‘These are very tasty,’ said Helmut as he washed down the sandwich with a refreshing hot drink of tea. ‘Did you remember to ask Too Gum what he needed for the kitchen?’
Katherine opened her bag. ‘Yes, here is his note.’ She took out the note and then sat in complete silence just staring at it.
‘What’s the matter? Don’t tell me we should have brought another wagon just for his provisions. How many things does he want?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘What do you mean you don’t know? Is his writing so poor that you can’t read it?’
‘His writing is fine, I think… I just can’t read it.’
‘Here let me have a look. Although if you are not able to read it I am sure I will not be able to, after all, you are the school teacher.’
She handed him the note He looked at it, looked back at her and then looked at it again before bursting out laughing. ‘It’s in Chinese.’
‘What ever do we do now? I never thought for a minute that he would write in anything but English.’
‘There are plenty of Chinese gold miners around let us hope that maybe one of them will be able to translate. If they can’t then we will just have to guess at it, right now I think we had better get going again and cover as much distance as we can before this weather breaks.’
They quickly packed the basket and Helmut whistled up the dogs that by this time had chased the hapless rabbit down its burrow. Somewhat reluctantly they raced after the cart.
Driving until nearly dark they found a place under a rock ledge that gave them some shelter from the wind. While Helmut saw to the needs of the animals Katherine gathered some wood and they soon had a welcoming fire burning. Helmut got a strong iron pot from the wagon and put it on the fire with stew that Too Gum had prepared. After eating their meal Helmut made up the beds in the back of the cart under a cover. Katherine suddenly became a little disturbed she had not really given much thought to the sleeping arrangements.
Always sensing her mood, Helmut said, ‘It is very cold and I think if we both sleep under the cover it will be much warmer you can have one dog for warmth and I will have the other. Don’t worry Katherine I will not go back on my word,’ he added a little more seriously.
They spent a reasonably comfortable night and after making breakfast set off again.
It was late afternoon when the rain started. First it was just an occasional few drops but before long it was coming down in great sheets. They had put on the oil skin coats and Katherine along with the dogs had retreated under the cover in the back. By the time that they stopped to make camp for the night she was absolutely frozen. Helmut had pulled the cart under a large stand of pine trees where the ground was relatively dry. He placed a ground sheet under the cart and told Katherine to get underneath so she could keep dry. He lit a fire as quickly as possible as he was more than a little concerned about her. She was looking very pale and shivering almost uncontrollably. Katherine sat almost motionless; apart from the dreadful ordeal on the boat she had never felt so miserable.
When Helmut handed her a hot meal she could barely do more than stammer her thanks. They ate in silence and once again Helmut set up the bed rolls. This time under the cart. The night before he set them one on each side of the cart but now she noticed they were side by side. However she was past caring about the priorities of the situation all she wanted was to feel warm again and to be able to rest her by now thumping headache. With a feeling of despondency and nausea she gratefully got into her bed roll. Helmut built up the fire and then joined her. As he got into his bedroll he was aware of her shivering. She was lying on her side facing away from him, without asking her consent he wrapped his arms about her and drew her close to him. She made no protest but found solace and comfort within the warm confines of his arms as she drifted off into a disturbed sleep.
She awoke next morning still in his arms, she was aware that he was looking at her.
‘You are very beautiful Katherine.’
Before she could make any comment she was overcome with a fit of coughing. They both sat up and he rubbed her back until it had subsided.
‘Well my dear I had better get you something hot to drink. You just stay there and keep as warm as possible.’
They where soon ready to set off again on the final leg of the journey. Katherine had a headache and her throat felt dry but she said nothing to Helmut as she did not want to alarm him. By now the rain had stopped and it was a clear but cold day. The journey seemed interminably long and after they had eaten lunch she could feel herself nodding off to sleep. Helmut put his arm around her and she gratefully put her head on his shoulder and slept. She awoke with a start as she heard Helmut calling to the bullocks to stop. It was with a feeling of almost overwhelming relief when she saw that they had arrived and the journey was over.
‘I will take you straight to a hotel and book us in so you can have a nice hot bath and get into bed. I’ll take the wagon and team to the blacksmiths; he has a paddock at the back where he will let me keep them. When I have done that I am going to ask the Doctor to come and take a look at you.’
Even though she had said nothing about feeling ill he knew that something was wrong.
‘I wish Too Gum was here with his wooden box of tricks.’ She said, aware of how much she had come to depend on the little man.
Helmut procured them a room and an hour later after having a delicious hot bath she got into one of the two single beds. A fire was burning and the room was bathed in the soft flickering light giving a warm and comforting atmosphere.
There was knock at the door, ‘Come in.’
‘Hello Katherine, it’s so nice to see you again.’
‘Hello Doctor Thomson, it’s nice to see you too.’
‘Your husband asked me to come and take a look at you. He said you were not feeling too well, he is very concerned about you.’
‘He worries too much. I think I got a slight chill. We had to sleep out in the open and it was very cold.’
‘Let me be the judge of that. Now let me take a look at you.’
After a thorough examination he agreed with her diagnosis and told her to stay in bed for a day and rest. He left her a bottle of vile tasting medicine which she was to take three times a day no matter how bad it tasted.
‘Thank you Doctor, how is your wife?’
‘She is well thanks, but I am sure she would be very cross if you went home with out seeing her.’
‘Of course I will. I would love to, you were both so good to me I will never forget your kindness.’
‘Are you happy Katherine?’
‘Helmut is a very good and kind man Doctor, there is nothing I lack.’
They both knew that she had not answered his question.
‘Doctor how are the Dooley’s? They were supposed to come out to the farm and when they didn’t arrive we thought that maybe something was wrong.’
‘You have not seen them yet?’
‘No not yet, is something wrong then?’
‘There is absolutely nothing the matter with them, quite the opposite really. But it would be very discourteous and unethical of me to say anything more. Now young woman you get some rest or I shall be forced to increase your dosage of medicine to four times a day.’
‘Anything but that. Thank you once again for coming and please tell your wife I will call before I go back to the farm.’
‘Goodnight Katherine.’
‘Goodnight