Disclaimer: I had a really cool one, then I deleted it. I don't own any of the characters that you recognise from the show- I own: Michelle Tom The last six years of Claire's life (or Natalie's whole existance) Nothing else!
A/N: Well, bonus points to whomever works out the significance of Claire's new name.
CSIcrazy: I'm glad you want to see it, so here it is. I'm having a bit of trouble with the idea of Alex and the rest, so please, any ideas you have, REVIEW and tell me!
Kimmygal: All that patient waiting has come to an end. I'll think about posting it, maybe not until I've written a bit more.
mcleodsfreak: Thanks, the idea came from watching My Moon, My Midnight. I didn't think that Claire could have died in the accident. . . oops, I wasn't supposed to tell you guys that yet!
LiarEpicteller: Stop dying and read the chapter! I'm now in year 12, so there might be less chapters. Then again, procrastinating does wonders for my muse!
genera: Thanks again for the review. I love yours. I'll get around to reading your fic soon, but I've never seen the OC but meh, I'm sure I'll cope.
Precious Princess Pie - you're lucky, because generally you'll have to wait a while for an update
Half an hour later, Natalie slowed the 4WD into the servo, and silently smiled to herself about how little in this town had changed. She supposed had supposed that since she herself had changed so much, then there must be a drastic change in the town in which she had grown up. She half expected to see her father walking out of the shop towards her, after having chatted to the owner. She knew it was silly, she'd seen him dead herself, but she was also dead, technically. Tom had shown her the death certificate.
A young man with shoulder length brown hair walked out of the shop, and proceeded to the pump to fill her petrol tank.
"G'day." He said. (A/N: yeah, I know, its very cliché but what the heck?) He looked over her clean, pure white 4WD and frowning so slightly that had Natalie not been looking intently at his face, with scrutiny that she hadn't used for years she would have missed it.
'He obviously thinks I'm a bit of a yuppie', Natalie thought to herself, thoroughly amused. She supposed on some level she was these days, especially in clothing. She spent a lot of her days shopping for clothes that she would never had worn a few years ago. She supposed that she did look like a yuppie, not only the 4WD, but her clothing, luggage and her daughter's toys all shouted TOWNIE. She briefly considered trying to change his mind, but eventually decided against it.
"I'm looking for an old friend of mine, Tess McLeod." Natalie reached into the 4WD and grabbing a random piece of paper. "She lives on a place called Drovers' Run. Would you be able to tell me how to get there?" For appearances sake, she had to keep up the charade. Plus, Michelle would be a bit suspicious, and she didn't want the child knowing too much just yet.
The young man smiled to himself. He should have guessed this woman was a friend of Tess'. He'd forgotten for a moment that the woman had grown up in the city. "Yeah, sure. I'd take you myself, but I'm the only one working today." He turned around and pointed down the road. "Go down there, turn left at the pub, and continue along that. It's about an hour along, and there's a big sign." He walked towards the store, and motioned for her to follow. "That'll be $45.67."
Natalie followed, and picked up a packet of chips and a Coke for Michelle, and a Farmer's Brand Ice Coffee for herself. She had missed that. "Thanks for your help, -----"
"Luke," he filled in.
"I spy with my little eye, something beginning with . . . . . F."
"That's easy Mummy. Fence."
"Yep, you got it. Your turn." Natalie enjoyed playing the simple game with her daughter. They didn't often go on 'road-trips' but when they did, I Spy was their favourite game.
"Ummmm." The small girl paused, looking out the window. "I spy with my little eye, something beginning with H."
Natalie tried not to be too easy on the child. She was still at the stage where she had to win most games. "I don't know. House?" She asked, knowing quite well that there weren't many houses around here.
"No Mummy. We haven't seen a house for a long time. Try again."
"Well, I don't know. I can't think of anything. I give up." Natalie was really stumped. The only thing other thing she could think of that began with H couldn't be this close to Drovers'.
"Silly Mummy. Helicopter." Michelle started giggling, luckily, so she didn't notice the look of surprise, horror and anticipation that arrived on her mother's face. "Can I go again?"
Natalie finally found the sign she was looking for, and slowed to turn over the cattle grid and into Drovers' Run. "Next time honey. We're almost there." Natalie took a deep breath. "How about you keep an eye out for a house."
"Ok Mummy." Once Michelle's focus was outside the car, Natalie began steeling herself for the re-union that was ahead.
Charlotte Prudence McLeod, newly turned seven, sat at her desk in her grandfathers' study, in front of a computer that was connected to the Internet, completing a find-a-word on American States from her School Of The Air teacher. Because she had finished her schoolwork earlier today, her teacher Mrs Manton had given her some activities to do until her Aunt and the rest of the workers on the farm returned from their various duties.
She usually wasn't alone in the large house, but since the new baby had come at Kilarny, Becky's help was needed in both places. The baby had been up all night, so Becky was left holding the baby, so to speak.
Jodi was in the yard, fixing pumps. Lottie sometimes helped her, but Jodi wasn't in a good mood today, so she had stuck to her schoolwork. Aunty Tess was down in the cottage, fixing it up for when Rosie came to stay after school had finished for the term. Stevie and Kate were fixing fences in Skinny Jims' and Uncle Nick had dropped Becky into Kilarny on his way into town.
Moreover, Lottie was in almost constant contact with her teacher, and she had been using the two-way radios almost since she was able to talk. When other small children had played with the telephone, calling random people in other countries, Charlotte had been captivating the hearts of truckers' on the long haul across Outback Australia.
After lunch, she was hoping to be allowed to Kilarny and the new baby. She had only met the baby once, and it was all squishy at that stage.
Uncle Nick said that baby David wouldn't stay so squishy, but she wasn't sure if she believed him. She had missed the sad look that passed between him and her Aunt.
She finished her find-a-word, and went off towards the kitchen to look for the sandwich that Jodi had made for her when she made Luke's lunch. She walked back into the study, holding her sandwich and a Fruit Box. She was about to sit down at the desk when she heard an unfamiliar car draw up out the front. She walked down the hall from the back of the house where the study was located to the front door.
"Hello. Can I help you?" Charlotte's normal greeting was a simple, country 'g'day' but from the look of this woman, she was fairly sure that it mightn't go down so well.
"Hi. Is your mum home?" She asked, knowing the real answer but not knowing how much the child knew.
"My mum died when I was a baby." Charlotte replied, looking a bit crestfallen.
"Oh honey, I'm sorry." Natalie had been playing her part for so long, and she figured that a couple of minutes longer wouldn't harm.
"My Aunty Tess will be home soon. Would you like to wait in here?" Charlotte had been taught to be respectful and still wary of strangers. "I'm Charlotte, by the way. But everyone calls me Lottie."
Just then, Michelle started calling for her mum, removing any thoughts that Natalie may or may not have had. "I'm in here Michelle."
Michelle walked down the hall, awestruck by the house. "Charlotte, this is my daughter Michelle. She's six."
The two girls eyed one another. They couldn't have been more different. Charlotte had short, blonde hair and was wearing a t-shirt that proclaimed: "Gungallen rodeo- the best weekend of the year" and shorts that were well loved and splattered with mud. Her feet were bare, and her fingernails had dirt under them.
Michelle, on the other hand, was wearing a skirt that looked like it had been bought the day before, and a pink t-shirt with Barbie as Cinderella. On her feet she had dainty white sandals and her fingernails were painted pink.
Natalie looked over the two girls as they shyly said hello. 'You'd never guess they were sisters.' She thought to herself.
A/N:Ok, so a few things to clean up- Sorry we didn't see Tess but some of the other characters were aluded to. The thing with the Ice Coffee- when I was moving to Adelaide, the removalists wouldn't drink anything but Farmers Union-they said it was the best in Australia and I agree. I also have an issue with Fruit Boxes. So, in case you didn't notice, I shuddered when I said that. I'm a Queenslander at heart still, and we call them Poppers. However, I lived in Adelaide for a small period, and that's what they call them, so since Drovers' is in SA, I called them that.
A/N2: Ok, so, is it Alex who's middle name is Marion? And lucky MD fans, cos you've had about two of my stories updated in the last couple of days