Secrets and Lies (26 page)

‘I won’t argue with that, the sooner the better as far as I’m concerned. My mother will be pleased. We can have a honeymoon on board the ship taking us to England, and will be there in time to celebrate Christmas. That will be a perfect start to our marriage.’

It was also romantic, she thought, so she got the snuffles all over again.

‘Why are you weeping, Es?’

‘Because you were being romantic, and I didn’t expect it.’

‘Was I?’ Head slanted to one side he gazed quite seriously at her. ‘I have my romantic moments, you know, but generally I’m basic Australian male.’

‘Yes, I know. You Leo the jungle boy, me Essie the tabby cat.’

He chuckled, and taking a handkerchief from his pocket, applied it to her tears. Picking up her undamaged hand he kissed the palm. ‘My dearest tabby cat . . . I love you so much that I die a thousand times every time I think of you.’

‘You’re overdoing the lethal bit, Leo.’

Her retort brought a fleeting grin to his face. ‘Stop complaining, woman.’

Odd how she felt totally at ease with Leo, but she gazed at the shadows under his eyes with some concern. ‘You look tired.’

‘There was an emergency. A couple of children wandered away from the mission two days ago, and we’ve been searching for them, me from the air and with an Aboriginal tracker on the ground. We found them this morning, scared and hungry, but safe.’ He gazed at his watch. ‘It’s amazing how much ground two nippers can cover in a short time. I must go now. I’ve got to deliver some medication before I can have a sleep.’

‘Take care. And Leo . . . I love you.’

His eyes took her measure, his grin came, then widened into a smile. ‘You know, Es, it’s about time you told me that.’

‘Did you doubt it, then?’

‘I have enough arrogance in me to know that you’d tell me some time.’ Soft and leisurely, his goodbye kiss robbed her of breath and of her will. The back of her mind noted that her responses bordered on healthily indecent.

Wally put in an appearance after closing time. He had a small, scruffy beard and moustache. Minnie eyed him up and down. ‘Look what the cat’s dragged in.’

‘Don’t be like that, Min. Why aren’t you at the homestead?’

‘The little pig huffed and puffed and he blew the house down.’

He laughed. So did she, because the joke was on him.

‘I need some money, Min.’

‘Put your arm down a snake hole, you might find the pot of gold.’

She hardened her heart. His little-boy-lost expression didn’t work with her any more. ‘You’ve come to the wrong person. The small amount of money I’ve got has to keep me until I start work. And don’t think you can steal any more from Esmé. She’s in hospital.’

‘Oh, come on Minnie . . . you’re my wife. There’s a game going and I only need a fiver to get me into it.’

He hadn’t even bothered to ask what was wrong with Esmé. ‘I won’t be your wife for much longer, and I haven’t got a fiver. But I have found a job, and as soon as I’ve got some money together I’m going to divorce you. I’m given to understand that I have grounds.’

‘What you’ve heard is lies. Lillian played up when her brother was in the cooler, but I doubt if she’s expecting a baby. I . . . um . . . acted as Lillian’s minder, more than anything. We went out dancing, and stuff. Somebody told John Teagan and he got the wrong idea.’

‘You were her pimp, you mean.’

He winced, then lowered his voice and gazed towards the stairs. ‘Lillian isn’t a slut, whatever my mother thinks. She’s a nice, ordinary girl. Aw, come on Minnie, you know it’s you I love. Why else would I have married you?’

He’d married her because of the baby, and because she’d nagged him, she thought, and really, that was the only thing he’d had in his favour – that he’d been willing to support her and the child. It had soon become obvious he didn’t have the wit to support either. Perhaps he was telling the truth and Lillian wasn’t pregnant. She doubted it. Ma knew what a pregnancy looked like. It was about time Wally learned what responsibility was about, and she wasn’t going to finance him in his folly.

‘Minnie,’ Ma bawled from above. ‘Is that my Wally?’

‘Yes, Ma. I’m on my way,’ he said.

She watched him go, her eyes narrowing. Wally was up to something, and whatever it was she didn’t think it included her. Even if it did, she wouldn’t be a part of it. She was through with him.

She turned her back and slopped water on to the floor, feeling resentful. Wally should be doing this. He’d soon get some money out of his mother.

He did, and came down with a smile on his face, looking confident. Before he left the hotel, Minnie asked him, ‘Where are you staying?’

He hesitated before shaking his head. ‘If you don’t know, you can’t tell anyone. As soon as I’ve got a good stake I’m getting out of town and going over to the west coast. You can come with me. We could make a fresh start. Come on, Min, think about it. As soon as we’re settled I’ll sell the homestead. The mining company offered my uncle a good price for it.’

She wondered how she managed to keep her face straight; she wasn’t going to be the one to tell him the homestead was now a heap of rubble. She couldn’t imagine what use that salt lake and scrubby bit of land would be to the mining company, now the stream had been diverted. If there was gold there, she’d never seen any. Ben had said the mine wouldn’t buy it now, and besides, the company had closed until the economy picked up.

‘Do you expect me to leave everything and go off with you? What about my new job and my friends? And then there’s your mother? She’s not been well. Her heart isn’t what it should be. She needs someone here to help her, and you’re all she’s got left. If you leave it will break her heart.’

‘Ma has had that heart problem for years; she just hasn’t seen anyone about it. She’s told me she’s as strong as a horse. Besides, Reg will help her out. As soon as we’re settled she can sell up and join us. I’ll find myself a regular job, and perhaps we’ll buy a hotel of our own when everything’s settled. And we’ll have a baby or two, to make up for the one we lost.’

His statement lacked the ring of truth. He was telling her what he thought she wanted to hear, making it up as he went. ‘What about Lillian?’

He looked troubled and avoided her eyes. ‘I told Lillian I was coming back to you. I promise I won’t stray again, love.’

Did he really think she’d take him back, or even wanted to? As for his promises, they tripped too easily from his tongue and had as much substance as a fart in a colander. She grinned as she wondered what Esmé would say to her using that vulgar expression, even in thought.

Wally misinterpreted the grin and went to hug her. ‘I knew you’d see sense.’

She stepped back, keeping him at arm’s length.
See sense?
She’d seen that weeks ago. She wasn’t going with him, and that was that.

‘I do love you, Min. Honest. Things will work out, you’ll see. Lady Luck is on my side and I’m going to win big money tonight, I feel it in my bones.’

And Wally did win. But there was a price to pay for that slice of luck – a price neither of them expected, or would have wanted.

‘Wally is dead?’

Esmé’s eyes widened. No wonder Minnie was wearing a black armband. She also had dark circles under her eyes, and looked tired and pale. ‘Oh, Min. I’m so sorry. I mean . . . I know you and he didn’t get along, but dead . . . how did it happen?’

‘The police told me that Wally was at a poker game. Someone accused him of cheating. He left with his winnings and was waylaid by two men, who set about him. One hit him from behind with a brick, and when he went down his head bounced on the kerb. The assailants fled when some people appeared. Wally was still breathing, but unconscious. He died on the way to hospital. The hospital gave me his personal effects.’

‘Poor Wally. How is Ma taking it?’

‘As you’d expect, she cries a lot. Losing Wally so soon after her husband has been a bit too much for her. She tries to be strong but she keeps breaking down. The police think Wally was set-up.’

‘John Teagan?’

‘Apparently he has an alibi, but anyway, nobody is talking. Ma is blaming herself for giving him the stake money to gamble with in the first place. I feel guilty about it. He’d asked me to take him back, and I said I’d think about it. I knew I wouldn’t forgive him, though. Wally meant well . . . but he was as shallow as they come, and I know he was lying to me.’

‘When’s the funeral to be?’

‘Next week.’

‘Is there any good news?’

‘Yes . . . I’ve got a part-time job, right here in the hospital. I’ll be in the emergency department at weekends, Thursday night through till Sunday. Apparently it’s busy. The sister in your ward put a word in for me. It will be enough to keep us in essentials until your bones are healed and you’re able to help out.’

‘I won’t be able to lift, or do much to help round the bar.’

‘Reg will help on the days I’m not there, and it’s only for about a month. There are always the accounts to do. Have you and Leo decided on a wedding date yet?’

‘We snatched a few minutes together yesterday evening. All being well the wedding will take place towards the end of October in that little church around the corner. We’ll be boarding the ship straight after and heading for England. Leo is making all the arrangements, and we’ll be in England for Christmas. I’m so looking forward to seeing everyone again. It seems like ages. We won’t be gone for good though, and will eventually return to Australia. Promise me not to lose touch. You will be all right here on your own, won’t you, Minnie?’

‘I won’t be alone. I’ll have Ma to look after. We get on well together, and I have nothing to go back to England for. Have you decided on a wedding gown, yet?’

Esmé shrugged, saying wryly, ‘It will be something simple, I imagine. I’ll make it myself.’

‘What about those dresses you used to dance with Liam in.’

She shook her head. ‘It wouldn’t feel right.’

‘Wally had some money on him . . . quite a lot, in fact. I can give you what’s left of what he owed you. The rest will pay for his funeral. For Ma’s sake I thought I’d have a nice one.’

‘I don’t like the thought of taking money from a dead man.’

Minnie was sharp with her. ‘Do stop being so squeamish, Es. I wish I hadn’t mentioned it now. After all, money is only bits of paper with numbers on, and goodness knows how many dead people’s pockets it’s been in.’ She gave a slightly hysterical giggle. ‘Besides, it’s the only way Wally will be able to repay you now . . . so just accept it and shut up, will you.’

‘Only if you stop being cross and give me a hug . . . just a gentle one. I’ll be glad to get out of this place. I’m sick of staring at the ceiling.’

‘That will be tomorrow. It’s all arranged. Leo will bring his car for you, and deliver you to the hotel.’

The funeral was well attended, mostly by bar patrons, who donned their Sunday suits and hoped to get a free beer out of it. Ma looked haggard in her grieving, and she didn’t bother to hide her trickle of tears. Leo and his brother, Alex, attended and the four of them gathered around Ma in support as the coffin was lowered into the grave.

Leo put his arm around Esmé and she turned into his body as far as comfort, and her arm cast, allowed. Unthinkingly, Leo pressed a kiss against her hairline, and she looked up at him and they exchanged a smile.

Minnie smiled to herself at the sight, and then she had the feeling of being watched, and caught Alex’s thoughtful gaze on her.

Minnie reminded herself that this was her husband’s funeral, and not the time and place for the tingle of awareness that sang through her body. Feeling guilty, she swiftly averted her gaze.

She couldn’t keep her attention on what the reverend was saying . . . not like Esmé who appeared to be absorbed. Then she noticed that her friend’s eyes had glazed over. Es was dreaming of her wedding day, no doubt.

Her glance then lit on a young woman who stood on the fringes of the mourners. Tears trickled down her face. She was no more than seventeen, and was pretty in a bold sort of way. Her dress needed a wash and her hair was stringy. Her stomach had a tell tale roundness to it. She was in her second trimester, about four months along, Minnie guessed.

Minnie whispered to Ma, ‘Is that Lillian?’

Ma sniffed. ‘That’s her. I don’t know what Wally saw in her when he had a classy wife like you to come home to. What’s she doing here, anyway? I didn’t invite her.’

‘It’s not her fault, Ma. Look how young she is, and she’s crying over Wally, I imagine. For what it’s worth, unless my training is at fault, that’s an infant she’s carrying. It’s probably your grandchild – the only one you’ll ever have.’

She received an aggrieved look from Ma for her trouble. ‘You know when to stick the knife in. You’re not going to let this go, are you?’

‘I know right from wrong, Ma, and so do you. Lillian is just a kid. Look how gaunt she is. She’s sleeping rough by the looks of her, and you have a spare room. Now I’m at work, you could do with the help, especially until Esmé gets back to normal.’

‘Who do you think you are to be filling my home with down-and-outs . . . Florence bloody Nightingale?’

‘Nobody asked you to invite me and Esmé to stay.’

‘I didn’t mean you two. You give the place a bit of class. Not like that Lillian . . . she’s a bag of bones.’

Minnie conjured up a lie and whispered, ‘I wasn’t going to tell you this, but now it doesn’t matter. Wally and I had a good chat the last time I saw him. We were going to try to get our marriage annulled and just remain friends.’

‘How?’

‘You know how . . . pretend we didn’t get on with marital relations. When we were free he intended to marry Lillian.’

Ma stared at her. ‘Are you telling the truth?’

Fingers crossed behind her back, Minnie nodded.

Ma had just needed to be given a reason, and she capitulated more easily than Minnie had expected. ‘Invite her home for something to eat, while I think about it. But if that brother of hers comes sniffing around I’ll feed him rat poison.’ She sniffed. ‘Perhaps you’re right, love. I wouldn’t want Wally’s kid to grow up with that crook Teagan for an uncle.’