The Sunburnt Country

by Palmer, Fiona

  Daniel was having so much fun that he almost forgot the mission they were on, and it wasn’t until Ryan’s house came into view that his muscles clenched. Jonelle fell silent.

  He turned off the car. ‘Thanks. That was awesome,’ he said, trying to cling to the lighter mood that was quickly passing.

  ‘You can drive it back too if you like,’ she said as they got out.

  When they reached the gate, she turned to him, her face serious. ‘You know, I don’t let just anyone drive my car.’ The admission hung in the air before she walked on. ‘I actually think she likes you,’ she mumbled softly.

  Dan smiled at the way Jonny attributed human emotions to the car. His father had never understood his love for cars. Only Uncle Darryl and Cam did. His mum thought he was a little crazy but she never said anything against their V8 passion. Yet when he’d named his first car, his dad told him it was ridiculous. ‘What grown man would do something like that?’ he’d said.

  Dan made it through Ryan’s front door with only a quick glance towards the shed and the spot on the verandah where he’d lain. A shiver rattled up his spine. With a heavy sigh, he followed Jonelle inside.

  ‘It’s a bit cleaner than last time I was in here’ he said, when they stopped in the kitchen. When he’d come in to get the wet tea towels for Ryan, he’d walked into a giant mess. Literally – dirty dishes and leftovers everywhere. And the house stank. But now it shone so clean and bright, like it had been scrubbed from top to bottom, and it smelled fresh.

  ‘Yeah, I was here on Thursday,’ Jonelle said. ‘Didn’t want Ryan coming home to all that mess. The less he has to worry about, the better. The office is down here. I’m sorry to say I haven’t started in here. I wouldn’t have the faintest idea how farm books work. Dad never let me near his, so I figured I’d leave it until I had help.’

  They walked into a large room. A computer sat on a corner workstation that was covered with all sorts of bills and documents. A grey four-drawer filing cabinet was next to the desk, paper jutting out of the bottom drawer. On one wall was a large framed photo of Ryan’s farm, just like the one Jonelle’s Uncle Rex had.

  ‘Hmm. Where to start . . .’ Dan said.

  ‘Well, let’s sort the ones off the floor, then I’ll see when he last updated Agrimaster. I hope there’s not too much to enter.’

  Daniel bent down to start collecting up the papers and wondered again what his father would say if he knew he was getting involved in this way. His father would never understand.

  ‘I’ve found the chequebook,’ said Jonelle, waving it. ‘Fat lot of good it will do us, right?’

  ‘Let’s just get everything entered and then we can see what we’re dealing with.’

  So for the next hour they worked side by side. Sorting through the private business of a man Daniel didn’t even know. Jonelle sensed his concern.

  ‘It’s okay, Dan. Ryan knows we’re here. He’s finally accepting help and this is what you do for best mates. You trawl through the shit to help them out.’

  ‘I guess.’

  ‘Haven’t you had to do anything complicated for a friend?’

  Daniel shrugged. ‘I only have a few mates and they’re all well-off, organised and capable.’

  Jonelle glared at him. ‘I’m going to pretend you weren’t just insulting my friends then.’

  ‘Oh no. Sorry, I didn’t mean to imply . . .’ Dan stopped before he made it worse.

  ‘Well, I’ve known all my friends since birth, just about. You could say they’re more like family – there isn’t much I don’t know about them. Out here, your business is everyone else’s business, whether you like it or not.’ Jonelle sat down at the computer.

  The floor was now clear but Dan would need another chair. He borrowed one from the dining room and parked it beside Jonelle’s. Looking at the pile of papers before them, he sighed. ‘This is not how I planned to spend my Saturday. I had pictured a cold beer, a few papers and magazines, and not much else.’

  ‘No, me neither. But this is better for the soul.’ She gave him another rare smile. ‘How about Sunday? You could do that then?’

  ‘Um, actually, I’m going out to your farm with Zac.’

  Jonelle’s eyes grew wide. ‘Really?’

  He nodded. ‘Zac’s been trying to get me out there so he can show me what he gets up to. I could tell he wasn’t going to let up until I said yes.’

  ‘Yep, that’s Zac. Like a Tassie devil, he won’t let go.’

  Daniel hadn’t really needed that much persuasion. He was interested to see where Zac and Jonelle had grown up, see inside their private lives. ‘Do you go back to the farm much?’ he asked, wondering whether he’d see her tomorrow.

  She was staring at the computer, trying to work out the farming program. ‘Yeah, most weekends.’

  ‘Well, I might see you, then.’

  ‘Maybe,’ she said distractedly.

  They spent the next few hours just sorting out the loose papers and getting the books almost up-to-date.

  ‘Thanks for this, Dan, I don’t really know a lot about book work and this stuff,’ she said as they finished up.

  ‘It’s fine; I do have a bank’s perspective, which is helpful. But what I don’t get, from what I’ve seen today, is why is Ryan having so much trouble?’ Dan asked. ‘It’s not like he’s wasting money. From what I can see he runs a tight ship.’

  Jonelle sat back and sighed. ‘Well, he’d not long bought the farm off his parents and then he got married, and a few years later his wife left him and pretty much cleaned him out. I guess you could say it kind of ruined his life, hence the start of his depression. A farm may seem like a lot of money, but all that money is tied up in machinery and other costs, so when Alana left she took her so-called share of their relationship, which was half of what the farm is worth. So Ryan had to give her all the money he had, meanwhile what’s he supposed to use to run the farm? It’s a shithole of a mess, that’s what it is.’ Jonelle’s face flushed with anger.

  ‘That sounds awful. How many years were they married?’

  ‘Only a couple. She couldn’t handle it out here. So much for sticking with your husband through thick and thin. Alana didn’t even try to make it work. I mean, he was paying off his folks and she insisted on this monstrosity,’ she said. ‘But, I was thinking, the house is transportable, so I reckon we could sell it to help pay off some debt. Nice houses on farms don’t alter the price of the land much, so selling it shouldn’t affect the value of the farm too much at all.’

  Daniel nodded. ‘It’s actually a great idea. Is Ryan happy to do that?’

  ‘Hell, yeah! I think he’d be happy to live in a tent if it meant getting him out of this shit. Come on, let’s head home. We’ve done enough for today.’

  Leaving the house, they headed off in her Torana, Daniel smiling with delight at being able to drive it back into town.

  ‘Man, you’re almost as car crazy as I am,’ she said with a grin. ‘So what’s your dream car, then?’ she asked.

  ‘Well, I’m a Holden fan but I still love the Mustangs and the Ford GTs. I mean, those kind of classics deserve our appreciation.’

  ‘I hear ya,’ she agreed. ‘They made awesome muscle cars back in the day. You know, I’d love to watch the V8s live one day. Brocky was the best and I like Lowndesy. Thank God he’s come back to Holden, though. Went off him for a while. And Zac and I loved watching the V8 utes back when Grant “Mad Dog” Denyer raced.’

  ‘The utes! They always put on such a show. So you’ve never been?’

  ‘No. It’s a long way to go and it’s pretty costly when you have to pay for accommodation, but the boys and I all get together to watch it. It’s almost as good.’

  All too soon they arrived back at his house. It was well past lunchtime and Daniel racked his brain working out what food he had in the house and wondered if he should invite Jonny in for lunch. He’d sworn he wouldn’t get mixed up with women in Bundara and here he was totally breaking his own pact.
Jonelle only had to look at him and he would forget to breathe. It was killing his professional demeanour. Not that she was doing it on purpose. The rest of her body language said he was still someone she wouldn’t let too close. He could tell that his refusal to grant an extension was still weighing on her mind. But he could understand that – he’d just made her life very difficult.

  He didn’t have a chance to ask her in for lunch as she jumped straight into the driver’s side as soon as he stepped out.

  ‘Thanks again for today, Dan. I’ll catch up with you again when we can get back out to Ryan’s, yeah?’ She gave him a quick wave as she peeled out onto the road without a backwards glance.

  Dan brushed the flies away, cursing them and the heat. As he walked to his door he wondered what tomorrow would bring. He liked Zac and was sure it would be fun. Most of all, he hoped to see that strangely admirable woman again.

  Today had triggered a lot of self-examination. A bit of a reality check. Here was Ryan, who by all means was doing a great job farming but had problems courtesy of his ex-wife. And then there was Jonelle’s uncle, who’d been taken to the cleaners. These people were in trouble and they didn’t deserve it. And Jonelle busted her guts trying to help them out, even when she needed help herself. He couldn’t figure Jonelle out. Was she raised this way, being from the country, or was it just her own beautiful nature? He really hoped he would see her tomorrow.

  Chapter 15

  JONNY drove back out of town, down the straight stretch of endless empty road that lead to the lookout. She needed to think, time to clear her head, to make sense of everything. The rumble of her V8 helped. It was like the gentle rock of a mother’s arms or a soothing beer after a hard day of work. Nothing lifted her spirits more than driving her pride and joy, window down, breeze rushing in and churning through her hair as if it were blowing away the worries.

  Dan was the main thing on her mind. From his refusal to help her with her loan, which sent her into flurries of anxiety, to the recognition of just how great he’d been at Ryan’s. Churning through paperwork, entering it into the computer, showing Jonny how it all worked and what it meant. She certainly had a better understanding now. If anything, it made her financial predicament clearer. She needed money, and now. And she wasn’t someone to ask her parents or anyone else for it, not when they were all in the same boat. This was her problem and she needed to find a way out. Deep down she knew what she had to do, but she couldn’t bear it. She so badly wanted to blame Dan for what she had to do; it was easy to blame him and his snobby city suit. But who was she kidding, he was sexy in his suit, the way those tailored pants fit perfectly. And, realistically, no extension would help her – the drought wasn’t going anywhere.

  Slowing down, she turned onto the narrow gravel road that led to the lookout. Some people would curse and shake their heads at her for taking such a beautiful car on a dirt road, even Jonny hadn’t wanted to at first. She bought the car when she was a cashed-up twenty-one-year-old. Coot helped her hunt it down and they were so impressed with the state of it that Jonny couldn’t bear to take it out of the workshop, where it sat safe in the back corner under a cover. She used to pull the cover back, run her hand over the curves, drive it out of the shed on a warm day to lovingly wash and polish it until it shone like new, but Coot had said that was no way for a car to live.

  He’d pointed his bent dirty finger at her and asked, ‘How would you like to spend the rest of your days cooped up and only ever brought out to be shined up and then hidden away again? That’s not how a car of such beauty should be treated. Cars are built to be driven.’ Then and there he’d told her to get in the car and together they took it for its first big drive. They had ended up at the lookout so Coot could get out for a smoke. Sitting on the bonnet of her Torana they had discussed cars till the sun had set. It was one of the best afternoons of her life. Coot had been staring out across the land, deep in thought as his gravelly words fell from his lips. ‘My father loved cars. I remember he had a Tin Lizzy tucked away in the back shed. I was never allowed near it, not until I was at the end of my teens. He clung on to that car like a piece of gold, said if he kept it schmicko it would be worth something one day.’ Coot had stopped talking and taken a huge drag on his rollie. He never rushed his stories. ‘Then he died when I was twenty-five and, you know, he never really got to enjoy that car. He missed out on it. Mum had to sell it to survive. To me it was a waste. If you can’t enjoy the things you love, what’s the point, eh? No good to ya when ya dead.’

  From that afternoon on, Jonny started driving her Torana. Not too far, but there is something to be said for a nice Sunday drive. Or a Saturday drive, in Jonny’s case today.

  Parking up at the lookout, Jonny went and sat on the bonnet, just like in the good old days with Coot. The sun embraced her body and the air was heavy with the scent of eucalyptus and dust.

  ‘Ah Coot, what am I gonna do? You’re the one person who knows how much I love this car, how much of you lives on in it.’ Can I really part with it? she asked herself.

  The heat of the sun made her squint as she looked out over the sad landscape. Brittle trees hung parched while birds rested on their weary limbs. Today she felt like those trees, just about defeated by this drought. But as dry, dusty, scarred and sad as the land looked, she still loved it. Just like a weary old battler in his final days, the land radiated a wisdom born from years of struggle.

  Jonny didn’t need to have a sign from Coot. She already knew she had her answer. As much as she loved this car, she loved the workshop more. Coot’s essence was in that workshop and she’d give her left leg, or her right, to keep it. If her Torana had to go, so be it.

  While she was sweating in the heat, one hard decision made, Jonny allowed her mind to wander back to Daniel, just for a moment. She really couldn’t help it. Sometimes he crept into her mind without a second’s notice. Damn him for being so handsome. Just seeing those thongs on his feet today made him seem normal and more approachable. Sometimes she could almost forget where he came from and where he was heading. As soon as the thought of them together crept into her mind she shut it down. It would never work. They were too different and they lived in completely different worlds.

  With a groan, she pushed herself off the car and headed back to the workshop. She had a ‘for sale’ sign to write. Just the thought of that made her so depressed, not even the drive home could cheer her up.

  Chapter 16

  DANIEL followed Zac’s directions to his farm the next day after lunch. It wasn’t far from town, not quite ten minutes before he saw the large farm sign next to a grand rock wall entry. Someone had put in the hard yards, he thought. A timber sign had Baxter Plains etched into it.

  The house and sheds came into view, nestled among some gum trees. The house sat on his right and three huge sheds spanned from the left in an arc. Three large silos were behind them, their big wide bellies round and waiting. But the house was amazing. It was the colour of the brown earth, encircled by a long, wide verandah with stumps made from tree trunks. A small patch of lawn framed one side of the house and the other three sides faced onto a garden of native plants and shrubs.

  The first shed on Dan’s left had three utes parked around it; one looked really battered and had a tank on the back. There was farm machinery in the shed, including some massive tractors. Then there was another ute and a car at the house. He wondered if they all belonged to Zac’s family. Did they really need all of those utes?

  Dan parked next to the house. Three dogs came running out, barking at his arrival. Two looked like work dogs but the third was a terrier of some sort. He watched them out of his window, wondering if any of them were trained to bite the bank manager. A whistle echoed and both brown dogs sat obediently, their ears twitching. Dan climbed out and saw Zac heading towards his car. The terrier, clearly above the law, ran up to Dan and began to assail him with sniffing and licking.

  ‘Jacko, Hollie, on the ute,’ Zac commanded. The work dogs followed his
order, eagerly jumping onto the tray as if they were off to do an important job. ‘I can control those two but I can’t save you from Mitzy’s slobber,’ he said, pointing to the white terrier.

  Zac was wearing his boots, while Dan had only his running shoes to wear. He didn’t own a pair of boots, unless you counted his leather dress shoes, but they would get him laughed off the land.

  ‘Come inside.’ Zac led the way along a compacted gravel path to the rammed-earth home.

  ‘Love your house.’

  ‘Thanks. We built it ourselves. My brother Ted now lives in the old house out behind the sheds.’

  Inside the house the air was crisp, and the walls were cool to touch. They passed through a living room that was large but overflowing with stuff. Photos adorned the walls and handmade rugs and throws covered the chairs. On the side cupboards were more old photos and collectables sitting on crocheted doilies.

  ‘Mum,’ Zac yelled.

  ‘I’m in the kitchen.’ Before they reached the kitchen, a plump lady with a blonde bob walked out. A black apron emblazoned with ‘Kiss the cook’ protected her skirt and blouse. She had kindest eyes Daniel had ever seen.

  ‘Oh, we have a guest,’ she said politely.

  ‘Mum, this is Dan, the bank man. Dan, this is my mum, Sandra.’

  Dan held out his hand but Sandra brushed straight past it and gave him a hug. He tried to think of the last time he’d been hugged by anyone besides his ex-girlfriends.

  ‘Welcome to our home, Dan. Would you boys like something to eat? Drink? I’ve just made some scones. Your sister’s in there devouring the leftover crackle from last night’s roast.’

  ‘Damn it, Jonny!’ Zac yelled as he set off for the kitchen.

  Dan stood with Sandra, when he really wanted to follow Zac and see Jonelle.