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They’d work out a schedule to give him more free time.
She was in her bedroom, looking through her wardrobe for something that would pass for a country shirt, when her father called from the hall.
‘Ta-da!’ he said, grinning from ear to ear and looking utterly ridiculous in a too-small hat with pigtails hanging from it.
‘I don’t think it’s a back to childhood party,’ she told him when she stopped laughing.
He took it off and handed it to her.
‘It’s for you. I found it in a junk shop and I’ve wiped it out with antiseptic, though I doubt, from the look of it, it’s ever been worn. Do try it on.’
She pulled the hat onto her head, arranged the pigtails so they fell across her ears, and bowed to her delighted father.
‘Great!’ he said, and he went off to get dressed himself, although when she saw him, he didn’t look much different to his usual self in tan chinos and, yes, a checked shirt, but he had tied a bandana around his neck and then produced from behind his back a hat with corks dangling from it.
‘We’ll make the perfect Aussie couple,’ he told her, offering her his arm and sweeping her into a wild dance down the hall.
‘Hey!’ she finally said. ‘I’ve got to finish getting ready. You could put the salad in the big basket and pack some cold drinks into a cool box. Marty will be here before we know it.’
And he was, coming up the front steps to tell them he already had Carrie in the car, and ask if they were ready.
He roared with laughter at Emma’s hat.
‘That’s priceless!’ he finally said. ‘You’ll fit right in.’
She said goodnight to the boys, and reminded the babysitters to call her cellphone if there were any problems, then followed the men to the car.
The drive took them through some of the burnt-out bushland, legacy of the fire, and although it made Emma feel a little sad, her driver, the eternal optimist, pointed out green shoots already sprouting from some of the trees and bushes.
‘The Aborigines used fire to regenerate their land,’ her father said. ‘They did it carefully, in patches, so there was always fresh food for the animals and fresh seeds and nuts for themselves.’
The road wound through the mountains, then opened out onto green farmland.
‘We turn off here—the sanctuary is just down this lane,’ Carrie explained.
And soon they began to see the animals, horses so old they moved slowly but were probably still loved by the families who could no longer keep them.
Goats and donkeys abounded, and Emma was delighted.
‘Do they allow visitors? Could I bring the boys out here?’ she asked, and Carrie laughed.
‘Of course you can. It’s how they make most of their money,’ she explained. ‘You pay a small admission charge and there are set visiting hours, but with busloads of school kids coming, as well as families at weekends, they get a fair bit. The barn dance and auction top it off, and usually that money goes towards building repairs.’
‘What’s the auction about?’ Emma asked. ‘What gets auctioned?’
‘The animals,’ Marty said, breaking a silence that had seemed to be too long.
‘You can bid for any of the animals, and whatever you bid goes to that animal for the year. I think Mac got the three-legged goat his first year here.’
‘Poor Mac,’ Carrie said. ‘He hardly knew what had hit him when he was thrust into this family.’
‘Hardly knew what had hit him when he met Izzy,’ Marty pointed out, and Carrie agreed that their romance had been something special.
But ahead Emma could see lights, and hear music, and soon the lights showed her the largest barn she’d ever seen.
‘It looks like more like a three-storey building,’ she said, and the others agreed.
‘Bloke who built it had a combine harvester and several other large farm machines. He contracted out to farmers who didn’t want to keep expensive machinery sitting around for most of the year when there was someone who would come in and do the job. He knew Meg, who runs the centre, and knew her premises were growing too small, so he left the place to her in his will—the whole property.’
‘It was a wonderful gift,’ Ned said, looking around, while Emma’s attention was on the barn and the people gathered about a bar just inside the doorway.
She was sure she’d spotted Neil and was wondering how she could get through a whole evening without being caught up with him when Carrie said, ‘Oh, no, it’s Neil. Emma, I do apologise for inviting him for lunch, but I’d only spoken a few words to him in the corridors at work and thought he’d be okay.’
‘I’ll keep him occupied,’ Ned offered. ‘Maybe not all night because I’m here to dance, but I’ll keep watch and if he nabbles you, Em, I’ll steer him away. I’m actually quite interested in the agricultural produce of the area. Things have changed a lot since I grew up here.’
