Public Property (15 page)

‘Is your d
addy going to wear a smart suit to your wedding?
’
Katherine asked, looking directly at Freya with her huge brown eyes.

‘
My
d
addy
,’
Freya repeated the words.

Her pulse quickened and she had to take a breath.

‘
Um, Katherine, Freya’s father can’t come to our wedding
,
but we are going to make sure all of our friends are there to help us make it a special day
,’ Nicholas interjected quickly.

‘Why can’t your daddy come?’ Katherine continued.
H
er sorrowful eyes
seemed to be
getting larger and more questioning by the second.

‘
Well
,
because
…’
Nicholas began.

‘
Because he died
,’
Freya
interrupted.

‘
Oh
,’ Katherine replied. She seemed
satisfied with the answer.

‘
Say,
t
hat nice man over there
is going to take our photo,’
Nicholas
said, indicating the photographer hired for the publicity shots.

Freya
got up and
left Nicholas and Katherine
. She
went across the ward to Bill Stanton who was talking to one of the nurses on duty.

‘Hey, Bill, tell me.
W
hat are Katherine’s chances of recovery?
’
She watched Nicholas with Katherine. He had his arms around her, hugging her close.

‘
She has acute myeloid
leukaemia
. She
’
s already had a bone marrow transplant and extensive chemotherapy
.’

‘
She’s going to die?
’
Bill’s tone had been clear but Freya couldn’t believe it. She didn’t want to believe it.

‘
Yes
,’ he responded.

‘
But she’s only a kid
.’ This was so unfair.
‘How long?’

‘
It’s likely to be weeks rather than months
,’
Bill answered.

She
felt sick. She had had countless similar moments at hospitals all over the state
,
but she still wasn’t immune to the shock when the reality of the situation hit home. There she was, concerned about people knowing her wedding date
,
when there was an eight year old child losing her fight for life and talking enthusiastically about a wedding she would never grow up to have.

Freya’s eyes glazed over with tears as Nicholas came back to rejoin her.

‘
You OK?
’ he asked. He put his arm around her, held her close.

‘
She only has weeks to live
.
W
eeks
,
Nick
,’
Freya st
ated
.
She felt hopeless and helpless.

‘
I know
.’

‘
But it’s horrible and unfair and God
,
I don’t think I
can stomach a lunch after this.
I think I want to go home and cry
.’

‘
Hey, come on,
put on a
brave face for Katherine and all the other people here. Maybe there
’
s nothing we can do to save
her
, but there are hundreds of people we
are
helping by providing this equipment
,’ he reminded her.

‘
Nick, wh
en I complain about stuff, I don’t know, like
if
the post is late or Sadie Fox has cancelled me or someone
’
s pissed me off driving
like
an idiot on the
motor
way
.
W
ill you tell me how lucky I am and remind me of this moment?
’

‘
Sure
, you bet.’
He squeezed her hand and kissed her on the cheek.

The lunch with the board members of the hospital took longer than anticipated
and it was almost three in the afternoon
before Freya arrived at her studio.

When she entered
the building
Sasha
appeared, holdin
g out a brown paper bag
.

‘
Chocolate fudge brownie with real cherry pieces
,’
Sasha
announced.

‘
Oh
,
Sasha
, it sounds fantastic but I’m absolutely stuffed
.
T
he dinner was four courses
,’
Freya said
. She swallowed some rising indigestion.

‘
Well
,
take it for later
.’ She shook the bag.

‘
OK
,
thanks. Right, so, shall we get ready to go out? Before I sit in my chair and pass out
,’
Freya suggested
.
S
he crossed the hall and opened the door to one of the studios.

‘
Are y
ou sure you have time? I mean…’
Sasha
began.

‘
Yes I have time
.
D
on’t you want to go?
’
S
he pulled out some black leather cases and put them in the hallway.

‘
Oh no I
really
want to go, I just don’t want to impose on your time that’s all
,’
Sasha
told her.

‘
Don’t be stupid
,
Sasha
.
G
et your gear and let’s
get out of here
.
’
Freya
smile
d,
put
the
bags over her shoulder and walked back towards the door.

It didn’t take long to put all the equipment in the back of Freya’s SUV and soon the two women were on their way out of town.

‘H
ow did the hospital visit go?
’
Sasha
asked as Freya drove.

‘
It was OK. Well
,
it was sad actually, but then it’s always sad. We met this little girl called Katherine
. She’s got
leukaemia
. She’s
only
got
weeks to live and she
’
s so small and pretty
and sweet
.
I
t was heartbreaking
,’
Freya admitted
.

She hadn’t been able to shake the image of Katherine from her mind. Life was cruel.

‘
But it must b
e heartwarming to know you’
ll be saving other lives by donating so much to the Carlton hospital and to the cancer charities
,’
Sasha
spoke.

‘
That
’
s exactly what Nick said and I know he’s right
.
B
ut it doesn’t stop it being unjust and terribly sad
.’

‘
No. So
,
are you and Nick going to have your photograph in the paper again this week?
’

‘
Yes, unfortunately
.
S
till
,
at least on this occasion it
’
s for a good cause
.’

‘
I think what you do is amazing. It’s fantastic that someone as busy as Nick takes time out to help other people. It’s so selfless
.’
Sasha
looked out the window.

‘
Yes
it
is
,’
Freya agreed
.

It was
only
a short drive to County Bridge and
when they got there
Freya parked at the side of the road and
jumped out to unload the car.

‘
Wow,
it’s
cold. Glad I brought a jacket. Are they expecting snow?’ Freya asked.

‘I like snow.’

‘To look at, yes.
To live with, not so much.’

‘
Here, let me help you
…
I didn’t
realise
we were going to come here
,’
Sasha
said, taking
a case from Freya.

‘
Have you been to this bridge before?
’

‘
No, I just
recognised
it from your photographs. Do you know why they
’
re painted black?
’
Sasha
put a bag over her shoulder.

‘
Well
,
I’ve heard
several stories about that
. They range from
a mistake when the paint was ordered and no funds to change it,
to
it representing death and reincarnation
.’

‘
I heard that the only birds liv
ing
around here are crows. That can’t be true can it?
’

T
hey began to walk across the grassland towards the bridge.

‘
Well
,
I can honestly say
they
’re
the only birds
I’ve
seen here
.’

‘
Don’t you think that’s strange?
’

‘
Maybe, I don’t know. But
, what I
do
know is
the combination of the dark bridge with the muddy water
,
the tall grass and the uninterrupted view of the skyline
is just about as perfect as you
’
re going to get and it’s a great place to
practi
s
e
,’
Freya told her.

They set up the equipment and Freya looked through the camera at the scene in front of her.

‘
So
,
Sasha
, why
d
’
you
think I
’
ve chosen this particular camera?
It’s one of my Canons,
that’s
a clue.’

‘
Well
, maybe
because it
’
s an analogue camera and these scenes will definitely look better using film. Um, it has a
seven
point wide area auto
focus
, that
should help with getting a good balance between the foreground, the background and the subject of the picture
. And,
I believe it has manual
dioptric
adjustment
.’

‘
Sometimes you really concern me
,
Sasha
.
T
he answer of course is
because it has a funky name, Rebel
,
and
because it looks cute. But I su
ppose your answers were right too
. OK, get behind the camera and tell me what you see
,’
Freya urged her.

Sasha
put her face to the viewfinder and looked through the camera.

‘
I would say we need to zoom in a little if we want to make the bridge the
centr
e
piece
of the shot
,’
Sasha
said.

‘
OK, that’s one idea
.
B
ut why don’t you have another look and perhaps you
’
ll see something th
at might be a more unusual
cent
r
e
piece
,’ Freya suggested.