Berry opened her eyes as a shaft of sunlight shone in the darkened room. It took her a moment to remember where she was, but as the events of last night came flooding back she couldn’t help but smile. Last night had been the start of something, she felt it in her bones. She didn’t want to jinx whatever it was between her and Nate by trying to define and give it a label, but she sensed that it had been the first building blocks in a natural progression. One she hoped would continue well past the foreseeable future. She turned over to see that the other side of the bed was empty and frowned as a wave of disappointment washed over her.
‘Morning,’ Nate said. He banged open the bedroom door as he tried to manoeuvre through it while carrying a tray.
Berry sat up in bed and arranged the covers around her. ‘What’s this?’ she asked with a smile.
‘I thought you’d like breakfast in bed,’ he said as he triumphantly put the tray down in front of her and revealed a mug of coffee and some toast with jam. ‘I never said I was a chef,’ he added with a wink.
‘It looks fantastic,’ she said. Glancing up at him she saw that his hair was damp and he was wearing jeans and an unbuttoned blue plaid shirt. Berry tried to focus on the toast. ‘So, you’re up early or did I just sleep in?’
Nate sat next to her and gave her a quick kiss. ‘A little bit of both. Dad called me earlier, he needs a hand with one of the stallions. So, even though I’d much rather stay here with you, I’d better do the right thing.’
‘You should,’ Berry said. ‘Besides, I was going back home today to finish going through Dad’s papers, remember?’
‘I do. Are you sure you’re okay to go back by yourself? I can get Mum to drive you there and go in with you, if you like,’ Nate asked.
Berry shook her head. ‘Nah, I’ll be fine. Besides, I think I could do with a walk. And as for being by myself—well, I’m not worried. They caught Laurie Worth, so I haven’t got anything to be concerned about.’
Nate smiled down at her. ‘I suppose so,’ he said before he kissed her again, this time lingering.
After a moment or two Berry pulled away. ‘You’d better get going,’ she said with a laugh. ‘You don’t want to keep your father waiting.’
‘We could make him wait just a little bit,’ he said with a glint in his eyes.
‘But that’s the problem, isn’t it?’
Nate frowned. ‘What do you mean?’
‘That it wouldn’t just be for a little bit. If you carry on what you’re doing, we could be here for the rest of the morning,’ she said with a meaningful look.
‘Ah, I suppose you’re right but you make it hard for me to leave,’ he admitted as he rested his head against hers. ‘Can’t I stay?’
Berry laughed and gave him a gentle nudge. ‘No, you can’t. Go and meet your dad and we can catch up later.’
‘That’s a given,’ he said as he reluctantly got up off the bed. ‘All right, you win.’
She gave him another smile. ‘It doesn’t feel like a win,’ she said. ‘But I’ll see you later, okay?’
‘Hmm, okay,’ he answered as he bent down and dropped a kiss on her head before straightening up and heading to the door. ‘Stay out of trouble.’
‘I’ll try, but I’m not promising anything,’ she called after him.
Berry took her time walking back home, enjoying the peacefulness of the morning. Apart from the singing of several birds in a nearby bush, there was a stillness in the crisp air. It would probably take a good fifteen minutes to walk back to Stone Gully, longer if she kept on with this meandering pace. She paused every now and again to take in the beauty of the landscape. One side of Lyrebird Road was covered in dense bush and a vast stretch of gum trees, and on the other side were the cleared pastures of Tarantale Downs, punctuated by small pockets of bush and the occasional dam. It must have looked like the other side of the road at one time, Berry reflected, but it had been cleared in the past decades and now only a handful of ancient trees still stood their ground.
She paused for a moment where a gnarled plum tree’s blossoms cascaded over the boundary fence. She reached up and touched one of the fragile pale pink blooms and was instantly transported back to the moment Nate kissed her for the first time. Berry smiled as she dropped her hand and continued on her way.
As she walked up the drive of Stone Gully the bright red LEAVE was still scrawled across the front door. She briefly wondered how hard bright red paint was to paint over and considered changing the colour of the front door, but then she dismissed the thought and let herself back into the house.
She caught herself smiling. It’s good to be home.
Berry pulled back the drapes in the lounge room, then hurried to her bedroom and carried the box of her father’s papers back to the lounge and dumped them on the large coffee table. She looked at the stack of books, maps and notes, some of which she’d already read. With a sigh, she sat down and reached for her dad’s notebook—one way or another she was going to work this out.
Nate leaned on the wooden railing as he watched Justin lead Constantine into the training arena. Constantine had a glossy black coat, stood about sixteen hands and was just as majestic as his bloodlines. He had proved himself in the dressage ring and was considered an up-and-coming champion.
Nate dragged his gaze away from the horse and glanced at his father who was standing next to him.
‘He’s magnificent,’ Nate said.
His father nodded. ‘I know—breathtaking. Best stallion we’ve had since Lightning Bolt. They’ll be lining up to get their foals sired by this one.’
Nate looked back at Constantine. ‘I don’t doubt it. He’s beautiful, but pricey.’
‘It’s true, we’ve got a lot riding on this one. It took us a long time to recover from the accident. We’ve been holding our own over the past few years, but that horse,’ he said as he gestured to Constantine, ‘he could cement our ranking as one of the best studs in the district.’
‘I don’t remember much about the accident, I guess I was fairly young. We lost our best horses, didn’t we?’
Sam Tarant dragged in a deep breath. ‘Yeah, we did: Lightning Bolt and Longren. A van veered into our lane, hit the car in front of us and took us out as well.’
‘I remember we lost the horses and there was some sort of car accident but I didn’t realise to what extent.’
‘Yeah, it was bad. I was lucky, I managed to walk away with a dislocated shoulder, a few decent cuts and concussion. John, the stable hand who was with me, ended up with a broken leg but—’ Sam stopped himself, then continued with a shake of his head ‘—no one else made it. Not the people or the horses.’
‘It was that bad?’
‘It stuffed everything up. The business, our standing and reputation, and even the family. In some ways we never really recovered.’
‘But … but how come you’ve never talked about this to me? Why didn’t you tell me?’
‘Because that’s what parents do. It was my job to protect you, and to give you opportunities and a better life than I had. You’re my son, and you were just a boy. Why would I burden you with that?’
‘Sorry, Dad.’
Sam glanced over at Nate. ‘What the hell are you sorry for? It was bad, it happened, but now it’s just water under the bridge.’
‘Yeah, but it must have made it hard for the business. I remember crying my eyes out over losing Longren, he was my favourite horse, but I never considered what the ramifications were for the business.’
‘It was touch and go. They were our best horses. Sure we eventually got a payout, but that was a long time coming and things were pretty grim for a while. I was sure we were going to lose the place,’ his father said. ‘For a while I was convinced I was the failure who was going to lose the family legacy—it messed with my head. I was difficult and I know I gave your mum a hard time—it was like I was a whole different man; I barely recognised myself. It seemed to me that no matter what I did, I couldn’t work out how to save us. The bank was baying for my blood … but we pulled through, thanks to your grandmother.’
Nate gave his father a small smile. ‘I miss her.’
‘Me too,’ he replied before inhaling a deep breath and straightening up. ‘Anyway, enough of that. I don’t like thinking about it. Are you seeing Berry later?’
Nate’s smile widened. ‘Yeah, she’s gone back home for a bit but I’ll swing by after we’re done here.’
His father nodded as he turned back and looked at Constantine prancing in the arena. ‘He’s looking good, don’t you think, Justin?’
‘He sure is, Mr Tarant,’ Justin called back with a grin.
‘So, what’s Berry up to? She won’t be nervous to be by herself?’
‘I don’t think so, not now at least,’ Nate answered. ‘I mean, since they caught Laurie Worth, what’s to be scared of?’
‘Oh, they caught him, did they? Good,’ Sam said. ‘How?’
‘He ran a red light in Bendigo.’
Sam’s scoffed. ‘He always was an idiot.’
Nate chuckled. ‘Yeah, I can’t disagree with that. Anyway, Berry’s going through some old papers to try to work out why Worth was so bent on buying Stone Gully.’
His dad turned back and stared at him for a second. ‘What, I don’t understand. What papers?’
Nate shrugged. ‘Her father’s notes. Apparently, he was obsessed with that old Harlington gold story and has a box full of notes and research on it. I don’t believe it, but Berry does; thinks that maybe there could be a clue in why Worth wanted the place so bad.’
‘Right. You know it’s all utter nonsense.’
‘Of course,’ Nate replied.
‘So, where were these papers?’
‘I don’t know for sure, she stumbled across them when she was cleaning up the place—so probably in one of the sheds.’
‘Have you seen them?’
‘Yeah, there’s a pile of them—books, maps, notes and handwritten scribbles. Her father really went all out, even pestered Young Ned about it. Why are you so interested, anyway? I didn’t think it would be your sort of thing.’
Sam shrugged. ‘Just curious. I think it’s kind of sad that Jordy would have wasted his time on such rubbish.’
‘I’d be interested if it were my land. Still, I guess you’d know since he was a friend of yours.’
‘He was … he was,’ Sam said quietly before clamping his hand on Nate’s shoulder for a second. ‘Why don’t we go back to the house and grab some lunch?’
Nate looked down at his father’s hand. Signs of affection weren’t his thing. ‘Um, okay.’