Valley of the White Gold

by Tony Parsons

  Beth stood inside the gate and listened to Rod’s footsteps crunching on the gravel track that led up to the woolshed and quarters. She was so full of emotion: happiness and joy at finding Rod, and now such gut-wrenching sadness and grief at the tragedy that had befallen her close family friends. Her head was reeling, unable to process it all at once. In a daze, she walked back into the house and to her family’s gloom.

  Next morning Rod came down for breakfast. It was a very subdued affair. It was obvious that the death of the three McLeods had hit the Stafford family very hard and Rod didn’t stay long after he’d eaten. ‘Thanks a lot for looking after me so well, Dorothy,’ he said as he got up.

  ‘It was a pleasure,’ she said with a sad but genuine smile.

  Rod shook hands with Dan and said he’d see him at the wool sales.

  ‘You did a great job,’ Dan said.

  ‘And thanks for coming to cricket, Rod,’ Jim said.

  Beth walked with him to his vehicle and they stood close together beside it. She wished he didn’t have to leave. He was dressed in a pair of finely checked grey trousers and a grey-and-blue open-necked shirt that suited his impressive build. Dorothy had called him ruggedly handsome, and she was right. He had such a strong face. But what made him really stand out was his air of confidence.

  Rod kissed her goodbye and got into his ute. Beth watched the vehicle as it headed back down the track towards the dense belt of pines. She stood with her eyes lingering on the track long after the dust had settled. After a while Dorothy came out and joined her. ‘It hurts, doesn’t it, Beth? When someone you like leaves?’

  ‘Love,’ Beth corrected. ‘I love him, Mum.’

  ‘Does he feel the same way about you?’ Dorothy asked.

  ‘That’s the thing. I just don’t know,’ Beth sighed.

  ‘We can’t stand about twiddling our fingers. We’ve got work to do,’ said Dan from behind them. ‘There’s Hector’s place to look after as well as our own, for the moment.’

  Her father’s voice snapped Beth out of her reverie and back into the present. Yet it seemed that Mattai had become a different place with Rod’s departure. Beth’s heart was with him in the ute, and for once she had little enthusiasm for saddling her horse to shift sheep. Rod hadn’t told her when he’d be back. A week without seeing him would be an eternity, but she very much doubted that he’d be back so soon.

  Chapter Twelve

  Sheilagh Lane was one smart cookie. She had built a considerable reputation as a discerning literary agent after discovering several new authors who had produced international bestsellers. She had become so successful that she was able to pick and choose her clients. As a result, it wasn’t easy for aspiring writers to get Sheilagh to even look at their manuscripts. Rod Cameron had only managed to gain an audience with her because he’d gone through university with Brendan Lane, Sheilagh’s much-loved younger brother. Brendan had taken him to meet her over lunch.

  Sheilagh had been intrigued by Cameron and had read his manuscript in one night. She couldn’t put it down; it was earthy, racy and well researched, and she thought that, with some alterations, it could sell very well. There was enough in the work to suggest a writer of real ability. So, once Rod had made a few revisions, she personally delivered his manuscript to her favourite publisher, who was eager to accept it. The story was published under a pseudonym: Julian Saxon. (Rod chose ‘Saxon’ because of his determination to breed fine-wool sheep, Saxon being the most famous strain.) The book sold out within weeks and went on to reprint regularly, and Sheilagh managed to sell overseas rights. Julian Saxon was suddenly hot property.

  To make matters more interesting, Sheilagh fell pretty hard for her new client. He was charming, good-looking, and clearly an incredible writing talent to boot. She invited him to stay with her when he was next in Sydney, and together they worked on his next book. It was the story of a famous American film star transplanted to the Australian outback as a result of her love for an Australian cattleman. Woven through the novel were stories of other outback women and their yearnings, stories Rod had collected from all the women he had met, and listened to, during his classing stints.

  When Sheilagh told Rod that she’d sold his second book to an American publisher, he was staggered and thought the advance and the proposed royalties had to be a mistake.

  ‘No mistake, darling,’ Sheilagh said with a bewitching smile. ‘You’ll be on easy street now and we might even sell the film rights. What say you take me to dinner tonight to celebrate?’

  Sheilagh didn’t have any idea how long their affair would last but she didn’t care. She knew that Rod wasn’t in love with her but he was very fond and considerate of her feelings and a great lover. For her, he was the complete package.

  It was with the knowledge that he had the money to buy a really worthwhile property that Rod had taken on the classing of the Mattai clip. He had wanted to explore the possibility of buying a property in the Half Moon. He knew that the valley produced glorious wool but he was also aware that very few properties there ever changed hands.

  When Rod drove away from Beth and Mattai his brain was spinning. How was Beth feeling about him? About the McLeods? And what would happen to Glengarry now? Were there beneficiaries who could carry it on or would the property be sold?

  If Glengarry was put on the open market, it represented the opportunity he had dreamed about. It was far and away the best and most genuine fine-wool-growing property in the Half Moon. And it was in tip-top shape because it had been managed so well. Rod now had the money to buy a property such as Glengarry and all its sheep, too. Everything depended on the terms of Hector’s will. Wool was in a slump with no great expectation that prices would improve in the short term, so any beneficiaries might prefer to sell the property and pocket the proceeds or maybe put the money into some other business activity. Perhaps Dan would know. Perhaps, once the immediate shock of the tragedy diminished a little, he could be counted on for advice.

  Rod’s preoccupation with the fate of Glengarry temporarily diverted him from thoughts of Beth. But not for long. There was so much about Beth that he admired and he had a strong feeling she might be the woman for him. But things were complicated. How would Sheilagh react when she learned about Beth? Would she be hurt? Jealous? Although their relationship wasn’t serious, he didn’t want to upset her.

  And then there was Dan. He doubted very much that such an arch conservative as Dan Stafford would understand how he had come into his money. In particular, Rod thought that the familiarity with which he had written about women might make Dan see red. Rod was sure that he could weather the storm that might ensue but could Beth? The publication date of his new book was looming, and so many questions remained unanswered.

  Three weeks later, Rod turned up at Mattai early one Saturday morning. Beth’s heart leapt when she saw him. She hadn’t stopped thinking about him ever since he’d left. The family were still at breakfast and Dorothy asked if he’d like to sit down with them. ‘I’ll have a cup of tea but I had an early brekky at the motel,’ he told them, his eyes barely leaving Beth.

  ‘And what brings you back here, Rod?’ Dorothy asked as she handed him the tea and a plate of toast. She had a very good idea but it was a polite question to begin their conversation.

  ‘A mate of mine wanted to do a tour of the wineries and add some bottles to his collection so I said I’d drive him up. He said he’d be right for a couple of hours so I’m not picking him up until eleven,’ Rod said.

  ‘So soon?’ Beth said involuntarily.

  ‘This is a flying visit,’ Rod said apologetically, smiling rue-fully at her across the table.

  ‘Been doing anything exciting, Rod?’ Jim asked.

  ‘A spot of fishing and some surfing, as well as a trip to Yass,’ Rod said. And in the next breath, ‘Any news about what’s going to happen to Glengarry, Dan?’

  ‘Nothing definite. Elders have been to see me to get some info, but it seems neither they nor anyone else h
ave been given the go-ahead to sell. There’s supposed to be some kind of family dispute about the place. One cousin fancies himself as a woolgrower but the others want to sell. He doesn’t have the money, or anything like it, to pay the others out, so bets are that the property will be sold,’ Dan replied.

  ‘Is anyone looking after the place?’ Rod asked.

  ‘Jim went up to see if old Alec Hannaford needed a hand but it seems he’s managing okay for the present. Alec’s been at Glengarry a long time. I suppose Hector could have got by without him after Dougal came home from school but they kept him on.’

  ‘I wasn’t aware that Hector had a man there,’ Rod said, hoping he wasn’t seeming overly inquisitive.

  ‘Oh, yes. Alec was in the same unit as Hector in the war. They were both decorated. Alec’s real cut up about Hector. As we all are. I can’t believe he’s gone, that the whole family has gone.’ It was obvious from his sagging shoulders and tired, defeated expression that Dan was still as devastated by the McLeod tragedy as on the night he’d first heard of the accident.

  ‘I think I know how you feel, Dan. I lost my father in a plane crash,’ Rod said quietly.

  ‘I’m so sorry to hear that. Was it a small plane?’

  Rod nodded.

  ‘You wouldn’t catch me going up in one of those things. Too far to fall. But three people in the one crash. Biggest disaster that’s hit the Half Moon in a long time.’

  Beth was just as sad as her father about the McLeods but talking about them wasn’t going to bring them back, and with Rod on a flying visit, she wanted to be done with talk and work out a way to be somewhere alone with him.

  Dan solved the problem when he announced that he and Jim had work to do in the ram shed and that they’d be back for lunch.

  ‘Great to see you, Rod. Don’t drink too much of that red stuff. It’ll give you a bad headache,’ were Dan’s parting remarks.

  ‘You were going to work your dogs, weren’t you, Beth?’ Dorothy asked, once Dan and Jim had left.

  ‘Yes, I’ve got a few fresh sheep up beside the shed.’ She looked sideways at Rod. ‘Would you like to come up with me, Rod?’

  ‘Sounds good. I’ll have to allow myself enough time to be back in Mudgee by eleven but, until then, I’m all yours.’

  Beth had a Holden utility with a dog crate on the back and she jumped her two dogs up into it and then drove down the track to the shearing shed. ‘You didn’t tell me you were coming,’ she admonished gently, placing her hand on Rod’s knee.

  ‘I wasn’t sure the trip was on until the last moment and I thought you might like to be surprised,’ he replied, stroking her cheek. She was just as beautiful as he’d remembered.

  They got out of the ute and he pulled her against him and kissed her.

  ‘Mmm, that was nice,’ Beth said warmly.

  Rod was a fellow with fairly high principles. He’d had affairs with women but he had never been involved with two women at the same time. It didn’t seem right to him to go all out for Beth while he was living with Sheilagh whenever he was in Sydney. If he decided that Beth was the right woman for him, he would have to extricate himself from his relationship with Sheilagh, which could prove traumatic, and he wasn’t sure what her expectations of him were. He owed Sheilagh a lot but he knew he couldn’t marry her, not even if she wanted him to. She wasn’t cut out to be a woolgrower’s wife. Sheilagh would be as much out of place on a country property as Beth Stafford would be in Sydney’s literary circles. Rod felt he was already falling in love with Beth, but he needed to know her better before making any hard and fast decisions. There was no doubt that Beth would be at home on a property, but were they compatible?

  ‘Aren’t you going to work a dog?’ he asked.

  ‘I can work the dogs any old time. I thought you’d rather talk or…’ she said shyly.

  ‘Or what?’ he asked.

  ‘That’s up to you…’

  Images of Sheilagh getting out of bed and walking to the shower flashed before his eyes and he felt a giant-sized low-life. What a situation, he thought.

  ‘I’ve had a lot on my mind, Beth,’ he said in an attempt to get himself out of territory he did not yet want to travel.

  ‘You mean more than your fishing and surfing and your trip to Yass?’ she asked.

  ‘A lot more than that.’

  ‘So, what have you been up to?’ she asked.

  ‘I’ve been making inquiries about properties. That and a couple of other things,’ Cameron said. This was partly true because he had been trying, via the old boys’ network, to ascertain what he could do about Glengarry.

  This was music to Beth’s ears.

  ‘Had any luck?’

  ‘Oh, there are properties and there are properties, but not what I want. Elders said there were a couple they expect to list very shortly and they’ll let me know as soon as they have the details,’ he said.

  ‘What about the other things?’ she asked.

  ‘I can’t tell you about those right now, but I promise you’ll know soon enough,’ he replied, taking her hands and squeezing them reassuringly.

  ‘Spoilsport. I hate secrecy. I like things to be out in the open. I’m a straightforward person. What you see is what you get.’

  ‘Very commendable, too. But this time you’ll simply have to trust me, my darling.’ He smiled as she affected a pout.

  Nobody had ever called her darling before. But she wished Rod would be more open about himself. It was probably unreasonable of her to expect too much too soon, but she wanted to share in everything Rod did and not be excluded from any part of his life.

  ‘Are you still coming up for the dog trials?’ she asked.

  ‘I wouldn’t miss them for quids,’ he said. ‘In fact, I’ve been wondering if you’d sell me a dog and break it in for me. I’m going to need a good dog or two when I get my property. I can pay you well.’

  ‘Oh, Rod, I’d love to, but I haven’t got anything you’d want right now so it would be a while before I could have a dog ready for you,’ said an excited Beth. This was the first solid inquiry she’d received for a broken-in dog.

  ‘Well, when you can,’ he said. ‘It might be a little while before a property comes through for me.’

  ‘I’m going to mate Nellie and she shouldn’t be long, but it takes two months for her to have the pups and then another eight or nine before you can really start breaking in a young dog. It would be a year or more before I’d have one ready. You wouldn’t like to try somewhere else so you could get one sooner?’

  ‘No, I wouldn’t,’ Rod said firmly. ‘I want a dog from you, Beth. I like the look of your kelpies. They’re my kind of dog.’

  ‘If you get a property in the meantime and you’re stuck for a dog, I could probably lend you Troy. I’m sure he’d work for you,’ Beth said. This was a huge concession on her part because she’d never envisaged anyone else ever laying a hand on Troy. For Rod, though, she would make an exception.

  ‘That’s a very tempting offer. I’ll keep it in mind but let’s see how things work out. I might not need a dog for a while,’ he said. But I hope I do, he thought.

  Time flew as they chatted, and it seemed to Beth that Rod had hardly arrived before it was time for him to leave. ‘I’ll see you at the wool sales,’ he said as he kissed her goodbye and left her longing.

  ‘So how was Rod?’ Dorothy asked as Beth came back into the house.

  ‘Oh, Rod was Rod,’ Beth said.

  ‘And what do you mean by that?’ Dorothy asked, raising her eyebrows questioningly.

  ‘It seems we never have time to talk properly, Mum. It’s so frustrating. And it’s like Rod has something on his mind all the time. I don’t know, but I imagined that if a man liked a girl he’d be keener about it than Rod is being. I think he likes me all right, but it’s like something is holding him back. Maybe it’s Dad but I just don’t know. Rod did ask if he could buy a broken-in dog from me, though.’

  ‘Beth, how wonderful,’ Dorothy
said. She knew how much her daughter wanted to take on some business selling dogs that she had trained.

  ‘My first real inquiry. And Rod said he’d pay a good price, too,’ Beth said.

  ‘Now that is something, dear.’

  ‘Mmm.’ Beth seemed preoccupied and it was a few moments before she said what was on her mind. ‘You don’t think he’s got another girlfriend, do you?’

  Dorothy hesitated before answering her daughter’s question, and then spoke carefully. ‘I do think that Rod is quite experienced with women. He’s got that look. I mean, I think you should realise that you wouldn’t be his first girlfriend, if it comes to that. Rod is probably ten years older than you and no man like him would have lasted that long without an adventure or two.’

  ‘I suppose not,’ Beth sighed. ‘But what if he sees me as just some simple country girl? He seems so worldly.’

  ‘I’m sure he doesn’t think anything of the kind,’ Dorothy said soothingly. ‘I saw him looking at you and I can tell he’s more than a little interested.’

  ‘Well, I’m more than a little interested in him, and if there’s something holding him back, I wish he’d either get rid of it or tell me what it is because I hate not knowing. I want to get on with my life, Mum. I mean, I want to get on with it with Rod,’ Beth said with feeling, the determination in her eyes clear for her mother to see.

  ‘Give it a little time, Beth. Things have a way of resolving themselves. Rod did come back here this morning, and I reckon he came to see you.’

  ‘I should hope that’s the reason he did. Anyway I’ll go and give the dogs a run and be back before lunch. I’ll see you later,’ Beth said.

  Dorothy watched her long-legged daughter stride up the back path and fervently wished she could wave a magic wand and dispel all of Beth’s concerns. Rod Cameron was the first man Beth had fallen in love with, and, for all she knew, he might turn out to be the love of her life. Dorothy hoped that Beth would not be kept waiting long to find out.

  Meanwhile, Rod was driving back to Sydney without any further knowledge of what was happening with Glengarry. It was a most unsatisfactory situation, and one that left him unable to make any decisions for the time being.