Claire's Daughter
Charlotte peered around the door of her father's office. He sat at the desk, staring a stack of papers. She took a deep breath and marched into the room.
"Daddy, I need to talk to you," she declared, stopping in front of his desk.
Peter lifted his head and smiled. "Hello, sweetie. What's up?"
"Daddy, I want to spend all of the summer holidays at Drovers. Not just a few days at Christmas." Charlotte crossed her arms and stared at him.
Peter's eyes widened. "What? Charlotte, honey, you can't."
"You can't stop me, Daddy," Charlotte said. "You said I could visit whenever I wanted. Well, I want to go there now and stay there until school starts."
Peter stood up and came around the desk. He knelt in front of Charlotte and took her hands in his. "Char, I know this is hard to understand, but we want the family together for Christmas. I'll bring you to Drovers on Boxing Day. You can stay there for three weeks this year."
Charlotte narrowed her eyes. "But I want to go now and stay there until February."
"No, Charlotte. I'm sorry but I can't let you do this." Peter stood up and stroked her cheek. "Now run along and play with your sisters."
"Half sisters," Charlotte muttered walking out with all the wounded dignity a seven year old could muster.
She headed down the hallway to her room. Julia passed her with a smile and a little hug before entering Peter's office. Claire stopped. Would her dad tell his wife what she had asked? And what would Julia say? Maybe she would persuade Peter to let Charlotte go. After all Julia didn't really like Charlotte all that much.
Charlotte crept back towards the office and pressed herself against the wall.
"What did Charlotte want?" Julia asked.
Peter sighed. "She wants to stay on Drovers until February. I said no."
"Why would she want to stay there for so long?" Julia's voice sounded surprised, like she actually wanted Charlotte around.
"I don't know. I'm wondering how wise it is to keep letting her go there. Eventually they are going to have such a hold on her that she won't want to come back." There was a creak as Peter shifted in his chair. "I don't want to lose her."
Julia made a soft noise under her breath. "We won't lose her. We've raised her, given her everything she could want."
Not everything. Charlotte wiped the errant tear that slid down her cheek.
"I know," Peter replied. "But she has Drovers in her blood. It could come back and haunt us one."
"Maybe you should have thought about that before getting her mother pregnant," Julia said sharply.
Peter sighed again. "Julia, I thought we had agreed not to bring Claire up again. I've been faithful for all of our marriage except for those few months with Claire and I've apologized too many times to count. When are you going to forgive me?"
"I have forgiven you, Peter. It's just I can't help but be jealous. She gave you another child and I can't."
There was a whimper and Peter began to there-there Julia. Charlotte crept away to her room. She needed to think and it was only in her room, with walls the colour of a Drovers sunrise, where she could truly put all her thoughts in a row.
She sat on the floor by the bed and leaned against the mattress. There was a scratch at the partially closed door and it swung open to let the small, shaggy dog named Chance in. Peter and Julia had given Chance to Charlotte for her seventh birthday and the dog followed her everywhere and slept on her bed.
"Hey, Chance." Charlotte pulled the dog into her lap and stroked his silky ears.
Chance panted happily and leaned against her chest.
"Char, what are you doing?" Alanna poked her head into the room.
"Thinking," Charlotte replied crossly.
"About what?" Natalie asked, peering around her older sister.
"Stuff. Now go away," Charlotte demanded.
"Hey, be nice, or we'll tell Mom and Dad." Alanna frowned at Charlotte. "What were you talking to Dad about?"
"Why are you such a sticky beak?" Charlotte flopped down onto the floor and rolled under the bed, dragging a reluctant Chance with her.
"Because whatever it was has Mom upset." Natalie peered under the bed.
"I just want to spend the rest of summer holidays at Drovers and Dad said no." Charlotte pressed herself against the wall and closed her eyes.
"Why would you want to go to some stinky farm and clean up after horses and sheep?" Alanna asked.
"Because it's fun. Now go away." Charlotte plugged her ears so she wouldn't have to hear her sisters making gagging noises as they left the room.
When they were gone she allowed herself to picture Drovers. The cows and sheep milling in their fields, the green rolling hills that were more often brown, the windmills turning in the wind and especially the people. She could see Stevie and Jodi laughing as they moved cows from Skinny Jims to Jack's Folly. Regan and Moira moved sheep up to the shearing shed while Meg tore weeds out of the garden. She saw Grace and Jaz brushing their horses while Ben leaned against the fence and watched. And Rose and Tayler would be laughing about something while Patrick waited patiently for Tayler to come to the pub with him. She missed the people, the dogs, the horses. She wanted to be on Drovers now.
Eventually they are going to have such a hold on her she won't want to come back. Peter's words echoed in her mind and she laughed.
"Too late, Dad, they already have a hold on me. Drovers is my real home."
A plan began to formulate in her mind and the smile on her face grew. "Chance, we're going to Drovers."
Chance whined a little before crawling out from under the bed and barking at something outside the window.
Charlotte followed her little dog and went to shut the door. Peering both ways down the hallway she nodded in satisfaction. No one was around. Quietly she shut the door and tiptoed to her closet. On the floor behind her boots was the light blue bag she used when she went to Drovers. Dragging it out, Charlotte opened it and began to fill it with the clothes she always took to Drovers. Jeans, tank tops and blouses soon filled half of the suitcase. Pulling off her thongs she tossed them in along with a handful of socks and undies. She threw in a coat because you never knew what the weather was going to do. Two sweaters and some shorts and a skirt filled the rest of the bag.
Charlotte stood with her hands on her hips staring at the pile she had just collected. Somehow she had to fit her Christmas presents in the bag too. She was going to take the bus and it was quite a walk to the bus stop. She couldn't take more than two bags. From the corner behind her door she dragged out her backpack and proceeded to stuff it full of the presents she had bought with Julia's help. She even had one for Rose's boyfriend. She studied the leather belt and hoped he liked it.
Rose had told her about Gabe just a week ago. Gabe was working for Uncle Marcus so he probably liked leather things. Julia had said it was a practical gift "just right for someone you don't know."
Charlotte grinned. Next year Gabe's gift would not be practical because Charlotte would know Gabe a lot better.
With the presents packed, Charlotte turned her attention to the suitcase. She began to fold the clothes and found she had more room than she thought. Enough room to add her favourite blanket, another skirt, her favourite dress and Chance's teddy bear. Charlotte had her own collection of stuffies at Drovers so she didn't need to drag any with her.
Zipping her bag shut she sat back in satisfaction. She pulled her shorts off and tugged on a pair of jeans. She found some socks that were mostly clean and pulled them on. Stuffing her feet into her boots, she nodded. She was ready.
On her dresser was a money bank shaped like a horse. The head twisted off so you could get at the money and she twisted the head with a certain relish. Reaching in she pulled out the wad of paper bills she had managed to collect. There were the two yellow fifties Peter's parents had given her for her birthday this year and the green one hundred they had given her last year. Her parents didn't know about those three bills, it was her little secret. Peter's dad had whispered that they were for emergencies. And if this wasn't an emergency she didn't know what was.
Charlotte took her two hundred dollars and stuffed them into her bag. The twenties and tens from allowances and the fives from odd jobs she had done went into her purse.
Charlotte slung her backpack onto her back and clipped Chance's leash on. She hung her purse over her shoulders and across her chest before pulling out the handle on her bag. Walking to her door she opened it and peered again into the hall.
"Peter, I'm taking Natalie and Alanna to ballet," Julia called. "Make sure you get Charlotte to come out of her room for dinner."
"Have fun," Peter called. "Don't worry about Charlotte, Julia. She'll be fine by dinner."
Charlotte smiled. This was great. Julia was leaving with the girls and Peter would be too busy to remember about her. The phone rang at that moment and the front door slammed.
Charlotte waited until the sound of Julia's car was a distant memory before hurrying down the hall and out the front door.
She didn't breathe properly until she was on the sidewalk and heading for the bus. She could see the bus coming and a large crowd of people waiting.
Charlotte arrived at the bus stop just in time to catch the bus. She hovered on the outskirts of a large family who spoke of stopping in Gungellen before going the rest of the way to Spencer. The bus driver didn't give her a second thought as he loaded her bags and directed her to a seat. He didn't even glance at Chance, even though the dog had barked at a fat lady who had a cat in a basket.
Charlotte lifted Chance onto a seat and climbed up beside him. She peered down the sidewalk to where her house was. No one was running frantically down the sidewalk and she sighed in relief. One of the children from the large family sat beside her.
"Hi," he said. "Where are you going?"
"To see my aunt at Drovers," Charlotte replied.
"Cool," the boy said before tucking ear buds into his ears and cranking the music on his iPod.
Charlotte leaned against the seat and waited for the journey to begin. She knew it wouldn't be a long trip which could work in her favour. She would be at Drovers before her dad even knew she was missing. A smile lit up her face. She was going home.
Two hours later they arrived in Gungellen and she stepped off of the bus and watched for her bags. When she had found them and Chance had relieved himself on a pole she wandered in the direction of the pub. Someone from one of the properties might be there.
When she reached the pub she searched the parking lot for a familiar vehicle but couldn't find one. Tired and a little disappointed, she plopped on a bench to come up with another plan.
"Well, well, if it isn't little Miss McLeod?" a voice boomed. "A little early for Christmas, aren't we?"
Charlotte looked up into the face of an elderly man. "Mr. Thompson, hi."
Neil Thompson sat down beside her and patted Chance. "Do the Drovers girls know you are here?"
Charlotte shook her head. "I'm surprising them."
Mr. Thompson nodded. "So you'll need a ride then?"
Charlotte smiled. "Yes, that would be lovely."
Mr. Thompson pursed his lips and then called out, "Craig, come over here."
The tall, blond man ambled over and grinned at Charlotte. "Well, lookie here. If it isn't Charlotte McLeod."
Charlotte found it funny how they all called her Charlotte McLeod. She rather liked it. Around her she was Claire McLeod's daughter. Just Claire McLeod's daughter. No one spoke about her father, it was like she didn't have one.
"Charlotte here needs a ride to Drovers," Mr. Thompson. "Are you able to give her one?"
Craig scratched his head. "It just so happens that I forgot to give a package to Jaz when I met her on the road this morning. I should get it to Drovers. It was marked urgent."
"Well, there we have it," Mr. Thompson said. "Let's get you in Craig's truck and out to Drovers."
Charlotte soon found herself in the front of the mail truck with Chance. Her bags were in the back and she waved to Mr. Thompson before settling in to enjoy the drive.
"Did anyone ever tell you about the old posty?" Craig said, as he started the engine.
Charlotte shook her head.
"Well, Bob was a character. He had only one arm."
"How'd he drive with only one arm?" Charlotte watched Craig shifted the gears. "It takes two hands."
"Ha, that was one of his many talents. He never once crashed but he could be mighty slow delivering mail."
"Is that why you do it now?" Charlotte asked. "You're faster?"
"I wish that was the reason," Craig replied. "No, Bob had a heart attack. He never recovered."
Charlotte frowned. She didn't like talking about people dying. "How did he lose his arm?"
Craig laughed. "No one really knows. Sometimes it was a snake, sometimes a croc, other times the war."
Back at the pub, Neil Thompson picked up the phone and dialed Drovers. "Hello, Meg, this is Neil Thompson."
"Hello, Neil," Meg replied. "What can I do you for?"
"Well, there is a little girl by the name of Charlotte on route to Drovers with Craig Woodlawn."
"What?" Meg gasped. "She's not supposed to be here until next week."
Neil nodded. "I kinda figured that when she got off the bus. Maybe you should call that Johnson fellow. He's probably frantic."
"Alright, Neil. Thank you. Was she okay?" Meg sounded tired.
"She's fine, just raring to get to Drovers," Neil promised. "I'll see you later."
"Ta."
Neil hung up the phone and went outside shaking his head. That Charlotte was more like her mother every time he saw her. He couldn't wait until she was grown up and could help run Drovers.
"Coee, that is going to be fun." Neil chuckled as he climbed into his truck and headed home.
He was still laughing when he walked into his kitchen and found his wife cooking supper.
"You'll never guess who came to town today," he said.
"Who?" His wife was always eager to hear the latest gossip.
"Little Charlotte McLeod, all by herself from Fisher."
His wife gasped. "What? Why?"
Neil shrugged. "Said she was going to surprise the Drovers girls."
"Well, that will be a surprise," his wife said. "Stevie said she wasn't coming until day after Christmas. I wonder how she persuaded her father to let her come early."
"I don't think he knew she left," Neil said. "I think she's done a runner."
His wife laughed. "We've got another Claire McLeod on our hands. And it's about time she comes home."
Neil laughed with his wife and gave her a hug before the woman hurried off to call Beth Martin. Drovers' phone would be ringing off the hook and the pub would be buzzing tonight. Neil had another chuckle imagining Peter's reaction to his daughter's escapade.