Fleur McDonald - Blue Skies

Also by Fleur McDonald
Red Dust

Blue
Skies

FLEUR
M C DONALD

ARENA
ALLEN&UNWIN

Authors Note
Depression is rife in our community. I hope that the threads of information in Blue Skies may help someone get help or realise that a friend, partner, colleague or loved one needs help. There isnt a stigma attached to this illness it is just that, an illness.

The best thing about writing fiction is you cant let the truth stand in the way of a good story! I have stuck to the facts as far as possible in my depiction of the pioneering days of Esperance. However, it is possible that there are some timing and geographical errors. These are for the sake of the pace and plot of the novel.Any other mistakes are purely my own.

First published in 2010

Copyright Fleur McDonald 2010

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. The Australian Copyright Act 1968 (the Act) allows a maximum of one chapter or 10 per cent of this book, whichever is the greater, to be photocopied by any educational institution for its educational purposes provided that the educational institution (or body that administers it) has given a remuneration notice to Copyright Agency Limited (CAL) under the Act.

ARENA Books, an imprint of
Allen & Unwin
83 Alexander Street
Crows Nest NSW 2065
Australia
Phone: (61 2) 8425 0100
Fax: (61 2) 9906 2218
Email: info@allenandunwin.com
Web: www.allenandunwin.com

Cataloguing-in-Publication details are available
from the National Library of Australia
www.librariesaustralia.nla.gov.au

ISBN 978 1 74175 936 5

Typeset in 13/17.5 pt ITC Garamond by Midland Typesetters, Australia Printed and bound in Australia
by Griffin Press

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

To Bev Due and Ned Woodward, friends who suffered from breast cancer and both died before
this book was finished.
To Anthony, Rochelle and Hayden my world.
Carolyn, without whom Blue Skies wouldnt have
been started, let alone completed.

Contents

The woman wept as if her heart would break, her long copper hair falling in curls over the side of her face and down her arms. She rocked backwards and forwards in her grief, her arms encircling her knees.

Their place had been here on the side of this stream. It was here theyd talked and laughed. In summer they had paddled in the cool water or swum in deep rock pools, and theyd spent many a sultry summer evening here lying next to each other, while the native bottlebrush trees swayed gently in the breeze. During the winter months when good rains had fallen, turning the stream into a river, they had dreamed of their future, their lives together, the farm, and children. And it was at this place, in among the soft moss and wild orchids, that they had slipped away from their chaperone and he had finally claimed her as his own. The woman had been grateful to have this handsome, vibrant younger man fall in love with her. Shed believed she would be left on the shelf; she was not particularly beautiful or interesting. But his love had made her shine. She didnt understand his change of heart surely he must be lying. But why? And what on earth did her future hold now?

Brian took his eyes off the road for only a moment. But that was all it took. The steering wheel tilted towards the edge of the road, the gravel grabbed at the front tyres, and next thing he had completely lost control.

His wifes screams and his moan of terror stopped abruptly as the airborne car hit the ground and skidded. The sound of crunching metal and shattering glass echoed through the countryside, then everything was still, the only movement the spinning of a wheel and a broken aerial swinging from side to side. The occupants of the car were silent. Above them a crow cawed.

Amanda gazed down from a second storey classroom at the people milling around the graduation hall, trying to spot her parents in the crowd. She could see her accounting professor and the dean of the university talking to her biology lecturer, amid beaming parents who were chatting to one another. She couldnt believe this day had come at last. After all the arguments trying to convince her father she needed to get an agribusiness degree, after three years of hard work and part-time jobs, enduring the separation from her mum not to mention the family farm, Kyleena she had finally done it.

The dean had let it slip before the ceremony that shed topped her class. Would that make her father proud? she wondered.

She smiled as she spotted Katie and Jo talking to their parents with the seriousness of newly graduated adults, looking nothing like the drunken, loud yobbos they could be when they werent studying.

Her eyes fell on Jonno with a familiar stab of longing. He looked so handsome in his suit and tie. Shed only ever seen him dressed so formally once before at Cory McLeods funeral. She felt a pang of sadness thinking of her friend who hadnt made it to graduation; hed been killed in a car accident in the first year of their ag course. His death had been devastating to his friends.

Suddenly, the door in the room flew open, startling Amanda, who looked around to see Hannah coming into the room. Her friend looked so unlike her usual wild, straggly self as she rushed into the room, dressed in a black graduation robe and blue sash, her fly-away blonde hair swept up under her mortar board. Whyre you hiding? she demanded, her eyes bright with excitement.

Im not. Im just watching everyone, said Amanda, turning back to the window.

Sensing Amandas sombre mood, Hannah moved over to the window and put her arm around her friends shoulder. Are your parents here? she asked.

Of course! You dont think Mum would miss it, do you? I havent seen them yet, but theyre always running late they probably snuck in after the ceremony started and have run into one of Dads old mates, said Amanda smiling wryly to mask her concern.

Well come on then. You can look for them later, Miss Dux! Right now youre needed for the class photos and drinks. Thats actually why I came to find you.

And here I was thinking you cared, said Amanda with a smile. She followed Hannah out of the room, switching the light off behind her.

Arranging themselves in front of the camera, the class of 2000 smiled and called out Bundy!, while their families looked on proudly. Between shots, Amanda searched for her parents.

Forcing a smile, she was hardly aware of the camera clicking and whirring as more photos were taken of the whole class, then a series of the dux of agribusiness with the recipients of the three agricultural awards and their teachers. As the final shot was taken of her with the high achievers from the universitys other courses, Amanda caught sight of two policemen speaking with the dean. The look of shock on his face as his eyes searched the crowd told Amanda the story, and without thinking her feet carried her to them.

Hannah followed, motioning for Jonno to come with her. They were by Amandas side to hear the news and gather their weeping friend to them, the graduation celebrations forgotten.

Amanda sat next to her father in the church, her mothers coffin resting on a gurney in front of them, her uncle speaking at the pulpit. Although cheerful flowers matched her mothers vibrant personality, Amanda had to close her eyes against the pain she felt looking at them atop the coffin. She could hear her mothers laughter, see her flashing eyes and feel her arms around her.