The Silent Country (58 page)

Dougie stared at Reg carefully returning the remains of Topov, now wrapped in plastic to the hole and filling it in. ‘So it’s really him?’

‘Has to be. It’s just as Marta described,’ said Veronica.

Back at the campsite Reg announced that he was off to see the elders to tell them what they’d found.

‘Why don’t you lot boil a billy while you’re waiting? I won’t be long. The elders will probably want to let the police know. You’ll have to make a statement.’

Jamie nodded. ‘Yeah, we’ll do that in Darwin.’

‘You will keep this quiet won’t you, Reg? No newspapers or anything. I don’t want my story nicked,’ said Veronica.

‘Mum’s the word,’ said Reg cheerfully.

Reg wasn’t gone long. When he returned he announced that the traditional owners had been notified and everything should be fine with the authorities. So they all packed up and headed back to Darwin.

‘We could take a bit of a break after we’ve seen the police. Call over to Brolga Springs, if you’d like,’ suggested Jamie.

‘Thanks. Another time. I know you have a lot to do for Travis and you’ve been away from Billy for a bit. I need to get going on this story now.’ But seeing the sudden set to his jaw as he nodded, she quickly added. ‘But I really want to spend time with you, Jamie.’

They drove back over the rocky ground and the Crossing, the silhouettes of pandanus standing high on their roots like massed stilettos. A bird swooped low after a dragonfly and then headed towards the monsoon forest.

‘This is so beautiful. It reaches out to you. It’s hard to describe but it feels somehow . . . alive,’ said Veronica.

‘Yep. I can just feel it. Sense it. Sometimes when I touch a rock or a tree it’s like there’s a heartbeat there. Especially in my mother’s country.’

‘Yes. You get a sense of some connection. Even for me. I’d love to see this landscape in the wet season,’ added Veronica.

‘It’s magnificent and I’d love to share it with you. But my heart belongs to my mother’s country,’ said Jamie.

‘What about the farm where your mum has the horses?’

‘It’s handy but it’s real estate. It has no meaning for me. Not like Brolga Springs where Mum was born.’

‘And what about where your father was born? Have you no desire to go to Scotland?’

‘I went for a brief trip to meet some relatives and it was lovely in the springtime. I’ll go again but it’s not as meaningful to me,’ said Jamie. ‘Dad understands that. What about you? Where do you feel your roots are?’

‘I feel a bit embarrassed to say I don’t have a deep feeling of connection to any place in particular, not like you do,’ confessed Veronica. ‘I like parts of Sydney, but I like a lot of places.’

‘Lake Como?’

‘Yes. For a holiday,’ laughed Veronica. ‘But the idea of having homes in different countries sounds exhausting.’

They were both silent a while, then Jamie said, ‘Would you show me your favourite places in Sydney? I have to go down there soon for a conference.’

‘Really? That’s fantastic! When did you find this out?’ exclaimed Veronica, her eyes shining.

‘It’s been on the agenda for a while and I’ve been trying to get out of going, but now I’ve changed my mind.’ He gave her a sidelong glance. ‘What do you think?’

‘Jamie, I would really, really love that. Would you stay with me?’ asked Veronica shyly. ‘I mean, I can reciprocate Doris’s hospitality in a small way.’

He reached out and rubbed the nape of her neck. ‘I want to be with you,’ he said simply. ‘I just wish it could be more often.’

Veronica’s mind was spinning. ‘I’d love you to meet Andy and my parents. I mean, if that’s okay with you?’ She also wanted Jamie to meet her girlfriends but she didn’t want to overdo things.

He smiled. ‘Perhaps I could spin out the trip a bit longer if I’m not imposing?’

‘No. This is good. Really good,’ said Veronica, quite overwhelmed at how happy she felt. But as Jamie took her hand and squeezed it, another thought struck her. And after his visit, what then? Was this how it would be? Sporadic trips between the north and the south whenever their work permitted?

Veronica rang Andy. He was silent as he listened to her news about finding Topov.

‘So? What do you think? I was right!’ bubbled Veronica. ‘And the best part, Jamie is coming down to Sydney. I can’t wait for you to meet him. You there, Andy?’

‘I am. I’m a bit stunned. I guess I wasn’t really expecting things to follow Marta’s script like this. Good on you. So we wait for the coroner’s report?’

‘I guess so. Reg has done everything correctly so we won’t have any backlash anywhere. The police are going out to the site with him and one of the custodians of the land to be sure that the body isn’t Aboriginal.’

‘Not much chance of that with his buckle and viewfinder carefully preserved with him,’ said Andy. ‘Where are they, by the way?’

‘With the police. They’ll be handed over to Olga’s estate, I suppose. So Valma will get them. Any word from her?’

‘Yes, she says you’ve started her on a mammoth cleanup. Says she’s found a box and suitcase labelled “Maxim” and they’re waiting for you. I figured it’d be a crucial scene in the show so you should be the one to open it.’

‘Fantastic. Well, I’ll be on the way back the day after tomorrow. Just going through the footage with Dougie to check we don’t need any pick-up shots or anything. He modestly said it looks very good.’

‘I looked at your NT footage here. That Jamie pal of yours is a talent. Good looking, nice, warm, calm personality. Knowledgeable. He could kick around a TV station if he wanted.’

‘I know. But he doesn’t want to be in Sydney. Or any southern city.’ Veronica sighed.

‘Hmm. Shame for you. You sound pretty keen,’ said Andy. He’d never heard her this enthusiastic about a man before but it was early days. The distance would probably defeat the relationship. But it was nice to hear her so happy.

‘So, how are you going to wrap this story up? Will you go back to Colin and Marta? What about Cardwell?’ he asked.

‘Poor Colin doesn’t know anything of this. He’ll be very surprised to find out what really happened to Topov. He still thinks he was taken by a croc. Marta will be amused, vaguely interested because of Doris and possibly pleased she led us to this. But Cardwell . . . Now there’s another story. It’s ironic when you think about it. If he hadn’t scared Colin off, we might not have approached Marta and found out the truth abut Topov’s death and like Colin we’d believe the story about the croc, too. I suppose that’s why he didn’t want this to come out.’

‘Yes, well the fight, the bruises on Topov. Someone had a fight with him and even if they didn’t actually kill him, they left him to die,’ said Andy. ‘That night when they discovered the body – who do you think made the decision not to tell the police? Johnny? Or the others?’

‘Actually, I think it was Len. He was the bushman, the most practical and he knew the tiresome consequences if they reported it,’ said Veronica thoughtfully.

‘Why would he want to involve himself in someone else’s hassle? But I suppose he must have been in love with Helen as they stayed together,’ said Andy.

‘Do you think he was protecting Helen?’ mused Veronica.

‘Why? If there was a fight, the women would hardly have been involved, but the men . . . There was no-one else around, so it had to be one of them and my guess is that it was John Cardwell,’ said Andy.

Veronica glanced at her watch. ‘I’m getting a headache trying to think this through. Anyway, we’ll probably never know for sure.’

‘Listen, enjoy your last day in Darwin. When we sit down and start editing, you’ll be surprised how well this will hang together,’ said Andy.

‘Thanks, Andy. I don’t know what Valma will have for me, I just hope that it’s interesting. And yes, I plan to enjoy my last hours with Jamie. It won’t be so bad leaving him knowing that he’s coming down to Sydney soon.’

‘I’ll take you both to lunch as a way of thanking him.’

But saying goodbye to Jamie was harder than Veronica could have imagined. She clung to him at the airport, glad now that she’d farewelled Billy with Doris and Alistair at their house.

‘It won’t be too long before I lob into town,’ whispered Jamie as he held her.

‘Can we talk every night?’ murmured Veronica into his shoulder.

‘As often as you like.’ He kissed her long and hard, drew back and stared into her eyes. ‘I’ll miss you. I’m just realising how much.’

Arriving in Sydney was jarring. The cold wind, the queue for a taxi, the honking car horns of impatient drivers. She went home, but her tiny place was lonely and felt too neat, too impersonal. She missed the warmth and clutter of Doris and Alistair’s house, the calm feeling of being in an oasis at Jamie and Billy’s home. She rang her mother.

‘I’m back. Can I come over for dinner tonight? Tell you all about it?’

‘It would be lovely to catch up, Vee. Seems you’ve been gone for ages. Your father and I were going to a movie, but we’ll get take-away instead. Chinese? What have you missed?’

‘Eating? Not much, there’s fabulous food up there. I even ate kangaroo and buffalo and crocodile.’

‘Yuk,’ her mother shuddered.

‘And fabulous fresh seafood of course.’

‘Well, I’m sorry we can’t match any of that. I haven’t got time to cook anything,’ said her mother.

‘It’s fine. How’s Sue?’

‘Oh, don’t get me started,’ began her mother.

‘Tell me about it at dinner.’

Over dinner her mother, with interjections from her father, filled her in on events at work, her sister’s latest drama, the machinations of the local council and the disaster of a tree branch falling onto the guttering.

It was her father who finally asked. ‘So what have you been up to?

Veronica was pleased that at last she could introduce Jamie into the conversation. ‘This story has really taken off, we have a stunning ending but I’ve been so lucky to get help from this great guy that I met last time, I think I’ve already mentioned him. Jamie has been wonderful.’

‘Don’t let anyone else take credit for what you do,’ broke in her mother.

‘It’s not like that. He has great local knowledge. He’s good on camera and I stayed at his parents’ house. They’re lovely. His father’s a retired professor. Scottish with a delightful accent and his mother was a teacher but now works with government agencies. She’s half Aboriginal and quite a political activist. She has a connection with the story. In a couple of ways . . .’

Before Veronica could elaborate further, the phone rang and Joan sighed. ‘That’ll be Sue or Philip, they’re anxious to talk to you, dear. Roger, can you take it, please? Tell them Veronica will be there in a minute.’

‘I’ll call her back,’ said Veronica.

‘Oh, they’ll be going out I’m sure. Just have a quick word, Veronica. So when does this fascinating story go to air?’

‘Not sure. I haven’t quite finished tying up what ends I can. Anyway, as I was saying, Jamie is coming to Sydney so I’d like you to meet him.’

‘Of course, dear. Your friends are always welcome. Especially if his parents hosted you up there. Though really why your office couldn’t pay for decent accommodation in Darwin is beyond me,’ said Joan.

‘Yes. Especially now you’ve got this mega-rich boss. Or is he saving his own money and cutting corners?’ said Roger, returning to the table.

‘Actually Big Bill has increased our budget. My show will launch the new season. And I’m it,’ said Veronica.

‘Speaking as a marketing man, they need a new launch pad, a bit of a change without tampering with the bits that were successful,’ said her father.

‘Roger, that’s just moving the deckchairs around. Veronica told us she was going to be The Face of the show. I hope you know what you’re doing, Vee,’ added her mother.

‘Yes, if it sinks, you go down with the ship,’ said her father.

‘Thanks for the vote of confidence,’ said Veronica getting up to go to the phone. ‘We’ve got quite a story.’

Her father made her pause as he called after her, ‘And then what? What’ll you do for an encore?’

Veronica’s hand hesitated as she went to lift the phone in the quieter sunroom. That, she thought, was a very good question. If the story on Topov’s expedition came together the way she hoped, it would be hard to top it. She suddenly longed to get home and phone Jamie, but instead rang her sister.

‘Hi, Sue. How’re the girls?’

‘The usual, full of energy. When are you coming down? Did you bring them something from the wild north?’

‘Miniature crocodile handbags,’ said Veronica facetiously as she felt guilty she hadn’t brought anything special this time.

‘Oh, how divine! Do they make little girl croc shoes? Are the skins dyed? I saw some pink snakeskin shoes last week and I thought how cute small ones would be . . .’

‘Sue, I was kidding. I have a lovely painting that was done by the aunt of a friend of mine and there’s such a wonderful story to it . . .’

‘Oh, that’s all very well, but the girls wouldn’t be interested in that. They’re little girls, remember? You haven’t been to see us in so long, you think they’re teenagers,’ said Sue.