Silver Clouds (6 page)

For the fifth time, Harrison dialled Tessa's number. Again it went straight to message bank.

‘Damn. Where on earth is she? She should have been here an hour ago.' He glanced down at his watch again.

‘Well, if she isn't here soon, we won't get home, Dad. The light won't hold out.'

‘You don't have to tell me, sweetheart.'

Cally grinned at him and poked out her tongue. As childish as it seemed, Harrison was pleased to see it. He returned the gesture. The shopping trip had been awkward for them both, but by the end of it he thought it just might have brought them even closer than before.

‘I'll go for a wander through the main terminal and see if I can find her. Will you stay in case she comes?'

‘No worries, Dad.'

Inside the terminal, Harrison had to walk slowly and stop to look at each person. Even though he'd told Cally he'd have no trouble recognising Tessa, he wasn't so sure. He hadn't seen her since Kendra Jackson's accident, which must have been nine years ago. He knew she had returned briefly, two years later, but the visit hadn't gone well, stirring up too many memories and much hurt. Violet had told him sadly Tessa had sworn never to come back. It seemed that Tessa wanted to cut all ties with Danjar Plains. Which was just silly, he reckoned. Home is where you
can
heal. He of all people knew that.

He gave a cursory glance over the bar then kept going. Nothing. Once again he tried to phone her mobile while checking the arrival information screen for her flight. It had definitely landed.

Looking around, he wondered if he could ask someone to check the Ladies, but the only people in sight were behind the check-in desk. He knew they wouldn't be able to help.

It was on his second round of the terminal he heard someone speaking in a voice that combined panic and agitation.

‘Please, Jaz! I desperately need you to find out for me.' Silence. ‘But you're still in London, I'm not. It's got to be someone we know, and you've got a much better chance of finding out than me.'

Looking around, Harrison searched for the owner. Then he did a double-take. It was Tessa, but a Tessa he barely recognised. Harrison recalled a fresh-faced girl, with shoulder length, wavy dark hair, not spikes so sharp they looked like they'd prick you. The healthy, happy glow she'd once had was buried under heavy makeup. Thin and drawn, her face was set in anger and distress as she spoke to whoever was on the end of the phone.

This was some citified version. A sharp-tongued, rude version. A type he knew instantly he wouldn't like. He'd come across these types of women in the boardroom before. They'd eat you up and spit you out as quick as look at you.

‘Jaz, I so need your help . . .'

He went up to her and put his hand on her shoulder.

She started and looked up at him. But instead of happy recognition Harrison saw stress and misery.

‘Sorry, I just need to finish this call,' she said and turned away and continued the conversation.

Even though he'd half-expected it, her answer took Harrison aback. He opened his mouth, then shut it again and moved a little way off. Clearly there was a problem.

Tessa lifted the phone back to her ear. ‘How am I supposed to know? I don't even know how long I'm going to be stuck here! But there's nowhere else to go. That's why I'm asking you to find out, Jaz. I'm not going to have any internet access, no mobile phone. I'm in the middle of nowhere and it feels like my life is falling apart what with Aunty Spider dying and now this. Bloody trolls.'

Harrison frowned at her tone. Anger had turned to desperation. This certainly wasn't the Tessa he remembered. She'd never been foul-mouthed or rude to other people. She'd been one of the sweetest kids. But then again, what the hell would he know?

Glancing at his watch, he knew that if he wasn't off the ground in forty-five minutes, he wouldn't make it home. And he had to be there tonight.

‘Tessa, I'm sorry to disturb you,' he said, moving towards her.

‘Hold on, Jaz,' said Tessa, turning to look at him. ‘I'm sorry. This is a really important phone call.'

As her words washed over him, so did her breath, which smelt of stale booze.

‘I'm sorry,' said Harrison, ‘but your parents asked if I could pick you up and fly you to your great-aunt's funeral. And unfortunately we're behind schedule already.'

Tessa hesitated, clearly put out, then lifted the phone back up to her ear. ‘Jaz, I have to go, but please,
please
find out for me.' She pushed the phone back into her handbag. ‘Right, then. Sorry I guess we better get going.'

Harrison nodded. ‘Yeah, we're late already. If we don't go now we won't make it back before dark and I won't be able to land. You may not remember, but there aren't any lights on the strip at Danjar Plains,' said Harrison, then turned away, leaving Tessa to follow with her bag.

Harrison had planned to put Tessa in the front seat of the plane. But the token ‘hello' she gave to Cally annoyed him even more than her earlier behaviour so, defying all weight protocols, he put her in the back seat. She could stew there on whatever was bothering her.

Chapter 6

The familiar homestead and out-buildings came into view. Tessa felt her throat constrict and goosebumps crawl over her skin, but she couldn't contain her desire to look. What was it like now? What had changed?

She peered out the window to get a glimpse of the sheds below. There was Aunty Spider's house and the road that wound its way through the bush to the homestead. The shearing shed roof announced in large black letters that the station was Danjar Plains. She spotted the machinery shed. It was all so familiar, and yet so removed from the life she lived now. Then she saw the homestead windmill where Kendra had died, and she quickly looked away. The memories were just too frightening.

As they prepared to land she kept her eyes on the airstrip. There was the old ute – that Toyota must have driven a million kilometres by now! Her mum was in the back, doing a two-arm wave. And there was her parents' new four-wheel-drive. She could see her dad and Ryan standing by the tray, faces tilted towards the sky.

‘Hello everyone,' Tessa whispered, her hands pushed against the window. ‘I'm home.'

Harrison landed the plane smoothly just as the sun was about to disappear. It was the time Spider had called ‘bank review hour', when the station looked its best. ‘Show them around at dusk and they'll lend you the extra money you need,' her aunt had always joked. At this time of day, when the sun slowly slipped to the edge of the world, the golden rays reflected off the sheds, ground and plants and seem to hang in the air. It displaced the harshness of the land. Then the colour of the surrounding country turned deeper and the air grew still, so that even the hardest souls fell in love with the place.

For a moment Tessa wondered why she'd ever left. But then images of Kendra flashed through her mind.

The plane had come to a stop and Paul, Peggy and Ryan ran over to meet them.

‘Darling!' Peggy held out her arms as Tessa clambered from the plane.

‘Mum! Dad!' She raced for the comfort of their hugs and fell onto them. She felt her dad kiss her head and inhaled the smell of her mum, which, as ever, was of eucalyptus and earth.

‘Hey! What about me?' Ryan pushed his way in and she turned into his embrace. ‘Good to see you, kiddo. Marni isn't well, otherwise she would have been here, too.'

Surprised, but not really, by another sting of tears, Tessa tried to laugh. ‘Enough with the kiddo bit! I'm a fully grown adult!'

‘Man, listen to your accent. You sound English. Are you putting that on just for us?' Ryan teased.

‘No! No, I'm not. It's just the way I talk.'

‘Well, you sound like you should be dining with the Queen rather than hanging around a bunch of bushies in the middle of nowhere.'

Regret shot through her when she heard the phrase Ryan used. Had Harrison called ahead and told him what she'd said? She hoped not. She glanced over at him, but his face was set like stone. She didn't really remember him that well. He seemed grim and distant, a stranger. His daughter seemed nice enough, though. She smiled a lot. Harrison didn't. She remembered his wife had died when Cally was young, so maybe he was bitter and twisted. Shame really, she thought. And what was with the glittery hat!

She turned her attention back to Ryan. ‘Well, the Queen was all booked up this evening, so you lot will just have to do.' Looking down the strip she noticed that her aunt's bicycle wasn't leaning against the fence post and the full ache she'd experienced in London flared as Violet's death hit her once more. Being
here
made it inescapable. Spider wasn't around anymore.

‘It's really true, then?' she asked, staring at the empty spot. ‘She's gone?'

Her father gripped her hands. ‘She's gone. But she hasn't, really. She'll be up in the gum trees keeping an eye on us. Heaven forbid if we do something wrong. She'll probably come to haunt us!' He gave a small, sad smile. ‘I'm sure she knew you'd come home.'

Tessa stood silently, looking into her father's face, searching for his meaning.

He just nodded. ‘It's good to see you here.'

‘Come on,' Peggy urged. ‘Let's get you back to the house and settled in. You've been travelling for nearly two days. You must be exhausted! Come on, Cally, you too. I bet you're tired after your exciting day in Kalgoorlie.' She swung her arms around the two girls and helped them into the four-wheel-drive.

When the men had loaded the luggage and supplies into the back of the old Toyota the procession slowly set off through the balmy evening air.

To Tessa, it seemed that Danjar Plains hadn't changed in the whole time she had been gone. The winding track to the homestead was still bumpy. The mallee trees still looked silver in the half-light, their spindly branches stark against the darkening sky. Spinifex lined the ground, and dust hung in the air behind the vehicles.

They passed the small family cemetery and Tessa spotted the freshly dug grave and the backhoe parked discreetly behind some bushes. She quickly closed her eyes and counted slowly to twenty. It should be a safe distance behind her now.

Peggy tooted the horn as they passed Ryan and Marni's donga. Tessa waved in case her sister-in-law was looking out of the window.

When her old home came into sight her lips formed a smile. How Peggy managed to keep the garden so lush Tessa had no idea. Drifts of pink geraniums were visible, despite the evening gloom, and the lawn looked like an English meadow. The weatherboard house looked much the same but had aged. The corrugated tin was lifting slightly at the edges and the outside needed a paint.

Still, it was home.

‘Wow, Mum! Everything looks fantastic!'

Peggy leaned over and patted her knee. ‘It's so good to have you here, love.'

For the first time in many months, Tessa ate steak and salad. As insects committed suicide on the gas light, she laughed with her family and told stories about things that had happened in London. She didn't mention recent events, and stopped herself when her hand strayed to her phone to check her emails or Facebook.

The wine and beer flowed freely. Tessa wouldn't have to hide her drinking tonight, at least. She could just let her hair down and be free. It was a good feeling.

But there was an empty chair at the table and every time the door opened, she looked for Aunty Spider. Somehow none of the stories Tessa told felt quite complete without her aunt's probing questions or funny one-liners. Spider always seemed to get more information than Tessa ever planned to give. In which case, perhaps it was a good thing she wasn't there this time.

The wine also helped dampen the fear Tessa felt every time she looked towards the house paddock and windmill and remembered the last time she'd seen her friend Kendra.

Gradually, one by one, the family and guests headed off to bed until there was only Peggy and Tessa left. ‘So how are you
really
, darling?' Peggy asked. ‘It sounds like things are just wonderful over there.'

‘Everything is fine, Mum,' Tessa lied. ‘I'm happy and have made so many friends. Work is challenging. It tests me to my limits, but I like that. It's good to keep busy.' She fiddled with her shorts and then looked up in time to see a concerned look flash across Peggy's face.

‘Yeah,' Peggy said quietly. ‘Keeping busy helps keep the memories at bay.' She reached across the table and took Tessa's hand. ‘When do you have to go back?'

‘Um, Darcy said I could have as long as I needed.' Even though there had barely been any time to digest Darcy's email, the embarrassment of telling her parents was right up there with letting Aunty Spider down. She'd hoped it wouldn't come up so soon, because she really hadn't given any thought to what she would say, or what excuses she would give. It was obvious she couldn't stay here indefinitely, but unfortunately there was nowhere else to go.

‘Well,' her mother said, rising. ‘It will be lovely to have you for as long as we can.' She yawned. ‘I'd better go to bed. Such a lot to do tomorrow.'

‘What time will everyone be arriving on Saturday?'

‘Oh, you know what they're like. Some will turn up first thing to help; some will come just in time for the service. Ryan and Dad dug the grave this morning – you would've seen that coming in – so, really, other than cooking and setting up the chairs for afterwards, there isn't much else to do.'

Tessa smiled sadly. ‘Did you have to get permission to bury her out here?'

Peggy let out a small laugh. ‘It was all done. Spider had organised everything. As you'd expect. She left a letter. Would you like to read it?'

‘Her will?'

‘No, just telling us what she thought about us and what she'd organised.'