Chapter Thirty-Two

Sister Luke was laid to rest in the small graveyard behind the Coorah Creek Catholic Church. The small wooden church was built on a slight rise, and the graveyard looked out across the town towards the line of trees that marked the creek and the great red bluffs beyond. It was a peaceful spot, shaded by tall gum trees.

Almost the entire population of the Creek attended the service in the church. Adam and Jess sat in the front pew, with Ellen and Jack. Harry and Bethany came too, their small faces serious and sad. The rest of the pews held faces Jess had come to know. Even to love. Trish and Syd Warren from the pub. The police Sergeant Max Delaney wore his best uniform. There were uniforms also on display where the pilots and staff of the RFDS sat. Towards the rear of the church were the Aboriginal families. Some of the stockmen Jess knew. Others were strangers, but all came to pay tribute to a small woman with a big heart.

Two nuns from the mother house had made the journey by train to bid farewell to their Sister. The service was carried out by the priest from Mount Isa. He was a young man with a young man’s passion for his calling. His eyes were suspiciously wet as he read from his well-worn prayer book.

There were flowers in the small church, plucked from gardens all around the town. The white roses lying on the casket had come from the garden of Nikki and Steve – the young couple whose baby Jess had helped to deliver. They were sitting at the side of the church, the baby plump and healthy in her mother’s arms. Jess recognised other former patients. Dan Mitchell, the ranger from the national park put in a rare public appearance, alongside Mayor Coburn who was for once totally sober. So many people’s lives had been touched by Sister Luke, and every one of them came to say farewell. Their presence and love helped lighten the sadness of the day.

After the ceremony, Adam and Jack led the pallbearers who carried Sister Luke’s plain coffin out of the church and into the graveyard. The congregation followed them across the patchy grass. Tears streamed down Jessica’s face as the coffin was lowered into the earth. Adam took her hand and squeezed it tight.

When the last prayer was said, people began drifting away. Most stopped to speak to Adam. He stood as Sister Luke’s family. Jess noticed that he didn’t pull back when Trish Warren hugged him. Nor when Mayor Coburn laid a broad hand around Adam’s shoulders. And all the while, Jess stood by his side. Whenever he reached for her hand, she was there.

At last there were just the four of them left. Trish had taken Harry and Bethany home for milk and cookies. The priest and the Sisters had retired to the church. There was only Jess and Adam and Ellen and Jack standing in the shade of a tall gum tree. A light breeze rustled the leaves above them.

‘You are leaving in the morning?’ Adam asked Jack.

‘Yes. I’ve found a lawyer who will represent Ellen in the divorce. He thinks the other accusations will come to nothing.’

‘And the kids will get to see their grandmother,’ Ellen added. ‘I’ve spoken to her on the phone. She wants to meet Jack too.’ Ellen blushed a little as she glanced sideways at the man holding her hand. ‘We’ll be back next week.’

‘Sister Luke would be happy to hear that,’ Adam said quietly.

‘She’d be even happier to see the two of you together,’ Ellen said. ‘It would seem she was a pretty good matchmaker.’

Jess started to laugh. ‘She wasn’t very subtle about it, was she?’

‘She might have been … with you two,’ Jack said. ‘But she didn’t … I mean … Not with me and Ellen.’

‘No, of course not,’ Ellen said smiling gently. ‘She never asked you to stop by the house and help me with anything?’

‘Well, perhaps once or twice, but I really didn’t need much encouragement.’ He lifted Ellen’s hand, and kissed it.

‘She was quite something,’ Adam said. ‘I am going to miss her so much.’

‘We all are,’ Jess said. ‘Let’s go back to the house. We can swap Sister Luke stories while Ellen and I start thinking about dinner.’

‘You’re going to help cook?’ Ellen asked, astonished.

‘No. I said I’d help think,’ Jess said. The four of them smiled, and some of the sadness lifted from their hearts.

They turned and began walking back towards the gate. Adam held Jessica’s hand. Jack’s arm was around Ellen’s shoulders. A gentle stillness settled over the graveyard, broken only by the distant laugh of a kookaburra.