North Star (13 page)

‘I am
never
doing that again.' Georgia's voice wavered with suppressed horror as they headed back towards the house.

Liam shadowed his sister, jumping about and laughing with gruesome delight as he relived the encounter.

‘Liam,' Kate warned, although she had to fight to keep her own laughter in check.

‘That was so cool!' Liam ran ahead, calling over his shoulder, ‘I'm gonna ring Matt and tell him how Betsy pooped all over Georgia while she was milking.'

‘Mum!' Georgia's horrified yell clashed with the slam of the kitchen door. ‘Make him stop—it'll be all over school before I even get there!'

‘Thanks, Nathan,' Kate called over the din, receiving a wave and a grin as he drove off. With a deep breath, she followed the sound of screaming voices to head off a possible homicide if Georgia got hold of her brother.

Over the next few days, Betsy and Kate formed a fragile truce of sorts. Kate fumbled her way through milking each morning, and Betsy got to eat as much as she liked while Kate struggled. Fergus had developed the habit of wandering over during these sessions, usually getting the milk produced by her dismal attempts, and providing a lazy sunbaking audience for her rare triumphs. Gradually, though, the pathetic dribble in the bottom of the bucket increased and by the end of the week she'd mastered almost a whole glass of milk. Next week she was aiming for a jug.

Kate parked her new ute between two other four-wheel drives in the main street. Sliding from the driver's seat she noted the splashes of red dust and mud on all three vehicles, and a satisfied glow worked its way up from her toes until it bubbled over into a contented smile. It soon vanished when she glanced up to find Matthew Unterheinner striding towards her. Her first instinct was to run, but she immediately clamped down on that emotion and straightened her shoulders.

‘Morning.' She greeted him with a bright smile, even though her heart was dropping at the sight of his thunderous scowl.

‘What's this I hear about you opening some hippie retreat on your place?' he demanded without preamble.

‘It's not a hippie retreat, it's—'

He cut her off with an impatient bark, ‘So it's true then? You're bringing city folk out to North Star and turning it into some organic, hoity-toity greenie place. I would have thought young Beaumont would have had more sense in his head than to get involved with some harebrained scheme like this.'

‘It's just a holiday farm stay.'

‘People around here won't take too kindly to you threatening their livelihoods.'

Threatening their livelihoods? What was he talking about? ‘How is my starting holiday accommodation going to ruin anyone else's livelihood? If anything it'll bring in money to the rest of the town,' she said in exasperation.

‘This bloody organic meat fiasco you've got planned is going to affect every other grazier in the district. You're not going to be happy until you've ruined the lot of us, are you? Do you have any idea how much your good-for-nothing grandfather cost me over the years because he was too damn useless to keep his property under control?' He was radiating such animosity that Kate almost took a step backwards. ‘And now you're going to follow in his footsteps. While everyone else around you is spending a fortune on pesticides and doing the right thing by keeping the damn weeds under control, you're just going to sit back and do bugger-all.'

‘That's not true. Nathan knows exactly what he's doing, and if you're so worried about spending a fortune, then maybe you should go organic too. There are non-toxic products that everyone can use.' Kate felt proud of herself for knowing all this. Her reading and research had paid off for once.

‘None of that natural crap works—you may as well go and sing Kumbaya to the bloody weeds, it'll have the same effect.'

Kate opened her mouth to speak but was cut short by a deep voice calmly cutting in. ‘Morning, folks, how are we all today?'

Unterheinner looked up but his face didn't soften. ‘You'll be hearing from me,' he promised Kate before he stalked away.

‘You all right, Kate?' John asked quietly. She saw the concern in his eyes belying his calm demeanour.

‘I'm fine.'

‘What happened?'

‘It was nothing—he's heard about my plans for the farm stay.' She gave a small shrug. ‘Apparently he objects.'

John searched her face briefly. ‘I'll have a word with him if you like.'

‘No, don't. I already have enough trouble fitting in here, I don't need to have him telling everyone I've got you fighting my battles for me as well.'

‘I'm the cop around here. It's my job to fight battles on behalf of my flock.' He grinned.

‘I think you're confusing your profession with a minister's,' Kate said.

‘Some days it's not too far off, let me tell you.'

They shared a smile and Kate felt a flutter of excitement, which immediately wiped the smile from her face. ‘I'd better go; I've got heaps to do.'

‘Can't tempt you to have a coffee?' he asked.

She shook her head. ‘I can't today, I have a business to get up and running.'
And a heart you're not going to get your hands on, mister, no matter how gorgeous you are.
She turned and headed towards the grocery store, fighting an urge to look back to see whether he was watching.

That afternoon an ecstatic Liam returned home from school with the news that the following night they would be camping at the waterhole. Before Kate could question him further, Jenny rang and explained that the boys had convinced Nathan to take them camping and she had suggested that maybe they could all go along. ‘If it's all right with you, that is. I mean, it's your waterhole,' Jenny laughed.

Kate was not thrilled by the prospect of camping down by the waterhole overnight. Really, why would a sane person put themselves through an uncomfortable night sleeping on the ground when they had access to a perfectly good bed at home?

‘Come on, Kate, it'll be fun. Remember when we used to camp out?'

Yes, she remembered. She'd hated it then too. Their tent was a blanket draped over a low branch, and their bed a plastic sheet. The sense of adventure would last until dark set in, after which she would spend a sleepless night waiting for the whole thing to be over.

‘Camping would imply that we actually had tents, sleeping bags and the right gear. It was just lucky it was in summer and all we did was sweat to death and get eaten alive by mos- quitoes. In winter we would have frozen.'

‘It was a bit rugged, wasn't it,' chuckled Jenny. ‘We'll do it in style this time.

Kate relented. ‘Sure, sounds like fun,' she lied.

So, the vehicles loaded with equipment, they set off the next afternoon to make camp. Even Georgia seemed in high spirits, and Liam was so excited he didn't stop talking once.

The waterhole was a gorgeous spot. Huge pandanus and melaleuca trees shaded the riverbanks, and the water was deep and clean, swelling out into a wide waterhole before gently tapering to a narrow creek as it crossed over into the Unterheinner property next door. This was what made North Star such a valuable property—it had such an abundance of water.

With tents erected and firewood gathered, the happy sound of children splashing in water filled the quiet solitude of the surrounding bushland. Seated comfortably in fold-out chairs, drinks in hand, the three adults watched on indulgently as the youngsters swam.

The rumble of an approaching engine drew Kate's attention and she got to her feet in alarm when she saw that it was John, in his police car.

He rolled to a stop as she came towards him, flashing a warm grin. ‘G'day Kate.'

‘Is everything all right?' she asked, half expecting bad news.

‘As far as I know . . . Why?' he said, stepping from the vehicle then leaning into the back seat to drag out a swag.

Kate stared at the swag, and then turned to face Jenny, who winked at her, then waved to John.

‘Hey, you made it. Great, you're just in time for a drink.'

‘I take it they didn't mention I was invited to the camp-out,' John said, closing the door with a thunk. ‘Do you mind?'

‘No. Why should I?' Kate asked, surprised.

‘I get the feeling I make you uncomfortable.'

She was taken aback by such a direct comment. ‘I . . . it's just that . . . I'm not used to men like you around the place.'

‘Men like me?'

Kate felt her face redden and groaned inwardly. She was a grown woman, with children—why did she always act like some silly schoolgirl around this man? ‘Men in general . . . it's nothing personal. You've been great since the day we arrived, it's just that I haven't had a great deal of experience with men, other than my husband . . . Socialising, that is.' Her face grew hotter. ‘What I mean is, I don't really have any men . . . friends.'

His warm smile made her close her eyes in humiliation.

‘Let's go have a drink . . . And, Kate,' he said, waiting as she reluctantly turned to look at him, ‘for what it's worth, I don't plan on always being
just
your friend.'

She stared at him dumbfounded.
Well!
she thought with a touch of indignation.
We'll just see about that!

As the sun sank lower, the men lit a campfire, then cooked sausages and steak over a portable barbecue. Liam wolfed down three sausage sandwiches in a row, and watching his glowing face, Kate couldn't help smiling.

‘You look content,' John observed, taking a seat next to her, his hands full with a steak sandwich and a can of beer.

‘I am,' she said, and meant it.

‘How's the ark plans?'

‘The ark?'

‘I hear you've been gathering animals two by two to stock this place.'

Kate grinned. ‘Just call me Noah. It's going really well. I have eggs! And I can get almost a whole bucket of milk out of Betsy,' she said with a note of pride in her voice.

He clinked his can against her plastic glass. ‘Not bad for a city chick.'

The tranquil beauty of the evening was broken by a sudden sharp crack and Kate spun about in shock. A little way from the fire Nathan was giving the boys a demonstration of whip cracking. A second crack was followed in quick succession by three more.

John glanced up at Kate and his smile faded. ‘Kate?'

With each crack of the whip, a sound like gunshot reverberated through the air and she flinched as though feeling each lash.

Nathan finished his demonstration and extended the handle of the whip to an awestruck Liam. ‘Here, mate, you have a go.'

Immediately Kate sprang to her feet. ‘Put it down, Liam.' Her voice was quiet but very determined.

‘Mum, Nathan's showing me how to crack a whip, did you hear it?' Liam's eyes were bright with excitement and anticipation.

‘Where did you get that?' Kate stared at the whip in her son's hand, her thoughts not on the fine craftsmanship or the skill Nathan had shown using it, but on darker, more painful memories of this particular family heirloom.

Noting the strange expression in his mother's eyes, Liam lost some of his enthusiasm. ‘I found it out in the shed the other day.'

‘Put it away, Liam,' she said, her face tightening.

‘But Mum—'

‘I said, put the damn thing away . . . now!'

Everyone looked at her in surprise, their faces uncertain.

‘Kate, it's just a whip,' Nathan said reasonably. ‘He can't get hurt with it while he's learning, it's not that dangerous.'

‘Get rid of it,' Kate said, her tone leaving no room for argument.

‘All right, Kate. It's gone,' Nathan said placatingly. He gently took the whip from Liam's hand and held it up to show her it was all over.

Liam stared up at her with accusing eyes, before Matt called him over to play spotlight, distracting him from his threatened outburst at this injustice.

Now the incident had been defused, Kate felt drained and shaky. She noticed Jenny pulling Nathan aside and talking softly to him. She turned away, feeling baffled eyes following her, and began to busy herself clearing away dishes.

As she worked, she cursed herself for reacting so strongly. She'd managed to alienate both her son and Nathan in the same fell swoop. She must seem like a nutcase. What a fool, to think she would have become immune to the effect this place had on her.

‘Kate.'

She jumped at the sound of Nathan's voice and looked up into his set features.

‘I need to clear the air.' He hitched his thumbs through the belt loops at the front of his jeans. ‘Jen explained a little about the situation with your childhood, how things here weren't always . . . good, and I know you're not used to the way we do things out here. You're used to worrying about your kids, and rightly so, considering where you've come from. But this isn't the city. Out here it's okay to let kids do stuff. You're not doing Liam any favours by babying him, you know.' He paused, as though bracing himself for the tirade to come.

Kate didn't respond straightaway. When she did, it was in a quiet voice that seemed to float in the air between them. ‘You were wrong when you said it was just a harmless whip . . . I watched Henry use that whip on an animal once. Have you ever seen the damage a whip can do to an animal's hide?' She heard his sharp intake of breath. ‘And it doesn't do a person much good either,' she said, pulling the collar of her shirt aside so he could see the top of the raised ugly scar that was hidden there. ‘I know all about
that
whip and how harmless it is.'