The Silent Country (24 page)

After dinner on what was to be their last camp before Darwin, Colin and Marta walked away from the campfire together.

‘We’ll be in Darwin tomorrow, if nothing goes wrong. It will be strange being in civilisation again,’ said Colin. ‘I like the peace of being in the wide open spaces.’

‘Me also. Except for the discomfort. If we had better places to stay, even better tents and beds and proper equipment, I would like it more,’ said Marta. ‘But only
for a short time. I couldn’t live so far from everything. My mind would starve.’

‘You’re used to an audience, the bright lights,’ said Colin. ‘I’ve done more thinking out here than ever before in my life.’

‘What are you thinking, Colin?’ asked Marta, leaning close to him, her voice husky.

‘About you, of course,’ he said quickly. ‘But also about my life, my family . . . my future. All this.’ He waved at the starry sky, a hill with a tree silhouetted against the moon. ‘It makes you feel insignificant in the big plan of life. But it also makes me feel big. I mean big-hearted, you can dream big dreams, that there’s a bigger world out there. I now think cities make you feel small, cramp your mind.’

‘Because out here life is reduced to being very simple. Food, shelter, stillness,’ said Marta. ‘And it makes you face who you are. There isn’t much pretence in a place like this. There’s nowhere to hide.’

‘You mean from each other? It’s interesting how we all get on, know each other’s faults, annoy each other, but help one another. I wouldn’t know these people so well in a city.’

‘And that can be a good thing and a bad thing,’ agreed Marta. ‘The fact is we have to rely on each other to get us through so we all get something out of Topov’s crazy dream. I won’t care if I never see any of these people again once we are done. Except you.’

‘Oh, Marta. That’s what I’ve been thinking too,’ said Colin in a rush of emotion. He put his arms around her and held her tight.

She wound her arms around his neck and lifted her face to be kissed. Colin sighed and pressed his mouth to hers. Then he sighed again. ‘Oh, Marta. I wish we were really alone. How romantic this would be.’

‘We can be alone in Darwin. Everyone will be busy there. We can do things together.’ She smiled coquettishly at him.

‘Like a nice dinner? Once we get our money,’ said Colin.

Marta snuggled against him. ‘We can be together without spending money.’

‘Oh.’ The knowledge of the invitation she was proposing, aroused him and he kissed her passionately, feeling the curves of her body press into him.

Marta drew away. ‘Let’s wait till Darwin. We can be together then.’

V
ERONICA HAD PUT TIME
aside to have lunch with Colin. She knew he enjoyed these meetings and she was anxious to know what had happened to the filmmakers in Darwin. She was especially interested in finding out if Colin knew how the cheeky cockney kid Johnny had transformed into the rich and notorious businessman now known as John Cardwell.

‘Hi Colin, it’s Veronica here. I was wondering if you’re free for lunch sometime?’

Colin drew a long breath. ‘I’m sorry, Veronica, I can’t meet you again. Let’s just forget it. I really don’t want to talk about this whole episode anymore. It was just a wild goose chase.’

‘What? Why ever not? It’s a fantastic story. We’re really quite keen to pursue it.’

‘Please don’t, Veronica.’

Veronica paused, quite shocked. What had brought about this sudden shift in Colin’s thinking? Then she realised. ‘Colin, how long is it since you’ve seen Johnny, John Cardwell?’

‘I haven’t seen him in many, many years. I’ve told you that already, we just don’t move in the same circles. I’m sorry, Veronica, I must go now.’

‘Colin, just one last thing, I know that you haven’t seen John Cardwell, but have you spoken to him recently? Did he ring you?’

The silence on the end of the phone told her all she needed to know. No wonder Cardwell had wanted to see her. He wanted to know who her source was.

‘Whatever happened in Darwin? Were you happy? Did it change your life?’ persisted Veronica, fishing hard.

But Colin just answered softly, ‘Goodbye.’

Andy rubbed his chin. ‘Mmm, more and more interesting. It would appear that Cardwell is trying to stop us digging. But why? It makes me want to know more.’

‘Yes. Me too. I can’t believe that I was so stupid not to get some of Colin’s story on film. But it never occurred to me that he would stop talking, he so clearly enjoyed relating the events. But without Colin, we only have a few clues. Everything seems to hinge on what happened in Darwin,’ said Veronica. ‘I’ve looked online to see if I can find anything in the local papers, but only newspapers till 1954 are available that way. The rest of them are still on microfilm.’

‘So that’s your next move, right?’ said Andy.

‘Prise open your wallet, boss. I’m heading to Darwin to see if I can pick up the trail,’ Veronica replied.

Andy looked concerned and gave her a rueful smile. ‘Ordinarily, I’d say go for it, even though the story’s still a bit of a long shot, but I’ve been summoned to a meeting
with Big Bill. Economic constraint seems to be the buzzword around here.’

‘Oh. Would there be any point in my taking off before the ground gets cut from under us? Do you really think our budget will be slashed? Or worse . . .?’ She couldn’t bring herself to even think that the program might be axed. Apart from how it would affect her and the rest of the team, it would break Andy’s heart. He’d poured so much of himself into
Our Country
.

‘I’d hate to have to haul you back and frankly I’d have a hard time justifying the trip on such tenuous leads. I don’t think our new leader would appreciate the fact we’re chasing a story based on your gut instinct and my antennae.’

‘And the fact that, for some unknown reason, one of the country’s most notorious characters has tried to squash the story about this funny little filming expedition by putting the hard word on you and scaring off my source,’ added Veronica. ‘When’s the meeting?’

‘Tomorrow at ten.’

‘So we put everything on hold for twenty-four hours.’

‘You don’t give up easily, do you?’ Andy smiled. ‘By the way, since there seems to be only one other person we can still talk to, did you get Marta’s last name?’

‘No. Colin loved talking about her. But stupidly I didn’t ask him what it was before he was frightened off.’

‘Mmm. Depending on the outcome of the meeting with our new fearless leader, I might call my old pal Jim Winchester at the
Darwin Daily
and see if he can find anything.’

‘Andy, it’s our story! If we can’t afford to go to Darwin and pursue it then we have to drop it,’ said Veronica.

Andy looked at her, knowing Veronica would never let a story go if she could help it. ‘Okay. Let’s see what tomorrow brings.’

William Rowe greeted Andy courteously if less effusively than their last meeting and Andy took his business like manner as meaning bad news. He sat opposite the man behind the desk while he signed some papers.

Rowe looked up and took off his glasses. ‘I’ve done a lot of work since I saw you last, Andy. Reading reports and press clippings, watching shows, interviewing staff, wandering around the station, watching shows go to air, chatting to the folk in control rooms and in various departments. Interesting to hear in-house opinions.’

‘As opposed to viewers’?’ said Andy.

‘That too. I’ve seen the market research reports. I often find it fruitful to talk to the barber and the lady in the supermarket as well.’

‘I imagine you have quite an across-the-board overview then,’ said Andy carefully.

‘You might say that. I think I’ve identified where our weak spots are, where talent and programming are letting us down. And I see where we could improve and boost shows that have perhaps not met their full potential.’

‘Well, I guess we all have a view on that, even if biased,’ said Andy with a small smile.

‘I won’t beat about the bush, or country,’ Rowe said with a slight grin at his word association. ‘While the emphasis on demographics has to change, as I mentioned in our previous meeting . . .’

‘Younger,’ said Andy.

‘The twenties and thirties, yes. Younger but not silly. There are enough idiot shows out there for hormone- hyped, boozed blokes and wild-girl audiences. It’s actually come as a pleasant surprise to discover there are a lot of bright, articulate, motivated young people under thirty – and forty come to that – who, apart from sport, soaps and dramas, don’t have shows that interest them very much at all.’

Andy felt he should speak up for his program. ‘We have a pretty solid youthful audience. How to attract new ones, well, that’s the question, isn’t it?’ He was thinking positively, assuming
Our Country
was being considered in this new push for audiences.

‘That is your challenge. You and your team, Andy. I have to admit, I was rather surprised at the solid ratings of your show even though it’s tucked away there on Wednesday nights.’

‘The comfortable old shoe?’ remarked Andy, remembering their previous talk.

‘Quite. But I’m seeing the potential for a bit of spit and polish. A makeover. Well, not quite as drastic as that. But I think there’s a good chance we can boost the ratings and prestige of the station by giving you guys a bit of a push.’

‘A push? Not a heave-ho?’ quizzed Andy.

William Rowe roared with laughter. ‘Come on. Would I axe a show with your numbers? Of course not.’

‘It’s been done before,’ said Andy quietly. ‘With other solid shows.’

Rowe ignored his comment. ‘Here’s what I think we should do. Your program has the potential to strike a nerve at a time when we need to unite families and promote our own country – in a friendly, easy-going Aussie way. No sappy, hand-on-your-heart stuff, but an acknowledgment that we live in a bloody lucky place that’s unique and pretty amazing but most of us have no idea what’s beyond our back fence, be it city, bush or desert. How many of us have seen the west coast, the north, the centre, the Victorian coast, the Adelaide Hills, inner Sydney, you name it.’

‘I couldn’t agree more. How do we sell stories on places and not make it a travel show, for example? Please don’t say a cooking show.’

Rowe chuckled. ‘No, that’s been done to death, hasn’t
it. Look, with a bit more ammunition you could expand on the stories you do, find a bit more meat, delve a bit deeper, spend time on stories so they’re not superficial.’

‘I like the sound of that.’

‘And get a new presenter or two.’

Andy’s enthusiasm cooled. ‘Ah, we’ve tended to keep the presenters in the background, just introducing stories in the studio rather than flying in and doing bits to camera.’

‘That’s because those two presenters you have are dills,’ said Rowe forthrightly. ‘Lightweight. Fluff balls. Pretty people who can read an autocue. We’ll move them to morning TV. We want someone who’s real. Gets in and gets their hands dirty, is on top of and involved with the story. Someone that people – young people – can relate to.’ He leaned back in his seat.

Andy stared at him. ‘You have someone in mind?’

‘I do.’ Rowe smiled. ‘You said yourself Veronica Anderson would be great on camera.’

‘Oh. Yes. She’s clever and intelligent. But she’s always veered away from being a front person.’