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The horses made good time. When the motor transport reached the plateau they were a distant blob turning into the Yoothamurra gates. But as they sped past Standen, Paddy saw one mount which had not reached Yoothamurra yet. Rest Assured was cropping between two of the Standen stables. And had the colt not reached for something succulent he must have seen, Paddy would not have noticed him, for the outbuildings were rather concealed from the road.

For a few moments she was shaken out of her abstraction. Ever since Magnus had said: ‘Pelican, didn’t you recognise it?’ and had followed it with: ‘You were too busy on other things then?’ she had been very miserable.

Remember September, she had been thinking, remember fun and uninvolvement and simplicity, no subtleties, no doubts, no innuendoes as now.

But suddenly she was wondering about the rider of Rest Assured, about Anthea, who recalled ‘a different trainer’, for that was all she had said. ‘A different trainer.’

But for all her apparent uninterest Anthea had stopped earlier today to salute Kip, and this afternoon she had paused again, then even gone into Standen.

‘It’s been an enjoyable outing,’ the Trust dears were saying appreciatively. ‘We’ll hate leaving tomorrow.’

‘She
isn’t leaving,’ one of the members said tartly.

‘Well, being on the social side, I expect ’

Paddy barely heard their discussion. The fact that Anthea was stopping on was fully occupying her.

It could only mean one thing, she knew. What had Anthea told her?—‘I have only to say one word, you know.’ Obviously Anthea had meant-—

Well, Paddy could believe that. Magnus David was certainly very considerate to Anthea, and they had been close friends all their lives.

But where did Kip come in ? And why ? If Anthea only recalled him as ‘a different trainer’ why was she going out of her way to see him, as it appeared she was?

‘Yes, very sorry, dear.’ Paddy realised that the ladies
were
still talking about leaving tomorrow.

‘I’m sorry, too,' she stirred herself to say, and she
was.
Sorry, if what she was thinking was true, for
Magnus.
She did not like Magnus, she would never like Magnus,
but
she didn’t want things to be like that for him.

‘Sorry, too,' Paddy said again.

*

The ladies left the next morning, telling Magnus what a wonderful time he had given them, and what a wonderful subject Yoothamurra would make for preservation for posterity. Paddy stood beside Magnus to see that all the bags were stacked in, the ladies tucked in, and to wave. Anthea did not come down. Paddy noticed this at once, she had wondered several times if the Trust members, restorative side, had only been supposing among themselves when they had said that Miss Cope would not be leaving. But no, the girl was not among them.

As the two cars went off, Paddy said with assumed innocence: ‘There seems more room than when they came up. My goodness, one of them is missing—the pretty one. Stop the cars. She must have slept in.’

‘Drop it,' Magnus advised shortly. ‘You know as well as I do that Anthea is staying on.’

‘She is?’

‘In one minute I’ll do to you what should have been done regularly as a child but obviously wasn’t.’ He was quite furious, and Paddy decided to do what he said, to ‘drop it’, though why it should make him
that
angry she did not know.

She turned and went up the steps into the house, but Magnus did not follow, he strode off in the direction of the stables.

When she went into Yoothamurra, Paddy found Anthea waiting for her. She must have been waiting, for she sat intentionally on a chair opposite the door.

‘Just a moment, Miss Travis.' She halted.

‘It will have to be that, Miss Cope,' said Paddy. ‘I’m anxious to get back to my own work, not the work that’s been thrust on me these last few days.’

Anthea’s face dropped perceptibly, which made Paddy think it was on that subject she had wished to speak to the house-mother turned hostess.

A little sulkily Anthea admitted: ‘You’ve beaten me to it. I just wanted to say you can keep to your own side now, to your own job. I’ll take over here.'

‘Gladly. I’m late with my report to Mr Aston, and Closer Families takes a dim view of that. I’ll have our principal coming up here after me.'

‘Which would be a change, anyway, from a parcel of women. Oh, the boredom! But it’s over now, and Magnus and I can get down to some productive thinking.’

‘I thought the house discussions were very productive,' said Paddy.

‘I mean talk not punctuated with renovations and restorations and whatever. Private talk. It will be good to be civilised again. No more scratch meals collected at a servery window.'

‘Well, there were only two girls available, and you could hardly expect them ’

‘Dinner by candlelight,' Anthea smiled dreamily. She asked less dreamily: ‘What kind of cook is your Mrs Dermott ? Oh, yes, I know you don’t do the meals yourself—quite the pampered house-mother, aren’t you? But can she do other things as well as fill up greedy adolescents?’

‘I’d class her as a good boy cook,' said Paddy judiciously. ‘She’s certainly excellent on stews and dumplings and ’

‘Perish the thought!’ Anthea shuddered. ‘But perhaps it’s just that she hadn’t had an appreciative audience, I mean people who like finer things.’

‘No, perhaps not,’ said Paddy, a little surprised, for she could not imagine Mrs Dermott wanting to extend herself any more than she extended herself now. She had said often she was only doing her service for the wards.

‘Have you asked Mrs Dermott yet?’ Paddy inquired.

‘No, but she’ll come, of course. I’m afraid it will mean that you’ll have to cook for your four and yourself when it happens, but after all you came here with that expectancy no doubt.’

‘Yes,’ said Paddy, ‘but I still think you should feel out Mrs Dermott. She’s not left the kitchen yet, but she should be about ready to go.’

‘When she looks after just Magnus and me she won’t go at all,’ Anthea smiled. ‘Go and tell her I’d like to see her.’

‘I don’t think ’ What Paddy
was
thinking was that Anthea was putting a wrong foot forward right from the start. Mrs Dermott was a very independent person, she would not like being bidden.

Mrs Dermott didn’t, but she came ... and refused the job. It was all over in a few minutes, Mrs Dermott out of the house, and Anthea near tears at her setback.

‘I’ll speak to Magnus about her. Such impudence! Is there someone else around? You should know, you live here.’

‘I haven’t for long,’ Paddy reminded her.

‘And won’t for long either,’ Anthea said crossly. She thought a moment. ‘Is the prepared food she brings to you and the wards any good?’

‘We like it very much.’

‘Could it pass, suitably embellished, then washed down with a good wine, for us?’

‘Mutton Hotpot with vintage ’39?’ considered Paddy. ‘Yes, I think it would.’

‘You’re being deliberately impertinent!’ snapped Anthea.

Paddy said, ‘Actually I’m trying to help. You have an idea there. I could tell Mrs Dermott to bring more, she’d love that, she adores filling up boys, then you could snitch some and do the embellishing.’

‘Yes,’ agreed Anthea, ‘I’m sure I could do that.’

‘And of course,’ Paddy continued, ‘there’s always the club.’

But Anthea was fired with Paddy’s first suggestion now. ‘It’s presentation,’ she said, ‘that counts, and I certainly have plenty of that.’

‘You have,’ agreed Paddy. ‘Then I’ll run after Mrs D. and tell her how ravenous the boys have become, shall I?’

She hurried out.

There were extra containers of food the next morning, and when Paddy passed them over, though Anthea grimaced she still supposed that with a curl of parsley, a shred of mint, a ring of capsicum, this, that, what-have-you, they would not be too awful.

This went on several days, then either Anthea’s imagination went flat or she could not face the simpler offerings any more, for she sought out Paddy and told her to go back to the original rations.

‘We’re going to dine out,’ she announced.

‘Very
nice,’ nodded Paddy.

Anthea
narrowed her beautiful eyes on Paddy. ‘You
sound
knowledgeable.’

‘I
am.’

‘And
whom did you dine with?’

‘Mr
David took me.’

‘Of course, naturally he would feel obliged to do that for a new employee.’

‘There were many of the racing fraternity there, including’ ... Paddy said it with careful carelessness, though she could not have said why she was going to such pains ... ‘Mr Norris.’

‘Kip goes?’

‘He was there,’ Paddy said again.

‘Awkward,’ commented Anthea, ‘but then he has a fund of commonsense.’

‘Mr David or Mr Norris?’

‘Miss Travis, it has nothing to do with you.’

‘No, it hasn’t. I’ll tell Mrs D. then, tell her some lie that the boys are putting on too much weight.’

‘Tell them what you like,’ yawned Anthea, and she turned and left.

Around seven Paddy heard the car moving away from Yoothamurra. She went to the window and saw it leave the drive and take the road to the club.

She was preoccupied all that evening, resulting in Mark asking her had a cat got her tongue and starting a general argument as to whether a cat, fast though it was, could get a tongue.

She pictured the corner table under the palm and Anthea looking out and possibly seeing Kip as she had seen him. Would Kip make up something to get rid of Magnus and allow him to dance with Anthea? Then when Magnus returned would he dance with Anthea himself? Would he—would he kiss her?

‘If you’re not going to eat that piece of pie, can I have it?’ Paul cajoled.

‘No, me, you’re going to be a jockey, you have to stop at one slice.’ It was Richard.

‘No, me!’ Mark.

‘Me, Paddy!’ John.—They all had dropped ‘Miss’ within a week.

Paddy passed over her untouched sweets, not bothering who got it. Kip dancing with Anthea, she was thinking. Magnus dancing with Anthea.

She found herself flinching over one of her thoughts, shrugging over the other, not being able to face up to what comprised the flinch and which the shrug.

Because the boys were beginning to look curiously at her, she made an effort, and smiled over both.

Three
days went by with Paddy seeing neither Anthea nor Magnus on their side of Yoothamurra, and three nights with only quick glimpses of them as they went off to the country club for dinner.

However, Magnus was attending the stables as usual, the boys reported, and was, they bitterly agreed, as sharp as a clump of scotch thistle with them.

‘Picks on you for the smallest thing,’ complained Paul.

‘Like forgetting to clean, or sweep, or feed, or water,’ reproved Paddy.

‘The
smallest
thing,’ repeated Paul. ‘Isn’t that right, Richard?’

‘Since the bird’s been here he’s been a fair cow,’ Richard concurred.

‘Lamentable English, Richard, and both of you watch your tongues! ’ ordered Paddy sternly.

They grimaced but obeyed.

They were good boys, and Paddy could not help feeling angry at the treatment they reported from Magnus David. If the man was annoyed, he should take his annoyance out on someone else. She had a mind to write a contra report to Closer Families, but after all a snarl or two did not comprise maltreatment, and when a patron gave so very generously ... Perhaps if she spoke to the boss

She had an opportunity that afternoon, the first for many days. Magnus David came striding up the front path, pushing the wide-brimmed hat he always wore to the back of his head, and Paddy quickly made it her business at that moment to be leaving the house.

They almost collided.

‘Mr David, I ’

‘Miss Travis, the very person I wanted to see.’

They said it together.

‘You first,’ he indicated.

But now that she was face to face with him, Paddy could not word her complaint as she wished. She could hardly say: ‘Paul reports to me that your temper is awful and Richard says it’s because of your bird,’ and for the life of her she could think of nothing else.

Impatiently he came in: ‘While you’re working it out I must tell you that I’ve decided that you and the boys are to have a week down at the banana house. There’s a school break coming up, and the senior pair are still young enough to enjoy a holiday. So tomorrow, Miss Travis, you can push off.’

‘Oh—oh, thank you,’ Paddy said weakly.

‘Have you found your words yet?’

‘I don’t think I need them now, I was just going to ask you if the boys were getting on your nerves, because they’ve told me that you—well ’

‘That I’m irritating them?’

‘Yes,’ Paddy said.

‘The answer is no. I’m just struggling through a sticky patch at present. When I get out of it again I’ll be the same.’

‘Can—can I help?’ she asked.

He looked down at her, visibly surprised at her offer, and Paddy felt ashamed. How unfriendly and how unsympathetic do I appear to him ? she thought.

‘That’s kind of you, and yes, you could, only of course you can’t.’ A pause. ‘And wouldn’t.’

‘What answer is that?’

‘What you make of it,’ he said. ‘You can tell the kids the news, then begin packing up your supplies. You can take the bigger car so as to fit everything in. You can leave first thing.’

'Thank you, Mr David.’

The boys were mildly excited about it all. They preferred the plateau, but the valley came as a pleasant change, especially with the surf within reach.

‘Besides,’ said Paul, ‘when we get back he might be a decent bloke again.’

‘And the bird gone,’ added Richard.

They took more food than clothes, for they would stay in jeans and skivvies all the time, but food could
not
be bought, so had to be brought. Magnus put in frozen meat, frozen bread, and said that the vegetable patch at the banana house would supplement these items, and the ever-present bananas, of course, finish it all off.