by Janet Woods
‘Don’t be like that, Min. Why aren’t you at the homestead?’
‘The little pig huffed and puffed and he blew the house down.’
He laughed. So did she, because the joke was on him.
‘I need some money, Min.’
‘Put your arm down a snake hole, you might find the pot of gold.’
She hardened her heart. His little-boy-lost expression didn’t work with her any more. ‘You’ve come to the wrong person. The small amount of money I’ve got has to keep me until I start work. And don’t think you can steal any more from Esmé. She’s in hospital.’
‘Oh, come on Minnie . . . you’re my wife. There’s a game going and I only need a fiver to get me into it.’
He hadn’t even bothered to ask what was wrong with Esmé. ‘I won’t be your wife for much longer, and I haven’t got a fiver. But I have found a job, and as soon as I’ve got some money together I’m going to divorce you. I’m given to understand that I have grounds.’
‘What you’ve heard is lies. Lillian played up when her brother was in the cooler, but I doubt if she’s expecting a baby. I . . . um . . . acted as Lillian’s minder, more than anything. We went out dancing, and stuff. Somebody told John Teagan and he got the wrong idea.’
‘You were her pimp, you mean.’
He winced, then lowered his voice and gazed towards the stairs. ‘Lillian isn’t a slut, whatever my mother thinks. She’s a nice, ordinary girl. Aw, come on Minnie, you know it’s you I love. Why else would I have married you?’
He’d married her because of the baby, and because she’d nagged him, she thought, and really, that was the only thing he’d had in his favour – that he’d been willing to support her and the child. It had soon become obvious he didn’t have the wit to support either. Perhaps he was telling the truth and Lillian wasn’t pregnant. She doubted it. Ma knew what a pregnancy looked like. It was about time Wally learned what responsibility was about, and she wasn’t going to finance him in his folly.
‘Minnie,’ Ma bawled from above. ‘Is that my Wally?’
‘Yes, Ma. I’m on my way,’ he said.
She watched him go, her eyes narrowing. Wally was up to something, and whatever it was she didn’t think it included her. Even if it did, she wouldn’t be a part of it. She was through with him.
She turned her back and slopped water on to the floor, feeling resentful. Wally should be doing this. He’d soon get some money out of his mother.
He did, and came down with a smile on his face, looking confident. Before he left the hotel, Minnie asked him, ‘Where are you staying?’
He hesitated before shaking his head. ‘If you don’t know, you can’t tell anyone. As soon as I’ve got a good stake I’m getting out of town and going over to the west coast. You can come with me. We could make a fresh start. Come on, Min, think about it. As soon as we’re settled I’ll sell the homestead. The mining company offered my uncle a good price for it.’
She wondered how she managed to keep her face straight; she wasn’t going to be the one to tell him the homestead was now a heap of rubble. She couldn’t imagine what use that salt lake and scrubby bit of land would be to the mining company, now the stream had been diverted. If there was gold there, she’d never seen any. Ben had said the mine wouldn’t buy it now, and besides, the company had closed until the economy picked up.
‘Do you expect me to leave everything and go off with you? What about my new job and my friends? And then there’s your mother? She’s not been well. Her heart isn’t what it should be. She needs someone here to help her, and you’re all she’s got left. If you leave it will break her heart.’
‘Ma has had that heart problem for years; she just hasn’t seen anyone about it. She’s told me she’s as strong as a horse. Besides, Reg will help her out. As soon as we’re settled she can sell up and join us. I’ll find myself a regular job, and perhaps we’ll buy a hotel of our own when everything’s settled. And we’ll have a baby or two, to make up for the one we lost.’
His statement lacked the ring of truth. He was telling her what he thought she wanted to hear, making it up as he went. ‘What about Lillian?’
He looked troubled and avoided her eyes. ‘I told Lillian I was coming back to you. I promise I won’t stray again, love.’
Did he really think she’d take him back, or even wanted to? As for his promises, they tripped too easily from his tongue and had as much substance as a fart in a colander. She grinned as she wondered what Esmé would say to her using that vulgar expression, even in thought.
Wally misinterpreted the grin and went to hug her. ‘I knew you’d see sense.’
She stepped back, keeping him at arm’s length. See sense? She’d seen that weeks ago. She wasn’t going with him, and that was that.
‘I do love you, Min. Honest. Things will work out, you’ll see. Lady Luck is on my side and I’m going to win big money tonight, I feel it in my bones.’
And Wally did win. But there was a price to pay for that slice of luck – a price neither of them expected, or would have wanted.
Sixteen
‘Wally is dead?’
Esmé’s eyes widened. No wonder Minnie was wearing a black armband. She also had dark circles under her eyes, and looked tired and pale. ‘Oh, Min. I’m so sorry. I mean . . . I know you and he didn’t get along, but dead . . . how did it happen?’
‘The police told me that Wally was at a poker game. Someone accused him of cheating. He left with his winnings and was waylaid by two men, who set about him. One hit him from behind with a brick, and when he went down his head bounced on the kerb. The assailants fled when some people appeared. Wally was still breathing, but unconscious. He died on the way to hospital. The hospital gave me his personal effects.’
‘Poor Wally. How is Ma taking it?’
‘As you’d expect, she cries a lot. Losing Wally so soon after her husband has been a bit too much for her. She tries to be strong but she keeps breaking down. The police think Wally was set-up.’
‘John Teagan?’
‘Apparently he has an alibi, but anyway, nobody is talking. Ma is blaming herself for giving him the stake money to gamble with in the first place. I feel guilty about it. He’d asked me to take him back, and I said I’d think about it. I knew I wouldn’t forgive him, though. Wally meant well . . . but he was as shallow as they come, and I know he was lying to me.’
‘When’s the funeral to be?’
‘Next week.’
‘Is there any good news?’
‘Yes . . . I’ve got a part-time job, right here in the hospital. I’ll be in the emergency department at weekends, Thursday night through till Sunday. Apparently it’s busy. The sister in your ward put a word in for me. It will be enough to keep us in essentials until your bones are healed and you’re able to help out.’
‘I won’t be able to lift, or do much to help round the bar.’
‘Reg will help on the days I’m not there, and it’s only for about a month. There are always the accounts to do. Have you and Leo decided on a wedding date yet?’
‘We snatched a few minutes together yesterday evening. All being well the wedding will take place towards the end of October in that little church around the corner. We’ll be boarding the ship straight after and heading for England. Leo is making all the arrangements, and we’ll be in England for Christmas. I’m so looking forward to seeing everyone again. It seems like ages. We won’t be gone for good though, and will eventually return to Australia. Promise me not to lose touch. You will be all right here on your own, won’t you, Minnie?’
‘I won’t be alone. I’ll have Ma to look after. We get on well together, and I have nothing to go back to England for. Have you decided on a wedding gown, yet?’
Esmé shrugged, saying wryly, ‘It will be something simple, I imagine. I’ll make it myself.’
‘What about those dresses you used to dance with Liam in.’
She shook her head. ‘It wouldn’t feel right.’
‘Wally had some money on him . . . quite a lot, in fact. I can give you what’s left of what he owed you. The rest will pay for his funeral. For Ma’s sake I thought I’d have a nice one.’
‘I don’t like the thought of taking money from a dead man.’
Minnie was sharp with her. ‘Do stop being so squeamish, Es. I wish I hadn’t mentioned it now. After all, money is only bits of paper with numbers on, and goodness knows how many dead people’s pockets it’s been in.’ She gave a slightly hysterical giggle. ‘Besides, it’s the only way Wally will be able to repay you now . . . so just accept it and shut up, will you.’
‘Only if you stop being cross and give me a hug . . . just a gentle one. I’ll be glad to get out of this place. I’m sick of staring at the ceiling.’
‘That will be tomorrow. It’s all arranged. Leo will bring his car for you, and deliver you to the hotel.’
The funeral was well attended, mostly by bar patrons, who donned their Sunday suits and hoped to get a free beer out of it. Ma looked haggard in her grieving, and she didn’t bother to hide her trickle of tears. Leo and his brother, Alex, attended and the four of them gathered around Ma in support as the coffin was lowered into the grave.
Leo put his arm around Esmé and she turned into his body as far as comfort, and her arm cast, allowed. Unthinkingly, Leo pressed a kiss against her hairline, and she looked up at him and they exchanged a smile.
Minnie smiled to herself at the sight, and then she had the feeling of being watched, and caught Alex’s thoughtful gaze on her.
Minnie reminded herself that this was her husband’s funeral, and not the time and place for the tingle of awareness that sang through her body. Feeling guilty, she swiftly averted her gaze.
She couldn’t keep her attention on what the reverend was saying . . . not like Esmé who appeared to be absorbed. Then she noticed that her friend’s eyes had glazed over. Es was dreaming of her wedding day, no doubt.
Her glance then lit on a young woman who stood on the fringes of the mourners. Tears trickled down her face. She was no more than seventeen, and was pretty in a bold sort of way. Her dress needed a wash and her hair was stringy. Her stomach had a tell tale roundness to it. She was in her second trimester, about four months along, Minnie guessed.
Minnie whispered to Ma, ‘Is that Lillian?’
Ma sniffed. ‘That’s her. I don’t know what Wally saw in her when he had a classy wife like you to come home to. What’s she doing here, anyway? I didn’t invite her.’
‘It’s not her fault, Ma. Look how young she is, and she’s crying over Wally, I imagine. For what it’s worth, unless my training is at fault, that’s an infant she’s carrying. It’s probably your grandchild – the only one you’ll ever have.’
She received an aggrieved look from Ma for her trouble. ‘You know when to stick the knife in. You’re not going to let this go, are you?’
‘I know right from wrong, Ma, and so do you. Lillian is just a kid. Look how gaunt she is. She’s sleeping rough by the looks of her, and you have a spare room. Now I’m at work, you could do with the help, especially until Esmé gets back to normal.’
‘Who do you think you are to be filling my home with down-and-outs . . . Florence bloody Nightingale?’
‘Nobody asked you to invite me and Esmé to stay.’
‘I didn’t mean you two. You give the place a bit of class. Not like that Lillian . . . she’s a bag of bones.’
Minnie conjured up a lie and whispered, ‘I wasn’t going to tell you this, but now it doesn’t matter. Wally and I had a good chat the last time I saw him. We were going to try to get our marriage annulled and just remain friends.’
‘How?’
‘You know how . . . pretend we didn’t get on with marital relations. When we were free he intended to marry Lillian.’
Ma stared at her. ‘Are you telling the truth?’
Fingers crossed behind her back, Minnie nodded.
Ma had just needed to be given a reason, and she capitulated more easily than Minnie had expected. ‘Invite her home for something to eat, while I think about it. But if that brother of hers comes sniffing around I’ll feed him rat poison.’ She sniffed. ‘Perhaps you’re right, love. I wouldn’t want Wally’s kid to grow up with that crook Teagan for an uncle.’
‘The child will probably end up in an orphanage if it survives the pregnancy and birth.’
A peeved expression appeared on Ma’s face, and she folded her arms across her chest and said stoutly, ‘Over my dead body.’
With Ma standing a little way off, Minnie approached the girl when the mourners began to move away. ‘I’m Wally’s widow.’
Lillian flinched, as though she expected to be hit, then gazed dully at her.
‘Wally’s mother wants you to come home with us.’
‘Why should she?’
‘Because you look as though you need help.’
‘I went to her for help once, and she shouted at me . . . though she did give me some money. Why should she want to know me, especially after what happened to Wally? Why should you?’
She fed this girl the same lie as she’d offered Ma, since it would help them both feel better. ‘My marriage to Wally was only on paper. We were going to seek an annulment, and he was going to return to you and the baby.’
Tears trembled on her eyelashes and hope filled her eyes. ‘Is that what he said?’
‘That’s what he told me the night before he died.’
‘What about his mother . . . does she know?’
‘Yes. Think about it, Lillian, you’re carrying her grandchild. That’s all the family she has left. Ma might be noisy, but her bark’s worse than her bite and she’s got a heart of gold.’
Ma joined them, saying indignantly, ‘Who’s noisy?’ She scrutinized the girl, her gaze lingering on her stomach. She sighed. ‘You are telling the truth, aren’t you?’
‘Course, I am,’ and her hands went to her stomach. ‘What d’you think this is, a suet pudding?’
Ma glowered. ‘It could be for all I know, and that’s enough of your lip. I meant, about my Wally fathering it.’
Lillian’s voice took on a despairing note, but her eyes shifted away from Ma. ‘I haven’t been with anyone else. He gave me a drink or two, and said he loved me. It just happened, and I didn’t know how to stop him. I didn’t know he was married then.’
That sounded about right for Wally, who’d hardly been the last of the great lovers, Minnie thought unkindly, but it still struck a false note with her.
Ma shrugged. ‘I suppose it’s not the kid’s fault. Well . . . we can’t stand around here all day. Are you coming or not, Lillian Teagan? If you are, you might as well know that I’ll expect you to do your share of the work. And be warned, there will be no hanky-panky with the customers.’
Minnie chuckled as one of them walked past, respectfully doffing his hat and leaning heavily on a stick. ‘I don’t think you need to worry about that, Ma. I doubt if your customers have any hanky-panky left in them.’
‘You might be right. As for you, Minnie girl, less of your cheek, too. Off you go and join your friends while I sort this one out. And be careful of that sheep farmer. He’s got a wicked gleam in his eye, and will have your drawers down around your ankles before you can say Jack Robinson.’
Ma smiled approvingly at Lillian when she giggled, and Minnie left Ma with the satisfaction of having the last word.
Lillian’s presence took the pressure off Minnie. The girl wasn’t frightened of getting her hands dirty, and she could cook.
Minnie roped Esmé in to do volunteer work at the women’s shelter, three mornings a week. Money was donated to provide a fund of emergency money for women who had no husbands as support. Esmé was kept busy issuing dockets and keeping the records, anything that didn’t tax her as she gained strength
There was only a small amount of relief to go round, and much of that was donated from the better off for those female victims of the Depression, who were i
neligible for government support. Some women had been forced to go on the streets to stop their children from starving. Some were evicted from their homes because they couldn’t pay the rent and had to camp along the river in makeshift tents.
Esmé and Minnie shared what they had. Ma kept a roof over their heads and fed them. Esmé didn’t know how she’d be able to afford a wedding after she gradually gave all the money Wally had owed her to those more needy.
A month later Leo removed the plaster from Esmé’s arm. She lightly scratched the skin, sighing with relief, then held them both out at his request. ‘One’s brown and one’s white. I’ll have to even up the tan.’
‘Wriggle your fingers,’ he said. She wriggled. Gently Leo edged his fingers down the bone to lightly press his thumb against the nerves in her wrist. ‘Any pain?’
‘None.’
She found herself gazing into the blue intimacy of his eyes when he whispered, ‘Hold your arms out, Esmé, my love.’
His fingers walked along her collarbone in more of a caress than an examination and skated lightly up over her ribs, leaving a trail of raised bumps that prickled against her skin.
‘Mmmm,’ she murmured when he took the weight of her small breasts in his palms, and ran a thumb over the sensitized nub. Sliding her arms around him she melted into his body.
He kissed her, a deliciously long, lingering and infinitely sensual kiss. Afterwards he gazed down at her, saying nothing.
When she fluttered her eyelashes at him, he grinned. ‘Sometimes I can’t believe my luck. You wouldn’t like to come to bed with me, I suppose?’
Heat rushed into her cheeks. ‘I’d love to, but I’m . . . oh, I don’t know.’
‘Scared?’ he suggested.
She touched his cheek with a fingertip. ‘No . . . I’m not scared, Leo. I know how things work between people, and why. I’m just not ready to take that step. I’m enjoying the chase, though.’
He groaned. ‘So am I in a way, but it’s playing havoc with my sleeping habits. The trouble with you, Es my darling, is that you think too much.’
