The Long Paddock, page 28
‘Thanks. I appreciate your offer.’
Cressy gave him her special smile, pressed a quick kiss to his mouth and then headed towards the stables.
***
For the rest of the day, Denham stayed with Kate. They had an uninterrupted coffee in the Windmill Café that turned into lunch as they reminisced about the good times with Jake. Their visit to the cemetery proved heart-wrenching. Kate had collapsed on his brother’s grave and wept sobs that had come from the depths of her soul. But when he helped her to her feet a new peace had settled over her eyes. He walked her to her car and when she’d said goodbye, she’d given him a brave smile and promised to return.
As he strode into the rodeo ground the now strong wind and grey clouds mirrored the tension within him. Three years on and Kate remained a shadow of herself, struggling to come to terms with loving and losing Jake. He ignored the ache in his side and quickened his stride. Would that too be Cressy? Had he only ruined her life by getting back together with her?
He slowed and looked around as the unusual quietness registered. It was late-afternoon so many competitors had left. Many spectators too would have headed home once the weather soured. He frowned at the near empty stands. But there should still be more people about.
He swung left to where Seth stood over near Bandit’s stall. The pickup rider might have some answers.
Seth turned as he approached, grin wry. ‘I was hoping you’d be back soon. This devil horse of yours is thirsty but he’s making it impossible for me to get his water bucket.’
Denham walked over to the buckskin who had his ears pinned back, glaring at Seth. ‘Bandit, mind your manners.’
Denham entered the stall to collect the plastic water tub. The gelding swung around, teeth bared, and tried to pull the container from his hand. Denham sighed. ‘What is it with horses and the wind? Bandit, behave.’
Seth chuckled. ‘It’s not just horses. My little bloke always plays up when it’s windy.’
Denham left the stall with the bucket. ‘I’m guessing Cressy had to head home and she asked you to keep an eye on Bandit?’
‘She did but she wasn’t off home. She had a SES callout. There’s been a freak storm.’ Seth glanced to the east where the sky was black. ‘Some have even been calling it a mini-tornado.’
Denham took out his phone that he’d had on silent while with Kate and saw he had a screen of messages and missed calls.
‘All the SES crews have gone out,’ Seth continued, ‘and there’s a volunteer command post set up near the bar. I’ll help with the clean-up now you’re back.’
‘Once Bandit has water, I’ll lend a hand too. Thanks for staying with him. I appreciate it.’
‘Anytime.’
Denham filled Bandit’s water bucket and after he’d seen that the gelding had drunk deeply, he too made his way to the impromptu command post. Edna sat behind the table, neat piles of paper in front of her. A gossip she might be but in a crisis her social network and organisational skills were invaluable. She could mobilise people to cook and deliver dinners, or to collect and drop off supplies in under an hour. She not only knew everybody’s names but also the directions to their farms, how many family members there were and even their phone numbers. From the brief description of the storm Seth had given him, and the lack of people around, the damage must be severe.
‘You’re just the person I need,’ she said as Denham approached. ‘The Higgins’ gooseneck trailer has blown over and their stables have no roof.’ She flicked through the documents on the clipboard in front of her. ‘They need a place for three horses and a foal at least until the fences can be repaired.’
‘No problem. I’ll head home, pick up the horses and bring them back to Claremont.’
Edna beamed. ‘Great. Meredith has also very kindly offered your spare rooms for anyone who needs a bed. That okay with you?’
‘Absolutely. Whatever we can do to help just let us know.’
‘Perfect. We can always count on the Rigbys to help out. Now what’s the phone number of that nice young man who helped you with those drunken cowboys last night? He looks like he’d be competent in an emergency.’
‘Tanner.’ Denham looked for his number on his phone and read it out to Edna.
He then strode to the stables. On the way he texted Cressy to take care and listened to all his messages. He replayed Cressy’s message that she hoped all had gone well with Kate and that she’d see him as soon as she could once the storm clean-up ended.
Bandit was glad to be heading home and the buckskin gave him no trouble when he loaded him into the float. Likewise he unloaded as if he were an angel horse. Denham set up the spare stables with water and bedding and then went to the house. Meredith wasn’t there but she too had been busy. Spare beds were made, towels hung in the bathroom and food from the freezer defrosted on the kitchen bench.
Hand on his injured ribs, Denham jogged to his ute. The last time the community had rallied together on such a scale had been for the Christmas Day bushfires when he and Jake had fought side by side. It had been one of the last times he’d felt like nothing had stood between him and his brother. The memory of Jake hugging him when the fire was finally out would forever remain with him.
He took the back road to the Higgins’ and soon saw the extent of the destruction. The storm had cut a wide swathe across the rural landscape. Trees lay strewn in paddocks, fences were tangled and windmills toppled. Wherever Cressy was he hoped she’d be careful.
He drove up the Higgins’ driveway and into what resembled a war zone. Not a single building remained untouched. Emergency workers and volunteers laid tarpaulins across the house roof. The stables were nothing but foundations and the horse float lay mangled on its side. The twins’ round trampoline had been blown into the front paddock and now hung hooked in a gum tree. Embedded in the side of the water tank was a white wrought-iron garden chair.
Denham drove over to where three restless horses were contained within a small yard. The main round yard was only half standing. Lily and Tricia sat on tiny pink camp chairs near the horses. Expression serious, Tricia cuddled the puppy, Milo, on her lap. The twins waved as Denham drew near but didn’t leave their seats.
‘Hi, girls, you waiting for me?’ Denham asked with a smile as he left his ute.
Both blonde heads bobbed. ‘Yes,’ Lily said, ‘Meredith gave us this important job of sitting here and making sure the horses aren’t scared. She said you’d be here soon and then they all will go for a sleepover to your place.’
Tricia looked at him with big, anxious blue eyes.
‘They can.’ Denham glanced at the tiny palomino foal that peeked around her mother’s legs. ‘And you can come for a sleepover too if you’re worried about Sunbeam.’
Lily nodded. ‘Meredith already said we can stay. She also said she’ll make us some of her pink cupcakes tomorrow and pancakes for breakfast.’
‘That sounds good. If I wake up late, make sure you leave me some.’
Lily giggled. ‘We will.’
Denham saw Meredith walking towards them. ‘Okay, girls,’ he said with a wink, ‘stay put, I’ll be back to load your horses soon.’
Meredith greeted him with a weary smile. ‘It will be fun having them over, don’t you think?’
‘It will. They’re taking all of this very well.’
‘They are now. Everyone is so busy and poor Amelia is trying to salvage as much as she can and pack some bags. So I sat them over here where they’d be safe and out of the way.’
Denham nodded and looked across to where the media were already interviewing the regional SES controller.
He glanced back at Meredith. ‘You don’t know where Cressy is, do you?’
‘No. She was here with Ella to check on the horses but then they both headed off somewhere else. The McCallums’ farm was hit hard too as well as the Butlers’.’
‘What about Will and Judith? They’d also be in the path of the storm.’
‘I think they’re fine. There’s been no call for help. Although … the power’s out and I’m guessing some telephone lines would be too. I’ll check that someone has contacted them.’ She glanced at the twins. ‘I’ve done what I can here so will ask Amelia if I can take the girls and Milo to Claremont. I’m sure they’ll feel better once they see their little foal safe in her temporary home.’
Dusk settled over the destruction and strong lights lit up the gloom as the orange-clad SES and army of volunteers continued to clean up the debris. Denham loaded the last horse and followed Meredith and the girls to Claremont. As Meredith had predicted, once Sunbeam was safe in the Claremont stables Tricia’s eyes lost their anxious look. He left Meredith boiling the twins’ eggs for dinner and Milo digging in the front garden and headed out to help at the Butlers’.
With still no word from Cressy, hours later, he returned to a dark and quiet house. On the kitchen table were two pictures for him from the twins. Lily had drawn a rainbow and Tricia a bull. Side aching, he took a quick shower before lying on his bed and checking his phone yet again for a message from Cressy. He must have drifted off because when the ringing of his mobile woke him pre-dawn was a grey blur outside his window. He breathed a sigh of relief. But it wasn’t Cressy’s number calling.
‘Hi Judith. Everything okay?’
For a second he heard nothing and then Judith spoke, her voice thin and frail. ‘No, it’s not. Sorry to call you but I can’t reach Cressy. The storm took the roof off Will’s shed and ruined Andy’s garden. I thought he was okay but then he got his gun and said he was going to hunt wild dogs and … he hasn’t come home.’
CHAPTER
19
Cressy pulled her pillow over her head as a distant phone rang. She was too exhausted to move. Her mother would come in from the garden to answer the phone soon. The calls were always for her. If it wasn’t Audrey calling, it would be Meredith.
She had to sleep. It felt like she’d only just crawled into bed. The phone continued to ring. Insistent and demanding. Cressy sat bolt upright.
There was no garden. Her warm-hearted and social mother was no longer here. No-one contacted her via the home phone unless there was something urgent.
She sped down the hallway to the darkened kitchen and grabbed the handset off the cradle that sat on the small side cupboard.
‘Cressy,’ Denham’s voice sounded heavy and strained. ‘Judith called. Their place got hit by the mini-tornado. Andy’s garden’s gone. Will’s missing and he took a gun.’
‘I’ll head there now.’ She rubbed at her eyes. ‘Actually, I’ll need a lift. Tippy and my ute are still at Ella’s and the farm ute has a flat battery.’
‘I was coming to pick you up anyway and am on my way. I’ll be there in ten minutes.’
‘Okay.’ She shook her head to clear the fog of sleep. ‘I’ll be ready.’
It was less than ten minutes when the lights from Denham’s ute cut through the gloom. He didn’t turn the engine off as he left the driver’s seat to help Cressy load the blankets, torches, first-aid kit and thermos of hot water she’d organised. The power could still be out at Judith’s.
Before Denham put on his seatbelt he leaned over to cup Cressy’s cheek and brush his thumb over the smudges beneath her eyes.
‘I missed you.’
She kissed him. ‘I missed you too.’
When she pulled away she hoped there’d be light in his eyes but instead they were as dark as they were when he’d arrived.
‘Will will be okay. He’s probably lost track of time.’
Denham clicked on his belt. ‘I hope so … for Judith’s sake.’
Cressy curled her hand over his thigh and they drove out of Glenmore in silence.
She smothered a yawn as Denham took the main road to Will’s. There’d be less kangaroos and wildlife this way. Once dawn arrived, the dewy roadside verges would become feeding grounds.
‘I had no idea Will and Judith had been hit too. I’m sure someone in our unit called to see if they needed help and Judith said no.’
Denham nodded. ‘Meredith had someone check on them too and Judith said they were fine. I’m guessing she didn’t want to stress Will. Seeing strangers trampling through Andy’s garden might have been too much.’
‘True.’
Denham cast her a quick look. ‘Is your phone flat too?’
‘My phone?’ She stifled another yawn. ‘No, it fell out of my pocket into the McCallums’ dam when I was pulling out sheets of tin. Ella took it home to put into a bag of rice to try and save it.’
Denham reached behind him to grab a blanket. ‘Here …’ He sat the soft blanket on her lap. ‘Have a power nap. When did you get to bed?’
She bunched the blanket to form a pillow to rest her head on. ‘Ella dropped me off an hour ago. The poor thing would only just be getting to bed herself now.’
Cressy’s eyes drifted closed before she could ask Denham what time he made it home.
She woke to the sound of the ute engine idling. Worry for Will brought her instantly awake. She sat upright in her seat. Illuminated in the headlights was a big old gum tree that had been uprooted by the wind funnel and thrown across the road.
‘This isn’t good,’ she said, voice tight.
‘No. It’s not. I’ve been driving around the other road blocks but I can’t go around this one.’
Cressy nodded. They were on a narrow part of the road into Will and Judith’s farm. On Cressy’s side lay a gully, while on Denham’s, large jagged rocks and a fence line.
Denham reversed the ute and found a small space in which to turn around. He then reversed towards the fallen tree.
Cressy reached for the doorhandle. She’d help attach the heavy-duty rope to the ute’s tow bar and the tree.
He gave her a brief grin. ‘It’s okay. Save your energy. This’ll take five minutes.’
It wasn’t long before Denham returned and edged the ute forward. She assessed his grim profile. His smile hadn’t fooled her. Tension coiled him tight.
She turned in her seat to see the pale tow rope tighten and then hold. The tree inched forward. Branches cracked and wood splintered as the momentum gathered and the gum tree swung off the road. Denham left to release the tow rope and after turning the ute, they were on their way again. They topped the rise that led to the plateau on which the homestead stood. The sky lightened in the east and threw a pale wash of dawn light over the scene that greeted them.
Cressy reached for Denham’s hand. The house and farm sheds appeared untouched. But where there’d once been a workshop and carefully tended garden, there was now nothing but debris. The weeping cherry and cedar tree lay sprawled among the crushed flower beds. The white picket fence had been tossed against the workshop that no longer possessed a roof. Pieces of corrugated iron were scattered across the ground or wrapped around tree trunks. The only part of Will and Judith’s precious memorial that remained intact was the garden bench. Stoic and immovable, somehow it had been spared.
‘Poor Will and Judith,’ Cressy said, voice hushed. ‘They’ve suffered enough.’
Denham’s fingers tightened around hers. ‘They have.’
He parked the ute and together they walked up the path to the front door. No light shone from inside. The power had to be still out.
Denham knocked on the door and it opened slightly. ‘Judith?’
When there was no answer, Denham pushed the door open wide. Cressy turned on her torch.
‘Judith?’ she called.
‘In the kitchen.’
They entered to see Judith sitting in the dark, staring through the window, a blanket around her shoulders. Deep despair thinned Judith’s face and her usually neat hair was a careless braid.
Cressy and Denham exchanged looks before she headed to retrieve the thermos from the ute. She returned to see a lightened lantern on the kitchen table and Denham sitting with an arm around Judith.
‘We will find him,’ Denham said, words calm and quiet.
‘I know. That’s why I wanted you here first. I don’t want anyone else involved unless we have to. People already think Will’s … a lost cause.’
‘Is he still refusing to carry a mobile phone?’
Judith sighed. ‘Yes.’
Cressy made Judith some hot tea in her favourite china mug and set it in front of her. As she sat, Denham stood.
‘I’ll just take a look around.’
She nodded, keeping her expression neutral. She didn’t want Denham or Judith to see her fears at what he might find. Her heart told her Will would never take his own life. But now with the two places that had provided a haven from his grief gone, she wasn’t so certain. Almost everything that he’d loved, or brought him peace, had been taken from him.
Judith sipped at her tea. Her frail hands shook so much Cressy was glad she hadn’t filled the mug too high.
Judith sat the china mug on the table and spoke. ‘Never in all my years have I seen anything like that storm. It came out of nowhere and left so quickly.’
Cressy remained silent, allowing Judith a chance to talk.
‘I was making relish and heard this sound … it was like, I don’t know, an animal’s scream … a war plane. Will heard it too and ran in from the shed.’ She swallowed. ‘Which was just as well as the shed roof was sucked up into the air. Pieces of tin flew higher than the house. Then it was gone and everything was silent.’
‘How did Will react when he saw Andy’s garden?’
‘He went quiet and sat on the bench for a while. Then he got the wheelbarrow and began to clean up. I thought he was okay. The power was out so we had an early dinner and were planning on going to bed early too. Then he started pacing the kitchen and muttering things about how there could be injured cows and wildlife out there and that they’d never stand a chance against the wild dogs. So he grabbed his gun and left.’
‘And he doesn’t usually stay out this long?’
