Time Will Tell (28 page)

Now she saw Gran looking quite perplexed – confused – as she handed over the jar; hardly urging her to take good care of something precious. The old lady didn't have a clue that she was essentially handing over the family jewels.

Replaying it in her mind, Gran didn't seem to know what she was doing, or even who Emily was. Why had she been so convinced that Gran had singled her out? She'd spent so long looking to the buttons for answers. How could she have been so pathetic, so naïve? Even John had seen it. He'd teased her about it. But that had made her seek the solace of the button jar even more.

Slowly the answer came to her. She'd been hearing what she wanted to hear; it was the universe protecting her during a tough time.

But the diamonds tucked in with the wooden, plastic, and metal buttons were real. What did that mean?

Nothing more than proof of some family secret that had almost gone to the grave with Gran. Emily felt like she was back at square one. Did that mean Gran had given her the jar on purpose, knowing the diamonds were in there? What if she'd just disposed of the jar, dismissed it as the lifetime's hoard of a mad old woman – like her mother would have?

And what if she did sell the diamonds – if she wasn't so damned sentimental? Emily's head spun.

No. Everything has happened the way it was meant to. I was meant to get the diamonds. I was meant to keep them and not sell them. I was meant to remember Gran's sayings. And they were meant to help me through this traumatic time.

With all the mess going on in her mind, Emily knew three things for sure: Gran was the wisest woman she'd ever met; Gran had had a great life, not regretting for a second choosing love over money and status; and she, Emily, had wasted far too much energy and time worrying about what her mother wanted and expected from her.

From now on, she thought as she turned off the main dirt road and onto John's – no,
her
– property, she was going to do her own thing; live her life her way – whatever that was.

She was feeling more buoyant as she pulled up beside the huge corrugated-iron implement shed with its six sliding doors. She got out and went over to the third door from the left and gave it a hefty tug while making a mental note to sort out some way of locking it up. And the house.

Things are going to change around here, and John can't do a damned thing about it.
It occurred to her that his parents could probably do whatever they liked, but she shook it aside.
Until I tell them, let me have this little fantasy. And maybe they won't care. Yeah, right!

Jake was standing beside her as she stared into the dark shed. Grace trotted off ahead of them, the tip of her wagging tail disappearing into the darkness. They could hear the scratch of her nails on the concrete. Emily frowned at the empty bay, and then brought a hand to her mouth.

Of course! The ute was now mangled and sitting in the wrecker's yard. How could she have forgotten? She felt her knees go weak.

‘What's wrong?' Jake asked, laying a hand on her shoulder.

Emily turned to look at him, her face white and drawn.

‘I completely forgot about the ute. I was going to swap vehicles to drive us around the farm. But John was driving it when he died. I can't believe I forgot. We'll have to do a bit more walking than I'd originally planned.'

Slowly her colour returned and she got herself together. She pulled the door closed until only a small gap remained.

‘Gracie, come on, quick, we're going now,' she called loudly. After a few moments Grace trotted out, tail bouncing, and Emily finished closing the door.

They walked the few metres back to the car in silence, Emily busy making another mental note; replace the ute.

‘Are you sure you're okay?' Jake asked when he, Emily and Grace were settled back in the car. ‘We don't have to do this if you don't want to.'

‘No, I do. I'm fine. I just got a bit of a shock.' She laughed selfconsciously. ‘Yet another one.'

Jake looked at her calmly. ‘As long as you're sure.'

‘Totally. I'm looking forward to having a good look around.' And at that point Emily realised she actually was.

It had been a couple of years since she and John had gone on a proper tour of the property; just driving around checking things out and stopping wherever took their fancy for a barbeque. Emily had put the small gas stove in the boot, but it just wasn't the same as cooking chops and sausages over real coals on an old plough disk. But you couldn't do that with the summer fire restrictions currently in force.

Another time
, she thought, pausing for a few moments to think where the plate would be located, and failing.

She started the car, turned it around, and drove back the way they'd come.

‘Looks like a nice solid old house,' Jake said, nodding at the house as they passed it.

‘It has its good points. Great kitchen, but not really a patch on where I'm living.'

‘So I suppose you'll rent it out then?'

‘I suppose so. Remind me to show you through when we get back.'

Emily paused at the end of the driveway, considering whether to go right or left. In the paddock ahead was the pile of stone from the ruined cottage, and the uprights of the half-finished hayshed. She winced at the sight.

She wondered fleetingly if the stone from the cottage could be salvaged and the structure rebuilt, before dismissing the notion as utterly ridiculous. She had to get over it; harbouring such resentment wasn't healthy. At least she didn't have to look at it every day through her kitchen window – that she couldn't bear.

‘Was that
the
cottage?' Jake asked, pointing to the rubble.

‘Yep.'

‘Sacrilegious. I'm not surprised you were devastated.'

Emily shrugged. ‘At the end of the day, it was only a cottage, I guess.'

‘She says to an architect who specialises in preserving old buildings,' Jake said, laughing. ‘It could be rebuilt, you know.'

‘Really?'

‘Of course.'

‘It'd be a pretty big job.'

‘Yes, but not impossible. You'd have to separate the useable stone from the debris, clean off the old mortar, and then you could rebuild. It would have started out as a pile of rocks in the first place.'

‘Hmm, I hadn't thought of it like that.'

Emily turned right and halted the car at the steel mesh gate into the paddock next door. She was glad when Jake leapt out of the car, saying, ‘I'll get it.' Hopefully that would mean an end to the topic of the cottage.

‘If I hadn't seen it for myself, I wouldn't have believed someone could be so spiteful,' Jake said, as he settled back into the car after shutting the gate. ‘To go to the trouble of tearing down the cottage and then put the shed nearby – not even use the site,' he said, shaking his head.

And there you have it.
Emily pursed her lips and put the car in gear.

Chapter Thirty-one

Although she was careful to take the rough track slowly, Emily cringed every time she felt the bump and thud and twang of stones underneath the car. The heavy, fertile soil John had often bragged about was also home to sharp brown rock.

‘I wonder where the stone for the cottage came from – it's not indigenous by the looks of this,' Jake said, nodding at the rough, stony track ahead of them.

‘Nearer the coast I'd reckon. We're only thirty kilometres inland. All the old cottages, schoolhouses, and churches around here are built from limestone. I guess it was easier for the early settlers to come by.'

‘It's certainly easier to work with,' Jake replied. ‘Often just a matter of plonking a rock in and filling up the gaps with mortar. And it's easy to break if you need it smaller. The iron in this stuff was probably too difficult to work with back then,' he added, again nodding at the track. ‘Wow, it's a lot more undulating than it looks.'

Emily turned the corner of the paddock and drove alongside the dense scrub, beyond which rose a small range of hills. She stopped the car about halfway along the paddock where a narrow track disappeared into the scrub – a path worn smooth over many years by sheep making their way down onto the flat to graze or drink from the trough against the road.

‘Sorry, we'll have to walk from here. Bring your camera,' she added, turning off the car and getting out. ‘Gracie, you stay right here beside me,' she commanded with a point to her leg. The dog immediately fell in alongside.

Emily felt pleased to be showing Jake around. Gone was the unease she'd felt in the car. This really was an exciting new beginning. She indicated for him to go first, and held back enough so she wouldn't get hit in the face with tree branches.

She remembered the day John had brought her here; proud to be showing off his little piece of paradise.

She felt a similar pride, though she reminded herself that
her
little piece of paradise was the twenty acres twenty kilometres or so back over to the west. This was just an asset she would have to decide what to do with. Would Thora and Gerald demand she hand it over to them? Could they?

About a kilometre in, the scrub opened up into a lush clearing with a natural soak and a small creek running through it. Up here there was still a trickle of fresh water, unlike the dry creek bed where the cottage had been.

Emily tramped along in silence, lost in her own thoughts, reminding Grace to stay beside her every so often. She had no idea where on the property the sheep were, and she didn't want to disturb them.

‘Wow, this is gorgeous,' Jake whispered, stopping at the edge of the trees. ‘Look.' He indicated forwards with his head.

Ahead of them were about a dozen kangaroos, lying stretched out in the sun.

‘Grace, stay,' she hissed. The dog was crouched low beside her, her tail still.

Jake carefully put down his bag, squatted, and removed his camera.

The kangaroos were now flicking their ears back and forth – their presence had been detected. A couple of them lifted their heads and looked directly at them. Jake would have to be quick if he was going to capture this.

He began clicking away, and continued as one by one the kangaroos got up and then slowly and gracefully hopped away into the scrub and out of sight. They didn't seem too startled, just not at ease with human company.

‘I won't be allowed to say this once I become a landowner – farmers and wildlife aren't supposed to get along – but aren't they majestic creatures?'

‘Gorgeous,' Jake said, nodding.

‘I hope you got some good shots.'

‘Certainly did,' he said, standing up. ‘Here, have a look.' They leant in together to look in the viewfinder.

Emily was impressed with what he'd taken, but was distracted by his proximity.
God, he smelled good!

‘I don't know how you think you're going to top this spot,' Jake said after he'd put away his camera. He wrapped his arms around her. They kissed while Grace snuffled around in the scents left by the kangaroos.

‘Shall we keep going?' Emily asked after they had regained their breath.

‘Sure. I'd like to see how it looks from the other side,' Jake said. He set off, skirting the natural clearing. Emily followed with Grace trotting beside her.

‘How far back does the property go?' Jake asked. ‘

About the same distance as back to the car and across a few kilometres. I'm not very good with distances. It's around four thousand acres all up, but only half of that is on this side of the road. Come on; I'll show you as much as I can – we'll find somewhere for our barbeque along the way.'

‘Surely there's nowhere else as picturesque as this,' Jake said, as they started walking back.

‘You'll just have to wait and see.' She grinned. The spot she had in mind would take his breath away. He'd seen the oasis-type settings so far – David and Barbara's and now hers – so it was time for something different.

It felt odd thinking of the property as hers. Though, technically speaking, it had been hers while she'd been married. Not that John had ever let her feel that it was.

After returning to the car, they continued around the property until they could see the back of the house and surrounding sheds in the distance. They had come full circle after going through a number of steel mesh gates and quite a few of the much more difficult and dangerous wire or ‘cocky' versions. Between them they had managed to get the notoriously tricky gates opened and closed without injury.

Again they parked near the scrub at the base of a rise. Emily unloaded the boot and between them they carried the esky, small gas barbeque and bottle, and a backpack containing a ziplock bag of dog biscuits, a large bottle of water, two dog bowls, cutlery, hard plastic plates, and a tartan picnic rug.

Grace raced ahead and disappeared off into the scrub. The hill was quite steep and a little rocky, so they stayed silent while they watched their feet and tried not to appear out of breath. When they got to the top, the view was just as beautiful as she remembered it.

Stretching out before them were miles and miles of farmland and scrub. The patchwork of browns, greens and pale yellows looked like a magnificent quilt. In the distance, the farmland gave way to a wide strip of pure white sandhills, announcing the rich blue-green of the Spencer Gulf.

They were blessed with a cool, clear day. The white-painted grain silos were clearly visible, stretching up and seeming to join the cobalt blue sky with the farmland and the nearby ocean. The first time Emily had seen this view she'd marvelled at how it seemed to encompass the whole cycle of farming life.

‘My God. It's beautiful. I didn't think you could top the oasis earlier, but bloody hell!' Jake said in a breathy voice.

Emily grinned at him. ‘Glad you like it.'

Jake got out his camera and began frantically snapping away as if he was concerned the view might disappear at any moment. Emily smiled. He was like a kid let loose in a candy store.