Novels 01 Blue Skies (4 page)

Chapter 6

Amanda nervously smoothed her skirt as she walked into the bank for her ten o’clock appointment. She introduced herself to the receptionist and then paced the room’s perimeter until she heard a voice call out: ‘Hi, Amanda, good to see you.’

She swung around at the sound of Malcolm Mackay’s voice. ‘Thank you – and thank you for seeing me on such short notice,’ she said.

‘No problem, come through.’ Malcolm ushered her in front of him and signalled for the secretary to bring coffee. When they were seated in the office Amanda watched as Malcolm’s kindly eyes studied her closely. She knew what he would see as she had seen it herself in the mirror that morning. Her face was drawn tight with grief and tiredness, while her brown, wavy hair hung listlessly below her shoulders. Her eyes were red and she seemed older than her twenty-two years.

‘So how can I help?’ Malcolm asked.

‘I’m worried that Dad wants to sell Kyleena. But I’m sure he can’t do it without my permission. I’ve had a letter from the solicitor telling me Mum willed her half of the farm to me,’ Amanda blurted out.

‘Yes, I knew she was going to do that. And you’re right; your father can’t do much without your permission. But like I said to you the other day, selling is only one option.’

‘I just can’t believe that Dad would consider it,’ said Amanda. ‘After he and Pop worked so hard to build it up, it’s just wrong. But if he’s not prepared to run the farm, I’ll do it myself.’

The bank manager looked dubious. ‘Do you really want the responsibility of running a big farm with a large debt?’ he asked. ‘You’re only twenty-two. I’d have thought you’d rather be out having fun with your friends.’

‘I’ve had three years of doing that at ag college,’ Amanda replied, shaking her head.‘I didn’t realise how things stood with Kyleena, but now that I do, I’m ready to take it on. I’ve been putting together a business plan.’ She bent down and opened the beaten-up leather briefcase which had been her mother’s and brought out a display folder. She placed it in front of Malcolm. ‘Here’s a five-year plan. I’ve updated it since I’ve been home, and if you can back me on this, I won’t let you down.’ She fixed him with her most determined gaze.

Malcolm didn’t move to pick up the folder, but leaned forward and rested his elbows on the desk. ‘We do seem to be forgetting one thing here, Amanda. You are only one half of the partnership. Your father is the other, and in the conversations I’ve had with him, I can’t see you changing his mind. I also was under the impression you had been accepted for an agricultural exchange in England in a few months’ time. What about that?’

Just for a moment, Amanda allowed herself to dwell on the plans she knew now, she would have to give up. There was no doubt what she was undertaking would mean she couldn’t go to England now . . .

‘Yes I was – but I can’t let Kyleena be sold. It’s been in our family too long. I realise that Dad is going to be hard to sway, but I’m hoping you can help me.’ She took a shaky breath and continued. ‘Dad and I had an argument the night I met you in the drive and you told me about the valuer. I . . . I left the farm. But if you like my plan and can offer me the finance I need, we might be able to talk Dad round.’

‘Where have you been staying?’

‘At the backpackers,’ Amanda confessed. ‘But I can’t stay there much longer. I hate being in town and I’m running out of money. I’ve been asking Dad about a wage for months but he just keeps giving me a hundred bucks here or a hundred and fifty there. Now I know why. I just can’t understand why he never talked to me about it.’ Her voice betrayed her hurt.

‘Your father is emotionally exhausted at the moment,’ Malcolm said gently. ‘I think you’ll find that’s why he wants to get out of farming. Maybe you both need some time before we start this process. Due to the bereavement in your family, the bank would be willing to offer a grace period of a couple of weeks. Just to make sure your head is in the right place. Big decisions are never made well under pressure. It might also give you time to sort things out with Brian. You may not need to use our mediation service.’

‘No! I need to do it now – I need a purpose,’ Amanda blurted.

‘I suppose the big question is: can you work with your father?’

‘I’m sure I can,’ Amanda cried, hoping it was true. ‘I know it won’t be easy, but if we both try to understand each other’s point of view . . .’

The bank manager looked at her for a moment, tapping his finger on the desk as if in thought. Then he cleared his throat. ‘Okay, here’s what we’ll do. I’ll look at your business plan. Then, if it stacks up, I’ll consider financing it and we’ll work out a plan to chat to Brian. But I’m not making any promises.

‘You have to understand that the bank will look at three things.’ He ticked off the points on his fingers. ‘One, how will the debt be serviced? Two, how are you going to move forward as a business? And three, do you have a succession plan? If the plan we put in place doesn’t work and there is a family rift, then how will it be worked out in the end? Do you understand that?’ Amanda nodded. ‘Right, I’d better get some more coffee; this might take a while.’

Chapter 7
Autumn 1934

Michael came in from his day’s toil exhausted; his
body was still adjusting to the unaccustomed labour.
He slumped in front of the smouldering fire at the
front of his hut.

His vision for Kyleena – as he’d named the
thousand-acre property – remained strong, even
though the inroads he’d made in the last three months
were small. He was fortunate to have more capital
than most and had put some of that into building
a small hut, which was now his home. The vegetable
garden that he’d established in the first week of
moving to Kyleena was producing magnificent leafy
vegetables, although he was fighting a never-ending
war with rabbits. On the last trip he’d made into
town, he’d bought a roll of rabbit-proof wire netting
and, thankfully, it seemed to be proving effective. His
next big project was to finish clearing the land for
his stock. Other farming families had plenty of sons
to help with clearing, but Michael had only himself,
so he had had to hire labour. He had found young
Thomas Cramm, who was the son of the boardinghouse
owner, Anna Cramm, on one of his trips
into Esperance. Thomas was proving most obliging.
Michael always worried about his stock when he had
to make the two-day trip. Having Thomas staying on
Kyleena while he was absent eased the concern.

Michael wondered what his mother would say if
she could see him now. His hands were blistered and
his skin burnt. The heat had dictated that he shave
off his moustache, and the bowler hat that he’d worn
so proudly on the docks of London had been replaced
by a wide-brimmed felt hat with corks hung on string
roughly punched through the edge in the hope the
swinging movement would keep the flies away.

He moved slowly about his small camp, his dog
Bowy at his side as he cut strips from the pig carcass
he had strung from a tree, wrapped in wet calico.
As Michael threw the meat into the cast-iron camp
oven and then lowered it into the coals, he made
sure the three horses, fifty sheep and two cows he had
purchased were in their holding yard right next to
his shed. If the dingos the settlers had been having
trouble with lately came hunting that night, Bowy
and Michael would be able to run them off.

Once his nightly chores were completed he sat
in front of his fire and wrote a letter to his family
by firelight. It must be completed tonight as he was
once again leaving to collect his monthly supplies in
Esperance tomorrow. The trip would be arduous, as
the two-wheel track that followed the telegraph line
would be deep with sand. His journal sat alongside
of him, and once he had finished his correspondence,
he would carefully document his daily work, so
future generations could see how he’d made Kyleena
a profitable farm.

Chapter 8

‘Yeah, I have been blaming you for your mother’s death.’ Brian looked down at the table, his elbows resting on the edge, his hands clasped in front of his mouth.

Tears sprang to Amanda’s eyes with the admission. It was what she had surmised, but to actually hear it . . . well, she didn’t know how to respond. She reached across the space dividing them to touch his arm. ‘I’m sorry, Dad. I blame myself too. If only . . .’

‘If only we hadn’t been on that bloody road going to your graduation!’ Brian slammed his fists on the table. ‘She’d still be here . . .’ His voice cracked.

‘I’m not sure that kind of accusation is helpful here, Brian,’ Malcolm interrupted.‘We’re not here to apportion blame; we’re trying to work out a future plan.’

Brian’s face turned red as he asked gruffly, ‘So you think Amanda’s plan might help the cash flow?’

‘I’m sure of it,’ Malcolm replied.

‘Tell me then, Amanda, what’s this grand plan of yours?’

Amanda, still teary from Brian’s accusation, took a few deep breaths before answering. ‘Kyleena is really productive country, as we know – it’s quite special in the Esperance shire, with so much land being sand plain or mallee country. We’ve got this rich river country that will produce practically anything. I think we both admit that cropping isn’t our thing, except for stock feed. I know you’ve tried it, but it’s so dependent on good weather at the right time, even though the returns look high on paper. Traditionally the May to July period is our peak debt, without also trying to find the extra money for chemicals and fertiliser, which just puts more financial pressure on that time of the year.

‘Likewise, growing wool and wethers is not going to make enough money. I know you’ve tried prime lambs and you don’t think it’s an option, but I believe it can be. I think you might’ve just been using the wrong rams and not understood how the industry works.

‘I think we could also include some hay-making for sales.There’s a lot of people who don’t have their own hay gear, so we could grow it on Kyleena and sell it to other farmers. And there’s always the export market. I know we’re probably a bit far away to access that market but we could research it a bit.

‘The people who have horses on only a few acres are always looking for good-quality hay as well. I’ve also been thinking about contract work . . .’ Amanda paused as her father rose from the table abruptly.

‘I think I’ve heard quite enough,’ Brian barked. He looked furious.‘So what I’ve done in the past isn’t good enough for you, eh? You’ve learned more than I know at that bloody college and you can run Kyleena better than I could, is that it?’

‘Brian, Brian, let’s calm down.’ Malcolm stood up and held his hand out in a soothing gesture. ‘Amanda isn’t saying she can do things better. She’s suggesting some things could be done
differently
. That’s all. Differently. If you’ve looked over the notes I gave to you last week, all of your enterprises are still in there – the wool and cattle. This is just expanding on your original farm plan to include some extra things to help create the cash flow needed.’

Amanda held her breath as she mentally kicked herself. She had got so caught up in her plan she hadn’t thought about her father’s feelings – again.
When will
I learn?
she wondered. If he walked out now, it would be her fault.

The tension in the room lifted as Brian slumped down in his chair. He looked defeated, but when he started to talk his voice was strong.

‘Here’s how I see it,’ he said. ‘I couldn’t give a stuff about Kyleena at the moment. Amanda, you think you can run it, go for it. It’s yours to have a crack at. I can see you’ve got the ideas and the drive to do it. I need some time to get over your mother’s death and if you can implement some of these ideas and get it running smoothly before you go to England, then that’s fine. I’ll take over for the six months you’re away, then when you come back we’ll reassess the situation. I want a wage, will still live on the farm, and can come and go as I please.You can do everything else. See if you think it’s so easy when it’s all your responsibility.’

‘Dad, it’s only three months until I leave . . . I won’t be able to get the changes up and running by then.’ Amanda was still hanging on to the slim chance that she could further her knowledge in England.

‘That’s my offer. Otherwise, we sell. I don’t want Kyleena at the moment and I’m not sure I ever will again.’

Malcolm shuffled his papers in front of him and Amanda stared blindly at the table while she weighed up what her father had proposed. It was an impossible task. You couldn’t fix something in three months that had taken years to break.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Brian got to his feet and said, ‘I’ll be off now. See you at home. You can tell me what you decide then.’ He walked from the room, shutting the door quietly behind him.

‘I think I’ve just had an invitation to go back home,’ Amanda said, more to herself than Malcolm, then she let her head slump to the table and groaned. ‘Ah, I feel like I’ve been hit by a truck! This stuff is exhausting. I spent last night trying so hard to think of how to say everything, and I still stuffed it up today. I made it sound like everything Mum and Dad had done was a failure.’

Malcolm was silent.

Amanda propped her head onto her fists and asked, ‘So where does that leave us?’

‘It means we can go ahead and get the papers drawn up for you to access finance. I’ll get Brian to sign some papers agreeing to this deal – if you want it. Do you?’

Amanda shook her head, trying to take everything in.‘I can’t get Kyleena up and running in three months. It’s absurd to even think I can make a difference in that time. I can start with the easy-fix things first, like getting rid of the lice and tidying up the sheep, but I can’t turn around the finances or make a profit in that time. Of course I’ll take the deal, though. I’ll have to rethink England. I was already in two minds about it anyway.’

‘Well I’ve explained the stringent conditions of the finance, haven’t I? You won’t have a lot of room to move in the beginning. We want a stock mortgage, which will mean with every animal you sell the money comes straight to the bank, and we want a crop lien if you put in a crop. We’ll have a monthly meeting to assess the budget that we have approved.

‘And I have to warn you, Amanda, you can’t stray too far from the financial plan that we have agreed on. Head office can easily withdraw the offer of finance. I’ve had to really push for them to agree to this – and I have pushed, because your plan is workable, but you are going to have to prove that you can do this and get the runs on the board. Do you understand all of that?’

‘Yeah, I do.’

Despite her relief at the chance to save Kyleena she felt stricken by her father’s outburst and sad that he didn’t want to be a part of turning it around. And what she was undertaking was a huge risk and she wondered if she’d be able to pull it off.

Malcolm’s face softened. ‘If you get into trouble with money and you need more, or you want to do something that will make an improvement or help make money later, come and see me. I’ll help you as much as I can. The farming industry needs young people like you – you’ll go far, Amanda, if you work smart now.’

Amanda listened intently, feeling that he was trying to tell her something else, but she was too tired and emotional to understand what.

‘Thank you for your help and your belief in me, Malcolm. I won’t let you down.’ She stood up, suddenly yearning for the wide open spaces of home. ‘When will I have to sign the papers?’

‘I’ll call head office now, so in about a week’s time, I’d imagine. I’ll ring you and come out to Kyleena with them.’

They walked together down the corridor, then Amanda shook Malcolm’s hand, thanked him and stepped out into the street.

A short time later, Amanda sat in a car park on the seafront, watching the cold front blowing the dark clouds across the sky and the wind whip the sea into a frenzy of whitecaps. The misty rain fell gently, hiding the islands in the Recherche Archipelago, and a lone gull strutted along the beach, its feathers lifted in the wind.

It had happened. Kyleena was hers. But she didn’t feel the satisfaction that she thought she would. If her dad had passed it over willingly, she was sure she’d feel differently. He’d only done it because he was angry, hurt and didn’t have the strength to farm anymore, not because he thought she could manage Kyleena well. And that made for a hollow victory.

How could she make her dad see that she wanted his approval? That she wanted for them to work together? She wanted to get along with him, have conversations about farming, and enjoy sorting out sheep and cattle together. But it was pretty obvious that wouldn’t be happening.

Beside her on the front seat was the Kyleena production plan, or the KPP as she was calling it. Idly she flicked through it, trying to work out the best place to start. She was pretty sure it was with the sheep. The hundred or so cattle that were running on the flats of Kyleena had been marked and ear tagged and weren’t due to be weaned for another three or four months.They could be left alone for a little while. It was definitely the sheep. She needed to talk to her dad, find out the mating dates of the ewes and make some decisions from there.

She started the car and went to the ATM.The balance showed she was down to her last two hundred dollars. Not knowing when she would have any money coming in, she withdrew one hundred, leaving the other for emergencies, and went to the supermarket to get some supplies. After refuelling the VW she headed home for the first time in two weeks.