We’ve been at the cottage for almost two months, and Darcy and Harry have mowed the grass to ankle height. I’ve erected a ramshackle pen under the eaves at the side of the house so they can be let off their collars and have shelter overnight, but during the day I move them around the garden.
When Darcy rubs his head against the back of my leg, I scratch around his caramel-coloured ears. ‘Eat the grass, Darcy. I’ll give you pellets tonight.’ Harry, his brown coat shiny in the early morning light, pulls against his chain, keen to reach his favourite spot under the bottlebrush tree. ‘Just wait till I’m finished with—’
A battered ute pulls off the road and parks between the cottage and the pine trees. When Geoff, one of Farquhar’s assistant stud managers, steps out, I attach Harry’s chain to a verandah post. The last time I saw Geoff was January, but he looks a lot older than he did, and his stoop is more pronounced.
‘Morning, Prim.’
He tips his hat to the back of his head. ‘You got a minute for a chat?’
When I called Geoff about Siegfried, Farquhar’s bull, he denied he’d ever discussed him with me. He didn’t want to chat then.
I check my watch. ‘I have to leave … soon.’
‘You off to the zoo? A good job, is it?’
‘It’s—’
‘I saw your picture in the paper this morning. Nice for some.’
I take a step back. ‘I’m running late … Why did you come?’
‘For a chat, like I said. Not much else to do but read the paper since I lost my job.’
My unease grows. ‘You’re not … with Farquhar any more?’
‘As it was you who got me sacked, I thought you’d know that already.’ He steps over Darcy’s chain. ‘Why did you tell Mr Farquhar it was me who told you about Siegfried?’
‘I didn’t know it … was a … secret.’
‘The day after you left, Pascal goes back to Argentina with a rocket up his arse. The following week, after ten years with Mr Farquhar, I’m out as well.’ He straightens and winces. ‘With my crook back, I’m too old for labouring. And if you didn’t know this before, you’ll be aware of it now. You’re with Mr Farquhar a hundred per cent or he turns against you. I’ve got Buckley’s chance of getting a stud job around here.’
‘If I hear of anything, I’ll let you know.’
Geoff nods a couple of times. He rubs his face. ‘I shouldn’t have come.’
‘You … were good to me, Geoff. I appreciated that. I didn’t mean to get you sacked.’
He puts his hat under his arm. ‘Pascal wanted someone who’d turn up to work, take more money than they’re worth and go home early. You weren’t what he thought he was getting.’
‘Are you … saying I took the job too seriously?’
‘Pascal thought he was better than any vet, but rules are rules. He needed someone with veterinary qualifications to tick day-to-day boxes, keep the paperwork up to date.’
‘What happened with … Siegfried appeared to be a one-off. Was Pascal behind it?’
Geoff raises his hands. ‘It had nothing to do with me.’
Harry’s chain clunks as he scratches his side against a post.
‘Why are you here, Geoff?’
‘To be honest, Prim, I don’t know what came over me.’ He rubs a trembling hand against his face. ‘I saw that picture, you with your new job and me with none. I threw down the paper and jumped in the ute.’
‘Can I get you … something? A cup of tea?’
‘You’d offer me that? When I turn up to your home ranting and raving?’
‘I haven’t seen Gracie in a while. Is she all right?’
‘Cancer.’ He taps his head. ‘Inoperable brain cancer.’
I put a hand on his arm; it’s shaking. ‘Gracie used to volunteer at the hospital, didn’t she? I’ve been visiting Billy and I haven’t seen her but …’ I take a breath. ‘I’m … sorry I didn’t get in touch.’
‘Now, now, Prim.’ He frees his arm and pats mine. ‘No need to get upset. We’re doing okay.’
‘How? When you’re out of a job?’
‘We had a bit tucked away, but with Gracie not working her shifts at the supermarket, and the medical bills piling up, I admit there’s not much of that left. It’s worrying her, knowing our nest egg is gone. I tell her I’m working, building it up again. She thinks I’m at work now. She got out of her sick bed to iron my shirt this morning. Appearances and all that.’
‘You can always come here … with your newspaper. Just let me know, and I’ll leave the keys out.’
‘And there you go, Prim. Being too damned nice for your own good.’
‘I’m … sorry you got caught up in … what happened.’
‘It was me who talked about Siegfried in the first place.’
‘You wouldn’t have done that if you’d had any idea about … what was going on.’
‘It was written all over your face, Prim, soon as I told you about the bull.’ He shakes his head. ‘There I was, thinking he was something special, but the numbers didn’t add up, did they? No bull can be that good. All those cows couldn’t be that receptive.’
‘Farquhar and Pascal must have been behind it.’
‘Call me naïve, but I don’t think it was Farquhar. Pascal, he was a different kettle of fish.’
Darcy, straining at his collar, grasps for snippets of rosemary bush.
‘If he knew about it, even if he didn’t, Farquhar should have investigated. He should have gone to the authorities.’
‘You sat on a hornet’s nest, Prim, that’s for sure. And now we’re paying the price.’
‘Is there anything more you can tell me? Anything about Pascal? How he came to work for Farquhar or … where he got the hormone from?’
Geoff backs up, he holds up his hands again. ‘I’ve said too much already.’
After Geoff drives away, I untie Harry and he pulls me towards the bottlebrush. The tree is at least three metres high, and it will be beautiful when it comes into flower in summer. Will I still be here? Or will I find a more permanent home for not only Harry and Darcy but Eeyore and the horses?
I’ll miss Blake.
Ignoring the tightness in my chest, I dial Nate.
‘Hey, Primrose. How’re you doing?’
‘Have you interviewed Pascal?’
Silence. Then, ‘I really appreciate your help, Prim, but do you think you could leave this to me?’
‘He … was definitely involved.’
‘I’m looking at other things too.’
‘The PMSG isn’t as important to you as those other things, I know that, but—’
‘Why raise Pascal’s name? What did you want to say?’
All of a sudden, I have cold feet. Would Nate pull Geoff over on the side of the road? Or even worse, go to his house and interrogate him and Gracie? Is there anything new in what Geoff said anyway? He thinks Pascal was more likely to be dodgy than Farquhar, but Nate’s interest in Farquhar extends beyond hormones.
‘I … was just checking in.’
‘With respect, Prim, I don’t believe you were.’
‘Why do you … say that?’
An uncomfortable silence. ‘Prim. Why did you call?’
‘I’d better go. See you … soon.’