Rain Dance Read online

  It took the whole morning for all of the washing to go through. Every towel was filthy. All six members of her family had been through several sets of clothes yesterday.

  While she waited for the last load to go through the wash cycle, she watched Jerry lead the horses out into paddocks, and then she watched him make up the evening feeds. The smell of fresh lucerne made her desperately homesick for her own little feed shed out the back of the horse paddock and the way Rocket and Gidget always whinnied to her while she made up their feed.

  ‘Reckon they’d mind if I went for a walk around the place?’ she asked Jerry.

  ‘There’s a track going up over that hill over there,’ he answered, pointing out the window. ‘You might see some koalas.’

  ‘Seriously?’

  ‘Yeah. There’re a couple of young bucks up there making a hell of a racket at the moment. Hear them fighting every night.’ He gestured to her to come over to the window.

  ‘See the smooth white gum trees?’ he said. ‘They planted them up there for salinity control years ago and the koalas loved them. Have a look around the base for the scats and for claw marks on the trunk. You might spot one.’

  ‘Cool,’ Holly muttered. There were no koalas near Blue Gum Flats. She’d never seen one in the wild, only in zoos and theme parks.

  ‘Put some boots on first, ay?’ Jerry looked towards the tackroom.

  Holly rummaged through several pairs of boots in the tackroom, all of which looked too big for her. In the end she chose a fairly smart pair of riding boots, which would be lighter going than the steel-capped workboots and gumboots. Moments later she clomped across the polocrosse field, hoping that the Kaydon boy was still over at the other property so she wouldn’t run into him. She slipped between the fence wires and made her way through the long, silvery grass.

  A four-wheel-drive track took her up a steep hill and past some tall eucalypts with smooth white trunks. She saw no fluffy grey critters up in the branches but on the ground were some bullet-shaped scats. There really were koalas here. That was cool.

  She licked her dry lips and wished she had brought a bottle of water with her. She could see beyond the dam some sort of rusty pipe poking out of the ground with all sorts of bolts and chunky bits hanging off it. She cut through the paddock to where it lay hidden in the long grass but was disappointed. Whatever it was, it wasn’t going to produce any water to drink.

  She set off back to the homestead at a march. Back at the stables, she drank from the tap in the tack shed, taking long slow gulps until she felt hydrated again. She hadn’t thought to bring any lunch. Jerry tried giving her one of his pies but she politely refused. They were full of meat and gristle that made her want to gag.

  By early afternoon she had hauled the last load of washing out of the machine, and Brandon had reappeared to drive her back to Glenvale.

  ‘Don’t forget these,’ said Jerry, smiling toothlessly in the doorway to the stables. He passed two golden tickets through the truck window.

  She smiled. ‘Thanks, Jerry. And thanks for telling me about the koalas.’

  If she was going to be stuck here for a while, maybe sighting a koala would make life more bearable.

  10

  Kaydon rode with Aaron and his dad, his head full of the image of the girl with her hair sticking up all over the place. Holly – Holly Harvey; so that was her name.

  ‘How long will it take to build the house?’ he asked as they rode past the cleared site.

  ‘A few months,’ his father answered. ‘Then we can stock the place.’

  ‘Where’s the water?’

  ‘It’s got river frontage and six dams.’

  ‘No, I mean to their house. Yesterday they had to come and get water from the stables.’

  ‘Yeah, I feel bad about that. I wasn’t expecting them so soon,’ said his dad. ‘The house tank’s hooked up and there’s a second tank on the shed, just need some rain.’

  ‘There are no gutters on the shed, and it’s not looking like rain any time soon.’

  ‘They’ll have water by today.’ His father sounded defensive. ‘I ordered a tanker.’

  They rode through native grasses, growing under stands of white box trees. On the hillsides the grass was bleached and pale, the stalks breaking easily as they pushed through.

  ‘Geez, you wouldn’t want to light a match around here,’ said Aaron.

  In the lower country, they cantered through whispering fields choked up with thistles and weeds. The place had been let go.

  Kaydon looked at it all and imagined how it could be with some hard work. The river flats had potential for cropping, and cattle would soon fatten on the alluvial soils and improved pastures once they were cleaned up.

  ‘Wouldn’t take much to clean out those gullies,’ he said to his dad, as they rode past a large patch of blackberries.

  ‘Yeah, you could run a bit of spray over it,’ Pat replied.

  ‘Or you could do it by hand, without chemicals,’ Kaydon challenged.

  Aaron snorted. ‘Yeah, but why would you?’

  ‘Not practical, Kaydon,’ his dad sniffed. ‘We need to get this place cleaned up quickly, given that we’re overgrazed at Rockleigh. Otherwise we’ll be mustering up the yearling steers and sending ’em to a feedlot because we don’t have enough grass to finish them ourselves.’

  ‘So what does Mr Parker have to do with this place?’ asked Kaydon. ‘He doesn’t seem real interested.’

  ‘Silent partner,’ said Pat.

  ‘What does that mean?’

  ‘It means he pays the money, we do the work.’

  ‘What? You got this place for free?’

  ‘You’re way off there. I hocked half of Rockleigh to get it, Kaydon.’

  ‘You hocked Rockleigh?’ Kaydon could hardly believe it. ‘That’s a bit risky isn’t it? That means we could lose it if things don’t work out.’

  ‘Hugh Parker knows his onions,’ said Aaron. ‘He wouldn’t invest in something that wasn’t going to pay.’

  ‘He doesn’t know much about farming,’ said Kaydon.

  His father gave him an exasperated glare. ‘His expertise is in finance, Kaydon. We’re the farmers!’

  Kaydon kept his thoughts to himself for the rest of the ride. But he couldn’t shake the feeling of betrayal that his dad hadn’t told him about this sooner.

  Back at the Glenvale homestead, Pat and Aaron handed their horses to Kaydon to untack while they went over the plans with Holly’s dad. Kaydon led the horses into the yard and found Holly there, standing next to two enormous baskets of folded washing.

  Her legs were long but the baggy white shirt made her look small and girly. The boots she wore were way too big for her and . . . heyyy! They looked suspiciously like his good RMs!

  ‘Nearly didn’t recognise you with shoes on,’ he said, trying to make light of it.

  He tethered the horses and began unsaddling them, and out of the corner of his eye he saw her carry a basket of washing to the hut and disappear up the steps. As he slung his saddle over a rack in the tack box, he was sure he saw a little curtain rustle at the window of the hut. Was she peeking at him?

  A much younger girl tumbled out of the front door and launched into a series of cartwheels and flips. She walked on her hands for a dozen or so steps and then flipped back onto her feet and skipped towards him. Pilot snorted in alarm.

  ‘Hey, slow down,’ he said.

  He could tell she was Holly’s little sister by the freckles and the dainty nose. But she had rusty brown hair and her front teeth were missing. She kept coming at the same pace and he had to run a hand down Pilot’s neck to steady him.

  ‘Can I have a ride?’ she asked.

  ‘Um.’ The kid was tiny. Pilot was huge. And young and fretful. ‘You can ride the bay one over there, Penny. The one Aaron rode. I’ll put her saddle back on.’

  The kid walked over and he noticed she didn’t seem to own any shoes either. He winced at the sight of her tiny feet near th
e horse’s big hooves. She stood on her tippy-toes, reached up as high as she could to grab hold of some mane and sprang effortlessly onto the old mare, wrapping one leg over the horse’s back like a jockey.

  ‘Can I have a bridle? Can I ride her by myself?’

  ‘Um, hang on.’ He still hadn’t rubbed Pilot down. ‘You shouldn’t really get on horses while they’re tethered. It’s dangerous. And you don’t have a helmet on. Or boots.’

  The kid pulled a face. ‘You sound like an old person.’

  Kaydon frowned.

  ‘I’ll just ride her with the rope,’ said the kid, reaching down and beginning to untie the horse.

  ‘Wait.’ Kaydon snatched the closest bridle and began putting it on Penny. He had hardly done up the throat lash when the kid turned her away and began flapping her bare heels at the old horse’s sides, trying to make her go. He kept a firm hold on the reins and reached into the tack box for a helmet. He found the smallest one he could and stuck it on the girl’s head. It was a bit loose and wobbly, but better than nothing.

  ‘Who are you?’ the girl demanded, as he buckled it up.

  ‘Kaydon. Who are you?’

  ‘Eva.’

  ‘You’re a wild child, Eva.’

  ‘Is this your horse?’

  ‘This is Penny. She’s everyone’s.’

  ‘Can she be mine too?’

  He laughed. ‘I suppose.’

  She began kicking again and he let her go. Penny trotted off with the reins flapping loosely.

  ‘Don’t worry about her, she’s a feral.’ A boy about his own age spoke from the top of the roof. He had dreadlocked hair tied into a stumpy ponytail and he wore jeans and boots but no shirt. Around his wrists were more Indonesian bracelets. What was with this family? Did none of them wear practical gear?’

  ‘Are you sure?’ Kaydon stared after Eva. She cantered with her arms stretched out to the side. She wasn’t even holding the reins.

  ‘She’ll probably just fall off. The horse will come back, won’t it?’

  ‘I guess.’

  Penny ducked to one side and changed direction and Eva tumbled to the ground. The horse came to a halt and dropped her nose down. Two arms reached up out of the grass and wrapped around her head. Eventually Eva clambered back on and trotted back with her elbows flapping like a chicken.

  ‘She really loves me!’ she squealed. ‘Did you see her stop for me? She gave me a kiss!’

  ‘Yeah?’ Kaydon gave Penny a pat. She used to be his father’s number one horse, playing A-grade polocrosse. She wasn’t quick enough now and his dad never played any more. But every horse person in Tamworth knew Penny. She was a legend.

  ‘Can we keep Penny here, please please?’

  ‘Where’s your horse?’ The kid had obviously ridden before.

  ‘Dad gave her away.’

  ‘Oh.’

  ‘Holly cried for a whole week.’

  ‘That’s really sad.’ His eyes flicked to the hut again. That explained a few things about Miss Harvey.

  ‘He gave away our house too.’

  ‘Why did he give everything away?’

  ‘Because we didn’t need it.’ Eva shrugged. ‘That’s what he said, anyway.’

  ‘You didn’t need your house?’

  ‘Nope!’ The kid pulled a crazy face.

  He cast his eyes to the hut again and noticed the curtains on the little window twitching.

  ‘So, can I keep Penny here?’ Eva cocked her head to one side and stroked Penny’s neck.

  ‘Is that really true? That your dad gave your house away?’ Surely the kid was making it up. People didn’t just give away their home. Maybe the bank took it or something.

  ‘Eva!’ Mr Harvey bellowed from the shed. ‘Get off that horse now and leave that boy alone!’

  ‘I gotta go.’ Eva’s face dropped and she slipped off Penny’s back. ‘Thanks for the ride.’ She gave Penny another hug then sprinted off back to the hut.

  Kaydon shook his head. Then he had an idea. Aaron’s horses were arriving tomorrow. He wouldn’t need Penny.

  He went around to the other side of the float and pulled out the electric fence gear. There were a dozen plastic pickets and some tape. It took only a few minutes to poke the pickets into the ground, run the tape through and make a little yard for Penny next to the shed. He brushed the old mare off and let her go on the grass.

  Eva peered out of the hut window with the curtains wrapped around her neck. Her mouth was open. He waved her over.

  ‘Do you promise to take her out to eat grass every day and make sure she has water?’ Kaydon said sternly.

  Eva nodded her head so hard he thought it would fly off her shoulders.

  ‘I’ll leave her rug here; you have to put it on at night, okay, because it’s cold and she gets arthritis. I’ll come back and get her in a week.’

  Eva threw herself at him and he stood awkwardly as she buried her face into his stomach. He glanced at the hut. Holly stood with a hand resting either side of the doorframe. He held his hands up and shrugged.

  Her mouth tightened into a disapproving frown.

  11

  Holly couldn’t let this happen. Eva was going to get her heart smashed to pieces if she fell in love with that horse. It was a kind gesture from Kaydon, but the last thing Eva needed was something else torn out from under her.

  Holly steeled herself and marched over there.

  ‘We can’t keep the horse,’ she said. ‘Sorry, Eva, but it’s not a good idea.’

  ‘What?’ Eva looked at her as if she had just sprouted horns and a spiked tail. ‘Why?’

  Kaydon also looked puzzled. ‘You won’t get a safer horse than Penny.’

  Holly exhaled. ‘You don’t understand.’

  ‘What’s there to understand? I’ll come and get her in a week.’ He began unbuckling the horse’s halter.

  She watched him, incredulous. Had he not just heard what she said?

  ‘Look, Kaydon,’ she seethed. ‘I know you’re the boss’s son and all. Sorry about yesterday, but . . .’

  ‘Please, Holly,’ Eva begged.

  ‘Whatever,’ Holly fumed. ‘Have the horse. I don’t care. But don’t expect me to look after it.’ She stalked off.

  She didn’t look out the window until she heard the car and float roll back out the driveway. When she did, she was peeved to see the horse grazing inside the makeshift yard. Her eyes smarted and she blinked angrily.

  She could so easily go over there and run her arms around that horse’s neck, inhale the beautiful musky smell of her.

  But why wrap her heart around an old horse, or anything around here for that matter? It would all be gone in twelve weeks. With luck they’d be back at Blue Gum Flats by then.

  She sat on the couch, drew her knees up to her chest and rocked back and forth, trying to soothe herself. When she felt calm again, she went back out to Eva.

  Her little sister stood with her arms clamped around Penny’s front leg. ‘Please don’t be mad. I love her so much.’

  Holly ran her hands around the mare’s muzzle. It was soft and velvety like Rocket’s. ‘Don’t fall in love with her. You have to give her back, remember. We’ll only be here for a while and then we’re moving again.’

  ‘I can still love her. Even when she gets taken away I will still love her, just like I still love Gidget and Rocket.’

  Later that afternoon Holly found her guitar and sat mindlessly finger-picking, trying to shut out the universe. Jerry’s voice crept into her thoughts.

  Are you going to the ball, Cinderella?

  ‘Oh, Mum.’ She had nearly forgotten. ‘There are some tickets on the windowsill. I found them in Dad’s pocket while I was doing the washing. I think Mrs Armstrong gave them to him.’

  ‘It’s a country ball,’ said her dad, walking into the kitchen. ‘They’re raising money for Queensland farmers. It’s a big deal. Black tie, three-course meal, band.’ He gave Mum a questioning look.

  ‘Maybe you could
take Holly,’ she answered.

  Holly gave a full-throttle, you-have-got-to-be-kidding snort. ‘I don’t think so.’

  ‘If I have to go to something like that, I’d rather take my beautiful wife,’ said Dad, taking her by the hands and dancing with her in the tiny space between the sink and the table. ‘When was the last time you put on a pretty dress?’

  Mum laughed, then she suddenly winced and broke away. She quickly sat on the seat and pushed out a breath. ‘Phew. Ouch.’

  Jake stuck his head inside the kitchen door. ‘We need some milk for breakfast. What party?’

  ‘It’s a fundraiser for drought relief,’ said Holly. ‘On the polo paddock at Rockleigh. Three hundred tickets.’

  Jake lit up. ‘Whoa! Like a B and S? Can I go?’ His eyes were huge with hope. ‘Please?’

  ‘Mrs Armstrong assured me it would be more civilised than a bachelors and spinsters do,’ said Dad. ‘But yes, there will be a country band and some fundraising games. But you don’t have a tux and I’m not hiring one – we’re broke, remember? We can only go because these tickets are free.’ He looked at Mum. ‘Are you sure you don’t want to go?’

  Mum shook her head and began scraping and stacking plates. Holly looked at the two soggy pieces of gold card sitting between the dishwashing liquid and the nailbrush.

  Holly kept quietly picking at her guitar, watching them as she played. Her mum gestured for Dad to join her in the kitchen and she spoke to him in a low voice that Holly could only just hear.

  ‘When?’ her dad asked.

  ‘Tomorrow; I have to go straight in.’

  ‘I’m not letting you go alone.’

  ‘I’ll be fine, you’re too busy, and we can’t just leave the kids here alone. I’ll get the train down and come straight back.’

  Her mum looked up, saw Holly watching and took Dad by the arm, pulling him further into the kitchen where she couldn’t see or hear them.

  Holly’s finger-picking slowed. Something was wrong with Mum.

  12

  Kaydon sat on the back porch at Rockleigh having leftover curry for lunch. ‘Can you drop me over at Dan’s?’ he asked his mum. ‘I said I’d give him a hand with the fences.’