Silver Clouds (28 page)

Tessa's eyes filled with tears. The Nullarbor people might be few, but their hearts were big and they would miss the old man as one of their own.

She set off in search of Brendan. She tried the bull yards – nothing. Then the horses. Still nothing.

The food area was crammed with the hungry and hungover, and she elbowed her way across the room, scanning the crowd. Nothing.

Next she tried the car park. It was filled with trucks waiting to take the animals back to their stations. There she saw him, leaning up against a float, talking to his father.

At first glance it looked like a normal conversation. But Tessa knew that first impressions weren't all they seemed. She watched carefully and noticed the tension in Brendan's shoulders and how his head was pushed forward towards Ray.

She strained, trying to hear what they were saying, but their voices were a low buzz.

Taking a deep breath, she ducked behind a trailer and walked nonchalantly towards them, keeping vehicles between her and them.

‘It was the wrong thing to do. Poor old bugger.' Brendan's voice was filled with anger.

‘Ah, piss off. You should have dealt with this long before now. You're just gutless.'

‘It was in hand. I kept telling you that.'

‘Well, it's done now. Finished.'

‘Bastard,' Brendan hissed.

‘Yeah, mate.' Ray's voice sounded carefree. ‘That's me. And you're my son, so you know what it makes you. Now 'cos I've fixed your last fuck-up, you make sure you get what you need out of that girl. That bloody old Violet definitely had something on me – you know she did. Get it and fix it.'

‘You know I've been trying. I searched last time I was there.'

‘Not good enough.'

There was the sound of boots on gravel. Tessa ducked down and peered through the wheels of the trailer. What? Tessa's mind whirled with confusion. At the same time, after hearing the anger between the two men, she was convinced Brendan had something to do with Joe's death. If he didn't, Ray must have.

Ray stalked past her hiding place. Now was her moment. She wished her heart wasn't pounding quite as fast. As she stood up she felt a wave of dizziness, but she took a breath and her head cleared. Nervously she started towards him.

‘Hi, Brendan,' she said, when she was within a couple of metres of him. The vehicle looked like it was the only thing holding Brendan upright. He had his head in his hands.

He looked up and saw her. A wave of conflicting emotions passed over his face before he settled on coldness.

‘What can I do for you, Tessa?'

‘Do you know Joe is dead?' she asked, facing him straight on.

‘Course I do. What about it?'

‘I just want to know what happened last night, Brendan. I don't think he fell.' Tessa felt the urge to take a step back from him, but she knew she had to hold her ground.

‘Are you saying you don't believe me?' said Brendan raising his voice as he drew himself up straight and looked her in the eye. ‘You reckon I hurt him?'

Tessa felt fear rush through her, but she couldn't stop now. She crossed her arms to hide her shaking hands. ‘I don't know, but I do know what I saw last night. I'm not stupid.'

‘Mate, you know fuck all. You know
nothing
!' he said moving towards her, his fist clenched. Fury was written all over his face. ‘You reckon you know what happened last night?'

This time, Tessa did take a step backwards. And another, and another, as Brendan advanced towards her. She felt her back run into the edge of the bullbar – she was trapped. Her stomach constricted, but she knew not to let the apprehension show on her face.

‘No, I don't know!' she said calmly, trying to pacify him. ‘I want you to tell me. I'm not doubting you, Brendan. I'm not, but I think you know more than what you told everyone last night.'

As Brendan came closer she smelt his sour breath, noticed his bloodshot eyes and felt the anger radiating from him.

‘It was pretty clear you doubted me last night. You couldn't wait to get away from me. I warned you. I
told
you I was a bad boy.'

Tessa's mouth fell open. ‘You
did
do something to Joe. I don't believe you. I thought you knew more than what you were telling.'

‘I did nothing to the old man. You hear me? Nothing.' He grabbed hold of her arm.

At that moment Harrison appeared from around the corner. ‘What's going on here?' he shouted as he grabbed Tessa by the other arm and pulled her behind him. ‘Got a problem, mate?' he said to Brendan.

Brendan blinked. His focus changed. ‘No problem here, mate.'

‘Didn't look that way to me. What is it with you bloody McKenzies? Just can't resist picking on a woman? Like father, like son. Get some fucking manners.'

‘And who made you king?' Brendan spat. ‘Anyone would think you're a bit keen on “the lady”. Or do you always play “knight in shining armour” when something's none of your business?'

‘Listen here,' Harrison said quietly. ‘I never knew what Violet saw in you and I don't know what Tessa sees in you. What I do know is, she was your only friend out here. You don't try to fit in, so you never will. Neither does your father. Your family's reputation goes before you, McKenzie, so you might as well leave now. And so help me, if I ever catch you or your bloody father terrifying another woman, I won't be responsible for what I do. Now go on, piss off.' He jerked his head towards the vehicles and stared Brendan down, until the younger man shook his head and moved off.

Harrison kept an eye on him until he was out of sight. Then he turned to Tessa. ‘Come on, let's go.' He gently took her by the arm and they strode back towards the camp.

‘Did you actually see Brendan do something to Joe?' Peggy looked hard at Tessa.

‘No, I didn't, Mum. I've told you all I saw. It's nothing other than a feeling I have. It's more that I think he knows more than what he's saying. Maybe he knows who did it.'

‘Well you need to tell the police. Let them judge whether the information is important or not. They've been asking questions of people all day. So after we've packed up here and said goodbye to Ryan and Marni, we'll go and tell them everything you saw.'

Tessa fiddled with the hem of her shirt, feeling torn. ‘I, um . . .'

‘Tessa, no matter what your relationship with him was, you need to talk to the police.' Paul's tone was no-nonsense. ‘And you should tell them what he did to you. It's clear he's a nasty piece of work and you'll just have to avoid him. I'm sorry, Tessa.'

‘I don't want to accuse him of anything. I just think there's more to Joe's death than a fall!'

‘If there is, I'm sure the police or the coroner or whoever will work it out. But that's why they need any information, no matter how small. After all, you loved Joe as much as the rest of us.' He patted her shoulder. ‘Thank goodness Harrison was close by.' He went back to packing up the transportable yards with Ryan.

Paul shook Ryan's hand as the women kissed goodbye.

‘Wishing you all the luck in the world, Marni,' Tessa said as they hugged. ‘I hope everything goes just the way you want it to.'

‘Thanks, Tessa.' Marni brushed away a tear and got into the car.

‘Take care.'

Ryan and Marni would drive to Kalgoorlie that night, then on to Perth the next day. They had no idea how long they'd be gone – a week or two, or three. The drive itself would take longer than a day.

Tessa couldn't help but feel, after everything that had happened, that a little baby would be a wonderful thing for the whole Mathison clan. She only hoped that if they ended up trying IVF that it would work.

It was dusk by the time Tessa and her parents left, joining the long line of car after car, and ute after ute, all leaving the Muster for another year.

She still felt sick, thinking she might have got Brendan into trouble. She hoped she'd been wrong. She tried to push it to the back of her mind.

Tessa, seated in the backseat, turned and looked behind her at the empty arena. Goosebumps crawled over her skin. The place was beautiful in the late sunlight, shrouded in dust. Beautiful and sad all at once.

Goodbye Joe
, she thought. Then, with conviction, she turned around and looked out of the front windscreen. Because no matter what had happened at the Muster – the sad things, the scary things, the fun things – she had found herself. She hadn't gotten drunk, she hadn't slept with anyone, she'd stood up to Brendan and helped Cally. All of these small things amounted to something big.

Violet had been right. Home was where you could heal.

Chapter 28

A week later, Tessa sat staring at the simple wooden coffin in the Kalgoorlie funeral home chapel. She brushed away a tear as Harrison spoke.

‘In closing, I'd have to say there was no one better with a horse. Joe's heart belonged to those creatures.' He turned to the coffin. ‘Mate, the place just won't be the same without you.'

Before making his way back to his seat, he stopped just for a moment to place his hand on the coffin.

As he sat down, Tessa, sitting in the pew behind, felt the urge to reach out and touch him, to offer some comfort. He had no one. Cally was conspicuous by her absence.

Harrison's face was more lined than she'd seen it in the short time she'd been reacquainted with him. Joe's death had affected many but, by the look of it, none more than him.

Finally the celebrant concluded the service and everyone moved to the outer room for morning tea. Tessa stood with her parents and one or two others, all Nullarbor locals. Many others milled around, talking.

‘Good old CWA ladies,' one man said as he bit into a piece of cake.

‘Yes, they know how to put on a top spread,' Tessa agreed.

‘Peggy! Paul! How are you both? Looking well as usual.' A man Tessa didn't know shook Paul's hand and took over the conversation.

Tessa wandered away to look at the photos on the wall. The low hum of voices and clinking of spoons against coffee cups soothed her sadness.

Harrison appeared with a coffee in hand. ‘Thought you might want to know the police haven't come up with anything. They can't charge anyone, can't prove anything. Joe had a stroke and that's the end of it.'

Tessa sighed. ‘I wish I got there just a minute or two earlier.'

Harrison shrugged. ‘But you didn't. Don't dwell on it. Maybe you weren't meant to.'

‘Rather profound of you, Harrison.' Tessa looked up into his face. She noticed for the first time the grey hairs at his brow line, but other than that, you wouldn't be able to guess his age.

‘Yeah, well. One of those sorts of days.' He took a sip of coffee then put it down on a side table and faced Tessa. ‘I've got an idea and I'm wondering if you'll help me with it.'

‘Really? Sounds interesting. Something for Cally?' Tessa hoped it wasn't shopping. She was itching to get home and stay there for a while. The last few weeks had had their fair share of excitement. ‘Where is she, by the way?'

‘At the School of the Air with her teachers. They're leaving in a couple of hours for a school trip. Going to Perth.'

‘Oh, she didn't mention anything.'

‘I think the Muster had been taking up most of her thoughts recently. And I didn't want her at the funeral, just when she was about to go away for a week. Thought it might be too unsettling.' He rubbed his face.

‘So, this thing you wanted help with?' Tessa asked curiously, shifting her weight from one foot to the other and adjusting her handbag.

‘I wanted to discuss it with you at the Muster, then Joe died and things just went downhill from there,' he explained. ‘Then I was going to organise to catch up a bit later, but I saw you with Brendan and, well, you know . . .' They hadn't spoken about the confrontation with Brendan McKenzie since it had happened.

Tessa screwed up her face. ‘Don't want to even be reminded,' she said, holding up her hand as if to ward off his words.

Harrison shrugged. ‘You're good at marketing?'

‘It's what I'm trained in,' she answered.

‘Do you think you could market something you didn't know much about?'

Tessa was puzzled. ‘I'm not sure what you mean. I mean, the principles of marketing are the same, whether you're selling cheese or pens. You have to make people want to buy whatever you're advertising.'

‘So you don't have to have an intimate knowledge of any industry to be able to promote it?' He handed his empty cup to the CWA lady who had come around with a tray. ‘Thanks,' he said and turned back towards Tessa.

‘No, it's all about research. If Fred Bloggs wanted me to sell his civil celebrant services, theoretically, I'd be able to.'

‘Right. That's what I was hoping to hear. Would you be able to come up with a marketing plan for our lambs?'

The request stopped Tessa in her tracks. It had been months since she'd even thought about marketing. On top of that, she sure as hell didn't know anything about selling wool.

She hedged. ‘That might be a little out of my league. There's been a lot of changes since I left the Nullarbor. I don't know anything about the wool industry these days.'

‘Not wool. Lambs. Meat.' Harrison looked disappointed. ‘I thought you'd like the challenge.'

‘I do!' She knew he was trying to appeal to her competitive side, but lambs? ‘I'll need a bit more information than just “lambs”!'

‘I want to sell the meat for the best price. It's that simple.' He shrugged.

‘Tell you what. I'll do a bit of research when I get home and try to come up with some information. If I think it's worth going on with I'll let you know.' She smiled. ‘But aren't you locked into selling them all at one time and that sort of thing?'