North Star (18 page)

It was race day in Widgerry.

This was the social event of the year and the small town came alive for the occasion. Even Kate couldn't help but be swept along in the excitement.

Overnight the town seemed transformed. Utes with large spotlights and equally large mudflaps roared into town. Farmers and workers from isolated outlying properties made the pilgrimage into town for the chance to socialise and let their hair down.

Most of the racegoers were camped at the track. The party atmosphere flowed from the race day to the camping grounds and on to the next day's picnic and that evening's dance.

For once Georgia was enthusiastic about something. Kate hadn't had a chance to dress up and mingle in a long time and she was looking forward to it too. She told herself it was the event she was so fluttery about, not the fact that a certain tall, handsome police officer would also be there.

Two weeks.

Two long weeks since John had turned her down. Even though she knew it wasn't actually a rejection—quite the opposite really—the fact that it had been him who had put on the brakes and not her was still a humiliating memory.

They'd spoken on the phone almost every day, but she hadn't seen him again since. She'd turned down two offers of dinner, because she was simply too exhausted to keep her eyes open each night. Between overseeing the renovations and a few runs to Goondiwindi to pick up supplies, trying to keep on top of all the feeding, milking and general maintenance, she just had nothing left by the end of the day.

John's schedule hadn't been any lighter. He was busy with an accident out on the highway the one day she'd planned to stop in and have a coffee with him, and since then he'd been caught up with the race-day preparations.

Unfortunately he was going to be present today in an official capacity, with the assistance of a few extra officers coming in from across the district. As with any venue where alcohol was supplied to red-blooded males who spent the majority of their time isolated on vast properties, tempers would eventually flare. The police needed to be around to make sure things didn't get out of hand.

Kate dithered in front of the mirror, having changed her outfit three times.

‘Mum, we're going to be late.' Georgia stood in the doorway to her mother's room and frowned.

‘We've still got fifteen minutes before we have to leave.' With her eyes on her reflection she turned, looking over her shoulder. ‘What do you think of this one?'

Georgia tilted her head and considered her mother critically. ‘I think you should go with the red one.'

Kate eyed the red dress doubtfully. What had she been thinking that day in Goondiwindi? ‘It's a bit too . . .'
Revealing, seductive, unmotherly
 . . . she filled in silently.

‘It's race day, Mum. You have to go the whole hog. Anyway, you look good in red.'

Kate glanced at her daughter, surprised by the compliment. ‘Yeah?'

‘Yeah.' Georgia shrugged. ‘Besides, that one makes your bum look huge,' she said over her shoulder as she left the bedroom.

‘Thanks for that, Georgia,' Kate sighed. It had been a nice moment while it lasted.

The air vibrated with a feeling of excitement. Crowds milled inside the gates. The racecourse had been transformed from a dusty wasteland to a bustling tent city with country music blaring over loudspeakers. Laughter and race calling vied for attention in the carnivalesque atmosphere.

Horses pranced in bright colours, their jockeys seated high on their backs. Dogs barked from the trays of their owners' utes, and children dodged parents' legs as they played tag among the tent poles.

‘Mum, there's Amy. Can we go and find the rest of the girls?' Georgia asked as she waved to catch her friend's eye.

‘I guess so, but stay away from the beer tent and stay
inside
the gates,' Kate warned. She'd had reservations about letting her daughter wander freely with so many men roving around looking for a good time. Jenny had pointed out that the racetrack really wasn't that big and there were always plenty of locals keeping a watchful eye on the out-of-towners. It hadn't completely alleviated Kate's worry, but she had decided to try to relax about it.

Kate tugged self-consciously at the top of her dress. She could see that keeping her troublesome breasts in the right place all day was going to be a problem. With a tight bodice and a skirt that reached to mid thigh, the dress dipped low at the back and revealed more skin than she was used to having on show.

As she approached a white marquee under which long tables had been set, a loud whistle sounded. She shook her head at Jenny, who grinned as she approached.

‘Check out those pins,' Jenny called, loud enough to draw the attention of neighbouring tables.

Reaching her friend's side, Kate sent her a stern look. ‘Would you stop it!'

‘You look great—I was simply pointing that out.'

‘Well, don't. I feel like an idiot all dolled up like this.'

‘Relax, it's race day.'

Jenny looked great in a pale blue dress and silver high heels, and Kate had to swallow down a tightness in her throat as Nathan casually draped his arm across her shoulders in a gesture that showed to the world this woman belonged with him.

She missed that.

It was hard not to become caught up in the thrill of thundering hooves, dust billowing behind the sweat-lathered horses as they streaked past, and soon Kate was cheering just as loud and placing the occasional two-dollar bet right there alongside the high rollers who were forking out fistfuls of cash on each race.

As midday approached, Kate strolled towards the grandstand to check on the kids and make sure they had some money to buy lunch. Stepping through the cans and litter on the ground, she didn't notice the two policemen coming towards her until she practically walked into them.

‘Oh. Hello.'

John looked down at her with warmth in his eyes, but spoke casually.

‘Kate. How are you?'

‘Fine, thanks. It's been a great day so far.' It was hard for her to believe she was able to stand here and swap polite conversation with the man who, only a few short weeks before, had her worked into a heated frenzy against her kitchen sink.

‘Fair-sized crowd—the committee should be pleased by the turnout,' he agreed, scanning the crowd.

Remembering he was here in a professional capacity, she decided not to detain him any further. ‘Well, I'm off to check on the girls. I'll see you later.'

‘I'll be around.' He smiled with sufferance, no doubt thinking of the long night ahead.

She watched him walk away and felt a small twinge of regret. This wait-and-see game hadn't gotten very far. Still, he'd certainly proven one thing—he was not rushing her into anything! With a frustrated sigh, Kate turned and continued to look for her daughter.

The smell of barbecued onions, sausages and steak wafted through the air on her return to the tent, making Kate's mouth water and reminding her that breakfast had been a long time ago.

Waiting in line at the Rotary club food tent to buy a steak sandwich, Kate smiled and made small talk with a few of the locals she recognised from the kids' schools and around town. The tent was a popular place, with the line of customers snaking its way back out into the hot midday sun.

Inside the food tent was a bar, where groups of men huddled and talked politics and farming. Kate heard her name being mentioned and turned to find Matthew Unterheinner and a group of similar-aged men staring at her smugly.

‘How long until she packs her bags and heads back to the city, gentlemen? Should we take bets now?' Unterheinner said loudly, his voice carrying and catching the attention of nearby drinkers and people in line.

Kate exhaled slowly and turned away from him, hoping he'd get the message. He didn't.

‘If you think people around here are just going to sit back and let you get away with this, then you're sadly mistaken, girly,' he told her, encouraged by the rumble of his cronies around him.

‘What exactly do you think I'm getting away with?' Kate asked, firing up at his rudeness.

‘Sticking your nose where it doesn't belong.'

‘How am I doing that?'

‘You have no business holding on to that land when there are others who can use it to benefit the community.'

‘Like who? You? Don't you already own enough land around here? And how exactly is selling to you going to benefit the community? All you're interested in is lining your own pockets.'

‘That land is valuable,' a woman three people behind her piped up. ‘We were told mining companies offered Henry a fortune for it. Seems to us that if a mine were to buy it, it'd open up a lot of jobs around here. Our kids wouldn't have to leave town to get work.'

‘Well, no mining company has approached me. So maybe it's not as valuable as you think,' Kate said with a small frown.

‘Oh, it's valuable all right. We figure you plan on sitting on it until the price is right,' Unterheinner drawled.

‘Then what's your problem? If that's what you think, the mine would be here eventually anyway,' Kate snapped.

‘The problem is we have to sit back and watch some upstart from the city come along and scoop up a fortune, when most of us have been born and bred here and had to work our guts out to scrape together a living,' a piggy-eyed man beside Unterheinner put in angrily.

A low murmur went up and down the line and she felt the resentment growing all around her. The heat of the cooking and waft of meat and fat in the air settled thickly in her stomach.

‘How dare you sit there and judge her, Morris Jenkins.' Jenny's voice carried through the tent as she came to a stop alongside Kate, her eyes shooting sparks of outrage at the man who'd just spoken. ‘Kate is a Campbell. She has ties to this area that trace back further than any one of you. Her family were the first settlers in this godforsaken part of the country—your lot didn't turn up here until the Campbells had done all the hard work and built the bloody road for your family to get here! Not much seems to have changed. I notice the Jenkinses
still
manage to turn up to the fire brigade family day after all the hard work's finished.'

A chuckle filtered through the crowd, but Jenny was only just getting started. ‘And as for you, Unterheinner, you wouldn't even be here today if the Campbells hadn't stepped in to save your stupid ancestors back in 1901 after they refused to listen to anyone's advice and lost all their stock and almost starved to death. So get off your high horse. She has more right to that land, and this town, than anyone.'

Kate stared at her friend, speechless.

Voices that began as whispers and faint murmurs grew in volume until there was a noisy din, as people recounted the tales of the original settlers of Widgerry. It drowned out Unterheinner's growl of denial and defused the resentment that had been directed at Kate only moments before.

‘And as for the mine story,' Jenny said, having the last word, ‘that's just a bunch of old busybodies starting a rumour for the gossips to feed on. No mine's approached anyone in Widgerry, so just let it go and move on.'

Jenny took Kate's hand and marched her out of the tent and back to their table. Kate didn't speak until they were both sitting down. She felt the sting of tears threatening, as though she was a scared fourteen-year-old all over again.

‘I don't know what I did to deserve you as a friend.' Kate leant over and hugged Jenny tightly. This was how it had been at school—Jenny sticking up for her when the other kids teased her about not having parents like everyone else.

‘I only wish I'd been a better friend when we were younger,' Jenny whispered, her voice trembling.

‘What do you mean?' Kate asked, confused.

‘I've always hated myself for not speaking up, for not trying to get you some help. Everyone knew what Henry was like.'

‘You couldn't have done anything, Jen. We were just kids—who was going to listen to us? You know what people are like out here, they mind their own business. Do you honestly think anyone would have stepped in and stopped it?'