Part Sixteen: The McLeod Saga continues

'All rise.'

We obliged. I looked around the small courtroom in Fisher. There was a large crowd gathered in the seats, some of them were familiar, some weren't. My mother was the only one next to me, the rest of the family were outside because they were all possible witnesses. On Mum's other side was Marion's grandfather, Bryce Redstaff.

He was okay. I've met him a couple of times. I owe him a lot I guess, he was the reason Mum and Alex got together the first time. They were in Melbourne, and Alex was upset after meeting his father, the "root rat" (that always makes me giggle), so he turned to Mum for comfort. In a big way.

After Bryce gave his opening, Peter's lawyer did. It was basically just a summary for the jury, not very interesting.

The first person on the stand, surprisingly, was Natalie. We had a heap of people to get through; I guess they wanted her out of the way.

'So, Natalie. How often did Charlotte visit?'

'Every second weekend, usually.'

'Did she seem happy on these occasions? As if she were being treated well?'

Bryce called out 'Objection'. We stared at him. 'He's leading, Your Honour.'

'Rephrase.' The judge called out. Wow, they certainly got straight into all this objection business, didn't they? No mucking around!

Peter's lawyer, Dominic, rephrased his question.

'How did Charlotte act on these occasions?' Why don't you just ask me? I thought inwardly. Huh. Now that'd save a lot of time.

'She was happy, usually. After her mother split up with Alex, she was a little down, but not any more so than the average kid would be.'

'Anything else?'

Natalie thought about it. She squirmed. 'Well, a month ago she came to us in the middle of the night. She was really upset then.'

'She came on her own?' Dominic said, surprised. As if you don't know! I thought angrily.

'Yes. She said she'd caught the bus.'

'And why was she in town?'

Again, Natalie took a moment to contemplate this.

'She said she needed some time to think.' Natalie hesitated. 'Later on she told me it was because her parents were ignoring her and she felt left out.'

I cringed, and didn't look up. Gee, thanks, Nat. You didn't HAVE to tell them that. Mum looked at me, a little hurt. She'd been left out of the loop on that one. I hadn't the heart to tell her.

'What were her plans in town?'

'She said something about staying at the pub.'

'By herself?'

'Yes.'

'In your opinion, Miss Natalie, would a responsible parent allow a child of fourteen to spend the night alone in a bar, with no supervision whatsoever?'

'No,' Natalie said softly, giving me a painful glance. Then her eyes settled on Mum. 'No.' She said more firmly. 'No, they wouldn't.'

Dominic smiled. 'No further questions, Your Honour.'

I took a second to think about this. Natalie was supposed to be on my side! She had given Mum a bit of a greasy, though. Natalie is pretty good, as far as the whole acceptance business goes, but she'd always had a hard time warming up to Mum, even though it was hardly Mum's fault.

'I call the next witness,' the official looked at his paper, 'Alexander Ryan, to the stand.' Alex was escorted in, and he looked at the judge warily. I had to laugh. Alex towered over his two escorts, and paddled into the courtroom wearing his hat, which Mum quickly motioned for him to take off. She gave him a Look, one that said 'behave yourself'.

'Alexander Ryan.' Bryce stood up. I relaxed a little, we'd practiced this bit before court.

'What was your relationship with the child?'

'I was her stepfather, and her uncle.'

'And during this time, I imagine you got close with her?'

'Very close.' Alex agreed. 'We were great mates weren't we, Charlotte.' He looked at me, as did the courtroom. I gave a nod.

'And what was your relationship with the child's father?'

'Peter?' Alex laughed, and smirked in Peter's direction. 'Well, I didn't mind him before I found out about the affair. He was cheating on his wife and kids. He didn't even tell Claire about them.' Peter's face changed from something calm to the expression of a person trying to restrain himself.

'When was the child's mother informed?'

Alex looked at Claire, then at his feet. 'She wasn't. My fath- my stepfather,' Alex corrected himself, 'found it out when he did a background check. For business purposes.'

'Objection!' Dominic called. 'Your Honour, how is this relevant?'

'I'm getting there, Your Honour.' Bryce promised.

'Overruled, but do make it brief, Mr Redstaff.' The judge said, bored. He looked like he'd rather be somewhere else. I prayed he'd stay awake long enough to hear my side of it. After all, this was my life we were talking about.

'So,' Bryce summarised, 'Mr Johnson neglected to admit about his wife and children until I after /I it was found out by your stepfather?'

'That's right.' Alex said, satisfied.

'Then what happened?'

'Claire stopped seeing Peter,' Alex continued, looking at Mum proudly, 'and Peter begged her to come back. Visits, letters, phone calls…he wouldn't give up. He said he was willing to leave his kids for her.'

Bryce looked over at Dominic. 'In your opinion, Alex, could you see this happening again?'

'It's possible.' Alex agreed. 'He didn't have any concern for his kids first time round, so why this time?'

Bryce smiled. 'Thankyou, Alex. Your witness, Dominic.'

Dominic got up, eyes blazing. 'Mr Ryan.' He said sweetly. 'Thankyou for being here with us today.' Alex nodded.

'Mr Ryan, could you tell us what happened at the Gungellan Show, fourteen years ago?'

Uh oh. I knew where he was taking this. He was going to talk about Alex attacking Peter. But, I also realised, he'd given Alex a hole. If only Alex realised, he could slip it in…I watched his face. Suddenly he grinned, and I leant back in my chair, happy. He knew.

'Yes.' He said triumphantly. 'Peter tried to blackmail Claire into marrying him.' Before Dominic could cut him off, he kept talking. 'He had never handed in Claire's resignation letter, you see, and he had the power to repossess Drover's Run. Claire would do anything for her home.' He smiled at Mum. Dominic realised his mistake and hastily tried to redirect.

'You misunderstood me.' He said, forcing a smile. 'I was referring to your act of violence. Please elaborate, I believe it was not the first time.'

'It was mutual.' Alex said simply.

'Yes, but how many times in total have you attacked my client?'

'Attacked is a strong word. A punch-up, more like it.' Alex tried to get out of it, but he was cornered.

'Answer the question please, Mr. Ryan.' Dominic smirked.

'Three.' Alex said quietly. Dominic, having proven his point, turned to the judge.

'Your Honour, it appears the witness has violent tendencies. Is this a safe habitat for a growing child? I think not.'

'I would never hurt Charlotte!' Alex cried out. 'You take that back!' He stood up, glaring angrily at Peter's lawyer.

'No further questions, Your Honour.' Dominic sat down.

At recess, I sat next to Bryce. I wasn't supposed to see the rest of the family, only those who had spoken, which left only Alex to talk to. And he had stormed off after the court was adjourned. Mum had grudgingly gone after him, not wanting to, but realising she was the only one who would be able to calm him down.

I didn't mind. There was something I wanted to talk to Bryce about, anyway.

'Bryce,' I started slowly. 'I have a question for you. A legal question.' I added importantly.

He smiled at me. 'Go on,' he encouraged, 'what is it?'

'Well…when people get divorced, do their names get changed automatically?' I was still stuck on the Mrs Ryan thing from the other day.

Bryce smiled again. 'Is that what this is about. No, you usually have to apply for a name change.'

'And did she?' I said curiously. 'Did Mum ever do that?'

'What makes you so sure I would know?' He said.

'You're a lawyer. Lawyers know everything.' I said confidently, nodding at him. He laughed.

'Is that so. Well, Charlotte, unfortunately as your mother's lawyer that's a matter of confidence. That means I'm not authorised to tell you what your Mum did or didn't do, do you understand?'

I looked at him, glumly, and got ready to hobble away. Then he continued.

'But, I will say this.' He looked at me carefully. 'Had your mother applied for a name change, and I'm not saying she did or didn't…' he hesitated a moment.

'She wouldn't have been eligible for a name change – at least not one due to divorce.' He let it sink in. Then he dropped the bombshell.

'You have to have actually I had /I a divorce for that to work.'

I stood alone as he walked away, gob smacked for words.