CHAPTER SEVEN

‘Strewth she’s dry,’ said Nick, kicking at the cracked paddock.

‘Did you just say strewth?’ said Rob.

‘Yeah.’

‘Thought so.’

Nick gave the ground another kick. ‘I don’t want to pressure you,’ he said, ‘but we need to make a decision about the water. Whether we’re applying to Council separately or together.’

‘You know it’s just to keep their paper-pushers busy.’

‘Okay, but the thing is, mate, the law’s changing whether we like it or not. We’ll have to come up with a rationing plan. Prepare an assessment of environmental effects.’ He cocked his head at the glittering ribbon that wound down the hillside, through the tussock and the speargrass: the old water race cut by gold miners, though there was no gold these days. ‘You can’t rely on wild flooding any more.’

‘It’s worked all right for a hundred and forty years.’

‘Like I said, I don’t want to pressure you, but you know you’ll have to install irrigation. Why not start pricing it out, at least? So you can talk to the bank?’

‘How much did it cost you?’

Nick sucked in his breath. ‘Thirty-five, forty thousand per hectare, from memory. But yours might not be that much.’

‘I better start digging for gold.’

‘It’s an investment, for sure. All I’m saying is, don’t leave it too late.’

Rob unhooked the gate to the rams’ paddock and let Nick in, then shut it again behind them. The rams paused in their chewing.

‘You can’t let them see the ewes till it’s time for them to do the business,’ said Rob. ‘Otherwise they get too hot under the collar. Try to bash through the fence.’

‘We’ve all been there, mate,’ said Nick. ‘They’re good-looking girls, eh?’

Rob ignored him and strapped a harness on each animal.

‘Whoa,’ said Nick. ‘Whatever you’re into.’ He bent down for a closer look at one of them. Leaned in to peer at its chest. ‘What’s with the block of red crayon?’

‘It rubs against the ewe when he serves her, so we can see where he’s been and what he’s done. Different colour for each ram.’

‘Romantic,’ said Nick.

‘I’d stand up if I were you, mate,’ said Rob.

The rain started as I followed them down to the house – true rain, lasting rain, whipping against my wings – and Rob threw back his head and howled at the sky.

‘It’s been rough on you, mate,’ said Nick, but Rob just laughed.

‘That’s what I call irrigation,’ he said. ‘And it’s all free.’

The first time I saw him hit her was not the first time he hit her. So I learned, so I gleaned. That was also how houses worked. One night in the dead of winter he came in from the farm and drank and drank and drank. He sat with his head in his hands. He said, ‘We’re so far in the red we’ll never get out. We can’t keep making a loss. You chose the wrong man. You married a loser.’ Marnie fluttered around him, no no no, and don’t be silly, and it’s just a bit of a downturn, and we’re in it for the long haul. Then he drank some more and then he staggered to the dining table and said, ‘Are those oven fries? How much did they cost? Can’t you cut up a fucking potato?’ His hand a rock against her jaw. His face a monster’s face. Plates upside down on the floorboards, tomato sauce spattering the table leg, the pepper grinder rolling all the way to the hall where I watched with my left eye and did nothing. Was it some kind of mating dance? Some kind of male display? But I knew. I knew. She lay on the floor and made no sound. That’s what I remember. He lay in his TV chair and turned on the TV, and the TV said Thirty percent off all pots and pans and twenty percent off everything storewide, but only till Sunday. Rush in now and save.

The next day was a Lynette’s Gowns and Casualwear day, and Marnie’s jaw was purple-black, red-black, and I could see where Rob had been and what he’d done.

Rob said, ‘There’s a dead ewe in the haybarn paddock. Nick’s going to help me chuck her in the gut hole. Bit of a taste of real farm life for him.’

‘Don’t be cruel,’ said Marnie.

The rain started to rattle down on the roof and Rob gulped his coffee and said, ‘I better get going or she’ll be twice as heavy.’ He pressed out two white pills from a silver sheet and gulped them too. Touched the plate of honey toast he’d made for Marnie. ‘Aren’t you hungry, babe?’

‘Hurts to chew.’

‘Shit, I’m sorry. Do you want some yoghurt instead? Or some porridge? I’ll make you some porridge, eh?

‘No thanks.’

‘Or scrambled eggs? What about scrambled eggs? Marnie?’

‘Hurts to talk.’

‘Shit. Sorry. Shit.’

‘Rush in now and save,’ I said, but they paid me no attention.

‘I don’t even remember doing it,’ said Rob. He held his hand above Marnie’s head, to stroke her, to strike her. ‘It’s like I turn into someone else.’

In the cramped bathroom the water trickled down the walls and windowpane, pooled on the rotting sill, and the rusty heater breathed out its rusty breath. I sat on the lip of the bath and preened a wing, and Marnie wiped the mirror until she could see herself. She made a space among the bottles and tubes for her phone and found a young woman inside it whose eye was purple-black, red-black. Then she tapped the phone and the woman began to talk, and the woman said, ‘Hi there beautiful people! So, you have a black eye, or a bruise in a really like obvious place. Maybe you’ve had some injectables, like some fillers, or maybe you’ve had a nose job, and you’re left with some discoloration, and you don’t want to stay cooped up at home until it heals, right? Okay, so stick around and I’ll show you how to make it disappear like magic. So the first thing I’m going to say is that most girls rely on just one product and expect it to fix everything. Big mistake. You need like a whole range of ammo for this kind of problem, so don’t be afraid to use more than one corrector. Okay. To start with you need to figure out the right shade to neutralise the bruise. I’m going to go ahead and add a little orangeish-yellow eyeshadow on top of mine. This is the Urban Decay palette I’m using here. If it’s more purple then you want to choose yellow, if it’s more blue then you want to go with orange. Make sure you use a light touch. Like a feather touch. You might want to try your pinky finger, or a beauty bullet which you wear like a finger. I prefer the Beautyblender sponge, because it’s aqua-activated and non-toxic and gives an airbrushed look. Now I’m going to take some Eve Pearl Dual Salmon Concealer, the lighter colour, and I’m going to dab it over the affected area to neutralise it even further. Okay. See how it’s starting to like disappear? Okay. Now I’m taking Hard Candy’s Full Coverage Concealer, and this time I’m going in with like a really small dense brush, and I’m really packing it into the bruise now, but remember, not too much pressure. Watch out for ashiness – if you’re starting to look ashy, go a little darker. Now I’m taking some powder, just like whatever from the drugstore is fine if that’s all you have, but I’m using Kat Von D Beauty Lock-It Setting Powder to give the best result, which is cruelty-free. I’m going to go ahead and brush it on, lightly, lightly, and this will set everything in place so it doesn’t budge, and it also uses micro-blurring technology. And there you have it: invisible. Gone. Like it never happened. So now you can just go ahead and apply your normal makeup over the top and no one will be any the wiser. Oh and I should say to all my gorgeous subscribers, in case you’re worrying, no, Parker did not hit me! Ha ha. The true story is, I had one or two Moscow mules and a dirty Girl Scout, and me and my friends were like twerking, and according to them I just like lost control. So now you know. Don’t tell anyone. Oh, but I’m over the drinking age, so I wasn’t like doing anything illegal, so you don’t need to call my mom or anything ha ha. But if someone is hurting you, remember, you’re not alone. And if you want to buy any of the amazing products I’ve used today, check out the links down there. Personally I’m so glad I invested in an awesome concealer like the Eve Pearl Dual Salmon Concealer and Hard Candy’s Full Coverage Concealer, and don’t forget the incredible Kat Von D Beauty Lock-It Setting Powder. Okay, love you, bye.’

Marnie stopped and started the woman, made her say certain parts again. She dabbed with her pinky finger, feather touch, feather touch. She blended and smoothed and layered. The bruise still showed through.

‘It’s better though, right?’ she said. ‘I mean, I’ll get away with it.’

‘Watch out for ashiness,’ I said, and she laughed. Then sucked in her breath through her teeth.

When she climbed into her car and pulled the belt across her chest she winced, and she sat there for a moment, eyes closed tight. I watched from the front steps. Though I could see the car was hurting her, I wouldn’t go anywhere near it.

At noon I went to my bed to listen for the Eye.