The Silent Country (55 page)

It was Saturday afternoon and only a skeleton staff was at the TV station when Veronica arrived, but Dougie was working and greeted her cheerfully. ‘Hey Veronica! Good to see you. So we’re going bush again?’

‘Yep. You up for that?’ She hadn’t told Dougie or Murphy, the chief of staff, exactly what she hoped to find.

‘Yes, trouble is I’m in the middle of a shoot, so it might be a couple of days before I can get away. I s’pose you could talk to Murphy about getting one of the other guys . . .’ He looked crestfallen.

‘No way, Dougie. I want the continuity of the same cameraman. Your stuff looks great.’ He was also good at thinking on his feet and was beginning to read her mind.

He beamed at her. ‘Thanks, Veronica. It’s been really interesting and I liked getting out there, especially with Jamie. I learned a heap.’

‘Me too. As I said, I was wondering if I could look at the footage we shot when we went out to Arnhem Land, especially at Wild Man’s Crossing.’

‘No prob. And thanks, Veronica. This trip’ll be very cool. Wish you worked up here all the time.’

The young cameraman’s words struck her. Could she work in a small affiliate station in Darwin after the pressure and power of producing a top-rating Australian show, especially in the same television station as Eddie? Uh, uh, she answered herself. No way. What was she thinking? She thought Jamie was a lovely man, attractive, sexy and thoughtful, but after her talk with Doris, she could understand his reluctance to start a relationship. All very well for her to come in to town occasionally and have a fling, but past that? Forget it. She could see it was all too hard.

The video Dougie had shot, brought back strong memories as she watched it in the editing suite. The variation of landscape – from stone country and billabongs, paperbark swamps, towering escarpments, floodplains and mangrove forests – gave her again a sense of what a special place it was. No wonder Jamie enjoyed visiting it so much.

‘Thanks Dougie, that’s refreshed my mind, but I can’t spot what I’m looking for. I’m trusting Jamie will find the particular place I’m after.’

‘Righto. Talk to the boss. I should be free in a day or so. See ya then.’

‘Good one. I’m off to see my mate at the paper.’

Jim Winchester was pouring over the racing form from the morning newspaper as she tapped at the door. ‘G’day. You busy?’

‘Hey there, Veronica. Got a pin? Might be just as good at picking a horse for me.’

‘I thought you were working hard and giving up your Saturday afternoon. How’s Mary?’

‘Great. She has the gardening club at the house for a chitchat and cake and pruning tips. I thought I’d get in the
way so that’s why I suggested we meet here.’ He folded the paper. ‘Good to see you back.’

‘I’m really glad to be back. I love this climate. And the people, of course.’

‘That’s a truism. Bloody wonderful people up here, even with the industry expansion and population explosion. Great comradeship once you’re out of the city shallowness. Want to go to the pub for a beer?’

‘Sure. I need to give you the full run down on what I’m doing.’

‘Yeah, Andy mentioned there was something afoot. Remember, you’ve promised us the exclusive.’

‘Only after it goes to air, though a teaser to promote it would be good.’

‘So what’s the story?’ asked Jim, ordering drinks after their short walk to the pub and carrying the frothy cold beers to a corner table.

He listened, sipping his beer, as she told all she knew.

‘Strewth. Are you insinuating there was foul play? Be careful of legal action. I wouldn’t go near that one with John Cardwell involved. Is this why he warned you off?’

‘Perhaps. I just don’t think he likes any unwanted attention. I also get the sense that there was a strong pact between them all to let sleeping Topovs lie,’ said Veronica.

‘I take your point about saying nothing till you know if the body is out there. It’s a good story. A death-by-default solved fifty years on. But you know, there’s any number of unknown deaths, bodies languishing in never-never land. It’s harsh and lonely country and people disappear.’

‘A land that doesn’t give up its secrets easily,’ said Veronica.

‘Nope. It’s a silent country all right. Back in the fifties there was no Aboriginal voice or presence, or acknowledgment of their culture until the famous anthropologist W.E.H Stanner talked about the “Great Australian
Silence”. Some things are simply never spoken about. I think your filmmakers must’ve embraced the silence theory and you must ask yourself, what will it achieve to crack that agreement made by them all those years ago?’

Veronica was thoughtful. ‘I hadn’t thought of it like that. But even with an argument like that, I can’t walk away from this story now. I’d fail as a journalist and as a curious woman.’

‘So, you’re going to do this?

‘Come on, would you leave the story this far in? You wouldn’t,’ said Veronica firmly.

‘Okay, you’re right, I wouldn’t. But I like to play devil’s advocate. Final piece of advice: as well as having Jamie, I’d take Reg Sculthorpe along, the Aboriginal guide you met at my place with Bonza. He will balance the story. While it’s true that Jamie is an intelligent and educated part Aborigine, who knows a lot about his culture, Reg talks as a blackfella.’

Back at Jamie’s parents’ house, Veronica joined Alistair and Doris for a drink before dinner. She told them she planned to take Reg Sculthorpe with them and Doris agreed it would be a smart move.

‘I was talking to Jim at the
Darwin Daily
and he mentioned something called the “Great Australian Silence”,’ said Veronica and Alistair nodded.

‘Ah, yes, Stanner. He was a very fine anthropologist in the fifties and sixties who challenged the way Australians thought about themselves and this country. According to him, Europeans practised what he called “the cult of forgetfulness”, which relegated Aborigines to the past, but not to history.’

‘It seems that Topov, in his crazy way, was trying to break that silence,’ said Doris. ‘He simply wanted to show people what there was beyond the cities and the suburbs.’

‘Perhaps without knowing it, everyone was drawn to
go on that expedition to find out more, not only about this country and landscape and people, but about themselves,’ said Veronica slowly, trying to clarify the thought.

‘And perhaps what they found was not always to their liking,’ said Doris. ‘Australia can be confronting, for some, but for others it can be comforting when you find you belong.’

Veronica looked at Alistair relaxing in the deep armchair, nursing his scotch and smiling at them. ‘What about you, Alistair? Your homeland is very different, very far away. You have a wife with extremely strong ties to her Aboriginal heritage. Where do you feel you belong?’

Alistair looked fondly at his wife. ‘I found I belong wherever she is. My life would be very colourless without her.’

They heard Jamie calling down the hallway.

Veronica stood up. ‘You are very special people. I’m very glad I’ve met you both.’

‘Enjoy your evening, Veronica,’ said Alistair.

‘Have fun,’ said Doris, smiling broadly.

‘I thought we’d go out to Cullen Bay. We’ve missed the sunset, but it’s still pretty by the water and there’s a very good fish restaurant,’ said Jamie.

‘Seafood sounds good.’

Jamie made her laugh with funny anecdotes and stories of local characters and events. He was so easy to be with, to talk to and share confidences. Maybe it was the wine, but Veronica found herself occasionally not paying attention to what he was saying and instead studying the way his eyelashes curled and the shape of his lips over his even, white teeth. He really was too beautiful to be true, she thought.

As they left the restaurant, hand in hand, Jamie asked, ‘Want a nightcap at my place? I just need to nip down the road and check everything is okay at the sleepover,’ he said.

‘Love to,’ she said.

He parked in his driveway and handed her the key. ‘There’s a bottle of white wine in the fridge, I’ll just see how our friends have survived the onslaught of five small boys.’

Veronica opened the wine, found glasses and took them onto the back patio, settling herself into the big cane lounge.

‘Glad you’ve made yourself at home.’ He dropped a kiss on top of her head, reached for a glass of wine and sat beside her, stretching his long legs.

‘Billy okay?’

‘Was a bit of a struggle getting the boys to settle down, but they’re all out cold. They’re having a big barbecue breakfast so I can sleep in.’ He glanced at her. ‘Seeing you have a couple of days before we can leave for the bush, would you like to go somewhere? See anything special? I’m all yours.’

She closed her eyes thinking, I wish. ‘Um, I’m open to suggestions. It’s your country.’

‘Okay, I’ll take you to places other people don’t know about. It’ll just be us.’

‘I like the sound of that.’

He leaned forward to top up her wine, but instead put his glass down and took Veronica in his arms. In minutes their kisses unleashed the feelings that had been simmering beneath the surface for a long time. Their bodies were entwined, damp with the heat of the tropical night and the surrendered passion they both felt.

‘Come inside. It’s cooler,’ murmured Jamie, picking her up and carrying her into his bedroom where the overhead fan turned softly.

Veronica awoke as daylight sliced through the wooden slats of the window shutters. She looked at Jamie’s lean brown body against the tangle of white sheets thinking
how wonderful their lovemaking had been and how hard it would be to leave this bed.

He opened an eye and gave her a quizzical look. ‘What are you thinking?’

‘What will your mother say? I hope she’s not worried.’

‘She won’t be surprised. I sent her a text last night anyway.’

‘Saying what?’

‘That I was hoping you’d stay the night.’ He reached for her as he whispered in her ear. ‘It’s been so long, so long. And now to find you . . .’

She kissed him, stemming his words. Veronica didn’t want to think past this moment. All she wanted was to lose herself in the joy of Jamie’s arms.

F
OR THE NEXT TWO
days Jamie, with Billy, Doris and Alistair, showed Veronica around Darwin. She saw many delightful facets of the city she might never have discovered as a tourist. One of Jamie’s school friends was up from Melbourne with his family and they all went fishing. Veronica couldn’t help comparing Jamie’s family with her own and wished that she could share the laughter, discussions, friendly debates and closeness with her own parents as Jamie did with his.

She had visited her parents on her return from Italy and while they’d been interested in hearing about Lake Como and Marta’s house, the story she was pursuing, its ins and outs, held little interest for them. When she told them she was off to Darwin again, they merely nodded, recognising that this was what she did as part of her job.

Veronica had told them that she thought the outback was wonderful and had explained how Jamie McIntosh was helping her with the story. But even when she said how much she liked him they’d asked few questions, so she dropped the subject. When she’d rung her sister, Sue had been full of her own news but sighed at the mention of Italy.

‘We so want to go to Florence and Venice, but the trouble is finding the time and the money. Do we take the girls? Let us know any time you can come and take charge. Oh, Vee, I wish Mum and Dad would act more like grandparents.’

‘They do, Sue! But they’re both working and have busy lives. Taking care of two youngsters is a full-on job. I can’t see when I’d be free to do it, either.’ It seemed to Veronica that they had this conversation regularly.

Veronica had rung Andy and explained that she would be delayed a few days as she’d prefer to wait till Dougie was free and then she’d set off for Arnhem Land with Jamie and Reg.

‘I’ll take a couple of days leave, Andy. I’m just playing around, having fun,’ she explained.

‘Is Jamie looking after you? Relax, have a bit of a break, you must have accrued a ton of overtime. Don’t worry about it,’ he said.

‘I’m having a great time,’ said Veronica. ‘I can’t tell you how marvellous this is. Any other news?’