Puppy Pie (28 page)

‘Who was that?'

‘Him upstairs,' Shirley sighs. She calls over to the others. ‘Ladies, the manager doesn't want to be disturbed for the rest of the day. We'll take his calls for him, whether they're urgent or not.'

‘I'd be more use on the farm today,' Gull says sullenly.

‘How come?'

‘Well the rest of the gang's harvesting. Now that Harry's awake, they want him to stay that way and …' Gull stops mid-sentence. ‘Harry's crop's still standing,' she says quietly, almost to herself. ‘And Harry's wide awake.'

‘Because he's not harvesting,' Shirley says.

‘No, I don't think that's it.'

‘What do you mean?'

‘Well you know how Harry falls asleep when he's harvesting and then he's knocked out for the rest of the day?'

Shirley nods.

‘But he's not. He's awake now. I mean, we can't risk Harry on the Harvester again. But I think the crop's still standing because the mites are losing their power. Their thirty days is almost up. Which means,' she says happily, ‘any crops still standing will continue standing until they're harvested.'

‘And that means,' Shirley adds, ‘we might just have a bumper crop after all.' She smiles broadly. ‘Because I know when Ted was calculating how much hemp we'd get in, he took it for granted that all the crops on all the farms would fall over. Everything seems to be coming together now.' Shirley sighs loudly. ‘But it still depends on this file.' Shirley's phone rings again and Gull wanders back to her desk.

I feel so helpless
, Gull sighs as she plops herself down in front of the computer.
I wonder how the gang's going with the harvest. And whether they can finish it before Saturday, just in case we lose the Folly
.

Grudgingly, Gull begins to play the game the bank manager has given her. ‘Child's play,' she grumbles as she hits Level 3 five minutes later. The morning drags for her. Whenever she thinks about leaving her desk, the bank manager seems to pop out of his office just at that instant and glance over at her. She keeps her head down as if totally intrigued by this new game, and after appearing three or four times, he closes his door firmly.

* * *

I wonder what Gull's doing right now?
Lucy thinks as she shoos away a dozen sticky flies.
And I wonder if she's thinking about us, out in the heat on the Harvester?

Back at the farm, Lucy, Jake and Tom are doing just as Gull imagines. The three of them are busy harvesting and loading their crop onto the truck.

‘Slow down everybody! The cavalry's arrived,' Jake sings out. ‘I've got some fresh Anzac biscuits. So, eat.' He pulls the ute up level with the Harvester and waves a cold bottle of water at Lucy and Tom.

‘Just in time!' Lucy yells above the noise of the Harvester. She has stopped at the end of the paddock while Jake and Tom watch the Harvester spill out its load into the back of the truck. Soon, the three of them are making sure none of the hemp has overflowed onto the ground.

‘No sleeping on the job today,' Tom says.

Lucy is the first to grab the bottle of cold water. She takes a long gulp, emptying half the contents. She hands it to Tom. As she watches her brother drinking, she frowns. Then her brow clears. ‘No wonder we're not tired.'

‘Why?' Jake asks, reaching into the ute for the Anzac biscuits.

‘Well isn't it about twenty-eight days since the mites invaded? I reckon they're becoming weaker. And maybe they've given up singing the crop to sleep because they're almost at the end their lifespan. '

‘Hey, maybe you're right,' Jake says eagerly. ‘That means we only need one person on the Harvester. So one driving the Harvester, one driving the truck. And maybe one back home doing the usual chores. Any volunteers, Tom?'

Tom looks at his siblings. ‘Guess it's cooler inside.'

They grin at him and nod.

* * *

Later that evening, the gang sits around the kitchen table eating as ravenously as wolf cubs.

‘When's Harry coming back?' Gull asks, twirling a piece of lettuce on the end of her fork.

‘Didn't say,' Lucy shrugs, picking up the dill pickle on her plate. ‘Just said he was going over to Jimmy's with Ted and he'd have dinner over there. And not to wait up for him: he could be late.'

‘But what's he doing?' Gull asks plaintively. ‘I mean, if it wasn't for us Harry wouldn't have all this information.' She shovels the lettuce leaf into her mouth.

‘You don't think he's holding out on us, do you?' Jake asks, rolling a cherry tomato along the table.

‘Maybe he doesn't trust us not to blab,' Gull says, raising her eyebrows.

‘Or maybe he's gone fishing again. Hope so, anyway,' Tom says as he tilts his chair backwards and forwards. ‘If only we had that … '

‘Don't say it,' Gull interrupts heatedly. Everybody stops moving.

Gull lets out an exasperated sigh. ‘Sorry,' she says quickly, looking down at her plate. ‘But I just don't want to hear the word “file” one more time. And yes, I know tomorrow is Friday, the last day and our last chance. But I can't do anything.'

Around the table, the gang falls silent. Vivid pictures of packing up, removalist vans and driving away from the Folly seem to fill the void.

‘Think I'll go to bed early,' Gull says looking up at the clock, which shows eight-thirty. She yawns expansively.

‘That's a good idea,' Lucy says quickly. ‘You've got a big day tomorrow, er … ' Her words hang in the air. ‘We'll clean up. It won't take long. You can have first shower. We'll be up soon.'

Slowly, Gull climbs the stairs.
I've failed
, she thinks as she treads on each stair.
I should have had that file open by now
.
It's probably too late to do anything now even if I could open it. And what if it's the wrong file after all?
Dragging herself into the bathroom, she turns on the shower. Ten minutes later, she's ready for bed. Just as she's about to climb in, she stops. Instead, she climbs up to the Folly and kneels down by the windowsill. A few minutes later, Useless pads up the stairs and sits down on his haunches beside her. Gull automatically reaches out to scratch Useless' ears.

Watching the sun on the horizon further out west, Gull stares out onto the farm, her arms resting against the windowpane. The farm stretches out before her. ‘I can see why you come up here, Useless,' she says quietly. ‘It's so peaceful and you can see all the comings and goings, and the sun setting way past the hemp. I reckon the gang'll finish the rest tomorrow. Just in time too before … ' Even with Useless, she can't bear to finish the sentence. Instead she sighs deeply. ‘Guess I'd better go to bed before the others come up. Don't really feel like talking to them at the moment: I just feel I've let everybody down, whatever they say to me.' Gull stands up and stretches. Useless yawns. ‘Know how you feel,' she says as she pats him.

On his own, Useless slumps down contentedly under the windowsill as the mites jump onto it.

Ma is ominously silent. The other mites lay low, waiting for Ma to prod them into action: they wait until they know what sort of mood she's in.

Finally, she begins to speak in a laboured undertone. ‘We've discovered the curse in the crop.' She stops for a moment. Then she continues, ‘And we've shown the family where it came from.' She pauses. ‘We've done as much as we can do. Unfortunately, we have to rely on the family to take the last step. It's a pity we have to rely on them. They're undisciplined, erratic and unpredictable just like all humans.' Again she pauses. ‘However, my purpose is to keep the Folly safe, and that's just what I'm going to do. This room,' she senses, ‘this Folly was built by Frederick Hepplewhite for me, and my descendants. I swear I'll keep it safe.' For a few moments, there's silence while the mites try to work out whether Ma's finished speaking or not. ‘And on Saturday,' she says finally, ‘we'll have front row seats courtesy of Useless,' she adds. ‘We'll hear the good, or bad, news firsthand. Then we'll know whether we can still call the Folly home.' With her final words, Ma sighs and expertly propels herself back onto Useless.

* * *

‘Useless! Stop it! Leave me alone,' Gull groans rolling over early the next morning. Insistently, Useless paws at Gull's bed. She opens one wary eye and glances at the clock. ‘Seven thirty already? No!' She buries her head under the pillow. Useless starts licking the arm that's hanging over the bed. Then another groan escapes her. ‘Oh, no, Useless, it's Friday. And my last day at the Bank.' Gull groans again. Suddenly, Useless barks once. ‘Alright, alright,' she snaps irritably. Gull looks over at Lucy's empty bed. ‘Guess Lucy left me to sleep in. She may as well seeing I'm being so useless. Oops!' She laughs. ‘Sorry Useless. Don't take it personally.'

Finally, Gull climbs out of bed, stretches and saunters up to the Folly. In the distance, she can see Harry's fire engine red Harvester toiling up and down, backwards and forwards. ‘They're already working,' she tells Useless who's followed her. ‘I'd better get going then. They probably don't want to face me this morning, seeing it's such a win or lose kind of a day. Don't blame them,' she says downcast.

Going into the bathroom, Gull washes and dresses for her last day at the Bank. The skirt looks clean and pressed. She takes it off the hanger in the bathroom, grabs a green t-shirt, and runs down the stairs.

On the table by Gull's plate are three little plastic pink pigs. On her plate beside the eggcup is a bulky envelope. She opens it. Inside, Gull finds another little pink pig. She reads the note in Lucy's handwriting. ‘We would like to invite the fourth sleepy, little pig to join us on the Harvester. You can join our sty any time.'

Underneath, Tom's scrawled, ‘Whether you bring home the bacon or not!!!'

And the three of them have signed it, ‘Your ever grateful cousins.'

Gull sits there smiling broadly. Forgetting about her egg and grabbing two pieces of toast, she gathers up the four little pigs and runs out of the kitchen, towards the Harvester, that is now heading towards the Folly. Tom and Lucy slide down from the Harvester as it pulls up with Jake at the wheel.

‘We didn't want to miss saying goodbye,' Tom says.

‘And good luck,' Jake calls out as he switches off the engine.

‘And don't forget to take the fourth little pig for extra good luck today,' Lucy says giving Gull a big hug. ‘After all, it is the Chinese Year of the Pig.'

‘And that's supposed to be all about prosperity,' Jake adds.

‘We looked it up,' Tom says. ‘We reckon you'll need something extra today.'

Gull blinks back grateful tears.

‘Look, we're going to carry our pigs around all day too. Just so you know we're thinking of you,' Lucy adds.

Gull swallows hard. ‘That's so nice,' she says as she hands a little pink pig to each of her cousins. In the distance, they see Shirley's car heading for the Folly. ‘Hop on, Gull, and I'll drive you back.' Needing no further encouragement, Gull climbs on to stand beside Jake as he guides the Harvester towards the end of the row nearest the Folly.

‘Well that's service for you,' Shirley laughs as she leans across the passenger seat and opens the car door for Gull. Gull scrambles in and spends the journey to town explaining about the four little pigs.

As they pull up outside the Bank, Gull turns pale. Shirley looks over at her and pinches her wan cheek. ‘Got my fingers and toes crossed for you,' she murmurs as they climb out of the car. And I'm crossing my eyes too, just in case.' Gull smiles. Walking into the Bank, Gull and Shirley sit down at their desks without saying another word.

‘It's your last day, isn't it Gull?' Gull can hardly raise a smile for Flora in her dress covered in purple irises she's so anxious. ‘Now, I brought you a cup of tea and a bickie, just what we all need first thing in the morning. Guess you'll be wanting to take up a career in banking after your stint here.' Gull looks at her shocked. ‘Only joking, Gull,' Flora says as she sets down the cup of tea on the desk. ‘Of course, you could always be a bank manager. Although I think that'd be just as boring,' she says as she walks back towards the teacups. Gull takes a sip of tea as she clicks on the “Flying Pigs”, trying to beat her time from the day before.

‘When will he leave? When will he leave?' Gull mumbles under her breath as she hits Level 4 thirty seconds faster than the day before. Half an hour later, Gull gets up from her desk and takes her teacup back to the sink and looks around.

‘What are you after, Gull?' Mary asks.

‘Oh, I was just wondering where all the printers are.'

Mary laughs. ‘There's just the one, Gull, for everyone. See? Around the corner from the urn.'

‘Oh, thanks,' she says and walks over to Shirley's desk. ‘Psst.'

Shirley looks up.

‘There's only one printer,' Gull whispers.

‘I know,' Shirley whispers back. ‘Why? What's wrong?'

‘That file,' Gull whispers. ‘I think it's going to be big. What if it's a really big file and it takes forever to print? I can't tie up the one and only printer, can I?'

‘Didn't think of that,' Shirley frowns. ‘Leave it with me. You just keep playing with the “Flying Pigs” and I'll work something out.' Gull walks back to her desk despondently.
It's like being in gaol,
she thinks to herself.
Bars on the windows, tellers behind bars. Yep, definitely gaol.
Gull puts her arms on the desk and rests her head on them.

‘Guess what?' Shirley smiles as she stops at Gull's desk.

Gull looks up bleakly. ‘What?' she asks now entirely bored.

‘Mary has just announced she's pregnant.'