their five players. ‘Can he use a bat?'

Flo snorted with sisterly contempt. ‘
He
thinks so. Ah!' A ball soared like an eagle from the bat. ‘Young Joey's going to do it. I see Sam's out there, Beth. So he's doing okay for the moment?'

‘I'm just about to call him in,' Beth said. ‘But yes, thank you, he is. This is his first outing in more than a year.'

Flo reached a work-roughened hand to pat the younger woman's thigh. ‘He'll make it, love. Don't you fret. He's a tough little kid. Well, colour me purple!' Another ball flew off her brother's bat. ‘There's another six. The old boy
is
in good form today.'

Bungy's run of luck, which owed as much to a steady hand as an obvious arrangement with his runner not to leave his partner exposed to Jack's arm, lasted until Alec declared the barbecue ready. Bungy had half-a-dozen boundaries to his credit by then and was the toast of his side as the crowd milled around serving themselves from the long table set under the hall roof. It was much hotter there than the bough shed had been, and Clemmy and Sara carried their plates into the roadhouse to join Sam, who was spread out on the floor in front of the fan, reading a dog-eared comic.

They had finished eating when Helen came in to say goodbye, competent and unfussed as ever, hazel eyes warm with concern for Sara. ‘Frank's just finishing a beer,' she explained, ‘then we'll be off. Now, let us know, won't you, how you get on with everything? And remember, anytime you're in the Alice you're to come and stay. Beth'll bring the kids down for the school break-up, but you'll be very welcome when you're heading off south too.'

‘Thank you, Helen. I'll miss you – and Frank. I'll come and say goodbye to him. And I'll be back if I can. I'm going to miss you both so much. And Redhill when I leave at the end of term.'

Helen's glance was shrewd. ‘There's always next year. We'll have to wait and see how things pan out. I hope it's how you want it to. We'll be thinking of you anyway.' Her arms enfolded the younger woman. Sara felt the warmth of her embrace, caught the scent of her talc and hugged her back fiercely.