Bangalore. Roger Crook

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      “Your mother?”

      “Mother. Your Majesty. Your Grace. Definitely not Elizabeth or Liz, as my dad used to call her when they were happy.”

      “Divorced?”

      “A few years ago now. Bitter, acrimonious. Made Dad very sad. Especially when he gave her everything really. She now lives with a rich surgeon so she has double everything. Mother forced the sale of the family home and bought a BMW with what was left. Dad had borrowed against the house to pay lawyers so he got virtually nothing. Shortly after, my mother and her new man bought a block down at Yallingup. They are building there now.”

      “What is it about Yallingup, Dad? Have you been down there? That’s where Mum and Roddy are building their mansion.”

      “Haven’t been there for years. Had a mate at school and his grandparents lived down there. Had a little farm and ran cows. We used to go down there at half-term. It was all gravel roads and beautiful beaches with nobody on them. Great surf. The old man used to let us drink beer and he knew the best places to go fishing. He had an old Land Rover and sometimes we’d stay out all night fishing and drinking beer and then cook fresh fish for breakfast on the beach. He was a wonderful old man.

      “He’d been in the First World War. Like so many he’d seen some terrible slaughter. So when he got home he walked away from the family business in Perth. I think they were foundry men or something like that, very wealthy. He bought a block, milked cows and said goodbye to the world. When his son, my mate’s father, became of age he gave him all his shares in the family business. Last I heard my old school friend was floating a new mining company in Perth. I suppose he’s built his mansion where his grandad milked cows. It was only half a mile from the beach.”

      Rachael looked at Pat. “How about you, Pat, been down there?”

      “Ewen and I went down there one weekend and indulged ourselves at one of the resorts called Palm Bay. It was quite beautiful but I don’t think those places are for me. They have everything there, gym, tennis courts, and swimming pools by the beach, sumptuous restaurants, and a spa in the room overlooking the ocean. I just wondered why you would want to pay hundreds of dollars a night to go and sweat in a gym or swim in a pool when the ocean is a short walk away. The place was full of designer beachwear and sunglasses, white socks and nothing less than a BMW in the car park.”

      Rachael now had her arm round Angus’ shoulder. “I know what you mean. I went to a medical conference up in Queensland. It was quite beautiful too but so extravagant. I should have known better really.”

      Angus looked at her. “What do you mean you should have known better?”

      “It was full of male doctors all on their own away from home off the leash. There were only three women at the conference. One was a professor and about sixty, jolly and fat. The other one was as gay as all hell and had her partner with her so that left me with all these randy doctors. Talk about harassment. They even pushed notes under my door!”

      “What did you do?” Angus asked.

      “Stuck it out to the end and then left before the conclusion and caught the plane home. Then I got a phone calls when I got back to Sydney from some Registrar that said he couldn’t forget me, asking me to meet him.”

      “What did you do?”

      “Told him to go and fuck himself and if he didn’t stop, I’d claim harassment.”

      “Women of the modern era,” Angus said with a sigh. “What about you, Pat, that sort of thing happen in the RAAF?”

      “You have to be very careful; there are always the predators. I think it’s worse in the Navy where they are confined in small spaces for long periods. At least with us, most of the time you get home at night. If you’re on the base then the quarters are secure.”

      Angus got up. “I’m going to have a look at the Internet and see what’s happening to this cyclone. If you two want to check your emails or send any I’ll be about ten minutes, then it’s all yours.”

      Rachael slipped into the chair that Angus had vacated and drained the last of the tea into their mugs. “How is Angus, Pat?”

      Pat looked at her hands for a moment and then, looking at Rachael, said, “He got a little emotional out on the airstrip after your mother left.”

      “How do you mean?”

      “Well, he just stood there looking at the horizon…then he…I’m not sure if I should tell you.”

      “Please, Pat, I’m a bit worried about him…he’s a very silent man you know…keeps a lot inside.”

      “Well, he started talking about Bangalore and how he had never really been very far away from it for many years. A couple of trips that he didn’t enjoy.”

      “Did he tell you about Bali with Jane Baxter?” Rachael asked with a mischievous smile.

      “Yes, he did. He said they had a row and he came home.”

      “So he didn’t tell you about the masseuse?”

      “No.”

      “It’s a funny story. I’ll tell you one night when we are alone. I don’t think he got over it for years. I’m sorry, you were saying, he was talking out on the air strip.”

      “Yes, he started talking about Ewen and trying to imagine what it was like to be in a combat zone like Afghanistan. He said he feels he hardly knows his son because Ewen was away at school. Then he went into the army and they have hardly seen each other for years. He gave me the feeling he was trying to connect with what was going on and he couldn’t. He used words like feeling helpless and hopeless. I think he’s frightened Ewen will die without him really knowing him.”

      “Did he get emotional?”

      “A little.”

      “How did you feel?”

      “A little hopeless myself. He’s such a big man and not just in stature. But he’s not equipped…no that’s not the right word…he’s led something of a sheltered life out here for so long…at least sheltered from where I have come from and I expect where you have come from. Now war and grief has caught up with him and I suspect it’s a very painful experience. I think he’s worried if Ewen dies, then he will have failed to have shown him, told him of the love he really feels.”

      The whole time Pat had been speaking Rachael hadn’t moved and she hadn’t taken her eyes off Pat’s face. “Wow! You should have been a doctor, Pat. That’s very understanding.”

      Pat gave a little shrug and a half-smile and reached for Angus’ tobacco pouch and papers he’d left on the table. As she looked down rolling her cigarette she went on. “I’ve only been here a few hours and I don’t really know Angus at all but he gives the impression that he loves this place so much – that this is what he’s connected to. He and your mother had a few words in the car about selling the sheep and buying cattle – I didn’t really understand what it was all about, but Angus gave the impression that he would change, that he will change, but he doesn’t know how to break the news to your grandfather. He thinks it will hurt him and СКАЧАТЬ