Alice-Miranda in the Outback

by Jacqueline Harvey

  Fortunately the exchange was in relatively good humour. Jacinta had come a long way since her days as Winchesterfield-Downsfordvale’s second-best tantrum thrower, although Alice-Miranda whispered to Millie that she should probably stop pushing her luck. Poor Jacinta had been a little fragile the past few days, especially since the incident with the frill-necked lizard.

  Lunch was rounded out with cups of tea and cake before the three men stood up.

  ‘Are you sure you don’t need some help?’ Alice-Miranda asked, but Barnaby and her father were adamant that they’d be fine. With any luck, they’d get on top of the water issue today and be able to start the mustering tomorrow. They’d need the children rested and all hands on deck for that.

  Jacinta held up the three DVDs she and Lucas had narrowed the afternoon’s viewing down to, so everyone could vote.

  ‘Oh, we’re not watching that again.’ Millie grinned and shook her head when she realised that one they’d selected was The Life and Times of Nellie Williams. ‘Besides, we’ve heard from a few people around here that it’s total rubbish.’

  ‘Jacinta’s choice,’ Lucas said with a chuckle.

  ‘You said you wouldn’t mind seeing it again,’ Jacinta said, her jaw flapping open.

  ‘Okay, I lied,’ the boy confessed.

  ‘We’ve watched it like a thousand times,’ Larry said. ‘Mum loves it – she’ll be so disappointed that she missed out on meeting your dad. Don’t tell him, but he’s her movie star crush.’

  Hayden raised his eyebrows. ‘It’s true. Dad’s always teasing her about it.’

  ‘He has that effect on lots of people,’ Millie said, fanning herself with her hand. ‘Mr Lipp, the old drama teacher at Fayle, was completely besotted with Lawrence until he fell in love with Frau Furtwangler.’

  The children debated the merits of the other two movies on offer. One was a spy drama about twins whose lives were forever changed when they found out that their grandmother was in charge of the world’s most important spy organisation, while the other was about a group of friends at boarding school. In the end they picked the spies. It seemed fitting, given there were a few mysteries in their midst at the moment.

  ‘Who’s up for popcorn?’ Hayden asked.

  There was a chorus of yeses. The boy headed back to the kitchen with Alice-Miranda in tow, while Larry showed Lucas how to put the movie on and Millie and Jacinta bagsed the best seats.

  Hayden walked into the pantry, which was like a small supermarket with shelves neatly arranged and enough supplies to last for months. It also had a small built-in desk with a tall stool near the old phone on the wall.

  ‘There,’ Alice-Miranda pointed up high at some boxes.

  Hayden climbed up the stepladder and threw three packets down. Alice-Miranda quickly read the instructions and put them one after the other into the microwave in the kitchen.

  ‘I’ve been thinking about the bores. Could there be something in the water that’s making them seize up?’ Alice-Miranda asked. ‘Like rust?’

  Hayden shrugged. ‘That’s a big problem with bore water. It’s high in iron, so it tastes terrible. We only use it for the shower and the toilets. That’s why we have all those orange stains on the tiles and in the cistern. Mum says it’s just about impossible to get rid of them, though she still tries.’

  ‘I guess water is more precious than gold out here,’ Alice-Miranda said. ‘Or opals.’

  ‘Sure is.’ Hayden found three large bowls, and it wasn’t long before they marched into the lounge room and took up their positions to watch the movie. Junie and Rusty had joined the group and were curled up together on the floor, Rusty’s paw resting on the ginger cat’s shoulder.

  ‘You know, even if we do find that Taipan Dan guy, I don’t think we can give Junie back,’ Larry said. ‘Rusty is in love, and he might not recover if he lost his new best friend.’

  ‘I tend to agree,’ Millie said. ‘I’ve never seen a dog and cat adore each other like those two.’

  ‘They’re the cutest,’ Jacinta agreed, then nudged Lucas.

  He whispered, ‘You’re the cutest,’ into her ear and she blushed.

  Junie meowed loudly as if to agree and the children giggled.

  They started the movie and before long the group was heavily invested, leaning forward in their seats and yelling at the screen. ‘It’s a treasure map!’ Millie shouted. ‘You need to match it up with a real map – a topographical one like we studied in geography last term.’

  ‘That Max kid’s probably already committed the entire world atlas to memory – he’s pretty awesome,’ Larry said.

  The children clenched their fists, hearts racing.

  ‘It’s there!’ Hayden pointed at the television.

  ‘That’s it, Kensy! Come on. We need to find the jewels before anyone else does.’ The boy on the screen shouted.

  ‘This movie’s fantastic,’ Millie said as the music amped up and on the screen the twins hot-wired a motor scooter and started speeding through the streets of Berlin.

  ‘I love all the puzzles, and how they have to work everything out,’ Larry said.

  Alice-Miranda was watching intently, but her mind had started to wander. She jumped up just as a car sped across the characters’ paths.

  ‘Where are you going?’ Millie asked. ‘Do you want us to pause it?’

  But Alice-Miranda was already gone.

  She raced to the sleep-out and rummaged around in her bag to find the jeans she’d been wearing the day they’d driven to Hope Springs. She pulled them out and checked the pocket to find the paper with the squiggly lines and the ‘X’.

  ‘Alice-Miranda!’ Millie called as her feet thundered down the hallway. ‘Are you coming back?’

  ‘Sorry. That scene in the movie made me think of the piece of paper I found on the road and I wanted to make sure that I still had it,’ Alice-Miranda apologised.

  ‘Are you going to watch the end?’ Millie asked. ‘It’s really exciting.’

  Alice-Miranda nodded and put the page into her pocket. She’d have a look through Barnaby’s old books and ledgers once the movie was finished.

  Millie looped her arm through Alice-Miranda’s and the pair scurried back to the lounge.

  Hayden pressed play, and the friends sat enthralled by the final twenty minutes, though Alice-Miranda was willing the film to hurry up and finish so she could have a look at the old records in the office. The finale had danger aplenty, but in the end the twins emerged unscathed, the bad guys dealt with and their grandmother as proud as punch – though she was still a little disparaging about a few things they’d done.

  ‘Wow, that woman is harsh,’ Millie said. ‘If I was as brave and clever as Kensy I’d tell her to back off, babe.’

  ‘Max is so hot!’ Jacinta remarked.

  ‘Oh really?’ Lucas smirked.

  ‘Look out, Lucas,’ Millie grinned.

  ‘Haha,’ Jacinta leaned her head against Lucas’s shoulder.

  ‘How long have you two been, you know, boyfriend and girlfriend?’ Hayden asked. He’d never thought about the idea of a girlfriend – in fact, he hardly knew any girls other than Larry and Stormy. Yet he had found himself thinking a couple of times that Alice-Miranda was cute.

  Jacinta looked at Lucas, a coy smile on her face.

  ‘I can tell you,’ Millie interjected. ‘It’s like this. Jacinta has had a massive crush on Lucas like forever – well, since Lucas came to Fayle School for Boys, actually maybe before that at Alice-Miranda’s Aunt Charlotte’s birthday party – and I think Lucas was always keen on her too, though they were utterly useless at sharing their feelings for quite some time and Jacinta would always deny it – even when her face would go red anytime he looked at her. So it’s been going on for ages, but they had their first proper kiss when we were on a leadership camp in Scotland . . .’

  ‘What!’ Jacinta’s eyes were huge. ‘No one saw that!’

  ‘Are you kidding? Why do you think Mr Ferguson never sent that
photo from the park in Inverness to Aunty Gee? I heard him telling Miss Cranna that it was just as well he noticed you two kissing before he distributed the picture far and wide,’ Millie said, to much giggling from the others.

  ‘Anyway, then Jacinta went all crazy because she thought that Lucas was going to live with his mother in LA for a while next year and they had a bust up again, but they’ve vowed not to get too kissy-kissy yet because they’ll get into trouble at school if they do.’

  Larry snorted with laughter. Hayden and Alice-Miranda were giggling too.

  ‘Well, I know who I’m going to employ to write my autobiography when I’m old and famous,’ Lucas said. ‘I had no idea you were so observant, Millie.’

  ‘You mean such a busy body,’ Jacinta said. ‘I think she could give Mrs Parker a run for her money.’

  Millie looked wounded. Her bottom lip trembled and her eyes filled with tears.

  ‘Uh oh.’ Alice-Miranda was about to intervene when Jacinta jumped up and walked over to the girl.

  ‘Oh, for goodness sake, Millie, I didn’t mean it.’

  Millie’s eye’s crinkled and a grin came to her lips. ‘Me either. I’m just an awesome actress, don’t you think!’

  ‘Oh, you monster!’ Jacinta leapt on Millie and began tickling the girl’s ribs.

  ‘Larry!’ Millie called. ‘I need some help here.’

  Within seconds, Larry had joined in and was attacking Jacinta, who squealed like a piglet. It was Lucas who came to her aid.

  ‘Tickle monster!’ Alice-Miranda shouted as she launched herself at Hayden. The six friends were giggling and wheezing and begging for mercy a few minutes later.

  Millie rolled over and lay on her back. ‘I haven’t laughed that much in ages.’

  ‘My sides hurt,’ Larry got to her knees and smiled. It felt good to laugh.

  ‘Next movie?’ Millie panted as she crawled back up onto the lounge chair and caught her breath.

  ‘Maybe later,’ Larry said. ‘I should try and get some water onto Mum’s vegie patch. I’m going to steal some from Molly and Ralph’s tanks, seeing that they’re not here. I’ll just have to find a hose long enough.’

  ‘We can help,’ Lucas said, glad to get out for some fresh air. Millie nodded. Jacinta wasn’t quite so keen to leave the safety of the house, but she’d go if Lucas did.

  ‘Do you mind if I stay in and have a poke about in the old ledgers in your father’s study?’ Alice-Miranda asked.

  ‘Sure. Dad said you could,’ Hayden replied. ‘I’ll help if you like. Wouldn’t it be amazing to find the other half of that treasure map?’

  Alice-Miranda smiled. ‘That would be incredible. And yes please, I’d love a hand. Thanks.’

  ‘Just make sure you find it,’ Larry said, getting to her feet. ‘We need a family holiday.’

  And with that the children dispersed, leaving Junie and Rusty in peace.

  Barnaby Lewis’s study was a large room at the front of the house, across the hall from the master bedroom. Floor-to-ceiling bookshelves of century-old cedar lined two walls, with a library ladder on a rail used to reach the highest points. An acreage of antique desk sat in the middle of the space, accompanied by a swivel chair that looked original. It was an imposing room, with portraits of Lewises past hanging from picture rails on the other two walls. They were mostly stern men with deeply-lined faces and skin like leather – no doubt the result of years of working outdoors in one of the harshest environments on earth.

  There was a single photo of the station’s female residents. The lady of the house stood in the centre of the frame, dressed in a fine long gown and a hat that could have been used as a shade umbrella; two young girls standing either side. They were surrounded by the household – Indigenous women and girls. Their dresses, simple long pinafores and, in keeping with the style of the times, there wasn’t a smile among them – although Alice-Miranda thought one of the young women looked as if she was about to grin. It was a picture of a time long past. She couldn’t help wondering about the staff – were they treated well and fairly? The way Hayden and Larry talked about Molly – she seemed more like a grandmother than an employee, and they seemed very close to Stormy and River too. Alice-Miranda hoped they’d be home soon so she could meet them all.

  ‘Family photos,’ Hayden commented, pointing to a picture on the other wall. ‘That’s my grandpa, Evan, and his brother, Chester. I’m not sure what happened to him. Molly just shakes her head when I ask and Dad says he knows as much as we do. There is one story – see his finger?’ Alice-Miranda peered in at the picture. The shot had been taken outside, the boys leaning over a post-and-rail fence. ‘Chester’s got a claw instead of a nail. Dad said he got it mangled in a motorbike chain and it grew back looking like a parrot’s beak.’

  ‘Oh, that’s nasty,’ the girl replied. She pointed at a portrait of a young man and woman in a silver frame on the desk. ‘Who’s that?’

  ‘That’s Grandpa again, and Grandma Thea. She was from Norway – can you imagine what a shock it would have been to come and live out here with all this heat and dust after the snowy landscape of Scandinavia? Dad doesn’t talk about them much, but Molly says Grandma left Grandpa when Dad was only five. She went back to Norway and no one ever heard from her again. Pretty sad, don’t you think? Molly said Grandpa died of a broken heart when he was forty-six.’

  ‘That’s tragic,’ Alice-Miranda said. ‘Families can be complicated, can’t they?’

  ‘Sure can,’ Hayden said.

  ‘Where should we begin?’ Alice-Miranda asked, looking around the shelves.

  Hayden pointed up to some slender green spines with gilt writing at the top of the bookcase. ‘What about those? They look ancient.’

  The boy climbed up and pulled down two books.

  Alice-Miranda opened the first and scanned the contents of the yellowed pages. It was a ledger with farm accounts, and notes about feed and stock. There were also grocery lists and the names of people working on the station. The writing was similar to the script on the map page Alice-Miranda had found, but when she compared it closely, it definitely wasn’t from the same author.

  The second book contained almost identical information from a year later. The children continued their search but after investigating at least a dozen tomes, Hayden declared that they were probably looking in the wrong place.

  ‘We need to find something with maps,’ the boy declared.

  ‘Hayden!’ Larry called from the back door. ‘Can you give us a hand out here?’

  He looked at Alice-Miranda who gave him a nod. ‘I’ll put these away. You go,’ she said.

  ‘Are you sure?’ Hayden said. He was quite enjoying their task, and, never having had much of a look around the room himself, wondered at what treasures might be unearthed.

  ‘Hayden!’ Larry screeched.

  ‘It sounds important,’ Alice-Miranda said.

  ‘See you in a bit,’ the boy rolled his eyes. ‘She’s probably got the hose tangled up or something.’ The boy gave a wave and scampered out of the room.

  Alice-Miranda scaled the ladder to put the books back – several at a time. She was placing each one carefully onto the shelf when she spied something wedged at the back. It was a slim volume covered in a thick layer of dust.

  ‘What’s this?’ she mumbled to herself, then stretched her arm and grabbed it.

  Alice-Miranda scurried back down the ladder. The book was much smaller than the homestead’s official ledgers. She opened the first page and began to read. It seemed to be a diary, but without dates. The owner was a mystery too, as there was no name in the front – or anywhere that she could see. She followed the scripted handwriting with her right pointer finger, some of the words more difficult to make out than others.

  ‘C is causing trouble again. He needs to keep his thoughts in check and leave her alone. Nothing good will come of it. Father is incandescent, and if mother was still alive she wouldn’t hear of it. C needs to spend some time in Adelaide and
get the girl out of his system – there will be no mixed marriages in this family. Father will not allow it,’ the girl read aloud.

  Alice-Miranda hesitated. People should be allowed to marry whomever they want, but she knew history had dictated otherwise for such a long time. The girl wondered if she should put the book back where she found it, but there was something intriguing about the story. She didn’t want to stop. It felt as if she was reading the most engrossing novel, except that in this case the people were real. She sat down on Barnaby’s chair before continuing to read.

  Everyone mentioned in the diary was referred to by a single initial, though a woman the writer had met received a more romantic description – her hair described as flaxen straw and her blue eyes like sapphires. The language was quite formal and old-fashioned but the handwriting seemed more modern than the ledgers. Most of the entries were about visitors and a terrible drought, but towards the middle, things took a darker turn.

  ‘He’s ruined everything. M brought the baby back to the station, and the minute Father laid eyes on the child, he insisted the boy be raised as one of us. What of my degree? All those years at medical school, wasted, and for what? C’s illegitimate child. Not to mention the impact on my wife. It was hard enough T coming to live here after the promises I’d made of life in the city. Now she has a baby to look after – not even her own. I told Father the child should be raised by M – he’s her nephew too, but the man won’t hear of it. That boy will be the death of us all.

  Alice-Miranda let out a tiny gasp. Hadn’t Larry said yesterday that her grandfather was a doctor, but he never practised? He’d had to take over the station because something had happened to his older brother . . . Chester. C’s illegitimate child. Could that be Chester? He must have fallen in love with one of the Indigenous women on the station – M’s sister. Could that be Molly? Uncle Barnaby talked about Molly a lot, and treated her as family. Perhaps that’s because she was. Something terrible must have happened for Chester and Molly’s sister to abandon their baby.

  ‘Father is dead. Doctors say it was a heart attack. There is no escaping this place now – I’ve gone over the books, and we’re so heavily in debt that even if I sell, there won’t be much left. T deserves better and, frankly, so does the boy. He is not without his charms – though I have found it hard to form any real bond.’