The Shifting Light

by Alice Campion

  ‘And he told you he couldn’t wait to get away from me and Mum. Isn’t that what you said?’ Nina felt a splinter of anger.

  ‘That was a lie,’ said Hilary bluntly. ‘I said it out of spite and I shouldn’t have. He was very concerned about Julia and you, his wife and daughter. That’s what was driving him on – the thought of leaving you two enough to live on without him.’

  ‘But why would you …’

  ‘Simmer down, love,’ said Moira, patting her arm. ‘We all know how you feel. But let Hilary have her say now.’

  ‘There were also several things I omitted to tell you that I should have, Nina,’ continued Hilary. ‘Now that this gold is out in the open, I think it’s time for everything else to be. Before I dropped Jim off at The Springs he told me the story that’s been passed down the Larkin family over the years. He heard it from his father, who heard it from his father and I daresay he would have passed it on to you, Nina, if –’

  ‘So, my mother would’ve heard it too,’ said Lachlan harshly.

  ‘Shh – let her talk,’ said Ben.

  ‘The story goes back to 1907,’ said Hilary. ‘Barnaby Larkin was on his deathbed. He decided to confess everything to his family. First, he admitted that he’d killed his gold-mining partner so he could keep the nugget. But it had brought him nothing but trouble. He couldn’t sell it because everyone suspected him already, so he just had to sit on it.

  ‘Eventually, the stress and the guilt drove him mad. He started having delusions. Strangely enough, his symptoms seem very much like your father’s, Nina.’

  Nina nodded slowly. She vividly recalled the depressions that made Jim angry, resentful, even violent sometimes. And then there were the highs where he was oblivious to reason, sleepless and inspired, full of some hare-brained scheme or other.

  ‘Barkin’ also confessed to setting the fire at Durham House,’ continued Hilary.

  ‘Oh, no,’ gasped Izzy.

  ‘The letter,’ said Nina, remembering. ‘Sarah Blackett suspected that.’

  ‘He didn’t mean to hurt anyone. He’d just got himself into a state. He was getting on, losing the plot. He truly believed the Blacketts were conspiring against him and his family. He thought they were going to throw him off the property leaving them homeless. And during the fire the little Blackett boy was killed. So, before Larkin died he was determined to bring the two families together. He had the two lockets made – one for the Larkins, the other for the Blacketts. If they shared the clues, it would be a lot easier to find the gold. If they didn’t, well … look how long it took us.’

  ‘Dad knew there were two lockets?’ interrupted Nina.

  ‘Yes, he knew. But as we now know, the Blackett locket disappeared generations ago,’ said Hilary.

  ‘And the story behind it was lost. We never heard of it,’ said Ben.

  ‘Shame Mac and Kathryn are in Melbourne, they’d be loving this,’ added Heath.

  ‘Anyway,’ continued Hilary, ‘your father was so hyped up, Nina, he was convinced he had enough clues even without the second locket.’

  ‘So you knew then that he was going to Goat Rock?’ asked Nina. Heart racing, she scrambled to her feet. ‘You knew where he was going!’

  ‘No.’ Hilary stepped out of the pool, put her wine down and strode across the dry grass. She took Nina’s shoulders and looked straight into her eyes. ‘If I’d had any idea, I would have raised the alarm and gone there myself to check he hadn’t gotten into trouble. At the time, I thought the same as everyone. That he and his brother had fought and he’d taken off the next day.’

  Nina nodded.

  ‘I searched everywhere for the second locket. I put ads in local papers, called round all the antique jewellery places every year. Offered rewards. I could never track it down. I even drilled Mac Blackett but I drew a blank there.’

  ‘Because it was in Tulip’s gardening shed, in a flower pot,’ said Izzy. She shook her head. ‘I used to be a sceptic, but as of this moment, I’m totally with Mum – it was in the stars. I now officially believe in magic, or the earth goddess or the music of the spheres and – of course – Madame Zena,’ she laughed, breaking the tension.

  Ben squeezed her hand.

  ‘And not only that. I think this has somehow helped right the wrongs that Tulip was involved in all those years ago,’ continued Izzy, serious now.

  ‘What wrongs?’ It was Hilary.

  As if she hadn’t heard, Izzy raised her glass. ‘To Cupid,’ she said.

  ‘To Cupid,’ echoed Nina and Heath, clinking glasses.

  ‘Hear, hear,’ said Ben.

  Nina smiled as she watched him grab Izzy and kiss her squarely on the mouth.

  It was late, or early. Depended how you looked at it.

  The others had drifted off to bed a half hour or so ago.

  Nina sat alone with her thoughts on the edge of the fountain.

  Finally. It was time. She drank the last of her champagne, brushed a few leaves from the rug by the fountain and headed quietly to the shearers’ quarters where she and Heath were camped.

  It was so bright, no need for lights.

  He was lying on top of the bed. No shirt but still in his jeans. Awake. Waiting for her, as she knew he would be.

  ‘Hey, I was just coming to get you. Where have you been?’ he asked smiling. He sat up, the moonlight slipping down his chest.

  But Nina put her fingers to his lips.

  There would be no talking.

  She took his hand and led him from the bed.

  ‘Where are we going?’ he whispered.

  She said nothing, just shook her head slightly.

  Hands entwined, they padded down the dark hall, Nina leading the way, until they were back outside. How good the bare earth felt on her feet.

  On they went under the silver-lit sky. Past the rose garden, the bore.

  And then they were there at the giant magnolia tree, at the fountain where it seemed so many of her family’s big moments had played out.

  She stopped and Heath tried to pull her to him, but she shook her head again. Instead, she led him to the trunk of the tree.

  He leant back against it, facing her.

  So quiet, except for a slight rustle of the leaves surrounding them.

  She stood there in front of him, so close, and for a few seconds they searched each other’s faces, his expression now serious, matching her own.

  Heath reached out to touch her, but she took a step backwards, and then a couple more, so he could see all of her.

  Their eyes locked.

  Then, slowly, she pulled off her shirt, unclipped her bra, pulled down her shorts, her underwear.

  And stood perfectly still in front of him.

  She heard him sigh. He whispered her name. Again, she said nothing.

  And then she stepped forward, slowly, deliberately. A few more seconds of exquisite torment until her hands moved upwards, reaching for his belt.

  ‘Nina,’ he whispered.

  One notch, two. She trembled as she felt his body strain against the fabric.

  They both stood, naked, facing each other in the moonlight.

  One, two, five agonising seconds went by, and in each one of them, Nina knew how much he was aching to touch, as she was. And then, so slowly, she raised her hand again, to this time trace it softly along his cheekbone, down the scar to the hollow of his throat, and then to his chest.

  He groaned.

  She took his head in her hands and looked straight into his eyes as his mouth sought hers.

  Now, his hands were all over her. He kissed her hair, her earlobe, her throat as her arms slid around his neck. Then her lips sought his, hungry, and now he was lifting her and laying her down on the rug by the fountain.

  She clasped him to her as his fingers began stroking, kneading … but she needed this moment before she reached the end. They kissed again, slowly this time. And again. And again.

  His hand ran up her leg, over her hip to her breast and she drew h
im inside her and they were one. Separate no more.

  CHAPTER 25

  Heath drove along the winding street and pulled in at the top of a steep driveway next to a mailbox. Number 12. This was it.

  He sat for a moment to collect his thoughts. He’d have to play this one by ear. In the distance he saw water, bright blue, sparkling in the afternoon sun. Was that part of the harbour or a river? Sydney’s haphazard topography always confused him. He looked around. So this was where Lachlan’s wife lived. The houses were big, comfortable. Nice spot. Lots of trees, new cars – it looked way different to the grim parade of fast-food joints, soulless apartment blocks and grimy car yards that lined the Princes Highway on the way here.

  If this guy was as dodgy as Heath believed him to be, he needed evidence.

  His mind went back to the night before last when Nina told Lachlan that she was giving Janet a share of the gold. He had mumbled something in an offhand way, shrugged and drifted back to the party. Odd.

  And there was that phone call. Janet had asked to speak to her son but Heath could see from the verandah that Lachlan was engrossed in Hilary’s story and offered to take a message. Heath told her about finding the nugget, but decided to leave it to Nina to tell her about her share. Then he made some small talk and said his goodbyes but Lachlan’s mother had had a lot on her mind.

  ‘How is he?’ she’d asked, sounding uncertain. ‘Everything okay?’

  ‘Yes,’ Heath had replied. He was about to wrap it up again when she cut him off.

  ‘It’s just, they – I mean, I, need to know when he’s returning to Sydney,’ she had said. ‘You wouldn’t know, would you?’ her voice strained.

  ‘No, sorry.’

  ‘It’s important that he rings me first if he plans to head to Stephanie’s place in Sutherland. Tell him some of his former colleagues – friends – they’re pretty keen to know when he’s coming back. And I’m worried about her there on her own. Really worried.’

  He hadn’t known what to say.

  ‘I’m sorry, one more question, Heath, is it?’

  ‘Yes,’ he’d replied.

  ‘How does he seem? He’s not good when he’s stressed. He can lash out. I just wouldn’t like him to … to …’

  ‘To what?’

  But Janet had stuttered a hasty goodbye.

  The minute Heath had hung up he resolved to find out as much as he could. He was coming to Sydney for meetings anyway, and it was easy enough to put a visit to Stephanie on his agenda. He hadn’t mentioned the call to Nina or Ben. But Janet’s words had nagged at him. Something was not right.

  He got out of the hire car, his boots crunching on the gravel drive, no doubt signalling his arrival. He had no idea what to expect.

  ‘He’s not here, and if you guys threaten my kids again …’ came a voice from behind the door.

  ‘Hey,’ he called. ‘I’m not here to cause trouble.’ No answer. ‘You’re Stephanie, right?’

  Silence.

  ‘I’m Heath Blackett. My partner, Nina, is Lachlan’s second cousin. He’s been causing us a bit of trouble. I was hoping you might be able to shed some light on the situation,’ Heath continued.

  Still no answer.

  ‘Janet told me about you.’

  The door opened a crack.

  ‘She’s worried. And so am I. I don’t want to upset you. I can take off if you like and leave you my number, but I don’t know what he’s up to, to tell you the truth and I …’

  The door opened a bit more and Heath got a look at Stephanie. She was short, wiry. Her blonde hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail. She was wearing what looked like gym gear, though her face was too white and pinched for her to have been exercising. There was a movement behind her and Heath could see a boy of about seven holding onto her leg, and behind him, another, younger boy.

  ‘Look,’ said Heath, making his voice as gentle as he could, ‘you’ve obviously had some kind of trouble and I don’t expect you to ask me in, but I just need to …’

  The woman seemed to be wavering.

  ‘Janet phoned,’ Heath began again. ‘That’s why I’m here. Lachlan turned up at Nina’s place a few months ago. But there’s something not quite right about the way he …’

  The woman fully opened the door. ‘You’d better come in,’ she said. ‘Yes, I’m Steph, and Jack and Bobby here are Lachlan’s sons.’

  ‘His … sons?’

  ‘Yes. Lucky them,’ she replied bitterly.

  Heath sat stiffly on one of the two kitchen chairs in the bare lounge room. There was no other furniture except for a card table covered in school books and piles of washing. The younger boy was playing with plastic farm animals on the timber floor while his brother clung to his mother.

  ‘I’d offer you some coffee but I’m out,’ Steph said as she sat on the other chair. ‘You said your name was Heath Blackett?’

  He nodded. ‘Yes, Nina and Lachlan only found out recently they were related.’

  ‘Okay …’ said Steph.

  ‘Look, I can see I’ve freaked you out a bit, turning up like this, but I need to talk to someone about him. I just think he’s … he’s suss.’

  ‘In what way?’ asked Steph.

  ‘Well,’ said Heath, ‘I get the impression from Janet he’s in some sort of trouble and I’m worried he might be bringing it our way.’

  He told Steph how Nina had asked Lachlan to leave The Springs.

  ‘Janet’s worried about you – really worried,’ he added. ‘Reading between the lines, I reckon there’s a lot I don’t know. So, Lachlan’s been out of the picture for a while?’

  Steph sighed and rubbed her elder child’s fair head.

  ‘Yes, and no. He’s out of our lives, in that we never see him unless there’s trouble and he never bothers about the kids. But he’s in our lives, in that his problems have become our problems. He doesn’t pay us a cent as you might have gathered.’

  Heath frowned. Even though he was no fan of Lachlan’s, he was shocked. How could any man just leave his family to fend for themselves?

  ‘Right,’ he said.

  ‘Lounge, TV, dining table and chairs, washing machine – all repossessed,’ said Steph. ‘But I can handle that. What I can’t handle are the standover men who don’t give a second thought about terrorising children.’

  Heath rubbed his hands through his hair. This was all too much. ‘Steph, I’m in the dark here,’ he said bluntly. ‘What has Lachlan done? Who are these guys you’re so afraid of? What do they want?’

  ‘Jack, go and play with Bobby,’ said Steph, nudging her son away from her.

  Jack let go of his mother reluctantly and went to sit on the floor with his brother.

  ‘He’s home from school. Asthma, it’s the stress,’ she said quietly to Heath.

  The boys were both blond like their mother and far too pale.

  ‘Here,’ said Heath, taking his keys from his key ring and throwing it to Jack. ‘Catch!’

  The boy caught the tiny plane Heath had modelled on his own – and smiled.

  ‘Maybe you can round up the sheep on your farm there with it,’ he suggested.

  They smiled politely before squabbling over who would have the first go.

  Steph seemed to catch the disdain he was feeling. ‘Lachlan’s not a bad person. At least, he never used to be. He’s just very weak.’

  ‘What did he do? He’s in trouble?’

  ‘But we were happy,’ Steph continued, ignoring his question. ‘Sort of. My family’s pretty well off and Lachlan was doing fine when he was working. We had everything we wanted, Jack went to an expensive school. But he was always moving on to the next big thing. Then, a year or so ago, he ripped off some investors in this scheme he came up with – something to do with property financing. It sounded like a brilliant deal on paper apparently, but it was totally bogus. I had no idea. Wouldn’t have believed he had it in him to do anything so stupid, or so clever. I guess it depends how you look at it.’

  He
ath said nothing.

  ‘He even sucked in my father,’ Steph said. ‘And Dad told all of his mates at the golf club and they all chipped in as well. Dad’s not one to part quietly from his money, and when it looked like Lachlan had blown most of it, he was furious. Anyway, once the shit hit the fan …’

  ‘Mum, you said shit!’ called Jack, though his eyes didn’t leave the game.

  ‘Yes, naughty Mummy,’ she smiled. ‘Where was I? Yes, Lachlan was so desperate to repay them, he remortgaged the house, gambled it all on a “sure thing”. Lost the lot.’

  Heath shook his head. ‘Is that why he took off?’

  ‘Not then. Unfortunately, the story gets worse,’ said Steph. ‘He knew the investors, including Dad, would press charges and he was worried about doing time so he borrowed a fortune – $1.7 mill to be exact – from some loan sharks he’d met through a building mate. He paid back the investors, and, idiot that I am, I thought somehow it had all worked out and our troubles would be over. I’d be able to have nice things again and Dad would be happy.’

  Steph stood up and beckoned Heath.

  ‘Boys, I’m right here,’ she called to them.

  ‘Okay, Mum,’ said Jack. He had a worried look about him, Heath noted. It was an expression that didn’t belong on a child.

  Heath followed Steph to the kitchen where they faced each other over the empty granite bench top.

  ‘Sorry. I just didn’t want them to hear,’ said Steph.

  ‘Of course.’

  ‘Anyway, it didn’t turn out to be a happy ending at all. Firstly, Dad was still furious. His name was mud at the club. Suddenly, people who’d known him for 20 or 30 years snubbed him. And to top things off, these guys who loaned Lachlan the money wanted it back. With interest. And soon, he disappeared. All I knew is what Janet told me – that he’d mentioned having family out in the sticks.’

  ‘That’d be my partner,’ said Heath. ‘Nina Larkin. She owns a property in the, um, sticks – out in the far west, near Wandalla.’

  ‘Sorry,’ said Steph. ‘I’ve never been west of the Blue Mountains. Everywhere out there seems the same to me.’