Chapter 26

In mid-September Evans and Willy resurfaced, returned Mary's keys, told us what a great place it was, and took off for Adelaide. Willy wanted to spend some time with her mother before the 'big day.' Evans had learned that they could be married in dress uniform – so Willy didn't have the bother of wedding dress selection or fittings. We'd see them in two weeks or so.

It was the third week of September when Charlie and Maddy arrived in Perth. They'd taken the cattle to Alice, caught the Ghan and changed for the Indian Pacific in Tarcoola. It had been a great adventure.

"That trip across the Nullarbor was beyond incredible!" said Maddy. "Some folks in the car thought it was boring! They had no eyes and no sense. Hundreds of kilometres of sand. No hills. No mountains. And out the other side a kind of ridge of cloud where the Southern Ocean must have been. But you couldn't see it."

"It were purty amazin'," Charlie added. "But comin' into Kalgoorlie an' then from Kalgoorlie to here were somethin' too. Amazin' – but I'd never do it agin. We'll fly to Alice goin' back." I felt justified in having prevailed in my disagreement with Weena – we'd fly to Adelaide, rent a car for four days, drive it back to the airport, fly to Brisbane, etc. I think Weena became aware too, but she never said a word.

The next day we packed into the car and went for an all-day drive: through Armadale, over to Brookton, through Narrogin to Wagin. When Maddy saw the trees she was amazed. When we crossed the small rivers, she'd goggle at all the running water – but no flood. I turned west and we drove through Arthur River and on to Collie, where we stopped to change Patrick and to have some lunch ourselves.

"It's right purty 'round here," Charlie remarked. "What do they do?"

"Collie's one of the biggest coal mining centres in the country," I responded.

"I thought that were ugly, dirty work."

"Used to be. There are only two big companies now. They've mechanised a lot and they do surface mining. When they're done with an area, they restore it as best they can. They do a nice job I hear."

We drove through Brunswick to Bunbury. I parked and said: "There you are – the Indian Ocean. You took the train through some of the driest parts of the country, here's all the water you might want ... of course, you can't drink it." After several suitable remarks, we drove to Busselton and then to Margaret River. Straight to Mary's house.

The house looked great; the yard had been seen to; the boat was onshore and (naturally) appeared ship-shape. Weena and Maddy took Patrick and his gear inside. Charlie and I sat down and watched the river flow past.

"Purty. An' peaceful."

"It sure is. And I've caught fish in the river. Rob says they'd get dinner from his catch two or three times a week."

"The cabin's got two bedrooms and a bath, too. I doubt whether it's been used since we last stayed here, and that was months ago."

Maddy came out carrying Patrick. "Look what I've got!" she said. He was wearing a nappy and nothing else. He was smiling and drooling and waving his arms, so I guess he wasn't unhappy.

"Looks like you've got a friend, Pat," I remarked. He turned his head towards me, but didn't even mumble at me.

"What do they do 'round here?" Charlie asked.

"Some dairy farming and a lot of wine making. Tourism."

"Milk and wine, eh?"

"And butter and yoghurt."

"Right. Waal, you seen enough, Maddy? Time to start back. You'd better change Pat agin."

The women went back inside to do infant things. "What do you think?" I asked Charlie.

"How much?"

"$1500 a month. Weena could let you have it for $7500 for six months."

"Where's the town from here?"

"We'll drive through it on the way back."

"Okeh. I'll talk to Maddy tonight or tomorrow."

"By the way, when do you leave?"

"Hunh?"

"I don't mean to be inhospitable, but we're off on Monday for Adelaide, then to Queensland and back here on the tenth. Two weddings. And I've got to spend at least two days in my office this week."

"Right. Maddy c'n call about flights when we get back to Perth."

It turned out that Maddy was content to be in Mary's house for six months or so, but she thought that they'd most likely end up buying in Brunswick, which had caught her eye as we drove. Charlie pointed out that if they were in Margaret River for several months, they could look at every town within a two-hour radius. So Weena wrote another rental agreement and Charlie wrote a cheque. They flew to Alice Springs on Wednesday, while I was in the Dean's office, looking at the first applications.

Thursday I was at SciTech, confirming that everyone knew that I'd be away for two weeks. Weena and Patrick were visiting with Michiko and Rachel. Chaz had said they'd check our house for us every few days. Friday I made certain that Mona had contact numbers and addresses for both South Australia and Queensland. She chased me out of the office in the early afternoon, saying that I was driving her crazy. Weena had taken Patrick to the paediatrician, I referred to the visit as a 'pre-flight inspection.'