Jacaranda

by Mandy Magro

  ‘Merry Christmas, Mum and Dad,’ she whispered, as two beautiful Ulysses butterflies suddenly flew into view and darted around in the garden together. She instantly felt goosebumps all over. Ulysses butterflies had been her parents’ favourite. Molly knew then it was a sign from her parents that they were with her, and her eyes filled with tears.

  Chapter 4

  ‘Get up! Get up! Move along, you lot! We haven’t got all day!’ Molly yelled as she pushed the meandering cattle towards the yards, admiring the deep cherry-red of their coats in the morning sunlight. Her grandfather had chosen the Santa Gertrudis for their renowned resistance to ticks, pinkeye and grass tetany, which was vital in the harsh conditions of Dimbulah. Santa Gertrudis had the perseverance to walk long distances for food and water, making them perfect for the hot and dry environment. The cows were also exceptionally maternal, known to ‘babysit’ up to twenty calves when the rest of the herd was busy grazing. Molly found that fact very endearing.

  Licking her cracked lips, Molly lifted her hat and wiped the beading sweat from her forehead with her sleeve. She felt as if she had sweated out a few litres of water and her shirt clung to her like clingwrap. Even though it was Boxing Day, everyone on Jacaranda Farm was straight back to work. The only days they got off every year were Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. Other than that, when the fruit was ready to pick or the cattle needed tending to they all had to work rain, hail, shine or public holiday. No rest for the wicked, Molly thought, pulling her water bottle from the saddle bag and taking a few long gulps from it. She and Kenny had spent most of the morning rounding up the small mob ahead of her for drenching. It wasn’t one of her favourite jobs but it had to be done to stop the cattle getting intestinal worms. It would have been a heck of a lot easier if Heath and Trev had been there to help, but they were busy picking mangoes. David couldn’t help either – he managed the packing shed, ensuring the fruit left the shed in top condition. Even Rose was working today, helping Elizabeth with all the baking for a cancer fundraiser, in between playing with her new puppies and her castle. Molly smiled as she remembered the look of glee on Rose’s face when she had opened Heath’s present. He had seemed equally thrilled by her response. Molly gently touched the bracelet Heath had given her, still in awe of how stunning it was. Why had he bought her something so expensive? In the past he had bought her gift vouchers for the local western shop, clothes, or books on training horses. This bracelet, it was different. Wasn’t jewellery a bit, well, personal, something a boyfriend would buy? Jenny wouldn’t approve, she was sure of it, and the very thought made her feel guilty for even accepting such a gift from Heath. Why did she? But, perhaps there was nothing to concern herself with; maybe she was just over-thinking things like she usually did. She jumped as Kenny cracked his whip, snapping her back to the here and now.

  ‘Are you right to shut the gates, Kenny?’ she bellowed, heading towards a shady spot under a few ironbark trees.

  ‘No wucken furries!’ he called back, his tall, lanky frame sitting casually in the saddle. He was so skinny Molly swore she could just about blow him right off his horse with one big breath. Not that he should be thin – he certainly ate like there was no tomorrow. Molly wished she could eat half as much as him without worrying about putting on weight. She wasn’t too concerned, though; with the amount of hard work she put in on the farm she could afford to indulge in the odd treat.

  Molly was about to dismount when she felt her mount Leroy coil like a spring beneath her. She smoothly tightened the reins and pulled him back, talking calmly to him as she scanned her surroundings for danger, trusting in Leroy’s capability to sense it long before she could. He gave a shrill whinny and suddenly he was rearing up, nearly unseating her. Molly tensed all her muscles and held on for dear life as she spotted a giant king brown snake slither across the earth beneath them. Leroy’s hoofs hit the ground and the snake struck out, barely missing the horse’s front leg before it disappeared into a patch of scrub. Leroy’s flanks twitched fiercely as Molly tried to calm him down, stroking his neck from where she sat in the saddle.

  ‘Good boy, good boy. It’s gone now. You’re okay. It’s gone, mate.’

  Kenny trotted up beside her. ‘What was that all about? Are you all right, Molly?’

  Molly gave Leroy a proud rub. ‘I’m all good, Kenny. Leroy here just spotted a king brown, that’s all. Didn’t you, buddy?’

  ‘What? Shit, has it gone?’ Kenny scanned the ground frantically. ‘I bloody hate snakes. They make my skin crawl.’

  ‘Yes, Kenny, you big girl, it’s gone!’ Molly laughed. Kenny was most certainly the larrikin of the bunch, and if you factored in alcohol, he was the town nudist, finding himself in the lock-up on a handful of occasions because of his X-rated displays, but never seeming to learn his lesson. Molly appreciated his lighthearted approach to life. So many people chose to take life too seriously, and she wasn’t immune to doing that herself. Kenny taught her how to lighten up, enjoy the simple things in life. It was an admirable trait.

  Kenny smiled bashfully as he hopped down off his horse. ‘Well, that’s good. Time for smoko then, I reckon, before I starve to death.’

  After a few minutes Leroy relaxed and Molly slid out of the saddle. She gave him a quick scratch around the lips, which he loved. He let her know how much he enjoyed it by smiling back at her in a horsy kind of way.

  ‘Thank goodness I have you to take care of me, mate. I would’ve trodden right on top of that snake if you hadn’t warned me. Cheers, buddy. I owe you one.’

  In the shade of the ironbarks Molly and Kenny demolished half a fruitcake and a few litres of water in less than ten minutes before settling back against a tree trunk.

  ‘Okay, I’ve got a joke for you, Molly. Why did the chicken cross the road?’

  Molly rolled her eyes. ‘Um, to get to the other side?’

  ‘Because there was a sexy-looking rooster on the other side of the road!’

  Molly couldn’t help but laugh at the ridiculousness of it. ‘Oh, Kenny. That’s a shocker.’

  ‘I know, but it made you laugh, didn’t it?’ he replied smugly as he stretched his arms high in the air and yawned broadly. Just then, a massive grasshopper flew straight into Kenny’s mouth like a 747 coming in for landing. Kenny leapt up with his mouth hanging open, the grasshopper going crazy, desperate to escape. Kenny’s body jerked around like a dancer in a club. He was trying to talk, but with his mouth so full of the panicked green insect Molly couldn’t make out a word. She was just about to help him, tears of laughter streaming down her face, when the grasshopper discovered its escape route. It sped out of Kenny’s cavernous mouth like it was jet-propelled, hitting Molly in the side of the head with a soft noise before darting away into the safety of the branches above them. Kenny just stood and stared at Molly, wide-eyed, shaking his head slowly from side to side.

  ‘Holy crap, Kenny! Now that was funny! Was that part of the joke?’ Molly hollered as she collapsed to the ground in fits of laughter.

  ‘How freaking insane was that?’ he said, trying to catch his breath. ‘I thought my life had been full of crazy shit, but that, that takes the cake! Imagine if the bugger had gone the wrong way and flown down my throat! I could have choked to death. I can just see the headlines now: “Dimbulah man cheats death after being attacked by a grasshopper!”’

  That set Molly off again and her whole body shook in uncontrollable laughter.

  Getting back to work, they pushed the cattle one by one through the crush, applying the drench meticulously. Molly carefully assessed the physical condition of each animal, happy at the end of the afternoon that they had a healthy herd. All she had to do now was fatten them up, ready for the saleyards in six months’ time. Soon she would take a truckload over to Rob’s; he had an endless supply of fodder thanks to the friendly, wet climate in Malanda. It was extremely dry this time of the year on Jacaranda Farm and that meant costly feeding bills. She made a mental note to ring her uncle tonight and sort it out
as she shut the last of the paddock gates and bolted it securely.

  Molly and Kenny mounted their horses and headed back in the direction of the stables, their pace casual. They enjoyed the peacefulness of the late afternoon, the earth gradually beginning to shadow as the sun began its descent over the distant mountains.

  ‘Well, I’m beat, Kenny. How ’bout you?’ Molly asked while taking off Leroy’s saddle and placed it over the hitching rail nearby.

  ‘Yeah, me too, mate. I’ve had a pretty traumatic day after nearly choking on that grasshopper.’

  ‘Oh, don’t start me laughing again, Kenny! My cheeks still hurt!’

  Molly pushed open the shed door and shivered delightfully as the cool air-conditioning caressed her skin. She was hoping to find Rose there, but the shed was empty except for David.

  ‘Hi, Granddad. Need a hand finishing up before dinner?’

  David looked up from his bookwork; his thick glasses perched on the end of his nose. ‘Oh, hi, love. That’s good of you, but I’m almost finished here. How did you and Kenny go with the drenching?’

  ‘Yeah, really good. The cattle look in tip-top condition. They just need a good bit of fodder to fatten them up for the saleyards. I thought I’d take them over to Rob and Cheryl’s sometime next week.’

  ‘That’d be such a help, love, thanks. I’d be lost without you.’

  Molly wrapped her arm around David’s shoulder. ‘And I’d be lost without you.’

  She whistled to Skip, who was napping on the old lounge in the corner of the air-conditioned shed. ‘Come on, boy, time to head home. Looks like you’ve had a hard day cooped up in here with the aircon. I don’t know how you cope.’

  David chuckled. ‘I want to come back as a dog in my next life, I reckon, Molly.’

  Dusk was upon them when she stepped back through the shed door and out into the world. Molly looked above as the skies filled with thousands of screeching bats and a horrible stench filled the air. She swiftly grabbed her nose to squash her nostrils shut.

  Molly’s family was one of the lucky ones that could afford to put up huge nets to prevent the catastrophic damage the bats could wreak in one night of ravenous feeding. Other farmers simply had to hedge their bets, which could be devastating to the bank balance. Bats were a protected species, much to Molly’s fury. She thought they were wretched creatures, full of awful diseases. She knew of several horses having to be put down because of the horrific hendra virus, which was carried in bat faeces. It made her blood boil with anger. But there was nothing anyone could do to cull them, and the bats were beginning to reproduce in plague proportions. She shook her head at the unfairness of it before turning her attention back to Skip, who was dancing like billy-o around her feet, waiting for some attention. She leant down and gave him a cuddle around the neck, chortling at his antics.

  Chapter 5

  Molly, Jade, Heath, Kenny and Trev sang along to Alan Jackson’s ‘Good Time’ at the tops of their lungs as they bounced along the rough dirt road towards the pub. The stereo in Trev’s old Toyota Land Cruiser sent vibrations through the seat, pumping the group up for tonight’s New Year’s Eve bash. Trev swerved a few times to miss the kangaroos that jumped without warning from the sides of the road. Panicked by the headlights, they hopped this way and that as if drunk, not deciding until the last death-defying second which side of the road they wanted to get off.

  Molly wasn’t surprised by all the cars out the front of the Bull Bar. It was as though every man and his dog had decided it was the place to celebrate tonight. The more the merrier, she thought, as she slid out of the back seat.

  Jade smiled as she pointed to a group of guys standing outside the pub. They were dressed to the nines in women’s clothing, heels and all. ‘Come on, Molly. Let’s go and find out why they’re dressed like a bunch of sheilas!’

  ‘Hey! Molly Jones,’ one of them slurred, seeing her heading in their direction. He held his beer up in the air like a trophy before losing his footing in the tremendously high heels and wearing half the beer on his head in his attempt to save himself.

  ‘Kurt! Hi! Gee whiz, you lot look pretty tonight. What’s the occasion?’ Molly asked as she took in the state of them all.

  Kurt looked to the others for an answer, but they all just burst out laughing. After regaining a bit of composure, Kurt cleared his throat to answer. ‘Okay, let me explain, Molly. It all started when Jimbo here decided to put on some of his missus’ red lipstick for a laugh. What happened after that is a bit of a blur, but I know it involved tequila shots … Then we were so drunk we couldn’t be arsed getting changed back into our jeans and stuff, so we thought, what the hell, we’ll just come as we are for a bit of a hoot!’

  ‘Hmm, I don’t think any of you will be getting lucky tonight dressed like that. And trust me, in the morning your feet are going to ache like buggery. I’m looking forward to seeing you lot trying to dance in those shoes. Anyways, let’s get in there and have ourselves some shots too!’ Molly exclaimed.

  Jade smiled cheekily. ‘You’re on, my friend. Let’s get smashed and dance like a group of headless chooks!’

  Molly giggled. ‘I like your simile, Jade. You come out with some beauties sometimes. But I don’t think I’m too keen on getting smashed – just happily tipsy will be sufficient for me.’

  ‘Sounds like a plan to me, ladies,’ Heath answered, thrilled to be out with Molly. She looked so darn sexy in her going-out garb. He was used to seeing her in her work jeans and a singlet, which was a nice sight, but this was even better. Tonight Molly had on her going-out jeans, black leather boots and a tight blue top that revealed just a hint of her voluptuous cleavage. He wished he had the guts to just grab her and kiss her right then and there, but his sense of reason warned him not to. Now wasn’t the time.

  Molly screwed up her face as she sucked the chunk of lemon she was given along with her tequila shot. Jade slammed her shot glass down on the bar, licking her lips, quickly ordering another round for the five of them from the new barmaid, Melinda. Molly smiled as she watched Jade and Melinda share a moment across the bar, chuffed that Kenny had introduced the pair a few days ago at the weekly dart competition at the pub. It looked to her as if there was a definite spark between the two women.

  Molly checked out the crowd in the Bull Bar, trying to see how many faces she recognised. It seemed like a lifetime ago that she and Jade had hung out here every weekend, drinking with the boys and playing pool. They had been pretty wild back then. Looking back on it, Molly was surprised neither of them had ended up in the lock-up for the night.

  She remembered one time when she was eighteen. After she and Jade had downed too many shooters, they’d decided it would be a great idea to catch as many cane toads as they could and tie rocks to their back legs with string. They had then tossed the toads on the roofs of unsuspecting Dimbulah residents, who’d been rudely woken at three in the morning by toads jumping around on their tin roofs and making one heck of a racket. Thank God nobody had figured out who it was. The town had been in an uproar for weeks, with concerned members of the community even holding a meeting in the town hall. Molly had run off the rails a bit back then, drinking and partying, which had broken her grandparents’ hearts. Now she realised how much they must have worried about her and how hard they had tried to make up for her parents not being there. But everything had changed when Rose came along. Molly was truly sorry for the pain she had caused her grandparents, and she had done her best to make up for it over the past few years.

  The mechanical bull took pride of place in the centre of the Bull Bar and both men and women were lining up to give it a shot. Melinda leant over the bar and yelled over the music.

  ‘You ladies should give it a go. The deal is, if you can ride it for eight seconds you get a hundred-dollar bar tab.’

  Jade raised her eyebrows at Molly. ‘I’m game if you are, buddy!’

  Molly nodded and grinned. A mechanical bull was nothing compared to a bucking horse. She and Jade l
ooked at the guys to see if they wanted to give it a go. Trev shook his head firmly, yelling over the music.

  ‘Nah, I’m getting too old for that stuff. I’m going to go for a wander around, catch up with a few people I haven’t seen for a while. If you want me later, I’ll probably be at the pool table kicking some butt.’

  Molly turned to Heath. He grinned like a naughty schoolboy. ‘Bloody oath! Count me in, ladies.’

  Kenny was always up for anything, so Molly didn’t even bother to ask him. The four of them stood in the line for the bull, cracking up as they watched people trying to ride drunk and coming spectacularly unstuck. Some of the girls had skirts on and were so busy trying to keep their knickers from showing they had no chance of lasting the eight seconds. Other women tried too hard to look sexy, hoping the eligible young cowboys watching from the sidelines imagined they were riding them instead of the bull.

  ‘Buckle bunnies,’ Molly whispered into Jade’s ear and they both laughed hysterically.

  Finally it was Molly’s turn and she felt herself blushing as all eyes fell upon her. She shook the embarrassment off and climbed on top of the man-made beast. At the sound of a bell, the bull suddenly began to move, and Molly was lurched through the air, doing her best to hold on. The crowd wolf-whistled and hollered as they watched her move like a pro with every buck, their cheers getting louder and louder as she got closer to the eight-second bell. There was a massive roar when the bell rang out and Molly grinned victoriously as she headed back to her mates. She noticed some of the men looking at her, clearly impressed by the fact that a woman had lasted the eight seconds. She couldn’t help being quietly proud of her effort, proving that women could ride the mechanical bull just as well as the men.