Family Farm

by Palmer, Fiona

  ‘She’d get there five minutes faster if she could walk in a straight line,’ Izzy laughed. ‘Will she be okay?’

  ‘Who knows? But she’s old enough and ugly enough to look after herself.’

  Izzy thought back to the last time she’d partied with her sister. Izzy had just turned sixteen and it was the first time that she’d finally been old enough to go to a party with her parents’ consent. So of course she’d sneaked more drinks than she was allowed and ended up blotto. Luckily, Claire had found her passed out in a ditch and cleaned her up before any great harm was done. If she remembered correctly, it was Will who’d carried her to the car. The things siblings did and the secrets they kept for each other – any parent would be astonished to know the half of it.

  ‘Hey, look at Kelly, Mac. D’you think she’s trying to get your attention?’ Izzy nodded towards a girl gyrating on the other side of the fire with her top above her head and her jugs jumping around for all to see. She laughed. ‘If only she knew you’d rather see a wang.’

  Blake kicked her up the bum with his boot and spilt his drink in the process. ‘Now look what you made me do,’ he laughed.

  ‘Hey, looks like Reggie’s ready to have her.’

  Blake turned to see the evidence for himself. Trying not to laugh, he put his hands over her eyes. ‘That’s too disgusting for your innocent eyes.’

  ‘No different to watching a randy old ram.’ She laughed and choked, causing beer to come out her nose.

  Izzy had met quite a few of the locals and it was clear that Mullawoon was just like any small town. Everyone seemed to get on and everyone knew everything about everyone else – or at least they thought they did. Most of the blokes she’d talked to had nearly finished ripping up or had started seeding by now. The talk of rain was always the hot topic at this time of year. If you could get a dollar every time the weather was mentioned, you’d sure be rich. As the evening wore on, the more the topic changed to dirty jokes and stories, usually involving pranks or nudity. Finally, most of the older locals headed home, leaving just a few stragglers around the hot coals.

  ‘I don’t know about you, Mac, but I was ready for bed ages ago. We’ve still got work tomorrow. Any chance we can head home?’ Izzy asked as she stifled a yawn.

  Blake had his beanie stretched down over his head to cover his cold ears. He rubbed his hands together, holding them over the remaining embers and trying to bring back some feeling in them. ‘I’m with you there. See if you can spot Simo.’

  The walked in opposite directions around the fire, saying a few goodbyes, as they tried to find Simone. Izzy was so tired she could hardly keep her eyes open. The smoke had dried them out and her bones were aching from the cold. After coming up empty, she went and joined Blake, who was talking to Mickey. ‘I didn’t see her. Did you, Blake?’

  ‘Nup. Mickey, have you seen Simo?’

  Mickey’s face glowed like a spotlight. ‘Yeah, she’s passed out in the back of my ute.’ He turned and led them in that direction.

  Simone lay buried under a sleeping bag. It almost seemed a shame to wake her.

  Mickey must have been reading their thoughts. ‘How ’bout you just take my ute home and we’ll swap them over later?’ he said. ‘Then if she wakes up, she can crawl into her own bed.’

  Blake slapped Mickey on his back. ‘Shit, you’re not just a pretty face after all. Cheers, Mickey. I’ll catch up with you later. Night.’

  ‘Nice t’meet you, Mickey. No doubt I’ll see you around,’ said Izzy as she waved goodbye.

  It was lucky they didn’t have far to drive, otherwise Izzy was sure they both would have fallen asleep and probably ended upside down in a ditch. Blake wasn’t too drunk and managed to keep the ute on the road, and no kangaroos jumped out at them in the dark.

  When they got home safely, Izzy managed to strip off her jacket and jeans before crawling under the covers. She was fast asleep seconds later.

  30

  IZZY barely heard the alarm at five o’clock. She felt like she’d only been asleep for ten minutes. But she had to take over from Alan, who’d been driving the tractor all night. She was going to do a shift until lunchtime, then Blake would work the afternoon, giving them both half a day off – it was Sunday after all. Izzy had volunteered to do the early shift. There’d been plenty of times when they’d all shared late nights and had to show up for work the next morning. It was nothing new out here. Work hard, play hard or go home. Something like that, anyway.

  As she headed out to the paddock, Izzy checked on Simone and found her still curled up in the swag on the back of Mickey’s ute. Light misty dew coated everything, including her sleeping bag which was pulled up over her head. There was no way Simone would be venturing out any time soon.

  Izzy drove to the paddock Alan was working in. After a moment, she spotted him and headed out over the soft mounds of freshly turned soil. He was in the middle of the paddock and he stopped the tractor when he saw her approaching.

  ‘Morning, Izzy. How was last night?’ Alan asked as he climbed down from the tractor. ‘It must have been a good bonfire. I could see it from here.’

  ‘Yeah, it was okay. I got to meet the locals and the famous Mickey – though some more sleep would have been nice.’ Izzy stifled a yawn.

  ‘I know how you feel. I struggled last night. Must be getting too old. There were a few times when I nearly nodded off, but the thought of waking up in another paddock or taking out fences kinda kept me awake. Blake would have a field day with that, not to mention the rest of the town.’

  Izzy figured she must look pretty bad, and reading between the lines, she knew Alan was warning her. ‘Don’t worry, Alan. I’ll take it easy.’

  He laughed. ‘There’s not too much fuel left but it should see you through until Blake’s session. I’ll get him to fill her up when he comes over. Di might have some morning tea ready for you later, too.’

  ‘Sounds great.’ Izzy’s belly gurgled at the mention of food.

  Alan got in Izzy’s ute and headed back to the sheds while she climbed up into the tractor. The inside of the cab was warm and the radio was blaring away. Izzy reached for a black, padded case that was sitting behind the seat and flipped open the lid. She ran her finger down the spine of Blake’s collection of old tapes and picked one out. It was a compilation from the early eighties.

  She popped it into the tape deck above her head and Kylie Minogue broke out in song, drowning out the thumping of the engine. She couldn’t help but laugh.

  Slowly she worked her way up a couple of gears to cruising speed, and then checked the plough line behind her. Just six hours to go, she thought. Sitting back, she relaxed a little. As usual when driving the tractor there wasn’t much else but for her mind to wander off. Izzy soon found herself thinking of Claire. She could almost remember the smell of wattle flowers that floated in the warm spring air as she’d walked towards her big sister one day, seven years ago. Claire sat upon a large motorbike, her blonde hair draped around her open, smiling face. Her blue eyes twinkled with delight as she revved the throttle back on the motorbike.

  ‘Come on, Izzy. We’ve got fuel to burn.’

  Izzy laughed at her eighteen-year-old sister, whose free spirit and infectious sense of humour was intoxicating. At fifteen, Izzy looked up to Claire with awe. She never seemed to worry or get stressed about anything and what you saw was what you got. Claire was big on life and was open about everything, whereas Izzy kept her feelings close to her chest and wasn’t a big risk-taker.

  Izzy brushed away her brown wavy hair, threw a long leg over the back of the motorbike and put an arm around Claire’s narrow waist.

  ‘Girls, just wait there a tick.’ Their mother Jean came running out through the gate from the house with a camera in her hand. Her thongs slapped as she ran and her hair bobbed at her shoulders. Her daughters had inherited her oval face, clear skin and her eyes. Their bright smiles and their stubbornness they’d got from their father – something Jean was constantly
telling them.

  ‘Smile, you two,’ she said as she took aim.

  Izzy leant towards Claire and hugged her tight. Her hair smelt of frangipani and was soft against her cheek. She closed her eyes for a moment and enjoyed the closeness. Soon she’d have to go back to boarding school. Izzy always missed her like mad. The motorbike rumbled impatiently underneath them as she opened her eyes and smiled.

  ‘Say cheese,’ their mother prompted.

  ‘Cheese,’ said Izzy while Claire shouted, ‘Sex.’

  Jean took the photo and then shook her head at Claire. ‘What am I going to do with you?’ she laughed. ‘Okay, you can go. But take care and come back before it gets too dark. Dinner will be at six. Love you both.’

  ‘Love you too, Mum,’ they shouted back.

  Izzy put her feet on the footrests and shimmied closer to Claire. She held on tightly with both arms now. She knew this would be one hell of a ride, but she trusted Claire with her life.

  ‘Where we going, sis?’ she asked.

  Claire craned her head back and Izzy counted seven little freckles scattered over her nose. ‘How ’bout up to the top paddock? You hanging on?’ Claire reached down and gripped Izzy’s hands.

  Izzy rested her head on Claire’s shoulder and breathed in the warm afternoon air. ‘You betcha, Claire Bear!’

  Izzy took a hand off the tractor’s steering wheel and rubbed at her eyes, which were beginning to blur with tears. She wondered how long it would be before her memories of Claire would begin to fade. How long until she struggled to remember their times together? It scared her. She always felt bad when she realised she’d gone a few weeks without thinking of her. This year she’d planned to go to the cemetery where she was buried to sit and talk to her. She reckoned Claire would be there listening. But her body lay in the tiny Pingaring cemetery with only five other graves among the shrubs and a little gazebo, and Izzy was miles away once again. She should’ve made the effort to go sooner, while she was at home, but she hadn’t expected to be off again so soon.

  Towards the end of her shift, Izzy noticed Blake pull into the paddock and watch her finish off the corners. She swung the tractor around easily, sending the seeder bar over the last patch of unturned earth, and then headed for the gate, stopping just short of Blake. He gave her a hand getting through the gate into the next paddock.

  ‘I think it’s about time you put some new music in the tractor!’ she teased.

  ‘No way,’ Blake replied with a chuckle. ‘Come on, you know you loved it.’

  He looked bright and well rested, which was the opposite of how she felt. ‘Did Simone pull up okay?’

  ‘Better than I thought she would. But she can’t remember a thing about last night. She’s a worry, that girl.’ His lips parted in a wide smile. ‘So we’re onto the last paddock. Hopefully, it’s not too dry. There’s supposed to be a front coming through some time next week if we’re lucky.’

  Izzy brushed a fly away from her face. ‘Fingers crossed,’ she nodded.

  ‘Did Dad say if he’d ordered some more fuel? We’re all out,’ Blake said, raising his eyebrows.

  ‘Yup. Truck should be here by tomorrow arvo.’ Izzy held up her hand and waved. ‘Anyway, I’m wasting precious relaxation time, not to mention missing the chance to stuff my face with lunch. I’ll leave you and Kylie Minogue to finish the last paddock in peace.’

  Blake gave her a thumbs up and climbed up into the tractor as Izzy headed to his ute.

  When she got home, she found Simone busy in the kitchen. ‘Wow. Are you actually making lunch?’ Izzy asked in disbelief.

  ‘Don’t get too excited. It’s only ham-and-cheese toasties,’ said Simone as she buttered another piece of bread.

  Izzy threw her jumper on her bed before joining Simone in the kitchen. ‘So how are you feeling? Can’t be doing too badly if you’re up to making food.’

  Simone’s wet hair sat tied up on top of her head and she was wearing a fresh pair of jeans and a shirt. ‘No, I’m feeling better. Killer headache, though. I was going to make bacon and eggs but we don’t have either, so I thought I’d try a toastie. Do you want one?’

  ‘Please. I could eat a horse.’

  Simone screwed up her face. ‘You look like you could do with some sleep. Have you seen the bags under your eyes? God, you look how I feel.’

  ‘Cheers. You’re so thoughtful.’ Izzy threw a tea towel at her. ‘I’m gonna have some lunch, do some chores, which quite frankly I have to do or else I’m gonna have to turn my knickers inside out and back to front —’

  ‘Eew.’

  ‘And then I might tackle the garden. If I get all that done, then I’ll definitely be up for a nanna nap.’

  Simone rolled her eyes. ‘That sounds like a shit way to spend a Sunday.’

  Izzy shrugged her shoulders. ‘Not much else to do. Hey, Blake tells me you wiped out big time last night. Is it true you can’t remember anything?’

  Simone laughed and then stopped quickly. She held her hands to her head, a look of pain on her face. ‘Oh, that hurt. Yes, if you must know. I can remember telling Dougie the time at eleven and that’s about it. The rest is a mystery. Hopefully everyone else won’t remember much either. I wasn’t too stupid, was I?’ said Simone, as doubt started to creep into her voice.

  Izzy quickly took out the hot pressed toasties while Simone replaced them with two more she’d prepared.

  ‘No, nothing out of the norm. I barely saw you all night to be honest,’ Izzy said, laughing.

  ‘Gee, thanks.’

  ‘You did go chasing after Mickey at one stage.’

  Simone looked horrified. ‘Oh, God. What did I do?’

  ‘Don’t stress. I don’t think you were too bad. And I reckon I caught Mickey checking you out a few times anyway.’ Izzy knew that would get her full attention.

  ‘Really? You sure?’

  ‘Ha! I knew you liked him,’ Izzy said after seeing Simone’s reaction. ‘Don’t go pretending you don’t. It’s too late now,’ Izzy teased between bites. ‘Besides, what’s wrong with liking Mickey?’

  Simone stopped what she was doing and sighed heavily. ‘I don’t know. When I was young, I had a huge crush on him. But when Blake found out, he went ballistic and told me in no uncertain terms that I was to stay away from his best mate. He said if we got together and then broke up, it could cause all sorts of problems for everyone. I wouldn’t want to affect their friendship. Plus he told me Mickey wasn’t even remotely interested.’ Simone handed Izzy the tomato sauce and shrugged. ‘So I gave up. It’s only been in the last year that those feelings have come back, or maybe I’ve just realised I still like him. It’s hard not to, Izzy. Mickey’s not like most of the blokes around here. He’s more grounded. He’s looking to his future instead of pissing it up against a tree like the rest of them. He could be the one to give me a reason to bring myself into line, you know – give me something to better myself for, maybe even settle down and marry.’

  ‘Shit, that serious, hey?’ Izzy knew what she meant. She’d thought Will was wasting away his youth too. It had taken her a while to realise he’d changed. He’d turned a corner, and had become a man she could see herself with for the rest of her life. Even now she surprised herself thinking that.

  So often since she’d left Pingaring she found herself with a head full of romantic thoughts about Will. She could just see him teaching young kids to ride his motorbike or drive the tractor. With Will, she saw a future, and she’d never felt that with anyone else – ever. Izzy shook her head. This was no time to dwell on it.

  She rested her hand on Simone’s arm. ‘You’re a big girl now. Why don’t you go and ask him out?’

  ‘You’ve got to be kidding,’ she laughed. ‘There’s no way. I don’t think Blake would be very happy about me moving in on his best mate.’

  ‘Stuff Blake. A lot of time has passed since he warned you off. You might find he’s changed since then.’

  Simone’s hand went to her mouth. ‘I just
don’t think I could go and ask Mickey out.’

  ‘Said the girl who normally waltzes up to any guy,’ Izzy replied.

  ‘But he’s different. This is Mickey we’re talking about. It would be too weird. I don’t want to lose our friendship. That would suck, big time.’

  ‘Sometimes these chances are worth taking.’ Izzy listened to her own words and realised how ironic they were coming from her mouth. She’d tried hard to hide her feelings – not wanting to be hurt, not wanting to ruin a friendship. But, maybe what she was saying was the truth. Perhaps if she could take a risk, she might find her own happy ending?

  ‘I suppose you’re right. But I don’t want to rush anything.’

  Simo looked gorgeous standing there in her anxious state. Her eyes were wide with nervous energy as her fingers twirled the tips of her long blonde hair. Izzy smiled before giving her a hug for encouragement. Her figure was slender like Izzy’s but Simone had the curves where it counted – a beautiful hourglass shape. Izzy pulled away and looked into her deep hazel eyes. ‘Well, you know where to find me if you ever need to talk.’

  Simone gave Izzy another hug and whispered out the words, ‘Thanks, Izzy. Claire was so lucky to have you as a sister.’

  Izzy cleared her throat. ‘Come on. Let’s finish lunch before it gets cold, then we can plan your strategy.’

  31

  JEAN sat slumped in an armchair, as sad and worn out as Will had ever seen her.

  ‘We’ve called everyone we can think of and no one’s heard from her. It’s like she’s just disappeared,’ Bill said quietly. ‘It’s been nearly three weeks now.’

  ‘Don’t stress too much, Bill. She’s a big girl who can take care of herself. You just concentrate on getting yourself better. She’ll be back when she’s cooled off.’ Will clapped his hand on Bill’s shoulder to reassure him.

  ‘And what do we do till then?’

  Will ran his fingers through his hair, which stood up for a moment before flopping back into position. He could hear the despair in Bill’s voice. ‘You rest and I’ll get the truck fixed.’ Will could see he was going to protest and stopped him. ‘I’ve told you not to worry, Bill. I’ve already had a talk with Dad and he said between him and our worker, they’ve got Tarramin covered. He knows that without me Gumlea won’t run. Dad’s going to come over tomorrow to catch up and see if there is anything else we can do to help out.’ Bill’s hand started to rise and there was a stubborn look in his eyes. ‘No buts, Bill. You just tell me what needs doing, and when it comes time to start seeding, we can sit down and go over your programs as well. We’ll work together to keep things going. All right?’