The Road Back (29 page)

‘Of course it's not real gold, but it is gorgeous. It's an Indonesian wedding necklace. It was a farewell gift from the villagers I lived with, but a bit too elaborate for me ever to wear. I think it will be great for Megan's outfit. And Chris, look how lovely these batiks are.' She stroked the soft fabric. ‘They shouldn't be hidden away, they're excellent quality, hand done, not like the mass-produced ones now. But I have no idea how I can display them.'

‘And these papers? What are they?' said Chris turning his attention to the documents at the bottom of the box.

‘Oh, I thought you might like to see them,' explained Susan. ‘I wrote to Jimmy's family after he died and that's the letter I got back in reply. And a year or so later, I can't remember exactly, Jimmy's brother wrote to me as well. That's his letter underneath. There're also some of the letters I wrote home and a few other little souvenirs from my time in Indonesia.'

‘I'd love to see these. Thanks.'

As Susan packed up the batik and other items, Chris kissed his mother good night, gathered up the letters and went to bed.

But his light stayed on for some time.

When Susan got up the next morning, Chris
had already started tapping at his computer.

‘You're working early, Chris. Inspiration in the night?' she said, putting the kettle on.

‘I don't know, but I've learned something very interesting. Mum, did you know much about Jimmy's family?'

‘They seemed like very nice people from what I gathered. They were well educated and comfortably off. Why do you ask?'

‘Well, it's this letter Jimmy's brother wrote to you after he had visited Indonesia sometime after Jimmy's death.'

‘I remember it now. He said he'd gone to see if he could find out anything else about what happened to Jimmy, but he hadn't been able to discover any more than I'd told him. Still, it was nice of him to write to let me know.'

‘You have probably forgotten Jimmy's brother's name. It was a long time ago, but Jimmy's brother has done exceedingly well for himself. He's a lot more than just comfortably off, now.' Chris picked up the letter to show to his mother. ‘Jimmy's brother is Thomas Fairfax Anderson . . .'

‘Jimmy and Tom, yes, that's right,' said Susan, as the kettle boiled.

‘Mum, Thomas Fairfax Anderson is one of America's wealthiest men and one of its most influential financiers,' Chris said, pointing at a picture of an older man on his computer screen. ‘You can't live in the States for any length of time without being aware of Thomas F. Anderson. He brokers the most incredible deals. He's behind really, really big contracts which build toll roads, airports, inner-city redevelopments. He has arranged money for film studios to develop high-tech animation. He has a finger in almost every major infrastructure development in the US, because he organises the finance. He's a major broker and he's on the Forbes list of the one hundred richest men in America. Mum, it's amazing that this man was – is – your Jimmy's brother.'

‘Heavens, Jimmy said that his brother was interested in business, but I had no idea,' said Susan, her eyebrows raised. ‘Do you think you might contact him for your book?'

‘I don't think so. After all, none of you can actually claim to have met him and he wasn't in Indonesia with you, so I don't think he's really relevant to this story. Just an amazing connection.'

Susan shrugged. ‘Never mind. Still, it is interesting.'

Later that day Susan brought out her old sewing machine to run up the sarong for Megan. She would have to take in the
kebaya
carefully by hand. After school that afternoon, Megan tried it on excitedly.

‘Please stand still, Megs. I can't get an accurate length and you don't want to trip over it. I'll put a fold at the front so you can walk easily, but it will still hug your little waist and hips.'

‘Do you think I can buy some sandals in Coffs?' Megan asked. ‘I love the pattern on this sarong, the flowers and birds. Oh, Bunny, everyone is going to be green when they see me in this! It's just beautiful. Now I can't wait for Ruby's party.' Her eyes were bright with happiness.

‘You can't wear purple and black nail varnish with the outfit, but gold nail polish would work well. Let's practise with your hairstyle a couple of times, so you can pin it up yourself.'

‘Ruby's mum will help me,' said Megan, twirling, the colours of the rich fabric shining in the lamplight. Susan smiled.

‘Now that you're definitely going to the party, have you given any thought to what to give to Ruby?' Susan asked.

Megan stopped twirling. ‘It's hard. I'll have to ask some of the others what she's into now, but that could also be pointless because I have so little money. I did think I might give her one of Jazzy's pictures. Jazzy's making these gorgeous little paintings of animals wearing flowers for clothes. In her pictures the plants are taken apart and the different pieces of the flower are made into outfits, like hats and boots and jackets, and in one picture the animals, little fat frogs, are wearing ball gowns. It's a bit hard to explain but the pictures are amazing – clever and funny. I love them. And she has the animals in silly fun situations. If I get one for Ruby, I think I'd get the one that has these cute frogs and a grasshopper dressed up in their plant outfits and shopping at the “Endangered Greengrocer's Stall”. But then again I might get the one with the animals at “The Frogs' Ball”.'

‘They sound intriguing,' said Susan. ‘How do you know about them?'

‘Jazzy puts them on Facebook. Do you want me to show you?'

Megan raced to her bedroom, returning with her laptop. ‘I've brought them up on the screen. Come and look.'

Chris and Susan peered over Megan's shoulder at Jazzy's quaint pictures.

‘Megan, these are wonderful!' said Susan.

‘They are,' said Chris, genuinely impressed by what he saw. ‘Whimsical, charming, funny, clever. I thought Jazzy would be into dark gothic art.'

‘Oh, she does that too.'

‘How do you propose to get one of these masterpieces?' Chris asked.

‘Weeeell, I thought that maybe when you do a delivery on the plateau in the next few days, you could go to Jazzy's place and pick it up for me and I could give you the money?' Megan looked beseechingly at her father.

Chris smiled at her. ‘I think I could manage that.'

*

When the Saturday of the party came around, Susan, along with David, who had arrived late the previous evening, went outside to wave Chris and Megan off. After hugging Susan tightly, Megan jumped into the car and immediately plugged in her iPod earphones.

‘Enjoy Sydney, and good luck with the agent. Are you feeling confident?' David said to Chris.

Chris put the last bag in the boot. ‘Not sure yet. I have a few ideas. Alan is a big missing piece in the puzzle, though. Cooperated for the article but now I can't get any kind of a response. I doubt he would've spoken to me at all if it hadn't been for Mum.'

‘I think you should persevere. Once he's found out that Evan, Mark and I have agreed to help with the book, he might come around.' David scratched his chin. ‘But I have to admit that Alan was always his own man. He had his own ideas and really didn't care what others thought.'

‘In what way?'

David hesitated. ‘I've always had the impression that Alan sometimes sails close to the wind in his business dealings.'

Chris looked surprised. ‘Do you know that for sure?' he asked.

‘It's only an idea, but Alan's clever and I think he finds opportunities others might have missed or he looks for loopholes in the law that no one else has thought of going through. I wouldn't like to suggest that what he does is illegal, but I've watched his
career for years and some of the things he's pulled off have surprised me.'

‘That's really interesting. I'll keep trying to make contact with him. Enjoy the weekend, both of you.' Chris slammed the boot closed and went around to the driver's side door.

‘We will. I'm planning a bit of a dinner party for tonight,' said Susan cheerfully.

‘Oh, the Landcare group. Sounds like you two have done a good job with the creek,' said Chris.

‘Drive carefully,' said Susan. ‘And give Mark my best wishes when you see him.' Then, as Chris climbed into the driver's seat and turned the key in the ignition, she and David went back into the house.

*

Shrieking and squealing, Megan and Ruby hugged as if they hadn't seen each other for years.

After he'd had coffee with Ruby's parents, Chris farewelled Megan and headed over the Harbour Bridge to Elizabeth Bay, where he checked in to a small and inexpensive hotel for the night.

Time melted away like the froth on top of their coffees as he and Georgia finished up their dinner later that evening. Chris had gone through his book proposal and Georgia had made several suggestions about the various ways of approaching it. She had talked about other recent non-fiction books and what had made them work, tossing around ideas that could be useful for Chris. Chris had made rapid notes as the meal progressed and then they'd begun to talk about other things: their jobs, working overseas and why they were drawn to their professions.

‘With Dad being in newspapers, I always seemed to have a toe in the media world,' said Georgia. ‘Our house was full of writers, journalists, even playwrights. So many of them had tales of woe about missing out on a deal or being cheated or no one understanding their work.' She gave a smile. ‘I think that's where it started for me.
I hated to see talented people not being treated with respect
or not making good business decisions because they weren't savvy enough. I have a good analytical mind, and while I can easily see the big picture, I also love the detail.'

‘I suppose you have to look at both when you're working with authors.'

‘I do indeed.' Georgia smiled and nibbled at a chocolate mint.

‘And what do you do with yourself when you're not looking after authors?' asked Chris.

‘I love photography. I like to view the world through my lens. It's my hobby. Well, my passion, to be honest.'

‘Have you produced any photographic books?' Chris asked.

‘Oh no. My work keeps me way too busy. Besides, I'd need some sort of theme, something really interesting. Here I keep seeing the same things over and over. I'm not seeing anything new.'

‘You do sound like someone who's working in the city,' laughed Chris. ‘I can tell you that moving to the country certainly slows things down. I find that I'm observing things I might not have noticed before.'

‘Smelling the roses, eh?'

‘More time to sit and look at things properly. It's good in some ways, but I'd be less than honest if I didn't confess that I miss the adrenalin rush of being on a deadline unless you count my weekly column for the
Coastal Star
.'

Georgia laughed. ‘Well, if we get a publisher interested in this book, you'll be on a deadline. Having a journalist's background, I know you'll deliver. But equally, you have to think of this not just as a news article. You need to get below the surface, explore their motivations, cause and effect. The choices they made and why, and where those choices led them. Readers are interested in what makes famous people tick.' Georgia's eyes sparkled with enthusiasm. ‘I think you should talk to as many people as you can who have been associated with these four men: entrepreneurs, top financial people, other professionals in the same field. See what they think of
them. Find a new angle that will make the world sit up and take notice.'

‘Good grief, that's a big blank canvas,' said Chris, his eyebrows raised. ‘A can of worms, as your dad would say! Challenging, but I can't wait to get my teeth into it. I just wish I had the funds to drop everything and start seriously researching right away.'

‘Let's see if we can get an advance first so that you can start to manage your time. I reckon if you can come up with something that is not already in the public arena then I'll be able to sell your book.' Georgia raised her glass. ‘Here's to you. But don't give up the day job just yet!'

They touched glasses.

‘I haven't felt this good since I arrived home from the USA expecting to head off to Bangkok,' said Chris. ‘I can't thank you enough, Georgia.'

‘I'm glad I could help.' Georgia smiled and sipped her wine.

‘Actually, Georgia, David said something to me this morning which was very interesting.' Chris explained what David had said about Alan's business dealings.

‘Really? See if you can find out if there is anything to David's suspicions. Did he say anything else?' Georgia asked.

‘Not really. He's staying at my mother's for the weekend. He's been to visit Mum a couple of times since they met up again.'

‘That's nice. Does David live near Neverend?'

‘Not exactly. He drives down from Brisbane.'

‘Well, that's a bit of a hike. He must be keen,' said Georgia with a grin.

Chris said nothing as he emptied his wineglass.

‘What's he like?' prompted Georgia.

‘Well, he's nice. Decent. Good company,' admitted Chris.

Georgia leaned back in her chair, noticing Chris's reticence. ‘But you're not happy about him?'

‘It's silly, I know, but I feel he's invading our family. I've never imagined my mother relating to a man other than my father, and I don't feel entirely comfortable with the idea. I know I'm being childish,' said Chris sheepishly.

Georgia shrugged. ‘Maybe you're just being protective. Wait till your daughter has serious boyfriends.'

‘Oh, no thank you! Thank goodness she's into horses for the moment.'