The Thousand Smiles of Nicholas Goring (10 page)

That was all well and good – but his real reason for stopping was to check out the vehicle he was sure had been following them, more or less, since Cunnamulla. Soon it caught up to them, and passed without pausing, continuing along Adventure Way. It was a Land Rover Discovery, and Dave would have sworn the driver was Ted Walinski.

Dave had booked two of the cabins at the caravan park, one for each family. It had already been a long day, so they all concentrated on doggedly sorting out the luggage and settling in. A quick meal at the café brightened everyone up, though there were no disagreements about the notion of having an early night.

Soon after they'd all said goodnight, however, Dave heard a shriek and then further sounds of consternation from the neighbouring cabin. He headed over there at speed, with Nicholas and Robin at his heels. Dave wasn't overly surprised when he discovered the cause.

Monica was standing in the main room of the cabin with a green tree frog nestled trustingly in the palm of her hand. Her mother and sister, meanwhile – and even her father – were backed up just about as far away from her as they could get. "Are you kidding?" she was asking. "He's gorgeous! I mean, how
green
is that?" She lifted her hand, and Monica and the frog gazed intently into each other's eyes. "Aw … look at him … such a sweet little bloke."

Dave stood there just within the door, trying not to laugh, while Robin stayed by his side and peered at the frog from a safe distance.

Nicholas, of course, had no qualms about wildlife. "
Litoria caerulea
," he announced as he walked over to join Monica in her intent examination. "The Australian green tree frog. What a beautiful specimen! Where did you find him, Monica?"

"In the bathroom!" Suzanne announced with a horrified shudder. "Speaking of which … is it clear now?"

"Yes, Mum," replied the long-suffering Monica. "You're safe!"

"Oh, thank God," Suzanne muttered fervently – and made a dash for it round the edge of the room, keeping as far away from Monica as she could.

"How do you know it's a bloke?" Nicholas was asking meanwhile, leaning in close and gently prodding a finger at the frog as if wanting to turn it over and examine its chassis.

"Nicholas!" Dave protested.

Nicholas straightened up and looked at him. "Ah. Of course. I always forget that rule. Don't discuss the genitalia of frogs in front of the clients."

Monica snorted, Chloe giggled, and Mike did a little of both – while Robin dropped his face into his hands as if even he was occasionally befuddled by his beloved uncle.

"Come on, Monica," said Dave, thinking he'd better restore order. "I'll show you what's to be done with your new friend." He tilted his head towards the door, then led the way out.

She followed him trustingly enough, but protested, "You're not going to hurt him, are you?"

"Absolutely not."

Nicholas was walking with Monica, while the others hung back near the cabin, still keeping a safe distance. "A wise man once told me," Nicholas confided to Monica, "that people respect life out here."

The dark night hid Dave's smile.

"It's a beautiful country, but it can be harsh, so we all help each other out."

"Even the frogs?" Monica asked.

"Even the frogs," Nicholas affirmed.

A moment later Dave stopped by the large bucket kept near the amenities block. The sulphuric smell of the artesian bore water was stronger there, but Monica didn't seem to mind, and the frog certainly didn't. "Monica, if you pop him in here, he'll be taken out to the big dam in the morning, where he'll go on to live a long and happy life."

"Are you having me on?" she asked, hanging back.

"No." Dave shook his head solemnly, then indicated the bucket. "Look, he already has a mate to keep him company."

Monica edged close enough to peer in and see the other frog sitting there. "Won't they get bored? What are they going to do all night, sitting in a bucket?"

Nicholas's mouth quirked wickedly, and he was just about to answer – before Dave's look cut him off. "What?" Nicholas asked with a show of innocence. "I was only going to say they'll sing to each other, and maybe perform a duet or two."

"Sing?"

"Yes, that's their mates we can hear now," Nicholas whirled a finger through the night air.

Monica tilted her head to listen properly. "Oh! I thought that must be some kind of weird bird."

"It's the frogs. They'll be going all night, I'm afraid," said Nicholas. "But they sound happy, don't they?"

"Yeah …" she reluctantly agreed.

"Your friend will be fine – and he'll be happier still once he's at the dam tomorrow. Anyway, even I'd rather sit in a bucket outside on a night like this, than be stuck in a bathroom."

"True," she said, stroking the frog's back with the tip of her finger. Finally she drew near, and gently placed the frog in the bucket beside his mate. "Goodnight," she wished him. "Sweet dreams – and sweeter songs."

Then they all trailed back towards the cabins.

"Uncle Nicholas …" said Robin. "You'll check our bathroom, won't you? Very carefully."

"Of course," was the brisk reply. "Monica and I will be on regular Frog Patrol, I promise. Won't we, Monica?"

"Too right," she agreed with a laugh.

And finally they all started to settle, humans, frogs and all.

Dave loved the cool quiet peace of an Outback dawn. He woke early the next day and wandered down to the edge of the tiny town, to gaze across the fossicking fields and the wide flat land beyond. The enormous sky arched above in all its magnificent clarity. Everything was hushed for those last few minutes as the eastern sky shaded from blue to rose to gold. Then the sun lifted into view, and already the air felt a little warmer, and the frogs started singing along with the cicadas. Somewhere behind him, a screen-door swung smartly shut. Dave smiled, and headed back to the caravan park.

Robin was the next one to emerge from the cabins. He wandered towards Dave, who was taking care of the Cruiser. "Morning, Robin," Dave said. "Sleep all right?"

"Yes, thanks. How about you, Uncle David? Did you miss sleeping on top of the car?"

"Car?" he asked in horrified tones. "What car?"

Robin rolled his eyes. "The Land Cruiser. Did you miss her last night?"

Dave had to smile, but he said, "We only do that at the waterhole, you know."

"Uh huh, sure. Well, you know, what you do in the privacy of your own garage is none of my concern …"

A chortle burst out of him. Maybe Robin wasn't quite the innocent they'd assumed.

"We're all aware that Nicholas has to share your affections with … What have you named her?"

"Mate, it's just the Cruiser."

"Uh huh. Dave and the Cruiser, sitting in a tree, K I double S I N G."

He shook his head. He had no comeback for that. "I got nothin'," he admitted – though he was saved a moment later by Monica walking past in a set of black pyjamas, with another green tree frog in her cupped hands. "Morning, Monica."

"Hey," she greeted them, with a lift of her chin, and stayed her course towards the amenities block.

Dave trailed after her just in case, to make sure that nothing dire had accidentally happened to the other frogs – but there were three of them now in the bucket, and they all seemed perfectly content. Monica crouched down to place the fourth one in there, too. "They really will be okay, right?" she asked.

"Absolutely. The bloke and his wife who run this place, they'll come by soon – on Frog Patrol," he added, remembering Nicholas's term for it. "One of them will clear the bathrooms before people start using them, and they'll do the run out to the dam … Actually, if you want to get dressed, we could go with him. Or we could offer to do the run ourselves, and we'll be back in time for breakfast."

Her eyes lit up. "Cool!" She was already on her way back to their cabin. "I'll have a quick shower, all right? Don't let them go without us!"

Dave laughed, and returned to where Robin was propped against the Cruiser, contentedly checking his phone, then chuckling as he thumbed in a message or a Tweet. Well, at least Dave had one happy client, and it seemed he had a happy young family member as well.

After breakfast, the seven of them did the opal tour, which involved visiting an underground mine as well as a working open-cut mine. In both, they were shown the layers of sandstone and clay – and in between the two, the shallow layer in which the Yowah nuts might be found.

The guide was full of advice for their own fossicking ventures, so they were all keen to pick up the fossicking licences that Dave had already organised. Then he had to exert a bit of authority to insist everyone had a quick lunch before they drove down into the fossicking fields.

Mike, Robin and Chloe decided to find a couple of spots in which they could dig, while Suzanne, Monica and Nicholas wanted to ‘noodle' or wander around looking for bits of ‘colour'. Dave knew from past experience that it was surprising how much could be found on the ground, or in the mullock heaps. White fellas had been mining at Yowah since 1883, but until recently most people had only been interested in the precious opals to be found inside Yowah nuts. The ‘matrix' stones, where specks and veins of opal graced the red-brown ironstone, had been discarded – but were now very popular. Dave found them just as beautiful as and even more intriguing than the proper opals, if he was honest.

There was no shade at the fossicking grounds, and the sunlight reflected back off the exposed clay and sandstone, occasionally creating a really harsh glare. Despite the fact that Nicholas was wearing his Akubra and sunnies, Dave wasn't surprised when Nicholas came over to quietly say he was going to head back to the cabin for a rest. "I just want to cool down," he explained apologetically.

"Not a problem. I'll drive you back."

"There's no need. It's not that far; I can walk."

"I'll drive you back." Dave jogged over to let the others know he'd be back in a few, and then walked with Nicholas over to the Cruiser. Five minutes later, even Dave was glad to be in the leafy shade of the caravan park, so he could imagine how relieved Nicholas was.

"Thank you, David. I'll be fine from here. Don't worry, all right?"

"Of course I worry," he said mildly. "That's my job." They exchanged a quick kiss before Nicholas climbed out of the Cruiser. "I put your lime juice in the fridge," Dave continued, "and there's plenty of bottled water in there, too."

Nicholas turned to smile at him with affection. "I love you," he said, before closing the passenger door.

"Love you, too," Dave replied, knowing Nicholas could lip-read at least that much perfectly well.

The affection warmed, and then Nicholas turned away to walk slowly yet steadily towards the cabin.

Dave turned the Cruiser and headed back to take care of his other charges.

The next day, though still warm, was a little cooler and a little cloudier, so Nicholas was comfortable enough to stay with the others through a long morning of fossicking. As it drew near lunchtime, however, he did take a sieve and a bucket of dirt and rock over to the slice of shade thrown by the Cruiser, and sat there on the ground to patiently sort through it all looking for colour.

Chloe and Mike each found a small Yowah nut that morning, which created a great deal of pent-up excitement, as of course they wouldn't know what was inside until the nuts were broken open. Nicholas observed in a learned manner, "For now, the opal inside both exists and
doesn't
exist …"

Which made Suzanne and Robin crack up with laughter, while Monica hid an amused smile, and murmured, "Schrödinger's opal."

Dave, Mike and Chloe exchanged baffled looks.

Meanwhile, Suzanne had happily accumulated a small collection of chips of matrix opal found while noodling, to which Monica had been discreetly adding. "They're not worth anything, I know," Suzanne said, "but they'll look very pretty in a little bottle of water on my windowsill, and I'll shake them up so it looks different every day."

"Like a snow globe, only with opal!" Chloe agreed. "And they'll sparkle in the sunshine!"

In any case, Dave thought he could safely add Suzanne to the ‘satisfied client' list.

After lunch at the café in the community centre, Dave took them all to his mate Ned's shop where – after the tension increased unbearably throughout his quiet examination – the two Yowah nuts were sliced neatly in half down their longest dimension. Of course, there was nothing of value to be found within. Chloe seemed the most disappointed, as her nut contained a core of solid powdery clay, which was the usual result.

"Chances are only one in a thousand that you'll find an opal inside," Ned told her, in commiserating tones.

"And how many have you cut lately?" Mike asked.

Ned's smile glinted in the shadow of his beard. "Reckon I'd be in the nine-hundreds."

"Well, then," Mike concluded, "we might get lucky later in the week."

Mike's was empty but at least in an interesting way: the hollow inside formed an almost perfect sphere. With a slice taken off the curve underneath, and a bit of surface buffing, each half could sit like a small bowl.

"What are you going to put in there, though?" Monica asked. "They're tiny! No use at all."

"I shall buy a pair of opal cufflinks," Mike replied, on his dignity, "and keep one in each half." And he headed off to browse the items that Ned had on display.

The others all followed him, and from there they descended into groans of yearning and adoration and despair. Dave was the only one to hang back, knowing how it went … The items on display and for sale were beautiful – probably far beyond anything they'd imagined. But the most gorgeous specimens were also expensive, and rare, and therefore out of reach of most – though Dave saw that Mike began keeping an eye on what Suzanne was drawn to, so perhaps he could afford to really indulge her. For those without his deep pockets, the display both provoked their determination to do some serious fossicking, and also made them realise how unrealistic their hopes were of finding anything significant. All of which was why Dave tended to let people have a good fossick for a while before confronting them with the reality.