The Bay

by Di Morrissey

  Eddie stopped reading and pondered on the diary entry: goldfields, shares in the company, how exciting it must have been then. There seemed to be so much opportunity, so much to look forward to. He picked up the diary and walked outside the lighthouse keeper’s cottage to find Tina remonstrating with some tourists who had climbed over the safety fence to pose for photographs at the very edge of the headland.

  She strode back to him, shaking her head. ‘Galahs, think they’re so smart. That’s a long drop.’

  ‘That’s why they do it. Human nature. The thrill of the possibility, remote as it may be. Didn’t they teach you at ranger college about the absurdity of human behaviour?’

  Tina shrugged. ‘Reality is different from the classroom. I’m still coming to terms with that. Anyway, what has your latest session with the past revealed?’ She nodded at the journal in his hands. It had become something of a joke that Hannah was ‘the mystery woman’ in Eddie’s life.

  ‘Gold. She talks about goldfields around here. Did that ever come to anything?’

  ‘I don’t imagine so. Though on the early parish maps there are outlying areas marked “goldfields”.’

  Eddie stared across the bay to the misty peak of Mount Hazard. ‘I bet there’s something to it.’

  ‘There’s gold in them thar hills, eh Eddie,’ she said with an exaggerated drawl. ‘The real wealth in those days and now, for that matter, is in the soil, in the red volcanic soil that will grow almost anything in this climate.’

  Eddie followed her back inside. ‘Hannah talks about the Hindu market gardeners. Where did they come from?’

  ‘Probably brought in to work in the sugarcane farms up north like the Kanakas.’

  ‘Shanghaied, blackbirded, kidnapped, you mean. Not exactly willing indentured labourers,’ said Eddie.

  ‘When you look at old pictures of the locals you can see different races in many of the faces,’ Tina said. ‘Aboriginal, Indian, Chinese, Caucasian. They all seemed to mix in and intermarry.’

  ‘Like Broome,’ said Eddie. He closed Hannah’s diary. ‘I’ll get back to that. I have to go and meet Alice and her mother. The big move.’ He gave a half smile. He’d quickly realised Tina was sensitive to the situation between himself and Laura, and the sharing of young Alice. In one way her discomfort pleased him. It hinted that she had more than just a friendly interest in him. On the other hand, he hoped it wouldn’t frighten her off from deepening their relationship. He enjoyed Tina’s company – they’d been for drinks and an occasional meal together – and they were both engrossed in exploring the contents of Hannah’s journal and the other archival material.

  ‘So Alice moves in with you as of today?’

  ‘Yep. We’re starting to cart all her gear out of the unit and back to the farm. God, she’s got so much stuff. I can see where my money goes. Not to mention Laura’s shopping habits. I hope Alice doesn’t expect the same rate of acquisition from me.’

  ‘Maybe she needs other stuff, non-material things,’ said Tina cautiously. ‘Like your time and attention.’

  Before Eddie could reply, she tossed her car keys to him. ‘Take my truck, it’ll save you a couple of trips. More room. I’ll take your bomb home if that’s okay. See you back here tomorrow then?’

  ‘Tina, you’re a champ.’ He blew her a kiss and glancing at his watch knew he’d be a few minutes late. Laura hated it when he wasn’t on time, yet she had no compunction keeping him waiting an hour or more.

  As he drove along Beach Road he wondered what Hannah would make of the rows of holiday units and small hotels facing the grassy tree-lined strip across from the sand. He thought of her spending a day with her two boys enjoying a ride along the beach, games and a picnic: simple pleasures. The weight of caring for a young girl facing puberty pressed in on him. Laura had tried to turn Alice into a young sophisticate, doing the kind of things she liked to do: shopping, eating out, movies, parties with too many adults. Perhaps the biggest impact he could have on Alice would be to allow her to enjoy what was left of her childhood. He hoped that somehow together they would find the right influences in The Bay to help her make the transition to womanhood without too many hassles. Not that Laura was abrogating her responsibilities, but she liked to be mum only when it suited her.

  Eddie bounded up the two flights of stairs to the unit to find Alice sitting on the top step surrounded by bags. ‘How’s it going?’ He bent down and kissed her.

  ‘A nightmare,’ replied Alice with an air of boredom. ‘She can’t find a ring, a sweater and a pair of shoes.’

  ‘Yours?’

  ‘No. That wouldn’t matter. Hers. I know she left them up at Jack’s on the Gold Coast. She wore them up there weeks ago.’

  ‘And came back shoeless, topless and ringless?’

  Alice grinned. ‘She has so much gear up there. She shops out Pacific Fair every trip.’

  Eddie sat down beside her. ‘You’re not going to miss that kind of thing, are you? Shopping and stuff?’

  ‘No, I have enough clothes. And I don’t even like a lot of the things Mum buys. I know you aren’t rich,’ she added.

  ‘There’s rich and rich,’ said Eddie cheerfully. ‘I’m richer than you think. We’ll manage. And Alice,’ he squeezed her shoulders, ‘don’t ever feel you can’t ask me for something you need or want.’

  She leaned against him without answering and he felt she was close to tears. He gave her a quick hug, smiling as he said, ‘But just ’cause you ask, doesn’t mean you get. Everything’s negotiable, okay?’

  ‘Okay.’

  Laura came out and stood looking at them for a moment. ‘It might be nice if someone came and gave me a hand with all this stuff.’

  ‘That’s what we’re here for,’ said Eddie. ‘I brought a friend’s small truck. You’ll need something bigger, no doubt,’ he said wryly.

  ‘No way,’ said Laura in the dismissive tone that irritated him so much. ‘I am not taking this crappy furniture. Jack’s place has been done by Berlotti.’

  ‘Bully for Berlotti.’ Eddie wasn’t going to ask what or who was Berlotti. ‘Now which is Alice’s pile?’

  Alice was silent as they drove through the hinterland above The Bay.

  Her mother’s farewell had been brief, a quick hug, a few last words of advice about her hair and not to forget Cindy’s birthday party. She’d call her every night and see her the following weekend, ‘As soon as I’m organised, sweetheart.’

  The mother–daughter heart to heart sessions about the new parenting arrangements had been uncomfortable to the point of tears for Alice. Laura did all the talking and Alice just nodded. In Laura’s mind it was all settled. It was far preferable for Alice to stay with Eddie and her school friends in The Bay than in Jack’s pristine apartment on the Gold Coast surrounded by oldies. Laura hinted it was sort of temporary, and that with luck one day they would be back together in a lovely big house.

  Alice looked at the lush countryside flashing past, and as Eddie began whistling happily they exchanged smiles. She had learned long ago that her stepdad was a dreamer, but his dreams never made sense to her mother, or so she said. He was always seeing life in terms of stories, long stories, short stories, stories that could be told with pictures. It was something that Alice struggled to understand. It seemed so much harder to grasp than the simple idea of a lovely big house they could all share. Yet the very mystery of Eddie’s dreams attracted her to him. She was suddenly startled out of her reverie.

  ‘What are you thinking about?’ he asked.

  ‘Nothing much, Dad. Just looking at the bush, the mountain. Pretty, isn’t it?’

  ‘Yeah. Much better than looking from one flash apartment on the Gold Coast to another flash apartment next door.’ Eddie pointed towards Mount Hazard. ‘Besides, did you know there’s gold around here? Some of the land was goldfields in the old days.’

  ‘Is it still there?’

  ‘Could be. I was going to have a chat to old Sid, he knows everything. Maybe we could go
and pan in one of the creeks running down from the hills.’

  ‘Pan in a creek? What’s that mean?’

  ‘Gold panning? Haven’t you done the goldrush days at school?’

  ‘A bit. History isn’t my favourite subject. I don’t see the point in hashing over stuff that happened ages ago. Our teacher keeps banging on about what trouble we’re all in now. You know, pollution and conservation and stuff.’

  ‘Fair enough. But if we look at what happened in the old days we can see where they went wrong, or what was better back then. The past can be a sort of a map for the future. Help us find our way around better today.’

  ‘Umm.’ Alice didn’t sound convinced. ‘Maybe the gold stuff might be good for a project I have to do. We’re supposed to look at something that was special to our area in the last hundred years. I was thinking about the lighthouse. Would Tina help me?’

  ‘You bet,’ Eddie replied. ‘We both will.’

  The new togetherness began as soon as they reached the farm, making trip after trip between truck and bedroom to unload the bags of clothes, CDs and stuffed animals, a stereo, books and posters. Eddie had given the room a fresh coat of paint and built a desk along one wall in front of the big windows that looked into the fields. The curtains and bedspread were pale lilac dotted with tiny lemon daisies, and on the desk there was a jug of yellow daisies, picked that morning.

  ‘Pretty basic, but I figured by the time you put your gear around you’d make it how you want. I’ll move my old computer in from the front room if you like.’

  ‘Dad, it’s great. I love it. I really do.’ Alice hugged him tightly, and Eddie held her to him with unstinting affection.

  ‘Welcome home,’ he whispered in her ear. ‘Welcome home.’

  While Eddie prepared dinner Alice rambled over the top paddock greeting her horse. ‘You look fat and lazy. Have to get you back in shape. The boss is back!’ She rubbed the horse as he nuzzled her, looking for the apple she always had. ‘You remember, don’t you, Sampson? Bring you up a treat later. Just checking things out,’ she told him. But she felt bad about neglecting the horse she’d pestered Laura and Eddie to buy. ‘We’re gonna have fun,’ she told the old horse. As she headed towards the house Alice spotted a new lamb from the small family Eddie had bought to help with the lawn mowing. She sighed with a feeling of contentment. Chooks, a lamb and her old horse; she was glad to be back. Eddie had promised they’d still have time for surfing on weekends. She hoped her mother would be happy with Jack up on the Gold Coast, because she knew she was going to be very happy here. Secretly she was glad to be out of the daily turmoil of life with her mother.

  The decision for Alice to move back up to the farm with Eddie had not been an easy one for the three of them. Laura suffered pangs of guilt but consoled herself that she had a right to a life and it was best for Alice.

  For Eddie the sense of responsibility had been overpowering at times. But he wanted to do this – for Alice, but also for himself. He’d thought long and hard about how best to support her on the journey through her teens and had come to the conclusion it had to make spiritual, emotional and physical sense to her. Somehow he had to impart a means whereby she could look into her own dark places and construct a way forward, and decide what to let go of and what to keep. She had to learn to find the balance in her life and trust outsiders.

  He looked back on his own childhood. It seemed to him technology had eaten into kids’ lives too much, they’d lost a sense of beauty, of naturalness, of what connected the world to them, to their life. Perhaps he could instil in Alice a respect and enjoyment of the natural world, to feel part of a community as well as a family, so she realised that it was there to support her no matter how fractured it appeared.

  ‘Do you want some help, Mitch?’ asked Holly. There was a touch of urgency in her voice as she saw just how much building rubbish had to be moved out of the garden before her guests arrived from the old people’s home. ‘Thanks so much for doing this. Andrew would’ve helped but he’s out playing golf. An important game, he claimed.’

  ‘To fanatical golfers every game is important,’ Mitch said.

  ‘No, I don’t need you trying to play builder’s labourer. This is no job for someone in bare feet. Where are the kids?’

  ‘Marcus is surfing, again, and Mel is at The Teepee seeing what wonders Billy can do with her hair.’ Holly sat on a stump that was used as a chopping block and watched him haul the rubbish into his trailer.

  ‘You don’t play golf?’

  ‘Hate it. Do you?’

  ‘Spoils a good walk, I reckon. Curly and I prefer the beach.’

  ‘There, that’s starting to look better. Can’t have the ladies tripping over old floorboards. Just a couple more near you and I’ll be on my way.’ He moved towards her then froze and hissed urgently, ‘Don’t move, Holly. Don’t say anything. Just don’t move.’

  She immediately sensed danger and like Mitch she froze and struggled not to panic. Her eyes locked on to his and asked the question.

  ‘Snake. Brown.’ His head inclined slightly to the left. She tried to follow his gaze without moving, but couldn’t see anything. She was about to look back at Mitch when the snake slowly came into her range of vision, right beside the stump. It stopped and lifted its head, seemingly concentrating on Mitch.

  ‘When I move, you go,’ he said quietly.

  In an acrobatic movement Mitch suddenly sprang towards the snake and instantly bounced back, neatly out of reach of the striking reptile. Holly had moved as instructed, with almost as much speed as the snake. After a dozen steps she turned to see Mitch throwing pieces of firewood at the heap by the stump.

  ‘Where is it?’ shouted Holly, still shaking in fright. ‘For God’s sake be careful, Mitch.’

  ‘It’s in the heap. Probably been its home for some time.’

  He walked over to her and put his arm around her shoulders. ‘Hey, calm down. You’re safe.’

  Holly felt weak at the knees and for a moment leaned her head against his shoulder. She felt his arm tighten just a little, and it was a comforting feeling. Neither of them spoke for a while, then Mitch pulled away slowly. ‘Better call Frankie the Snakeman. He’s on the emergency list I put on your fridge door. Use the mobile number. He might come before the ladies arrive if you’re lucky. I’ll keep a lookout while you call.’

  She took a deep breath. ‘Oh yes, the ladies! You’re right.’ She turned and ran to the house and with a wave over her head signalled she had heard his instruction to lock up the dogs.

  Frankie was straight to the point. ‘I’m close by. Be there in five minutes, don’t take your eyes off it.’

  She found Romany and Curly lying in the sun on the back verandah and coaxed them indoors and locked them in. Then she stuck her bare feet into her gumboots and walked as quietly as she could across the lawn to stand near Mitch. ‘Where is it?’

  ‘Still in the woodpile. Go stand around the other side, not close in case it makes a run out that way. Be careful, these things can kill you.’

  ‘Why don’t we just kill it if it sticks its head out?’ said Holly, picking up a hardwood garden stake.

  Mitchell grinned. ‘Where’s the budding conservationist we’ve been nurturing?’

  Before she could answer there was the sound of a vehicle in the driveway. ‘Ooh, I hope it’s not the ladies.’

  Holly raced to the front of the house and saw a small van with a vivid serpent painted on its side. Frankie was pulling several long poles with metal pincers on the end from the back of the van.

  ‘Hi, thanks for coming so quickly.’

  ‘Where is it? Is someone watching it?’

  ‘Yes. It’s a big brown. Under some wood.’

  ‘Woodpiles. The Hilton Hotel for snakes.’ He spoke with a faint accent, and Holly glanced at him, taking in his army fatigues tucked into thick boots, the braided ponytail, the protective wrapping around his wrists, a cloth sling hung loosely around his neck. ‘You look well prep
ared.’

  ‘I never take chances.’ He spotted Mitchell and went towards him just as Holly heard more cars crunch on the driveway and she hurried to the front door.

  Mac looked at the dishevelled, gumbooted hostess with a grin as she helped several elderly ladies from the cars. ‘Dressed up for the occasion, I see,’ she quipped. ‘You’re making the rest of us look rather overdressed, my dear.’

  Holly swept a nervous hand through her tousled hair. ‘A slight hiccup, Mac. Tell you about it later. Sudden change of plans, morning tea inside first. Okay?’

  The guests were clustered in the front garden, organising walking sticks and handbags.

  ‘Hi, Holly. Where do you want to start?’ asked Lynn, glancing at her gumboots, shorts and T-shirt. It was unlike Holly not to be perfectly groomed for visitors. ‘We got the right day, didn’t we?’

  ‘Yes. Right day. But as I said to Mac, morning tea first so that everyone has the energy for the walk.’ Holly bustled them towards the front door.

  Mac spotted the van with its colourful serpent, looked at Holly and raised an eyebrow mouthing the word, ‘Frankie?’

  She nodded and Mac whispered to Lynn and soon they had the group of ladies settled in the sunroom for tea and biscuits.

  Mitchell appeared a few minutes later and nodding at the guests said, ‘My mate and I are just going to take a spin around the garden.’ He gave Holly a broad grin and surreptitious thumbs up.

  Later as they toured the house one of the ladies peered out the window. ‘Goodness, what are those men doing to your garden? They’re whacking sticks around like a pair of African beaters.’

  ‘Oh, I’ll go see, please excuse me.’ Holly dashed outside.