Sunset Ridge Read Free Page B

alive.’
    â€˜So, most of those trees at the back of the garden died?’
    â€˜Nine in all and a good part of the hedge,’ Sonia explained. ‘Anything that wasn’t a native. George dragged them away with the dozer and then repositioned the fence.’
    The Sunset Ridge garden had always been secure and cosy, sheltered and shaded by the thick-girthed trees and hedges. Now the homestead felt exposed and Madeleine realised that she wasn’t sure if this was due to the drought-forced changes or her mixed feelings about returning to her childhood home.
    Sonia dumped the chicken on the ground. ‘Dogs got it,’ she explained, nodding towards the mangled bird. ‘Follow me.’
    Side-stepping the dead chicken, Madeleine followed the older woman onto the gauzed rear veranda, pleased that at least one of the original verandas had been kept intact. In the entrance hallway the tongue-and-groove walls were now a blinding white, and three black wrought-iron chandeliers swung in the breeze from ducted airconditioning. That was an improvement. She could already feel her sweaty shirt drying. At her old bedroom door Madeleine sat the suitcase on the floor.
    â€˜Oh no, sorry, girl, but that’s the nursery now.’
    Madeleine opened the door. Pale blue and white wallpaper had been replaced by mint-green paint. A sense of loss seeped through her as she imagined Rachael clearing out her personal things. ‘I didn’t know that Rachael was pregnant.’
    â€˜She’s not,’ Sonia answered. ‘Here you go. The two other spare rooms are being painted at the moment, so this one is being used as a bit of a –’
    â€˜But this is Grandfather’s room.’
    Sonia stood in the open door. ‘Yes, it is. You haven’t been home for a while, have you? Well, I only arrived myself about twelve months ago. Anyway, your mother’s room is now a guest bathroom.’ Sonia adjusted the laundry basket on her hip. ‘And although your grandfather’s room is being used for storage, it’s the only free space we’ve got. Sorry, love.’
    Madeleine raised a smile. ‘No problem.’ She dumped the suitcase and bag on the timber floor, and laid the laptop on the single bed in the middle of the room. The room smelled musty. Cardboard boxes competed with suitcases, a shoe-filled plastic milk crate, a warped hockey stick and an old blackboard. Madeleine recognised the board immediately: it had hung in the schoolroom. Madeleine and George were the fourth generation to enjoy early marks and mail-delivered lessons courtesy of the Correspondence School – until they were twelve and fourteen. Then their father had died and their world changed. Their mother had leased Sunset Ridge and relocated the family to Brisbane, abandoning the property to others until George was of an age to take over the management of it. For a moment Madeleine found herself reliving those awful days when their world had been turned upside down. She’d forgotten how difficult it was for her to be back in her old home, a feeling made worse by the fact that she no longer had her bedroom to escape to.
    Sonia stood at her shoulder. ‘I cleared a space in the wardrobe and I dusted down the desk.’
    Madeleine thanked her. ‘Are you from the Banyan district?’
    â€˜I’ve been back and forth. I lost my last job because of the drought. Machinery dealerships don’t need bookkeepers once they go bust.’
    â€˜You’re a bit over-qualified for this job.’
    â€˜Maybe,’ she sniffed. ‘Anyway, George is a good lad.’ The omission of Rachael’s name was obvious. ‘Personally, I wasn’t ever into arty stuff, but your grandfather was a good man. I vaguely recall meeting him.’ Sonia squinted in thought.
    â€˜You’re lucky. I never knew him.’
    â€˜Oh, I was a wee thing then, I probably wouldn’t have been much older