Anna of Strathallan (6 page)

Mac nodded sagely. 'Yep, we like her too. She doesn't fuss too much about mud and she knows things. Like where you can find trapdoor spiders and lizards and dotterels' nests and how to fix things. She can make anything go ... watches and clocks and trucks and things. Our mum's a real duffer at those things and Dad's not always round, but Nanna even got the tractor going when Grandy Drummond couldn't.'

'A toy tractor?' asked Anna.

Bill's tone was scornful. 'Toy nothing! The real tractor. She's very meck-meck-something for a woman.'

'Mechanically-minded?'

'That's it, and she's a wizard with a fretsaw. I'll show you.'

He raced away, came back with a huge wooden tray on which were some wonderful miniature toys, fire-engines, cars, station-wagons, front-end loaders, fork-lifts. They were all beautifully fitted together and painted, with cotton wheels to run on.

Mac said, 'She helped us make them all. You've got to be very careful not to lean on them too hard. We'll let you have a go at running them on the floor afterwards, if you'll promise not to lean on them too hard. After all, they're not made of cast-iron.'

'I'll be very careful,' promised Anna solemnly. She turned to look at Bill, who'd leaned over and picked up a bottle from the dressing-table. 'That's perfume ... I don't think you'd better take the top off, you might spill - oh!'

She was too late. He had it off, sniffed, gave it a vigorous shake, then decided to dab some on his pyjamas. He hadn't noticed the whole top had come off, and it poured down him in a steady stream.

Anna made a quick swipe with the hanky from under her pillow to prevent it saturating the eiderdown, scooped Bill up, scent and all, and sprang out on the carpet with him. It was a very large bottle and a very strong perfume.

She landed on the floor just as the door was pushed open and Maggie preceded Kitty, who was bearing a tray. They all uttered squeaks of dismay. Kitty whipped off her apron and mopped frantically, saying, 'I don't want it dripping on the carpet, it'll reek for weeks. Nobody could stay in here then.' Maggie said in tragic tones, 'Those boys! Whatever will they do next? You'll catch it when Mum comes back, Bill!'

Anna said hurriedly, 'Oh, it wasn't really his fault. Look, the sprinkler top unscrewed with the cap, anybody could have done it. Bill, it's just as well you did it now. I might have got drenched with scent the first time I used it.' Bill had opened his mouth to yell at the threat from his sister, but closed it again. He had an ally.

A grim voice from the door said, 'Beats me ... you kids never have the same accident twice running! We never know what to guard against. And what the devil were you doing in Miss Drummond's bed? I heard you being told not to disturb her!' Calum Doig, still heavily bandaged.

The twins sounded virtuous. 'We were asked in ... so there!'

Anna was laughing helplessly, still mopping with the apron. 'I did ask them in, I was frightened they'd catch cold. Look, very little's gone on the sheets. I'll wash them after breakfast. It would have been disastrous had it soaked the mattress. But I think I'll have to drop Bill in the bath - it's the only way we'll get rid of the smell. Grandmother, can that gorgeous breakfast be kept hot in that lovely stove? I'll get Bill de-glamorized, then we'll all come down. How
about
it, Bill? Oh, I'd better get a dressing-gown.'

There was a gleam in the eyes with which Calum surveyed her. He grinned, 'What the dickens are you blushing for, girl? It's downright stupid. You could have gone to the Hydro Ball in that and no one would've been any the wiser!'

How true! It was in deep tangerine, fluffy-surfaced, with a high Empire waist, threaded through with a brown satin ribbon, and had a striped orange and white bodice, with a big collar that was for all the world like a fichu, and puffed sleeves edged with old-fashioned white embroidery. She laughed herself. 'Yes, mad, isn't it? I'd appear before anyone in a bikini, but just because this happens to be a nightgown, I've gone all modest on it. Well, I'll have to take it off - it copped the scent too - Grandmother, my dressing- gown's the flimsy sort suitable for Fiji, could I borrow Grandfather's to come down to the kitchen in?'

Maggie and Kitty had given way to laughter. Calum caught his nephew by the ear as they went through the door. 'But just because Miss Drummond's been sporting about it, don't think you can go on poking and prying into the rest of her belongings. Gosh, what a stink!'

Anna halted. 'I've known worse. Like last night, for instance! At least
he's
not reeking of beer!'

The three children stopped in their tracks, gazed at their uncle. Maggie had a prim expression. She said, 'Uncle Calum? You - you weren't
drunk,
were you? Is
that
why you had the accident? Oh, you won't half cop it from Miss Kirkpatrick! What
will
she say?'

The uncle glared at Anna, flung up his hands in despair. 'Now look what you've done! Children, you've got to get this straight. You're not to go round spreading a tale like that. I only reeked of beer because I picked old Barney up, we skidded off the road and his kit of bottles smashed all over me.'

Anna couldn't have cared less. She departed to the bathroom with Bill. Maggie appeared with his clothes, and Bill submitted with a surprisingly good grace to being bathed and robed by a stranger. Anna had to resist the temptation to cuddle him. Five-year-olds were usually horrified by any attempt to baby them.

She pulled his jersey on, a sturdy Aran knit his mother had made him, he informed her. Then came long overalls made of a warm tartan material. She buttoned up the Huckleberry Finn top and said, 'I'll match you when I get into my trews, they're that tartan.' Again an impact of knowledge. These children were certainly being brought up to regard themselves as family, as Drummonds. But of course it might be chance. The overalls might have been store-made and the only tartan available. Tartan was so popular most people didn't seek their own these days.

She said, 'Were these bought ready-made?'

'No, Mum's got yards of this stuff. The shop ones don't have any hems to speak of, she says, and we grow like beanstalks. She has some trews like this herself, and a skirt. See ... she even makes extra big straps so she can shift the buttons.' Anna saw all right. She was extremely thoughtful as she washed hastily when she'd sent him out, and donned Grandfather's big dressing-gown Maggie had brought in. She doubled back the sleeves, girded it tightly to hitch up the length and ran downstairs.

At the smile Gilbert gave her, Anna knew a lift of the heart and the sheer magic of being here and belonging flooded over her. She bent and kissed his cheek before slipping into her place.

Anna was outwardly correct towards Calum, asked if his head pained him much this morning.

He said dryly, 'I can't afford to have it ache - we're right in the middle of lambing still, and with Ian away we're short-handed. I tried to get an extra casual hand but failed. There's only Philip - you haven't met him yet because he lives at home, quite near here. He's away out round the sheep. I told him we'd probably be a bit later this morning.'

Anna's fault, no doubt. But she said without a trace of resentment, 'Maybe I can help. Do let me know if I can.'

He burst out laughing, but had to put a hand to his head. She thought it served him right. He said derisively, 'I reckon that coming from Fiji, you'd hardly know one end of axwe from the other.'

Her dimples grooved her cheeks. 'Oh, I don't know ... one end bleats, the other produces the lamb ... quite elementary. And I believe the lambs have to be helped into the world sometimes. Besides, I have seen pigs farrow, in Fiji.'

Her grandfather guffawed. 'Calum, I reckon you've met your match in verbal warfare this time. This one doesn't agree tamely with all you say.'

'No, evidently not, but who wants warfare?'

Gilbert sounded quite serious. 'Well, not the violent clashing kind, but verbal sparring sort of titillates the conversation, you ken. At least I ken, and ken full well. Without the occasional skirmish with Kitty, I'd have found our marriage very dull.'

'Oh, marriage,' said Calum, 'But then who was talking of marriage?'

Anna realized Kitty was holding in laughter. One of the twins created a diversion by saying to his brother, 'Blest if I know what they're talking about, do you?'

Anna laughed. 'I don't reckon they know, either, Mac. And I
am
dumb about sheep, except for being able to distinguish one end from the other. I only ever had one New Zealand holiday. I was seven. Mother took me by the Main Trunk Express right down from Auckland to Wellington and vowed she'd never forget my comments. Evidently I squealed at the top of my voice: "Whatever is
that
funny animal?" and everyone in the longcarriage stood up to look right around, expecting to see Wirth's Circus on the move, and all there was in sight was one woolly sheep tethered outside someone's gate to keep down the grass verge! They resumed their seats looking foolish, then a few miles south I saw a haystack and let out another screech. It brought them out of their seats again. By this time they were looking at me with such peculiar expressions, Mother had to explain. It had its advantages. For the rest of the long trip they took charge of me, pointing things out and answering my questions. I've never lost my capacity for asking questions, so you're all going to get pretty tired of me.'

Bill said regretfully, 'Wish it had been Saturday. Fancy having to go to school when we could have been answering questions, not being told to shut up for asking them. I suppose we couldn't—?'

'No, you couldn't,' said his uncle firmly, 'and finish your breakfast, all three of you, off to clean your teeth, pick up your lunches and get your bags ready. And you do your parents an injustice. I've never heard them tell you to shut up. They only say they've finished answering questions for a little time - when you've been hogging the conversation too long.'

Anna was sure Bill muttered 'Same thing,' under hisbreath, but slid very quickly off his seat as his uncle's eye sparked.

Calum said, 'Waste no more time. We're much later than we ought to be already.'

Anna was evidently to be made to feel the disrupter of the farm routine. She bit her lip.

Evidently Kitty didn't take that meaning. 'Oh, Calum, you worry far too much about their pranks, lad. I never expect bairns to be perfect. The spilt scent didn't take more than a few moments to clear up. The sheets are in the tub and there they'll stay till the morrow. I'm turning a blind eye to the household chores today and coming round the sheep with you. I'd like fine to be with Anna when she first looks over Strathallan. There's nothing quite like the first sight of a place.'

Anna said, 'Oh, I don't know. The differences may strike you more perhaps, because sometimes custom blinds us to either beauty or shabbiness. On the other hand constant use can endear things to us even more.'

She thought the look on Calum's face was a sardonic one. What a cynic he must be! She hoped she wasn't looking for reactions like this, but she didn't think she was being fanciful ... he had a guarding, watchdog sort of look as if he wanted her to know that he, at least, wasn't taken in. It stung. She had suffered as much as anyone from her father's misdeeds. It had deprived her of a male parent all these years. She hated that anyone should class her with Alex Drummond's instability, always wanting the easy money one didn't have to earn. How horrible to be - in this man's mind - tarred with the same brush.

Gilbert broke in. 'This is an occasion for the homestead of Strathallan. For our granddaughter has come home to her inheritance. She mustn't let anything dim her grandparents' showing her round. Nothing must interfere with that pleasure.'

She sensed the stillness in Calum at the mention of the inheritance. She mustn't let anything dim her grandparents' joy, but she would certainly gang warily.

She said, gently, 'Don't let's talk about an inheritance, my darlings. It's enough to be here, with you, and belonging.'

Calum drained his cup, pushed back his chair. Anna looked at him appraisingly for the first time and hoped he might feel he was also being weighed up. But she said, lightly enough, 'No wonder I found you heavy to manage last night. You do tower, don't you?'

It was true. His height was matched with his breadth and his features were so aquiline that if his chin hadn't been so square, he would have been hatchet-faced. His eyes had very deep-set sockets above high cheekbones and she was suddenly surprised to find those eyes vividly blue. She'd expected dark ones to match the dark hair. But many Highlanders had black hair and blue eyes. Maggie had it too.

He said, quite admiringly, 'I sure hand it to you, Anna from the Islands, that you heaved me round in the most efficient fashion considering your size. I was most confused at first last night and could only surmise I'd had the good fortune to have met up with an Amazon. But perhaps you're a judo expert! It wasn't till you got me out of the car at Roxburgh that I realized you were just a slip of a girl.' He turned to her grandmother. 'Kit, I've got to ring the garage and find out if they got the message from Sister Grey all right, about taking out the breakdown outfit to salvage my car. Do you think you could put something up for our morning tea, and we'll have it in the paddocks instead of coming back here. That'd save some time.'

She nodded and rose. 'Get you away upstairs, lassie, and into the oldest duds you've got.'

Anna had nothing really old in the way of warm clothing. Old things belonged to Fiji and were of the flimsiest. But Auntie Ed had insisted on her buying warm trews and jerseys for Central, and had suggested some cheap ones, knowing farms. She slipped into her Drummond tartan trews, light red, checked heavily in green and orange, pulled a green jersey with a turtle neck over it, slipped a brown belt round it, buckled it tight, and ran down.

She found Kitty buttering a huge basket of ginger gems, made the day before, and a kettle boiling for the flasks clattered its lid impatiently on the stove. She'd stacked the dishes by the sink. Anna went to them, pushed her sleeves up.