‘Your daughter invited me.’
‘I know that.’
He seemed to be waiting for some more definite statement and I said, ‘I think she hoped I’d be able to find some way of re-opening the mine.’
‘The mine’s finished.’ He said it abruptly and with unusual emphasis. ‘It was abandoned years ago. Didn’t she tell you?’
‘Yes.’
‘So why did you come?’
I didn’t know how to answer that, the directness of the question disconcerting.
‘You’re a married man, I believe.’ The blue eyes under the bushy brows were watchful. ‘Where’s your wife?’
‘In England.’
‘England’s a long way away.’
I was conscious of hostility in his voice. ‘We’ve separated,’ I murmured.
‘I see.’
He didn’t like it and I realized then how dependent he must be on his daughter’s company, the threat of loneliness tangible in every visiting male. I wondered what had happened to his wife as I sat there at a loss for words, the silence growing. Finally I sought refuge in the book I had been looking at. ‘Your father must have had this with him when he settled here.’
He nodded. ‘I should have had it re-bound.’ He said it without conviction. That book’s had a hard life — all across the north of Australia and on down here. He had it in his swag.’ He leaned forward, peering at the inscription. ‘Emerald Downs. That was my grandfather’s place in Queensland.’
‘An unusual book to give a youngster starting out on a long trek.’
‘No, not really. The old boy had been a Shakespearean actor, y’see.’ His eyes were friendlier now, the ice breaking a little as he explained why his grandfather had come to Australia. ‘In those days it wasn’t considered quite the thing to be an actor. Not in his family. They were Army people. I don’t think he was a very good actor though he claimed to have played in the same company as Irving. Then he got mixed up with an actress. There was a court case and the family got shot of him — shipped him out as a remittance man and he settled in Queensland.’ He was smiling now, a dreamy look and his eyes no longer staring at me, but far away. ‘We’ve all inherited that odd acting streak. I used to know those plays pretty well off by heart. Henry was the same. He could spout whole speeches.’ And he added, still smiling quietly to himself, ‘We’ve read a lot. The same old books, but it helps to keep us sane: Isolated as we are, out here on the edge of nowhere.’
A door banged and Janet came in bringing a welcome freshness into the room. She had changed into sandals and a gay tent frock and she had some make-up on. ‘Oh, good, you two have met.’ She tossed a bundle of newspapers on to the table and turned to her father. They forgot to include any rice, so no curries this month. They always seem to forget something.’
He was looking up at her, smiling fondly. But the smile faded as he took in the make-up and the dress. ‘You look as though you’re headed for some motel swimming pool.’ There was an undercurrent of censure in his voice.
‘I wish I were.’ And then she pirouetted gaily, the tent skirt swirling. ‘Anyway, I’m on holiday today.’ Her eyes were dancing and she looked very young.
‘Have you had tea?’ he asked her.
‘Yes, I had some while I was checking the invoice.’ She was looking at him, and beneath the make-up and the gaiety, I saw her tiredness, the skin white below the eyes. ‘Anything in the box for us?’
‘Just the usual.’ He produced a few letters from his hip pocket. ‘And one for you,’ he added, handing it to me. The address was typewritten, the postmark Kalgoorlie.
She had taken the envelopes from him, and after glancing at them cursorily, she placed them with a pile of others under a piece of polished stone on top of the bookcase.
‘We’ll have to do something about them soon,’ he said awkwardly.
‘I told you, today I’m on holiday. I’m not even going to think about them today.’ She laughed, a flash of even white teeth. But I could see it was an effort. ‘And we have a guest. We haven’t had a guest here for — oh, ages.’ She smiled at me. But then she was looking at her father again and the smile vanished. ‘Anything else?’
I could see him avoiding her eyes.
‘It’s Andie, I suppose.’
He didn’t say anything and she turned to me. ‘We’re broke. Gloriously and absolutely broke.’ She was trying very hard to make a joke of it. ‘You may as well know the sort of company you’re keeping.’
‘Don’t be silly, Jan. It’s just a cash problem.’
Then, why don’t you go and see Joe Davis? That’s what banks are for, isn’t it?’
‘I’ve never run an overdraft or a mortgage in my life, not since I paid off all the debts here.’
Her eyes went to the pile of envelopes. ‘Andie’s got drought problems same as we have.’ But then she saw the shut, obstinate look on his face. ‘Well,’ she said resignedly, ‘the pump’s full and we’ve got stores for a month anyway.’
‘You must excuse us,’ he said to me. ‘We only have one bank, and that’s our cattle. When we get some rain …’
‘When!’ she cried. ‘When, when, when…. One of the boys just came in, told Tom they’d found a dozen head up in Red Rock Gorge. He’ll take the ute down this evening with water and try to shift them through the Gap.’ She was gripping the table, her knuckles suddenly white, her face turned to the glare from the patio. ‘A Cock-eyed Boz, a cyclone, anything. I don’t care — But God give us some rain.’ It came from the heart, a cry of despair almost.
Her father leaned forward and put his hand over hers. His hand was long and thin with bony fingers, the skin marked with the brown blotches of sun cancer; hers was small, short-fingered, the palm, as she turned it up to answer his touch, hard and calloused.
‘It’ll rain,’ he said.
‘But when?’
‘In God’s good time.’
‘Damn God! I want it now.’
I could see him framing the words to reprimand her. But instead he said quietly. ‘It always has, y’know — sooner or later.’
‘But it’s never been as bad as this.’ She saw he was about to contradict her and added, ‘Well, not in my lifetime anyway.’ She turned her freckled face to me, her eyes a little wild. The trouble is, when it does come, it’s so violent.’ And she added wistfully, ‘I remember that night at Drym, the softness of the rain. It’s never like that here.’
‘Perhaps not.’ He leaned back, frowning at the tin roof.
‘Rumble thy bellyful … how does it go? Lear, y’know.’ He closed his eyes. ‘Spit, fire! Spout, rain! Nor rain, wind, thunder, fire are my daughters. I tax not you, you elements, with unkindness.’
‘But I do,’ she cried. ‘Our elements are unkind.’
‘It’s a hard country,’ he admitted.
‘Then why not sell the mine?’ She turned to me. ‘Golden Soak must be worth something surely? It’s got mine buildings, machinery, gold — it wasn’t worked out, you know. And this mineral boom — ‘
‘It’s nickel they’re after,’ he said gently.
‘I know it’s nickel.’ Her voice sounded edgy. ‘I read the papers, same as you do. I know about Poseidon and Western Mining. But with all these companies being floated, they’re after anything they can get, and if we could sell Golden Soak — ‘
‘No. ‘He said it flatly. ‘We’ve been over all this before, Jan.’
‘Well, it’s time we went over it again,’ she said tartly. ‘Alec hasn’t come all this way for nothing. At least he can tell us whether it’s worth anything at all.’
‘I think I am the best judge of what it is worth,’ he said stonily.
‘This letter may be of some help,’ I told him. ‘It’s from a company promoter who specializes in West Australian shares. I asked him to make some enquiries about your mine.’ And I slit the envelope.
‘You’d no right to do that.’