The Call of the High Country

by Tony Parsons

  Anne thought Roy looked pathetic as he stood at her front door. He gave a genuine nod of apology to Andy and then turned to talk to Anne.

  ‘I came to say how sorry I am for what happened and to see if you would allow me to pay for any of David’s medical expenses. Is he here, Mrs MacLeod?’

  ‘My sister took him into town to give his statement to the police,’ Anne said. She did not know Roy and Bessie Missen very well, although she knew that Angus had always spoken well of them.

  ‘It’s good of you to call so quickly with your boys in trouble,’ Anne said with a smile.

  ‘It’s the least I can do in the circumstances,’ he said.

  ‘Would you like a cup of tea?’ Anne asked. The poor man seemed lost.

  ‘I wouldn’t impose on your hospitality, Mrs MacLeod, not the way things are. You let me know what the costs are for David’s eye.’

  Roy Missen walked slowly back to his car and drove away. Anne rested one hand on her husband’s shoulder and then heard him say, albeit croakily, ‘Roy is in worse shape than me.’

  Anne looked down at him in amazement. ‘Andy, that was a full, coherent sentence. You’ve got your voice back!’

  ‘Some of it,’ he said with a grin. ‘It just happened so suddenly. One moment there was nothing and the next the words just came out.’

  Anne bent over and kissed the top of his head. ‘Maybe this is the beginning of a complete, miraculous recovery,’ she said with a glint in her eye.

  ‘I sure hope so,’ he said, smiling even more broadly.

  David and Kate arrived back for lunch with the news that the Missen boys and Stanley Masters would be charged with a number of offences, and that the police were going to oppose bail.

  ‘Angus rang me to find out if you would be here this afternoon. They’re all coming up to see you, David,’ Anne said.

  David grimaced. ‘I should ride out and look at some sheep,’ he said lamely.

  ‘You can’t do that, Davie,’ Andrew said firmly.

  David stared at his father in disbelief. ‘You’ve got your voice back! Mum, did you hear it?’

  ‘Yes, it would appear so,’ Anne said.

  ‘Dad, that’s fantastic,’ David said, his face beaming. ‘At least that’s one good thing to come out of this rotten mess. For you, Dad, I suppose I can see the Campbell clan.’

  ‘You must never throw gratitude in people’s faces,’ Anne said. ‘And, besides, Angus is talking about sending Jane and Catriona overseas for a while. Catriona has had a very unpleasant experience so a change would do her good,’ Anne said.

  ‘I suppose so,’ David said, but he couldn’t really understand anyone’s desire to leave the range country. ‘Is Cat all right?’ he asked.

  ‘She has a few bruises but otherwise she’s okay. You’ll see her for yourself soon enough. I dare say she looks better than you do. You are going to have a bad eye for a while.’

  ‘It’s not too bad. I can still see out of it. What’s a few stitches?’

  Anne threw her hands in the air. ‘What’s a few stitches? They could have split your head open with that stick.’

  ‘But they didn’t, Mum,’ David said calmly. He was sick of the whole episode.

  Angus, Jane and Catriona arrived just before afternoon smoko, as Anne had expected they would. Despite the trauma of the moment, Jane had brought a cake.

  ‘Jane, you shouldn’t have bothered. Not now,’ Anne protested.

  ‘It’s nothing. Anyway, Mrs Rogers made it.’

  Catriona looked around for David.

  ‘He’ll be back in a little while, Catriona. He went somewhere to look at a water trough.’

  ‘Hello, you lot,’ Andrew greeted them.

  The three Campbells looked at him in amazement. They were aware of how badly the stroke had affected his voice and were now astonished to hear him speaking almost like the Andrew of old.

  ‘Isn’t that something?’ Anne said. ‘Andy’s voice came back this morning. Properly, I mean. Ah, here comes David.’

  David’s tall figure came up the path in long, easy strides. The right side of his face surrounding his eye was black and blue and the stitches were covered in gauze.

  Catriona looked across at her parents and then went to greet him. They met at the top of the steps and she put one hand against his left cheek while she kissed the other.

  ‘Thank you once again,’ she said very softly in his ear.

  David thought she looked as beautiful as ever, if a shade more subdued. He could smell her perfume, and that combined with her closeness did strange things to him, made him feel light inside, in a way he had never felt before.

  ‘Hello, Cat,’ he said gravely.

  ‘Hello, yourself,’ Catriona said as brightly as she could manage. ‘You aren’t so handsome right now.’

  ‘I ran into a branch,’ he said.

  ‘I know. I saw you do it.’

  He inclined his head and looked at her. He could remember in every detail how she had looked last night. She was at her splendid best when presented at the ball, and later, by the light of the dark car’s headlights, he had seen her as she lay helpless and vulnerable on the ground, at the mercy of those three awful men. Catriona did not doubt that he had seen her lying so exposed, but relief at being rescued overrode any feelings of embarrassment she might have felt.

  ‘You’re looking much better now than when I last saw you,’ he said, a little uncomfortably.

  Catriona turned pink. ‘I feel better, too. I don’t know why, though, after the grilling the police gave me. They were very thorough.’

  ‘They sure were,’ David agreed.

  ‘You know there will be a court case and you and I are the main witnesses,’ Catriona said. ‘I would like to think that will be the last time I ever see those characters.’

  ‘You’re not the only one,’ David replied.

  ‘I hate being looked at by creepy men. I want just one man to admire me, to want me,’ Catriona said, and her eyes settled on David’s battered face. ‘One man who loves me.’

  Anne interrupted at this point. ‘I think it’s time we had a nice cup of tea,’ she said quickly.

  ‘What a good idea,’ Angus replied. ‘What do you reckon Malcolm Fraser will do for us, Andy?’

  Catriona didn’t concentrate much on the conversation that afternoon. Anne watched her out of the corner of her eye and observed how her eyes kept straying back to David’s face. The look in those eyes was that of a girl very much in love. Unfortunately she did not see the same intensity in David’s eyes. But a change had come over him. She knew him too well not to recognise the slight difference in the way he responded to Catriona’s conversation.

  ‘You must come to dinner one night, Catriona,’ Anne said as the Campbells were preparing to leave. ‘You asked me about the MacLeod family history and I’ve put it all together. Kate wants to hear it, too. And it’s about time David knew a bit more about his forebears. I declare he knows much more about the ancestors of his precious dogs than he does about his own family.’

  ‘I would love to, Anne. I really would,’ she said as she looked across at David standing with his father, but her mind was elsewhere. She wanted to get David right away from everyone else and have an honest talk with him. There were a few things she had to get settled in her mind. And if her father was going to insist on an overseas trip, she wanted to do it before she left. She had felt David’s eyes on her throughout the entire afternoon, and she knew she had to speak now or never.

  ‘You’ll be mustering again, Andy,’ Angus said as he got in the Fairlane. ‘Harry Cameron had a stroke and he’s back farming again. One arm was stiff just like yours, but it’s amazing what he does now.’

  ‘I sure hope so, Angus. David has a huge job on his hands here and I’ve been no help at all. If it hadn’t been for Anne and Kate and Jean, I don’t know how he’d have managed.’

  ‘I would be happy to help out, if I’m about,’ Catriona said. ‘I could help with the mustering
, anyway.’

  Jane didn’t like that suggestion. She could sense what was behind her daughter’s motives. The sooner she got Catriona overseas the better she would feel. There she would find other attractions to take her mind off David. That was a liaison that had to be nipped in the bud.

  Chapter Twenty

  The best thing that could be said about the next few months was that Andrew MacLeod exhibited a remarkable improvement in his physical condition. He still walked with a slight limp and he did not regain the full use of his right arm, but he could now hold objects with it and was no longer one-handed. The return of his voice brought normality back to the household. Andrew could once again offer advice and, to a certain extent, direct activities. He was proud of the way David had looked after both properties and he told him so. The establishment of the lucerne block had been a very worthwhile initiative and had helped enormously with feed costs.

  During the period of Andrew’s convalescence, Kate’s presence had never been more valuable. She had been a huge help to David work-wise, as she had developed into a first-class rider and all-round stock handler. She would come home from a long stint at the hospital, throw on her working clothes and sally out to look at sheep or cattle or do some other chore. Her energy was inexhaustible and she was interested in every aspect of rural life. Jean Courteney was an admirable partner for Kate. While she too had become quite a good rider and stock handler, she was a much more ‘homey’ person than Kate. Jean loved to cook and to paint and she kept the homestead spotless. Kate blessed her for this because it allowed Kate more time to spend outside and, particularly, with David. Jean would feed the poultry and collect the eggs and look after the chickens. As she told Anne, being with Kate at Poitrel kept her mind and body occupied. Her marriage had been a disaster. ‘Once bitten, twice shy,’ she said. Anne thought Jean was a sweet young woman who would make some man a really lovely wife, but for the time being Jean was dead scared of committing herself to anyone.

  Kate reckoned that she and the MacLeods were lucky to have Jean at Poitrel. She had become like another member of the family. David, in his practical way, was grateful to have Jean at Poitrel for quite another reason. Like Kate, Jean had her certificate in obstetric nursing and this came in handy from time to time in the birth of horses, sheep and cattle. Once Jean had even stitched up a gaping wound in a young foal. Kate and Jean together were like a pair of sisters to David.

  Apart from Andrew’s incredible and unexpected return to health – although he was still not permitted to do any heavy work and was harassed by Anne if he tried – the MacLeods constantly thought of the ordeal that lay ahead when David would have to appear as a key witness in the trial of the Missen boys and Stanley Masters.

  David hardly ever mentioned the trial, but Anne was aware that he was concerned about what he would have to go through. David was a bushman who hated fuss and procedure, and Anne realised that the atmosphere of a court would be anathema to him.

  At the Campbell home, Jane had been pressing the subject of an overseas trip for Catriona. She knew that up until a few months ago Catriona had been excited about the prospect of such a trip, but she was much less enthusiastic now. Nevertheless, Jane went ahead and made all the necessary arrangements. She and Catriona would be leaving as soon as the trial was over.

  Catriona visited High Peaks several times, and as the trial grew closer, Anne could tell that the spectre of what she would have to endure was having its effect on Catriona, too. Her evidence would be crucial to the outcome of the case. The defence lawyers would try and fault her story and make assertions to try to trap her.

  When it came to the crunch on her big day in court, Catriona gave her evidence very clearly and could not be shaken at any stage. Her evidence, backed up by David’s and Roger Cartwright’s, left her assailants without a leg to stand on.

  The jury was out for only a brief period and their verdict of guilty on all counts was received with enormous relief by the Campbell and MacLeod families. But across the row from where they sat in the courtroom, Roy and Bessie Missen sat with grief-stricken faces. They had aged years in the last few months.

  The presiding judge sentenced the guilty trio to five years in jail, with a minimum parole period of three years. Angus reckoned they got off far too lightly, but he still took his family and the MacLeods to dinner to celebrate their victory.

  A fortnight later, Jane and Catriona left for Europe, a trip which would take them several months. Catriona sent David numerous postcards from many of the places she visited. The part of the world that interested David most was Scotland. Firstly, because his ancestors had lived there and, secondly, because Scotland had supplied most, if not all, of the original dogs that formed the kelpie breed. The name kelpie was itself Gaelic and meant water spirit.

  When Catriona returned, it appeared as if the trip had done her the world of good. She was back to her gorgeous best and entertained the MacLeods with a detailed account of her travels. She also informed them that she was going to university to do an Arts course. It would take three years. This, Anne decided, was the time to issue her long-delayed dinner invitation to get David and Catriona together.

  Catriona was just as keen to spend time with David before she had to go away again, so she suggested to Anne that King needed plenty of work, having been simply fed and not worked while she was overseas. She said that she would bring him up after lunch and give him a work-out and also let David see how the horse was shaping up. She would then stay on for dinner. Anne thought this was a splendid suggestion.

  Jane, however, could not get Catriona away to Sydney quickly enough. She realised that anything could happen once Catriona got David to herself. But she was in no position to forbid Catriona to go to High Peaks after what David had done for her. So it was with great misgivings that she and Angus watched her ride away on King and eventually disappear round the bend of the road that led to High Peaks.

  David met her as she came through the front gate. He was leading Ajana’s beautiful bay filly, which he had recently broken in and was now educating. He reckoned she was the best horse he had ridden, including King, and that was saying something.

  ‘King is too fat, Cat,’ he said as they rode down the first paddock to the creek. Then, when Catriona rode straight past the exercise area where she had first ridden King, David said, ‘I thought you wanted to show me what he could do.’

  ‘I didn’t come here to talk horses, David. I came here to talk about us.’

  ‘What about us?’ he asked.

  ‘Wait until we get to the creek,’ she said. She was aware that David had a special place on a log beside the creek. Anne had told her that he went there when he needed to think things out. It was a really picturesque place, with big kurrajongs on either side and a yellow box tree hanging over it so that it was cool there, even on very hot days.

  David took King’s reins from Catriona and hitched the horses to separate trees. As he came back to her, she was untying the ribbon in her hair. She shook her head and her golden waves fell gloriously into place. Catriona watched for David’s reaction. There was none. She sighed inwardly.

  David thought that Catriona must have been steamed up about something, and he thought that it was going to be a heavy afternoon. He had never done anything to encourage her affections because he wasn’t ready to settle down, but she always made him feel as if he owed her something.

  ‘Look here, David, are you seeing Susan Cartwright?’ Catriona burst out.

  ‘No. Why?’

  ‘Well, she implied that you were.’

  ‘I escorted my Aunt Kate to the Hospital Ball and Susan happened to be there. I had a couple of dances with her, that’s all. What’s this all about, anyway?’

  ‘David, have you got no idea at all about how I feel about you? Don’t you care for me at all?’

  ‘What gives you the idea I don’t care for you? Of course I do. We’ve been friends for years.’

  ‘I don’t mean in terms of friendship. I
’m talking about genuine affection, something deeper than that. You have never shown any real enthusiasm for me; never tried to kiss me like other boys have. You’ve never asked me out. It seems to me that I’ve always been secondary to your dogs and horses,’ she blurted out passionately.

  ‘You have,’ he replied calmly.

  ‘There you are. That’s what I mean.’

  ‘I don’t give horses like King to any old girl. You haven’t seen me giving anything to Susan, have you?’

  ‘Did you give me King for my sake or did you do it to get even with my father? I don’t know. I have never known where you stand, David. Is there something about me that you find obnoxious? Are you looking for a different kind of girl?’

  ‘What gives you the idea I am looking for any kind of girl?’

  ‘If you aren’t, I’m wasting my time even trying to figure you out. I want to get things settled between us before I go away to university for three years.’

  ‘Cat, why would I be looking for a girl when the one I like is right next to me? I’ve never had eyes for anyone else.’

  Catriona couldn’t believe the words that were coming out of David’s mouth.

  ‘The problem isn’t me; it’s your parents. Your people have made it very clear that they’re looking for a fellow with a big station and the right background. It’s plain silly me thinking I could have you.’

  Catriona looked at him with relief on her lovely face. ‘David, why didn’t you say something? What does it matter what my people say? They would get used to the idea. They would have to.’

  David shook his head. ‘I doubt it. They have grander things in mind for you. But, Catriona, something else is just as important for me. You see, I don’t want to settle down yet. I’m not ready. I can’t think of getting married until we clear the debt on Poitrel, and once we’ve done that I want to have a go at winning the National Trial. I want to win that trial for Dad. He’s never had the chance to show what his dogs can really do, but I know how much they mean to him. Nothing would please him more than to see one of his dogs win the National against the best dogs in Australia. I wouldn’t care if I never worked another trial, if only I could win that one. I would come back here and be happy with what I’ve got. But I have to win that trial, Cat. It is my first and only dream.’