by Sasha Wasley
Barry continued to hover, and she even caught him on the computer, trying to order feed from a company that wasn’t certified.
‘Dad,’ she said, ‘if we use that feed with our cattle, we’ll have to push back the organic labelling date even further. If any of the cattle get one bit, even one little tiny bit of non-organic feed now, we’ll have to remove them from the mob and put a separate date on them. Plus, we have to keep our station completely clear of feed from non-organic suppliers to achieve certification.’ Gazing at his faintly bewildered face, her heart softened. ‘I know it seems extreme, but that’s just how it works. Trust me on this, Dad. Let me do the ordering.’
He mumbled something she didn’t quite catch but thought she heard the word costs.
‘Yes, it costs more,’ she said, looking directly into his eyes, the same green as Free’s. ‘But in about two years from now we’ll be semi-certified and we can start to sell at a higher price. And then when we have full certification we can sell at a premium price. It’s swings and roundabouts. In a few years, we’ll be making as much as we always have, despite the higher costs. And hopefully even more.’
She thought he was nearly convinced at that point. A light seemed to switch on and he asked a couple of questions about the organic beef prices. But later that afternoon she spotted him masked up and carrying a bottle of herbicide towards the front of the house.
‘What the hell? Dad! What are you doing? Where did you get that?’
‘In the chemicals store, why?’ Comprehension dawned. ‘Is this one of them non-certified substances?’
‘Yes,’ she said weakly, taking it out of his hands. ‘What were you going to do?’
‘Just spraying the weeds along the driveway.’
‘We can’t do that,’ she said.
He nodded, slightly sheepish. ‘Sorry, sweetheart.’
‘I searched the chemicals store and got rid of anything I could, and I put a new lock on it. We strictly control all substances now. There’s a full sign-in-and-out process. I don’t understand how you got in there and found this?’ She read the label and her heart thumped when she realised how close they’d just come to a three-month setback.
‘This one was in the little chem store. The one at the back of the tractor shed.’
‘Could you show me?’
Barry took her to a room hidden right at the back of their newest steel shed. No lock. Filled with highly poisonous substances.
‘Does Hegney know about this room?’ she asked.
‘Course. He’s the one who told me where to find the No-Weed.’
Right. Okay. She pretended to be cool about it and watched Barry safely back to the house before she went to find Hegney. This time she was so mad she didn’t even bother to send the other staff away. He was in the handling shed with several of the stockmen and a mob of bullocks.
‘Hegney,’ she shouted over the din.
He started at the sound of her voice. He wiped his hands on a towel a little more slowly than was necessary and crossed the floor to where she stood, breathing heavily.
‘What’s up?’
‘We just had a very near miss involving the use of a non-cert substance,’ she snapped. ‘When were you planning to tell me about the other chemical store?’
‘What other chemical store?’
‘The one you sent my father to when he asked you where to find the No-Weed.’
He knew. She could see he knew exactly what he’d done. Was this deliberate? Was he trying to reset the certification clock so he could put more pressure on Barry to go back to the old ways? Was he that opposed to her vision for Patersons?
‘That little gardening spray room?’ He attempted to laugh it off. ‘Hardly a chemical store.’
‘You want to tell me why you didn’t inform me about the existence of that storeroom, and why you told my father it was fine to use a harsh herbicide on my station?’
He blinked when she said my station and for a second she thought he might argue – tell her it was her father’s station, not hers.
‘I wasn’t aware,’ he said, his jaw tightening. ‘It won’t happen again.’
‘You weren’t aware?’ Her indignation rose. Behind Hegney, some of the stockmen had paused in their work and were staring at the exchange. She lifted her voice, calling to the droving manager several metres away. ‘Vern, do you understand the chemical use procedure we’re using at Patersons?’
‘Yes, boss.’ Vern looked impressed.
‘Paul? Nico? Do you guys understand it?’
‘Yes, boss,’ they echoed meekly.
‘Seems like everyone else is aware,’ she said, bringing her eyes back to Hegney, who was now regarding her with an expression of undisguised hatred. ‘Maybe you’d better check with one of the junior staff next time you’re not sure.’
Hegney’s face twisted into a sneer. She turned to leave and, just as she reached the door, heard a mutter followed by a snort, as though someone were laughing at a joke. Willow spun around.
‘Any questions or comments, Hegney?’ she shouted at his back.
He turned to face her again, eyes still hard and contemptuous. ‘Not from me, boss,’ he said.
She paused and let her eyes roam over the other stockmen. There was silence, except from the cattle. As she walked back to the house she couldn’t be sure if her shaking was from anger or fear.
Tanya flew in on Friday night and Willow arranged for her to catch a lift from town to Paterson Downs with Bob Forrest, who often went in to play darts on Friday evenings. Tanya squawked with excitement when she saw Willow coming out of the house to greet the Forrest vehicle.
‘Oh. My. God.’ Tanya’s dark eyes were wide as she climbed out of the 4WD. She must have already been shopping at the airport because the words I wrestled a croc in Mount Clair! were emblazoned across her chest. ‘Look at this place! Look at you!’ She examined Willow’s jeans, boots and long-sleeved work shirt. ‘You’re – you’re such a farmer!’
Willow returned Tanya’s hug, thanking Bob for playing taxi. She introduced Barry and Free and they got Tanya set up in Beth’s room. After Barry went to bed, the three of them sat out on the patio. Tanya had brought her own stash of sparkling wines and demanded Willow and Free join her in a toast.
‘To living your dreams,’ Tanya said, looking at Willow rapturously. ‘I’m so proud of you.’
Willow smiled to cover the way her heart ached a little. Just four months earlier, when she’d first headed home, she thought she was coming back to live her dream. Instead, she’d found herself fighting an uphill battle against tried and true, with obstacles and naysayers she’d never counted on.
‘How’s Bryan?’ she asked, shaking off the unhappy thought. ‘How’s your puppy?’
But Tanya didn’t want to talk about life in Perth; she wanted to hear about the station. ‘How many acres is Paterson Downs?’ she asked, slapping a mosquito. ‘Do you get lots of wild animals out here? Dingoes?’
Free passed her the insect repellent. ‘Dingoes! I’ve lived here for twenty-six years, and I can honestly say I’ve never seen a dingo.’
‘Tomorrow I’ll take you around the station,’ Willow said. ‘The grand tour. Then we’ve got a roast dinner tomorrow night and the Forrests will join us, so you can meet Bob’s wife, Cathy, and their son Tom.’
Tanya’s eyes sparkled. ‘Aw, that sounds nice. Can I ride a horse, do you think?’
Willow laughed. ‘Of course. I can take you out on horses, tractors, quad bikes, you name it. Free’s an expert on a quad, aren’t you, Free?’
Free giggled while Tanya bounced in her chair with excitement. ‘What about four-wheel driving? I’ve always wanted to go through creeks and mud and stuff.’
‘You want to get to know the pindan intimately?’ Willow asked with a smile.
Tanya’s forehead crinkled in confusion. ‘Pindan?’
‘It’s just another word for the red dirt.’ Willow sipped her wine. ‘I’m not too experienced with four-wheeli
ng, to be honest. I’m out of practice. I could ask around the station to see if someone can take us, though.’
‘Hegney does a bit of bush-bashing on occasion,’ Free remarked.
‘Yeah, no thanks,’ Willow said flatly.
Free nodded. ‘Jean told me about the shitstorm in the handling shed. Good on you for giving it back to him, Will.’
Tanya wanted details so Willow briefly explained but played it down and didn’t reveal how deep the issues with Hegney ran. Tanya was impressed anyway.
‘Look at you. Managing your naughty cowboys.’
‘Stockmen,’ Willow corrected with a grin.
‘Do you have shearers, too?’
Free howled with laughter and Tanya joined in when Willow reminded her they ran cattle, not sheep.
‘Any cute stockmen?’ she managed, in amongst her giggles.
‘What about Bryan?’ asked Willow, surprised.
‘Oh, I’m still with Bryan,’ Tanya said. ‘I was asking for you. Oh, my God,’ she went on, glancing at Free. ‘I was so worried she’d end up with Professor Dale.’
‘Who?’ Free was agog.
‘The head of department. He’s such a drip.’
Free’s mouth fell open. ‘You were seeing your professor?’
‘I absolutely was not seeing him.’
Free seemed disappointed. ‘Willow’s taken a vow of celibacy,I think,’ she told Tanya, the sparkling wine obviously doing its job. ‘She’s, like, totally immune to the charms of men. Even Tom, and he’s hot.’
‘Who’s Tom? Oh, Bob’s son, right?’
‘Our neighbour. Gorgeous. Blue eyes, body like a movie star – you know, if movie stars didn’t wax.’
Willow’s apprehension grew, listening to Free natter on like she’d known Tanya all her life.
Tanya was staring at Willow. ‘Why don’t you reel him in, woman?’
‘It’s not like that,’ Willow replied. ‘We’ve been friends forever.’
‘And?’
‘And it’d be weird.’
‘Oh. You’re like siblings, huh?’
That was going a bit far. ‘Well —’ she started but Free was talking over her.
‘Yeah, they’re too close to be together. They’re too busy punching each other’s arms and shit, y’know? It’s like they become genderless when they’re together.’
Willow blinked. Genderless? That wasn’t true. That moment dancing with Tom at the awards night flitted through her head . . . The feel of his hand on her waist, the moment his eyes dropped to her lips – there had been nothing genderless about that. She dragged her thoughts back to the present, aghast at herself.
‘Why don’t you take a shot, then?’ Tanya was asking Free. ‘He sounds yummy.’
To Willow’s discomfort, Free considered it.
‘Tom’s hot, but he acts so much older than me. And he’s so settled, y’know? I like guys who have a spirit of adventure in their souls. I met this guy in Brazil —’ She launched into a story about an incredibly hot guy named Paulo while Willow tried not to show the annoyance she felt. Free shouldn’t talk about Tom that way. Tom was adventurous – a risk-taker. He might not be hopping from country to country like Free, but he’d taken risks in his own pretty damn amazing way.
Luckily Free had a natural way of going off on tangents and soon the conversation was on Brazilian cuisine.
‘I do a killer satay.’ Tanya had quite a talent for tangents herself. ‘I’m half-Malaysian on my mum’s side. If you want, I’ll do lunch tomorrow. Satay chicken kebabs and veggie ones for Willow.’
Free jumped at the offer and went on about Asian street food. Willow was a little ashamed of her own inability to participate, but relieved that Tanya had found good company in Free. She listened, staring out over the yards, her gaze creeping up to the stars. Was she doing it right, this bringing people closer thing? Tom had said she was a friend behind a glass wall. How did Free engage Tanya so easily in conversation, giggling with her like they’d been friends for years? Willow couldn’t think of anything worth contributing and just wanted to sit quietly and watch the night sky.
Finally, Free went to bed. Willow checked her glass and found it had been empty for ages. Tanya was pouring the final drizzle of bubbly into her own glass.
‘Want to share?’ she offered.
Willow shook her head. ‘You have it.’
‘Ta. Your sister’s a sweetheart.’ Tanya lowered her voice. ‘I thought she’d never go to bed. So, tell me really. How are things for you out here?’
‘Really good,’ Willow said automatically. ‘I mean, it’s got its challenges, but that’s okay.’
‘What sort of challenges?’
‘Boring farming stuff,’ Willow answered, but Tanya was still watching her expectantly. ‘Staff issues,’ she confessed. ‘And Dad. He’s . . .’
Words failed her.
‘Not following the rules?’
‘Rules?’
‘You know, now he’s recovering. He strikes me as a man who knows what he likes. An impatient patient.’
Willow laughed. ‘He is a little like that but he also wants to try to get better. He has a sense of duty because we lost Mum, you know?’
Tanya’s face clouded. ‘Yeah. Awful. I don’t know where I’d be without my mum.’
Willow hurried on. ‘Yeah, but Dad’s finding it hard to let go of the station management.’
Tanya wanted to know what that meant and what started as a brief, uncomfortable explanation ended in a detailed post-mortem of Willow’s past four months running the station. It was like Tanya’s interest – and perhaps her distance from the situation – allowed Willow to pour it all out.
‘God, listen to me,’ Willow said when she’d finished. ‘What a bloody whinger! Fact is, I’m very lucky to have this opportunity and I haven’t forgotten that.’
‘Oh, honey,’ sighed Tanya. ‘I don’t know how the hell you’re getting through. I’d be climbing the walls by now if I were you.’
Although Tanya had no solutions, it was oddly comforting to hear that she thought Willow’s situation was tough, too.
‘Come on,’ Willow said, getting to her feet and pulling Tanya out of the chair. ‘Bedtime. You need your sleep because you’re going horseriding and quad-biking tomorrow, and then you’re making us a satay for lunch.’
It was a crazy day with Tanya at the station. Barry and Free adored her and it was difficult to get them to back off a little so Willow could take her friend out to experience station life. She gave her a short ride on Peanut in the morning, but Tanya tended to shriek when she was nervous, and Willow didn’t want to upset her mount, so she cut the lesson short. They went for a drive around the station instead. She took the bumpiest routes she could find to thrill Tanya, who screamed with excitement every time they went down a furrow in the track.
‘You’re really good at four-wheel driving,’ she told Willow. ‘You could take us out somewhere, no problem. All I want is to drive through a river.’
‘There’s not much water around at the moment,’ said Willow. ‘And anyway, I’m no good at real four-wheeling.’
Tanya kept begging until Willow promised she would see what she could do about an expedition. The satay lunch at home became much bigger than expected, too, after Tanya hit it off with Jean and they concocted a spontaneous plan to feed the whole station satay chicken for lunch. Willow indulged them, bringing Barry and Free to the dining hall for lunch, and the meal was a hit. Tanya wrote down her recipe for Jean before they left the station kitchen after lunch.
‘Authentic,’ Jean nodded. ‘That’s what it is. The boys love a bit of spicy food, too.’
‘You’ve gotta get the spice mix right,’ Tanya mumbled, scribbling. ‘It’s really not about how much chilli you use. It’s the other spices that make it.’
‘That’s what my old kitchen assistant used to say,’ Jean said with a laugh. ‘Devi. She was from Malaysia too.’
‘Did you say Davy?’ Willow said sharply.
‘D-E-V-I,’ corrected Jean, although she pronounced it Davy. ‘She worked with me a couple of years back.’
‘What was her last name?’ asked Willow.
‘Can’t remember,’ said Jean.
‘When did she go?’
‘Maybe a year and a half ago.’ Jean looked cautious all of a sudden and glanced around the dining hall to check if anyone else was listening.
‘Do you know where she is now?’
‘Back in Malaysia, I reckon. Lovely girl.’
‘What was that all about?’ Tanya wanted to know as they wandered back to the house.
‘Tom says his staff have mentioned someone called Davy who used to work at Patersons,’ Willow said. ‘I wonder if it’s this girl, Devi.’
‘You think she might have been underpaid, too?’
‘Maybe. Probably,’ Willow sighed.
Since Tanya knew human resources inside out, she and Willow had a quick look in the payroll system, but Devi Lai was one of the few staff who hadn’t been affected by Hegney’s little labour racket. She’d been on a base rate that hadn’t increased during the five months she’d worked at Patersons. Willow and Tanya talked about other possible ways Hegney could have ripped off this girl but they had to give up the conversation when Beth arrived, armed with her secret basting mix, to cook the roast dinner. This party was purely for family: no staff. It was to be a quiet roast dinner around the table inside the Paterson house. Willow hoped Hegney wouldn’t appear and smirk himself into an invitation but the guy must have known that it would be pushing too hard. She didn’t see anything of him.
The Forrests arrived as the sun set and Willow noted Tanya’s awe when she was introduced to the tanned, six-foot-two man that was Tom these days. Willow sighed inwardly but was simultaneously a little proud.
