Red Dirt Heart 3 (8 page)

He didn’t even have to ask who I was talking about. “I don’t know. If he’s anything like you, he’ll be pretty great,” Travis said.

“Like me?”

Travis squeezed my hand. “Laura said he’s your full brother. Didn’t you hear her say that?”

I shook my head. “I didn’t hear much of anything…”

Trav took my hand in his other hand and rubbed my back with his other. “She said you could be twins you look so alike.”

“I didn’t hear that,” I said, my voice just a whisper.

“He grew up in Darwin, where they still live. They moved there when he was five. He doesn’t know about you,” he said, shaking his head. “She said she never told him, or so she said, because he’d only ask questions she didn’t have answers to.”

“I didn’t hear any of that,” I admitted. “Is that what she said?”

Travis nodded.

“I don’t know what happened to me back there,” I whispered.

“That’s what you call freaking out,” Trav said. “And freaking out is a perfectly rational response, Charlie. To be honest, I thought you’d freak out before, when you were sitting in the front room with her, but you were so calm.”

“You were pissed,” I told him. “I ain’t ever seen you look so mad.”

He shook his head. “I was mad. I’m still mad. She shouldn’t have just turned up. That’s so outta line, and if she thinks she can just come back after dropping the ‘oh by the way, you have a brother’ bombshell, I’ll gladly tell her otherwise.”

I found myself smiling. “You’re cute when you’re all pissy.”

Travis glared at me, which just made me laugh more. It felt good to laugh, like the smilin’ muscles hadn’t been stretched in too long. Then I remembered something. “Oh shit,” I said, jumping up.

Trav got to his feet just as quickly. “What’s wrong?”

“Nugget. He’ll think he’s starvin’. Probably annoyin’ everyone, scratching and fussing lookin’ for me.”

Travis smiled his you-ain’t-fooling-anyone smile.

I stopped just before I was about pull myself up onto Shelby. “Trav,” I said. “Thank you. For bringing me out here, for… everything.”

“You’re most welcome,” he said with an almost shy smile. He leapt up, swinging his long leg over Texas, and grinned. “Race you home.”

* * * *

“You did not let me win,” Travis griped. “I beat you through the gate fair and square.”

I held the back door open for him and laughed. “You had a twenty-metre head start, and we were right on your tail through that gate, which means, speed over distance, we won.”

He shook his head and walked inside. “That is the biggest crock of shit I’ve ever heard.”

I followed him in and ran into his back when he stopped suddenly at the kitchen door. Nara was sitting at the table holding Nugget, but Ma was sitting there too.

I walked straight in and put my hand on her shoulder. She was wrapped up in her dressing gown, looking not much better than she did this morning. “How are you feeling? Should you be up?”

Ma gave me a tired smile. “I’ve been sleeping all day,” she said. “I needed to get out of bed.”

“Are you sure?” I asked. “Can I get you a cup of tea? Where’s George?”

Ma sighed. “Charlie, I’m fine.” She studied me for a minute. “I heard you had a visitor, though.”

“Something like that.” I opened the fridge and did a count of the bottles. There was one missing. I looked back at Nara, seeing Nugget was wriggling in her hold. “Did he feed?”

“Not really,” she said, nodding to a half-full bottle on the sink. “But he won’t sleep. Keeps running everywhere, gets under my feet.”

I sighed. “Sorry about that.”

“Oh, it was no problem,” she covered quickly. “Just wish he’d take a bottle from someone else.”

I snorted. “So do I! Then Travis could do night feeds.”

“Like hell,” Travis replied, picking an apple up and taking a bite.

“Here,” I said to Nara, “let me take him. You’re busy enough without havin’ to worry about this little guy too.” I picked up Nugget and touched his nose to mine. “You don’t need me to feed you, okay?”

Travis laughed. “Yeah, like you’d
let
me do night feeds.”

Ma was smiling weakly at us, and I’d guessed I’d put off her question long enough. “You wanna come into the lounge room, Ma?” I asked. “We can talk in there.” Then I gave a nod to Travis. “You too, please.”

I sat on the three-seater with a now feeding Nugget, and Trav started the fire while Ma took a seat next to me.

“George already told me who it was,” she said.

“She just turned up,” I said with a shrug. “Same day we found this stuff.” I nodded toward the two boxes still sitting on the floor. I shook my head and sighed. “Not that it mattered none, I guess. If George wasn’t here, I wouldn’t have believed it was her. He remembered her, of course. And Trav says we have the same eyes, but I don’t see it.”

The afternoon was starting to cool down, and although it wasn’t particularly cold yet, Ma looked like she was freezing. With my free hand, I took a blanket off the back of the lounge and put it over her legs. “I didn’t recognise her at all. She’s not what I remembered.”

Ma’s eyes softened. “It can’t have been easy for you, Charlie. I wish I’d been there for you.”

I patted her arm. “I was fine with her. She isn’t what bothered me at all. Like I said to Trav, she might have been the woman who gave birth to me, but she’s not my mother.”

Ma frowned. “She’ll always be your mother, Charlie.”

“She’s not the woman who raised me,” I said quietly. “You’re the only mother I’ve ever known.”

Ma got all teary then. “Oh, Charlie.”

“It’s true,” I said casually. “Laura sat in here, and it was like I was meeting a complete stranger.”

Ma took a little while to talk. “George said she was upset when she left,” she said with another frown. “But he said you were more so… after what she told you. I’m really sorry I wasn’t here for that.”

Nugget finished his bottle, so I put him on the floor. The little guy wandered straight over to Travis. “Don’t apologise, Ma. No one knew she was gonna turn up, let alone drop a bombshell like that.” I shrugged. “I did kinda lose the plot, and Trav took me out back so I didn’t lose my shit completely.”

I looked over at him, just as he bit off a chunk of apple and gave it to Nugget. It made me smile.

This time Ma rubbed my arm. I guess she didn’t need to tell me how lucky I was to have Travis. It must have been clear on my face.

“What will you do now?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” I answered her truthfully. “I have no clue. This so-called brother doesn’t even know I exist apparently, so I don’t know if there’s much I can do.”

Ma sighed, a quiet, tired sound. “I remember you being no more than five or six, telling me how you wished for a brother or sister.” Then she shook her head. “I didn’t know, Charlie, if you were wondering that. George neither. We didn’t know there was a brother.”

To be honest, I hadn’t even thought about that. “I didn’t think you did.”

“If I did know, I would have told you long before now,” she said sadly. “All I really remember of your mother leaving is how angry your father was. And in hindsight, maybe your mother looked more scared than sad.” She shrugged. “I don’t know, Charlie. I just remember trying to keep you busy enough not to notice.”

I took her hand. It felt kinda cold and bony.

“I’d forgotten your mother’s maiden name was Jennings,” she said with sad, sad eyes, “until I read that birth notice, with the date on it. The math ain’t exact, Charlie, but that baby was born six or seven months after your mother left. I don’t remember the exact date she went away, maybe July or August. I just remember it being cold. I remember you sitting in front of the fire askin’ when your mum would be home.”

I sighed, feelin’ every part as tired as Ma looked. It had been one helluva draining day. “What’s done is done,” I said. “I need some time to get my head around it all, I guess.”

“You take as much time as you need, love.”

“Anyway,” I said with a smile. “If I did have a little brother, I’m pretty sure you’d spent too many days yellin’ at me for throwin’ him in a flooded river, or making him ride the poddy calves, or tellin’ him to steal your warm scones with jam and cream so I wouldn’t get into trouble.”

Ma snorted. “I think you’re right. One of you was enough.”

“I was perfect.”

“Every one of my grey hairs is from you,” she said, narrowing her eyes at me, smiling as she did.

I laughed. “They suit you.”

The sound of Travis snorting made us both look over to him. “Look at this,” he said, putting Nugget on the floor with some more apple. The little wombat took a tiny bite and jolted, then did some random jumpy-turning-in-circles thing. Travis laughed again. “I think he likes apple.”

Nugget then faced the door and bolted, his little stubby legs moving long before his body, but he scooted out the door and Travis took off after him.

Ma and I both laughed, and it even put a flush of colour in her cheeks. “How about I get you some broth, and you rest easy.”

“Sounds good, Charlie.”

But when I bought the soup back out, Ma was fast asleep in her chair.

It was quiet around the table at first. Everyone sat down for dinner, bein’ full aware of what had gone on with Laura. They’d watched her turn up and probably heard most of what we’d said.

I didn’t mind, though. I guessed it made it easier. It just meant I didn’t have to go repeatin’ myself again. Because I would have told them.

Something had changed here. I used to keep everyone at arm’s length, keepin’ the line between boss and station hand real clear. Now this unruly mob were like family.

I guess it took my mother turning up to show me that family is what sticks by you, not what walks away.

I told them about my so-called brother and how I didn’t know what any of it meant. I needed time to process it, let it settle in my head a little. They all nodded but didn’t say a great deal, like me, I guessed, not knowin’ whether to take it as good or bad news yet.

I told them only time would tell.

There was a very good chance we’d never see or hear from either of them again. I certainly wasn’t itching to make contact again. Not for a little while, anyway.

But I think their real concern was with Ma. They eyed George all cautious-like. Billy didn’t smile like normal, and Trudy barely touched her food.

“She’s gone back to bed,” George said. “She must have needed the sleep, because she’s out like a light.”

“She looked better this afternoon, but she got tired quick.” I wanted to reassure him. “I’m sure after a few days’ rest, she’ll be fine.” Then I added, “I’m sure she misses yellin’ at me. If it’ll make her feel better, she can do some yellin’ at me tomorrow.”

George knew I was just joking, but at least it made him smile.

Then looking at everyone around the table, I said, “Please say thanks to Nara on your way out. She did a real good job getting dinner out tonight, so do me a favour and show her some gratitude.” The truth was, while dinner wasn’t the best I’d ever had, it was easy to forget that Nara was just a kid and this was her first go at doin’ it by herself.

All things considered, she did a bloody good job.

When they’d cleared out, Trav and I helped Nara clean up the kitchen, and by the time it was done, the day had taken its toll on me.

It really had been the day from hell.

“Dunno why I’m so tired,” I mumbled, barely able to keep my eyes open. I sat on the edge of our bed while Trav pulled my boots off. I just needed to lay down a while before getting back up to do some office work.

Trav shook his head and smiled in a you’re-so-oblivious way, before we heard some familiar scratching and snorty-grunting. “Stay here,” he said, planting a kiss on my forehead before walking out, and came back in a minute later with a bundled-up wombat and a bottle of milk. He tucked him in my arm and sat beside me on the bed.

“You’ve had a pretty big day,” he said softly. “Did you want to talk about anything?”

“All of it,” I said. “But maybe not right now.”

Trav rubbed my arm. “You were great today.”

I snorted, too tired to laugh. “I’m pretty sure I’d have fucked everything royally if you weren’t here.”

He leaned down and kissed me. “You can hardly keep your eyes open.”

My blinks were getting longer. I moved onto my side and watched Nugget as he drained his bottle. “Apparently baby wombats don’t care if I’m busy or tired.” I gently scratched his forehead and told him, “You just seem to think it’s all about you, doncha? I hate to break it to ya, little guy, but the position of me, me, me has been filled.”

Travis laughed and raked his fingers through my hair. “Out of all your jobs here, that is the one you excel at.”

I took his hand from my head and kissed his palm. I held his hand then, feeling the warmth of his touch on my hand somehow fill my chest. As much as I wanted to watch him, my eyes finally closed and slow-blinkin’ became deep-sleepin’.

When I woke up to a needed-to-be-fed-again wombat, Travis was shoving Nugget into bed with me in the crook of my arm. He mumbled something about ‘the little shit won’t let me feed him’ and got back into bed.

For the next feed, I got up, warmed a fresh bottle, grabbed the bloody wombat and took him back to bed with me like I used to do with Travis’s baby kangaroo. Some days I was just too tired to fight it.

I put Nugget in between us and closed my eyes as he fed, but sleepin’ was useless. Because after his breakfast, it was playtime apparently.

This was getting ridiculous.

“You’re a pain in the butt, you know that?” I asked the wombat. The little bugger seemed to smile. He bounced a bit, burrowing under my pillow and out again, rolled and bounced some more. I laughed as quiet as I could. Until he burrowed under me and scratched my ribs. “Ow.”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake, Charlie,” Travis mumbled. “Really?”

I picked Nugget up and put him in front of Travis’s face. “But he wants to play.”

“It’s too early,” he whined, still half sleepin’. Nugget sniffed his face, and his whiskers must have tickled Trav’s nose, because he pulled back and scrubbed his hand over his face. The glare he gave me told me he was now, much to his distaste, wide awake. “I’m starting to regret bringing him back here. I should have left him out there to die.”