When Mike finally subsided, Dutchy gently released himself. He knew he could not leave Mike alone, so he made a decision. Standing up, he said, "Right, let's go."
"Where?"
"First, back inside. You might want to freshen up. Come on."
Dutchy turned Mike's chair around toward the back door. While Mike went into the bathroom, Dutchy collected the knife and replaced it in the block. Then he found the note and destroyed it.
Mike returned and Dutchy asked, "Where's your keys?"
Mike indicated the little board near the front door. Dutchy took down a bunch and said, "I need to borrow a car."
"You'll have to use Kate's. It's parked in front of mine."
Dutchy helped Mike into the car, put the wheelchair in the boot and himself behind the wheel. He keyed the ignition and Mike said, "Where are we going? I don't want to go to the pub."
"I'm not taking you to the pub."
Dutchy drove on until he found the quiet spot he wanted. It was secluded, and afforded a view over the water toward the west. The two men sat side by side in the peaceful silence.
Dutchy's story.
Hunter Valley, NSW.
Dylan got off the school bus. He retrieved his bicycle from behind the shed, unlocked it and began the 10km journey home. His shirt was plastered to his back from sweat under his backpack. As he rode along, he passed several farms, all showing the ravages of the drought which had been going for three years now. He passed dusty fields where emaciated sheep and cattle were picking at any vegetation they could find, dried out shrunken crops and dust. Dust was everywhere, unending, a constant companion.
When he arrived home, his sister Cheryl opened the back door. She said, "Mum's not home yet. Dad's still out around the place. The tractor isn't in the shed. Give us a hand with dinner, will you? They'll be tired."
"OK, Chez. What you got?"
"Same as yesterday. Get going with those potatoes."
Dylan threw his backpack into his room, changed out of his school clothes and came back into the kitchen. Cheryl, the elder of the two siblings, was sixteen. Dylan was fourteen, and already much taller than her. He was almost as tall as their father. The brother and sister were close, more so these days as the drought worsened. They tried to support their parents as best as they could; doing the household chores and tending to the vegetable garden and chicken run. Their mother was forced to take a job off the farm, she worked as a barista in the nearby town of Singleton. Cheryl felt that she should leave school and go to work to help out, but her father was adamant; she would complete her schooling, as would Dylan.
Shortly, their father clumped up the back steps, and in the back door. He took his boots off, and hung his sweat-stained old Akubra hat on the row of hooks near the door. The kids said, "Hey Dad, we'll have some tea ready soon."
Their father said tiredly, "You're such good kids. Chez, get us beer, love. A man's parched."
Not long after, their mother came in after putting in the day at the café. She went into the main bedroom, took off her shoes and put her bag down. She sat at the table, and Cheryl and Dylan served the meal.
At their parents' insistence, the brother and sister went to do their homework. Rita Mulholland looked over at her despondent husband. "William? Everything all right?"
William looked at his wife. "Let's go out the back. I don't want the kids hearing this." He picked up two beers, and they went out to the back porch.
William said, "The bank rang. They're going to foreclose. I tried to stall for time, but they mean it this time. Rita, we'll have to sell. There's no other way. This drought's buggered it love. We have to sell the farm."
Dylan thought he heard muffled crying from his parents' bedroom that night.
The next morning, the family sat subdued around the breakfast table. William spoke: "Come on you two, off to school. Off you go." Cheryl and Dylan exchanged glances of concern; then they reluctantly left the house. Outside as they collected their bikes, Cheryl said, "Something's up. I just know it."
When Dylan got home that day, he saw something strange on the farm entrance. A sign which read, "FOR SALE", in large, black letters, then it detailed the acreage, uses, and machinery included. It ended, "George Thompson, Elders Real Estate, Stock and Station Agents, Singleton."
He stared at it in disbelief, then ran inside to where Cheryl was standing at the kitchen sink, crying.
He raced out the door, banging it behind him, then across to the shed, accompanied by two barking dogs. The tractor was in its place in the shed; but something wasn't right. It was eerily quiet. Then he heard a movement, and followed the sound to behind the tractor, where he found his father, sitting on the ground, with a loaded shotgun.
Dylan sat next to his father. "Dad, give me the gun. Don't do this. Come on Dad, give me the gun."
He put his hand on his father's arm, and said again, "Dad, give me the gun."
His father looked bleakly at his son, and Dylan prised the gun away from him. He stood up, deftly unloaded the gun and put it in the gun safe. Then he held out his hands to his father, "Come on Dad, let's go back in the house."
William slowly stood up. Placing a hand on his son's shoulder, he said, "I'm sorry son, I'm so sorry. I had hoped to pass this farm onto you. Now I have nothing. Nothing. Son, I'm sorry."
Dylan, with a wisdom far beyond his years, said, "You have me, Dad. And Chez. And Mum. That's all that matters. We can start over. So long as we're together and we don't give up on each other. We're family, Dad. We're family."
William hugged his son close. "You're a good boy, son."
Together, they walked back into the house; Dylan vowed silently that neither his mother nor his sister would know of the events that occurred in the shed.
When the farm sold, the family cleared their debts, but were left with very little. They decided to move to Newcastle, where William found work in the Oak factory at Hexham, on the Hunter River. Rita found a well-paying job in the City and the two kids went to Newcastle High School. They managed to rent a little ramshackle cottage in the suburb of Mayfield.
Dylan took a part-time job in a car yard, delivering parts to mechanics, and Cheryl, having achieved top marks in her Higher School Certificate, decided to attend the University of New England, Armidale, to study for a degree in Agronomy.
Dylan finished school, and continued working in the car yard, until six months after he left school, the car yard closed and he was out of a job. The apprenticeship he hoped for never materialised, so he decided then and there to join the Navy, and started his career as a Bosun's Mate.
He and Cheryl stayed in contact with each other, and he was there to see her graduate with an Honours degree. She found her way into the Department of Agriculture as a Junior Agronomist. Both of them sent a portion of their salaries home to their parents, and over time, they helped William and Rita purchase a small property in the Upper Hunter. The property was fertile, lush and green, and they derived a reasonable income agisting thoroughbred racehorses. They had quite a few notable horses come to them to spell, and the Mulhollands gained a reputation for having the best property in the industry. Trainers and owners knew their horses would receive top attention whilst in their care.
Mike was quiet all through the telling of this story. Then he spoke. "Dutchy, my family have gone. My daughter has gone to Western Australia with her grandfather, and Kate? I don't know. I think she's gone onboard Hammersley. It's all my fault. I drove them away Dutchy, I got angry and frustrated, and I drove them away."
"Well, that's something you can fix. They love you, Mike. Your daughter absolutely adores you. And Kate, she –"
Mike broke in. "Dutchy, I'm no good to them. Look at me. Once I could be the husband and father they needed. Now, I can't. If I end up not walking again, I'll be a burden to Kate, and Jessica. I'm already a burden to them – to everyone. What use am I to them? And the Navy? What if I lose that?"
Dutchy sat in silence. Then he said, "Kate loves you. Have you forgotten the time you threatened to resign if she wasn't promoted? And she broke off your relationship for your career? She put your career above her feelings for you. And you know something else? When we thought you were killed in that submarine, she was close to killing the bloke who did it. If you must know, I saw you both when she found you. She was so happy, so relieved. Mike, she has loved you all this time. What are you scared of?"
"I told you Dutchy. I'm a burden. I'm scared that my career is down the toilet. I'm scared that I will stay disabled, and Kate'll get tired of me; caring for me. I'm scared I'll lose her; I'm scared that I'll end up alone. I'm scared that she won't want me anymore. And I've driven her away, Dutchy. I've bloody well driven her away."
"Mike, when it comes down to it, Kate would give up Hammersley for you tomorrow. She would. From what I hear, she barely left your side when you were in hospital and rehab. She's been there for you, Mike. She always will be. But right now, she's tired. Right now, she needs a new scene. She's running on empty and needs to refresh. Don't give up on her Mike. Kate's a committed woman. Believe me. You'll get through as long as you have each other. That's what families do. They stick by each other."
The sun had gone down, and Mike was shivering in the coolness of the twilight. Dutchy got up. "Come on, I'd better take you home."
Dutchy went and opened the passenger door for Mike. Together they drove back into town; Dutchy stopped by his accommodation on the base and packed an overnight bag, then he bought some takeaway and drove Mike home. He said simply, "I'll stay here with you tonight."
