‘It’s unreal!’ he announced.
‘That’s meant to be a compliment,’ chuckled Beth.
But Laura had known it. No mistaking the look in Nate’s eyes, which he hardly took off her as he picked up her bag and guided her out.
Beth came to the step and waved them off as they bounced away across the uneven ground and made for the main road.
They were soon out of the town and driving inland.
After a while the road climbed and the scenery grew wilder.
Laura felt entirely comfortable with Nate as they rode along. Once they stopped beside a small lake ‒ still as a green mirror. It was a ninety-feet deep cone, Nate said, yet it looked so harmless and pretty. Laura wondered what skulked in its depths and whether everything here was not quite what it seemed.
Nate laughed at her. ‘What you see is what you get, I reckon,’ he said. ‘As regards people anyway.’
Laura looked at his frank, honest eyes and believed him. Then she remembered Kyle ‒ and even Beth. There had been moments with both of them when she had felt they were not being entirely straight with her. Yet for what reason she could not fathom.
It was a long drive and Nate did not seemed concerned to go at great speed. Indeed, he was more inclined to hang his elbow out of the window, sit back restfully and encourage Laura to talk about herself. His interest was so genuine and friendly that she found herself telling him all about her background and her love for the distant uncle that had brought her across the world to say a last farewell to his memory.
‘I expected just to sort out his things, take a look around, then to sell up and be off. But when I found Beth there running the shop so well …’
‘Yes, she cared a lot for your uncle. And after his wife died, he relied on Beth more than he knew, probably.’ He looked thoughtful.
‘She’s been very kind to me,’ said Laura.
‘Beth has a heart of gold,’ said Nate.
The countryside was very deserted now. The road no longer metalled, but simply impacted earth which every now and then by some freak of wind or tyres became a washboard and drummed and juddered their bodies mercilessly.
Laura held on to her seat and choked on the dust.
‘Not too long now,’ shouted Nate. But after a while he stopped to let Laura get her breath back.
He ran the vehicle off the road under a clump of trees, and they got out and sat on a flat stone. Nate produced a coldbox and Laura drank the most welcome orange juice she’d ever tasted. Nate leaned back with a sigh, his hands behind his head.
‘Reckon you could run the shop yourself?’ he asked.
‘Possibly,’ said Laura. ‘But I don’t see it supporting both Beth and me. Uncle had his writing as his main income. And I’ve certainly got to make my living!’
‘Haven’t we all,’ said Nate. He leaned up on his elbow and looked at Laura keenly. ‘Will you help me ride the boundary later?’
‘Yes. Yes, of course,’ said Laura, adding in a small voice. ‘How far exactly?’
‘I’m kidding,’ said Nate. ‘We’ll just take a little look around. No sweat.’
Laura felt suddenly cross that he should think her a soft townie. So he had a farm. So her grandparents had been farmers ‒ in Kent.
‘Is yours a sheep farm?’ she asked.
‘I have some,’ he said. ‘And less than I should this spring. The dingoes got more lambs than usual.’
‘Yes,’ said Laura. ‘We have trouble with sheep-worrying at home.’
‘So I believe,’ said Nate politely. ‘No, my main stock is cattle. ’Course we have our problems with them. Drought. Flash floods.’
‘How many cattle do you have?’
‘Can’t say. Some of the outlying areas haven’t been mustered for a while ‒ just checked from the Cesna.’
‘Cesna?’
‘The plane.’
‘The plane.’ Laura had the feeling she was going to look foolish again, yet she had to ask the question.
‘What size is your farm?’ she asked, casually.
‘Nineteen hundred square miles,’ said Nate.
Foolish was not the word. Here she had been talking with this man as she might to a farmer at home. She realised the areas had to be vaster, but she had not imagined such a scale. She felt humbled. She looked at Nate and found him grinning ‒ quite obviously and disconcertingly reading her thoughts.
Eventually they arrived at the homestead, and Nate lead her into a large airy wooden house that was comfortable in an old-fashioned way, if a little shabby. She felt his eyes resting on her as she looked around, and when he showed her into her room, he hastened to dust away some leaves that had found their way on top of a sturdy old chest of drawers.
The bed was large and covered with a white crochet quilt ‒ the loving work of some ancestor, Laura suspected.
In the centre of the ceiling was an enormous three-paddled fan. Nate showed her how to switch it on. Screwed to the wall was a modern mirror with a long shelf below it to serve as a dressing table. Sliding doors lead out on to a verandah looking across the distant hills ‒ purple now in the twilight.
‘It’s perfect,’ said Laura. And meant it.
Down in the yard, Laura had noticed several pick-ups and cars. Some of Nate’s other guests had obviously arrived.
‘Make yourself at home,’ said Nate. ‘I have a few chores. And I have to see about that fellow’s arm.’
He left then, and when Laura strolled out on to the verandah she saw him walking across to a building the other side of the compound. The bunkhouse for the stockmen, she surmised.
In the distance she could see other buildings. Stables, perhaps, for she heard a horse whinny. On the hill a windmill stood, for generating electricity, and somewhere a pump throbbed. It was getting colder now and the sky was streaked with scarlet and black. Something fluttered against her face and she retreated into her room and shut the doors.
Laura unpacked and hung up her dress for the party.
She found the bathroom, had a shower and put on a lemon shift dress. She tied her hair back with a silk scarf and hoped she looked suitably dressed for the evening meal. Just as she was ready, Nate appeared at the door to fetch her down.
He looked at the dress admiringly. ‘That’s cute!’
As they descended the stairs, Laura could hear voices from the main living room. Nate put his arm round her shoulder and led her in, to where half a dozen people were relaxing with drinks. Among them was the girl called Jade.
Nate stood, his arm still about her, and announced who she was. Everyone shouted friendly greetings, including Jade ‒ although Laura could see no joy in her eyes. She wished that Nate would take his arm from her.
Then when he did she felt oddly bereft. She suspected that Jade was seriously involved with Nate. And when he stood near her and she looked into his face, her expression confirmed it. For his part Nate treated Jade with a teasing, affectionate familiarity which seemed bred of long-standing friendship. But with no obvious passion that Laura could notice.
Laura wondered why she should feel so concerned about their relationship ‒ except she didn’t wish to tread on anyone’s toes. She dedicated the next hour to making herself pleasant to the others, who seemed a nice, humorous bunch ‒ all old friends of Nate’s ‒ who had been riding that afternoon, and who talked about sorting out a horse for Laura next day.
For all Laura loved horses and longed to ride again, her childhood experience on pony-back seemed remote from this place, where everyone seemed to have been born in the saddle. But time enough to cope with the situation when it arose tomorrow. Before that perhaps she’d be stricken with plague or something helpful.
At supper the talk was almost wholly of horses.
They had all been concerned with recent sales. Laura listened with interest but little understanding of the finer points of discussion. Jade on the other hand was in her element. Even when they turned to sheep or cattle, she had what appeared to Laura to be valuabl
e opinions to offer.
Uncle Jim’s name came up and he was spoken of with affection. It made Laura feel at home at once. And later, when the group broke up and went to their rooms, Laura thought again of her uncle and felt glad she was among people who had known him well and liked him. As she snuggled down in her comfortable bed, she was content to remember things he had said that had made her laugh, things he had brought her that she treasured, and the possessions he had left behind ‒ whose fate she must decide.
Should she sell everything and go back home? Should she have a go at running the shop herself? What was there to go home to? Did she belong in this place?
Awaking in the night, she was overcome with thirst. She switched on the light and slipped out of bed. She glanced up around the walls for geckos, knowing she would not mind their presence. No delicate little geckos. But one spider. Laura’s heart sank. The spider was as big as her hand.
She stood immobile, staring at it, trying to remember what Kyle had said about the spiders that were lethal. She wished she’d asked what they looked like. Was this one dangerous? Dangerous or not, it was so large it made her shudder. At home she didn’t fear spiders. But at home they didn’t have such a bad reputation.
It moved. She felt a scream mounting up. But another feeling was stronger. The determination not to waken Nate or his friends on any account.
It moved again and now began slowly to crawl towards the mirror. The mirror that was screwed to the wall ‒ where it would take refuge ‒ and re-emerge later. At home Laura would have caught a spider in a wet cloth and thrown it out of the window. Here there was no wet cloth.
And if she opened the window who knew what would flock in.
In any case, if this spider was a killer …
It moved nearer to the mirror. She made her decision.
She took up her slipper, and with a perfect aim, born of desperation, she smote the spider squarely. It fell and lay still. Quickly, Laura took a plastic bag and flicked the spider’s body into it, tying up the top. Dead or not she didn’t know, but she would take him downstairs and throw him out of doors before he revived.
Stealing on to the landing, she found her way down to the kitchen. As she put on the light, half a dozen cockroaches sped for cover. Laura jumped. But after the monster in the bag, they were as nothing. She unbolted the door and threw the bag as far as she could. A cat with something between its teeth was caught in the light and darted away. Laura flew indoors and made for her room.
Halfway up the stairs, she saw Nate standing above, looking down at her in surprise.
‘I needed a drink,’ she said.
‘Hope you found something in the icebox,’ he said. ‘Are you all right?’
‘Fine.’
They were whispering so as not to disturb anyone, as he took her back to her room.
‘I like having you here, Laura. I wouldn’t want anything to spoil it for you.’
He looked anxious, and Laura put her hand out to him. She guessed she was looking pale. She had felt pale! But with Nate nearby all was well again, especially when he took her hand and pressed it in his own. They stood motionless in the dim light, looking into each other’s eyes.
Then there was the sound of a door opening along the corridor.
‘Sleep well,’ said Nate, and moved off.
As Laura turned, a figure drew back into a room nearby and closed the door. Laura was pretty sure it was Jade.
Chapter Five
Next morning after breakfast, it was planned that they should all ride out with Nate to check part of the boundary.
‘I warn you, I’m not a highly experienced rider,’ said Laura, jokily. Best to lay it on the line.
Jade rose to her feet. ‘Leave her to me, Nate,’ she said brightly. ‘I’ll fix her up with a horse.’
Nate hesitated briefly, then said: ‘Righto, Jade. See you all later.’ And he went off to attend to necessary work.
Laura went with Jade to the stables. The girl chatted casually, but Laura felt uneasy. On two counts. First she was worried about her own ability when mounted, and secondly because Jade’s offer of assistance had been uncharacteristically eager.
Her second feeling was confirmed when Jade brought out for her a tall, nervous-looking mare. The Aborigine stable-lad saddled Laura’s horse, while Jade attended to her own beautiful Palomino.
It was soon obvious that Laura was not in control. The stable-lad helped in every way he could but the mare laid back her ears and when Laura mounted, she threw down her head and jerked sideways so that Laura slid straight off again. Jade came over and helped Laura back into the saddle. Immediately the mare shot across the yard and drove against the fence, giving Laura’s knee a painful rasp.
The Aborigine ran to the horse and took its head, and Laura dismounted.
‘I’ve forgotten more than I thought,’ she said. And her face flushed with shame as she saw the stable-lad unsaddling the mare.
The others arrived at that moment and a general joking chat went on as they saddled-up and Laura found herself temporarily forgotten. She wondered where Nate could be, and was glad he had not seen her tussle with the mare.
Then she became aware that the stable-lad had saddled up a different horse and was beckoning her towards him.
‘Try good horse,’ he said, and stood at the horse’s head, murmuring to it gently as Laura once more swung herself into the saddle. This time the mount was quiet, giving Laura time to collect herself and take charge. The Aborigine gave her a grave nod. Suddenly Laura felt she might survive.
Then Nate rode into the yard.
‘Are we fit?’ he called.
And they all rode out.
They soon formed into pairs, and Laura found herself riding beside Nate at the head of the group ‒ a position she might have relished more if she had not been aware of Jade’s eyes boring into her back.
As time went on, Laura began to feel sore from the unaccustomed exercise, only being close to Nate diminished the pain. They rode up to an outcrop of rock and when she dismounted at last, Laura felt her leg muscles throbbing. She thought of the long ride back with some dismay.
On the way back the horse stumbled and she slipped off again, landing flat on her back. But she was up instantly and climbing back on her horse, grateful beyond words for its docility, but trembling all over.
‘Out of practice,’ she said, with a laugh.
‘You’re doing fine,’ said Nate. He touched her shoulder encouragingly. ‘When were you last in the saddle?’
‘When I was twelve,’ she said. ‘And I wasn’t any good then!’
The last part wasn’t strictly true ‒ but it got a laugh.
Back at the stable the Aborigine helped her from the horse with infinite gentleness. She sensed he understood that every part of her was now aching horribly.
‘Thank you very much,’ said Laura.
His face remained passive. His eyes, as she had noticed before, looked past her into the distance ‒ elsewhere.
It took a long soaking in a hot bath to restore Laura to some sort of mobility.
She had no doubt now that Jade had observed Nate standing with her at the bedroom door. And was jealous enough to have tried to engineer Laura’s humiliation on the horse. She’d had no need, Laura knew she’d made a poor enough showing even on a gentle steed.
Jade must be very attached to Nate. Laura felt she should make her understand that she was not setting out to take Nate away from her. It was true she felt very attracted to him, but the last thing she would want was to break up somebody else’s serious relationship. She was a novelty around the place, and that was probably why she was the centre of attention.
Yet she thought of the feel of Nate’s hand, holding hers and resting on her shoulder. No other man’s touch had ever affected her that way. Still …
During the day other guests began to arrive and soon the house was swarming with people. From somewhere, mountains of food and drink appeared. There was music for dancing, an
d as the light started to fade, lanterns made the whole place festive.
Laura was sitting in a swinging seat on the verandah, in the middle of a laughing group, when a figure stooped over her, grasped her hand and pulled her to her feet.
It was Kyle.
‘My dance, I believe,’ he announced, and towed her off. He danced as well as she’d expected and she enjoyed it, except that he seemed reluctant to let her go. She caught sight of Nate from time to time, and longed for him to break in and take her away, but he seemed always to be attending to his guests or in earnest conversation with knots of fellow cattlemen. Several times he did look her way, always, it seemed, just as Kyle chose to bury his face in her hair.
Jade alone seemed able to lure Nate to dance. She had on a satin dress which clung to her lithe body and she was wearing make-up now ‒ with devastating effect. She was beautiful, and she clung to Nate closely as they danced. Clearly they were used to partnering each other.
Late at night when many guests had left but others still lounged about in groups ‒ some entwined in each other’s arms, others in earnest conversation ‒ Nate danced with Laura. Their arms folded round each other. It was as if they had been only waiting for this moment.
Later he drew her down on the floor beside him to sit with a group gathered round the fire. She leaned back against his shoulder and was content. Until she looked across the room and saw Jade sitting in a low armchair in a dark corner ‒ alone, caressing a drink, and gazing at them with eyes full of anguish.
Laura sat up and began to tell about the spider. She told it as a funny story against herself and those nearby laughed. But she meant it to put Jade right about the night before if nothing else.
‘I was terrified!’ said Laura, joining in the hilarity.
‘You’re no use in the outback!’ came Kyle’s voice.
‘Definitely not my scene!’ She had meant it to come out as a quip, and was dismayed when Nate got to his feet and strode out across the verandah and into the darkness.
She broke away from the group at once, and followed him. She could see him walking towards a little hillock, and ran to catch up with him. When she reached him he’d stopped and was leaning back against a large tree, looking up at the paling moon.
Her Australian Summer: Corazon Books Vintage Romance (novella) Page 4
