Christmas at Gundamurra…
KATHRYN knew it was a big step in her relationship with Mitch Tyler—being invited to the outback sheep station where he had 'done time' with Ric Donato and Johnny Ellis. All three of them were here now, with Ric also bringing Lara and their baby son who'd been named Patrick, honouring the man who still stood tall in their lives.
Patrick Maguire…the strong, caring father none of them had ever had, and Kathryn noted he treated them as much valued sons; welcomed into his home, listened to, enjoyed for the people they were, given respect for what they'd done and were doing with their lives. It was clear that Lara also felt a bond with him, having spent three months at Gundamurra after her escape from her husband.
Kathryn was the only outsider. Not that she wasn't warmly welcomed. She was. But the others were clearly at home in this world unto itself, and she wanted to feel that, too, feel part of it as they did.
Maybe she needed more time here to take it in, to understand the unique rhythm of the place which, after three days, was already seeping into her— the sense of there being no hurry to do anything, that the endless land around them would wait timelessly for footprints upon it, that the universe above with its brilliant blanket of stars would still be there, night after night.
No hurry.
Space for breathing. Time to think.
And Kathryn found herself thinking a lot about where she was in her life and what she wanted in her future.
Patrick's three daughters were amazing people. Jessie, the eldest, had just signed up with the Royal Flying Doctor Service, based in Alice Springs. Emily, who loved flying, was a helicopter pilot. Megan, the youngest, had just come home from an agricultural college, determined on helping her father run Gundamurra. They each had real purpose in their lives and their energy for what they'd chosen shone out of them.
Kathryn felt pale in comparison, just as she had with Harriet Lowell. Her own career had not really been planned. It had been more a series of steps, each one satisfying her for a time before moving on to something else. Her position with Ric was as an assistant, not a driving force. She had no great personal ambition although she was certainly capable of doing whatever she set out to do. Was she lacking in something important? Did Mitch find her lacking?
Had he brought her to Gundamurra to find it?
This concern was playing through her mind on the day before Christmas. Everyone was busy with preparations. All the women were in the kitchen which was a hive of industry. Mitch and Ric and Johnny were putting fairy lights around the trees in the courtyard. Kathryn was surprised when Patrick Maguire drew her out of all the general activity, claiming he was too old for Christmas chores and wanted her company.
'Mitch tells me you play chess. Come and give me a game, Kathryn,' he invited.
He walked her along the verandah to the other side of the quadrangle courtyard which the huge homestead enclosed, and ushered her into his office. Even though they were in the outback, a satellite dish linked them to all modern technology and the office looked very much the hub of business with computers and every other up-to-date aid. However, set beside a window between the desks at one end and the filing cabinets at the other, was a chess table, chairs on either side, the pieces set up ready to play.
It struck Kathryn as odd that it wasn't in the games room, along with the billiard table and the sound system Johnny had installed, plus shelves loaded with boxes of board games that clearly provided plenty of home entertainment. She wondered if chess filled lonely hours for Patrick Maguire since his wife had died and his daughters had been away, pursuing what they wanted to do.
'Did you teach Mitch to play?' she asked as they sat down at the table. He smiled. 'No, my dear. He taught me.'
'You took the time to learn from him?' It seemed extraordinary to Kathryn—a man of his age learning from a boy of sixteen.
'It helped me understand the power of his mind. And it is, without a doubt, the most formidable mind I've ever been challenged by. Even when he was sixteen,' he added in soft reminiscence, his eyes scanning hers as though gently probing for her understanding of it.
She smiled, speaking her own experience of Mitch. 'He cuts through all the greys and goes straight to the core of any issue.'
'Black and white,' the old man remarked, nodding thoughtfully. Then he asked, 'Does that trouble you, Kathryn?'
She shook her head. 'Not at all. I like it. He has a system of values that I feel very secure with.'
He nodded. 'When they first came here—the three boys—I asked them what they would most like to have that would make their time at Gundamurra better for them. Ric chose a camera, Johnny a guitar. Both items indicated an individual bent that was special to their natures—Ric with the vision to see and capture so much, Johnny with his love of music. But Mitch chose a chess set. Which I thought odd, because to me, it was a game that required two players. He said he could challenge himself, playing both sides.'
'You didn't believe him? Is that why you learnt?'
'No. I believed him. But it struck me he was used to being alone, living in his mind, fighting his own battles. And he'd ended up here because he didn't have the tools to take on the world by himself at the time. Learning chess gave me the time to talk about that with him. And to take some of the loneliness away.'
She looked at him appreciatively. 'You're a very remarkable person, Patrick.'
He smiled. 'They were three very remarkable boys. The most gifted of all who came through here. I always think of them as the three Ps—the passion of Ric, the pleasure of Johnny, and the power of Mitch.'
'The power…yes.' She smiled back. 'It was the first thing that struck me about him.'
'He's a warrior. Always will be. That's Mitch's nature. And the battle- ground he's chosen can be very lonely, Kathryn.'
It sounded like a warning. 'He's not alone with me, Patrick,' she assured him, certain of that in her own mind. 'And I very much support his fight to deliver justice.'
'I was thinking more…' He paused, cocking his head on one side, viewing her curiously. 'What would you have chosen, if you'd been one of the three?'