The Wedding Challenge

‘They’re all city boys,’ grumbled Emily. ‘We might as well be in London.’

Through the plate glass window, Bea could see the Opera House, its famous roof lit up against the night sky, and the harbour clustered with yachts bobbing at anchor.

Like London? Bea didn’t think so.

‘You’ve changed your tune, haven’t you?’ she said. ‘It’s only a week or so since all you could talk about was Marcus, and he was as smooth as they come.’

‘Too smooth,’ said Emily, remembering Marcus with a scowl. ‘And I’ve learnt my lesson! I’m sick of guys like him. I want a man with a bit more grit to him.’

‘Well, if it’s grit you want, maybe the outback is the right place for you.’ Bea grinned as she picked up her drink. She wasn’t on duty. ‘I hear it’s very dusty out there!’

‘I’m serious, Bea.’ Emily leant forward persuasively. ‘It’s not as if this is just a whim. Even before we left London, I said I wanted to see the outback while we were over here, didn’t I?’

‘I thought you meant a trip to Alice Springs and a quick whiz round Ayers Rock or Uluru or whatever it’s called now, not stuck on a cattle station!’

‘I don’t want to be a tourist,’ said Emily, lower lip sticking out stubbornly. ‘I want to experience real life in the outback, and what could be better than spending a few weeks on a cattle station?’

Bea could think of quite a few things. In fact, just about anything.

‘Em, we haven’t got long before we have to go home,’ she said reasonably. ‘There’s still so much to see, I really don’t want to spend the rest of my time stuck out in the middle of nowhere. You go if you want to, and I’ll meet up with you later. We did agree that we wouldn’t have to stick together all the time.’

‘I know, but I won’t get the job if you won’t come too,’ Emily wailed. ‘They want two girls, and if you won’t come with me, I won’t even have a chance.’

‘Why can’t they give you a job and find someone else?’ Bea objected.

‘Because the station is a squillion acres and so isolated that they don’t want to risk having two girls who might not get on. Apparently it’s a very famous property in Australia.’ Emily perked up, remembering what she’d been told. ‘Someone told me it was the size of Belgium—or was it Wales? Anyway, it’s big, and it’s got a beautiful old homestead…it’s like your perfect outback property. They’re used to people not staying very long, though, but this time Nick says that they’ve decided to take two friends.’

‘Who’s Nick?’

‘Nick Sutherland. He’s the owner—very attractive,’ said Emily with a dreamy sigh. ‘All blonde and rugged and square-chinned…just my type! And if you won’t come with me, he’ll just find another two girls—I know loads of people who’d jump at the chance of working in a place like Calulla Downs,’ she added with a resentful glance that bounced off Bea, unnoticed. She was used to Emily.

‘Maybe they’ll find two girls who would actually be some use in the outback,’ she pointed out. ‘I can’t see that we’d be much good to them, anyway. We don’t know the first thing about riding or cows or whatever else it is they do out there!’

‘They don’t want jillaroos. They’ve got stockmen to do all that kind of stuff. They need a cook and a governess.’

‘A governess?’ Bea laughed. ‘You’re kidding! I thought governesses went out with Jane Eyre!’

‘Well, I thought it was a bit odd, too,’ Emily confessed, ‘but I gather it just means a nanny really. The little girl’s only five, so it’s not like she’s going to need intensive coaching. I think it’s more a question of looking after her and keeping her amused.’

Bea began to look alarmed. ‘We don’t know the first thing about children!’

‘It can’t be that hard.’ Emily gave an airy wave of her hand. ‘Read her a few stories, make sure she doesn’t lose her teddy bear…it’ll be a doddle.’

‘Well, I don’t want anything to do with her,’ said Bea firmly. ‘Children make me nervous.’

‘It’s all right, I’ll deal with the kid,’ Emily soothed her. ‘You just have to be the cook. You know I can’t cook to save my life, and you’re brilliant,’ she went on, laying on the flattery with a trowel. ‘When I told Nick that you were working for a catering company, he sounded really keen. He said they hardly ever get a qualified cook and—oh, please say you’ll come, Bea! It’s sounds so perfect, and I can’t do it without you. It’ll be fun!’

‘But we’re having fun in Sydney,’ Bea objected. ‘We’ve got jobs, friends, somewhere to stay…you can’t help but have an excellent time here. It won’t be like that in the outback. We’d be stuck in a house with a small child. It’ll be boiling hot and there’ll be nowhere to go and nothing to do. We don’t even know how to ride!’ She shook her head. ‘You’d hate it. I’d certainly hate it.’

‘Just like you were going to hate Australia?’ countered Emily unfairly. ‘You said you didn’t want to come and that you’d be miserable, and now you’re talking about emigrating! I said you would love it, and I was right, wasn’t I?’

Bea had to concede that. ‘Yes,’ she said.

‘So why won’t you believe me when I say you’ll love the outback too? You know what your trouble is?’ Emily went on, and Bea sighed. She knew that an answer wasn’t required, and that Emily was about to tell her anyway.

Sure enough, Emily was leaning forward, all earnest amateur psychologist. ‘I blame Phil,’ she said. ‘He hurt you so badly that now you’re afraid to try anything new.’

‘That’s not true,’ Bea tried to protest, but Emily was on a roll and refused to be interrupted.

‘You’ve got no self-confidence any more. As soon as anyone suggests doing something a bit different, you start making excuses. You wouldn’t even buy that dress the other day because it was a tiny bit shorter than you usually buy.’

‘It made me look fat.’

‘You looked fantastic in it, but you couldn’t have that, could you? Because if you looked fantastic, some bloke might get interested in you and you’d have to risk getting involved again.’

Bea took a defiant slug of wine. ‘Rubbish!’

‘And now I’m offering you the chance of excitement and adventure, and all you want to do is stay safely where you are.’

‘I’ve done adventure,’ Bea said, glad that Emily had got off the subject of her ex-fiancé. ‘I went trekking, didn’t I? Adventure means no loos and no showers and no hair-dryers, and you know I have to wash my hair every morning.’

‘And that means Calulla Downs will be just perfect for you,’ said Emily, seizing the advantage. ‘It’ll be a lot more luxurious than where we’re living now, I can tell you. It’s supposed to be a fabulous old homestead—people pay through the nose to go and stay there—so there’ll be adventure in just being somewhere so isolated, but with the added bonus of hot water and somewhere to plug in your hair-dryer. What more could you ask for?’

‘Shops, bars, clubs, theatres, lights, music…’

‘You can have those any time. This might be our only chance to go to a place like Calulla Downs. You can’t just throw away opportunities when they come your way. Seize the day, and all that.’

‘I don’t know…’

‘It’s not as if it’s for ever,’ Emily wheedled. ‘I’m sure Nick would agree if we said we could just do a month, and then we can spend the rest of the time travelling, the way we’d planned. We could go straight on to the Barrier Reef. What do you say?’

Bea hesitated, aware that she was running out of arguments. This was typical of Emily. She just went on and on and on until it was easier just to give in and do what she wanted.

Sensing that Bea was weakening, Emily pressed home her advantage. ‘Please, Bea,’ she said again. ‘I really, really want to go, and I can’t do it without you. I need you…and I was there for you when you needed me, wasn’t I?’

It was true. She had been. It had been Emily who had come straight round when Phil had told her that he was leaving, and who he was leaving her for. Emily who had dealt with everything while she was too numb to do anything more than lie curled up on the sofa, too wretched even to cry.

Bea sighed. ‘Come on, Emily, you can do better emotional blackmail than that,’ she said. ‘Why not wring out a few tears while you’re at it and accuse me of ruining your life if I don’t agree?’

‘That’s my fall back position,’ said Emily, grinning.

Bea gave in. ‘For a month,’ she said, a warning note in her voice. ‘But I’m not staying a moment longer!’

Emily gave a whoop of delight. ‘You’re a star!’ she said, jumping up to hug her. ‘I knew I could rely on you. I’ll go and ring Nick right now—and yes, I promise I’ll tell him we can only stay a month. But I bet you anything that by the end of that time, you’re going to want to stay for ever!’

‘It looks like being a very long month,’ grumbled Bea, dragging her suitcase across to where a row of orange plastic chairs were ranged uncompromisingly against the wall in what passed for a terminal at Mackinnon airport. ‘I’m bored already, and we’ve only been here ten minutes.’

Ten minutes was all it had taken for the plane to land, to let off six passengers and pick up two, and to take off again. The other four passengers had departed for town, the man who had pushed out the steps, unloaded their cases and checked the joining passengers onto the plane had disappeared, and Bea and Emily had been left alone to watch the plane climb up into the glaring blue sky until it vanished into the distance.