Kim yawned and scratched her nose. She might be half-asleep, but she still knew what day it was. Daisy day.
Jake poked his head in. ‘I can’t find Dusty. He wasn’t in my room when I woke up.’
Kim rubbed sleep from her eyes and checked the time. Eight o’clock. ‘He probably got sick of waiting, and took himself for a walk. You should get up earlier.’ It had been an unseasonably warm night for late June, and she’d left the back door open to catch the breeze. Dusty had long since learned to open the screen door for himself.
She fell back on the pillow, still tired. It had been a late night: cooking, cleaning, making sure everything was perfect for Daisy’s arrival at lunchtime. There was still plenty to do. Sweep. Make up mattresses on the floor for Grace and Stuart. Put clean sheets on the bed in the side verandah room for Daisy.
Abbey came in, sleepy-eyed and clutching Percy, something she didn’t do so much anymore. She climbed into bed with Kim and snuggled close. ‘I want to go back to sleep, so when I wake up, Grace will already be here.’
How very Abbey. On Christmas Eve she always wanted to go to bed at lunchtime, to make Santa come more quickly.
‘None of that.’ Kim wrapped her arms around her daughter, inhaling the sweet scent of her silky curls. ‘You’ve got to help me get things ready.’
‘Can we make chocolate crackles? They’re Grace’s favourite.’
‘Of course we can,’ said Kim, tickling Abbey into peals of musical laughter.
‘Does this mean you and Daisy are friends again?’
‘We were always friends,’ said Kim.
‘Grace says you weren’t. Grace says you and her mum had a fight.’
Kim sat up, facing Abbey, who hugged her knees to her chest. ‘Remember that time when Grace stayed the night and hid Percy in the laundry cupboard when it was time to go to bed?’
Abbey nodded solemnly, and snatched Percy up from the pillow. ‘She thought it was funny.’
‘But you’re still friends, right, even though she made you sad by hiding something that meant a lot to you? Even though you were mad at her for a while?’
Abbey twirled a finger in her hair. ‘Did Daisy hide your wine?’
Kim smiled. The sheer enormity of her love for Abbey threatened to overwhelm her. ‘Never mind. Let’s get chocolate crackling.’
It was past two o’clock when Daisy’s silver Tarago bumped its way up the long driveway. Abbey, who’d been waiting down by the gate, had hitched a ride to the house. She and Grace tumbled from the car, laughing and talking over each other.
‘Those two have certainly taken up where they left off,’ said Daisy.
Kim stepped forward and gave her a long, heartfelt hug. ‘Remind me to never argue with you again.’
Jake and Stu were more circumspect. They greeted one other with grunts, then stood around, eyeing each other off as Daisy unloaded an unnecessary number of bags.
Stu looked around. ‘Where’s your dog?’
Kim looked up. ‘Hasn’t Dusty come home yet?’ Jake shook his head. A worm of concern turned in her stomach. It wasn’t like the pup to wander away for so long. ‘Why don’t you take Stu and go have a look for him?’
Jake nodded. ‘There’s an old tractor,’ he told Stu. ‘And a grader. Want to see?’ The boys went off, side by side. Kim felt a lump rise in her throat as she watched them go.
Daisy touched her arm. ‘Now that’s a sight for sore eyes. Stu’s really missed Jake, although he’d never admit it. He could hardly sleep last night.’
‘Jake was the same.’ Kim laughed. ‘To tell you the truth, so was I.’ She gave Daisy another hug. ‘Come on. Let’s get your stuff inside.’
Kim showed Daisy where to put the bags, and gave her a tour of the house.
‘Oh, look at this wallpaper,’ Daisy said as they moved through the hallway with the silver banksia print. The two women stood in front of Connor’s mural in Abbey’s room for a long time, Daisy with a soft hand on Kim’s arm.
‘Kim, this place is so very you.’
It didn’t hurt to look at the mural anymore; it hadn’t for a long time. As they went back to the kitchen, Kim felt light and free. Ben would be here soon, and she was looking forward to showing him off. She could hear a car slowing on Bangalow Road, and then making the turn.
But when she went outside to see, it wasn’t Ben. An ancient Dodge truck was parked in the drive. Kim’s stomach lurched. The body of a black and tan dog was strung up to the back of the tray by its hind legs. Its plumed tail hung down, hiding its face. Half-a-dozen foxes and three huge tabby cats dangled beside it. A foul odour wafted towards her.
A man in a blue singlet leaned out of the driver’s window, smoking a cigarette. Lean face, pockmarked with scars, eyes almost hidden by a grimy bush hat. ‘Afternoon, love. Just shot this dingo down by the creek. Better keep an eye out. Where there’s one of these buggers, there’s bound to be more.’ He flicked his ash onto the ground. ‘I could do a bit of shooting on your place, if you like.’
Ben’s car came into sight. He parked behind the pick-up, and got out, taking in Kim’s ashen face and the bloody bodies in the truck. ‘What’s going on here?’
‘I was telling your missus . . .’
‘Mum?’ Jake and Stu came round the corner of the house, and stopped dead. Dusty trotted at their heels, and Kim’s legs went wobbly with relief.
‘Take Dusty inside and give him a feed,’ she said.
Jake frowned and pointed to the truck. ‘Who’s that?’
‘Just take him inside, quickly.’
Jake hesitated. He set his jaw as if he was ready to argue, but the urgency in her voice finally had the desired effect. Dusty and the boys left.
Ben went over and leaned on the tray of the truck. ‘Where’d you shoot that feller?’
The driver managed to talk without letting the cigarette fall from his lips. ‘About a hundred metres from your front gate, mate.’
Kim tried to avert her eyes from the dingo, but couldn’t. It looked like Dusty. Larger and heavier, true, but nobody seeing the two of them together would miss the resemblance. ‘We have young children here. I don’t want them upset, so . . .’
The pick-up driver flipped his butt out the window. ‘Just trying to be neighbourly, love. A “thank you” wouldn’t go astray.’
Kim stepped forward. If he wanted thanks for killing the dingo, quite possibly trespassing to do so, he had another thing coming. Ben moved to diffuse the situation. ‘Better go, mate. A house full of city kids – you know how it is.’
The man cast her a last baleful glance, grunted something incomprehensible, and wound up the window. The truck rattled and swayed off down the drive.
‘Who on earth was he?’
‘A fox scalper. Professional shooter. He’ll make a few bucks selling those skins.’
Kim shuddered. ‘What sort of person does that?’
Ben wrapped strong, comforting arms around her. ‘It takes all kinds. You said yourself that foxes and cats are wiping out the wildlife. He’s doing you a favour.’
‘If you’d thanked him, I would have slapped you.’
Ben laughed. ‘I guessed as much.’ The clean, fresh smell of his aftershave cut through the stink lingering in her nostrils. ‘He thought we were hitched, you know,’ said Ben. ‘Called you my missus.’ He kissed her lightly on the mouth. ‘Perks of marriage.’
‘Oh really,’ she said.
Neither of them moved. She could easily have leaned in, touched his lip with her fingers. Did she want to kiss him back? Yes and no. She wished she could figure out her feelings. An image of Taj flickered into her mind, unbidden. She chased it away, and then took a step backwards. Had Daisy been watching through the window? The kiss could take some explaining.
‘Thanks for getting rid of him.’ Her voice was deliberately casual. ‘I owe you. Now come and meet my friend.’
Ben was a hit with Daisy and her kids, as Kim knew he would be. Grace, unlike Abbey, was endlessly amused by him. He pulled a dollar from behind her ear, did a clever card trick, and knew what colour crayon she picked from a box, just by feeling it behind his back.
‘I run my finger along the wax to get a bit of colour under my nail,’ he confessed to Kim in a whisper.
‘Do that trick again with Abbey,’ demanded Grace, ‘to prove it wasn’t a fluke.’
But when they turned around, Abbey wasn’t there. She’d probably run off with Dusty somewhere.
‘I’ll find her,’ said Kim, and slipped down to the sheds. It would give her a chance to ring Taj and tell him about the scalper. But when she tried, there was no reception. Damn these mountains and their dead spots.
She found Abbey and Dusty, sitting together on a broken bale in the old hay shed.
‘What’s wrong, sweetie?’
‘Is Ben still here?’
Kim sat down beside her. ‘He’s staying for a barbeque.’
Abbey snuggled close and peered at her mother, her eyes like searchlights. ‘Do you like him – the way you like Daddy, I mean?’
‘No, darling. Not the way I like Daddy. But I do like him a lot.’
‘I don’t.’
‘Why is that?’ asked Kim. ‘Has he ever done anything to hurt you, to make you feel uncomfortable?’
‘No.’
‘Then what?’
‘He’s devious,’ said Abbey.
‘Devious?’ Kim smiled. ‘Do you even know what that means?’
‘Of course I do. Don’t patronise me, Mum.’
Kim suppressed her smile. What did she ever do to deserve a child like this? ‘Okay, then – tell me exactly how Ben is devious.’
‘He cheats at magic. You know that disappearing coin trick? He sneaks it into his other hand. I saw him.’
‘That’s not cheating. That’s an optical illusion. All magicians do it. It’s just some are cleverer at getting away with it than others.’
Abbey pouted and kicked the ground. ‘Well, I still don’t trust him. Neither does Dusty.’
Kim pondered the best way to lure her daughter back to the party. ‘Grace will be looking for you. How about we go up to the house and you can show her how we feed the joeys?’ Abbey’s stubborn mouth relaxed a little. She was wavering.
‘Can we have bowls of ice-cream with Milo?’
‘Yes.’
‘And can we scrunch up chocolate crackles and sprinkle them on top?’
Kim frowned. ‘You drive a hard bargain, but okay.’
Dusty’s ears pricked up; a moment later his tail was furiously wagging. Abbey cocked her own head to the side, listening with a very dog-like expression. ‘Taj is here.’ The girl and dog ran off.
Taj. That solved the problem of trying to ring him. Kim wandered after the pair under the afternoon sky, a sky almost white with clouds. What would he make of the scalper’s visit? Of the dead dingo that looked so much like Dusty?
Kim was surprised to discover Taj and Daisy deep in conversation on the verandah. Stuart was listening in, while Jake hovered nearby. Kim had to tap Daisy to get her attention.
‘Daisy, can I steal Taj for a bit?’
‘Righto. I’ll go talk to Ben instead. Here I was feeling sorry for you. Worrying you’d be lonely, living way out here all by yourself. Turns out you’re up to your ears in handsome, eligible men.’ Daisy winked at her. ‘You’re a dark horse, Kim Sullivan.’
Kim felt the beginnings of a blush, made a face and a shooing gesture with her hands.
‘Okay, okay. I’m going.’
‘There’s good news.’ Taj glanced around, making sure they were alone. ‘The pack has moved back up to the original release site. Either something frightened them or the wild dog has led them away.’
‘Have you seen it, this new dingo?’
‘An older female. Tawny with a limp. Joining them will save her life, and perhaps the lives of them all. She offers them native-born wisdom and they offer the protection of a pack.’
Kim told him about the fox scalper and the dead dingo. ‘It looked just like Dusty.’
‘His father, I think,’ said Taj. ‘Did anybody else see?’
‘Everybody saw. Well, not the girls, thank god. They were in the house with Daisy.’
‘Ben too?’
She nodded, and a shadow crossed his face. ‘We must hope the dingoes remain up near the park. I will leave them a kill twice a week again, to encourage them to stay.’ Taj’s eyes darted to the door, and he put a forefinger to his lips.
Ben was strolling down the verandah towards them, a curious gleam in his eye. ‘What are you two in a huddle about?’
Kim shot him a nervous smile, although she had no idea why. Ben already knew about the dingoes.
‘Will you stay for the barbeque, Taj?’ She didn’t expect him to say yes. He didn’t spend his downtime at her place anymore. But this was proving to be a day of surprises.
‘Thank you, yes.’
The pleasant afternoon wore on. Food was plentiful and delicious. Beer and wine flowed freely. The clouds began to clear, revealing the cool blue sky. Jake and Stu were soon laughing and joking as if they’d never been apart. They began building a tree house in the old willow peppermint. Abbey and Grace were in their element with the animals, and Kim couldn’t stop smiling at Daisy. Everybody appeared to be enjoying themselves.
Yet there was an undeniable undercurrent of tension between the two men. Abbey wasn’t the only one stonewalling Ben today. Taj was guilty too. Nothing overt. Kim sensed it in the odd, scathing glance. In the hostile set of his shoulders when the two by chance bumped into one another. In the sarcastic curl of his lip when Ben told a funny story about his latest property deal.
Not that Ben was innocent either. It could have been an accident of course, but he overcooked Taj’s steak and then dropped it on the ground when passing it over. Ben speared the meat with a fork, dusted it off and handed it to Taj. ‘It’ll be okay, won’t it, mate? You’ll have had worse back home.’
A friendly game of backyard cricket warped into something else as Taj stepped up to the rubbish-bin wicket. He whacked Ben’s first ball, an attempted yorker, high and long towards the trees.
‘Watch out for snakes,’ said Daisy, as the boys hared after it.
He struck the second ball hard back at Ben who managed to parry it away.
‘Ooh, dropped,’ the boys sang out.
Ben’s next ball flew fast and straight at Taj’s face. He couldn’t react in time, and the tennis ball thumped into his ear.
‘Sorry, mate,’ said Ben. ‘She slipped.’
‘No ball,’ called Stu. ‘Above waist height. Free hit.’
Kim walked over, picked up the ball and put it in her coat pocket. ‘I think perhaps that’s enough cricket for today.’
Almost midnight. Taj and Ben had gone home, and the kids were in bed. Kim sat with Daisy out on the verandah. The moon hung in the sky – a giant lantern, beaming bright above the trees. The night was quiet, apart from the rhythmic hooting of an owl, and the soft flutter of Bogong moths against the kitchen window. A half-empty bottle of red wine stood between them on an upturned milk crate. They nursed their glasses. A little drunk, enjoying being together without anybody else around.
‘I had no idea how beautiful it was here,’ said Daisy. ‘No wonder you want to stay.’
Moonlight through the firewheel tree was working its magic, casting patterns in the shape of butterflies and birds on the wall.
‘It’s beautiful all right.’
‘But there’s something I don’t understand. You’re with Ben now, right?’
‘No . . . well yes, sort of.’ She’d been expecting this interrogation, but even so, Kim’s face flushed with warmth. ‘We’re taking it slowly.’
Daisy’s eyes gleamed darkly in the moonlight. Kim tried to read her expression. No, surely not. Was that disapproval she saw?
‘I don’t get it,’ said Kim. ‘For months you tell me, Go out. Have some fun, Stop moping around.’
Daisy giggled. ‘I wasn’t quite as insensitive as that, was I?’
‘And then when I finally put my toe in the water . . . What gives?’
‘Don’t read me wrong,’ said Daisy. ‘I’m proud of you, I really am. It’s just —’
‘What?’
‘You’ve got the wrong man.’
‘I thought you liked Ben?’
‘I do. I like him because he’s funny, charming and gob-smackingly handsome.’ She pretended to swoon. ‘Don’t tell Steve I said that, by the way. But my question is, why do you like him?’
‘Well, I suppose for all the reasons you just mentioned.’ Kim’s head was swimming, and not just from the wine. This conversation had taken a decidedly unexpected turn.
‘I don’t think so,’ said Daisy. ‘Those reasons wouldn’t wash for you. They might be the icing on the cake, but they wouldn’t be enough by themselves.’
‘Okay, miss psychology professor. Why do you think I like him?’
‘You really want me to tell you?’
Kim swigged the last of her wine, and poured herself another. ‘Hmm. Let me see – yes.’
‘You like Ben, because . . . ’ Daisy sipped her wine, seemed lost in thought. ‘Because he reminds you of Connor and because he pays attention to Jake. You don’t feel so guilty about Jake not having his father when Ben’s around.’
Kim laughed: a high, nervous laugh to hide how thrown she was. ‘Don’t be ridiculous. There’s more to it than that.’
‘Tell me, then. Tell me why you like Ben?’
‘Like you said, he’s funny and good-looking.’
‘And?’
‘And —’ Kim stopped short. She couldn’t think of anything else to say.
Daisy topped up her glass. ‘Here, I’ll help you. What do you guys have in common?’
‘Well, he lives next door.’
‘Very funny. Is he interested in plants, for instance? Does he love dogs? Does he help you with your orphans? Is he a nerd, like you, or a mad reader? Is he artistic at all?’
‘I’m not artistic.’
‘Maybe you don’t have any talent yourself —’
‘Thanks, Daise.’
‘But you like looking at arty things. Remember all those galleries you dragged me round? Carvings and sculptures and things? You’re a culture vulture, Kim. Is Ben like that?’
‘Jesus Christ, I’ve only just started seeing him’
‘And I only just met him today,’ said Daisy, ‘but I can tell you, he’s not. I know somebody who is though. Taj, that’s who.’
‘You’re drunk.’
Daisy thought about it for a while. ‘Yes. Yes, I am.’ They both burst out laughing. Daisy finished her wine, and stood up, a little unsteadily. ‘I’m turning in.’
‘Goodnight, Daisy, and thank you.’
‘What for?’
‘For ringing me when I was too stupid and stubborn to ring you. For calling me a nerd, and saying I have no artistic talent.’
Daisy started giggling again. ‘Any time, mate. Now I’m going to bed.’
Kim smiled, feeling giddy, surrendering to the red wine buzz. How she loved having Daisy back in her life. Daisy with her unbridled enthusiasm, her wacky sense of humour, her zany ideas. Crazy Daisy, Connor used to call her. Crazy in the nicest way, but crazy just the same. She hadn’t changed.
Kim lifted up the bottle of wine. Empty. Just as well, she’d have a headache in the morning as it was.
Kim picked up the empty glasses, took them to the kitchen and piled them with the rest of the dirty dishes. She peeked into Abbey’s room; the girls were fast asleep, so beautiful when they were sleeping. In the boys’ room, Dusty was stretched out beside Jake, their heads together on the pillow. Stu was on the floor, one foot out of the doona, the way he’d always slept. It was so good to see Grace and Stu again.
Dusty opened his eyes and wagged his tail. She crept in, meaning to make him get down. But the beseeching look in his big brown eyes melted her resolve. She kissed Dusty and Jake on the head. ‘Goodnight, boys.’
Kim got undressed, leaving her clothes in a pile on the floor. Shivering, she pulled on pyjamas and dived beneath the doona. The old bed had never felt so comfy. But despite her weariness and all the wine, sleep would not come. That last tipsy conversation kept coming back. Why was she with Ben if they had nothing much in common? That was the question Daisy had asked her, wasn’t it? It was all mixed up in her mind. Or maybe that wasn’t it. Maybe the real question was, if they had nothing much in common, why did Ben want to be with her?