Return to the High Country

by Tony Parsons

  ‘All in good time, Mum. Cat and I want some time together before we start a family.’ And then David dropped his bombshell: ‘Besides, we are going overseas next year.’

  ‘David, you’re not?’

  ‘Too right we are. We’re going to Scotland to see dog trials and also some of Cat’s relations and I’m going to look at Hereford studs. Then we’re going on to the United States and I’m going to look at more Hereford studs. But of course, Cat wants to see more than dog trials and her relations,’ David said with a smile.

  ‘But how wonderful, David.’

  ‘After that, we’ll come home and start our family. I agreed with Cat’s suggestion that if we were going to take a trip we should do it before the children arrive on the scene. Cat is already planning for the trip. So you see, Mother dear, I’m not neglecting my beautiful wife. Greg will be a very competent fellow by then, and Shaun Covers has asked me for a job.’

  ‘Shaun Covers. Is he back?’

  Shaun Covers had worked for the MacLeods from time to time before he left for Queensland and the Northern Territory. Shaun, a son of Andrew MacLeod’s old mentor, Paddy Covers, had been with Anne on the never-to-be-forgotten day when the creek came down and she had fallen, which had brought on David’s birth. Shaun was a campdrafter of some note but he was also a top stockman and could turn his hand to anything.

  ‘Been back a month or so, Mum.’

  ‘Are you going to employ him?’

  ‘I’m thinking about it. I’ve a good mind to send him up to Aberfeldy. There’s a lot to do there to get the place into shape. I want to sow grasses and do something about improving the cattle. It would be a good idea to have a chap who could take over there, should anything happen to Don Morgan. Then there’s always the possibility that Don might be offered a bigger position although he seems happy enough now he’s married and has the house on the coast to go to now and then.’

  ‘I do like Shaun, dear. I hope you can find a position for him,’ Anne said.

  ‘I’m thinking seriously about it. Is Greg Robertson keeping the wood up to you?’ he asked.

  ‘Greg is a very nice young man, David. He has dinner with me some nights and we have talked quite a lot about the land. Greg is very keen and wants to learn. He worships the ground you walk on and thinks Catriona is the bee’s knees. Are you happy with him?’

  ‘Very happy, Mum. I think Greg is going to be all right,’ David said. This conservative answer indicated that Greg Robertson must indeed be going all right because David was never lavish in his praise for anyone or anything.

  Greg Robertson was the third son of a couple who had a property a few miles out of Merriwa. There were a couple of older sisters who were married and lived in Sydney. David had noticed Greg at a couple of camp-drafts and been quite impressed with his ability and eagerness. Although he was only eighteen years old, Greg was a good rider. When David heard on the grapevine that Greg was looking for a job he rang and asked Greg to come and see him.

  ‘Crikey, David MacLeod wants me to go and see him, Pa, I think he wants to offer me a job,’ Greg said excitedly.

  ‘If you can stand up to what he throws at you, it could be the making of you,’ Danny Robertson said.

  ‘What do you mean, Pa?’ Greg asked.

  ‘The MacLeods are hard men. Andrew was the toughest man in the district and made a success of High Peaks against all odds. I hear that David is just as tough. He’d have to be to get where he is now,’ Danny observed.

  ‘But he got left a big place up in Queensland, didn’t he?’

  ‘Yeah, he got left a big cattle place and that made a difference but they had two places before that, High Peaks and Poitrel. Now they’ve got four properties and David is the boss. He’s the best dog and horse man in these parts, and you’d learn a helluva lot from him. But David will expect a lot from you, Greg. Don’t go there expecting it will be any holiday,’ Danny advised.

  ‘I wouldn’t expect it, Pa. But I reckon working for the MacLeods could be the best opportunity I’ll ever have. I don’t mind work as long as MacLeod is fair,’ Greg said.

  ‘I think you’ll find that he’s fair enough. Andrew was the same. Don’t give him any back answers as he’s big enough to eat you,’ Danny said.

  ‘What do you want to do with your life, Greg?’ David asked him. They were sitting on hay bales in the feed shed below the High Peaks homestead.

  Greg hadn’t thought a great deal about his future. He was enjoying himself competing at campdrafts but he realised that this was a sport and a hobby, and he would need a job. There were two brothers ahead of him on the farm so he would have to make his own way. The younger of the two brothers went away shearing and although Greg could shear, he didn’t fancy spending his life sweating over struggling sheep.

  ‘I’d like to become a top stockman and maybe a manager one day,’ Greg answered. ‘I’m pretty keen on campdrafting but it’s only a sport, Mr MacLeod. I’d like to go on competing if I could.’

  David nodded. ‘Nothing wrong with that, Greg. We can give you a job and if you’re made of the right stuff, I’ll make a top stockman of you. If you prove yourself, there could be a manager’s job down the track. To begin with I’ll expect you to do just about anything, which will include chopping wood for my mother and me.

  ‘We’ll build you a small cottage next to the homestead here and you’ll have to look after yourself. I’ll provide the feed for your horse and I’ll see you have a decent dog to work, as I don’t want any other dogs here. If you have to work weekends I’ll make it up to you. If I ask you to do something I’ll expect you to do it – no ifs, buts or maybes. If you have a gripe, see me about it. If I go away, I’ll expect you to look after everything. I’ll also expect you to work in with Kate Gilmour, whom I think you know. You got any problem with any of this?’ David asked.

  ‘None at all, Mr MacLeod,’ Greg answered quickly.

  ‘Okay, you’ve got the job, Greg. There’s a spare bedroom at the back of the house where you can stay until we get your cottage built.’

  ‘Thanks, Mr MacLeod. And thanks for the job.’

  So Greg had come to High Peaks and he had been with the MacLeod family during the fire and at Andrew MacLeod’s funeral, where he had cried for one of the only times in his life. In the period up to Andrew’s death, the big man had taught Greg things that were to stay with him for the rest of his days. He often worked long hours but David had made it up to him as he had promised. He gave him Fridays off to attend shows that featured campdrafts, so Greg didn’t have a worry in the world.

  In the period following Andrew MacLeod’s death, Greg was an enormous help. He rode the hills, looked after the stock and chopped big stacks of wood at both houses. He spent some time working on a horse David had said he could use. There were also horses to shoe and Greg was a very capable farrier.

  Some nights Anne invited him to have dinner with her. Anne considered Greg a very nice young man and an asset to the High Peaks Pastoral Company. Kate also liked him and they worked well together. So far Greg hadn’t shown any interest in girls as horses were his greatest love. But Catriona MacLeod dazzled him: she was the finest-looking woman he had ever laid eyes on, and had the best seat on a horse of any female rider he had seen. He had watched Catriona win Champion Lady Rider at Merriwa, among other places, so knew she had the edge on any other woman in the horse business in the district.

  In short, Greg Robertson felt right at home with the MacLeods. He believed that his future lay with this family. David was tough and he had been stern with Greg a couple of times but those incidents had been Greg’s own fault. And as Greg’s father had said, David was very fair.

  For his part, David was very satisfied with Greg Robertson. The young fellow had come on a treat and he reckoned Greg was going to play a valuable role in his plans for the future. Later, he would ask his mother to introduce Greg to the delights of station bookkeeping. Anne was still looking after this aspect of the company’s business, but Davi
d was determined to ease her responsibilities.

  When Shaun Covers came to see him, David realised that he had to go forward and that he could not afford to let this good stockman go to some other place.

  ‘How would you feel about going up to Aberfeldy for a while, Shaun?’ he asked.

  ‘What have you got in mind, David?’ He had been calling the big man David since MacLeod was a small boy.

  ‘The place needs a lot of upgrading, Shaun. Pastures and cattle. Oh, and fencing too. There’s a good man there but he was never allowed to do more than routine stuff. The cattle are very yakky but we’ll fix that. I want to sow a lot of grasses and build up the nutrition. My idea is to bring selected drafts down to Glen Morrison and top them off there. Think you could look after the pasture job?’

  ‘It could be interesting. Will I get on all right with the manager?’

  ‘Don’t see why not. He’s got enough to do with three thousand head of cattle. There’s a separate cottage I’ve had renovated. I’ll go up ahead of you and look at the whole situation,’ David said. ‘When you’ve finished there I might have something for you here. Well, Glen Morrison really. Kate is over there now but there are things that need to be done. It might only be casual work for a while but I’d like to have you with me, Shaun. That’s if you’ve got the travelling itch out of your blood.’

  Covers grinned. ‘And you wanting me to go to Queensland? Okay, I’ll give it a go, David. You tell me when you want me and how I find the place and I’ll mooch on up there.’

  David put out his hand. ‘Good to have you with us, Shaun.’

  ‘I’ll go and see your mother, David. After Mum your mother is about my favourite lady.’

  David watched Covers as he walked up to the old homestead. The ringer was a man of medium height and he walked with the peculiar gait of a man who had spent most of his life on a horse.

  Greg Robertson and Shaun Covers were to be valuable employees for David MacLeod and his pastoral empire.

  Chapter Three

  David found that his mother’s advice about not neglecting Catriona could hardly be justified. If he was not accompanying her to a dinner or afternoon tea at one or other of her friends’ places, they were entertaining at High Peaks. David passed up on tennis functions as he had never been interested in sport. There had always been too much of interest at High Peaks to worry about sport.

  Susan Cartwright was Catriona’s best girlfriend, now married to Michael Hunter, a grazier at Coolah. Susan was the first of Catriona’s friends to visit her in her new home, and of course David and Catriona were obliged to return the visit. David noticed that Susan’s eyes followed him a lot, and he was aware of more tenderness in her kisses than was perhaps appropriate. He confided this information to his mother, who could always be relied upon to come up with good advice.

  ‘You know that Susan was very keen on you, David. She would have married you with or without her parents’ consent. Susan thought she had a chance with you when you put Catriona off for so long. She is quite a nice girl but was unlucky to have such a lovely girl as Catriona always just that much ahead of her in everything. Catriona is prettier, a better rider, and got the man she wanted who was the best-looking young man in the district – you, David. Girls don’t always get the best of things, dear. They don’t always marry for love, but sometimes settle upon a husband for convenience. I suspect that is what happened in Susan’s case. Maybe Susan is still fond of you, David. You haven’t said anything to Catriona?’

  ‘Certainly not. Cat and Susan are still very close friends. Susan was the first of her friends to visit us.’

  ‘Susan hasn’t chosen to have a baby yet, but that doesn’t mean anything. She is still only a young woman. Do you get on all right with her husband?’ Anne asked.

  ‘Michael is a lot friendlier than he used to be. I used to think he was very off-handed, but he’s unbent a lot. He’s pretty keen on cattle.’

  ‘I should think that owning four properties and being married to Catriona would make a difference to your social standing, David,’ Anne said dryly.

  ‘I’m still the same person I always was, Mum. Having money and property shouldn’t make a difference to the way people treat you,’ David said.

  ‘I’m afraid it does where some people are concerned, dear.’

  David knew that one of his mother’s cherished dreams had always been to have a beautiful garden – with walkways and pergolas and a rockery. Not long after he recovered from the loss of his father he determined to provide such a garden for his mother. It would get her mind off Andrew and she could spend as much time as she wanted tending the garden of her dreams. He put the proposition to her.

  ‘Mum, I know you’ve always wanted a nice garden. I want you to draw me a sketch of what you have imagined for so long so that I can employ a landscape gardener to lay it down just the way you want it. Will you do that?’

  ‘David, I don’t expect you to do that for me. I will just expand the garden we have a little myself and that will be enough,’ Anne said.

  ‘You’ll do no such thing, Mum. You’re worth a hundred gardens, so just give me the sketch. In the meantime, I’ll get Greg to start collecting rocks so they’ll be here when the gardener arrives,’ David said firmly.

  Anne knew that David meant business. He desperately wanted her to have the garden and he wouldn’t rest until it was laid down. Of course, she was excited by the prospect but she didn’t want him spending his money on a garden for her, not now he was married.

  ‘Very well, dear. And thank you,’ Anne said meekly.

  In what seemed a relatively short space of time the old High Peaks homestead had been transformed by the new garden. The vegetable patch and the old orchard, where Anne’s fowls loved to scratch and fluff themselves, were retained, but the new garden included terraces, Australian natives, a rockery with variegated grasses and a pergola covered in wisteria. The tall wire fence that enclosed the old homestead was removed from the front and sides and replaced later by a smarter-looking fence that didn’t detract from the newly landscaped garden. Of course, the new garden would need a lot of attention, which was one of the major reasons why David was determined to have it done. His mother could potter about in it all day long if she so desired.

  ‘It is beautiful, dear,’ she said, as she held his arm under the big pergola. ‘It’s exactly as I’d hoped to have my dream garden.’

  ‘You’ve earnt it, Mother dear,’ David said.

  ‘A lovely garden and some grandchildren, that’s what I’ve always wanted,’ Anne said.

  ‘All in good time, Mum.’

  Catriona took a great interest in the planning and laying down of Anne’s garden. When it was finished David saw her looking at it rather wistfully.

  ‘I suppose you want a garden now around the new homestead?’ he asked.

  ‘It would be lovely, darling. It is rather bare around the house. I’d like a different kind of garden. It would be nice for the children to have a big lawn to play on. And I’d like lots of hakeas and bottlebrushes. They smell so lovely, and bring the birds,’ Catriona said.

  David was aware that some of the top graziers had impressive gardens to complement their gracious homesteads, and that these gardens were always one of the major topics of conversation when friends gathered.

  ‘All right, Cat. Put down on paper what you have in mind and we’ll get his nibs to come back and landscape your garden.’

  ‘Thank you, darling. I’d be happy to pay for it myself but I didn’t want to worry you so soon.’ David knew that his wife meant after the death of his father. He was also aware that Catriona had sizable funds to her name that had come to her after she turned twenty-one. She was also paid a share of the profits from Inverlochy.

  ‘No need for you to do that,’ David said.

  So Catriona got her garden, which included a large front lawn and a massive side garden of hakeas, grevilleas and bottlebrushes, all beautiful natives that the birds of the range country
loved.

  Shortly after Catriona’s garden was established an abundance of birds flocked to the home – magpies warbled continuously, kookaburras cackled in the mornings and wild ducks made the sheoak-lined creeks a stopping place. But it was the honeyeaters and wrens that Catriona was most fond of.

  During the next few years David concentrated on learning as much as he could about breeding stud sheep and cattle. Under Angus Campbell’s tutelage, combined with his own natural ability, he developed an extraordinary knowledge of merino sheep and Hereford cattle. He attended sales and shows and watched and learnt from the different judges and their techniques. He would pick up a well-bred cow at one sale or a heifer at another, but acquiring good sheep was a harder matter. It wasn’t until the reserve price for wool was discontinued that he was able to purchase the kind of sheep he wanted.

  During this period, while he was learning from Angus Campbell, David was also coaching both Angus and Stuart in how to work trial dogs. During the long hot summers he would go to Inverlochy late in the evenings and they would run dogs until darkness took over. Angus, at David’s suggestion, fenced in his training ground and surrounded it with small trapdoors at different places. The dogs were cast outside the ground and, depending on their age and progress, a different trapdoor would be opened so that they could run onto the ground. This method had been used by one of the great kelpie trainers to develop wider-casting dogs, and it made a big difference to the Inverlochy dogs. Sometimes he and Catriona would stay and have dinner with Angus and Jane. In the winter months David and Catriona would go to Inverlochy on Sundays, because during the cooler weather dogs could be worked at any time of the day.

  When Shaun Covers returned after a sojourn of more than six months on Aberfeldy, David gave him a list of things he wanted done on Glen Morrison. There was lucerne to be planted so they would be self-sufficient in hay and chaff, a cattle preparation shed to be built and a covered set of pens or mini-feedlot where David proposed to feed steers. It was important to David to know just how his cattle were performing. Later, he wanted his children to show steers.