Angus stood up as if not to give Michelle the opportunity to talk down to him. Speaking gently he replied, “I honestly haven’t thought about it, Michelle. I was just waiting to see what they have to say at nine o’clock or whenever they ring and make some plans after that. It sounds like we will have to handle the intrusion of the press in our lives once names are released. No doubt all sorts of experts and commentators on television and radio, not to mention the papers, will have their two bobs’ worth on the politics of the thing.”
Roddy asked, “Would you like my firm to handle that for you, Angus? We do have an expert on staff.”
“Thanks, Roddy. Wouldn’t that just make it worse though? You know ‘a spokesperson for the family said’. From what I’ve seen on television, what they want with this sort of thing are pictures, stories, something to feed to the masses.”
“Roddy’s only trying to help Angus,” snapped Michelle, sounding defensive and exasperated.
Again speaking gently and looking at her, trying to diffuse what was beginning to look like her mounting anger, Angus said, “I know, Michelle, and I’m not being ungrateful. It’s very generous of Roddy. What I want to do is wait and see what happens in the next twenty-four hours or so.”
“Will you come to Germany as well?” Now she was getting angry and louder.
“Of course I will. That’s a silly question! What I’m trying to say is that we need – no –sorry – you may not, but I need, more information than I have at present. For all we know, right now, it might be good news we get or it might not; it might be worse.”
“Whether it’s good or bad, why should that affect your decision?”
“It doesn’t. What I’m trying to say is…”
“That you can’t make up your mind!” The anger showed.
Angus turned his back on her. Pat could see that he was upset and it looked as if he was getting angry as well. Michelle was tormenting him. Before she could think of what to do, Rachael joined them. “What’s going on? I could hear raised voices in the kitchen…Dad, what’s wrong?”
Calm again, his anger gone, he turned. “Nothing, Rachael. Nothing at all. Your mother and I were just discussing going to Germany.”
“Well, my advice is to wait. Wait and see what the next report is and then wait for the one after that. Wait until you get a full and detailed report. Then make up your mind. Remember it’s too early to judge, but Ewen is quite likely to be in hospital for a long time and even for you, Mum, there must be a limit to the time you can spend in Germany. On the other hand, he may be home in a matter of weeks. Right now, nobody knows.”
“Well I’m going, Rachael, as soon as we hear he’s been taken to Germany, if that’s where he’s going. I’m not going to wait. Roddy and I are going to Perth later this morning. Then I can make arrangements. What are you going to do? Are you coming home with me?”
“I have a week off, more if I want it. I rang the hospital half an hour ago and sorted that out. I’ll stay here, I’d like to spend some time just mucking around. I can always drive back with Pat, or if necessary all three of us can fly down in Bessie if there’s an emergency, but in my experience these things unfold slowly, often over days once the initial trauma is under control. It’s only like it is on television for a very short time.”
“And you and your father have been talking.”
Calmly but with an air of resignation Rachael said, “No we haven’t, Mother; that we agree is coincidence. Now if anyone wants breakfast, it’s ready. I’m going to have scrambled eggs, which is about my culinary limit. If you want bacon there’s plenty in the fridge. All you have to do is chuck it in the pan.”
Breakfast was an eclectic affair. Michelle took a bowl of cereals back to the South Wing. Roddy cooked some bacon for himself and Angus and they joined Rachael in the breakfast room eating scrambled eggs. Pat made some toast and vegemite and a big mug of coffee and sat on her own in the barbeque area outside, glad to be away from what looked like old deep-rooted family feuds and animosity, still festering after all the years.
She’d phoned her father while the others were making their breakfasts in the kitchen. He’d been quiet and sensible as he always was. He told her that he would ring her mother and tell her all the news. His big news was that they had landed a contract that would keep them well occupied for at least two years and it meant some overseas travel, which he was looking forward to. It also meant he was well on his way to getting back financially to where he had been two years previously.
Now she’d seen Angus and Michelle at close quarters, under stress, Pat wondered how they had stayed together for as long as they had. But then, according to Alice, they had been growing apart almost as soon as the first hot flush of marriage had gone. Did Michelle becoming pregnant with Ewen cause that? Only to be followed quite quickly by Rachael?
Michelle couldn’t have been more than twenty-three or four when she found herself, no doubt a beautiful young woman, married with two children all the way out here. Ewen had told her that he and Rachael and Ali had done school-of-the-air with a variety of governesses, none of which were suitable to Michelle. Eventually Alice took over their schooling as well as their care. So probably they had a childhood of no television, just the radio, tapes, vinyl records and books for entertainment. But then of course, they had the biggest playground in the world, Bangalore.
Angus’ parents were still out here then, so Michelle had the in-laws to cope with. That couldn’t have been easy for Michelle, married to the only son of this vast pastoral empire and having to play second fiddle to his mother. Michelle was obviously an impatient lady and Angus’ parents would have had to cope with her tantrums and single mindedness.. Wonder what Angus’ mother is like?
It was Angus sitting down opposite her on the bench by the table that broke her quiet contemplation. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”
She smiled. “You didn’t, Angus. I was just day dreaming.”
“You obviously didn’t hear the phone?”
“No, I wasn’t really listening. I thought another hour or so.”
He rested his big arms and hands on the table and looked at her trying to smile, “They rang about five minutes ago. There’s no real change. Rachael took the call. They said Ewen has been put into an induced coma. Rachael says that’s quite normal, probably a good thing. They are concerned that he may have some bleeding in the brain. The report really was that he is still gravely ill; they are worried about the injured leg, the one that’s broken. The other leg is okay. They don’t want to move him until they are sure that he can stand up to the journey. They say that will be another twelve hours at least and they won’t ring again until this time to-morrow unless there is some real news. Oh yes, when they move him it will be to Germany and yes, he will be allowed visitors. There is some short stay accommodation on the base and there are several hotels nearby. The names of the injured will be released at…” he looked at his watch. “By now, the press will now have names and the army, or the ADF, or whoever does it, will have issued a press release.”
“It’s like Rachael said then, these things take time.”
“Looks like it, doesn’t it?”
“I was hoping that we might get better news. I feel so helpless…”
“You mean being out here? You can go with Michelle and Roddy if you want. Rachael and I will get your car down to you. We could probably get it on one of those vehicle-transporters from Carnarvon. That wouldn’t be any trouble. I have a car in Perth at my parents’ that you could use until we got yours down there.”
“No, I didn’t mean out here, Angus. I just meant being so far away from Ewen. But I suppose if Ewen was in Perth there wouldn’t be anything that we could do except wait. No, I’m glad I’m here, like I said, I like the peace and quiet; it’s something new for me.”
“Some