Ghosts of the Past

Jodi leaned against the fence. Gabe stood beside her, his eyes following the horse that ran around the edge of the round yard. Rose stood in the centre, flicking a rope and clucking to Cleopatra.

"How's it going?" Jodi asked.

Gabe shrugged. "She's resisting. Rose has her work cut out for her."

"Well, that's not unexpected." Jodi shifted and found a more comfortable position.

"No," Gabe agreed. "But I think this is going to take way longer than she anticipated. Cleo has no trust what so ever in people."

"And Rose has just over a month to get Cleo to trust again."

Gabe nodded.

"Shouldn't you be at Killarney moving sheep or cows or something?" Jodi turned to the young man.

He grinned sheepishly and she could see why Rose seemed to have fallen for him. He was tall, well over six feet, with eyes the colour of a stormy sky, swirling greys, with a hint of blue. The hot breeze stirred his sandy blond hair and he brushed it out of his face. His fingers were long, the kind piano players envied. Jodi wondered if he played the instrument.

"Jodi, we have a problem!"

Jodi turned and saw Stevie making her way down to the yards, a strange look on her face. Jodi wasn't sure if it was displeasure or just plain surprise.

Leaving the round pen she moved towards Stevie. "What's the matter?"

Stevie pursed her lips and ran a hand over her tousled hair. "Meg just got off the phone with Neil Thompson. Charlotte is on her way here now, today, with Craig Woodlawn."

Jodi felt her mouth drop open. What was her niece doing here this week? Christmas wasn't until next week. Had Peter gotten the dates wrong? But that couldn't be. Peter never forgot which week was theirs to have Charlotte.

"Jodi, she ran away from home," Stevie continued.

"Oh, dear Lord. Peter must be in a state." Jodi headed to the house with Stevie. "Does he know?"

Stevie shook her head. "I haven't called him yet. I'm not sure what to say to him."

Jodi nodded. On one hand, what Charlotte did was wrong, but on the other side, Charlotte did have a right to visit the place that was her true home. Peter had seemed rather determined lately to keep his daughter from Drovers.

"Well, I'll call him," Jodi said. "You'll just yell at him and make things worse."

Stevie shoved her. "Hey! I'd be perfectly civil."

"Right. You and Claire never were very good at being perfectly civil. I'll call him and you go deal with Charlotte. That's more your line of work. Wilful daughters."

Stevie laughed and veered off to meet Craig and Charlotte. Jodi continued to the house and found Meg on the kitchen.

"Did you hear the news?" Meg asked, stirring whatever was bubbling on the stove.

Jodi nodded. "I'm going to call Peter and see what we can decide."

"She reminds me of her mother." Meg smiled and tasted the soup. "Claire could never be persuaded she was wrong when she put her mind to it."

"I know." Jodi gave Meg an one armed hug before going into the study. She shut the door behind her and stared at the phone. She didn't want to call Peter and tell him his daughter was at Drovers. For all the pain he caused Claire so many years ago she wished she could cause him some. Maybe a few hours of not knowing where his daughter was would make her feel better.

But then the thought of losing her own daughter struck her, a pain that she knew would never leave her. And she knew that he needed to know. But she would do everything to make him feel the wretched father he was. Somehow she would persuade him that Charlotte should stay as long as she liked.

Twenty minutes later she emerged from the office, a satisfied smile on her face. She still had the ability to be very persuasive. With a laugh she headed outside.

Stevie was sitting on the porch with Xander, talking softly to him. Jodi sat down beside her and tickled Xander's ribs. The little boy giggled and kicked his legs.

"So, how did your chat go with that Johnson fellow?" Stevie asked.

"He was actually quite agreeable," Jodi said slowly. "I'm still not sure if I changed his mind or he had already decided."

"Is she staying?"

Jodi nodded. "Until school starts. Apparently Charlotte decided she wanted to come here now and stay until school started. Peter refused and she took off. After giving it some thought Peter has decided that what Charlotte wants, Charlotte gets."

Stevie laughed. "Then let's make this her best Christmas ever. Killarney's hosting this year. Ingrid said they are sparing no expense."

"Then we shall all be fat," Jodi said, standing up as a ute came up to the house. "Well, here she is."

Stevie stood and propped Xander on her hip. Jodi followed her down the stairs and waited at the edge of the lawn.

Craig parked the ute and climbed out. "Hi."

"Hi," Jodi said. "I hear you have a package for us."

Craig nodded. "Watch this one. She's high strung."

A little dog raced around the ute, barking and yipping. Turbo raced over the drive and sniffed the little bundle before hurrying to Stevie's side. Jodi rubbed the dog's head, but didn't take her eye of the young girl now coming around the front of the truck. She smiled. Charlotte had changed so much in the year since she had last seen her. She was losing the appearance of a small child, becoming tall and thin. But it was her eyes that gave Jodi the greatest jolt.

Her eyes were so like Claire's it was like stepping back in time and seeing her sister again.

"Hello, Aunt Jodi!" Charlotte waved and bounded towards the house. "Hi, Aunt Stevie!"

"Hello, Charlotte." Jodi opened her arms and gathered Charlotte close. "You're getting so tall."

Charlotte stepped back and grinned, pushing her darkening hair out of her eyes. "I'm almost as tall as Natalie now. She hates that."

Jodi laughed. Stevie reached over and hugged Charlotte. Together the two women led the girl up to the house. Charlotte chattered away, about everything. The little dog bounced along at their heels.

"Is that your dog?" Jodi asked as Charlotte took a breath.

"Yes. Daddy and Julia gave him to me last year. His name is Chance." Charlotte scooped up the dog and giggled when Chance licked her face.

Stevie frowned. "Don't you mean your mom and dad?"

Charlotte shook her head. "No. She's not my mom. I call her Julia. Daddy says I should call her mom, but I can't."

"I see," Jodi said thoughtfully. There was more going on here than met the eye.

Stevie heard it too, Jodi knew when she looked sideways at her and frowned again. Jodi shook her head. Now was not the time to try to understand the mind of this child.

"Meg," Charlotte cried running to meet the woman.

"Charlotte McLeod, welcome home." Meg hugged the little girl and led her into the kitchen. "You must be hungry."

When they were out of earshot, Stevie rounded on Jodi. "What exactly did Peter say to you? She seems almost bitter."

Jodi nodded and led the way into the study. "He said she's been more and more difficult. Charlotte's resenting Julia's mothering. Peter told me that they've tried to have another child but so far they haven't managed it. Julia lost two at two months and then carried one until five months. Something happened and the baby died. She tried to get over her pain by focussing her attention on Charlotte and the girls. But Charlotte refused her affections. Now she's run off."

Stevie sighed and sank into a chair. Xander babbled in her arms and she stroked his dark hair. "Well, I guess we'll have to work on her. Somehow we have to make her see that a woman who wants to pour her love out onto a child is nothing to be angry about."

Jodi nodded. "I do understand Charlotte, though. She's always loved this place. She's so like Claire when it comes to the land."

"And we shall have to spend all of dinner telling her everything that has happened in the past year."

Jodi leaned against the desk. "Has it really been a year since she was last here?"

"No. She was here for Xander's birthday. About eleven months ago; may as well be a year."

"That's right. When I came back. I can't believe Matt and I have been back that long."

"And my baby's almost two."

Jodi reached out and rubbed Stevie's shoulder. "Do you still miss him?"

Stevie nodded. "Every day. The pain of losing him is less, but my heart is still his."

Jodi walked to the window and stared out across her home. "We shall never find another like him. His place will always be empty."

"Did you love him?" The question was light, but Jodi knew that underneath Stevie just wanted to know what other's thought of the man she loved.

She laughed. "As a big brother. An annoying big brother at times. He was always there for me, as a brother should be. We had a common bound because of our hidden parentage."

"Yes, there was that," Stevie said. "Maybe if he was here, we would be able to get through to Charlotte. After all, he was going to be her step-father."

The door burst opened and Charlotte danced in with Chance at her heels. "Meg says dinner is ready. Everyone's here. Are they always this noisy?"

Jodi laughed as the sounds of those she called family filtered through the hall and into the room. "Oh, yes. And it will get nosier as the even progresses. Maybe we'd better hide the beer."

"And the cocktail supplies. If Regan gets a hold of them, we'll all have hangovers," Stevie said.

"I seem to recall you making a few cocktails with Regan too, Stephanie Ryan." Jodi headed out into the hall.

She heard Stevie laughing behind her. Charlotte took her hand and dragged her into the dining room. It was filled with laughing, happy faces. Grace and Regan were talking with Ben, while Jaz crooned to Channing. Moira and Meg surveyed the table, making sure everything was there. Russ spoke with Ingrid and Marcus. Olivia, Rose and Tayler giggled together while Pat and Dave joined Gabe on the veranda. Matt wrapped his arms around her and Katie giggled from Terry's arms. Phil tickled the little girl's ribs and her squeals filled the room.

"What a crowd," she murmured to Matt. "It was never like this in the old days. Not even when Tess was in charge. Claire wasn't one for parties. Well, not until she fell for Alex."

"Stretch," Kate called, coming in with a last dish.

"Hey, Squirt," Jodi replied. "How are you feeling?"

"Better. Dave's a good doctor." Kate smirked.

"Oh, I didn't want to know that," Jodi said, smacking Kate as she went by. "I see enough of his action as a vet."

Kate laughed and wove through the crowd. Charlotte knelt on a chair and Jodi hurried to her side. She fingered the girl's hair and was surprised when she leaned against her chest. Jodi's hand faltered only a moment before continuing to play with Charlotte's hair.

So the child wasn't against affection, she was just choosy about who applied it to her. Jodi sat down in the chair next to Charlotte. Matt sat beside her and reached for Katie. It took a few minutes but finally everyone was seated. It was quite crowded and the noise rose and fell like a river over rocks.

But Jodi reveled in the noise, the company. This was what a family was supposed to be like. And as she watched her family, she knew that Claire would approve. Somewhere, somehow, Claire and Alex were watching and laughing along with them. Laughing to see their children and the ones they loved together, bound by a common love.

"Do they always come for supper?" Charlotte asked, breaking into Jodi's thoughts.

Jodi shook her head. "No, just once or twice a week. We go to Killarney a couple nights and then the rest it's just the Drovers people. Which is quite a few."

"I like it," Charlotte said, as she loaded her plate with food. "We never have big parties in Fisher. It's always just five of us for supper."

Jodi laughed. "You'll enjoy the quiet dinners when you get back."

Charlotte shook her head. "No. I like these kinds." She set down her fork and turned serious. "Aunt Jodi, did my mom like parties like this?"

"She grew to like them. When she was with Uncle Alex she began to love getting together. Your aunt Tess liked parties so they went to more when she came."

"I wish I knew her," Charlotte whispered.

"So do I." Jodi hugged Charlotte. "She's in this land, this house, these people. Through them you can know her."

Charlotte nodded. "I'm glad I'm here."

"So am I." Jodi gave her one last hug and then turned to Matt and kissed him. "And I'm glad I'm here."

Matt smiled and touched her cheek. Jodi smiled and turned her attention to her plate. She was meant to be here and here she would be until she died.