Puppy Pie (24 page)

Honestly Dad
, she thinks to herself,
you're really observant: Mum hasn't been here for days.
Lucy looks over at Tom in desperation. She thinks quickly and points to her watch. She mouths “one hour”.

Tom nods and says, ‘I'll bring you out something to eat in a while.' Lucy nods and smiles as Harry lurches through the gears of the Harvester, Lucy hanging on for dear life.

Back at the house, Jake is standing outside the kitchen looking very concerned.

‘Where's he going?' Jake asks Tom as they hear Harry gnashing the gears on the tractor.

‘Don't worry,' Tom says racing back. ‘Lucy's with him. I'll take some food out in an hour and we'll change over. And then you can take over from me.'

Jake nods. ‘We could end up doing this all day. With any luck, Dad will be dozing again soon.'

‘That'd be the best thing,' Tom nods. Staring after the Harvester, he says, ‘I hope Gull's having more luck than we are. I wonder what she'll find out today? She can't be more bored than we are babysitting our dear old Dad.'

* * *

‘Are you bored yet, Gull?' Mary asks smiling as Gull clicks quickly onto the game of Patience, ‘I know it's pretty boring here, even when you've got a job to do.'

‘I don't mind,' Gull shrugs. ‘It's good to have a change from the farm chores.'

‘I'll swap with you then,' Mary laughs. ‘I'd rather be at home any day. Well, must get back. Just help yourself to tea and biscuits any time.'

‘Thanks,' Gull smiles. Mary wanders back to her desk.
Help myself
, Gull thinks to herself.
If only I could. Somehow, I've got to save the Folly. I just hope that if I can save one farm, the other two farms will be saved automatically
. She sighs heavily.
It's like an epidemic around here: first one farm, then two and now three
. She shivers slightly.
I know Shirley thinks the Bank is the big baddie but this time, I think the Bank's got extra help it didn't expect. Now all I have to do is find something against that friend of the bank manager, that man with white hair
.

Quickly closing her game of Patience, Gull brings up a list of all Bank clients.
Mmm
, she thinks as she stares at the list,
there are surnames and names of properties. Well, it should be pretty easy to find the three farms and see what information the Bank has on them
. Glancing around to make sure no one is bringing her yet another cup of tea, Gull starts her search.

She frowns, perplexed.
That's odd
, she thinks.
I'll ask Shirley. She might know
. Just then, Gull looks up to see the bank manager hovering around Shirley's desk. He glances up at Gull and smiles tightly. Gull shivers involuntarily.
Uh oh
, thinks Gull,
I wonder if he suspects anything. I'm in big trouble if he does.
Gull puts her head down and clicks on “Patience”, nervously sending the playing cards flying. When she dares look up again, Shirley is walking slowly towards her with a cup of tea.

‘You look thirsty,' Shirley says. ‘Those games must be exhausting.'

‘They're not a lot of fun,' Gull says morosely. ‘And I can't seem to find my favourite game,' she adds, looking hard at Shirley.

Shirley frowns and then her face clears. ‘Oh, right,' she nods. Lowering her voice, Shirley says, ‘No hints? No clues yet?'

Gull shakes her head slowly. ‘Er, what did your boss want, by the way?' Gull asks as she takes a sip of the hot, sweet tea.

‘Well, today was nearly your last day at the Bank.'

Gull looks up at Shirley wide-eyed. ‘Oh, no! What have I done?'

‘Don't worry,' Shirley replies quickly. ‘He just said that this is a place of business, not a kindergarten.'

Gull chokes on her tea. ‘A kindergarten?' she splutters.

‘Don't worry. I fixed it. I told him the truth,' Shirley smiles with a gleam in her eye.

‘What?' Gull gasps. ‘You told him what I'm really doing here?'

Shirley grins. ‘It's alright, Gull: only joking. No, I told him Helen was helping her sister prepare for her new baby, and that all day you'd be on your own. And as far as he knows, you're such a daydreamer that you might inadvertently burn down the Folly by playing with matches.'

Gull looks at Shirley anxiously. ‘So this isn't my last day?'

‘No it isn't. I told him Helen wouldn't be back until the weekend. So, you've still got a few days but we are running out of time. Oh, and he said he'd bring you in an old game of his nephew's tomorrow. Something about flying pigs'

Gull stares at the screen only half listening. ‘How I wish I could find whatever it is I'm looking for.' Then she suddenly remembers. ‘Oh, by the way, Shirley, I can't find any files at all on the three farms. There must be files on the three properties somewhere. I mean I can find lists for the rest of the Bank's customers easily enough. It's as if the three of you don't even exist.'

Shirley looks serious all of a sudden. ‘That's strange,' she says. Then she laughs nervously. ‘Maybe I should check my credit card. I got it through this Bank. Hold on, I'll check with the tellers at the front.'

Within a few moments, Shirley is back looking shocked. ‘Well, that is very strange,' she says.

‘What?' Gull asks.

‘The limit on my credit card has been reduced. Which means Ted and I've got exactly $22.50 to live on until my pay next week. And I've still got to buy petrol on the way home. Now how am I going to manage?' Shirley sits down suddenly on the nearest chair, her heart sinking. ‘And then there's the auction on Saturday.'

Just then, Gull looks up and catches sight of the bank manager who is on his way out. He's looking hard at Shirley, a wintry gleam in his eye. Then he strides out of the Bank with a spring in his step.

‘Shirley, you need to get me into his office.'

‘What?' Shirley murmurs, still thinking about her credit card.

‘Shirley, this is important,' she says pulling at her sleeve. ‘I need to get into the bank manager's office.'

‘But why?'

‘I have to look at the files on his computer. He must have files I can't access from here. Come on, we haven't got much time. Let's go!'

Gull stands up and starts to walk away from her desk. Shirley stops her just as she reaches the bottom of the stairs.

‘Trust me,' Gull says. Shirley looks over at the group of women huddled around the hot water urn: no one is looking their way. The next moment, Gull and Shirley are sprinting up the stairs, into the office and closing the door.

‘Hurry Gull,' Shirley says tensely as Gull clicks onto the screen.

‘Pretty untidy,' Gull mumbles to herself as she looks at the screen. ‘It's covered in files.' Rapidly, she clicks onto “view” and then onto “list”, running through files, opening some as she goes.

‘Can't you click any faster?' Shirley urges, her heart thumping. ‘I don't want to lose this job now that I've got it.'

‘There's only one I can't open,' Gull says concentrating hard. She looks around the desk.

‘What are you looking for?' Shirley asks tensely from the door.

‘A memory stick! Like a … you know, for backing up.' She opens a drawer in the desk and rummages around. ‘Ah! Here's one.'

Quickly inserting the stick, Gull drags a copy of the unopened file across to the memory stick, ejects it and heads for the door. Grabbing a shaking Shirley by the hand, they just manage to walk out of the office, down the stairs and over to Shirley's desk before Flora in a garish daffodil print glances around at them.

Inserting the stick into Shirley's computer, Gull drags the file onto the computer's desktop. ‘Have you got another one of these?' Gull whispers pointing at the stick.

Shirley walks quickly to the stationery cupboard and comes back with another memory stick. Her hands shaking, Gull transfers the file onto the new stick and erases it from the other one.

‘Back soon,' Gull whispers picking up the original stick and racing back up to the manager's office. Then, she runs over to his desk. She looks back at the name of the file and sees four initials and memorises them. Quickly, she hits “view” and “icons”. Then she opens the top drawer and drops in the new memory stick.

‘What are you doing in here?'

Chapter 12

‘Oh!' Gull gasps.
Standing at the door is the bank manager with a bright pink face. She tries to think. After what seems like an eternity, she says brightly, ‘I was just looking for the game.'

‘What game?' he says as he advances towards her menacingly.

Slowly, Gull inches back the open drawer with her knee.

‘The game you borrowed from your nephew. The er, uh …' she stumbles, “Flying Foxes”.'

‘Pigs,' he sneers at her, his wintry smile now a stark snarl.

Ooh
, Gull gulps taking a step away from the desk. I really don't like those teeth of his,
like a wolf, so sharp.

‘Yes, that one,' Gull says forcing herself to smile. ‘I can't find it.'

‘Tomorrow,' the bank manager says roughly. ‘Not today! I told Shirley I'd bring it in tomorrow.'

‘Oh, sorry,' Gull shrugs backing towards the door. ‘Wrong day.'

As he sits down at his desk, the bank manager smiles coldly at her. ‘Well, Shirley did say you were a daydreamer. So that probably explains the confusion. Don't seem to know what day of the week it is, do you? Mmm?' he adds, tilting his head slightly.

‘Guess I don't,' Gull says giving him her best absent-minded look.

‘And close the door after you,' the manager barks, his head already buried in the papers on his desk.

Grasping the door handle for support as she closes it, Gull just manages to stumble down the stairs and walk back to her desk before her legs turn to jelly.

A few minutes later, Shirley walks over to her desk with a biscuit and another steaming cup of tea.

‘Sorry, Gull. I didn't even see him walk in. So tell me, what happened? And why did you have to go back in?'

‘I had to return the memory stick,' Gull says quietly. ‘Otherwise, he may have noticed it was missing.' She tries to raise the cup to her lips but her hands are shaking too badly.

‘Well, what did you say to him? And, more importantly, what did he say to you?'

‘Oh, I just said I was looking for his dorky nephew's game he told you would be on his desk.'

‘But he's bringing it in tomorrow, not today,' Shirley says confused. ‘I told you that, remember?'

‘Yeah, that's what he said. Anyway, I gave him my best impression of a seven year old not knowing what day of the week it was. And he seemed to believe me.'

‘Sure?'

‘Hope so,' Gull gulps, finally able to sip the hot tea without shaking.

* * *

Bouncing up and down on the rim of the Harvester's giant wheel, Lucy, is on her second shift and waiting impatiently for Tom to turn up in the ute. ‘Come on, Dad,' she says again, ‘let me have a go.' She can see Harry's eyes fluttering, as he tries to stay awake.

‘'M fine,' he says jerking awake. ‘So boring, going up and down,' he mumbles. ‘Be right soon,' he yawns.

In the distance, Lucy can see the ute tearing towards them. ‘Dad,' Lucy says looking back at her father, ‘Tom's here with lunch. Let's stop and have a break.'

‘Can eat while I work,' he says blearily, staring out at the vast acres of hemp yet to be harvested.

‘Well, I can't,' she says hotly as the ute pulls up ahead of them. With one deft movement, she puts the tractor in neutral so that it rolls to a halt. Then she grabs the keys out of the ignition. ‘You have to climb down first, Dad,' she says. ‘Otherwise, I can't get down.'

‘Can't you?' he asks surprised.

Not today
, Lucy thinks.
I've got to get you off this machine somehow
.

Reluctantly, Harry slips out of his seat and down to the ground. Lucy jumps down after him. Tom is hastily setting up the vacuum flask and sandwiches on the tailgate of the ute. Harry stumbles over to the ute and sloshes the strong tea into his mug.

‘Cuppa will work wonders,' he says sleepily to Tom. Tom looks over at Lucy who shakes her head. Sitting on the tailgate, Harry sips the tea and gazes vacantly into the distance.

‘Ah, Dad, you might feel more comfortable in the front,' Tom says suddenly. He looks at Lucy. She smiles conspiratorially.

‘Right,' Harry says, slowly getting off the tailgate and walking to the passenger side of the ute. He slides into the seat and Lucy hands him his mug. She and Tom stand by the open door and watch as Harry slowly sinks into a deep sleep. Before the hot tea tips over him, Tom grabs the mug and pours it onto the ground. Quietly, Lucy closes the door and they both take their mugs to the back to the ute.

‘Guess we'll be harvesting for the rest of the day,' Tom smiles at Lucy. She grins back.

‘Guess so. We'll round up Jake, and I think there should be two of us on the Harvester at all times. Dad's more affected because he's been more exposed. But we can't take any chances.' Finishing their tea, they throw the dregs on the ground. ‘Will you be alright with Dad?' she asks as Tom climbs back behind the driver's wheel.

‘Yep. Jake can help me get Dad back to bed and then we'll both come back here to help.'

‘Right,' she says as she watches Tom expertly swing the ute around and head back towards the farmhouse.

* * *

Later that afternoon, Gull arrives back with Shirley to an eerie silence.

‘You were right, ' Gull says as Shirley puts the kettle on, ‘I would have been coming home to what feels like an empty farm. No one awake and up.'

‘Not for long, by the sounds of it,' Shirley answers as the three weary cousins stagger through the kitchen door. Then they scramble for water at the kitchen tap.