North Star (15 page)

‘Are you hurt, mate?' John asked, dropping to one knee beside Kate.

‘I couldn't find my way back to camp, then I found this place and thought it would be a good place to wait, but it was dark and I tripped and hurt my ankle.' Liam's voice trembled, but he fought back his tears bravely. ‘Am I in trouble, Mum?'

‘We'll talk about it later—right now I'm just happy we've found you.'

John unclipped his radio and informed the others that they'd found Liam, before shrugging off the small backpack that contained first-aid equipment.

As John wrapped a bandage around Liam's ankle, Kate felt his gaze on her. ‘You okay?' he asked.

‘Fine. Are you almost finished? I'd like to get him out of here.'
I'd like to get the hell out of here, more to the point
,
she thought. There was an awful churning in her stomach, as though she was going to be sick at any moment.

‘Okay, champ, let's go.' John repacked the first-aid kit, handing the torch to Kate, then lifted the boy into his arms. ‘You go first, but watch where you're walking,' he warned her.

Kate couldn't escape the musty-smelling cabin soon enough and took a gulping breath as soon as she stepped out into the clean, fresh air.

The trip back was faster and, as they approached, Jenny and Nathan came rushing towards them, relief flooding the campsite at Liam's safe return. Kate glanced past the welcoming committee to see Georgia hovering uncertainly on the fringe of the crowd. For a moment mother and daughter's gazes collided and held. Kate took a step towards the teenager but, at the movement, Georgia turned away, tapping Amy on the arm and together they wandered back to their tent on the far side of the camp. Kate watched their retreat with a twinge of disappointment. But there was hope. Tonight, for just a little while, the old Georgia had made an appearance, and the knowledge warmed her.

Back at the house the next morning, Kate fought to keep her eyes open as she unpacked the camping gear. It'd be an early night for everyone after spending most of the previous one out searching.

She paused as she picked up a tin of spaghetti, her thoughts drifting to the place they'd found Liam. A ripple of unease ran through her.

The screen door slammed and Liam came limping inside with Fergus.

‘Take that cat back outside right now, young man.'

‘Aww, Mummm.'

‘And don't even bother
aww-Mumming
me. Out now.'

Kate smiled. Apart from the sprained ankle, Liam didn't seem to have any ill effects after his night of excitement.

Georgia wandered into the kitchen then and sat down at the table with a loud sigh.

Kate eyed her daughter cautiously. ‘Everything all right, George?'

Georgia shrugged and began fiddling with the handle of the picnic basket in front of her. ‘Camping was a great idea,' she said sardonically after a few minutes. ‘Between your meltdown, losing Liam and getting eaten alive by mosquitoes, I can't imagine how we'll manage to top that experience.'

‘I didn't have a meltdown,' Kate protested, not liking the sound of that at all. Was that how it had looked to everyone else?

‘Mum, even your new boyfriend looked worried.'

‘He's not my boyfriend—I hardly even know the man.'

‘Well, he wants to be, doesn't he?'

Kate couldn't believe she was being interrogated by a fourteen-year-old. ‘Don't be ridiculous. Why would you think something like that?'

‘Because I'm not blind—or stupid. I can see that he's interested in you. Why are you letting him hang around here anyway?'

‘The Beaumonts invited him.' She shook herself irritably; why was she explaining herself to her child? ‘Why, don't you like him?'

‘Are you serious? He's a cop, Mum. How am I going to get invited anywhere when they know
he's
hanging around? Can you imagine what the kids at school would say if they found out my mother and the local cop were an item?'

‘For goodness' sake, Georgia!'

‘What? It's gross, Mum. You guys are like, old.'

Way to boost an ego, Georgia
, she thought, suddenly feeling depressed. ‘Not that I have any intention of finding a boyfriend, but if I did, you'd have a problem with me being happy again?'

‘You weren't happy with Dad, what makes you think you'd be happy with anyone else?'

Kate let out a slow breath as she sat down at the kitchen table. ‘George, your dad and I tried to work things out. We really did. But he wasn't the same man I married any more, and I couldn't let him be around you and Liam when he was so . . . unhappy. It wasn't healthy for you kids, or for me. It doesn't mean that I gave up on him. I wanted him to get better more than anything in the world, but he just can't understand that he needs help.'

‘You're not a doctor, how do you know anything? Would you kick Liam or me out if we didn't agree with you that we needed help?' she demanded, raising her voice.

‘Of course not. It's not the same thing and you know it.'

‘Do I? How can I be sure you won't just pack us up one day and send us away because you've decided we aren't
right
?'

‘Really, Georgia,' Kate snapped, ‘don't you think after all the stunts you pulled before we came out here that if I was going to turn my back on you I would have had more than enough reasons to do so by now?'

‘Well, if I was that bad, maybe you should have sent me away. Maybe I'll go and find Dad and stay with him! Then you can have precious baby Liam all to yourself. Georgia pushed her chair backwards and stormed out of the room.

Kate bit back her angry retort and dropped her head to the tabletop in frustration. Life around here was like riding a roller-coaster, only there didn't seem to be an end to the ride in sight.

Dragging herself to her feet, she packed away the remainder of the gear then headed for the bathroom. A good long soak in the tub would do wonders for her tired muscles and troubled thoughts.

Two days later, Jenny and Kate were busy planting out a new lot of seedlings in the kitchen garden.

‘I'll be so glad when we finally buy these damn cattle,' said Jenny. ‘If I have to drop everything to look at one more bloody photo of a pure-bred Wagyu, I think I'm going to scream.'

Kate chuckled as she dug a small hole and placed the seedling into it gently, pressing the soil firmly around the young plant. She loved the feel of the dirt beneath her fingers. ‘So he's going down to the sale tomorrow?'

‘Yeah, imagine, two nights in a lovely motel, with room service and no kids—pity I'm not the one escaping,' Jenny said, reaching for another punnet.

‘So why don't you go with him?'

‘Someone's got to stay and feed the animals . . . and the children.'

‘Leave them with me.' When Jenny stared at her, Kate rolled her eyes. ‘For goodness' sake, I hardly ever have the kids here. I know your place is more fun, but they could sleep over here and they can help me feed the animals when I pick them up from the bus after school.'

When Jenny went to protest, Kate stopped digging and pinned her with a stern glare. ‘You were only complaining the other day that you and Nathan haven't been anywhere without the kids since your honeymoon! Go spend a few nights alone with your husband.'

‘It would be nice,' her friend hedged, biting her lip thoughtfully. ‘Almost like a second honeymoon.'

‘Apart from spending it at a smelly saleyard with all the cow poo and flies.' Kate grimaced.

‘Apart from that,' Jenny agreed.

‘Hey, speaking of a second honeymoon, do you have any sexy lingerie?'

Jenny stared at Kate as though she'd lost her mind.

‘I'm serious. Why not go the whole hog? You've got no kids and a hunk of a husband all to yourself in a flash motel. Make the most of it.'

‘I won't have time to pick up any little silk teddies before I go—
if
I go,' Jenny amended.

Kate stood up and dusted off her hands. ‘You may not know it from looking at me but I'm the queen of lingerie, and if we can't find you something in my cupboard that will knock the socks off that husband of yours, then it doesn't exist.'

As impractical as carting around a suitcase full of lingerie had been over the last year, Kate hadn't been able to part with her secret collection. Some women had a thing for shoes; Kate's thing was silk underwear. For her, lingerie wasn't about seduction, it was about how it made her feel—pretty.

The two women spent the best part of an hour in Kate's bedroom going through the bounty of beautiful undergarments, laughing and giggling like a pair of kids. Kate was happy to finally be in a position to do something for her friend who'd done so much for her. Smiling to herself later as she watched Jenny drive away, Kate couldn't help but wonder if Nathan knew what was about to hit him.

Kate smiled to herself as she headed towards the back door. This morning she'd collected four eggs from her chooks, and her kitchen garden was thriving. She might actually be getting kind of good at this farming thing after all. She balanced on one foot to remove her gum boots, when the shrill beep of the phone had her kicking the remaining boot off quickly in order to grab the phone before it went to voicemail.

‘Hello?' Kate managed.

‘You better get over to the north paddock, over near the old windmill.'

‘Look,' Kate said, scowling, ‘I don't have time to play your stupid games today, Unterheinner—'

‘I can assure you this is no game, girl—I'll meet you there.'

The click of the phone in her ear made her wince. Kate hung up irritably. Who was he to order her about? She thought about ignoring the command and leaving him out there in a dry paddock waiting for her, but after a brief hesitation, she realised that as much as she'd like to she couldn't ignore him. What if this was something serious? Nathan wasn't here to deal with it, so it was up to her to handle Unterheinner. Maybe she could be the bigger person and put aside their disagreements to forge some kind of truce.

The old windmill stood rusty and broken, close to the boundary fence that divided Unterheinner and Campbell land. Like most things on North Star, the rusty relic had been left to rot.

Unterheinner waited near a sagging section of fence, leaning against his big, fancy four-wheel drive, arms crossed. Even from this distance she could tell he was frowning.

As she got closer, she could see a large shape on the ground, close to the fence. Kate realised it was a dead cow, and her heart dropped.

Closing the ute door behind her, she made her way cautiously across to the fence. At her approach, the animal lifted its head, and she realised it wasn't dead yet, but close to it.

‘I warned you about fixing these fences—now I'm losing cattle.'

‘What's wrong with it?' Kate asked, skirting the animal warily.

‘Parthenium weed. It's been running rampant here for years. Bloody Campbell never bothered spraying and keeping on top of it. Now it's affecting my cattle.' He turned away and reached into his vehicle, bringing out a long rifle, the chestnut handle gleaming in the sunlight. He held it out towards her with a steely glare.

‘What are you doing?'

‘It'll have to be put down.'

Of all times for Nathan to be away. ‘I'll call a vet out,' she said, desperately assessing her options.

‘He'll tell you the same thing and then charge you a few hundred for a call-out and a bullet, and meanwhile the animal is lying here in agony.'

‘Well, if you were so worried about it suffering, why have you left it all this time to wait for me to come out?' she demanded.

‘You want to be a farmer—I wanted you to see what the consequences are of inadequate farming practices. Here, you deal with the result of your incompetence.'

Kate felt her palms begin to sweat. She took a step away from the fence and shook her head. ‘I can't . . .' she stammered. Surely he didn't actually expect her to shoot the poor animal?

‘It's not rocket science. I would have thought even a city girl like you could manage it,' he said sarcastically.

The cow's sides heaved and its eyes rolled back in its head fearfully. Kate's heart went out to the animal, but the thought of pulling the trigger and ending its life seemed too overwhelming to even consider.

‘If you can't do what needs to be done, then you have no business being here,' Unterheinner growled. Stepping through the slackened strands of wire, he strode across to the animal's side, placed the end of the rifle against its woolly head and pulled the trigger. The sound sent a shock wave through Kate's body and her heart thudded painfully in her chest.

‘You don't belong here, girly,' Unterheinner hissed. ‘You never did. Stop playing games and go home to the city.'