There were vehicle ruts in the road to Redhill, gouged deeply into the track, the tyre marks plain to see. Sara wondered if it was Jack’s Toyota that had made them. The grass, taller through the sand country, literally shone in the sunlight and no dust rose behind them. The sky was the most amazing blue, as if it had been washed and polished that very morning. Water, tinged reddish brown, filled holes and declivities in the red clay and even the mulga looked fresher.
She pointed out the Forty Mile block and the different paddocks whose names she had learned. Justin seemed more impressed by the distance they had come.
‘How far is this joint?’
‘Oh, about an hour more.’ The words conjured her first meeting with Jack and her lips curved in a little smile. ‘Time is how they measure things out here.’
Justin shook his head. ‘I don’t get it. This sort of place is where you want to live. Why?’
She shrugged. ‘Maybe because I started life on a property. I guess it’s in my blood.’
He sniffed. ‘Lot of trees and nothing is all I see. Where are the cows?’
‘Scattered about. It’s a big area. There’s fifteen hundred square miles of Redhill. That gives them plenty of mulga to hide in.’
‘So how do they ever find them when the round-up’s due?’
‘You should ask Len,’ Sara said, ‘or even Sam, come to think of it. And it’s called a muster.’
‘If you say so. Can I drive?’
‘Not on this bit,’ she said.
Sara had rung ahead and they were expected. Jess came barking to meet them and as she pulled up at the gate she saw a curious Becky skipping down the steps, Sam and Beth moving more sedately behind her. The oleanders made a vivid screen of colour and above the familiar roofline the bright vanes of the windmill glittered in the sun. Somewhere in the background an engine throbbed.
‘The dog won’t hurt you,’ Sara told Justin. She got out and patted the bitch’s head, then Becky was there, plaits flying, grabbing her waist in a hug.
‘You’re back, Sara! An’ it rained! You shoulda been here, the lightning was so loud!’
‘I told you I’d come, chicken. This is my brother, Justin. I brought him for a visit too.’
‘Oh.’ Becky glanced at him and into the empty vehicle. Her face fell. ‘You said you’d bring the girls.’
‘Not this time. He’s all right though, for a boy. Only he doesn’t know anything about stations.’
Becky brightened at that. ‘I’ll learn him, then.’
Sara was staring at Sam, whose head was covered in a brown fuzz of hair. ‘Sam, you look great! Gracious, I’m sure you’re taller too. And your hair is growing back!’
‘Hello, Sara.’ He smiled his contained smile. His face looked fuller and his eyes were bright as he studied the vehicle. ‘Wow! Is that yours?’
‘Yes.’ She turned to hug Beth. ‘It’s so good to see you again. I’ve got stuff from Helen for you. But the grass! I can’t believe the difference in the place. And Sam’s got hair.’
Beth clutched her, laughing. ‘It’s like a miracle, Sara – no chemo for two months now. The cancer’s in remission.’ Her thin face was flushed, her smile brilliant. ‘And then the rain on top of it. Some days I could just cry from sheer happiness.’
‘Well, if anyone deserves it, you do. How’s Len, and Jack?’
‘They’re good. Oh, and this is your brother. You’re very welcome, Justin. We think a great deal of Sara, you know. You’re very lucky to have found her. But come in. It’s just on lunchtime; I’ll pop the kettle on. Sam, run and tell your father it’s time to eat.’ She beamed at Sara, blinking over-bright eyes. ‘I can say that now, because he can run.’
‘Is Jack still here?’ Sara asked, trying for a normal tone, as they climbed the steps.
‘He’s gone home, but,’ she added, the word reviving sudden hope in her listener, ‘he’ll be back tomorrow, maybe even today.’ Beth cocked her head at Justin. ‘So, Justin, I hear you’re heading for university?’
Nothing had changed and yet everything was different, Sara reflected, settling into her old place at the kitchen table. Every window showed a vista of green. New growth was bursting from the garden trees, and Sam’s voice and steps rang as noisily and as quickly as Becky’s. Later she would see the adorable newborn kids in the goat flock, and the empty horse yard where grass had grown over the dung-powdered dirt where Star and Lancer had stood so often to be fed. But for now Len was tramping up the steps and she rose to meet him as he entered.
‘Sara!’ His bloodhound face wore a wide smile as he grabbed her close for a moment. ‘Good to see you – I like your hair short like that. How are you?’
‘Great, Len, and it’s great to be back. What do you think about this, then?’ She leaned down for the Akubra beneath her chair and stuck it on. ‘Complete bushie, huh?’
Len laughed and agreed, then began to tell her about the rain. Both the dams on the property were full and all the creeks had run. You could already see the improvement in the stock. ‘Dozer’s back in the shed,’ he concluded. ‘But enough about that. What are your plans?’
‘Justin’s here to do a job,’ she explained. ‘He’ll fly home from the Alice once it’s finished, but I’m staying on. Not at Redhill obviously, but wherever I can get a station job. I can cook, teach, do home help – somebody’s got to want me. If not, I’ll find something in the Alice instead.’
‘She’s nuts,’ Justin announced tolerantly. ‘Dad offered her a job but she turned it down.’
‘I didn’t want it,’ she responded. ‘Horses for courses, Jus.’ It was the first time she had used the family’s diminutive. ‘Out here’s where I want to be.’
‘Like I said, nuts.’ For the first time the mockery was absent from his tone. He might have been teasing his younger sisters, and Sara’s heart was warmed by the change.
Beth hauled the conversation away from the personal. ‘What job have you got, Justin?’
He jabbed his thumb at his sister. ‘She’ll explain,’ he said, so Sara did.
It took time. Beth raised all the objections Sara had foreseen but once the meal was over and she had coaxed her out to the vehicle to view the carefully packed drums and paintbrushes, she knew she was winning the argument. ‘It’s a gift,’ she said. ‘Something I really want you to have. You can’t turn down a well-meant gift! Dad’s paying Justin’s wages because he thinks it’s good for him to work, and I do too. Also I want to get to know him and I’ve a better chance out here where he can’t run off to the beach to avoid me. He wasn’t very happy when I turned up, you see. He was sure it was a con job; and I think also that he was a bit protective of his position as the oldest kid in the family. Well, we seem to have finally got that sorted.’ She rolled her eyes. ‘Half the trip out either he wasn’t speaking to me or he had his head plugged into the Walkman he carries. But he seems to be coming around. By the way, you said when I first came to work here that the floors needed doing but you couldn’t afford it. So what’s changed? The rain’s wonderful but it hasn’t made you rich, has it?’
‘No,’ Beth said ruefully. ‘Oh, all right then! It’s amazingly generous of you, Sara. It’s true the floors are either going to warp or splinter if something’s not done soon, but there’s no way we can repay you for this.’
‘Yes, you can.’ Sara was pulling things out of the vehicle as she spoke. ‘This is from Helen, and here’re a few fresh vegies I picked up in town. You can put us up until the job’s done and let the kids show Justin what real life is all about. He’s a nice boy but his outlook’s limited. A dose of Sam and Becky is just what he needs.’
‘The kids will love to have his company. Of course we’ll put you up! Thank you, Sara. It will be lovely to have the floors done.’
Len had gone back to the shed and the welder was growling again. Sara, with Becky in attendance, unpacked in her old room, while Justin, overseen by Sam, hauled the material and equipment he would be using onto the verandah. Afterwards Beth walked through the house discussing with Sara where and how the work should progress.
‘We’re all using mosquito nets,’ she said, ‘so we could shift the kids’ beds out onto the verandah till their rooms are dry.’
‘And Sara’s,’ Becky chimed in. ‘It’ll be fun. We can look at the stars. Does Justin know about them, Sara?’
‘I shouldn’t think so, chicken.’ She frowned. ‘Will the dining table be a problem? It’s so big. Will it even fit through the door?’
‘Well, somebody got it in there, so maybe when Jack gets back he and Len can sort it out. Still, we could just move it to one end of the room, then put it back. Oh –’ she swung her arms energetically, stretching her lean torso – ‘the timing’s great! No dust to get into the new work. I’ll have a proper spring clean, I think, maybe even make up that curtain material I’ve had waiting in the cupboard since before Sam got sick. That’s getting on for three years now.’
‘He looks so different. And so well!’
‘For now,’ Beth nodded, her next words a prayer. ‘Maybe for good.’
Questions about Jack hovered on Sara’s tongue – when would he arrive? how was his state of mind? had he mentioned her at all in her absence? – but she bit them back. She had returned to Redhill; what happened next was his choice.
Chiming in uncannily on the thought, Beth asked, ‘Are you happy, Sara? With your dad and the rest of them? It must be strange to be pitchforked into a family you don’t know. Should we be calling you Christine now?’
‘Dad calls me Chrissy, but I’d quite like to stay Sara out here. Justin’s picked it up too – I like that. I’ll change my surname next time my licence comes due. And to answer your first question, yes, I am happy. For the first time in my life I feel . . .’ She searched for words to explain. ‘I don’t know. I feel grounded, I suppose. When you don’t belong anywhere, when you think you haven’t any blood ties, it’s hard to believe that you matter.’
‘What’s your stepmum like?’
‘Frances? Funny, I never thought of her in that light, just as my father’s wife. She’s great. I really like her, mainly because you can see she loves Dad. She wants him to be happy, and finding me has done that.’
‘A sensible lady, then.’
‘Yes, but with a generous spirit too. She might’ve worried that I’d be taking something from her own children, whether it was his love or attention or just his time but it doesn’t seem to have occurred to her.’
‘And the press?’ Beth asked. ‘There was a news headline about you meeting him in “an exclusive Alice Springs resort”. We saw it on the news the following day but apparently by the time they’d got a cameraman round there you’d already gone.’
Sara laughed. ‘He probably planned it that way. No, I’m yesterday’s sensation now, nobody’s bothered me.’
‘That’s good.’ Beth grinned suddenly. ‘It’s going to be great, having you here again. It took your leaving to make me realise how much I miss having another woman around.’
‘And I’ve been thinking,’ Sara said, ‘maybe we could take a day and visit Clemmy while I’m here? After the spring clean maybe?’
‘It’s a deal.’