Hope's Road (31 page)

Then Joe noticed the sheet. It was hanging on the Hills Hoist clothes line but this washing was different. It had big cobalt blue letters on it. Joe squinted. Couldn't make out the words.

‘Here, boy. Have a look through this. Tell me what's written on that sheet on the clothes line, will ya?'

Billy took the gun so he could see through the scope. ‘Hey, there's Tammy. And my dad. Dad doesn't look happy. You think he might be a bit worried about me?'

‘'Course he's fuckin' worried about you! You run off like that and don't tell him!' Joe stopped. Going crook at the boy wasn't going to help anyone. ‘Hunter loves you, Billy.'

‘He doesn't ever say it,' said the boy, a sullen look on his face.

‘Well, I can assure you he thinks it. And right now he's out of his mind with worry about
you
.'

‘Oh.' A little smile snuck across his face.

‘The sheet, Billy,' Joe reminded him.

‘The sheet? Oh, yes, the sheet.' And the boy took a look through the scope again. ‘It says . . . Is . . . Billy . . . okay?' The child stopped. ‘That's me!' he said to Joe, a smile lighting up his features.

Joe grinned back. ‘Sure is, boy.'

‘What do we do now? You haven't got a clothesline they can see.'

Joe's eyes wandered across the yard. Nothing appropriate for a return message was in clear view of Montmorency. Then he spotted his gun. Maybe, just maybe . . .

‘Grab the gun, boy, and follow me.' Joe shuffled across the verandah, snatched a bullet from a box near his chair and clambered down the steps, Billy hot on his heels.

He grabbed his gun, loaded it. Pointed it into the air.

Bang
!

‘What do we do now?' asked Billy.

‘We wait,' said Joe.

Down on Montmorency Tammy was jumping up and down. ‘Joe's there!'

‘What now?' said Trav, scratching his head.

‘Another message,' said Tammy. ‘Quickly.' They ran to the shed, grabbed another sheet and the can of paint. Tammy started spraying.

ONE – NO

TWO – YES

Trav snatched up the material and ran with it to the clothes line.

Tammy arrived behind him, just as he put on the last peg. He spun and grabbed hold of her. She could feel his body shaking with tiny tremors as they waited for the answer. She pressed her own body against his, trying to lend him her warmth, her strength.

They waited for what seemed like hours.

Then finally . . .
Bang
!

No more. Just one loud gunshot.

Tammy felt like she was going to faint with the stress of it all. Behind her Trav was sprung like a high-tensile spring.

Another shot, goddamn it. Just one more is all we want, all we need. She tried to will it to be. Sent prayers up to Natalie, to her grandparents, to anyone who might be listening. Please take care of this little boy. Just one more shot,
please
.

Behind her Trav had started to slump, like he was giving up hope.

Bang
!

The second shot seemed to ring out with glee.

Chapter 51

‘Better now?' Trav's caring voice was directed at a clean and dry Tammy as she came through the kitchen door.

She had immersed her cold and shaking body in a hot bath, allowing the soothing fresh water to wash all the shock, stink and grime of the flood away. Now wearing faded worn jeans and a soft cotton top, her face was scrubbed and rosy cheeked, her long hair floating around her shoulders.

‘Yes,' she said, suddenly feeling shy of the way Travis Hunter's blue eyes were drinking her in.

‘Come here, woman.'

Tammy slowly moved into Travis's wide-open embrace, relishing the warmth and strength as he closed the circle around her. The relief of getting Joe's message about Billy and everyone finally being safe left them in a silent and contemplative hug for a while.

Finally, Trav spoke up, ‘You got a bed in this huge place? Preferably one Shon Murphy hasn't slept in?'

‘Come,' was all Tammy said, and she led him onto the verandah, into the old McCauley homestead to the side of the main house. Down a dark passage into a room at the back. It was a small but cosy space. A delicate writing desk on one wall, a man's wardrobe on another and an old-fashioned double bed with an iron bedstead in the centre. She pulled Trav into the room, kicking the door shut as she went. ‘This is the guest bedroom.' She looked up at him through lowered lashes. ‘You want to be my guest?'

‘You bet I do.' He pushed her backwards onto the bed and slowly and methodically undressed her. He then unclothed himself while her eyes drank in every inch of the hard male body being revealed. When he was finally gloriously naked, she reached up and pulled him down to her, revelling in his weight and the feel of his obvious need.

His lips nipped hers before he slowly sank to pay homage to the sweet spots along her arching throat, across the curve of her shoulder, then down towards her breasts, his tongue trailing paths of fire across her skin. Exquisite shivers of desire shot through her veins to join with the adrenaline still slithering in her blood from the last few hours.

She closed her eyes and drank it all in. Felt the path of his lips draw to a halt at the rounded mounds of her breasts. A soft tongue rasped across a tender nipple. Licking, sucking, teasing.

Writhing in pleasure she reached for him, tugging him up towards her seeking mouth. He resisted, flashing her a wicked grin. Focusing back on her soft skin, his lips peppered a lazy line of kisses towards the other breast, the red rosy bud there already standing to attention. Waiting. Setting his hot mouth to her flesh, he laved, sending her rapidly disintegrating senses and mind into further disarray. She couldn't think beyond the sensations that were running across her skin, plunging through her body, rushing into her brain.

She, Tammy McCauley, was being ravished and she gloried in it.

Inch by inch, Travis slowly and methodically worshipped her nakedness, evocatively plundering until she couldn't take any more. ‘Trav. Enough. Please,' she begged.

A soft laugh came from somewhere near her feet. She had had no idea her toes could be so sensually exquisite.

And then he was there. Right above her. Finally. The firm flesh of his chest meeting her sensitive swollen breasts, flattening them as he delved for her lips, rendering kisses on her mouth with a passion that, after his adoration of the rest of her, nearly drove Tammy over the edge.

Until suddenly he drew back.

Hovering, his intense and roving gaze took in her flushed cheeks, the want and need in her gaze, the feelings and passion laid bare in them for him to see. Myriad expressions flitted with the lightness of butterfly wings across his face, until finally wonder settled in.

‘Oh, Tammy,' he whispered. ‘I think I'm in love with you.'

Tammy smiled. A soft smile. She drank in the sight of the man above her, the love beaming from his eyes. Here was a man who'd never thought it would happen again for him. She treasured this moment. For Hunter would never carry his heart on his sleeve like she did, but she could deal with that.

With Travis Hunter by her side, she could deal with anything.

And now they had some serious loving to do . . .

Sometime later, after Tammy had fallen asleep, her hair splayed across the pillow, face soft with slumber, Travis Hunter lay and watched her. He couldn't remember his heart feeling as full as it did right now. Looking down on this beautiful, incredible woman. And he'd nearly lost her. Just like he'd nearly lost the other most important thing in his life. Billy. He still had to sort that one out, but with this woman beside him, he felt as though he could conquer the world. They'd do it together, but right now . . .

He slipped from the bed. Pulled on his jeans, padded out through the old house, onto the verandah, into the kitchen. Found the phone, picked up the handset and was rewarded with a dial tone.

He immediately rang Joe.

‘McCauley.'

‘Joe, it's Trav. Where's Billy?'

‘I'm fine too, thanks, how are you?' said Joe, a chuckle to his voice.

‘Joe!'

‘Argh, can't an old man have some fun? Billy's fine, he's here with me.'

Trav sagged with relief.

‘We're tryin' to set another rabbit trap. This one's a bit rusty. Been up in the shed rafters for a time; that'll do it to a fine piece of machinery.'

‘So he's with you?' repeated Trav, just to make sure.

‘That's what I said, isn't it?' Joe's tone was kind but gruff. ‘It's a long story but he's come home and that's what counts.'

Trav couldn't speak for a few moments.

‘You still there?' asked the old man.

Trav took a few deep breaths to get a hold of himself. ‘Yeah, I'm still here,' he said.

‘Hunter. He's
fine
. Now if you don't mind, we've got some serious things to be doin'. A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do. Might pay you to remember that.'

Trav leaned back against a nearby wall and chuckled. ‘No worries, McCauley. Take care of him for me, won't you? Until I can get there, that is.'

‘I'll take as good a care of him as I would me own grandson. That do ya? Now piss off. We got work to do and I'm guessing you've got a bit to be doing yourself.' The old man's laugh was wicked.

‘You spying on us?'

‘Me? Nooo. I'd never do that. Might take a bit of a look now and then, but I'd never
spy
. Leave all that mumbo-jumbo to young Billy.'

‘Thanks, Joe.'

‘For what?'

‘You know,' said Trav, trying to find the words. ‘Everything.'

‘Piss off, Hunter.'

‘I'm going.'

‘Good.' And the phone clunked in his ear.

So Billy was safe, and what's more he was still up there on McCauley's Hill, right where he was supposed to be. Travis didn't have to go searching high and low for Katrina and his son. He slid to the floor and closed his eyes. Sat there for a while, just breathing and thanking God it had all turned out all right.

It took a little time but another thought struck him. Something said on a night around a fire drum.
Forever is a long time to live with regret
. Wasn't that what old Joe said?

He stood up, stared hard at the phone. Thinking. Would the bloody thing work again, and did he remember the number to dial?

He picked up the receiver and breathed a sigh of relief when he heard the dial tone. He allowed his fingers to walk across the numbers of their own accord, trusting instinct and memory wouldn't send him wrong.

At the other end of the line a phone started to ring.

He counted under his breath.

One, two, three . . . He'd give it to ten and if no one answered he'd hang up.

On number eight, someone picked up the call.

Travis Hunter sucked in a breath.

‘Homeview Station,' said the deep male voice.

‘Danny? It's Travis . . .'

Epilogue

Six months later . . .

They were all gathered on McCauley's Hill. Deano and Cin had just arrived, the new dog they'd brought creating havoc with the party decorations Billy had put up. Streamers and balloons fastened at an ten-year-old's level were bliss for a four-month-old kelpie-cross. Joe could hear Billy's screams of laughter and knew disaster had struck without even looking along the verandah. The bang of a balloon confirmed it.

The occasion was Joe's ninetieth birthday. And they were having a barbecue to celebrate the occasion, much to the old man's feigned disgust and displeasure. But underneath it he was as happy as a pig in shit. He had them all together again. Over the last six months this group had spent time helping Tammy put Montmorency back to rights after the big flood. It was worth celebrating his birthday just to say thank you, especially since now he had a vested financial interest in the property. It was only right.

He rocked back in his chair and glanced across at Tammy, who was laughing at something Lucy had said to Alice. When had Lucy
not
had something ridiculous to say? But his niece was also sneaking glances down at Trav, who, ably assisted by Billy, was cooking the meat for lunch on a hotplate over a campfire. The girl was happy and that meant a lot to Joe. Ever since she'd accepted his offer of a financial partnership to save Montmorency, they'd been working hard to pull the old place back together. It had given him an inordinate amount of pleasure to see the old boundaries reinstated, with his place and Tammy's now rejoined as one working property.

The girl was doing a good job managing the lot. With Hunter's help of course. The former boundary rider had cut his dog trapping hours back to part-time in order to be a better father and farmer. He worked side by side with Tammy now and practically lived at Montmorency Downs. The ute was often there overnight. Billy was on his way to getting the whole Big Mac.

Funny how he'd mellowed in this last little while. Maybe it was turning nine decades old. But then, he admitted to himself, maybe it was his newfound partnership with Tammy. It'd helped him to let go of all the old hurts and feelings of betrayal and pain. He was happy to see the back of them really. They'd never done him much good anyway. And he couldn't help but quietly hope Tom was looking down approving of it all.

He gazed out across at his kingdom, his eyes lingering near the front fence on a small white cross emblazoned with the word BOOTS, before skipping across to the blue, hunched line of rugged mountains. They staggered drunkenly across the horizon, immense and solid in their intent to boundary this part of Gippsland from the rest of Australia. He took in the mid-afternoon blaze of sunlight that was spreading its rays out across Mount Cullen and the ranges beyond. It was dazzling when the sky did this. Like God was beaming down on his magnificent creation, saying, ‘Gee, look at this. See what I did, isn't it beautiful?'

His eyes then drifted out across the irrigated valley of Narree. After the flood receded, the open plains had slowly returned to their patchwork quilt of brilliant emerald green and rich brown. The river, like silver thread, winding through properties, made its way down to the sea. Joe sighed. Things were as they should be. Everything was in order. He felt . . . What? His thoughts fumbled for the word. He felt, well, content. He didn't think he'd ever experienced that feeling in his long life before.

His gaze then slipped back to the world that was Montmorency Downs – both the irrigated flats and McCauley's Hill now. And he could see the gate that led across the paddocks and down the hill to his old home, Tammy's place. The gate which, like many others on the hill, had for so long hung open, leaning sideways and naked. It was now standing proudly straight, closed and latched.

But hang on, someone was coming through it. Joe squinted his eyes, trying to see through what looked like a swirl of grey mist. It was a woman. He could see the outline of her dress. She undid the latch, let herself through. Closed it again. Then she turned and Joe caught his breath.

It was Nellie. A glint of white to the left and there was Boots, gambolling around at her feet just like in the old days, when she'd dig in the vegie garden beside the house.

And behind her came . . . Mae.

Walking towards him, through the long grass. She was smiling. Laughing. And there . . . Oh my Lord, there was Tom, his elder brother, like Joe had never seen him before. Tall, strong and erect, walking free of the shackles of responsibility. A smile on his face, striding hand in hand with his wife.

They were all still coming towards him as he sat in his chair. Not realising what he was doing, Joe got up and left the verandah, drawn by what, he didn't know. Maybe it was their smiles? Their beckoning arms? He walked easily down the steps and across the yard, through the paddock of long spring grass flowing like a river in the wind.

Nellie was now holding hands with Mae. They'd left Tom and Boots behind, waiting near a solid old fence post. Tom was throwing a stick to the dog and Boots was loving it, running backwards and forwards, bouncing and yapping. Only thing was, Joe couldn't hear the dog. Maybe he was too far away?

The women kept coming. Closer and closer, swinging their arms in an exaggerated way, giggling, hips swinging in perfect concerto, moving towards him. Then they were right there, in front of him. Smiling. Laughing. Nodding. Beckoning him to come.

‘Joe?' said Mae, in her beautiful, lyrical voice. ‘Joe!'

Then, ‘Travis! Luce! It's Joe, come quick!'

Joe looked around. Travis and Lucy weren't anywhere to be seen. What was Mae talking about? He looked back at the women. Gazed questioningly at Nellie. She was smiling. His wife indicated he should take Mae's offered hand while she took his other one and turned it over. Felt for his pulse.

‘Oh, Joe . . .' Mae said again.

It really
was
her, Joe thought in amazement. The voice rang with the seductive and unmistakeable tones of Mae Rouget. And it really
was
Nellie.
His
Nellie.

‘Oh Joe . . . Joe . . .' said Mae, repeating his name over and over. Like she couldn't believe he was really there. She smiled, held out her hand like he was a child. He looked to Nellie. She smiled too, her solid, wonderful, all-encompassing smile. She looked good. Happy. He held on to both women and the three of them turned and walked back across the grass towards Tom and Boots.

Tom grasped Joe around the shoulders and held him tight. Joe could feel his brother's weight against his chest. His brother's heartbeat strong against his body. There was no need to say a word. They stayed like that for a while and then Tom let him go. And finally the weight on his chest eased.

Joe stood back, rocked on his heels and looked around at all the people he had known and loved. He glanced down at Boots barking silently at his feet. Found his hand was still in Mae's. He studied hers for a moment. It looked a little different from the one he remembered, more tanned and firm and strong. She looked like she'd been working, wherever she'd been.

But Mae wasn't his wife, as much as, years before, he'd wished she'd been. She wasn't the woman who had shared his bed, put up with his cranky ways, made him the one true love of her life.

He glanced across at his Nellie . . . and his focus drifted back to the other hand still held in his. He gave the beautiful fingers of Mae Rouget one last gentle squeeze.

Then he let her go.

And felt something release from deep within.