Return to the High Country

by Tony Parsons

  David paused to consider all his mother was saying. ‘You, as usual, are right,’ he admitted with a rueful smile. ‘It’s just that I expected so much from my elder boy. To look at him, Dougal is Dad all over again and yet he’s really nothing like him. He might as well be away at school because his heart isn’t in the bush.’

  This wasn’t the most accurate summation David ever made because although Dougal wasn’t bush-mad he was intensely interested in animals – not so much in training them but in what made them work. He would willingly worm the dogs and feed the pups and he had reared a couple of orphan calves. The first really severe confrontation Dougal had with his father was over Starana. This occurred just before Dougal went away to school.

  The only issue that divided David and Catriona was the schooling of their children. Catriona had registered the children into Sydney boarding schools virtually as soon as they were born. She was determined that they would have the same kind of education and opportunities as she had received. It would stand them in good stead for the remainder of their lives, and was one thing her father and mother were adamant about.

  David acquiesced when it was time for Dougal to go to boarding school but he hit the roof about the very notion of Moira leaving the property. For Moira was his trusty shadow, and now Cat was proposing that she leave them for five long years.

  ‘You’re only thinking of yourself, David,’ Catriona told him. ‘If you had Moira’s best interests at heart, you would recognise that she should go away to school. She needs a boarding-school education in order to become a polished young woman. It will help her make a good marriage.’

  ‘What absolute bunkum,’ David roared. ‘I didn’t go to boarding school and you married me. You’ve still got some of those same snobby values as Angus and Jane or else you wouldn’t sacrifice the most interesting years of a child’s life.’

  ‘That’s not fair, David. A child simply doesn’t receive the same kind of education at a government school. It’s a well-known fact that a child educated at a boarding school is thought of much more favourably when it comes to going for a position. I simply want what is best for our children,’ Catriona said.

  ‘I don’t believe that one iota! I read the Sydney Morning Herald and I’m struck by the number of men and women in top positions in this country who went to government schools – even High Court judges,’ David said with considerable heat.

  ‘Brilliant people will always come to the top no matter where they were educated but by and large children educated at boarding school are usually favoured by employers over those from the public school system – certainly by many employers. Furthermore, boarding school is a wonderful life experience. It’s selfish to want to keep Moira here rather than allow her to develop to the best possible advantage,’ Catriona said.

  ‘I love her, and if I’m being selfish wanting her to stay here, well, that is too bad. My people didn’t want me to leave them because they loved me and wanted me with them. It didn’t do me any harm not going to boarding school,’ David said angrily.

  ‘Your people couldn’t have afforded to send you away even if they had wanted to, and they only had you. I can understand why they didn’t want to let you go,’ Catriona replied.

  ‘My mother knew that I would be totally out of place at boarding school. She was right, too – I would have hated it! I don’t understand how any mother would want to give up their children during the most rewarding years of their development. Damn it, Cat, I don’t.’

  ‘So, I’m a bad mother now, am I? Nothing like as good as Anne? Well, I don’t agree, David. Children are sent away for their own good. And it isn’t as if they are away for a year at a time. They have long holidays. You don’t have to pay for it. I’ve had money put by for years to educate them properly,’ Catriona said. She was close to tears but was determined to make her point.

  ‘It’s got nothing to do with money, Cat. I just don’t want to send Moira away. Dougal was another matter because his heart wasn’t in the land. He can do whatever he wants to do, but Moira and Angus are different propositions. We rear them up and just as they become really interesting, we send them away. My mother said it was barbaric to send some children away and I agree with her,’ David said. He was still fuming at the thought of losing his daughter.

  ‘That’s silly, David. Try to be open-minded – boarding school isn’t barbaric at all. Was it barbaric to send me away? Boarding school did me a lot of good and it will do Moira a lot of good, too. She will certainly progress far more than if she stays here and follows you around like a shadow,’ Catriona said.

  ‘Following me around hasn’t done Moira any harm so far. Everyone says she’s a bottler. When I’m finished teaching her she’ll be ready to judge any sheep and cattle show in Australia, Royals included. The papers will be writing heaps about her. She’ll have so many marriage proposals it will be a circus,’ David said, and laughed.

  ‘This is the first time I have ever asked anything of you, David, the very first time. I wanted only two children and I had Angus just for you. I would have had another if he hadn’t been a boy. I think it is mean and selfish of you not to agree with me over boarding school. We have never argued over anything and I hate arguing with you now but I feel strongly about this matter. I thought you were bigger than putting your own interests over those of your daughter,’ Catriona said, as the tears started to stream down her face.

  ‘That is a miserable thing to say of me, Cat. All my efforts have been directed towards building up properties so that our children will have a decent future. You don’t see me running off to dog trials and campdrafts and, God knows, I love the damned things. I think you’re worried that Moira is going to intrude too much into your territory. You couldn’t push the children off onto Lottie fast enough so you could be with me. Well let me tell you, Cat, this isn’t a competition for my affections between you and Moira. The fact that I love my daughter doesn’t mean that I love you any the less. It does mean that you have to share me with Moira to some extent and it seems to me that you have a problem coming to terms with that,’ David said evenly. He was cooler now and thinking more. ‘With Moira away at school you have me to yourself,’ he added.

  Now there was more than a ring of truth in what David said. Catriona had watched her daughter twine herself around her husband’s heart. Her long-held fear that some other woman would take David from her was never far from Catriona’s mind and, as Moira grew up, Catriona sensed that she would become more and more a part of her husband’s life. The simple truth was that Moira adored her father. Catriona knew that with Moira away at boarding school, she would have David to herself. This wasn’t the sole reason, or even the major reason, for wanting her daughter to go to boarding school but it was a factor, and unwittingly David had hit on it.

  ‘That is absurd. It’s a rotten thing to say, David. How could there be any competition between Moira and myself?’

  ‘That’s the way it looks to me, Cat.’ And with that he turned and stormed out of the house. Catriona saw him walking up towards High Peaks and a few mintues later he rode past and headed for the hills. She watched him with a pang in her heart until he was lost to sight. He hadn’t taken any lunch or even stopped to unclip a dog.

  Behind her the phone rang and she answered it automatically. It was Anne. ‘Catriona, is something wrong? David didn’t come in this morning.’

  ‘Oh, Anne, we’ve just had a big row – our first ever. It was about me wanting Moira to go to boarding school,’ she sobbed.

  ‘Oh, dear. I think I had better come and see you,’ Anne said.

  Catriona was on the verge of telling her mother-in-law not to come, that it was a matter between David and herself, when she recalled just how many times Anne had given her wonderful advice. Unlike her own mother, Anne always had the gift of seeing both sides of an argument. As far as the issue of schooling was concerned, Jane believed that boarding school was the natural progression from the local primary school – it wasn’t a matter fo
r argument at all.

  Anne noted Catriona’s red eyes and ascertained that her argument with David had been no small thing. To the best of her knowledge David and Catriona had never fought before. This was remarkable because as much as she had loved Andy, and he her, there had been arguments. They had mostly involved David, who was so precious to her.

  Over a steaming cup of tea and some of Anne’s home-baked biscuits, Catriona poured out her heart. ‘I can’t make David see that boarding school is by far the best education for a boy or girl. He told me that I still had the same snobby values as Daddy and Mummy. That isn’t true, Anne. I’m not a snob. I simply want what’s best for my children.

  ‘David didn’t mind in Dougal’s case because his heart wasn’t in the land, but Moira is a different matter. She adores her father and there’s no doubt they are very close. Dougal was a big disappointment because David had such hopes for him taking over here. David argues that not going to boarding school didn’t hold him back but he was a special case, wasn’t he, Anne?’

  ‘That he was, Catriona. Even if we had been able to afford to send David away, there was no way either Andy or I could have parted with him. I have a lot of sympathy for David’s views on this matter, and I can understand why he wants his children to stay here. I can also understand why you would prefer them to go to boarding school. You were brought up to believe that boarding school is an indispensable part of one’s education. Your people also had the money to make this possible. Like all things in life, you get what you pay for. Originally, part of the reason why Angus and Jane vetoed David was because he hadn’t been to a GPS school. That, and the fact that his father was a battler and a shearer. They wanted what was best for you. You were bigger than that and I’ve always given you credit for standing up to your parents. You know that I always wanted you for David. I have never regretted it either,’ Anne said warmly.

  ‘But what am I to do, Anne? I so much want the children to go to boarding school and yet I don’t want to fight with David. He has been my life from way back. We can’t both win on this matter. I can’t make him see that it is important for children to have the best possible education because he believes that what he can offer them here is more worthwhile than that. He is determined to make Moira a female version of himself. He already predicts she will judge at Royal Shows. Moira needs the experience of boarding school to widen her horizon and give her some balance, Anne.’

  ‘You may very well be right, Catriona. It is possible that too much David would not be to her advantage. It could be that Moira needs to see how the other half lives so that she can make up her mind what she wants to do,’ Anne said thoughtfully.

  Catriona was relieved to hear her mother-in-law’s good sense. ‘Oh, that is what I like so much about you, Anne. You are always so very fair. Mummy only ever looks at one side of an argument – her own. It would be useless me going to her about this row,’ Catriona said.

  ‘We haven’t resolved it, Catriona. Either you or David will have to give way. If it is David it won’t be because he believes he is in the wrong but because of his love for you. If it comes to the test, as it will, he will put you before Moira. I would bet my life on it. He might be as sore as blazes that you want Moira sent away but he will agree because he loves you,’ Anne said.

  ‘Oh, do you really think so?’ Catriona asked anxiously.

  ‘I really think so, Catriona,’ Anne said and patted her daughter-in-law’s arm. ‘I know my David.’

  Up on Wallaby Rocks David sat on his horse and let his eyes wander across the great expanse of hill country all around him. For as far as he could see to the left and in front of him, the country all belonged to him. Once there had been only High Peaks. And then there was Aberfeldy in Queensland, which made more money than any of the other properties.

  It was not properties that concerned him now but the situation at home. For the first time since their marriage, he and Cat had quarrelled. They had a conflict of views that was not to his liking, not something he had ever envisaged. He thought of all that Cat had given him, of how she had offered to have another child for him if Angus had been a girl. She was right – this was the first time she had asked anything of him. And it was more than the pure snobbery of Angus and Jane: Cat genuinely believed it was advantageous for children to be educated at a boarding school.

  Well, maybe it was. It hadn’t mattered in his case because he was left what amounted to a fortune.

  After an hour of cogitation, David knew that he would have to let Cat have her way. It wasn’t what he wanted and maybe it wasn’t what Moira wanted, but he didn’t want to be at war with his wife, the woman he loved more than anyone. Cat had stood up to Angus and Jane for him and would have married him even if he hadn’t been left Aberfeldy. He was going to miss Moira a hell of a lot but, as Cat had said, there were long holidays and he would have to make the best of them.

  Presently, he turned his horse and rode down off Wallaby Rocks to the boundary gate between Poitrel and High Peaks. It was mid-afternoon when he arrived back at his homestead.

  ‘Have you had lunch, David?’ Catriona asked as he walked in. She had resolved to try and stay calm and to act as if the morning’s incident had not come between them.

  ‘No, I’ve been up on Wallaby Rocks. Look Cat, I’ve been thinking, if sending Moira to boarding school means so much to you, she can go. It’s not what I want but as you pointed out, it’s the first favour you’ve ever asked of me. I’ll be back later.’

  David turned on his heel and walked out.

  When Moira and Angus got off the school bus later that afternoon, their father was waiting for them. ‘Angus, you run on home to your mother. Moira, I want to talk to you,’ he said.

  The children thought their father looked very stern, which suggested that something had happened. ‘What is it, Dad?’ Moira asked.

  ‘We’ll go down to the shed, Moira,’ he said. ‘I won’t keep you long because I know you’re always hungry when you get home from school.’

  They sat on wool bales and David let his daughter have it straight from the shoulder. The children never had any difficulty understanding their father. When he had something to say, he said it clearly and forcibly.

  ‘Moira, your mother and I had our first row today – the first argument we have had in our marriage. It was about you. Cat wants you to go to boarding school next year and I don’t. I thought about it all day and I’ve told your mother that if it means so much to her, you can go.

  ‘What I want to tell you is that it isn’t my wish that you leave here but I don’t want to be at war with Cat over this matter. Mum thinks it’s an advantage for you to go to boarding school and she may well be right. I happen to think that it’s not essential that you go, but I’m giving way to your mother for the sake of peace. I’ll miss you a lot but, as Cat tells me, there are nice long holidays and we’ll have to make the most of them. What do you say?’

  He looked at his pretty almost-twelve-year-old daughter, on the face of it still only a child, but close to womanly happenings.

  ‘Poor Dad, you couldn’t win, could you?’ Moira said with infinite wisdom for a girl of her age.

  ‘That’s what happens when a fellow has more than one female in the house,’ he said. ‘And sometimes you don’t even need two.’

  ‘Oh, well, if I have to go, I have to go. It could be fun for a while. And in a few years I shall be home for good,’ Moira said determinedly.

  ‘No, you won’t, Moira. Some young fellow will take you away to another life and you’ll break my heart all over again. I’m going to miss you an awful lot,’ David said.

  ‘You’ll have Angus for a couple of years, Dad,’ Moira said with simple logic.

  ‘If he doesn’t break his neck in the meantime. Well, you’d better run home and have some smoko. I’ll see you later, sweetheart.’

  She put her arms around his neck and kissed him. ‘You’re a lovely Dad,’ she said.

  There was a certain coolness between Davi
d and Catriona for some little time following the argument. Catriona felt this more than David. David had always made love tenderly and enthusiastically, but now it seemed he could not bear to touch her. This was not something Catriona found easy to cope with; nor could she talk about such a delicate matter with anyone else. It was a matter only she and David could resolve.

  As things turned out, it was another family’s tragedy that brought David and Catriona together again.

  Chapter Seven

  The defining moment in Dougal MacLeod’s life occurred on one of his early holidays. He had gone away to boarding school where he breezed through his lessons with astonishing ease. Or so it seemed. In actual fact Dougal worked very hard behind the scenes to build on his natural intelligence. At that stage he wasn’t sure what career he wanted to follow after he left school. But he was soon to find out.

  In the days when Catriona was competing in riding events and winning Champion Girl Rider all over northern New South Wales, there was a young woman by the name of Emily Holland who held the title for the leading Lady Rider. For years Emily Holland was Catriona’s idol, until the day came when, after graduating from the junior ranks, Catriona defeated the older woman for the title of Champion Lady Rider.

  At about this time Emily Holland was wooed by an older wealthy man, Rod Matheson, who had interests in breeding and racing thoroughbreds. When Rod proposed to Emily and was accepted, he bought her as a wedding present a property on the Merriwa–Scone road known as Glengarry. This was a mix of hills and valleys, and the ideal location for a small thoroughbred stud. Fortunately, in the light of what happened later, the property was indeed in her name. It was a small but useful property and Emily ran a herd of Herefords while she and Rod built up their thoroughbred stud. Rod had an office in Sydney and drove up to the property almost every weekend.