Back on Track, page 11
Lacey was glad of the distraction. She shut out her thoughts of the bills waiting for her at home, her lack of money and worry for her dad. Instead she got out her phone and began to take photos. There was not a breath of wind and it was hot on the water but where the sunlight hit the cliffs it highlighted the beautiful colours of the sandstone. Lacey’s mind raced as she imagined it as fabric and what she could create from it.
fifteen
Day One – Nitmiluk
The tour group picked their way across the rock-strewn path. They were all being careful about where they put their feet. Judith wished she’d worn sneakers instead of her sandals. Even though they were flat, the open toes weren’t very practical for this kind of thing. Sand was getting under her heels and she’d slipped on a rock earlier and taken a bit of skin off her ankle. No-one else had noticed, thank goodness. And then of course Tien had asked their tour guide about snakes and crocodiles and he’d delighted in regaling the group with all kinds of stories. Judith thought he was exaggerating for the sake of overseas tourists – next he’d be talking about drop bears. All the same it had been enough for her to watch every step.
She was towards the rear of the group as they made their way back to the boat. She wasn’t looking forward to getting back on board. It was cooler there in the shade of the giant cliffs than out on the water, where the mid-afternoon sun beat ferociously on the scant cover over the boat. Their tour guide’s talk about the creation and importance of the gorge for the Jawoyn people had been interesting and distracting but now the heat pressed in on Judith again.
Ketty and Carlos were several strides ahead and Judith studied Carlos’s back as he walked. He was taller than Ketty and every so often he stooped a little to tell her something or listen to her reply. It was obviously an intimate conversation because Judith had gone close during one of their pauses for another brief story from the guide and they’d both clammed up immediately.
Judith had hoped there’d be time on this holiday for her and Ketty to have a good chat, like they used to on Friday evenings after work. That had stopped once Carlos had settled in with Ketty. Judith had stayed on a couple of times on a Friday if Ketty had been home but the conversations had been general with Carlos there. She’d been glad when he’d gone off to spend time with his interstate cousin and family in late January. And Judith had stayed for a short time in February when Ketty broke her wrist, but dealing with that had been their focus and then once more Carlos had turned up to help Ketty and Judith had returned home. Even when his mother had died and he’d returned to Spain, they’d not resumed their Friday drinks. Either Ketty or more rarely Judith had had other commitments and somehow they’d not got back to their routine of debriefing the week.
Judith had used those opportunities to bring any staff issues she noticed to Ketty’s attention. She wondered now if Ketty even realised how fractured the once-firm relationships between her staff had become. Since Carlos had flitted in, then out, then back in to her life Ketty had become distracted.
It had been a long time ago but Ketty had been her rock when Judith had been flailing under the pressure of living with a useless and sometimes violent husband and caring for her terminally ill mother-in-law. When her poor mother-in-law had died, Ketty had helped Judith leave her husband.
Judith was proud of her achievements since those terrible times. She enjoyed her job at Ketty Clift Couture, a place she felt as much at home as she did in the apartment she rented in a building with a few other long-term residents she called friends, but that too was to change soon. It had taken her by surprise. Like a rug being whipped from under her. She longed to talk to Ketty about it, to confide in her like she had many times over the years.
Judith stopped abruptly, the brim of Carlos’s Panama hat only centimetres from her face. The guide was talking again and she hadn’t realised the group ahead of her had paused to listen.
She took a step back as Carlos twisted to look at her. He smiled. She gave a tight smile in return. He tipped his hat slightly and turned back to listen. He could pour out his smarm as much as he liked but it had no effect on Judith.
Their guide moved on, leading them back to the boat. Ketty and Carlos fell into step beside Warren and his wife but Tien and Ning waited for her. Judith placed her foot on a large rock. It was flat but sloped and had been sprinkled with sand by many people walking over it. Her sandal slipped sideways. She adjusted her balance and quickly pulled herself up straight. How embarrassing it would be to fall.
“Are you okay?” Tien rushed back and grabbed her sore elbow, making Judith wobble more. She withdrew carefully from Tien’s clasp.
“Fine, thank you,” she replied stiffly.
“Did you hurt yourself?” Ning asked.
“You must be more careful and watch where you put your feet,” Tien said.
“I’m fine.” Judith raised her chin. Lately Tien’s overly solicitous sphere had been widened from Ketty to take in Judith, and she didn’t like it.
“You should have worn shoes and socks.” Ning lifted one foot encased in a beige canvas slip-on shoe.
“Socks and closed shoes are needed for these expeditions.” Tien put her dark blue sneaker forward.
Then they all looked down at Judith’s sandals.
“I didn’t realise it would be like this,” she said. “I thought boat travel and a short walk on a prepared path.”
“Oh, look, you’re bleeding.” Tien waggled a finger at Judith’s feet.
Blood was oozing from the scrape on her ankle that the recent slip had made bigger.
“I have bandages in my bag.” Tien slid the handle of her bag from her shoulder.
“It’s all right.” Judith dabbed at the graze with a tissue. It must be deeper than she thought because it throbbed. “I don’t need a bandage.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. It’s not that bad.” Judith held the tissue to her ankle and gritted her teeth. It was actually stinging ferociously.
“I think we’re going back to the visitor centre now.” Ning’s fan came out again and Judith enjoyed the puff of air that reached her.
Ketty sat on the deck of the information centre gazing back out across the gorge. She was alone for a moment. Carlos had gone to buy them a coffee and most of the passengers were perusing the souvenirs, buying snacks or using the bathroom facilities. Ketty had wanted one last look at the beauty of the gorge before her. The colours were magnificent. She felt a little dismayed that she’d never thought to visit the region before.
“What did you think, Ketty?” Warren pulled up a chair beside her and offered her a jube from an almost-empty bag.
“Beautiful,” she said as she shook her head to decline the sweet.
“Agreed.” He nodded emphatically, pushing two jubes into his mouth and chewing steadily as he looked out across the water. “I hadn’t realised how big the whole system of gorges was and we only visited the first.”
“I loved the changing colours of the rock in the cliffs and then the contrast of the vegetation.”
“I tried to capture some of those beautiful shots the guide lined up for us where the cliffs were perfectly reflected on the water but I’m not much of a photographer. Val’s the one to capture the essence of a place.” He took out his phone and began to scroll.
That may be because Val had her phone up to her face for most of the tour. Ketty wondered if she’d actually taken in the amazing vista with her own eyes or only from the screen of her phone.
“That’s not a bad photo of the rock art.” Warren held out his phone.
“That’s a great shot,” Ketty said. “So clear.”
“New phone. I thought our old ones were still pretty good but Val wanted to get new ones before we came away. Probably worth the money now that I look at these.”
“I told you so.” Val appeared from behind them, two bags of souvenirs dangling from her hand. “I’ve got something for each of the grandkids,” she said, handing him the bags.
Ketty had taken a brief look in the shop. She’d wanted to purchase something for her two great-nieces but hadn’t been sure what to pick from the large assortment of toys and trinkets. She’d found the choices overwhelming and they already had so many toys. Hopefully she’d find something unique and useful along the journey somewhere.
Warren pulled out a chair for his wife.
“Can I have one of the jubes?” she said as she sat and took out her phone.
Warren plucked the empty packet from the table. “All gone, sorry,” he said cheerily. “I thought you said you didn’t want any more.”
“I asked you to save me some.”
“Did you? Sorry, seniors moment.”
Val was focused on her phone. “I got some lovely photos.”
Ketty did her best to show interest as Val proceeded to scroll through a swag of photos. She stopped regularly and insisted Ketty look at images from the trip she’d just seen with her own eyes.
“I find it hard to comprehend that rock art has been there for thousands of years,” Ketty said as she handed back the phone yet again. “Some of them longer than Stonehenge or Machu Picchu or even the pyramids of Giza, all those places people are in awe of.”
“That American chap beside us was commenting to his friend how special it was.” Warren nudged his wife. “Wasn’t he, Val? We kind of take Aboriginal art for granted, don’t we?”
“Rock paintings are hardly in the same league as the wonders of the ancient world.” Val sniffed and kept scrolling through her photos.
Ketty felt the sting of her dismissive words. “I feel guilty that I know so little about the early history of my own country,” she said.
Val glanced up, a puzzled look on her face.
“Gosh, you’ve got a bit of stuff in these bags, pet.” Warren pulled out a fluffy black bird with a red tail.
“That’s a red-tailed black cockatoo,” Val said.
Next he held up a kookaburra with blue wings.
“The guide pointed out that blue-winged kookaburra in the tree by the boat landing, remember,” Val said. “I thought the girls would like one each.”
“How many grandchildren do you have?” Ketty asked.
“Six,” Warren said.
“Seven,” Val corrected. “Five girls and two boys.”
“Surely you didn’t buy one for the new baby.” Warren dug deeper.
“Don’t pull them all out,” Val plucked the cockatoo from the table. “It’s not too clean here.”
Warren peered into the other bag. “Books and pens as well. We have to fit all this stuff in our cabin, pet. This is only our second stop.” He glanced at Ketty. “Val already bought them all T-shirts in Darwin and—”
“I like to take home little gifts for them, Warren.” Val’s face scrunched and her eyes brimmed with tears. “It gives them and me so much pleasure.”
Warren pulled his wife into a hug. Her scowl turned to a smile and she tucked her head against his broad shoulder, her face hidden from Ketty’s view while Warren’s crumpled with remorse.
There was an undercurrent between them that Ketty couldn’t quite put her finger on. Warren was big and loud and brash and Val more demure and quiet. At first Ketty had thought she was overshadowed by her husband but in that smile Ketty had thought she’d seen something manipulative. There was definitely something amiss with Val and Warren and she was determined to find out what.
Ning stepped through a door further along the deck. She was alone but rather than taking in the view of the gorge she was busy on her phone again.
Ketty rose to her feet. “My work colleagues and I have organised to sit as a group for dinner tonight.”
Val lifted her head, her face blotchy from pressing against Warren’s shoulder.
Ketty smiled. “Perhaps we can catch up again in the lounge car for pre-dinner drinks? That’s if you’re free.”
“We’ll see you there,” Warren said.
Ketty waved as she walked away but her mind was already moving on to Ning, who’d crossed to the other end of the deck and was talking on her phone.
Judith wandered between the rows of souvenirs, heading for the counter. She hadn’t planned to buy anything but found herself with a couple of items to pay for. She’d picked out a cloth shopping bag that had been decorated with an indigenous design. The colours reminded her of the sandstone colours in the gorge and Nitmiluk was printed across one corner. It would be useful, something she’d keep for herself, but the stubby holder in her other hand was to take home for her neighbour Dean.
Ahead of her at the counter, Carlos was leaning in. He appeared to be fiddling with his card and the EFT machine. She hung back. She’d passed him earlier looking at the hand-painted silk scarves and he’d asked her what colours she’d thought Ketty might like. Judith had waved to one in vibrant pinks and blues and it was now neatly folded on the counter. Lucky Ketty. Judith had been attracted to the unique scarves herself but they were very expensive.
“I’m sorry, it’s not working.” The young woman glanced at Carlos like she couldn’t care less.
He waved the hat he held at his face to create a breeze, even though Judith thought the aircon was working quite well. She hung back, not wanting to get involved yet pleased to see Carlos squirm.
“Can you put it through again please,” he asked in his smooth tone.
The young woman almost rolled her eyes as she ripped the paper from the EFT machine. She shifted her weight to her other side and punched some buttons on her keyboard.
“Try again.” She sighed.
Carlos did and seconds later she plucked up the machine again and ripped off another piece of paper. “It didn’t work. Would you like to try another card or pay cash?”
Carlos opened his wallet but Judith couldn’t see what he was doing from where she stood.
“No, I’ll leave it.” Carlos shoved his wallet into his back pocket and spun away without noticing her.
She stepped forward and placed her items on the counter as the young woman picked up the scarf.
“Can I see that, please?” Judith asked.
The attendant handed it over.
The silk slipped softly over Judith’s wrist as she held it out. She recognised the quality of the fabric immediately.
“It’s authentic,” the young woman said with an air of boredom. “It comes with a box and a card about the artist.”
“It’s certainly beautiful.” Judith knew Ketty would love it. And for some reason Carlos was out of pocket. She’d often wondered about his financial situation. He liked to make a show of paying for things but the whole time he’d been in Sydney he’d stayed at Ketty’s, rent-free Judith assumed, and he’d driven a car borrowed from an interstate relative when he’d returned in the new year. It was still in Ketty’s garage. Judith placed the scarf back on the counter and took out her credit card. “I’ll take this as well, thank you.”
Ketty slowed as she got closer to Ning, who had her phone pressed to her ear and was speaking rapidly in Cantonese.
Ning had explained to Ketty when they’d first met that her name meant tranquillity. It was the perfect name for her. In the many years since, Ketty had rarely seen Ning act in anything but a serene manner. Even when her husband had died she’d been a calm beacon of resigned strength, at least in Ketty’s presence, but now her fingers tapped on the top of the deck railing, her forehead was lined with creases, her lips twisted in a grimace.
She caught sight of Ketty and stiffened. “Four more days.” She spoke English now. “I have to go. I’ll call again tomorrow.” She flipped the cover back over her phone and dropped it into her bag as if it were too hot to touch.
“A call from home?” Ketty asked.
“My oldest son, Peter.”
“How is he?”
“Very well.” Ning still looked worried.
Ketty nodded. “Is everything okay?”
“Yes.”
Ning had two sons, Peter and Henry. They’d been babies when Ning first started working for Ketty and she’d watched them grow. During their school years Ketty had always made sure they were welcome to come with Ning on student-free days or during school holidays. They’d take their books and games into the back room, which was set up with beanbags and a TV, or Ning sometimes worked from home. They’d been quiet boys, well-mannered and very studious. Once they’d gone to university Ketty had rarely seen them, in fact the last time had probably been at Peter’s wedding a few years prior.
“Are you sure, Ning? They seem to be in touch a lot. They don’t do that when you’re at work so why….”
Ning’s look turned to horror and she ducked her head and rummaged in her bag.
“Ning?” Ketty was worried but when Ning turned back, her face was composed and she held out a small book.
“I bought a souvenir. It’s a Dreamtime story about the rainbow serpent,” she said quickly. “I will read it to my grandchild, so they learn about this beautiful place and its history.”
“That’s a good idea.”
Ning slipped the book back into her bag. “They are planning a nursery in my back room.”
“Who is?”
“Peter and his wife.”
“But that’s your sewing room?” Ning’s husband had created the special space for her. Ning had cherished it, especially when her family were small. She’d had a place she could keep her sewing and it also made it easier for her to work from home when she needed to.
Ning looked up, battling to hide the sorrow on her face. “I can sew on the dining table if I need.”
“But the baby won’t be there all the time. I know you still have Henry at home but what about Peter’s old room? Can’t they put the baby there when they visit?”
“He and his wife are moving in with me. They want to save money to buy their own house.”
“But—”
“Sorry I took so long.” Carlos joined their group.
Perplexed that her conversation with Ning had been interrupted Ketty sighed then glanced at his empty hands. “No coffee?”
