The Road Back (8 page)

‘Well, all I can say is that she's done a great job.'

Megan beamed with pleasure.

Later, as those who were staying for lunch congregated on the front verandah while Susan's organic turkey finished cooking, there was the roar of a motorbike rumbling up the driveway.

A figure in leathers dismounted, took off a black helmet and, pulling out a large red handkerchief, mopped a perspiring face.

Chris put down his drink and exclaimed, ‘Well, Carla! What a fabulous surprise! I haven't seen you for ages.' He walked over to embrace the large, smiling woman before calling to Megan. ‘Carla, you haven't met my daughter. This is Megan.'

Carla held out her hand and Megan shook it. ‘I feel I know you already. Bunny talks about you such a lot. Lovely to meet you at last.'

‘Pleased to meet you,' said Megan. ‘Wow, that's some bike. Do you live around here?'

‘I rode into town a few years ago and liked the place, so I often come for a visit,' said Carla. ‘I met Bunny, who offered to let me stay here for a while. She's a great woman, your grandmother.'

‘I know,' said Megan, smiling. ‘Would you like a glass of water?'

‘I would, thank you, dear, but then I'll ask your father for a beer. I'll go inside and get out of some of this clobber. It's too damned hot to socialise in it.' She picked up her small backpack and headed indoors.

Chris's old friend Duncan, who'd popped in to see the Baxters before going to his family celebrations, looked at Carla heading indoors and then at the bike.

‘Your mother is very hospitable and certainly has a varied group of friends,' said Duncan. ‘Well, I'd better be off. Going to the out-laws for dinner this year. How about we catch up after Christmas? Go fishing or play a round of golf?'

‘Sounds good to me. I'll be in touch. It was good to see you, Duncan, and please say Merry Christmas to the family from all of us.'

After Duncan left, Chris wandered out to the kitchen to see if he could give Susan a hand with lunch. Megan joined them from the dining room, where she'd been put in charge of the floral decorations for the table.

‘Are you ready for lunch, Megan? Well, a rather late lunch, I'm afraid. How sweet you look. I love seeing you in that dress,' said Susan, gesturing at the white A-line lace dress Megan had on.

‘Well, it
is
Christmas. And I wasn't sure how proper or formal your friends might be, Bunny,' said Megan. ‘Carla surprised me. Didn't know you had a biker friend. Not that I mean she's bad or anything.'

‘She's mean, she's bad, she's wicked,' laughed Susan. ‘A tamed wild woman, and she rides her bike in rallies for charities all over the place. You'll soon see why I enjoy her company. She's smart and quick and funny.'

‘Does she have kids?'

‘No. She never married. But she supports kids from all over the place. I know she's helping educate an Aboriginal brother and sister out west.'

‘How come you two are friends?' Megan asked.

‘Mum first met Carla years ago when she came to town to check up on some old hippie friend she had. He ended up being put in the nursing home in town where Mum used to volunteer. Carla visited the old chap every day and that's how the two of them met,' explained Chris.

‘Dear Carla,' said Susan, checking on the potatoes cooking in the oven. ‘She was looking for a place to stay while she was in town, so I suggested she come here. The old chap only lasted two more months, but it was certainly fun to have Carla here for that time. She likes to take off on long road trips rather than settle down in one place, so she is a sporadic visitor to Neverend, but a welcome one.'

‘It was nice of you to ask her to come for Christmas, Bunny.'

Susan smiled. ‘And it was nice that you came to church with me for the midnight service last night.'

‘It was different,' said Megan thoughtfully. ‘I enjoyed the singing. I liked going to the carols in the park, too. It's great that you can just walk everywhere. You don't have to get the car out and then look for a parking spot. Mum says looking for parking is the worst thing.'

‘I'm not sure that it's the worst thing, but it can be very frustrating.'

Suddenly Megan hugged her father and her grandmother. ‘Thank you for my presents. This is the best Christmas ever.'

‘I think so, too,' said Chris. ‘And I love my new swimmers. I'll look really flash when we go out to the waterhole.' Megan rolled her eyes at his comment, but smiled broadly at him.

Susan held Megan for a moment. ‘It's so lovely to have you here. You're growing up so quickly now.'

Some twenty minutes later, Susan announced to everyone, ‘The food is served.' With Megan's help, Susan set out the various dishes as Chris carved the turkey. Friends and family came together around the table sharing food, laughter, friendship and stories. Time was of no consequence.

Susan was a traditionalist on Christmas Day. There were crackers to pull. Everyone looked festive wearing their paper hats, and they all took turns reading out the silly Christmas cracker jokes, which produced more loud groans than laughter.

Chris smiled at Megan from time to time, hoping that she wasn't finding such a grown-up Christmas a bit boring, but the look on her face suggested that she was absorbed by the interesting conversations that flowed around her.

The guests were Susan's friends, some of whom were recent friends while some she'd known since she'd first moved to Neverend.

Charles and Shelby were originally from America but had emigrated during the seventies as flower children escapees looking for nirvana, which they hadn't found in India. Shelby laughed. ‘We felt right at home when we got to Neverend, though.'

‘Yes, the locals always give a warm welcome,' said Carla.

‘Oh, yes, they've heard about your special cookies, Carla,' said Charles, laughing and refilling Carla's glass.

‘Oh, I gave up growing dope years ago. Very old hat. I'm into dahlias now,' she said matter-of-factly, and Megan glanced at her father, not sure if Carla was joking or not.

‘Don't stir the pot, so to speak,' said Susan. ‘The hippie wars are over. It's all love and lattes now.' She spooned out another helping of cauliflower cheese onto her plate.

‘So, what were the hippie wars exactly?' asked Megan.

Everyone started talking at once, as it was a subject familiar to them all. Eventually Susan made herself heard above the din.

‘Megan, back in the dark ages of the 1970s a lot of
people wanted to escape the city. They wanted to live a more
fulfilled lifestyle, practise self-sufficiency. They thought that if they banded together and lived in harmony with each other and their environment in a non-materialistic way, they could encourage everyone else to change for the better, too. They were generally well-educated professionals, and very idealistic,' she explained.

‘Some of them moved here from Nimbin when that region got too political, crowded and expensive,' put in Valerie, a teaching friend of Susan's. ‘A lot were radicalised by the Vietnam War debacle and wanted to bring up their kids differently from the traditional way children were raised.'

‘Yeah, multiple occupancy had started. This meant that a group of people could purchase large acreage and everyone could build their own house on it without having to formally subdivide the block. This made the individual plots of land very cheap, which suited artists and musicians who wanted to do their own thing,' added Stephen, Valerie's husband.

‘They weren't well received here by the locals, though,' said Chris, shaking his head.

Charles leaned his elbows on the table. ‘They certainly weren't. The newcomers behaved quite differently from the conservative locals. They dressed in hippie clothes, had long hair, the women breastfed in public and advocated home births. They were perceived as being dole bludgers and drug takers. Yet the newcomers had a very strong community spirit.'

Tony, who had done a lot of the renovations on Susan's house, nodded emphatically. ‘When we came up here from Melbourne in '74 to start our building business, this place was going backwards economically. We were rather disillusioned at the time. I was called a hippie lover because I hired a few long-hairs from the bush,' he recalled. ‘Damned good craftsmen they were. Appreciated the old wood in those timber places we renovated.'

‘And sold to other tree changers at city prices,' added Stephen, with a smile.

‘I'm very glad you were part of the trend to save the beautiful old homes we have in Neverend,' said Susan.

‘And I love the work. Gradually, too, the locals began to wake up to the fact that the town now had a population of hip city slickers who might have looked a bit different, but who had open minds and smart business initiatives.'

‘And look where we are today,' said Judy, Susan's favourite golfing partner. ‘We've evolved into an artistic town with a tremendous community spirit.'

‘Yes, the so-called hippie wars finished years ago,' said Susan. ‘I think that the problems were always peripheral really. It's funny when I run into someone who came here forty years ago to change the world, who tells me that they are just off to have a game of golf, or are going to Sydney to see a show. People change and mellow over time. I wouldn't live anywhere else.'

‘Best place in the world to live,' roared Carla.

‘But you don't live here,' said Chris.

‘So? I've been all around Australia, and trust me when I
tell you that this little town is the best place to live.' Carla
glared at everyone around the table, as if daring them to say otherwise. No one did.

‘Here's to Neverend!' Charles raised his glass, and they all followed suit and joined in the toast.

‘I'd get another bottle of wine, but someone's on my feet,' Carla suddenly announced.

‘Who's under the table? It's far too early,' said Charles in mock alarm.

‘It's Biddi the cat,' giggled Megan. ‘I'll get the wine.'

‘And some ice and the other bottle of champagne while you're at it, Megan. Thanks,' added Tony. ‘We must toast our hostess. As always, Bunny, you put on a magnificent spread.'

‘I had two very lovely helpers this year,' said Susan with a smile.

‘Oh, that's all right, Bunny,' said Megan, coming back in and putting the bottles on the table. ‘I like helping your friends. I think you guys are funny.'

‘Funny outrageous,' added Chris. He lifted his glass. ‘Merry Christmas, everyone.'

*

After the guests had gone home and twilight had begun to make long shadows across the lush fields on the other side of the river, Susan, Carla, Chris and Megan sat on the front verandah enjoying the cool breeze. They sipped their drinks and picked lazily at the remainder of a fruit platter.

‘I didn't bother making a pavlova this year. The fruit has been so heavenly that I didn't think it needed anything more than a bit of local cream.'

‘Mum, I'm not sure it even needed that. Not after that wonderful plum pudding,' said Chris.

‘And thank you, Megan and Carla, for all your efforts in cleaning up the kitchen,' said Susan.

‘Least I could do to repay you for such a glorious meal,' replied Carla. ‘Loved your trout dish, Megan.' Carla got to her feet. ‘Listen, folks,
I think I might turn in now, if you don't mind. Have to get an early start in the morning. Places to go, people to see, but like I said, Neverend is always the best.' With that, Carla nodded her good nights and lumbered out towards the guest cottage.

‘How was your mother when you rang her?' Susan asked Megan.

Megan shrugged. ‘Okay, I guess. I feel a bit mean not being with her and I could tell that the two little brats were getting on her nerves.'

‘I can understand that,' said Susan, nodding. ‘But it was lovely to have you and your father here to share Christmas with me. Time passes very quickly, especially when you get to my age, so it's nice to be able to share important events with the people you love. Megan, do you remember when you came to stay with Poppy and me when you were younger? Do you still remember your grandfather?'

Megan looked at her in surprise. ‘Of course I do! You know what some of my favourite memories ever are? Being here years ago, when I was, like, seven, and I used to come into your room and get in your bed . . .'

‘At five thirty in the morning . . .' Susan smiled.

‘And we used to cuddle and talk and then Poppy would go and make us cups of tea and bring in little bear bickies.' Megan paused. ‘You were my favourite people in the whole wide world. Do you miss him?'

‘Of course I do, sweetie. I think of him every day for one reason or another. He'd be so proud of you. And your dad.'

‘Yeah, Dad's pretty great.' Megan nodded in agreement.

‘Enough, you two,' laughed Chris. ‘A man can only take so much flattery. But this Christmas has been very special. It's meant a lot to me.'

‘Me too. I have plenty of friends and I never feel lonely, but having you and Megan here has been wonderful. It reminds me of how important families are. Our little family was wonderful. We had some fun times when you and Kate were growing up, didn't we? All those holidays in the caravan.'

‘You and Dad were good parents. You gave us lots of your time. I'm sorry I haven't done that sort of thing with you, Megan.' He reached across and squeezed her hand.

‘It was easier for us. You have a more complicated life,
but it's not too late for you to do things with Megan now.'

‘Dad, I would so love to go away in a caravan,' Megan said in a delighted voice.

‘Well, I can't see that happening these holidays,' said Chris hastily. ‘But I was thinking. Mum, I know that Megan loves your friends, but they are hardly her demographic. Perhaps you wouldn't mind if we asked Megan's bestie, Ruby, to visit for a while. The girls might like to see in the New Year together.'