Red Sand Sunrise

by Fiona McArthur

  She could feel it, something raw and welcoming about the little town, and could imagine a short time getting to know it. The feeling had been helped no doubt by the genuine solidarity of the townsfolk and friends of Duncan’s as they’d rallied around Callie and Sylvia after their recent loss.

  Decision made. ‘It looks a little quiet to actually need me, but if you do, I’d really like to try it, Callie. I can’t see myself here permanently, but helping set up your centre could be good experience.’

  ‘That’s hopeful.’ Callie laughed. ‘Thank goodness we had a hairdresser to entice you.’

  Eve touched her home-coloured fringe. ‘Made all the difference.’

  Two boys rode past on pushbikes with schoolbags on their backs. They pedalled furiously along the street and disappeared down a dirt track that seemed to have nothing up ahead.

  Eve looked for their destination. ‘Where’s the school?’

  ‘That track goes in the back way. It’s half a kilometre out of town. Funny story.’

  ‘This place is full of funny stories.’

  ‘Well. Typical outback, but the truck that was towing the schoolhouse in got bogged and they couldn’t get it out with the building on the back. So they put the school there instead of in town.’

  ‘They never moved it?’

  ‘They would have but the truck driver had a blue with the builder. Loaded up his truck and went back to Brisbane.’

  ‘You’re kidding me.’

  Callie shook her head. ‘So the school’s out on a back road and the kids are told to take the shortcut instead of riding on the main road. Keeps them out of the way of the road trains and tourist traffic.’

  ‘You guys crack me up.’

  ‘If you’d seen the old school you’d understand – we were so happy to have the new classrooms we just decided to say thank you.’

  ‘Let’s hope this new medical centre of yours doesn’t get bogged before we get it where we want it.’

  By the time Eve was ready to leave Red Sand she knew she’d miss Callie.

  Callie put it out there first. ‘I’ll miss you, Eve.’

  Eve wanted to cry. She swallowed and plastered a fake grin on her face. ‘I was just thinking the same. Crazy, huh?’

  ‘Very.’ Luckily Callie wasn’t looking at her; she was looking at her mum. ‘I’ve never had a sister before. I might not be good at it but I’d like to try.’

  Eve watched Callie struggle with her words. She knew the feeling when you wanted to make something clear and you couldn’t. Story of her life.

  Callie went on. ‘My only best friend as a kid was a guy, but Mum and I have always been close, and I think you and I could be close too.’ She looked at Eve, who had herself back under control.

  ‘When I married I was so busy with work I didn’t have the opportunity to make friends . . .’ Callie’s voice trailed away.

  It didn’t sound like her husband had encouraged Callie to have a life. ‘You’re here now. You’ll love spending the time with your mum.’

  Callie had whispered Sylvia’s prognosis in a quiet moment the night before. They looked at each other and an understanding passed between them. Eve just wanted to hug her.

  Callie sighed sadly. ‘Yes. Precious time. I’ve got a lot to get my head around.’

  Eve swallowed down a lump in her throat. ‘Your mum is amazing. And so are you. I’ll look forward to coming back. Don’t wait too long to call me.’ Eve marvelled at this persistent feeling that she’d found someone who understood the things she couldn’t put into words, despite the ten-year age difference between them. ‘I know you have good networks here but ring me if you need me. Leave a message at work if I don’t answer my mobile and I’ll ring you back.’

  They both glanced at Sylvia, who was resting on her swing chair on the verandah with goodbyes already said. Neither mentioned that she had dropped off to sleep.

  SIX

  Sienna walked away from another successful caesarean operation in Melbourne and as she clicked across the corridor in her high heels she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. Damn. She’d wanted to complete the ward round before the gynae list started in her rooms. What new crisis did her registrar have for her?

  She glanced at the caller ID and saw it was Eve. She sighed.

  ‘So how was the funeral, little sister? Did you get there in time?’

  ‘The funeral was short but eloquent.’

  Eve sounded a long way away. Sienna glanced at her watch.

  ‘And yes, I was late but only ten minutes and it hadn’t started yet.’

  Of course she’d been late. ‘And his other family?’

  ‘Callie and Sylvia are amazing.’ Sienna could hear the excitement in Eve’s voice and it left a bad taste in her mouth. These were the people their father had chosen over them. How could Eve get pleasure out of that meeting? But then, Eve seemed to find excitement in the strangest ways. There was a rumbling roar from her phone and she missed what Eve was saying.

  ‘Are you on speakerphone? Where are you?’

  ‘Just leaving Red Sand so the phone will lose service soon. Just wanted to let you know it all went off well and I’m on my way home.’

  ‘The funeral was two days ago.’

  ‘It’s a long drive, Sienna.’

  ‘I told you that. I can’t believe you went in the first place. Look, I have to go, message me when you get back and I’ll call you. Okay?’

  ‘That’s fine. See you.’

  ‘Bye.’

  Sienna’s phone vibrated again and this time it was her registrar. Eve was forgotten as she took the call.

  Callie watched the Subaru until it was a dust ball in the distance. She’d miss Eve. Which was odd; two days ago she could have passed her in the street without recognising her.

  This morning, after their talk, Callie felt less small, despite the fact that her younger half-sister towered over her. She turned back to the house and as she climbed the verandah steps she could see her mother, grey fringe across her eyes, veined-hand loose in her lap, asleep in the chair.

  It all became damply blurry after that as she rested her head against the verandah post and let the grief swamp her.

  Her dad. Gone.

  And soon, her mum.

  The burden of responsibility weighed Callie down like an iron hand pushing her into the ground and she wanted to beat her chest and ask, Why me? Why Mum?

  But then she straightened, remembering how her mother had done the same thing after she’d shared her prognosis. Callie too could stand straight and strong. Women out here did that all the time. Women everywhere, Eve would say, and she was right. Funny how they both had similar outlooks.

  But the idea of sitting still and waiting for the worst to happen would destroy her and she didn’t want to take over her mother’s life. Just to be here quietly in the background, soaking up all the time she could. She’d ring Blanche McKay and discuss the potential of a permanent medical centre. That could be something to distract her from the future she didn’t want to think about.

  Blanche arrived the next day, at the first sniff of interest from Callie. Apparently Henry was around somewhere, flirting with the local girls as he waited to fly his mother back to the station.

  Callie and Blanche walked the dusty main street, much like she and Eve had done the day before, to consider which of the deserted buildings left over from the last opal rush they could possibly revamp into a medical centre.

  Blanche had deemed the present one-room clinic, which operated once a month, too small to work with. She was keen on using the old saddlery, complete with a sun-bleached horse tie-rail out front. Callie thought the building too big.

  The structure had half a dozen small rooms, plus enough space for a double parking bay inside and a carport outside. ‘You’ll have to have a reliable four-wheel drive, for emergencies, and in case you want to visit new mothers after their births when they come back home. I’ll see the government about an ambulance.’

  Just like t
hat? See the government about an ambulance? Callie bit back the smile. ‘I wouldn’t be involved in going out to see the mums. A registered nurse or midwife would have to do that.’

  ‘Hmm.’ Blanche let that go as she strode across the dusty wooden floor. ‘We’ll knock out some walls, but the ones at the back can stay. I like the option of extra rooms. An emergency medical centre, as well you know, could need them.’

  Lordy, Callie thought. What was she encouraging here? Blanche probably had visions of a full hospital and a dentist as well. ‘We can leave them shut if we don’t need them.’

  ‘I already have someone in mind for the renovations.’ Blanche’s eyes were bright with determination. ‘Bennet Kearney.’

  Bennet. Typical of Blanche not to care that Bennet had been the man she’d left to marry Kurt. ‘I thought he was a vet in Melbourne now?’

  ‘Of course you know Bennet’s wife died last year and they have a young son.’ Blanche cast her an impatient look. ‘Did your mother tell you they both moved back last month and they’re living with his sister at their parents’ station?’

  Sylvia hadn’t mentioned it. If he was back, why hadn’t he come to the funeral? She pushed that hurt away to look at later but it cast a pall over the conversation.

  Blanche was on a mission. ‘Anyway, our good fortune is that apparently he’s taken up carpentry in his spare time. He’s good.’

  Callie could believe he’d be good at carpentry. He had great hands.

  Unwillingly her mind drifted to a time she’d lain in Bennet’s arms on a bed of curling wood shavings in his father’s workshop. She’d had a fetish for the bouquet of wood and varnish ever since.

  She blinked. Whoa, there. Crazy thoughts. She needed to think about the magnitude of Blanche’s dream, not about Bennet Kearney. Despite Blanche’s confidence, she doubted he’d be that keen to work with her.

  In the real world she wasn’t so sure she was ready to be the doctor of all trades Blanche seemed to be envisaging. Still, she reassured herself, she wouldn’t be alone: Eve might be here, and the RFDS would be on the other end of the phone if she had a major emergency. At least she had enormous faith in the flying doctors’ ability to talk someone through a crisis.

  Striding beside her, arms waving enthusiastically, Blanche was saying, ‘I’ve spoken to several similar centres in Western Australia and they recommend a mini theatre be included.’

  Callie trod very gently. ‘I’m not doing operations, Blanche.’

  ‘Of course not.’ A long-fingered hand brushed that aside innocently. ‘I was thinking, just for minor emergencies. Stitching an arm. That sort of thing.’

  ‘Emergency suturing is fine, but I need different insurance for operations. I thought this was to be similar to when the flying doctor does an outreach clinic? Basic.’

  ‘McKay Holdings will pay for your insurance. That was Lex’s main concern and I’ve sorted it out with a close friend on the board of an insurance conglomerate. You’ll be working for us.’

  Callie wasn’t too sure how she felt about that. ‘Well, maybe. Maybe not. This whole idea is still on paper.’

  Blanche straightened and met Callie’s eyes. ‘Not for me, it isn’t. There’s a real need, Callie.’ She gazed with determination around the musty space. A zealot for the new world. ‘I was thinking of a mini hospital.’

  Callie went even more gently. ‘I know you were. But staffing is a big issue. And my mum is seriously unwell, Blanche. This is a part-time job for me, not a vocation.’

  That stopped Blanche for a moment. ‘Yes. She looks unwell.’ She wasn’t blind, just one-eyed about her own project. Which suited Callie because she didn’t want to talk about her mum’s future.

  Blanche even squeezed Callie’s shoulder and there was real empathy. But only for a moment.

  ‘Yes, well, if your sister came back as a midwife she could run the antenatal side and the emergencies with you as backup. I did some investigating last night when you said she might be interested – strictly confidentially, of course. Apparently she’s extremely qualified and she’s a nurse practitioner with her own Medicare provider number. Couldn’t believe our luck.’

  How the heck had she found that out? Callie hoped Eve had been sincere when she said she’d think about it and didn’t mind Blanche checking up on her, because clearly Blanche was oblivious to being too forward.

  ‘And we’ll find an administrator for the paperwork. A really good PA.’ Blanche was getting to her point. ‘So you wouldn’t have to worry about that side at all. Eve could liaise with the flying obstetrician and gynaecologist and you could be the one in charge of the general practitioner side and work whatever hours you liked.’ Blanche paused for breath.

  Callie just stood there, visions of Blanche’s sky-high expectations passing in front of her eyes. The enormity of it began to curl in her stomach.

  Blanche’s patience could be stored in a matchbox. ‘So? What do you think?’

  ‘Will we have enough patients to justify this kind of service? I mean, the shire is huge, I know, but the population’s only around the 600 mark. What are we going to do the rest of the time when there are no patients?’

  ‘You have your mum and a practice would soon build. Plus there are the tourists. Grey nomads and the not so grey. Driving past all the time. You know that. Women’s health issues for all ages would keep you busy, let alone the men who never make the time to see someone.’ Blanche rubbed her hands together. ‘Eve could do outreach clinics for the new mothers and babies.’

  Her gaze swept the dusty rooms and Callie truly believed Blanche could see the finished centre in her mind.

  ‘The young women could have most of their antenatal care here and wouldn’t need to go away much at all until their thirty-sixth week. We’d have a secretary, and a couple of the local girls could be nursing assistants. I’d send them away for some training.’

  And Bennet would build it all.

  Callie gave herself a mental shake. This wasn’t about her and Bennet, this was about creating a mini hospital.

  ‘You have shareholders, Blanche. You’re talking a lot of money.’

  An elegant shrug. ‘The mine’s been very good this year. Making it faster than we can spend it. And those board members are all relations. They can invest what’s left when I’m dead.’

  Callie couldn’t see Lex ignoring all the financial implications. She was starting to feel browbeaten with the strain of keeping up. So much going on. Her dad. Her mum.

  ‘As long as you know I don’t do babies and birth. It’s been years since my training and I don’t remember anything.’

  ‘I don’t believe that. You always were as smart as a whip. Brush up on the books, girl, if you feel ill-equipped. Apply for any course you like and I’ll pay for it.’

  Stop. Please. Where was Eve when she needed her?

  ‘I’m not leaving to go anywhere for a while, Blanche.’

  Something must have got through because Blanche stopped.

  ‘Your mother? Of course. Which reminds me. What about your husband? Is he coming out here too?’

  Typical of Blanche to only just remember she was married. Callie resisted the impulse to laugh. It really wasn’t that funny.

  ‘Actually we’re in the process of divorcing.’

  ‘Man’s a fool. So you are staying. Good.’ And that was the end of that conversation, and of Blanche’s interest in the topic.

  But Callie had been doing some thinking too. ‘Midwifery-run clinics are the way of the future. I’m not ruling that out. Maybe Eve could liaise with the flying obstetrician. We could see how we go adapting a model from there. It all depends if Eve really is keen – maybe I could be the doctor on call only if a woman needed to be transferred out.’

  She closed her eyes at the thought. Maybe an emergency obstetric course was called for.

  SEVEN

  Bennet arrived the next morning. With his tools.

  Bennet Kearney stood at medium height but topped Callie by a ha
nd’s width, a lean-muscled man with the crinkled eyes of a thinker. Today, whatever he was thinking didn’t amuse him.

  When Callie opened the door she flew back twenty years and her mood soared with the pleasure that expanded in her chest. She’d forgotten how warm seeing Bennet had always made her feel.

  ‘Bennet! Come in. Mum’s in the kitchen. I can’t believe Blanche has dragged you here so quickly.’ Then she shook her head. ‘Of course I can. Blanche could move mountains.’

  She laughed. Felt silly and self-conscious as she saw his eyes widen as he took her in – recognised the sudden flare that had her responding in an instant. She imagined she could smell the intoxicating aroma of wood shavings that she’d first encountered all those years ago in that cosily private workshop.

  Then the flare was gone and his face became expressionless. No crinkled eyes. No matching smile. Callie’s euphoria shrank.

  ‘You okay?’

  ‘Fine. Thanks. You?’ He turned the battered akubra in his hands, tucked it under his arm, and waited for her to precede him.

  ‘Good, thanks.’ There was an awkward pause and Callie spun towards the kitchen.

  ‘Mum, Bennet’s here.’ She knew he was following despite his silence and that strange tension about him that had stopped her first impulse of demanding an embrace. Disappointment curdled in her stomach.

  ‘Bennet!’ Sylvia wasn’t holding back. She rose and hugged him, and Bennet gathered her in close to his chest, bent his head and kissed the top of her hair.

  ‘Sylvia, I’m so sorry I didn’t make it to the funeral. Had a foal trying to enter the world sideways and I couldn’t get away. How are you? You look well.’ But Callie heard the hesitation. His brows rose and his eyes met Callie’s with concern.

  Sylvia stepped back and looked at him. ‘Still numb at the shock that he’s gone.’ She straightened and eased the lines from around her mouth with a determined smile. ‘But happy to have Callie here.’ She glanced at her daughter. ‘It is good to see you, Bennet. And I’m so sorry to hear about your wife.’