Which reminded her, it would be good to check the clinic records for any miscarriages in the three months after their conception dates. If something toxic had occurred in town or its outskirts then the timeline would be marked by miscarriages as well. She should, in fact, check all miscarriages in the last year. She made a note.
Sienna sat at her desk and opened her computer. She typed, ‘Western Queensland events for month of July’ into Google and tapped her finger as she waited for results to come up.
Bingo. In July she had a rock and gem festival, an outback film festival, a big red music festival and, of course, the camel races Alma had mentioned. Third weekend in July. Apparently the longest camel race in Australia.
She chewed her lip. A snatch of conversation came back to her from the previous year. Eve saying their father had been one of the main organisers for the outback camel races at Red Sand. Apparently, she’d been told that at his funeral.
That would be the funeral Sienna had refused to go to. She didn’t regret not going, not exactly, but she now found it galling to think Eve might have been right to attend. It was bizarre to think she’d be even remotely connected to such an intrinsically outback event as a desert camel race. She who hailed from one of the largest cities in Australia.
She shook her head. So Spinifex was on the camel-racing circuit. Who would have thought? She couldn’t help the smile. A year ago she might have sneered, but she’d come to see that these outback families worked hard and they played hard, too. Played like maniacs.
So, what did it mean? Maybe a lot of opportunities for revelry and making babies after all those hard times, which could explain letting your hair down and falling pregnant. Eve had said the drought had worsened before it broke, so post-drought relief? Hope for the future? That would be tragically ironic. She wasn’t closer to pinpointing anything. Not like camels could give you microcephaly. Nor could too much beer. Or gemstones or music.
Plus, there were too many occasions going on to narrow anything down, though she would concentrate on the ones held in this area. And she could get Maddy to add the events to the questionnaire for when she interviewed the women. As well as the happenings when they were around fifteen weeks. It was a tiny possibility, but she had little hope of a breakthrough with that one.
That’s why investigating took so long. There were so many permutations and possibilities. Sienna’s mind sharpened. Maddy could also add if any of the mothers knew of any friends who had miscarried at the same time or near when they found out they were pregnant. To back up the records the clinic nurse had. She could feel herself warming to the chase.
Alma appeared just before lunchtime with an avocado-and-tomato salad and, of course, a bottle of lemon squash. Sienna held the door as Alma passed laden with food into the house, then let it fall closed as she reached her arms up and stretched her neck. She didn’t have an answer, but her data lay organised and she knew at least where she needed to start.
‘Blanche said I had to look after you,’ Alma said.
‘Thank you.’ She glanced at the enticing array of healthy food. She had not expected that. ‘Love your work,’ she said appreciatively.
Alma cackled briefly. ‘You don’t look like a hamburger-and-chips woman, but I can do that, too. So, you solved it yet?’
Sienna raised one eyebrow – was she for real? She’d been at it three hours.
Alma cackled again.
The unexpected teasing struck home and Sienna paused and considered the gnome of a woman, her wrinkled face twisted in a smile, her bright-blue eyes sharp and focused, her head up and slightly tilted as she studied Sienna. Again, she seemed like a cheeky emu. Not at all overawed.
Alma nodded, apparently satisfied. ‘Good to get a rise out of you. You take things a bit serious, don’t you.’
Sienna had to laugh. ‘That obvious, huh? I’ll watch that.’ Sienna had heard Alma telling the tourists about how she’d seen the Min Min twice so she had no doubt the woman had a good imagination, too.
‘Why do you stay here, Alma?’
Alma gave a quick shake of the bookie’s cap. ‘Spinifex is a good place for me. Plenty of company at the pub and I like a good sunset.’ Alma waggled her finger and there was definite mischief in her wise old eyes. ‘You’ll have to get the sergeant to take you up to the lookout on top of the jump-up.’ She winked. ‘It’s not very high, but the sunsets are spectacular.’
Was she matchmaking? Sienna regarded the twinkle suspiciously. ‘That’s very kind of you.’ She tried not to think about a picnic rug and the possibility of finding a suitably discreet place to try some of that sexual harassment Douglas thought her capable of.
Alma gave a snort. ‘Looking very serious there, doc.’
Alma’s gaze remained fixed and Sienna hoped those thoughts hadn’t crossed her face. ‘Sorry. I’ll try to look more frivolous.’
Alma grinned. ‘See that you do. Don’t want you to get wrinkles on that pretty face before your wedding.’
Sienna blinked. ‘What wedding would that be?’
‘Who knows? Maybe yours. I’m not blind.’
Sienna raised her brows to stop the rot. ‘Maybe, but you’re not seeing straight. Don’t they have an optometrist in town?’
Alma snorted again. ‘Optometrist flies in every two months. Which reminds me. So are you a real Virginia doctor?’
What was this woman going to say next? ‘Bona fide. Though more of an obstetrician than a gynaecologist in my practice.’
‘Blue’s wife is bleeding down below and she’s too old for her monthlies.’
Knew it. ‘Blue from the bar? She should see the flying doctor next Monday. Get a referral to a gynaecologist. It’s important she does.’
Alma didn’t take her eyes of her. It was unnerving. ‘Flying doctor is a man. She won’t.’
Sienna sighed. ‘Tell her to come down at two o’clock. Before Maddy comes. I’ll give her a referral.’
‘And you’ll have a look?’
Sienna had to smile. ‘Yes, Alma. I’ll have a look.’
‘And I’ll do something for you.’ She nodded solemnly. ‘I’ll make you up a nice picnic basket for the lookout. You get that man to take you up there. He’s a good one, but he’s a stickler for the right thing. I’ll say no more.’
‘See that you don’t.’ I’ll believe that when I see it, Sienna thought cynically. ‘And see that you don’t make any more gynaecological appointments.’
Alma crossed her arms across her bony chest. ‘None that aren’t needed. You scratch our backs, we’ll scratch yours.’
Absently, she replied, ‘Don’t need my back scratched, thank you.’ Though the sudden mental image of lying at some lookout with Douglas running his big hands down her spine caused a moment’s distraction.
Alma started again. ‘That lookout is a popular place with the young ones. Not that there’s a lot of those except on Friday and Saturday nights when the young backpackers and stockmen come in from the stations. But most just come straight to the pub.’
It was Friday today. ‘Gets rowdier at the pub than last night, does it?’
Alma looked away. ‘Some.’
The thought made Sienna’s heart sink. She’d never been a fan of loud. ‘If it gets too noisy I’ll have to go to my sister’s for next weekend.’ Blanche would be happy because then she could dissect the progress Sienna had made. ‘It’s only a few hours’ drive.’ Well, six hours actually, though she tried not to dwell on that fact. The distances out here were ridiculous. The only good thing about that was the drive was air-conditioned all the way and came with music.
Alma’s eyes widened. ‘Don’t drive at night. You want to watch the times for driving. If you travel after dark, there are other things to worry about apart from the roos.’
‘Oh yes? What would that be?’ Sienna suspected what Alma was going to say and wasn’t disappointed.
Very seriously she said, ‘You might get followed by the Min Min’s light.’
Sienna humour
ed her. Remembered the sign on her drive up here. She must think Sienna was already getting soft. It was that gynae appointment she’d agreed to. ‘I’ll watch out for it.’
Now it seemed Alma’s turn to stay serious. ‘See that you do. Both times I saw it something happened in town. Funny thing is it always seems like a real bad thing – but then it turns out good. Just don’t go following that light. They say if you do you’ll never be seen again.’
Like she’d follow some fictitiously eerie light into the bush like a moth. Like a bug zapper. It’s so beautiful. Not likely. ‘Promise I won’t.’
‘Good.’ Alma cocked her wizened face and pursed her lips. ‘I know you don’t believe me – but you’ll find out if you’re meant to.’ Alma cackled again then glanced at the lunch she’d brought. ‘Just leave the plates. Maddy will bring them back later.’
‘Thank you,’ Sienna said dryly and watched the little woman leave with a shake of her head. Mad. The woman was mad. It must be the heat. She glanced at the plates on the table. But she could provide great food and suddenly Sienna could eat a horse. For some reason she thought of Blanche.
Douglas arrived not long after Alma left and Sienna tried not to think how domesticated it was of her to leave him half of her salad in the fridge. She pulled it back out and put it on the table when his big form filled the hallway.
Then she lifted her glass of lemon squash in his direction. ‘Ahoy there. How did you go seeing a man about a truck?’ Surprisingly, she was interested in his day.
His eyes creased at her greeting. ‘Ahoy there to you, are you a sailor?’
‘Ships in the desert and all that stuff,’ she quipped, with no idea why she was being so ridiculous. ‘The truck?’
His face cleared. ‘His brother borrowed it. They have a long running battle and he wants him to stop.’
Sienna raised her brows. ‘Family politics.’
Douglas crossed to the sink and washed his big hands. His shoulders stretched the fabric of his shirt. Sienna’s food paused halfway to her mouth. Something about sinews and muscle play and groaning fabric mesmerised her.
Then he used the towel and turned back to her. Hastily, she popped the fork into her mouth. His brow raised. ‘You starving?’
In a way, she thought, shaking herself. Seriously, her brain had been doing very strange things since she’d come here. Since Douglas had visited Sydney last time, to be truthful. She said quietly, ‘Join me.’
He eased his large frame into the chair and it creaked. He wasn’t overweight – just strong, sexy strong, with solid muscle all over, and the kitchen shrank accordingly. He said, ‘Family politics are way better than army politics. Here it’s simple.’
She remembered Douglas had been in special ops. ‘Simple is good in that case.’ She gestured to the salad. ‘Alma brought lunch and I couldn’t eat it all, if you’re hungry.’
He hesitated. ‘I don’t think Blanche means to feed me as well.’
Irritation rose. Douglas and his morals. ‘I don’t imagine it will break the bank, but throw it out if you want to.’ He looked at her. ‘Issues?’
She raised her brows at him. ‘Why would I have issues?’
The corner of his mouth twitched, a smile crept over his face, slow, like the sun over paddocks in the morning until it warmed her. All over. Okay. It didn’t just warm her. It ignited her. She fanned her face.
So maybe she was being difficult, but she wasn’t used to going slow. Her whole world ran on efficient time management from dawn to dark. She wasn’t even using her brain here, let alone her skills. ‘I’m frustrated.’ In more ways than one, she thought, narrowing her eyes at him. Maybe she should take Alma up on the sunset idea.
‘Because?’
‘I’ve arrived at the wrong time of the week. I should have left earlier or later and arrived on a Monday. But, stupidly, I hoped you would cave and meet me somewhere.’
‘Working.’ The word floated down with his gaze as he concentrated on his plate, so she couldn’t read his expression.
He didn’t comment on her lead, and she felt her ears heat. A tad embarrassing.
So she changed the subject. ‘I want to interview the women, but two are in Brisbane. I want to interview the midwife, but she doesn’t come till Monday, either. The flying doctor came four days ago and won’t be back for two weeks.’
‘You could ask Blanche to fly you up to Brisbane for the mothers. Or Charleville for the flying doctor. Or go out to the station and save the mother a trip in.’
‘I suppose. Even the clinic staff have left town. At least I’ll talk to the nurse on Monday. See what other paperwork I can photocopy. Plus, hopefully the midwife on Monday is the same one who has been seeing them antenatally. She might have something to offer. But for the moment I can’t move on.’
‘You could pretend it’s Friday afternoon and have the weekend off?’ He spread his hands. Pursed his lips as if to say imagine that.
And do what? She rarely had weekends off. Babies didn’t take weekends off and she wasn’t one of those consultants who told registrars to do something over the phone without dropping in to see how it went. Most times she watched them do it. ‘Do you have the weekend off?’
‘Technically yes. I’m on call but my office is shut.’ After frowning at the plate Alma had brought he began to create a large sandwich from the salad. ‘Would you like to go for a drive this afternoon? I need to run out to a station to talk to a family. Not one of the ones you need, but we’d be back before dark.’
Her lack of direction found a path. Serendipity. She could get Maddy to bring down the picnic basket when she came. ‘I’d like that. After two-thirty alright? I have someone coming at two.’
He nodded as he chewed with his firm lips pressed together. That made her stare at his jawline. She whipped her eyes away and looked out the kitchen door to the clear sky.
‘Alma told me about the sunset up on some hill, jump-up, she called it, and I guess barring important police business you could take me there on the way home. She offered a basket of goodies.’
He studied her, his face unreadable.
‘You can tell me about your clouds, though I haven’t seen any since I’ve been here.’
‘The clouds are out there.’ He narrowed his eyes at her thoughtfully, warily, then glanced at his watch. ‘We’ll see how things go.’
Chapter Sixteen
The trip to the station took forty-five minutes of dusty, bumpy, red-earth driving, thankfully not into the afternoon sun, but the heat shimmered every way she looked. This time she had a chance to notice the landscape – it was always easier when not trying to avoid flattening the next roadkill – and Douglas’s steady pace allowed her to dwell on the blurred lines of mirages and distant rocky outcrops, the rugged tumble of rocks exposed by the elements, and the shaggy growth of hardy scrub all basted in orange and brown and deep ruby red.
‘The colours hit you – as long as you like red.’
He looked pointedly at her stylish shoes. ‘I see you do.’
She looked down as well. Turned her foot with satisfaction. ‘They make me smile.’
‘You make me smile.’
She patted his thigh. ‘I’m planning to,’ but didn’t say more as she turned again to watch the view flash past.
She was pretty sure she’d seen a crinkle of those eyes when she’d said that, but enough said for the moment.
They didn’t pass another car, saw plenty of emus that reminded her of Alma, though these ones ran off into the shimmer of heat on their approach, which she doubted Alma would ever do, and they saw enough signs to remind her the wildlife could be stupid, too.
Sienna pushed away the tartan blanket that brushed her legs. She’d found it in Douglas’s kitchen cupboard in a plastic bag and, opportunistically, had grabbed it for ground cover. But it was warm against her calf. She should have put it back in the bag after shaking it out.
‘So tell me why we’re going out here, again,’ Sienna asked as the sparse
ly covered plain shimmered and danced and blurred past her window. The latest emu brought a smile to her face, one of the few delights she found in the outback. She turned to the other delight as she waited for him to answer.
‘A concern from a neighbour. Station owner’s son has grown a lead foot. New on his P plates with a V6 ute and a fistful of driving lights. I don’t want to see him wrapped around one of your emus . . .’ he paused, ‘or anyone else.’
The man was dreaming if he thought he’d be heeded by a teen. ‘So some seventeen-year-old is going to listen to you?’
He glanced at her with a slight smile. ‘The neighbour who is concerned also has a daughter on her Ps and our lead-foot hero nearly ran her off the road.’
‘More politics.’ She wrinkled her brows. ‘I thought people didn’t have close neighbours around here?’
‘The houses might be five kilometres apart, but they use the same road into town.’ He spoke slowly and clearly, as if she were a child. Sienna felt her hackles rise. This was the Douglas she didn’t enjoy. Doctor Truth. Meticulous. Always right.
He must have sensed he’d lost her. He said reasonably, ‘If people speed I will catch them and they will slow down or choose not to drive until they mature.’
Sooo serious. ‘Choose not to, huh?’
He glanced at her again and then away. Sighed. ‘Your sister’s adopted daughter, Lily. She’d be sixteen, yes? She’d have her learner’s licence. She’d be at risk of idiots who put others in danger on the road because she doesn’t have auto-response driving skills yet.’
Sienna thought about bubbly Lily, all bright colours and high intelligence, scuttled by a hothead on the road. Thought about the short space of time for something to go wrong at high speed and Lily just around that corner learning about the tasks involved with navigating a car. ‘Okay. You should talk to him.’
Douglas just nodded. ‘I will. And I’ll talk to his father.’
The Baby Doctor Page 9
