Silver Clouds (18 page)

Now she felt she had Ryan and Marni sorted, the two rings had taken over her thoughts. She'd looked at them every night, holding them and turning them over and over, willing them to talk, to tell her who they belonged to, what their story was. Had Aunty Spider had another love? Or did they relate back to ‘the secret'?

Apart from the family shots, the photo albums had contained only pictures showing the opening up of the station land on the Nullarbor. And as interesting as it was to read about the Afghan camel trains carting supplies and equipment to help develop the land, the newspapers hadn't contained any more information, other than a history. Spider's name hadn't been mentioned in any of the papers she'd looked through, nor the family name or that of the station. Zilch.

Tessa now knew that the cameleers had carted wool from the stations – all the stations, so that would have included her family's – down to the coast, near Esperance. The wool was floated out on barges to the ships and went to market by sea.

It made shifting wool by road train look fairly easy. People's ingenuity was amazing back then, she'd decided.

The previous night, Tessa had sat outside after Cally had gone to bed and watched the moon rise, trying to imagine what it would be like to be a pioneer of the Nullarbor or a cameleer. The newspapers had said the camel was the best vehicle for carting things. Their humps and long necks created all sorts of spots to tie the goods down and they could carry up to eight hundredweight. Not knowing how much that was, she'd looked it up and found it was more than four hundred kilos in today's measurements. It seemed the camels were really nothing but a walking road train! They were easy to teach and majestic – if slightly bad-tempered.

‘Tessa,' Cally's cautious tone interrupted her thoughts.

‘Hmm?'

‘You know the Muster is coming up in April?'

‘Sure do. If I remember correctly, you've talked about not much else since I've been here. There's only two more months to wait!'

Cally slid into her seat and squeezed tomato sauce onto her sausages.

‘I don't know how you can eat that when you could have gravy,' Tessa teased.

‘You know what I think?' Cally asked, looking serious.

‘Nope, but I'm sure you'll tell me. You're not exactly shy about speaking your mind.' She grinned, remembering Cally's yelled instructions about keeping her heels down and relaxing while Tessa attempted a slow walk around the yard on Whiskey's back. She'd tried to remember everything she'd learned as a child about riding horses but, afterwards, Tessa had to disagree with the old saying ‘It's like riding a bike – you never forget how to do it'. She'd felt nervous, like she was a million miles from the ground and completely out of control. She hadn't stayed on the mare's back for long. There was something just too scary about sitting on a moving mountain of muscle with a mind of its own.

‘I think you're running away from something.'

Tessa stiffened, amazed that an eleven-year-old kid could be so intuitive.

She took a sip of water. ‘You know what I think?'

A small smile played around Cally's lips. ‘Nope, but I'm sure you'll tell me!'

‘Cheeky. I think you wanted to ask me something about the Muster, so you should.'

Cally turned serious again.

‘I haven't got anything to wear.'

‘Ah.' Tessa took a scoop of the mashed potato. ‘But why do you need to wear something flash? It's just the Muster. From what I remember, everyone wears jeans and shirts.'

‘None of my shirts fit.' Cally flushed as she indicated to her chest.

‘Oh. Got you. Right. Well, that obviously means a shopping trip is in order, yeah? How about we check out the internet tonight and see if we can find something that suits. I'm sure some of the clothing companies mail out.'

‘Dad usually gets Peggy to take me shopping when we're in Kal or he'll take me and sit outside until I'm finished.'

‘Sounds like a dad! Well, eat up! Then we'll see if we can find some clothes that will make you Princess Cowgirl of the Nullarbor Muster. Thank goodness your internet is faster than the one at Danjar Plains!'

Cally giggled.

Two hours later, printed-out pages covered the table. There was a look of excitement on Cally's face.

‘Don't move,' said Tessa as she ran the measuring tape under Cally's armpits and fastened it just under her breasts.

‘Don't tickle!'

Tessa wrote down the measurement and checked the sizing on the printout. ‘Okay, I think you're a size eight in this shirt and you could probably get a size ten in that fleecy jumper, because you've still got heaps to grow. What colour did you want?'

‘I love that purple check shirt and white jumper, but the colour isn't very practical for out here.'

‘What about the dark pink one? It will go beautifully against your dark hair.'

‘Will that go with the shirt?'

‘Of course. Trust me! You've got the best fashionista on the Nullarbor helping you. You should see my wardrobe! I wanted to shop at Harrods when I was in London, but it was too expensive. That's one of the places where Princess Mary shops, you know.'

Cally made the appropriate noises and turned back to the computer screen and looked again at what they were going to purchase. She drew in a breath and smiled. ‘Wow,' she said softly. ‘I don't need to shop at wherever you just said. These are gorgeous.'

‘Come on you. You'd better get to bed otherwise your father will be very cranky with me when he gets home.'

‘I've missed him.'

‘I bet you have. You'll be the first one to hear the plane tomorrow! But it will be nice to have him back. Night, Cally.'

‘Night, Tessa. And thanks.' She stooped and gave Tessa a hug.

She hugged her back tightly.

Tessa watched as a kid on the brink of adulthood padded off in her teddy-bear pyjamas. Still so innocent. She hoped that the innocence was never touched, never broken. She sighed and went to turn the kettle on for a cup of tea before bed.

*

Sitting on the edge of the mattress, Tessa once again took out the rings.

There was a soft knock on the door. ‘Can I come in?' Cally asked.

‘Sure.'

‘Oh, wow! They're beautiful!' Cally sat down beside Tessa.

‘Mmm, they are. There's a story behind them, but I don't know what it is.'

‘Were they Aunty Spider's?'

‘I wish I knew. I found them at her house.'

‘Aunty Spider was so cool. She was like a really tough old outback lady with a bit of gypsy in her.'

Tessa stopped as she thought about that. ‘You know,' she said slowly, ‘you're right. Gypsy. That's a really good word. Not that she ever went anywhere. But it was like she travelled to heaps of places in her mind and never told any of us about it.' Tessa talked softly to herself while Cally waited without interrupting.

‘Anyway,' Cally said after a moment, ‘I just wanted to say thanks again.'

‘Oh, sweetie, you're very welcome. I hope you like the clothes as much, when they get here.'

‘Night.'

‘Night.' She looked back down at the rings. Gently tossing them in her palm, she walked to the window and looked out on the moonlit landscape. She thought again about the word ‘gypsy' then stared once more at the two gold bands.

Chapter 18

Twenty minutes earlier, Cally had heard the noise of a faraway engine and had rushed from the school room to scan the sky. Tessa had gone after her but was still searching for the plane when Cally had pointed and yelled: ‘There he is!' Following Cally's line of sight Tessa spotted a minute speck. Slowly it grew bigger and bigger.

Now, the wings wiggled from side to side and a beautiful giggle erupted from Cally. She put her arms above her head and waved them from side to side. The plane wings wobbled even more frantically. ‘See, Dad's saying hello!' she called above the noise.

The Cessna swooped towards the end of the runway and came in to land, throwing up a cloud of dust. Tessa glanced over at Cally, who was still jumping up and down and waving in excitement.

Harrison taxied over to the parking bay in front of the hangar and shut down the engine. The propeller jerked to a halt.

Cally rushed over to the plane. ‘Hi, Dad,' she shouted and threw her arms around Harrison before his feet had even touched the ground.

Tessa couldn't hear what he said, but his tone was tender. She slung her overnight bag over her shoulder then picked up the box of newspapers and photo albums. It was much lighter – the papers that hadn't held any clues were now in Cally's chook shed, making nests for the layers.

‘Hi, Tessa,' Harrison called. ‘Ready for home?'

‘Hi, Harrison! Where do you want these?' she said, gesturing towards her luggage.

‘I'll stick them in the hold. Cally, you going to come for a fly?' he asked.

‘Yeah! Do you need to refuel?'

‘Nope, I've still got three-quarters of a tank. Let Tessa in the front – I'll take her for a quick sightsee as a thank you. In you hop.'

Cally climbed over the front chair and settled in the back, clipping her seatbelt on like a pro. Tessa felt irrationally pleased to be promoted to the front seat, and found herself blushing, just a little.

‘Everyone right?' called Harrison, shutting his door, and checking Tessa's side and her seatbelt. When the chorus of ‘yes' came back, he hit the key and the plane shook as the engine kicked into life.

The warmth of Harrison's body as he leaned close made Tessa react without thinking. He smelled so good and, really, he was quite handsome, if you ignored the fact he was forty – sixteen years older than her, practically ancient and wearing a ridiculous sparkly hat.

His eyes caught her, this time, as he made contact to check she was okay. They were a sapphire blue and had a hypnotic feel to them. Tessa found it hard to look away.

Oh, for fuck's sake, Tessa
, she berated herself.
It's not so long since you've been in male company that you need to go weak at the knees just because some old fart might give good cuddles and smells nice!
She reddened, hoping no one could read her mind. Sometimes it felt as though your innermost thoughts could be heard in these little planes.

Harrison turned them towards Balladonia and Danjar Plains to the south-east. With her nose pushed against the plastic, Tessa drank in the sights. She couldn't help but smile because she felt so free.

‘See over there?' Harrison leaned towards her, shouting over the noise of the engine and pointing out the window. ‘That's Newman's Rocks.'

She looked where he was indicating but was distracted by his hands. Rough, calloused hands with dirt ingrained in the skin, but she was sure they were gentle.
Stop it, NOW
.

She concentrated on looking to where he was pointing. A large granite rock jutting out of the otherwise flat landscape came into view. She could see water in the crevices and a couple of camper trailers parked under some trees.

‘Are they allowed to camp there?' she asked.

‘Yeah, it's pretty popular 'cos of the water and scenery. On dusk you can see wedge-tailed eagles and kangaroos, emus and all sorts of wildlife coming in to drink. Brumbies come and without a doubt a dingo or two will be hovering in the background looking for some easy pickings. Whether or not the campers ever see them depends on how observant they are.'

Tessa shuddered at the mention of the dingo.

Harrison talked on. ‘The Nullarbor seems to be a wild frontier that the grey nomads need to cross and see. Once they've done it, it's almost like they get a feather in their cap or something.' He sounded half-disgusted and half-amused that his backyard was seen as the wild frontier.

A little while on, he spoke again. ‘Down there to the right? That's Afghan Rocks. You know the story?'

Tessa looked down. Tall trees surrounded a pool of water. She racked her brains. She couldn't think of any stories about Afghans other than what she'd read in Spider's newspapers. She didn't think she'd even been to the spot. She shook her head. ‘I know I might seem ignorant, but even though I spent all my primary school years here, once I left, I only came back on holidays. I wasn't into doing things with the family, more listening to music and stuff. Maybe I missed out on a lot the Nullarbor had to offer.'

‘I think it was in 1894, there was a pack train of camels camped at the water hole. Even though it's seasonal, everyone knew they could get water there and so, as the Nullarbor opened up, it was a popular camping spot for all the camel trains and other explorers. Anyway, this camel man wanted to have a bath and went for a dip. But the waterhole was beginning to dry up and the Australian blokes who had pulled up with a bullock team knew it was important to keep the water as clean as they could for the coming summer. Of course, the Afghan bloke had every right to wash himself – as everyone did! But instead of taking a bucket, scooping some water out and then using it, he actually went out into the pool. There of course was some talk it was a religious rite, but the others didn't see it that way.

‘One of the bullockers told him to get out, that he was contaminating the water. The Afghan told him to get nicked.

‘There was a bit of yelling and what not, then the Afghan threw a stone that hit the other fella in the face. He didn't like that so he took out his gun and shot the bloke. Killed him.'

‘Oh yeah, I think I remember Spider telling me something like that. But . . .' She stopped to think. ‘Weren't there other Afghans there? And they threw the stones? I seem to remember they were the ones who were killed, but the one who'd gone into the pool was wounded.'

‘There's that version too, only he died later.'

Tessa looked back down at the coffee-coloured rocks. They stretched over a large area, acting as a catchment. The plane was so low she could see the reflections of the trees in the water and the small bushes that poked up from little pods of dirt in the middle of the rocks. It was a beautiful area but with a haunted past.