by Tony Parsons
‘Cat has it all written down. She’ll give you a full account of the whole business,’ David told her.
‘It was wonderful, Moira,’ Catriona said. ‘The only sour note was that I kept getting seasick around the islands. It was all right after I took some pills but not so good before that.’
Moira filled them in on the state of things on the various properties but seemed pent-up with excitement about something.
‘Is that all?’ David asked.
‘Oh yes, and Marilyn Taylor wants to know if it would be all right for her and Ian to come up for a visit,’ Moira said.
‘What did you tell them?’ David asked without a change of expression in his voice.
‘I told them I would ask you and Mum when you got back,’ she said.
‘There’s no need to defer to us, Moy. You can have anyone you like at Glen Morrison. You aren’t a little girl any longer. You want to have guests, you have them,’ he said.
‘I know that, Dad. It’s just that I know how close you and Bruce McClymont were and I thought you would want to have them with you. You did invite them before you left. I thought it might seem like second-best if they stayed with me,’ Moira said.
What a girl, he thought. He was trying to think of a suitable response but Catriona beat him to it.
‘That was very thoughful of you, Moira. It would be much better if Marilyn and Ian stayed with us. Both David and I held Bruce in very high regard and he would want his family to be with us.’
‘That’s what I thought,’ Moira said.
Nothing he had seen overseas looked half as good as the bridge across the creek below their old homestead. It told him that he was within a bull’s roar of home. Home meant his mother, and all she signified.
Anne had been having afternoon tea on the front verandah. Linda had brought it to her with a rug to place over her knees. Anne liked to have her tea there on nice afternoons. It was lovely to watch the different colours of Yellow Rock and to think of the past. Coming to Merriwa had changed her life. She often wondered what her life would have been like if she had not met Andrew MacLeod. And how different it would have been if she had not produced a son like David.
A white car came up the slope and crossed the ramp into High Peaks. It pulled up in a swirl of dust just outside her front gate and almost before it had stopped a front door burst open and the tall figure of her son came round the car and then through the front gate. He came up the steps two at a time as she rose to meet him.
‘Mum,’ he said.
‘David,’ she said, and fell into his arms. He picked her up and kissed her and then carried her down the steps to greet Catriona coming through the open gate. Linda Barden watched him from the verandah.
‘I’m not a child, David. I don’t have to be carried about,’ she half-scolded him. ‘I can still walk on my own two legs.’
He put her down on the path and Catriona hugged her. ‘Anne, it is so good to see you,’ Catriona said. ‘And David worried about you the whole time.’
‘He had no need to, Catriona. I am quite well and Linda looks after me splendidly,’ Anne told her. She looked beyond her son and daughter-in-law to where Moira stood. Moira gave a very slight shake of her head and Anne knew then that she had not told them about Ian Taylor’s phonecalls. She and Moira had talked about Ian. Moira had asked her how a girl knew if she was really and truly in love.
‘I’m sure you’re ready for a cup of tea and Linda has made a cake and biscuits,’ Anne said.
‘We’re ready,’ David answered enthusiastically.
‘You’ve never not been ready for cake, David,’ Anne said with a smile.
They went into the old homestead where Linda Barden had the smoko laid out on the big table in the lounge. Above the fireplace were the photographs and trophies David remembered so well.
‘Linda,’ he said, and she kissed him her greeting. ‘How are you? And how are the boys?’
‘I’m well and the boys are fine. And Moira and Angus have done a great job.’
‘I’m sure they have. I can hardly wait to get changed and to get stuck into things again,’ he said.
He was relieved to find his mother looking so well. His secret fear right through the trip was that he would lose her as he had lost his father. He had tried not to show his anxiety and hoped he had succeeded.
‘Was it a good trip, Catriona?’ Anne asked.
‘It was wonderful, Anne. I did a lot of research on the MacLeods and took a lot of photographs of MacLeod country. It’s a pity they lived on islands because I got dreadfully seasick. I’ll tell you more about that some other time. David didn’t turn a hair, which was remarkable for a landlubber,’ Catriona said with a wry smile.
‘Did you achieve all you wanted to achieve?’ Anne asked.
‘Very much so, Anne.’ She had followed her father’s footsteps to the very end and she had had David to herself.
‘Did Iona reveal anything to you?’ Anne asked.
Catriona looked across to her husband before answering. ‘We’re not sure, Anne. It could have, and then again it might not have. It’s certainly a very special place.’
They talked on until David stood up. ‘I reckon it’s time to go, Mum. What’s the score with the dogs, Linda? Have we got plenty of dog tucker?’
‘Yes, and you don’t have to feed them tonight. I’ll do it. You and Catriona go on down and get unpacked. I stocked the fridge with food for you,’ Linda said.
‘That was very sweet of you, Linda,’ Catriona said gratefully. ‘Moira, are you coming with us?’
‘Do you want me to?’ Moira asked.
‘Moira, why wouldn’t we?’
‘I thought you might like to be alone the first night back,’ Moira said.
Catriona shook her head. ‘We’ve been alone a lot, Moira. David’s talked about you all the way home. I’m sure you’ve got a lot to tell him.’
They drove down to the home David had built for Catriona to come back to after their honeymoon at Yeppoon. The native trees and shrubs looked to have grown a lot while they were away though they really hadn’t. As they walked up the path to the house David stopped in his tracks.
‘What is it, David?’ Catriona asked.
Without replying he lifted her in his arms and carried her up the steps and into the house. She looked into his eyes before she kissed him. ‘You great brute,’ she said, ‘… but I love you.’
Moira looked on with interest. At least half the parents of her old school friends were divorced or living apart so it was rather wonderful that her own parents were still so close. She felt that she would hate to have a broken marriage. It would be so unfair for the children. Of course, her mother doted on her husband. Moira knew how hard she had exercised to stay slim and youthful for him. But her father was worth it. He was the most wonderful man she knew. How could she leave him? Even for Ian?
‘Moira, dear, would you ring and see if Angus and Sue-Ellen would like to come up for dinner?’ Catriona said. ‘And you might ring Dougal and tell him we’re back.’
‘Will do, Mum,’ Moira said.
‘Has he been ringing often, Moira?’ Catriona asked.
‘Who, Mum?’
‘Ian Taylor, of course.’
‘How did you know?’ Moira asked.
‘Mothers know quite a lot, Moira,’ Catriona said with a smile.
‘Yes, he has been ringing a lot. Does it show?’
‘It shows. We’ll talk more later. Goodness, it didn’t take David long to change,’ she said.
He came into the lounge wearing gaberdine trousers and a blue check shirt.
‘That’s more like it. I’ll walk up and have a look at the dogs, Cat.’
‘I thought you might,’ she said, and smiled at him.
David walked up the road and over the grid to the orchard and dog yards. It felt good to be treading his own soil. A couple of the dogs barked tentatively until he spoke and then they wagged their tails in response. He sat down on the big hollow l
og that would always be referred to as ‘Nap’s log’ and looked at them. He had seen some great border collies on the trip, some beautifully schooled dogs, but he wouldn’t swap his kelpies for any of them. He knew what these dogs could do and for everyday work they didn’t require a lot of training to do the job. Working at the UK International was a different matter. What it came down to was that it was horses for courses. He would have liked to track down Meg’s relations but Catriona was bitten with the writing bug and he had let her have her head. Some day he might go back to see what he could dig up in the dog line in those northern hills.
He thought the dogs were in great shape. Linda had done a fine job looking after them. Children or dogs, it didn’t matter, Linda was tops. He thought a lot of Linda Barden. Years ago, when he was a tough little rooster and anxious to prove himself with dogs and horses, he hadn’t thought much of girls or of females generally, his mother and Kate Gilmour being the exceptions. What he had found since then was that the bush would be a much tougher place without its great-hearted women. His own life would have been different entirely if he had not had Catriona. Then there had been Kate who had been like a second mother to him, not to mention Sarah Matheson and Linda Barden. And Moira. Moira gave him more pleasure than he had ever expected to receive from a daughter. To top it off there was Sue-Ellen, who had pulled Angus into shape and made him the man David had always hoped he would be. Without all of these women his life wouldn’t have been anywhere near as full or rewarding. ‘Ah well, even tough little roosters grow up,’ he muttered to himself.
He turned and walked back down the track and, as always, his attention was focused on Yellow Rock. It seemed such a long time since he had first ridden up the mountain on a led pony. Yellow Rock had been part of his life and it would be there long after he was gone and forgotten. It was not as grand or impressive as some of the Scottish mountains but it was his mountain, and that made all the difference. So many things had happened on Yellow Rock that it was never far from his thoughts and his heart. It was as if the mountain made the man. The man and the mountain.
Chapter Twenty-two
Ian Taylor and his mother, Marilyn, came to High Peaks about three weeks after David and Catriona’s return from overseas. Marilyn was a handsome woman with dark, wavy hair and a lot of personality and intelligence. David’s first thought on meeting her was why any man would want to part from her. But, as Catriona said to him later, maybe her husband wasn’t worth staying with and it was Marilyn who walked away from the marriage.
Ian Taylor was a very nice-looking man, taller than his grandfather Bruce, but very reserved. On better acquaintance he proved to possess a dry, quick sense of humour. His mother told them that he was shy of girls, especially forward girls, but he never for a moment took his eyes off Moira. David resolved to discover whether the young man had anything in him and, much to Moira’s horror, carted him off on his own. He discovered that Ian Taylor couldn’t ride because there were no horses on Jimbawarra and that he couldn’t shear because he had never had to. Ian was very keen on dogs and would talk dogs until the cows came home. He had some knowledge of merino sheep and was trying to come to grips with micron measurement. He couldn’t tell a good bull from a bad one and didn’t know anything about cattle, period. Despite these inadequacies David liked the fellow. He discovered that Ian had a degree in law and commerce and some kind of diploma or degree in computer science.
‘How did you come to do that sort of thing? I would have thought that with a McClymont mother, you would have stayed on the land,’ David commented.
‘I wanted to jackeroo, but Dad insisted I do law. He’s a barrister in Melbourne. After Dad and Mum split up I resigned and went with her to Jimbawarra. I was glad I did because it meant that I learnt a fair bit from Grandad before he died,’ Ian told him.
‘What now?’ David asked.
‘I don’t rightly know, Mr MacLeod. Mum’s other sisters want their share of the estate and that means selling the property. They don’t want to keep it and their husbands are all in good jobs. It would break Grandad’s heart, and then there’s the dogs. They’re willed to me and I want to keep them going. Grandad loved his dogs, and I’m fond of them too. I’d like to learn how to handle them and maybe work in trials later on. If we sell the place, Mum’s share wouldn’t be sufficient to allow us to buy another property to eke a living from. It would be enough for her to invest and live on. I could always go back to Melbourne except my heart’s not in it,’ Ian said.
He talks well but what has he got in him? was David’s thought. He would soon find out. ‘Look, I have to go and look at cattle. Do you want a riding lesson?’
‘Crikey, yes,’ Ian said enthusiastically. It was the greatest response David had seen from him since he arrived.
‘Right. I’ll put you up on one of Catriona’s old mares. She’s foolproof, so you should be able to manage her,’ David assured him.
David called in at the house and told Catriona that he and Ian were going off to look at cattle and would be back for lunch.
‘Riding?’ she asked.
‘Riding,’ he said.
‘Ian can’t ride. He told me he couldn’t,’ she said.
‘He wants to learn. I’ll put him on Clover,’ David replied.
Moira came back from feeding at Glen Morrison to discover that her father and Ian had gone off somewhere on horses. Moira wasn’t happy – she knew very well that Ian had come up to see her and the very first morning her father had gone off with him alone. But knowing her father as she did, she knew he would have done it for some very good reason.
After they had ridden for some time and looked at the cattle on the lower country, David saw Ian begin to shift in the saddle. ‘Bottom getting a bit sore?’ he asked.
‘A bit.’
‘We’ll head back for the creek and put on the billy,’ David said.
‘We don’t have a billy,’ Ian replied.
‘There’s one at the creek. In fact there’s a billy at several places, Ian. When you’re run in a bit, I’ll take you up to Wallaby Rocks and show you the big cave where I sheltered with the dogs and some sheep during the big fire.’
‘I read about that in Grandad’s scrapbook,’ Ian said. ‘You had Nap and Clancy with you.’
‘That’s right. It was also where I proposed to Catriona. It’s some cave.’
He took the saddles off the horses and spread the saddlecloths on the ground.
‘Stretch out there for a while, and I’ll boil the billy,’ he said.
Ian eased himself onto the saddlecloths and sighed with relief. ‘I’m stiffer than I thought I’d be.’
‘Most people are the first time. You should talk to my mother. Dad brought her out here and she felt very stiff that first time. She had a hot bath and felt better after that. Next time she was better and in no time she was riding everywhere,’ David told him. He handed him an enamel mug and a couple of Anzac biscuits.
‘Where did these come from?’ Ian asked.
‘From my saddlebag. I put them there this morning,’ David said.
After Ian had drunk his tea and consumed the biscuits which, David noted, he did with relish, he looked much brighter.
‘You know what you should do, Ian,’ David said.
‘No, what, Mr MacLeod?’
‘You should take your clothes off and have a splash around in the creek. Best thing out for stiffness and soreness,’ David suggested.
Ian looked up and down the creek. ‘It would be pretty cold, wouldn’t it? And I don’t have a towel.’
‘Cold is the shot. What do they do for footballers when something goes wrong? Whack on ice. You can use the top side of your saddlecloth to dry yourself. And there’s nobody here to look at you.’
Only you, Ian thought. And if there is a more formidable man anywhere I haven’t met him. Nevertheless, it would look wimpish not to do as his host suggested and he was very stiff. And there was still the ride home.
‘Good heavens,’ Catrio
na squealed as she watched the two men by the creek. The powerful glasses brought them into sharp focus.
‘What is it, Mum?’
‘Ian is going into the creek. He’s in the altogether. Want a look?’ Catriona said playfully.
Moira reached for the glasses and laid them beside her. ‘No, I don’t want to spy on him.’
‘No doubt about your father, Moira. David will try him out,’ Catriona said, with a shake of her head.
‘I’ll kill him,’ Moira said.
But she was as sweet as apple pie when her father and Ian arrived back for lunch. As soon as lunch was over Moira took Ian by the hand and led him out of the room. ‘Ian wants to have a look at our rams, Dad. We’ll see you later,’ she said sweetly.
David had been going to give Ian a shearing lesson, after which he intended working a dog, but Moira had beaten him to the punch. He decided to go and see how Marilyn was getting on with his mother and Linda. Anne had asked her there for lunch. He told Catriona he was going to the woolshed, and he did go there later but he went to his mother’s first.
It seemed that the three women were getting on just fine. They were all intensely practical, commonsense women so why wouldn’t they get on, he thought. He went back to the woolshed and pressed a couple of bales of wool before going back to Catriona.
‘You smell of sheep or wool,’ she said.
‘Well, I’m not getting changed before evening,’ he said firmly. ‘Marilyn is getting on well with Mum and Linda,’ he said.
‘Did you expect her not to?’
‘No, but one never knows with people,’ he said. ‘I might have a drink of tea and then run down to Strath Fillan.’
‘Very well. I’ll put the kettle on,’ she sighed.
‘What is it, Cat? Are you not feeling well?’ he asked.
‘I’m having some problems setting out the book, David. There are too many interruptions for one thing. You lay things out and then you have to leave them for something or other,’ she said.
‘I can get the tea,’ he said.
‘I have a lot of work ahead of me and perhaps you’ll think I’m neglecting you. I won’t neglect you, David. I would never neglect you. I promise,’ she said.
