CHAPTER 63
The poor lad was twitching with nerves, so Maz just stepped closer to hug him, mother to the core, and I had a sudden burst of the hatred I would never lose for the bastards who had kept them apart for so long.

We waited, and waited some more, but I finally spotted a duty-free bag reading ‘Singapore’ and knew we were finally in the home straight. Each time the automatic doors opened, the lad twitched, and then she was there, and it was LC who saw her first and beat her brother to the hug. Ish was close behind, and there was a moment that touched me as, rather than usurp his sister’s position, he simply included her in the hug.

Clara looked worn, unsurprisingly, in a loose blouse and long skirt over flat sandals. Maz and I completed the greeting, hugging as a group.

“Get you home, girl. Got a friend with a big taxi on call; that all your luggage?”

“Yeah. I thought it would be better getting clothes to suit the weather here, and the other girls all took the mickey”

She stepped back slightly, posing with the back of a hand to her forehead.

“Oh, having to shop for clothes, how dreary!”

She corpsed as she finished, which spoiled the pose, but did that matter? I gave Phil’s office the call.

“Ten minutes, Mike. Usual place”

As good as their promise, a middle-aged woman arrived in a people carrier that swallowed the five of us, and we were off towards Scarborough. Ish was over-explaining anything: why we couldn’t let her sleep, how there was a barbie set to go, who the Butts were, and she just put a finger to his lips before settling down against him.

“Hush for now, Ishy”

Five minutes later, she got a prod from LC.

“No sleeping!”

Maz and I pointedly left the two to sort out their bedroom, but partway through, Clara emerged on her own.

“Could I have a word, please? Without Carolyn hearing?”

“Not a problem, love. She’s on her little bouldering wall out the back at the moment”

“Good. It’s… You know I was in hospital? And what for?”

Maz took her hands.

“Yes, sweetheart. We know”

“Well, it’s… There are things I need to do each day. Things that might frighten her. I just need to know where you think is best for me”

Dilation, clearly. I asked the obvious question: did she need to lie down for it?

“Sort of. On a load of pillows, with a towel under me. Just didn’t want to risk her coming in while I’m, you know, with a big… object. Can’t exactly move quickly when I’m doing it. I just remember how keen she can be in waking people up without, you know, knocking”

Maz was all business, with a heavy side order of mother once again.

“She’ll be off to school most days, Clara, so that will be safe for you. Does anything you use need special cleaning?”

“Um, I have a cleaning kit for the… the things. The lubricant is water-based, but wht they’ve given me is purple. Don’t know if it stains”

“We’ll test it on a spare bit of cloth, then. All sorted in your room?”

“Yeah. Just couldn’t help staring at the bed”

“Oh, how we know THAT feeling! Tea?”

“Please”

“And don’t hold his hand too tight, he’s got no spare fingers left”

As Clara carried two steaming mugs back to Ish’s room, there was a banging on the door, followed by the sliding of a key.

“I hope you’re all naked! I need the blackmail money! Oh, how boring”

Kul, naturally, or maybe unnaturally, together with Geeta, Dal and a blushing Melissa. She caught my stare, returning a grin.

“Can’t help it, Mike. I know he’s going to do it, but I keep thinking someone’s going to hear and think I’m with him”

“But you are with him”

“Yeah, but I can pretend not to be, ey?”

Geeta and Dal held stacks of plastic containers, while Kul was towing another of those beach trailer things.

“Got the idea off Phil, mate. Got the boozahol in it. Girl get here okay?”

“Yeah, she’s with Ish at the moment. No, Kul. They are drinking tea and unpacking”

“Smiley Beard!”

He scooped up the girl with a grin, and rubbed said beard in her face, as she let loose a blast of happy laughter.

“Tickles!”

Could my life get any better?

We set up the various dishes and boxes, as Dal did technical stuff to the barbie and Melissa simply lounged in a patio chair. I did notice where she was looking, so simply left her to her leching. Time to extract the other happy couple.

Important note to self: knock on son’s door next time to avoid sight of girl in underwear. I backed out quickly, apologising hastily.

“It’s okay, Mister Rhodes. I’m just putting on a lighter dress. Already changed my pad—er, possibly TMI. Two minutes”

“Okay, love. The others are here, so we’ll be starting the real Aussie bit shortly”

I paused.

“Please tell me you haven’t gone veggie”

“No, not at all!”

“Right. See you out the back; Ishy knows the way”

One more typical Perth afternoon and evening followed, LC alternating between Kul and Clara, with occasional ‘who’s that with Dal?’ glances. She placed Kawan at the very top of her wall, presumably so that he could get a decent view, and every so often she offered him a drink. So bloody normal it was painful. Maz caught something in my face, so tugged me into the kitchen.

“Something wrong, darling?”

“Oh, love, nothing, really. Just thoughts”

“Share?”

“Oh, it was when Kul was tickling our girl, and I was looking round at the rest, all happy, sorted, Melissa ogling Dal’s bum, that sort of thing”

“She wasn’t!”

“She was. Anyway, there’s LC, pretending to give Kawan drinks, so I thought of Pookie, and all I could think of was the nasties again”

She did the expected and perfect thing, of course, cuddling into me.

“Carpe diem, my darling. Live in the moment. Her laughter, that shines over all that was done to us. Where we are now is important, and where we are is home, home to stay”

I hugged her closer.

“No more holidays, then?”

“Don’t be perverse. I haven’t been to Ningaloo, and Betty will want a visit soon”

“I am not driving all the way there in a Canning Van”

“Anyway, we need to see things again. Guests bring fresh eyes”

That was my wife, my lover, my support in everything. I was still a little maudlin, but I could feel the shell that had closed around me for six long years cracking and falling away. Home. Family. Guest.

“Time to start sorting a diary out, love”

We rejoined the others, collaring our lad and his lass first and calling over our own.

“Carolyn, we want to go out tomorrow. Where would you like?”

“Climbing!”

“Can’t do that at the moment, because Ish hurt his hand. We need an idea of somewhere to go to show Clara what our home town is like”

“Can we go to the bird feed place?”

“Where’s that?”

“Where the birds come in for food?”

Ish chuckled.

“Do you mean the café at King’s Park, love?”

“Where the birds come to your table, yes. And Mum can see other birds there”

That was actually a superb idea, a gentle day ambling round the park with a snack under the awning, views out over the Swan. It would also close a few circles, from that first set of photos sent by Kul to our own wedding snaps. Maz caught my idea immediately, and popped into our living room, returning with our wedding photo.

“Clara, this isn’t where Mike and I got married, that was on Rotto, but this shot is traditional. This is where Carolyn is suggesting. It’s a lovely place, full of birds”

“Kangaroos?”

“No, but the river’s full of dolphins”

“Really? And parrots?”

“Parrots don’t live in rivers”

“You know what I mean!”

“Yes. Loads of parrots. You’ll probably see… um… five types, maybe more”

Maz chuckled, adding, “And it’ll be warmer and drier than Wales”

We didn’t go over-the-top with our drinking that evening, just taking enough to relax us and see Clara into sleep and past her jet lag. The morning saw an al fresco breakfast and then we put on our day packs or bear carrier and set off for the bus stop.

We started with a walk across the car park to the ‘bird feeding’ place, Clara fascinated as Maz recited the names of the birds visiting our table.

“Magpie lark, Magpie—Mike calls them ‘bastards’. Red wattlebird. Your first parrot, a western ringneck. Local name is ‘twenty-eight’. Galah. Aussie raven. That’s two parrots for you—oh, that screeching? There—rainbow lorikeets, and those are white-tailed black cockatoos, Carnaby’s I would guess. White ibis—yes, Carolyn, bin chicken. Ish was the same as you when he was little. White-cheeked honeyeater. Willie wagtail. Grey fantail. New Holland honey—oh, there!”

“It’s so BLUE!”

“Splendid fairy-wren, male”

She grinned at me.

“My darling husband jokes about me listing birds, but that is one of my favourite ever, even if it is so common. I will never be a twitcher. But that’s four different parrots for you, and see over there, those white ones in a flock? Another parrot, corellas. Too far away for me to say which one, but possibly western”

“Mrs Rhodes?”

“Maz, please”

“Maz. Your voice changes when you do the listing, you know? Gets all choppy, like a machine”

“Oh dear. Perhaps my voice is a twitcher, then. I’m not”

“And why does Mr Rhodes---”

“Mike”

“Thank you. Why does Mike call those ones ‘bastards’?”

Ish tapped her on the shoulder, pointing across to a mob of magpies being rather physical to some small pigeon or other. As Maz murmured “Spotted turtle dove”, Ish simply said, “That is why we call them ‘bastards’, love”