Silver Lining

by Diana Simmonds

  “Oh, let’s eat out here,” said Eleanor as she stood on the sandstone flags. “Please. And I want to take photos to send back home: me on Christmas Day, they’ll never believe it otherwise.”

  Clancy brought an oversized salt-pocked, pale green umbrella out of the shed and slotted its pole into a hole drilled in the stone.

  “Not too much sun, Eleanor,” she said firmly. “You’re not accustomed to it and it’ll get you if you’re not careful.”

  Amanda smiled and wagged her finger at her mother. “She’s right, Mom, this is Australia. Now you get over here in the shade.”

  Eleanor pouted and lowered herself onto the folding chair Amanda set before her in the shelter of the umbrella.

  “Don’t sulk, open this.” Amanda held out a chill-dripping bottle of Moet & Chandon. Eleanor’s smiled returned instantly and she grabbed the bottle without further prompting.

  “We don’t have champagne flutes, these will have to do,” Clancy said, setting three tumblers on the sandstone. “I’ll bring out the table and then we can have a drink while I get breakfast.”

  “What can I do?” Amanda saw a cardboard carton of supplies on the floor beside the kitchen counter.

  “How about whisking up some eggs for scrambled? I’ve got smoked salmon and capers—sort of traditional Darling Christmas breakfast. Is that okay?”

  Amanda saw anxiety in Clancy’s eyes and that she wanted to make this a special day for Eleanor. Her heart leapt with pleasure and gratitude.

  “It’s fantastic,” she said softly. “Thank you.”

  Clancy’s nose wrinkled and she turned away, a pink flush climbing her cheeks. Behind them the champagne cork popped. “Come on, girls,” Eleanor called. “Time for a toast.”

  Clancy set up the rickety folding table, placed a chipped yellow enamel bowl in the middle and upended a paper bagful of shiny black cherries into it.

  “Oh my,” exclaimed Eleanor. “Where is my camera!”

  * * *

  Jonny Sparrow’s café was alive with sparkling, twirling streamers, and a gold-draped fir tree in a half wine barrel filled the room with the unmistakable scent of the forest. As Amanda opened the door Bing Crosby was crooning “White Christmas” on the sound system and the older customers were singing along.

  From the doorway she saw Malcolm spot them from his post beside the tiny bar and his face lit up as he raced toward them.

  “Merry Christmas, girls!” he yelled over the hubbub and his arms opened to engulf all three in a hug. “It’s so good you’re here,” he said to Eleanor, landing a smacking kiss on each cheek. “Darling sis, you’re looking wonderful.” He kissed Clancy’s forehead and turned to Amanda. “And you too, baby best friend. You’ve all been out in the sun, I can tell. Look at you!” He stood back and admired them. “Just as well, by the way, the forecast for the rest of the holiday is ratshit. Pardon me, Eleanor! We’re going to get a big southerly this arvo and that’s the end of beach weather for a few days.”

  “Never mind, we’ll light a fire and Eleanor will feel right at home,” said Clancy, waving at Renee and her men across the room. “My God, Mal, this is amazing. Half the town is here.”

  “I know,” Malcolm crowed delightedly. “But why cook when you’ve got Jonny Sparrow to do it for you? That’s what all the wives have been saying!” He took Eleanor’s hand to lead her over to the tree and where the only empty table stood waiting. It was a slow trip as almost every table had to be stopped by for Christmas greetings, kisses and hugs. Clancy and Amanda followed, reaching out to hands and smiling faces as they went.

  “You’ve done this, Amanda, you realize that, don’t you?” Clancy said right in her ear. Amanda jumped.

  “What do you mean?”

  “You and your co-op. It’s turning this town around. I have honestly never seen anything like it. I promise you.”

  “Oh, rubbish,” Amanda said, frowning. “What have I done?”

  Clancy laid her hand gently in the small of Amanda’s back and urged her on toward the table where Eleanor and Malcolm were waiting. “This room, this day, this atmosphere. It wouldn’t be like this if you hadn’t walked in, Miss Yankee Doodle We-Can-Do-It, and lifted the whole town off its sad bottom. This is the best thing you’ve ever done. Believe me.” As they reached the table Clancy pressed the lightest of kisses on her cheek and grinned. “Thank you.”

  Amanda gaped at Clancy until Eleanor put out her hand and patted her arm. “Shut your mouth, honey, you’ll catch a fly.”

  Amanda sat down, aware that Malcolm and Clancy were grinning at her from across the table and that people were applauding. She could feel a glow of happy self-consciousness deep inside and at the same time, there were tears in her eyes that had nothing to do with sadness. “Wow,” she said. “But we’ve hardly done anything yet.”

  Clancy laughed. “I know. That’s the scary thing. Now who’s for a mimosa?” She lifted her arm and one of Two Moon Bay’s recently employment statistics came over to take their order.

  “Hi, Janice, how you doing?” asked Clancy as the shy young woman stood beside her.

  “I’m good thanks, Clancy.” She turned to the table, her hands neatly clutching a notepad and pen, and recited, “On behalf of Jonny Sparrow’s café I would like to wish you all a very merry Christmas and a pros…um…happy new year. And would you care for a drink while you decide what you’d like for lunch?”

  “Bravo Janice, you’re doing great!” said Malcolm. “This is so cool. I have to go tell Jonny.” He leapt up, squeezed Janice’s shoulders and was gone.

  “Mimosas all round, please Janice. I think that’s the aperitif of the day, isn’t it?”

  “Yes ma’am—Clancy,” said Janice as she almost bobbed a curtsey and turned bright red.

  “This is so lovely,” Eleanor said, looking about the crowded, festive room. Malcolm had returned, and she said to him, “I hope Jonny will be able to join us in a while—what do you think Malcolm?”

  “He’ll be out later.” He patted her hand reassuringly then leaned across the table and beckoned Amanda to do the same.

  “What’s up?” she said, seeing the anxious pinch of his eyes.

  “Just thought you should know that Margo is here with a bunch of Sydney girls. They’re at the other end.”

  “Ah. Thanks.” Amanda’s heart lurched and she swallowed on a spasm of alarm. “I better go and say hi, some of them are probably investors.”

  “Probably.” Malcolm glanced at Clancy. “I’d go now before the party get too…you know, rowdy?”

  Amanda’s fingers reached instinctively for her neck, but the bruising was gone.

  “You’re right,” she murmured to Malcolm. She stood up and squared her shoulders, and seeing her mother’s surprise and Clancy’s frown, offered, “Just going to say hello to a few investors. I’ll be back in a minute.”

  It was a long minute. Margo was hosting a table of six corporate women and their girlfriends, and by the way they looked her over, Amanda knew each had her own story about who she was. Margo leapt to her feet and her face lit up even as she squeezed the bare shoulder of the glamorous and sultry-looking woman with a mane of deep chestnut hair in the seat next to her. She bent and kissed the red painted lips and said something in her ear that made her smile and pout at once. Then she left the woman and came around to greet Amanda.

  “Great to see you, babe,” she said, kissing Amanda hard on the mouth. “Merry Christmas and all that.”

  Amanda put her hand up to Margo’s chest to keep a little distance between them and smiled. “Merry Christmas to you, Margo. Good to see you. How long are you here for?”

  “Back to Sydney day after Boxing Day. I have a big New Year’s Eve party—you should come. We get a great view of the fireworks.”

  Amanda watched the flame-haired woman eyeing them suspiciously and took a step further back from Margo.

  “That sounds wonderful, but I think I’m going to be busy here. I’ve got involved in a party for all the
kids—it should be fun—there’ll be a bonfire on the beach…” She stopped as she saw Margo’s expression turn to amusement that had a sardonic edge.

  “Kids aren’t really my thing,” Margo explained. “So it’s not for me. I’m surprised you’d get into it.” Amanda shrugged and decided explaining why the idea was enchanting was all too hard.

  “Why don’t I say hi to your friends and then we can get on with Christmas,” she said, smiling as warmly as she could.

  Margo examined Amanda’s eyes as hard as she had previously kissed her lips and finally nodded and bestowed a smirking grin on her. “Sure, that’d be nice. You here with Clancy?”

  Amanda nodded. “And my mom who’s come over from the States for the holidays—and Malcolm and Jonny,” Amanda said resolutely.

  “Nice happy families, eh?”

  Amanda took Margo’s hand in hers and held it firmly. “Margo, I really appreciate you getting behind the Two Moon Bay co-op. I really do. And I know you’re doing that not only because you think it might be a good business deal. And I’d like for us to be friends…”

  Margo pulled her hand away from Amanda’s grasp. “Uh-oh,” she said and the guttural laugh was derisive. “The old ‘let’s be friends’ routine, eh?”

  Amanda grabbed her hand again and did not let go. “Margo, we could be good friends, good business colleagues too. But we’re not going to be anything else and you know it.” She looked down the table to where the redhead was glowering at them. “And I think your new squeeze knows it too. If she is a new squeeze, that is?”

  Margo glanced down the table and grinned at the scowling woman. “Ah, that’s Becky,” she said. “We go back a long way.”

  “I’m sure you do. Now come on, let’s do happy holidays and be friends. What do you say?”

  For a moment Margo’s eyes were hooded and displeased, then she followed Amanda’s gaze down the restaurant to where Eleanor was laughing at something Clancy was saying. Margo sighed and shrugged. “Whatever,” she said ungraciously. “I don’t know what you see in that long streak of misery, but so be it. Call me when she gives you the shits. And she will, you know.”

  Amanda smiled and kissed her lightly on the cheek. “Don’t worry, we’ve given each other the shits from the minute we met. Have a wonderful New Year and we’ll talk, okay?”

  * * *

  By midafternoon the promised southerly had blown in, fierce and chill. The sun disappeared behind scudding banks of dark cloud; birds and leaves twisted and twirled in the wind and Two Moon Bay was transformed into a cauldron of sharp whitecaps on a choppy, dead gray sea. Clancy looked out of the window from the warmth of Jonny Sparrow’s Christmas party and was anxious.

  “I think I’d better get back to the farm,” she finally said. “I was stupid enough to leave the boathouse open and I want to make sure Jessie and Thomas Cat are okay.”

  Malcolm groaned from where he sat beside Jonny. “Don’t worry about it, Clancy, everything will be fine.”

  “No, I don’t feel right,” Clancy said quietly. “I notice Renee has gone, so she’ll be checking on the cows. I better go.”

  Amanda stood up. “I’ll come too.” She held up her hand as Clancy began to protest. “No arguments, you’re not going on your own.”

  Clancy shrugged. “Suit yourself, but it’s going to be cold and wet.”

  “So? Do I have to remind you again? I’m a New Englander. You don’t know the meaning of cold and wet.”

  Eleanor broke into giggles. “For heaven’s sakes, you two. Get out into that storm, go save the animals, and quit arguing. Malcolm—Jonny—I’m staying here. I have no intention of getting wet, or cold.” She held out her glass to Jonny who refilled it with his best Shiraz.

  The short drive back to the farm was a blustery ride with the car buffeted by the wind and pinged by flying twigs and leaves. The sky was a mass of ominous, racing clouds and slashing rain that fought with the windshield wipers, even at full speed.

  “This is a cracker,” Clancy commented as they pulled into the driveway by the house. “Come and get a raincoat and then we’ll see what’s what.”

  By the time they got into the house raincoats were pointless, their hair was plastered to their heads and they were both shivering.

  “Bloody hell,” said Clancy as she looked Amanda over. “If I’m as wet as you are, we needn’t have bothered. You sure you want to do this? You can stay inside.”

  “You are joking, aren’t you,” said Amanda flatly. “How about I check the chooks and shut them in and meet you back here when you’ve found Thomas and Jess and shuttered the house. Then we can do the boatshed.”

  Clancy hesitated only a moment. “Okay, good. That’s sensible. See you back here in ten.” She reached for Amanda and kissed her hard before turning away and vanishing along the rainswept veranda.

  Amanda’s mouth tingled and burned and she stared after Clancy into the raging gloom, then she shook herself and ran through the rain to the chicken yard.

  Half the birds were tucked away in their warm, dry coop clucking and crooning without a care in the world; the rest were in the yard confused and terrified by the wind and deluge. Amanda let herself into the enclosure and quietly began to round them up toward the shed entrance. Some were only too pleased to take instructions, others were spooked out of their minds and fluttered and flew into the wire fence and each other. Bird by bird Amanda persuaded the wretchedly sodden hens in through the door of their refuge where they were at least comfortable enough to decide not to make a break for it back to the yard.

  “Come on chooky chooky chooks,” she crooned to the final five birds. Her teeth were chattering and the rain was slashing at her bare legs and stinging her skull and face. “Come on damn fool birds, this is really not funny.” A bolt of lightning lit the sky and must have hit the ground perilously close by. Amanda leapt out of her skin just as the hens did the same and she laughed uproariously as the thunderclap followed and made the earth shake and quake.

  “Goddammit, get in there,” she yelled, past caring about being sweet and gentle. Four made their way gingerly in through the shed door as if the big bad wolf were definitely waiting for them. Amanda flapped her arms behind the last recalcitrant bird and it squawked and fled into the shed. She slammed down the sliding door and ran for the house as another lightning bolt illuminated her path brighter than any day.

  “Gaaaaaaa shiiiiiiit!” she yelled as she leapt the steps onto the veranda and banged right into Clancy as a second clap of thunder caused the window frames to rattle. Clancy grabbed her as they stumbled along the veranda and they began to laugh. “Holy crap, sorry!” Amanda gasped as she found her feet once more. “I didn’t see you and I thought the thunder monster was going to get me.”

  “Yeah, well, me too!” Clancy laughed and fought for breath as she slicked back her saturated hair. “I think maybe we should forget the boatshed.”

  “Oh no! It’ll be ruined. It’ll get horribly wet and surely this wind could wreck things if we don’t get the doors shut…” Amanda peered at Clancy through the gloom and the blur of rainwater that trickled down her face.

  Clancy sighed gustily and turned to look out at where the sea and the horizon had become one. “Oh, lord,” she observed mildly. “I suppose you’re right. Ready to run?”

  “After you.”

  And they set off, jogging across the sodden grass to the suddenly mud-slick track and down toward the beach. A lightning bolt hit the ocean in the middle of the cove and lit the landscape in fierce blinding white and silver. Amanda and Clancy yelled “Shit!” simultaneously at the heavens and ducked and wove as thunder crackled in the air around them.

  “This is fucking crazy,” Clancy shouted over her shoulder. “If we get killed I’m blaming you!”

  “Typical!” Amanda shouted back. “Will you ever take responsibility for anything?”

  Clancy’s wild laughter and two-finger salute was her answer and they upped their pace, skipping and slipping perilously do
wn the last section of the track to the stone steps and onto the dock. They found the umbrella on its side and blown inside out; the table was on the beach and one chair was smashed and stuck against one of the double doors as it banged dangerously on its hinges.

  “Let’s try and shut the doors and get inside, forget everything else!” Clancy yelled as lightning cracked across the cove once more. “This really is risky. We could get struck. We shouldn’t go back to the house until this blows over.”

  Amanda nodded and grabbed the right-hand door, pulling it against the wind until it scraped across the dock and she had to get behind it and push hard to prevent the ferocious gusts ripping it back into the boatshed. Clancy wrestled loose the broken chair and dragged the left-hand door in and Amanda held both steady as Clancy fought with the bolts and slid the horizontal bar through its eyelets. Suddenly it was almost quiet. The howling wind and lashing rain were outside and inside the boatshed it was calm and dark.

  “Phew,” Clancy said. “That was close. I don’t fancy doing that again in a hurry.”

  “Me either. I can’t see a thing.”

  “Hang on, I hope the power isn’t out, otherwise I’ve got candles.” Amanda heard a switch click and light flooded the space from within a cobweb-decorated round paper shade that had once been white but was so old the light shining through it was golden.

  “That’s better.” Amanda blinked and looked around. The floor was puddled here and there and the table was on its side at the back of the room. Enamel plates and mugs lay on the floor, blown off their hooks and rack by the ferocity of the wind.

  “Just as well I don’t keep the heirloom china down here,” Clancy remarked as she began to pick up the crockery.

  “Absolutely.” Amanda could scarcely respond as her teeth began to chatter.

  Clancy turned around and stared at her. “That’s you making that noise! You’re freezing.” She turned the table upright and set it back in its place. That made a large metal cabin trunk accessible and she lifted the lid. “I’ve got some ratty old gear here—mostly for sailing and mucking about. But it’s dry.” She rummaged around and found an ancient hoodie that may once have been navy blue. “Try this for size.”