As if relieved to get it all out, Daphne stood up and bustled away to put her own plate in the sink, then washed it vigorously. ‘It’s none of my business, of course,’ she said over her shoulder, ‘but I thought I might as well run the idea past you.’
Billie thought about it, and was surprised by how much the idea appealed. She’d wanted to try station life, and she wouldn’t need a manager if it wasn’t her station, and Daphne would be there. Before she could say anything, Mia’s voice called from the lounge.
‘Mummmm.’
Billie stood up as Daphne dried her hands and prepared to leave. ‘I’ll go next door. If she needs to stay home tomorrow I can drop in and check on her every now and then.’
Billie put her hand out and touched Daphne’s shoulder. ‘Thank you. For looking after Mia, for everything.’ She waved to her half-eaten plate. ‘It’s just what I needed to retain my sanity.’
Daphne looked ridiculously pleased and Billie wondered just what the past had done to this woman, who was possibly the kindest person she’d ever met.
The next morning Morgan stopped Billie as she walked past him to put her bag away. ‘How’s Mia?’
She glanced at him coolly. He’d known she would be upset and withheld telling her until he decided the time was right. Well, he had no right. ‘Bruised and sorry for herself. She’s staying home today.’
His voice was level but she had the feeling he knew he’d blotted his copybook. ‘I thought you might have called in sick to stay with her.’
She looked at him. Lifted her chin. He wasn’t the only professional around here. ‘Thought of it but she’s sixteen. And I didn’t want to let everyone down.’
He nodded. Didn’t say thank you. Did she really need him to? ‘Daphne mentioned she was thinking of moving out of town. Renting a room on a station,’ she said.
‘Hmm.’ His expression didn’t change. But then it didn’t change much that she noticed any time except when the sudden smiles surprised her. She didn’t like him, remember, she told herself.
‘I was thinking I might try that, too,’ she said.
‘Hmmm.’ Still no expression.
Well, that wasn’t very helpful. Did he think it was acceptable for her to add 10 kilometres to her drive to work? But he hadn’t said no either.
Billie decided to ask Daphne if she would take her out to meet Soretta. If that went well then Mia could lump it along with Morgan.
SIX
Soretta and Billie hit it off right away. They both believed in getting things done and agreed to give it a one-month trial period.
Mia wasn’t happy. Which was an understatement.
‘I cannot believe you are doing this to me,’ she said when Billie told her the news. ‘Again. Are you trying to ruin my life?’
Billie tried not to react. ‘I’m trying to stop you doing that.’ She was happy with the calmness in her voice.
Mia was anything but calm. ‘By incarcerating me on a drought-stricken, desolate sheep farm where I won’t even be able to wash my hair because they won’t have enough water? It’ll be a hundred degrees out there!’
Billie’s temper strained at the edges. ‘Soretta says there’s still enough tank water. You just have to be careful with it.’
‘Oh goody. And, what’s more, I’m not coming home on the school bus like a baby.’
‘You have to. Daphne doesn’t always get off on time.’ It was becoming more difficult to keep her voice level.
Mia folded her arms across her chest and Billie noticed that her daughter’s shirt buttons on her uniform were bulging a little. The thought sent a pang of nostalgia through her and her anger drained away. She had to accept that Mia was turning into a woman in front of her eyes. A bolshy, cranky when thwarted, woman.
Mia said, ‘I’ll wait for you to arrive and pick me up from school.’
‘I might not get off on time either and two hours is too long to wait anyway.’ Billie closed her eyes for a second. ‘You can go in with me on the days I work but you’ll catch the bus home. But I’m afraid that’s the end of the story. Starting on Friday.’
Mia glared at her. ‘You’ll regret this.’
Billie took a deep breath. Let it out slowly and said in a very quiet voice, ‘I hope not. But if it doesn’t work we’ll come back here.’
Moving out to Blue Hills Station only took a week to organise. Thankfully, it fell on the Friday rostered day off so Billie even had a three-day weekend to settle in.
Morgan had arranged with the powers that be that one of the town flats would remain as an on-call backstop for the nights on- call. Which would be good as well if staff were too tired to drive home after a call-out.
He demurred when Billie tried to thank him. ‘It’s something I’ve been thinking about for a while. And not just for you and Daphne.’
Liar, Billie thought, because she could see the concern in his eyes. But maybe he had a point. She could imagine a close shave with wildlife, especially at dawn and dusk when her reflexes were likely to be half asleep.
But she wasn’t going to think about work this morning. Or her boss. She was thinking about her days off and her new place of residence.
This move would be the perfect way to see if she really did want to live on the land, as opposed to being forever an in-town person. And she didn’t have to buy a high-maintenance place to find out.
Tonight would be their first night at Blue Hills Station, with the only downside being Mia was not excited, to say the least. But Billie got that. Maybe they had moved way too often. Hopefully, this would be a turning point for both of them.
Daphne and Billie drove their cars out to Blue Hills as soon as Mia left for school and Billie could see Daphne’s smiling face in the rear-view mirror as she led the way.
It was a peaceful drive. They didn’t pass a single soul, and had wide open spaces on each side of the road. The sun behind them, Billie felt like a pioneer heading into the distance with purple flowers and waving yellow grass flashing past and the open plains ahead of her.
When she turned into the station gate and started up the rock strewn driveway, Billie felt the surge of excitement, like a wave of new adventurous spirit she’d been waiting to unleash. She couldn’t keep the smile off her face. She braked close to the verandah steps so they could unload. She’d find out where to park later.
Daphne pulled up next to her and they grinned at each other as they got out.
Soretta, dressed in well-worn jeans, a workman’s shirt with the sleeves rolled up and socks, pushed open the screen door and gestured them up the steps. ‘Welcome, ladies. I’m afraid I have to run away, but make yourselves at home.’
When they got to the top step, she flashed them a smile as she picked up one of her boots. ‘Something’s come up over at the yards. But I’ll be back later to answer questions.’
Billie blinked, but Soretta on a mission was unstoppable and obviously she had no doubt they’d manage fine on their own.
‘Have fun shifting stuff,’ she said. ‘I’m on my way out to move sheep to another paddock.’
Billie was still processing this when Soretta added, ‘I had a brilliant idea last night.’ She pulled on her boot. ‘Grandad and I don’t use the lounge rooms between our rooms and yours, just the kitchen and the dining room occasionally, so you can have a sitting room each in the middle.’ She pulled on the other boot. ‘Make them your own spaces, shift the furniture in any of your rooms. You’ll see which ones are ours, so use any of the others. Only thing is, Grandad has the ensuite, so we’ll all have to share the other bathroom.’
She stood up. Stomped her feet to settle them into the boots. ‘If this boarding thing doesn’t work, that’s okay, too, but we’ll see how it goes.’ She glanced at her watch. ‘Sorry, I didn’t expect to do this today but needs must. I have to be early before Klaus gets tied up doing other things. He lives in the shearer’s quarters over the hill. Call me if you need something urgent explained.’
She pulled her phone from h
er pocket, showed them the bars of reception, and put it back. ‘My mobile works most times when I’m away from the house but not all the time. The number’s stuck on the fridge. I’ll be back at three to go see Grandad. The school bus gets here at four forty-five.’
She waved and trotted down the steps and strode across the yard. A minute later they heard the roar of an engine and then she came out of the shed on a quad bike, two kelpies jumping and skidding in excitement, as she puttered down the driveway until she broke right and steered across a paddock.
Billie shook her head at the dynamo that was their landlady.
Daphne seemed to think everything was as it should be. ‘She’s a doer, that Soretta.’
Billie dragged her eyebrows back down to normal and followed after Daphne, who’d now stepped inside and was standing in the central hallway.
‘Ah, yes,’ Billie murmured as she began to take in the lovely old home. In her brief look through during the week when she’d met Soretta, she really hadn’t noticed much except the fact the house was out of town, and seemed large enough to not find themselves living in each other’s pockets. Of Soretta, she’d decided she could admire her drive and stamina, and the rest she’d see how they went. Billie got on with most people and she just hoped Mia would settle in.
She hadn’t missed the fact it would be very different to the featureless duplex they’d moved out of or that people would be coming and going. Which was a good thing for Mia.
With Soretta gone, and time to soak it in, now she saw the ceilings were high, pressed-metal and painted white. The hallway was divided by white painted wooden arches down its length where it gave way into rooms.
‘The house is huge,’ Billie marvelled quietly as they walked slowly down the wooden boards of the hallway, and she shook her head at the stained-glass bottoms of the windows shining multi-coloured light as the sun streamed through the eastern side of the house.
They peered into each of the seven bedrooms except Lachlan’s, which was right at the end of the long arched hallway, and Soretta’s that lay opposite.
They perused the available rooms, which were closer to the kitchen, and after them, the sitting rooms.
Each bedroom had its own latticed double door leading out onto the verandah and an outside chair and round table. Inside both of the high-ceilinged rooms was a wall of built-in robes, plus a colonial writing desk, a deep chest of drawers with mirror, and a wrought-iron double bed, stripped bare, with blankets folded on top. The furnishings were old but shone with years of polish applied with love.
The two sitting rooms were elongated rather than wide, and one of them was scarce of furniture, which suited Daphne and her belongings. The other was fully furnished and showed signs of more use. Both had huge bay windows with a window seat looking out over the verandah.
A couple of folded newspapers and an open book that Billie suspected had been there for a while lay on the side table in her sitting room. Both rooms had black metal fireplaces with tiled surrounds. Billie’s had a wing chair pulled up in front of her fireplace and she could imagine being tucked up there on a cold winter’s night with her own book. The ambience was a world away from the concrete rooms staring into the blank metal fence they’d just left.
The slow excitement that had been building all day expanded into a burst of anticipation. She had a job she loved. A safe place for Mia to come home to. And a connection with the land she’d always dreamed of, even if she’d really be a farm-stay renter. Finally, things were coming together the way she’d always hoped they could.
They tore themselves away from the sitting rooms and moved on to the enormous bathroom—with claw-foot bath that neither of them could imagine having enough water to be able to use, but there was nothing wrong with dreaming—a dark-green tiled shower with an old-fashioned bird-neck shower rose, and an oak dresser with an oval basin set into the wood. The separate toilet room sported washbasin and stained-glass mirror and was almost big enough to fit another bath.
Daphne shook her head at the elegance of the fittings. ‘Soretta’s grandmother certainly had a flair for interior decorating.’
‘The whole place is beautiful,’ Billie whispered as if a ghost might hear. ‘I know her gran died, but what happened to Soretta’s mother?’
‘She died not long after Soretta was born. Her father was killed in a farm accident, so her paternal grandparents brought her up, but her grandmother died two years ago. Lorna told me Lachlan’s never been the same since her death, which makes it harder for Soretta.’
Billie got that. The homestead showed all the signs of warmth and family and a woman’s caring touch, but it must have echoed a little emptily with just Lachlan and Soretta in it. ‘Well, her gran certainly created a beautiful home. It’s perfectly maintained. How can Soretta keep it like this with what she does outside?’
Daphne smiled. ‘I asked. Apparently, she spends fifteen minutes in a different room every day, cleaning and vacuuming lightly, early in the morning, so the task is built into her day, and she leaves the rest until its turn. That way she gets through the lot. She said she started it when her gran died because she felt close to her when she was doing it, and hasn’t stopped.’
Billie shook her head. Homemaking wasn’t her strong suit but she could appreciate the sense of a consistently doing a small amount. She’d always kept her current rooms clean and tidy and this would be an absolute pleasure to maintain. ‘At least Soretta will have a few less rooms to do now.’
Daphne had chosen the room beside the minimally furnished sitting room on the left side of the hallway and Billie was very happy with the two rooms next to each other on the right.
They moved back into the hallway and her head shook in spite of herself. ‘But it’s still a huge house.’
Daphne had been right when she’d said there’d be room for more lodgers if Soretta wanted. The place could hold more than three families very comfortably if everyone pulled their own weight.
Billie smiled at the sudden image of Soretta dealing with anyone she considered slacking. Miss Mia might be in for a shock.
In the separate dining room the glory piece, a formal table with enough seating for twelve, was polished rosewood. The matching high-backed chairs, with a carver at each end, were regal. Billie could almost imagine the original settlers hosting dinner parties for men with curling moustaches and military jackets.
Back in the kitchen the table held seating for eight and the long scrubbed timber setting looked like it had seen generations of family life.
Rex was coming at morning teatime with a u-hire trailer full of Daphne’s furniture. Billie thought again that Rex might be sweet on Daphne, but when she’d raised the idea discreetly with her new friend Daphne had blushed and denied it strenuously. Such was Daphne’s embarrassment that Billie had backed away from the statement, but she still hadn’t changed her mind. He’d been pretty quick to offer help, and hadn’t taken no for an answer.
The two women spent the next two hours unpacking their suitcases, stocking the food pantry in the kitchen while looking at the bare cupboards and each other in dismay, and generally settling in.
Daphne had brought her slow cooker, and before they’d gone too far she’d slipped in a corned beef piece to simmer away quietly in the corner of the kitchen to make sandwiches with later, and packed cakes and slices she’d cooked at the flat into empty round Tupperware containers, which Soretta seemed to have hundreds of.
‘Love the idea of the corned meat.’ Billie rubbed her hands together. ‘I can see we’ll have to come to an arrangement. Of course we can take it in turns cooking, but I need you to make the suggestions.’
Daphne nodded happily at the prospect. ‘I love cooking and adore my slow cooker. It only takes a minute to start a whole meal that cooks while I’m at work.’
‘I read that somewhere,’ Billie said dryly. ‘I never believed it,’ she muttered.
The dogs barked, a farm sound and one they’d have to get used to. Mia had always fus
sed over other people’s animals even though they’d never had a pet. In fact, Billie hadn’t had one since her parents died. The dogs kept barking and she wondered if they’d drive her mad.
A few minutes later there was a knock at the door.
They both looked up. Oops. So barking dogs meant visitors. She must remember that.
Billie went to the door and looked out. A towering four-wheel drive, festooned with spotlights and bull bar and requisite kelpie chained on the back, was parked under the tree.
A tall, confident young cowboy, sporting a very rakishly tilted akubra, was coming up the steps.
‘I’m Clem. Outback Internet Service.’ The strapping young man had a delightfully slow drawl. He shifted his hat to one hand with that innate country courtesy she’d noticed time and again since she’d moved here, and carried a bulky toolbox easily in the other.
Billie pushed open the screen door. ‘Excellent. I didn’t think you’d get here today. Thanks for coming so quickly.’
He nodded, and she loved the way he put his toolbox down and automatically bent and slipped off his boots before coming in.
Once he was inside she waved him in to the dining room, where the wi-fi internet had originally been based. ‘Second door on the left.’
He paused. ‘Soretta home?’
Billie shook her head. ‘She’s sorting sheep at the yards.’
The young man nodded and carried his toolbox and equipment down towards the original but defunct internet connections and she turned back to Daphne.
Billie raised her hands in disbelief. ‘That was quick. It takes weeks in Sydney to get a tradie. I checked with Soretta and she was happy if I put the internet back on for the house. I can’t believe it might actually happen today.’ In case Daphne thought she expected Soretta to pay, she added, ‘My expense, of course. Mia wouldn’t cope without it and I’m partial to the occasional download myself.’
The Homestead Girls Page 8
