Return to Roseglen

by Helene Young

  ‘Ken.’ They’d had such a narrow escape.

  ‘What? Your brother?’

  ‘Yep.’

  ‘Holy hell.’

  ‘Just leave things where they are, mate,’ Mitch said. ‘Forensics will need to investigate.’

  ‘Right you are.’ The firefighter strode away, issuing orders.

  ‘The paramedics have got Uncle Ken,’ Ella said, limping towards them. ‘I don’t think he’s too bad.’

  ‘More’s the pity. Are you hurt?’ Mitch asked.

  ‘Nah,’ she said, wrinkling her nose. ‘I think I’ll need a hairdresser. I can smell singed hair, but nothing else that won’t heal.’ She reached for her mother. ‘We did it. We saved her. Granny would be proud.’

  They clung to each other for a long moment before Ella pulled away. Sinbad reached out with a paw and she took him, tickling under his chin. ‘I’ll check on Georgie and Dan. The man’s a hero.’

  ‘He is,’ Felicity replied with a wan smile. Thank God he’d been there.

  ‘And are you okay?’ Mitch asked, sliding his arm around her shoulder.

  ‘Yeah, shocked more than anything,’ she said, taking a deep breath. ‘We knew he was angry, but I never dreamed he’d try to burn the place down.’

  When Mitch half turned her into his chest, tipping the hat from her head, she didn’t resist. ‘I’m sorry that I kept Ivy’s secrets,’ he said, his lips against her hair. ‘I promised her. I couldn’t break that promise.’

  She nodded, his jacket rough against her cheek. ‘I’m glad she had someone she could tell her secrets to.’ It hurt that her mother hadn’t completely trusted her, but she meant it. ‘I wish I’d been here for her more, seen what Ken was doing, recognised his subtle manipulation for what it really was.’

  ‘Shh,’ he said, his holding her tighter. ‘You did your best and you gave her so much joy. Don’t ever think you failed her, Lissie. Men like Ken are almost impossible to stop. Their lies become their reality.’

  Ella and a firefighter with a first-aid kit were over with Dan and Georgina. The dogs had joined them. Tomorrow would bring what it brought. Felicity rested against Mitch as around them others made sure Roseglen was safe.

  The noisy clatter of helicopter blades came in from the south, a spotlight shining down. The swirling dust it blew up glowed in the car headlights like angle wings.

  It felt like only minutes before the medivac crew had Ken on a stretcher. A policeman followed beside him. The emergency workers fell silent as he was driven to the helicopter; the anger was palpable. Any tragedy was hard to take, Felicity thought, as she stood shoulder to shoulder with Georgina and Ella, but it was a much harder blow when it was caused by one of their own.

  The other policeman came over with his notebook in hand. ‘Sorry, Lissie, but I’ll need statements from you all. If you’re well enough now while it’s fresh that would be great, but if you need some time then I understand. Ken wasn’t denying anything, but I’m not sure how sound his mind is.’

  Lissie snorted. ‘He’s too smart not to have covered his arse, but let’s get this done.’ She led the way to the ringers’ quarters, casting a glance over her shoulder at the house. From side on it looked undamaged. Perspective, she thought, it was all about which way you looked at it.

  Dawn, when it came, was sullen and orange, the air cloying. The water pump from the dam had finally fallen silent as it exhausted its diesel tank.

  A steady stream of neighbours and friends began to arrive. They brought food, offers of assistance, accommodation, and sympathy tinged with disbelief.

  Esmay was distraught. ‘I always knew there was something wrong with that boy, but your mother would have none of it,’ she sobbed, mopping her eyes with a large hanky. ‘Now look at it. It’s evil to do something like this.’

  The forensic team from Cairns had arrived an hour ago, taping off the scene, collecting evidence. Wreaths of smoke rose like eerie ghosts from the charred beams and disappeared into the thick air.

  ‘Hey, Lissie.’ Georgina came to stand beside her. ‘How’re you holding up?’

  ‘I’m okay,’ Felicity said. And physically she was. The coat, the boots and the hat had done their job. While every breath hurt her lungs, her eyes burned, and her body ached, none of that compared with the anguish in her heart. ‘And you?’

  ‘I’m gutted. But Dan’s okay, so that’s a positive. I’ll drive him in to see the doctor today. We all should go. God knows what we’ve inhaled. Ella’s a trooper. She’s out the back of the bunkhouse, cooking up the bacon and eggs Aunty Esmay brought to feed everyone.’

  Felicity smiled. ‘That’s what Mum would have done.’

  ‘Chip off the old block. The Dunmore girls are made of stern stuff. We’ll survive.’

  ‘We will.’ Felicity nodded. ‘We’ll renovate the grand old girl and make her a tribute to Ivy and Dottie, to the strength of the Dunmore women who’ve gone before us.’

  Felicity linked arms with her sister and angled her head. ‘“Chin up”, as Ivy used to tell me.’

  It was the first time Felicity had been back to the caves for a long while. So much had happened, so much had changed in the six months since the fire and Ivy’s death. Ken was out on bail. He’d been charged in a bedside hearing after the fire, but the case was still months away from being heard. His daughters had flown north and collected him when he was released, but Arran Downs stood neglected, with none of them interested in even visiting. Rumour had it that the bank was in the process of repossessing to cover his debts. Seemed he had share trading losses as well as feeding the gaming machines at the RSL.

  Perhaps with time she might care what happened to him, but for now she had a property to run and a life to build with growing confidence and newfound courage.

  Roseglen had been repaired, restored to the glory of its heyday. The day after the police and arson squad had turned the homestead over to her she’d been woken by an army of tradesmen descending on the property. ‘Least we can do,’ one of them said. ‘Your mum never let a needy family down.’ Ivy’s legacy lived on.

  Charlie’s Rolex had arrived by post from a jeweller in Brisbane. Felicity was horrified when she read the list of things Ken had sold over the past couple of years. No wonder Ivy thought she was becoming forgetful. She and Georgina had decided there was no point in pressing charges. ‘What’s to be gained?’ Georgina had said, turning the watch over in her hand. ‘We can’t get them back and Ken’s already going to jail for a lengthy term. Better we move on.’

  They did go to the police with the information about Dottie and Ernie. Ken had beaten them to it, but the public prosecutors had decided not to reopen the case. Dottie and Ernie still rested at peace in the graveyard. Lissie and Georgina had planted a frangipani tree close by. It would shade the two graves and carpet them in pink flowers during the summer months. Georgina had insisted they all visit the women’s refuge Ivy had funded.

  ‘We should make sure we carry on what Mum started,’ she’d said, driving Felicity down to Cairns with Ella. It was both a sad and uplifting visit. The house was at capacity with mothers and children in need of shelter. The small plaque, the only indication of the true purpose of the house in a quiet suburb, now bore the names of Ivy and Dottie. And Georgina had found a worthy cause for some of her retirement funds.

  Once mustering had finished, Ella had moved to Brisbane, where Regional Sky had re-employed her as a first officer. But this time she had a game plan and her end goal was the Royal Flying Doctors. ‘I’m not ready to head overseas like you,’ she’d said to her aunt when she was explaining her change of heart. ‘But all this with Granny D made me realise I can live in the bush and still work. As she would have said – I can have my shortbread and eat it too!’

  Felicity had plans for a large family Christmas. Sean and Mandy were coming to stay and they were even talking about looking for work in Cairns, making the move north. Her funny, kind son seemed to be back on song.

  Steph and her family, alon
g with Paula, were all heading north for a summer break. They were going to road-test the cave tour.

  Todd was set to be a father again and the divorce was still dragging out. But Felicity had relegated it to office hours only. It wasn’t going to rule her life.

  Georgie had decided she was in the way at Roseglen so she volunteered with a charity looking after elderly homeless people in Brisbane. She excelled at getting results out of bureaucracies. Dan was still travelling. Georgie joined him from time to time. They too were coming home for Christmas. It wasn’t Felicity’s idea of a relationship but then she didn’t really know how to start a new one herself yet. Taking that next step was daunting.

  The summer build-up had been savage this year, but the forecasters all agreed a deluge was on its way. Roseglen, with newly installed water tanks, would be ready. She would be ready.

  The leaves beneath her feet gave off a hint of eucalyptus as she followed the path to the fork.

  She turned right, towards the Angel Cave. Mitch had reopened the entrance to the Venus Cave, but for now she didn’t want to be reminded of the ugliness, of Ivy’s secrets, or of Old Mr Dunmore’s deal with the devil.

  The opening to the Angel Cave was smaller. No sign of the scorching heat inside. It felt as though she disturbed the air, pushing a pressure wave into the stillness as she shone the powerful torch around the cavern. The craggy limestone roof disappeared towards the skylight above. The shaft of light coming in from the world outside turned a pinnacle of stalagmites to butter yellow. The only sound was the intermittent drip of water as it laid its precious trails of minerals on the growing rock formations.

  She heard footsteps hurrying behind her and caught a familiar scent of sunshine and red earth as Mitch caught up with her. She turned and beamed at him. ‘It’s just as I remember it. Magnificent. But where are the bats?’

  ‘If we sit for a bit, you’ll hear them murmuring, but I’d rather go for a swim.’

  He carried a backpack over his shoulder. Safety gear, she guessed. He picked his way down a track that wove between the intricate formations. She resisted the temptation to run her hand over their curves, their pearly lustre shimmering in the beams of the torches. With each step taking them deeper the air felt cooler. It had been a favourite escape when they were children. There was nothing as seductive as being forbidden.

  That thought made her shiver and it wasn’t with the cold. What would she do if Mitch actually kissed her? This friendship had endured longer than her marriage and meant more to her.

  ‘Careful, there’s a low-hanging one here,’ Mitch said, stopping in front of her to see her safely past a stalactite. ‘Here.’ He reached out and took her hand. ‘Stay close. I don’t want to have an accident with my first guest.’

  She laughed, hoping he didn’t notice how nervous she sounded. His hand enveloped hers completely, the strength in his touch undeniable. He gave a little squeeze and shouldered the pack more securely. ‘Not far now, although you’d remember this part anyway. It’s the next bit that’s new.’

  ‘So tell me again how you found this new cave?’

  ‘I was checking on it after some rain. Zeus wandered off and when I went to find him there it was – a new tunnel. Took me a bit to get through. I was nervous about how stable it was. Once I was in I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. It’ll blow your mind. I’ve brought mates who cave-dive here and it’s the deepest they’ve ever seen.’

  ‘So the potential is enormous.’

  ‘Yep and it lies beneath our two properties. Ivy was the one who suggested movie locations. It was kind of fun doing the research on that to find out how to get in touch with movie scouts. It’s going to be the one regret for me that Mrs D won’t see what she started up on the big screen. Filming starts after the wet season.’

  She had to smile, the relief was immense. ‘So Trethowan and Roseglen can weather bad times with this additional income.’

  ‘And you still get to graze cattle.’

  ‘Once it rains.’

  They’d reached the narrow wooden platform on the edge of the underground lake. New planks had replaced the slimy wide timbers Felicity remembered. ‘You’ve been busy.’

  ‘You used to squeal like a girl when you had to walk on those boards.’

  ‘And you used to try and make me slip on them.’

  ‘I seem to remember having a good success rate at that.’ His grin was a white glimmer.

  Felicity felt twelve years old again.

  Mitch shone his torch past the edge of the platform, into the lake. The water was so clear that the beam of light picked up stones on the floor, metres below them. Felicity knew that her younger self could dive into the cold water, swim down to the bottom, grab a rock and have just enough breath to burst back to the surface gasping for air. Her ears would need popping, her lungs would burn a little, and the tiniest niggle of fear would keep her legs pumping.

  ‘Game for a swim?’ Mitch propped the pack up against a rock at the back of the platform. ‘You did bring your togs, didn’t you?’

  Felicity nodded. She was wearing them under her shorts and top, but she was self-conscious of her body in a way she hadn’t been thirty or forty years ago. At least the low light should help. ‘Can we see the other cave first?’

  ‘Sure. This way. Did you want to swim in that one?’

  ‘I don’t know.’ She shivered. ‘Are you positive there’s nothing living in it?’

  His chuckle made her tummy flutter. ‘I’m as sure as I can be that Loch Ness hasn’t moved in. Something was always grabbing your leg in this pool though.’

  ‘Right. I have a fair idea who that was. So who else comes here?’

  ‘Just the cave divers at the moment. Until the insurance is sewn up, we can’t have ordinary public in here.’

  ‘And you don’t bring other friends here?’

  He stopped and she only just avoided running into him. His eyes were midnight blue in the low light. ‘If you mean have I brought my girlfriends down here, then the answer is no. They didn’t have swimming in dark pools on their mind.’

  ‘Well, they might have if they’d seen it,’ she replied, a tiny tremble of desire rippling through her. ‘You might have got lucky.’

  ‘I might not have wanted that kind of lucky.’ He turned and shone his torch ahead. ‘See, it just needs a round door with a brass knocker. Perfect for Bilbo Baggins.’

  ‘Wow. It looks like it’s been tunnelled.’

  ‘I know, but it hasn’t. Or at least there’s no record of anyone digging here and no sign of tool marks in the rocks. The theory is that it had silted up with debris over time and each new flood event packed more rubble into it. Cyclone Marcia’s rain was extreme. High volume and in a very short space of time. The geologists I’ve spoken to think the pressure simply blew it through. The old platform was actually washed away by the force. That’s why this one’s new. You can see where some of the formations were broken as well.’

  ‘And now the water level will rise in this one every time it rains?’

  ‘Maybe, but you’ll see we descend to the pool in the next one. Come on.’ He held out his hand again and this time when she took it he raised it to his lips and kissed her knuckles. ‘Let’s go.’

  Her knees turned to noodles and desire crept lower. This was no hot flush. As she followed along she couldn’t help admiring the breadth of his shoulders. Something about muscles from hard work. Her toe jammed on a ridge and she stumbled. The only thing that stopped her face-planting was Mitch’s strong grip.

  ‘Whoa. You okay?’

  ‘Yep, fine. Just missed my step.’ She wasn’t going to admit that her toe was throbbing.

  ‘Better keep your eyes on the ground, then.’ His grin made her squirm. He couldn’t possibly have known she was checking him out. ‘Not far now.’

  In another twenty paces he slowed to a stop and moved aside so he could draw her level with him. ‘What do you think?’

  High in the left-hand corner ahead day
light filtered down through an opening the size of two of the demountable cabins at the truckstop. It turned a patch of water below it to silver, but otherwise the surface of the lake was the colour of onyx with a glimmering sheen. The powerful torch only just picked up the far wall. A faint breeze trickled over her face, cool, smelling like leaves. The odour of bat scat wasn’t so pungent.

  ‘It’s magical. Like an enormous cathedral.’

  ‘I stood here with goosebumps, wanting to share it with someone, wishing my old man could have seen it. I felt like I’d discovered a new world.’

  ‘And you have. But it looks like a scary world to me. Have you been in?’

  Mitch nodded. ‘Yeah. But I waited until I had my diver mates with me. And I checked with Patrick’s family. I knew there were caves around here that are sacred to them so I didn’t want to find I’d upset their ancestors. They came and had a look and their eyes lit up, but they assured me it wasn’t one of theirs. No markings or drawings anywhere that we could find. I may have been the first man, first person,’ he said with a tilt of his head, ‘to stand here. It’s pretty humbling.’

  ‘And you don’t mind sharing it now?’

  He was silent as he looked down at her. ‘I would have thought you were the most appropriate person to share it with.’

  ‘No, no,’ she shook her head. ‘I meant with divers, tourists. You don’t want to keep it private?’

  He smiled. ‘I want to see Trethowan and Roseglen flourish and if that means opening this up to movie makers and free divers and cavers, then it’s a small price to pay. I hope that Ernie and Dottie are fine with it.’

  ‘Ivy always thought that Charlie was crazy locking it up.’

  ‘I know. She told me Charlie considered it to be a shrine to his brother and sister-in-law. It must have also been a reminder of the lie that he and Ivy were living. He must have been terrified that someone would find out the truth, that my dad would tell.’

  ‘I think you ended up knowing Ivy better than any of us did.’