Vic and Jane set off the weekend before Christmas. The car was packed with their camping gear as they had decided to find places along the way in the mountains to camp, to treat this trip as their own holiday, done in easy stages, before they came to the farm.
Last night Vic had called Anne again, told her of their approximate plans, three easy days of driving, coming around the back of the mountains and avoiding the big cities of Sydney and Brisbane, the first night camping in the New England, in a national park at the back of Armidale, the second night between the Hunter Valley and Mudgee, at the back of the Blue Mountains, and arriving in the middle of the third day. He had an address and directions from Lithgow to David’s family’s farm.
They were three wonderful days, swimming in crystal clear mountain pools, giving the children swimming lessons, teaching them to dog paddle and stay afloat without help. They climbed hillsides and waterfalls with panoramic views, cooked on an open fire and enjoyed the music of birds and glimpses of wildlife. They went walking in the night with a torch, picking out forest animal eyes, possums and gliders in the trees, wallabies and native cats on the ground, frogs that croaked in the creeks. They made love in the night under star filled skies and in the dawn as the first birds called.
Part of them both wanted to keep driving, with just themselves’ for company, forever, to postpone the day of the meeting. But it must happen. It was the only way forward. Vic hoped it was the start of a return to a life in the open, an end of hiding. But he understood and shared Jane’s terror of it all coming apart.
Jane had her hair cut short, almost boyish looking and a bit hippy, with red blond colours and streaks. Thea had helped her with this, entering into the spirit of the game of a new Jane. Part of Vic hated to lose his familiar partner but he knew it was for the best and she still looked great.
Each new version of her was like a new girl emerging from the old, Vic told her it was sexy getting to make love to a different looking her. Jane was happy that he found her alluring and exciting. The children complained but within a day they were used to their new look Mum.
Two days before Christmas, at the time for lunch, they drove up the road towards a grand farmhouse, nestled into a hollow in the hills, high mountains rising behind and an elegant formal garden in front. The road wound through lush green fields with cows, sheep and horses gazing. A sign on the farm gate told Vic they had arrived.
With no one in sight, as they pulled up, Vic tooted the horn, and then reached over and squeezed Jane’s hand to feed reassurance to her anxious eyes. Anne came bounding out, saw her friend sitting in the front seat and, without pause, ran over to her, pulled open the door and pulled her out. As she did a light went on in Jane’s eyes, she knew one person from before. She hugged her friend as tears streamed down her face.
She said, “I don’t know how I know you but I do. It is so good to see someone that I know I know, even if I can’t remember from when. I think that, maybe, you were my friend when I was little at school though it seems like such a long time ago.”
Anne nodded, tears in her eyes too, “Yes, we first became friends at the start of High School. We were both twelve when we met. It does seem like a long time since then.”
Following a few steps behind were three other people, her mother and her father and her brother. Again Jane did not know how she knew them, she did not remember them, but she knew them in some way. It was not the picture they sent her. It was something more primal. She knew, without knowing why, that they were family, they were of her and she was of them.
She ran to them and hugged them, “Mum, Dad, Tim,” she said as she wrapped her arms round them.
They hugged her back.“Em, our own dearest daughter, our Susan Emily”
She pulled back and looked puzzled. “I must be mistaken, I thought I knew you but my name is Jane. I don’t know any Emily or Susan. She looked like she might run away, in fear at having made a terrible mistake.
“Of course, our daughter’s name is Jane; Susan and Emily are her pet names from another life,” her father said. “You are our daughter Jane. You have that same imp smile you did from when you were a little girl.”
Jane still looked uncertain, but the fear on her face receded.
Her father continued, “I remember you when you used to ride on my shoulders, when you were the same size as these two little monkeys here,” as he looked to where two small children and a man still sat seated in the car.
She nodded and walked back to the car, lifting out the two children and looking for Vic to come with her. He picked up David and she picked up Anne. They carried them to where the others were standing.
Now the circle had been joined by David and his parents.
David took over and did the formal introductions, saying, “Mr and Mrs McDonald, I would like you to meet my good friend Vic Campbell and his partner, Jane Bennet, with her children, David and Anne. They are visiting for a few days and staying in the cottage down by the creek.”
Everyone shook hands and exchanged formal greetings.
David’s father followed on. “Actually we were about to sit down for lunch. We set extra places in the hope that you might arrive soon. Why don’t you come inside and join us. After lunch David will show you to the cottage where you are staying.”
As they walked inside, Tim came alongside Jane, linking his arm to hers. He whispered in her ear. “You may not remember us properly but I sure as hell remember you. Wait until I start telling all the others of all the things we used to get up to when we were little together, Sis.”
Jane found herself grinning back at him and said, “If you tell on me I will tell on you, Bro. I don’t remember lots but I do remember some things I am sure you don’t want told.” If not quite true it would soon be, she thought.
A wonderful week passed. They swam in the dams and creeks; they walked in the fields and the forests. The children had unlimited attention from so many others, always willing to play a game or listen to them.
Despite initial intentions of secrecy from the staff who worked on the property it was soon clear this could not be sustained, there was too much unconscious behaviour and affection between Jane, Anne, her parents and her children for this to ever work, little David and Anne were shouting out Grandma and Grandpa each time they saw them.
So David talked to the cook, the gardener and the general station hand, who were working while they were staying over. He explained the situation to them and the need for no talk of this to leave here.
They all readily agreed and he knew he could trust them. They had all worked here for years and were close family friends as much as employees. So, after this, they really could be a family together again and from then on they spent most of their time in each other’s company.
Jane and Vic went riding across the farm, helping to move the sheep and cattle from paddock to paddock. Jane particularly loved this; she found she had a natural affinity for horses and balance in riding. Even though she could not remember her lessons as a child the knowledge had stuck. Typical riding parties were Tim, David, Vic, Anne, Jane, and the station hand, while the children would do things with their grandparents. David joked that they had so many horsemen they could muster a thousand head, not the tens and hundreds in their paddocks. But the riding gave them time and outdoor space to discover the world and each other, broken by bursts of wild galloping up and down mountain trails, the wind whipping their faces.
Jane confided in Vic on the second night. “I don’t know why I was scared. It is so wonderful to be back with my family again and also with Anne. I only have the occasional memory of being a little girl with my Mum and Dad and brother, and I remember a few things with Anne in first year High School. But it is enough. I feel like I have a past and belong somewhere again.”