Sundown Crossing (30 page)
Authors: Lynne Wilding
His gaze surveyed Lisel’s office again, so much of her personality dominated the walls, the furniture. He made a decision. Tomorrow he would strip the room of its contents, have the walls repainted and new carpet laid, in preparation for a new advertising manager.
The early spring evening’s temperature was crisp, but not too cool for an outdoor party. The grounds of Stenhaus were ablaze with coloured lights and lanterns. A large, striped marquee had been set up
on the lawn near the swimming pool, and tables and chairs for almost two hundred and fifty guests were scattered around the poolside and the patio, for Carla and Paul’s engagement party, hosted by Rhein Schloss’s patriarch, Carl Stenmark.
Carl, watching Sam play with a group of children, smiled as he glanced around at the festive occasion. He couldn’t control the urge to reminisce. This was how it had been more than thirty years ago. Kurt and Marta’s engagement party. In a way history was repeating itself but he was confident that this time the results would be happier. Never had Carla looked more radiant and that helped to dispel the disappointment he had experienced because she’d chosen Paul over Luke. His grandson didn’t smile too much these days, and he understood why. Carla was a treasure who had somehow managed to slip through his grandson’s fingers into the arms of another man. Not that he had anything against Paul van Leeson. He was a fine man and a damned good architect.
His gaze settled on Greta, gliding around the guests, being the welcoming hostess—a job to which she had devoted herself since his dear wife’s departure so long ago.
Anna Louise.
How he missed her still, after all this time but…now he had Carla, so much like Anna Louise, physically, and Sam, who was almost the spitting image of a young Kurt. Both were heart-warming compensations for the loneliness he had felt for years.
The only family member not present was Lisel and for that there were pangs of sadness. His daughter had developed into a much-troubled woman and he had to accept some of the blame for that happening. She had been spoilt, cosseted, given-in to far too often, helping, he was sure, to make her evolve into the temperamental, calculating woman she now was. Intuitively, he believed it would be a long time before she returned to the Barossa and, unfortunate as that was, with her hatred of Carla, perhaps it was for the best. Lisel was an unsettling influence on the family which now, after many years, had become whole again.
On the other side of the pool, where caterers were attending to several spit roasts, Angie Dupayne was talking to Luke.
‘Your grandfather knows how to throw a party,’ Angie complimented as Luke handed her a fresh glass of white wine.
‘It’s more my mother’s doing than Grandfather’s. She’s the expert in that regard.’
Angie saw his gaze follow Carla and Paul as they danced to the disco beat of a noisy five-piece band on the makeshift timber dance floor. ‘They make a handsome pair, don’t you think?’
‘They do.’ He looked away. ‘A fine couple.’
Deeming it wise to change the subject, Angie told him, ‘We’re almost ready to start rebuilding at the vineyard. Paul managed to expedite the plans through council and we should begin in about two weeks’ time. Kim and Tran are excited
about the prospect of starting their own restaurant. In fact, the whole project is an exciting enterprise, for all of us.’
‘More and more winegrowers are adding cafés and restaurants to their wine-tasting cellars now that tourism is taking off,’ Luke said agreeably. ‘We’re doing the same at several wineries in which we have a controlling interest.’
‘Mm, things look good in the Barossa, don’t they?’ When he didn’t answer Angie studied him again, noticing his interest in a rather attractive young woman several metres away from them. He might have lost Carla but she was sure he wasn’t completely heartbroken, judging by the way he gave the woman an interested once-over. ‘Someone you know?’ she fished for information.
‘What?’ He looked momentarily startled. ‘Oh. That’s Felicity Kent, Rhein Schloss’s new advertising manager. Started with us last week. She has some welcome, innovative ideas.’
‘You know, she’s probably feeling a bit out of it, not knowing many people yet,’ Angie said, having observed that Felicity stood alone, watching the dancers. She was, she admitted, incorrigible and unable to resist the chance to play matchmaker, again. ‘Why don’t you ask her to dance?’
‘Dance?’ He grinned suddenly. ‘What a good idea. Excuse me,’ he said, moving away at a pace that showed he was eager to follow up Angie’s suggestion.
Angie had to smile as he approached Felicity. Carla had found her man and Angie approved of
Paul wholeheartedly and, if the body language exhibited by Luke and Felicity was an indication of the undercurrent of attraction between them, who knows, Carl Stenmark could be hosting another engagement party sometime next year.
The exploration and subsequent settling of land in the Barossa region began late in 1837 with an expedition led by Colonel William Light. The Colonel named of the area Barossa in tribute to a fellow soldier’s victory at the Battle of Barossa. The Barossa Valley, which includes the Eden Valley, is located approximately seventy kilometres north of South Australia’s capital city, Adelaide.
Since European colonisation the Barossa Valley has known a variety of endeavours including gold exploration (circa 1868), copper mining, marble quarrying at Angaston and Koonunga, ceramic tilemaking at Nuriootpa as well as, currently, a predominance of vineyards which produce twenty-one per cent of Australian wine. This makes the Barossa the largest single wine-producing area in the country.
At settlement, Barossa land was cleared for wheat, hay and vegetable production and members of the local Aboriginal tribe, Peramangks, were
employed in some of the first grain harvests. There is some irony in the fact that by helping colonial farmers prosper, the Aborigines lost their traditional hunting grounds and before long no Aborigines remained in the Valley.
Today the Barossa Valley has over sixty wineries and cellar doors, ranging from family-owned enterprises of varying sizes to national companies, and over six hundred grape growers who supply product to the wineries.
Four towns comprise the main settlements of the Barossa Valley and there are several outlying smaller towns and villages.
Lyndoch was the first town to be settled and is one of the oldest villages in the State of South Australia. William James Browne is credited with being Lyndoch’s first independent settler. After arriving in the State in 1839 he leased land from the South Australian Company. The Lyndoch of today still has many cottages that date back to the early days of settlement and though European foundations of the Lyndoch area are English, over time a strong German presence has developed. So much so that there is a report that as late as the mid 1940s German was commonly heard on the streets and traditional German wagons were still in use.
Angaston (first known as Angas Town) is generally considered the most English of the four Barossa townships and began on land holdings of some 28,000 acres, granted to Englishman George Fife Angas in 1839, though farming was
not taken up by the Angas family until 1843. Angaston, though English in style, also has a noteable German heritage. More distinctive German settlements occurred in areas close to Angaston, such as Moculta, Flaxman’s Valley, Bethany and Langmeil. (Langmeil’s name was changed to Bilyara in 1918 but restored to the original name in 1975. However, the village has ceased to exist as such, having been absorbed by the growth of the town of Tanunda.) The German heritage of and around Angaston is understandable because the Angas-owned properties required a sizeable workforce and Angas provided much of the passage costs and hired many Prussian Lutheran migrants to work on his farms.
In addition to vineyards, dairy farms with sheep and cattle grazing occupy gentle pastures and, currently, olive oil output is increasing as maturing olive groves provide an alternative source of income. Today, the Angas Park Fruit Company is the largest processor of dried fruits in Australia.
On the outskirts of this town are two historic wineries—Yalumba, the oldest family-owned winery in Australia and, to the west, Saltrams.
Tanunda’s township (the word Tanunda is believed to be Aboriginal for ‘waterhole’) dates from the early 1840s when Prussian Lutheran migrants began to move into the Barossa Valley. Nearby, Bethany (originally known as Bethanien) was the first German settlement established in
1842 by the Lutherans. Tanunda has become the Valley’s German cultural and religious centre and the site for the biennial Barossa Valley Vintage Festival and for the occasion becomes a colourful place with activities such as horseshoeing, feather-plucking and with many residents wearing traditional dress.
Nuriootpa is the most northern, largest and, arguably, the most modern of the four townships and settlement dates back to 1841. (Its name is thought to be Aboriginal in origin, meaning ‘place of meeting’.) Around the Nuriootpa plains, deforestation first gave way to pasture and grain fields then orchards, in particular, apricots, but these have been mostly replaced by vineyards as wine production became more profitable.
The Nuriootpa High School is the Valley’s main State secondary school and offers courses in vine and wine studies. It is worth noting that the school produces its own wine label which has had success at wine shows and exhibitions, as does the Faith Lutheran Secondary School at Tanunda.
Nuriootpa is also the site of Barossa Ceramics (originally known as Krieg’s). The company has exclusive rights for supplying floor tiles for several well known businesses including McDonalds.
With the region’s population being well over 10,000 and tourism being a thriving secondary industry, the Barossa Valley is a unique place, agriculturally and historically.
When English actress Vanessa Forsythe falls in love with Bren Selby, her life changes forever. Leaving behind her beautiful London apartment, she becomes mistress of Amaroo Downs, a remote cattle station in the Western Australia.
Not only does Vanessa have to adjust to a vastly different lifestyle in the outback, she must establish her place in the Selby family. Bren’s brother Curtis isn’t too pleased to have to make allowances for the English blow-in, while his mother, Hilary, finds it hard to relinquish her hold on Amaroo. And then there’s talented country singer, Nova Morrison, who resents Vanessa’s beauty and charm.
Vanessa succeeds in balancing her acting career with her new life in the outback—but when a family secret threatens to destroy everything she’s grown to love, she must face her greatest challenge yet…
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Grateful thanks to Allister Ashmead of Elderto Wines, South Australia. Lesley and Geoff Schrapel of Bethany Wines, South Australia. Penfolds Wines. To my literary agent, Selwa Anthony. My editors Pauline O’Carolan and Kylie Mason. The Tanunda Visitors Centre.
The Four Towns of the Barossa Valley
by Helen Oliver.
The Barossa: A Vision Realised
by R.S. Munchenberg. Heinrich Proeve, Donald A. Ross, Anne Hausler, Geoffrey B. Saegenschnitter, Noris Ioannou and Roger Teusner. And special thanks to Lesley and Geoff Schrapel of Bethany Wines, South Australia.
Lynne Wilding published eight previous novels with HarperCollins:
King of Cane Valley
,
Heart of the Outback
,
Whispers Through the Pines
,
Turn Left at Bindi Creek
,
This Time Forever
,
52 Waratah Avenue
,
Outback Sunset
and
Sundown Crossing
.
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LSO BY
L
YNNE
W
ILDING
from HarperCollins:
Heart of the Outback
Whispers Through the Pines
Turn Left at Bindi Creek
52 Waratah Avenue
This Time Forever
Love, Obsession, Secrets and Lies: An Anthology King of Cane Valley Outback Sunset
HarperCollins
Publishers
First published in Australia in 2006
This edition published 2010
by HarperCollins
Publishers
Australia Pty Limited
ABN 36 009 913 517
www.harpercollins.com.au
Copyright © Lynne Wilding 2006
The right of Lynne Wilding to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the
Copyright Amendment (Moral Rights) Act 2000.
This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the
Copyright Act 1968
, no part may be reproduced, copied, scanned, stored in a retrieval system, recorded, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
HarperCollins
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National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication data:
Wilding, Lynne.
Sundown crossing.
ISBN 0 7322 8301 9. (pbk.)
ISBN 9 780 7322 8301 8. (pbk.)
ISBN: 978 0 7304 4439 8 (epub)
I. Title.
A823.3