Читать книгу From Orchards to Outback - Tracey Friday - Страница 9

“I’m so looking forward to meeting Emily,” Maggie said cheerfully as they turned into the road. She hated to judge quickly but she did not get a good feeling about the house that suddenly came into view.

“You will be good friends, I can tell,” said Mrs Heppler. “Do you know that, in the beginning, I actually liked Norman when he wasn’t a Slimeball. Despite him being much older than Emily, he treated her right and they were happy. Things started to turn when he lost his job as a travelling salesman, Emily wouldn’t say why, so it was obviously bad. He was turfed out of his place when his landlord found out that he couldn’t pay the rent, so he moved in with Emily. Then her landlord found out and turfed them both out for breaking the tenancy agreement. Then they found this place.” Mrs Heppler pulled up outside the small shabby looking house that had seen far better days. “Don’t think the landlord here could find any bugger willing to take it on for a long time, so he turned a blind eye to the absence of a wedding ring. I suspect there is more to the story but that’s as far as I’m told.”

The man angrily opened the door and Maggie instantly sensed that he was dangerous. It was the oddest thing because his clothes were neat, clean and tidy but he himself looked quite dishevelled. He was tall and slim with greasy dark hair and it looked like he hadn’t shaved in days. His eyes were slate grey, cold and sharp. Without saying a word, he looked daggers at Mrs Heppler and hungrily up and down at Maggie, who now knew that Mrs Heppler’s pet name for him was apt.

Mrs Heppler had told Maggie earlier that Emily was becoming a shadow of her former self. “It breaks my heart,” she had said. When Maggie saw the young woman moving furtively to the door she knew what Mrs Heppler meant.

“Emily, get your jacket. Maggie and I are taking you out for the afternoon.” Mrs Heppler looked Slimeball in the eye as if defying him to utter one syllable in protest.

The three women sat in the truck’s cab in silence, lost in their own thoughts. Then as they drove further along the road Emily turned to Maggie.

“Hello Maggie,” she said shyly, “Ma told me about you.”

Maggie thought Emily was beautiful with her long blond hair, but her baby blue eyes looked troubled and sad and her light pink cotton dress seemed to be a couple of sizes too big for her. Maggie was surprised that Emily seemed a good six inches taller than her mother as she had envisioned her to be a younger version of Mrs Heppler.

“It’s lovely to meet you.” They warmly shook hands and Maggie noticed that Mrs Heppler’s knuckles were bone white as she gripped the steering wheel to within a whisker of pulling it out of its casing.

“Your mother tells me that you work in a dress shop, how exciting,” exclaimed Maggie to lighten the mood.

“Yes, it’s four days a week and I like working there,” Emily said brightening up a little. “I get to wear their pretty dresses to show our customers how they look on. We sell many dresses that way and it gets me out of this,” she said highlighting the dress she was wearing. The mood dipped again, and Maggie felt responsible, so she nodded slightly and kept quiet.

They parked at a local beauty spot where Mrs Heppler gathered up the picnic basket and set the food and drinks on the blue and white blanket that Maggie placed underneath a large gum tree, shielding them from the sun. There was an awkwardness in the air, so Maggie made her excuses to stretch her legs for a while, knowing the women had plenty to talk about. Mrs Heppler gave a smile at Maggie’s thoughtfulness, and Emily continued to look down at the grass as if she were in an oblivious dream.

Towards the end of the afternoon they drove Emily back home. Norman was not pleased when Emily invited them in while she went to find a book that she wanted her mother to have. He sat, glaring at them while the frosty atmosphere lingered. Maggie almost laughed out loud from the irony of it. After Mrs Heppler’s description of the intense heat on McKinnley Station, Maggie thought Slimeball should visit as he would be a perfect chill factor.

“Cat gotcha tongue?” asked Mrs Heppler calmly as she looked him in the eye. It was obvious she was simmering, wishing for any excuse to lunge for his throat. Maggie’s heart missed a beat, not believing that anyone could be that brave. He just grunted and continued to stare. Maggie felt very uncomfortable, as her skin began to crawl and she shuddered at the sensation.

“As I was saying earlier, Maggie…” said Mrs Heppler, “Maggie?” Maggie turned to her, grateful to concentrate on something else. “… for this visit I need to get extra provisions, so it will take a while longer to get all the supplies together from here and in Burston. We’ll be leaving in three days. It will be a good opportunity for you to see Burston as well, it’s a good little town.”

“Yes, fine, Mrs Heppler,” said Maggie, still unnerved.

“What are you then?” he leaned in closer, addressing Maggie.

“A friend, that’s all you need to know,” retorted Mrs Heppler before Maggie could reply. “Ah, Emily. We need to make tracks, and start getting supplies together,” she said, as Emily entered the room and handed her the book. “Bye, love and remember I will stop by again when I’m next in for supplies, the usual time. Look after yourself.” She wrapped her arms around Emily and hugged her tightly.

“Bye Ma,” Emily said back and also gave Maggie a hug.

“Bye, Emily. Lovely to meet you,” said Maggie.

“Yes, very touching,” Norman said as he slammed the door shut before they had barely cleared the threshold.

It took all of Mrs Heppler’s strength not to turn around and walk back when they heard him shouting at Emily.

“Come, Mrs Heppler, we’ve plans to arrange,” said Maggie, gently leading the woman by the arm towards the truck.

“Yes, you’re right, love. But, it breaks my heart to leave like this. I could just smash his face in.”

Contrary to the conversation at Slimeball’s house, Mrs Heppler announced there would be a change to their original itinerary. For this time only, they would load up all the Station’s supplies in Fremantle and bypass Burston completely. They would then make their way directly to McKinnley Station via a much deeper route. It would take a while longer, but Mrs Heppler had a plan…

Early the next morning and throughout the day, Maggie assisted Mrs Heppler in gathering supplies from the various outlets and helped load up the truck. It took many hours and Mrs Heppler’s checklist had to be completed before they stopped for dinner. Maggie was surprised to see how much was required and it dawned on her for the first time how remote the Station must be. She knew that they could radio the district plane for emergency supplies or the Royal Flying Doctor Service if needed, but apart from that, it was all down to Mrs Heppler ensuring she had adequate supplies.

The following morning, Emily left the house early, saying she was going to get some groceries. In actual fact, she met Maggie in the truck that was parked a couple of streets away. Later in the morning, Mrs Heppler stopped by Emily’s house and invited Slimeball to join her for lunch.

Norman was guarded and eyed her suspiciously, but he would’ve been a complete goose to turn down an offer of a free lunch. So off to the pub they went. He asked where the truck was, and she explained that it was already laden with supplies in readiness for the journey tomorrow. She didn’t want to leave it outside the pub because there were unscrupulous characters lurking about to which Norman had laughed profusely, too dumb to know that she was insinuating him.

As they approached a booth inside the pub, Mrs Heppler indicated to the barman that they wanted two beers and drew a deep breath as she sat down.

“I owe you an apology,” she said, as she began her stellar performance.

Norman leaned back in his chair, crossed his arms and stared at her in question.

“I haven’t been too friendly in the past, but I see that you have Emily’s interest at heart. This lunch is my way of starting afresh and to make amends before I go back to the Station tomorrow. What do you say?” She raised her beer glass and after a few intense moments he gave a small nod and began to drink. He was still suspicious and didn’t trust anyone, particularly a feisty old bird who went out of her way to make it known that he would never be any good for her daughter.

While all this was happening, Maggie had parked the truck outside the house as Emily wasted no time in gathering all the possessions she wanted. She was terrified but also aware that there was no way on earth that he would ever let her leave him. Maggie could see that Emily was a bag of nerves and she prayed she kept herself together. The plan was to get in, get out and get to the meeting point as quickly as possible.

“NO, NOT THAT!” Emily shrieked as Maggie picked up a medium sized biscuit tin from the sideboard and was just about to put it into a large bag. Emily’s outburst caused Maggie to drop the tin where the lid flew off as it hit the floor causing pieces of paper to scatter.

“Sorry, Emily, I assumed it was yours from the flowery pattern on the tin. She knelt to retrieve the pages, “Bort Industries…” she read out loud.

“To do with his work, something to do with shares and bonds, I think. I don’t ask. Please can you put them all back, so he doesn’t know.”

“Of course.” Maggie quickly picked up the scattered papers, noting there was either Bort Industries Shares or Bort Industries Bonds printed on each one. “Have you nearly finished Emily? We’d better make a move soon.”

“Yes, just a couple more minutes.”

Mrs Heppler had told Maggie the previous night that she had been making discreet enquiries regarding Slimeball. She had connections in the city and via various Station hands and visiting shearers so she was well informed on what was occurring throughout the district. Apparently, he had been liberating large amounts of cash from greedy businessmen looking to invest in high lucrative business deals. She had heard on the grapevine that the commodity was diamonds, but she had her reservations until she had more facts.

It was also plainly obvious to Mrs Heppler from the way in which he and Emily lived that he was just a hired flunky to be used as a deterrent if folks didn’t pay up. And it was also apparent that the job was poorly paid because what other possible explanation could there be? Even an unmarried couple with money could afford a better place to live. The bottom line was that he had turned into a bully who controlled her daughter and she hated that Emily was exposed to this dangerous environment. She had to get Emily away from him if it was the last thing she ever did.

When Slimeball went to the bathroom, Mrs Heppler discreetly slipped a small amount of a knockout drug that they used for the livestock into his drink. It would cause him no harm, unfortunately, she thought, but it was enough to knock him out for a few hours… long enough for them to get far away.

Shortly afterwards, Slimeball appeared drunk and slurry then he passed out at the table. The barman thought it was odd, but he wasn’t paid to think too much. He had seen how the man conducted business and knew of his reputation, so to maintain a peaceful future he said to Mrs Heppler that he was happy for him to stay and sober up on the premises. Mrs Heppler thanked him and left the pub via a taxi where it dropped her off a short distance from the park. When it was out of sight she walked through to the other side of the park to the arranged meeting point.

As Mrs Heppler stepped up into the truck she embraced her daughter. “It’ll be alright, love,” she said. She then turned to Maggie. “Thank you for your help Maggie, I’m sorry I’ve had to involve you in this unpleasantness,” she said, as she wiped away Emily’s tears.

“It’s okay,” Maggie said gently but wishing that they could get away quickly.

Emily was slowly coming to terms with realising the consequences of what she had done. “I must go back,” she said in a panic as she clutched at the dashboard, “I have to be there when he returns. I must go back,” she pleaded with her mother.

“It’s done now love,” Mrs Heppler soothed, understanding her daughter’s turmoil as she started up the truck. “You’ll come to the Station as planned, it won’t be forever. I know how you feel about it out there, but things will work out you’ll see, eh Maggie?”

“Yes,” said Maggie, hoping to say the right thing. “We’ll start afresh together on the Station and we’ll become good friends and it will be great for you and your mother to be together for a while. Please, never take that for granted. I’ve only known you for a brief time, but I’d give my right arm to have what you two have.”

They both glanced at Maggie questionably.

“It’s a long story, I’ll explain another time,” she said, as they continued their drive out of the city.

It was plain to Maggie that the two women had a special connection, although physically they were as different as chalk and cheese. Perhaps Emily took after her father?

As if reading her mind, Emily said smiling, “It’s okay to say about us, Ma.”

“It isn’t common knowledge outside of the Station, Maggie,” began Mrs Heppler, “but we already consider you family and would appreciate your discretion. Emily is really my niece; sadly, my brother and his wife were tragically killed in a car accident when Emily was a toddler. I adopted Emily and altered my name from Miss to Mrs and we have been as close as any mother and daughter since then.”

“I am sorry to you both for your loss, but it is beautiful what you have together. I won’t tell a soul,” said Maggie. It was almost as if an invisible bond had formed between the three women as they sat in comfortable silence, each lost in their own thoughts as they took in the picturesque surroundings.

“Alright, ladies,” said Mrs Heppler after a while, “I always start the journey back to the Station at first light to make the most of the daylight. But, because of recent events today and being early afternoon, there’s no way we could risk holding up overnight in town as he’d most likely have people out searching and I’m not prepared to take the chance.

“We are on schedule though as per our plan we made back at the picnic. He was out like a light when I left the pub, and this will buy us a few precious hours. He’ll wake thinking he passed out from the drink and will go home to sleep it off. You left the note on the kitchen table as instructed Emily, didn’t you?”

“Yes Ma. I wrote that you stopped by after the pub and invited me out to dinner as I wouldn’t see you for a few weeks and that I would be home by ten o’clock.”

“That’s good. Hopefully, he will still be docile and go straight to bed and won’t put two and two together until the morning giving us enough time to be a good distance away. But, we also have to plan that he’ll discover straight away. So, for this time only ladies, we are going off the usual track and will bypass Burston altogether. In order to do this we need to venture deeper into the bush, although it will add a few more hours to reach the Station, but it will avoid anyone taking the normal track.”

Puzzled, Maggie and Emily just looked at one another.

“You’ll understand the further we go,” Mrs Heppler assured them.

They had more than enough provisions and fuel and Mrs Heppler knew the terrain like the back of her hand and promised that they would be perfectly safe. It was a great opportunity for an adventure and fun on the way. If Slimeball did go after them, then chances were that he would arrive ahead of them. If he did, then everyone at the Station would know how to handle it because Mrs Heppler had radioed the Station prior to leaving and told Mr McKinnley senior the main details.

Initially, Mr McKinnley had not been overjoyed at this news. He was concerned for their safety and also with Maggie’s arrival. He felt total responsibility for her and, to top it all, there was a possible maniac after them. Mrs Heppler laid his concerns to rest and said she would explain more when they arrived, and that Maggie was absolutely fine with it all. In fact, omitting Emily’s distress, Maggie was having a blast. She hadn’t had this much excitement in ages.

Although, despite being in Mrs Heppler’s capable hands, Maggie’s reflexes were on high alert for anything nasty that dared to approach. She had felt silly and embarrassed when she had instinctively slapped the calf of her leg only to realise that the imaginery bug was just a loose strand of cotton from the hem of her dress.

Out of relief, Maggie had laughed with Mrs Heppler and Emily, but knew that she had to get her jitters under control otherwise she would end up a nervous wreck. If she was like this now, then what would she be like when it came to sleeping out under the stars?