Читать книгу From Orchards to Outback - Tracey Friday - Страница 8

Maggie had been too excited to sleep and wanted to savour her last night at sea. She ventured up to the top deck and found several of her fellow passengers were doing the same. On the whole, the journey hadn’t been too kind to her as she had wrestled with severe seasickness, and it was only recently that she had begun to feel a whole lot better.

She watched as the ship slowly approached land just prior to sunrise. The dock itself was a bustling hive of activity and she marvelled at the ship’s crew as they dropped anchor and the dockers smoothly secured the ship to the wharf. When the unloading began with the steady barrage of all types of cargo, she returned to her cabin to select her outfit for disembarkation.

Maggie had met some lovely people onboard and had bid fond farewells to her fellow shipmates the previous evening. Quite a few of them were ready to begin a new life in Australia without knowing where they would end up; prepared to start out in whatever migrant hostel was allocated to them. She had counted her blessings on the voyage for already having secured a job and accommodation.

She glanced around her cabin to make sure she hadn’t left anything behind and wondered if she would ever walk in a straight line again after the rocking and rolling of the sea. She felt like a coiled spring and ready to continue her adventure.

With the final disembarkation checks completed and documents verified via the authorities, Maggie hoisted up her suitcases and proudly stepped through the huge dockside building and straight into a blaze of sunshine.

“Maggie?” a voice called.

She turned and a woman who appeared to be in her mid-fifties stood smiling.

“Mrs Heppler?” she asked.

“I knew it was you the second I saw you,” the woman exclaimed, as she warmly embraced Maggie as if she was a long lost relative.

“Mrs Heppler, lovely to finally meet you after all this time.” Maggie returned the embrace. Any doubts she had had at that point disappeared instantly. She knew she had made the right decision. Mrs Heppler then picked up Maggie’s suitcases and walked off in the direction of the McKinnley Station vehicle. Maggie followed, while studying the woman who was more or less as she had pictured from their correspondence over the years.

They were the same height at five-feet two, half pint, her father had called her, and Maggie smiled at the memory. Mrs Heppler had a robust stature and a gentle but weathered face. She wore a huge wide brimmed hat, a flowery summer dress and enclosed sturdy shoes.

Maggie had changed her outfit more times than she cared to remember before she left her cabin, finally choosing a plain, light blue summer dress and sandals. Looking at Mrs Heppler, she chastised herself for not wearing a hat. Everywhere she looked she saw people wearing hats and knew that had to be one of the first purchases she would make. In the meantime, she was thankful for her sunglasses, as the sun was piercingly bright.

“Righto Maggie,” said Mrs Heppler, as she loaded and secured the suitcases in the back of the truck. “Let’s get us back to the city where we can check into the bed and breakfast, then we’ll go for a little walkabout to stretch those sea legs of yours.”

“Sounds perfect Mrs Heppler, thank you.” Maggie climbed up into the truck. It was like an oven inside the cab, despite the windows being down and she bolted upright from the stinging heat of the seat against the back of her legs.

“You’ll get used to that, love.” Mrs Heppler couldn’t help but chuckle. “Mostly we’ll wear long pants, so it won’t be a problem. Righto, here we go. Wonder how long it will take us to get out of here? Damn busy today.”

An hour after Maggie had disembarked, they were driving out of the port and then twenty minutes later they were in the heart of Fremantle heading towards their accommodation.

“It is so good to see land again, after all that time at sea,” said Maggie, thoroughly enthralled by the shops and the architecture. She was looking forward to staying in the city for another few days before they ventured out to McKinnley Station.

“Yes, dare say it is. Can’t imagine it out there with nothing but water. The heat will take a while to get used to,” said Mrs Heppler, as she quickly glanced at Maggie who was fanning herself and swatting at a few flies to no avail. “There’s plenty of water in the basket by your feet. You need to keep hydrated, always remember that.”

“Yes, I think I’ll have some now.” Maggie reached for a bottle. “Do you do this trip into the city often?” she asked, after taking a few gulps of warm water.

“Every few months or so, give or take. My daughter, Emily lives here with Slimeball…”

“Pardon?” said Maggie, replacing the screw cap on the bottle.

“Do you know… I’ve forgotten his name? It’ll come to me. Ha, that’s funny! I call him Slimeball and when you meet him Maggie, you will know why. It breaks my heart seeing my Emily with him, and while I don’t condone living in sin, they aren’t married you see, that gives me hope that she will come to her senses. I’d do anything to get her away. But, it is her life and choice. She prefers city life to the outback, so when I come into the city to get supplies, I like to spend some time with her.”

“That must be quite a worry for you.” Maggie looked at her new friend with concern.

“It bloody well is. Sorry, pardon me. I swear on the odd occasion, it’s just my way. So, I’ll say sorry now for all future ones and be done with it, alright with you Maggie?”

Maggie smiled in acknowledgement. “Fine by me Mrs Heppler,” she said, beginning to love Mrs Heppler’s up-front character.

“So, I pray that one day she will change her mind and come and live on the Station…” Mrs Heppler paused to get her emotions under control, then said brightly, “righto, from here in Fremantle we’ll drive to Burston, which is about a day’s drive away. Then we’ll load up on supplies before heading out on a two day drive to McKinnley Station, depending on how many breaks we take. To give you an idea on distance, it’s roughly two hundred miles from here to Burston then it’s another four hundred miles to McKinnley, six hundred all up. How’s that for a trip to the shops?” she laughed. “The trip can be done quicker if needed, but I prefer to keep all the wheels on the truck and arrive in one piece.”

“I knew it was vast out here but that puts things into perspective. Bit different than me walking into the village for groceries.” Maggie tried to swat a few more flies.

“Norman! That’s Slimeball’s name. Norman. Knew it was in here somewhere.” Mrs Heppler tapped her temple. “Yes, it is vast out here, but it’s not too bad Maggie. Like all new things, you get used to it… the flies being one,” she smiled. “We are mighty lucky to have you come and work with us. It’s as if we all have known you for a very long time.”

“Thank you and likewise. I look forward to meeting Emily; it will be nice to make a new friend as I am already missing Sally… SALLY!” exclaimed Maggie.

“What?” gasped Mrs Heppler, as she rammed on the brakes thinking there was an alarm of some sort and thankful there wasn’t a car behind.

“Goodness, with all the excitement I clearly forgot that I have a handful of letters to post to her. I also promised Mr Dwyer, the village postmaster. Sorry, of course you know Mr Dwyer being Mr McKinnley’s cousin. I said to Mr Dwyer that I would post him a letter saying that I had arrived safely, and he was going to forward on all the news.”

“Crikey, love. Thought there was an emergency.” Mrs Heppler put her foot on the accelerator and they were off again. “Don’t you worry, all taken care of. Sorry, I should’ve told you before, Mr McKinnley has given me money for you to send a telegram to Mr Dwyer. So much quicker than them awaiting a letter that, God forbid, may go astray. It’s early closing today so the post office won’t be open until the morning. We’ll get your stamps and send the telegram first thing. Okay by you, Maggie?”

“Thank you, Mrs Heppler.” Maggie sighed with relief. “That’s very generous of Mr McKinnley, but it will cost a fortune. I will repay him of course.”

“No need love, Mr McKinnley insists and that’s the end of it,” she said as she swung the truck into a parking space. “Righto, let’s get you inside.”

After they had checked into the modest bed and breakfast and unpacked a few things, they met in the small reception area.

“Let’s go for a walk. Feel good with feet on the ground?” asked Mrs Heppler.

“Oh yes, I can now keep going without turning a corner or doubling back down the deck.” Maggie smiled as they walked along the green leafy residential streets.

“That must have been strange. I know I said it before, but I cannot imagine all that water around you, particularly as I’ve spent all my life inland.”

“Me as well, it took some getting used to, but you adjust to your surroundings.”

“Yes, I suppose you do.” They approached a small tea shop on the fringe of a parade of shops. “Fancy a little light refreshment?”

“Sounds perfect, Mrs Heppler.”

As they walked into the quaint shop a familiar ‘ding’ of the bell over the door reminded Maggie of Mr Dwyer’s post office. The two women sat and talked over a pot of tea, sandwiches and slices of fruit cake about the journey and various topics. To anyone observing, it would have looked as though they had known each other for years. Maggie felt it was a sure sign of a good friendship to come.

“Still cannot grasp the fact that you have travelled thousands of miles to get here. And on your own,” said Mrs Heppler, as she tucked into another sandwich.

“I know, it was definitely an experience. This will make you laugh, when I was five Mr Dwyer gave me this.” Maggie opened her pendant to show the koala four-penny stamp. “I couldn’t comprehend the distance and I asked him if Australia was near Maidstone, which was the largest town and the only far-away place I knew from where we lived in Marden. He was gracious about it and said that Maidstone was around eight miles away and that Australia was thousands of Maidstones away.”

“Aww that’s sweet. I’ve read many of his letters that we received at the Station over the years, he seems a nice man.” Mrs Heppler dabbed her lips with a cotton serviette.

“Yes, he is. And he was right about the distance.” The two women laughed. “This stamp was the start of my journey to being here,” said Maggie. “I was obsessed with it right from the start and now it has come full circle. There’s just one thing remaining though…”

“And what may that be?”

“I would love to see a real koala. Are there any around here?” she asked.

“Ah, no. Sorry Maggie. They need eucalypt to survive and we don’t have any here.”

“Pity. Perhaps one day if I have the opportunity to travel around…” she smiled as she took a sip of tea.

“Perhaps. Your accent is so lovely, my Emily will love it too and everyone on the Station.”

“I’ve never had that said to me before. Yours is pretty nice too. Where does it come from, if you don’t mind my asking?”

“I don’t mind, ‘take as you find’ is my motto and don’t ever forget that Maggie. I may sometimes come across as a gruff and stern old bird at times, but I say as I see fit, no point in mucking about. Life’s too short and all that. My family emigrated from Germany in the late 1800s and even though I was born here, I have a trace of an accent due to my grandparents living with us. If you listen carefully to Emily, you may notice a slight twang too.”

Maggie was suddenly overcome by tiredness as she had a burst of yawns.

“Sorry, Mrs Heppler, must be the humidity that’s making me tired.”

“It’s alright, love. You may not love it, but you will get used to it. The journey alone out to the Station will be even more tiring and at times the weather will be too much of a bugger. That’s why we tend to get up between four-thirty and five each day to beat the sun and work before the heat strips your back.

“Sometimes in the summer months there is absolutely nowhere to escape...” She stopped abruptly when she saw the look of horror on Maggie’s face. “Sorry Maggie, was that a bit too much for the first day? You’ll take things in your stride, I’m sure. We’re not completely prehistoric,” she laughed, “we have ceiling fans, so you can keep reasonably cool. Didn’t mean to scare you, love.”

“I’m tougher than I look Mrs Heppler,” said Maggie, unconsciously fanning herself with the teashop’s menu as they broke into laughter when they realised what she was doing.

Maggie slept solidly that night, but she still felt her body swaying faintly, making her slightly nauseous. A steward from the ship had warned her that this could happen and was a normal reaction that would soon pass.

Mrs Munday, the bed and breakfast proprietor, had made up a picnic hamper as requested and also lent them a blanket. Maggie felt better after their breakfast of eggs, toast and tea and then they walked to the general store for Maggie to buy herself a sunhat. When the post office opened she purchased stamps to post all the letters that she had written to Sally onboard and also bought extra stamps for future letters. Maggie also sent her telegram to Mr Dwyer and kept it brief, knowing that it was expensive. She hadn’t ever known anyone who had sent a telegram before and felt quite important in doing so. She decided on: ‘Arrived safely. Very hot here. Letters posted. Missing you all. Love Maggie.’