North Star (8 page)

‘When was the last time someone lived in this part?' John asked.

‘I'm not sure, I think it would have been when my grandfather was born.' She opened another bedroom door, with more boxes and old bits and pieces of furniture.

‘Some of this stuff must be antique. Look at the woodwork.' John ran his hand along an old tallboy drawer, admiring the workmanship.

‘Do you do much carpentry?' she asked, watching him as he pulled open drawers and investigated all the joins.

‘My dad was a carpenter. He's retired now, but he has a workshop in his shed where he knocks up a few tables and chairs and sells them as a hobby. Wow, check out the French doors, these are all the original fittings. My old man would love to see this stuff. Not many houses have fittings and joins that date back this far—pretty cool,' he said, giving her an impressed glance.

‘I guess it is pretty cool. I used to come out here and imagine what it would have been like back then. I wished the walls could talk and tell me all about my family.'

John considered her thoughtfully. ‘Your grandparents didn't tell you much about themselves?'

‘My family wasn't big on sharing,' Kate said, trying to sound composed. She headed back out of the bedroom. ‘Back here are three more bedrooms, a bathroom and another lounge room.' She pointed out the rooms with a hitch of her thumb and headed back up the hallway to the front of the house.

‘Thanks for the tour,' said John, picking up on her reticence. ‘I've wanted an excuse to get a look inside this old girl ever since I moved to the district.'

‘You must have really got in someone's bad books to get transferred out here,' Kate joked.

‘You have
no
idea,' he said as they walked outside into the bright sunlight to join the others.

Three weeks after arriving in town, Kate and the kids finally moved into the house.

There was nothing stopping them living there now: the main part of the house was clean; the lounge room, bedrooms and kitchen had been painted; and the power and phone were all connected.

Kate had wanted the bedrooms to be a surprise for Georgia and Liam, and as they pulled up in front after school, she could barely conceal her excitement. She opened the front door, imitating a dramatic drum roll, then stepped aside and let the kids in.

She watched as they stared around them in open-mouthed amazement. The last time they'd been in here the place had still been a mess of paint tins, dropcloths and boxes to be unpacked.

‘Liam, this is your room,' Kate said, opening the bedroom door and ushering her son inside.

‘Oh wow, Mum, this is great,' he cried.

‘And down this way is yours, Georgia.' Kate opened the door next to Liam's and stepped aside, waiting warily for her daughter's reaction.

Georgia gave a long-suffering sigh and a small roll of her eyes as she walked past her mother into the room.

‘Well? What do you think?' Kate asked.

‘It's okay. Not as good as my old room though,' she threw over her shoulder.

Straightening the already pristine bedspread, Kate buried her disappointment. ‘Maybe later we can repaint the room a different colour and you can add a few personal touches.'

‘There's not much point, is there—I mean, since we're moving back to the city soon . . . right?' Georgia challenged.

‘We'll see what happens,' said Kate, refusing to take the bait. ‘I thought you were getting on well with Amy. Would it be so bad if we stayed here?'

‘That wasn't the deal,' Georgia said stubbornly.

‘Nothing's been decided yet, but for now we have to stay here. I can't afford to rent somewhere in the city at the moment.'

‘Why didn't you ever tell us about your mother?'

Kate bit back a sigh. Maybe there was something to be said for teenagers being self-absorbed; when Georgia actually paid attention to something other than herself, it was usually something that Kate would rather not confront. ‘It's hard for me to talk about, I guess. My mother wasn't . . . she wasn't around much.'

‘Why?'

‘She didn't have a very happy childhood here. Henry wouldn't have been the easiest person to live with. She had me very young, when she was still really just a child herself.'

‘How old was she when she had you?' Georgia asked, sinking onto the edge of the bed and giving it a small bounce.

‘She was sixteen.' Kate watched her daughter take this in. She might not find the subject matter comfortable, but she was glad they were at least talking. ‘Tell me about school,' she said. ‘How is it really? You haven't told me much about it.'

Georgia shrugged and gave a fatalistic sigh. ‘Does it matter?'

‘Of course it matters. Why would you even say that?'

‘Because if I tell you I hate it, it's not going to change anything, is it?' she said, as though to defy her mother to disagree.

‘Georgia, I just want you and Liam to give this place a chance. We all need . . . I need some time to get things back in perspective. We've all been through a really hard few years and I just don't think I can face making any big decisions right now. I need a break from all the pressure.'

‘It's always about you, isn't it.'

‘That is not fair, or even true,' Kate objected.

‘
I
need some time,
I
can't make a decision right now,
I
need a break . . .' Georgia mimicked with a smug glare. ‘Well, Mum, for your information,
I
was completely happy, and
I
had friends and
I
was finally popular before we moved to Hicksville. But you couldn't stand to see me happy, could you? You wanted to keep me locked away like some prisoner.'

‘You're fourteen years old, Georgia. I can't believe you seriously think you should be allowed out at all hours of the night to hang around with boys who are too old for you!'

‘The world has changed since you were a teenager, Mum,' Georgia said in her condescending I'm-fourteen-years-old-and-know-
everything
tone. ‘Out here in the middle of nowhere you might have liked playing with your Barbie dolls until you were fifteen, but that's not how kids are today. I'm so sick of you treating me like a child. When we move back to the city, I'm moving out of home. Shaz, Amie and me are going to get our own flat and there isn't anything you'll be able to do to stop me.'

‘Your own . . .' Kate rubbed her fingertips against her forehead in frustration. ‘How on earth are three fourteen-year-old girls going to rent a flat?'

‘We'll get jobs.'

‘Sweetheart, you've been wagging school for the last six months. You failed your half-yearly exams . . . How on earth are you going to get a job when you haven't even been at school?'

‘You always do this, Mum!' Georgia yelled, leaping off her bed to stomp across the room. ‘Every time I try and talk to you, you have to ruin it. You can't stand to see me trying to plan my future. You want me to be dependent on you forever.'

Kate stared at Georgia. She loved her daughter so much it was painful. ‘Darling, that's not what I want, and I think you know that. I want you to be happy, but you have to try to do
something
with your life
.
You can't just leave home and live on the streets and think you're going to magically land some high-paid glamorous career. You need to get serious about school. Why don't we make an appointment with the careers counsellor and find out what options you have? I promise I will do whatever I can to help you.'

‘I don't care, do what you want. You will anyway.'

‘I want you to want it too.'

‘Why? What happens if I say no? Will you kick me out of the house like you kicked Dad out?'

Kate felt as though she'd been punched in the stomach. ‘Is that really what you think?'

Georgia didn't reply and Kate moved to stand behind her. ‘Georgia. Answer me. Is that really what you think I'd do?'

‘Why not? You did it to Dad. He said he made a mistake and you kicked him out.'

Kate clenched her teeth hard. ‘What happened between your dad and me had nothing to do with you kids. It was between him and me.'

‘Yeah, it hardly affected us at all, did it?'

‘When you get older, you'll realise that being an adult is hard. Sometimes we have to make difficult choices.'

‘Is it true Henry killed her?'

‘What?' Kate asked, taken aback by the sudden change of topic.

‘Your mother. Is what everyone says true, that Henry murdered her?'

‘No, it's not! And I don't want you to listen to all the gossip that's going around town at the moment. It's made up by people with nothing better to do with their lives.'

‘Were you here when she died?' Georgia asked. ‘Do you think she's still here? Like a ghost?'

Kate paled; the conversation had caught her unaware. ‘Where on earth are you getting this from?' she said more harshly than she'd intended. ‘I don't want you talking about this in front of Liam.' She glanced towards the hall to make sure he wasn't standing there. ‘I don't need an hysterical child on my hands.'

Georgia flopped down on her bed and pushed in the earphones of her dreaded iPod. The conversation was over. Kate grabbed at the chance to escape. It was hard enough that being here resurrected all her ghosts—she didn't want them haunting the children too.

Once they'd settled in, life fell into a routine of sorts. Liam seemed to like his new school—for the first time in a very long while he was, if not over the moon, then at least compliant about going to school. He surprised Kate at dinner with a rundown of his day and even mentioned a few names of friends he'd made. Kate had to blink fast to keep happy tears at bay.

She'd noticed while they were staying with Jenny and her family that Liam had initially hung back when Nathan and Matt played outside or tackled odd jobs about the property together, but slowly, with encouragement from Nathan, Liam had started to join in. He was taking horse-riding lessons with Matt and Nathan now as well, and seemed to be a natural.

‘He must get that from his mother,' Jenny had said when Nathan praised Liam's horsemanship.

‘You can ride?' Liam asked, eyeing his mother somewhat dubiously.

‘It was a long time ago,' Kate dismissed quietly.

‘Your mother spent most of her childhood on horseback—in fact, that's how we spent most of our free time, riding all over North Star.'

‘Wow. Mum, can I have a horse?' Liam asked.

‘What are you going to do with a horse once we leave here, doofus?' Georgia muttered sarcastically.

Liam looked crestfallen and Kate had to stop herself from reaching out to hug him to her. ‘A horse is a big responsibility, mate,' she said gently. ‘Maybe you should learn to ride first, and we'll see what happens.'

Liam seemed satisfied with that and ran outside to play soccer with Matt.

Kate was so pleased Liam had an ally now. At last he was coming out of his shell after the divorce. She gave silent thanks for this precious gift.