The Opal Desert (28 page)

Stefan pulled a bag from his pocket and put them on the table. ‘I haven't spent time on these ones.'

‘You've done a good job cutting and polishing,' said Roth. ‘Both of us know what you have here all right.'

‘No nasty surprises, either,' added Shirley.

‘These might be your seconds, Stefan, but some would call them firsts. That claim of yours certainly produces high-quality opal. Exceptional colour.' He wrote some figures on a paper and pushed it across the table. ‘Does this suit you both?'

Shirley glanced at Stefan who nodded. ‘Thank you, Roth.'

The jeweller leant back and folded his arms behind his head. ‘How long are you staying over here at the Ridge?'

‘Not long. Nice change to come and see it. But we love living in Opal Lake,' said Shirley.

‘I could do with some good black opal, in case you have a bit of a noodle around or plan on pegging another claim out here. Do you think you might? There've been some good rushes further out,' said Roth.

‘We're happy on our claim. We've sometimes looked at other places but we don't want to go to the expense of starting up somewhere else,' said Shirley.

Roth looked at Stefan. ‘I'm told there's a couple chucking it in, out on the Grawin field. He's done his back in. They're open to someone taking over their claim completely, or going sixty-forty.'

‘Wouldn't hurt to have a look,' said Stefan.

‘That would mean moving back here for a spell,' said Shirley.

‘Maybe I could just check it out. I could work it for a few weeks and you could stay at Opal Lake. It could be a good move. You know how opal could be an inch away from where they gave up.'

‘Of course, that's always the argument, isn't it? But I don't want us to be apart, Stefan. We do things together or not at all.'

Roth looked at Stefan, surprised by the tone of Shirley's voice. He'd always assumed her to be a practical person and this was a good opportunity. ‘It was just a suggestion. You two are doing very well where you are, so why should you move?'

‘Thanks for the suggestion, Roth.' Shirley stood up. ‘Please come over and see us when you have a chance. See what we've done to the place at Opal Lake. We're very comfortable. Stefan has even planted fruit trees!'

‘Love to.' He shook Stefan's hand warmly, and kissed Shirley's cheek. ‘Happy hunting.'

Hand in hand Stefan and Shirley strolled down the street in the fading light.

‘Shall we go to the club or the pub for one drink to celebrate?' asked Shirley.

‘We should have asked Roth to have a drink with us,' said Stefan. ‘He is a true friend.'

‘Yes, he is. I think he gives us a good price.'

‘Does he?'

‘I know he's a businessman, but he's scrupulously honest and I trust him implicitly.'

‘We should show him Tajna,' said Stefan. ‘He would appreciate something that beautiful and valuable.'

‘Yes, he would. And he wouldn't rest till he'd either acquired it or persuaded me to sell it or exhibit it or put it in a bank vault or something,' said Shirley. ‘So there would be absolutely no point.'

‘All right, Shirley. I know how much it means to you. But if the day ever comes, just say, if one of us gets sick, or we have no money, Roth is where you'd turn.'

‘Yes, you're right. But we're hanging on to that fossil.'

Stefan put his arm around her shoulder. ‘Very well. Let's go to the pub and get a drink and listen to everyone boasting about the spectacular prices they got for their opal today!'

Shirley knew that Stefan was itching to get out and look at the mine Roth had told them about.

‘I don't mind hanging around a few more days, if you really want to look at that mine. Just out of interest, mind you,' said Shirley.

He kissed her. ‘Well, it doesn't hurt just to look. If you don't want to come, you can stay here if you like.'

‘I'm not staying in town by myself after your fight with Bosko. He and his mates give me the creeps.'

‘We could always camp out. It will be fun.'

‘Yes, I like that idea. I think we have enough gear in the truck to make that work.'

There'd been recent rain and they drove through a magical blur of pink and purple groundcover, budding wattle and a dozen shades of green as the earth and trees burst forth in fecund growth. They passed a snake sunning itself on the side of the rough dirt road and Shirley remembered the snake in her father's mine. She took Stefan's hand.

‘This is amazing country,' said Stefan. ‘It seems so barren, so tough, but it has a soft heart when there's rain.'

‘I could never live in the city again,' agreed Shirley.

That night they lay in each other's arms, watching the mantle of stars, making wishes on shooting ones, counting the seconds as the glow from a satellite made its stately arc across the velvet backdrop. The mullock mounds around them gleamed like milky breasts in the moonlight. Yellow lights from fires, lanterns plus the gentle throb of diesel generators, swinging light bulbs in makeshift shacks, caravans and camps made them aware that they were part of a small community and everyone was here for the same reason. And whether they had nothing but a sleeping bag and pick, or a digger, a bogger, a blower or a hoist, they shared the common ground of opal miners, united in fanciful dreams of firey opal. Shirley knew that each day these people would disappear into the earth, hoping that today some dark rocky womb would deliver a breathtaking, shining gem, freed into the light after aeons of imprisonment.

They introduced themselves to the other miners as speculators who were thinking about taking over the Cornwells' mine because they didn't want to be thought of as squatters. Most of the miners were friendly and chatted about inconsequential matters and seemed unconcerned by their presence, making them feel very comfortable. But the couple in a tent near to the Cornwells' shaft touched Shirley's heart. Stefan noticed them, too. Their tired faces, etched with dispirited worry, spoke of disillusionment. It seemed as though desperation had driven them here and now there was no other place to go.

They nodded briefly to Shirley, who wished them luck.

When Shirley woke in the middle of one night she thought that an animal was disturbing the silence. But she quickly realised that the growling she could hear was the sound of anger, desperation and drunken rage. She lifted her head. The camp was dark, no light or movement hinted at anyone still awake at midnight.

Stefan stirred and reached for her. ‘What is happening?'

‘The couple in the tent seem to be arguing. He sounds as though he's been drinking.'

‘He certainly does. I don't think they've had any luck. I wonder if this is their last chance. I suppose he drinks to escape.'

‘It won't help,' said Shirley.

They pulled their sleeping bags around their ears, trying to drift back to sleep, but a wail, so wrenchingly unhappy, made Shirley sit up and grope for the torch.

‘Shirley! What are you doing? You can't go over there,' mumbled Stefan.

The silhouettes of trees were charcoal grey against the watery dark sky and pale stars. Into the still landscape exploded the figure of a woman, hair wild, arms flailing, running blindly. Even in the wan night light, Shirley could see the woman's pain, and her hopelessness and anger was like a burst dam. Shirley got out of her sleeping bag and stood up.

The woman fell against a tree and began pummelling and hitting its sturdy trunk. Shirley went over to her and wrapped her arms around her.

The distraught woman's words seemed to choke her. ‘There's no hope for us. It's over. There is no opal, no nothing in this Godforsaken place. I want my family. I want a home. I want to live properly, not like this. God, is it too much to ask for a bit of a chance? A bit of luck?' She screamed and tore herself from Shirley's grasp and began to rip shards of bark and small branches from the tree. Her screams became an unholy shriek as she vented all she'd lost and all that would never be.

Shirley knew how this hard life of searching for elusive opal could break even the most optimistic soul. ‘Please,' she begged the woman, ‘go back to your tent. Things will be better in the morning, I'm sure. They always are.'

The woman gave Shirley a curious look, as though she had just noticed Shirley's presence, and then ran off into the night.

Shirley put her fist to her mouth to stop calling out after her. Every nurturing fibre in her, every practical medical skill she knew, were of no use to this woman.

Stefan came and stood beside her in the darkness. He put his arms about her, turning her to his chest, sheltering her. ‘Let her be. I feel so sorry for that woman but I don't think you can do anything for her. We'll never be like that. Never, ever.'

The next day they returned to Lightning Ridge. Shirley stopped for a coffee while Stefan filled their truck with petrol. The coffee shop owner brought Shirley her coffee and asked her where she'd been. Shirley explained that she and her partner had been looking at a mine, but had decided not to take it because they already had a mine at Opal Lake.

‘Fair enough, you know what's best for you.'

Shirley nodded. ‘It is a good life over there, especially when you've got a decent partner, and find enough to get by on, that little bit of colour, now and then. But things could get you down if your luck is out and you get dealt a duffer of a mine.'

The woman nodded. ‘There's a couple I know of out at Grawin, down on their luck but always hoping. I believe he's not much of a worker. Drinks. Anyway, it's all over town this morning, she fell down a mine shaft last night and got killed. Everyone reckons it was deliberate, and it wouldn't surprise me at all. She was pretty desperate, I'm told.'

Shirley stared at her in horror. ‘Oh, no. We were out there. She was hysterical and I tried to help her!'

‘Nothing you or anyone on this earth could have done would have helped her, from what I know, but it was good of you to try. You get on your way and don't worry about it.'

Shirley sipped her coffee in sad silence, waiting for Stefan. She was about to tell him about the woman at Grawin when he joined her, but he looked so very concerned that she asked if there was a problem. ‘You look worried. Is there something wrong with the truck?'

‘I just saw Bosko and some of the others.'

‘I told you to ignore him.' She paused. ‘Did he say anything to you?'

‘It wasn't Bosko, it was Zoran.' Stefan looked at Shirley with stricken eyes. ‘He said that while we were out looking at the Cornwells' mine, my cousin Franko in Split was trying to reach me. There's a problem with my mother. She's very ill.'

‘Oh, darling. That's just awful. You'll have to phone Franko as soon as we get back to Opal Lake. How come Zoran knows about your mother?' she asked.

‘Franko is married to Zoran's sister.'

‘Is there someone looking after your mother?'

Stefan shook his head. ‘Franko's mother in Zagreb. But she's old too. Look, I really want to get back to Opal Lake. I don't feel as though I can find out what is wrong with my mother if Bosko and his cronies are hanging about. Would you be really sorry if we don't go to Hebel to look at the old farm equipment?'

‘Don't be silly. Of course not, we can always do it some other time.'

Shirley was glad to return to the peace of Opal Lake.

Stefan rang his cousin Franko straight away and was shocked to learn that his mother was dying.

‘There must be something I can do,' he said miserably.

‘But what can you do from here? You said she always said you had to leave and make a new life, so don't feel guilty about that,' said Shirley. But as Stefan nodded miserably, she said, ‘Perhaps you should go back if you think it's safe enough.'

‘I know there's unrest in the south with the Kosovo Albanians wanting independence and the government sending in troops to stop the unrest, but my mother's in Zagreb, and I'm not involved in any political activities here or back there, as you well know, so I'll be fine.'

‘Stefan, you're always telling me about how fierce the Croatians, Serbs, Slovenians and Macedonians are about keeping their culture, customs and language alive, and that so many of them want to break up with the central government and go their own ways. You promise me that if you go back, you won't get involved with any of that.'

‘Of course I won't. You know my feelings about Australia. This is my home now and I'll let others battle over the future of Yugoslavia. I know I told you about the UDBa operating in Australia, but that has nothing to do with me.'

‘I'm not very happy about your going back and I'll worry about you, but it
is
your mother and if you don't see her because I don't want you to go, well, I couldn't live with that.'

‘Thank you, darling, I do love my mother. I know that my parents both wanted me to leave and start a new life here, but I know that in her heart of hearts my mother always hoped that things in Yugoslavia would settle down and I would come back, marry a nice girl and care for her in her old age.'

Shirley looked at him. ‘Really? How come you've never mentioned this before?'

‘I never think about it.'

‘But was that idea always in the back of your mind, that you were just staying here in Australia till things were calm in your country and then you'd go back and get married?' Shirley's voice quavered.

‘I told you, I never thought about it.'

‘Until now.'

‘I am just thinking about my mother.'

‘I appreciate that, but you obviously aren't thinking about me, and our future here.
We
could get married, you know!' Shirley herself was shocked at the vehemence she felt.

He looked surprised and then bemused, which irritated her even more. ‘Marriage? Why would we? We're happy just the way we are.'