“I think so too. I don’t want her for more than a pet, but it’d be nice if I could teach her some tricks.”
“Easily done. Make it feel like a game to her and she’ll be more than eager to play along.” Hamish ate the last piece of meat pie and crushed the bag in his hands before throwing it into the bin from where he sat on the park bench.
“Score.” Alex did the same, gaining a slap on the back from Hamish.
“Great shot. You should play basketball in school with an aim like that.” He stood up and stretched his arms above his head, noting the small frown between the boy’s eyes. Stood to reason he’d be nervous the closer they got to Singleton. What if his mother wasn’t there? How would he react? He put his hand on the boy’s shoulder and started toward the car. “May as well get a move on. I want time to look at the house and see what we can find out before we hit Singleton.”
They got in the car and continued on their journey.
“There it is.” An hour and a half later, Hamish pulled the car over on the side of the New England Highway and stared up the hill toward the majestic home.
“Holy crap.” He let go a slow whistle as he ogled the house.
“Pretty impressive, I must say.” Hamish checked his watch. “I know I wanted to go to the house first but I really think we should go into town first and see if your mum is at the motel she told you about. If not, we’ll come back and have a look around. Okay?”
“Okay.”
They drove in silence until they came to the motel. Hamish parked in front of the office and Alex jumped out before he could turn off the car. He followed the boy into the office and waited at the counter for someone to appear.
An elderly lady dressed in a loud floral dress shuffled out from a back room, offering a cheerful greeting. Her badge was pinned to her dress haphazardly, the name Rosemary almost covered over by gold stars meant to decorate it. “Hello there. How can I help you? Room for two is it?” She grabbed a pen and opened her book.
“We’re looking for my mom, Billie Stanford. She rang and told me she was staying here.” Alex leaned on the counter.
“Oh the American lady. Well now. Funny you should say that. I’m looking for her too.” Rosemary put down the pen and crossed her arms over her ample bosom. “Owes me money she does and she’s not been back for two days as far as I can make out.”
“Really? Have you checked her room?” Hamish rested his hand on Alex’s shoulder and focused on the motel receptionish. “I can pay what she owes, no problem, but we’re rather worried about her. She’s not been well lately.”
Rosemary pushed her glasses further up her nose. “I see. Well, she seemed okay to me or at least she was when she arrived. Bit distracted with her research first couple of days, but I didn’t think that was out of the ordinary. Get lots of folks up this way doing historical research. Breed unto themselves, they are.” She peeked down at the ledger and pursed her lips. “Had dinner in her room three days ago and that was the last I saw of her. Nothing in her room seems to have been disturbed either. She paid me for those first three days, today makes six since she arrived so you owe me three days rent.”
“Of course. I’d like to book a room for tonight, if you have one. Twin okay with you, Alex?”
“Sure.”
“Alex and I will go up to the house and see if she’s there, but we won’t be going home until we find her.”
“So you’ll pay me now then?” Rosemary contemplated him through the smudged lenses of her glasses.
“That’s right.” Hamish took his cheque book out of his pocket and reached for a pen.
Once they had settled the account and had the keys, they went and checked Billie’s room. Alex paced around touching her belongings, flicking through her note book. “Nothing here. I don’t get it. Mom wouldn’t just disappear like this.”
“I agree. Best we go back to the house now then. No time to waste.”
“Hang on.” Alex picked up a bundle of old letters. “What do you think these are for?”
Hamish took them, pulled one out and opened it and scanned its contents. “I wonder why she had these? Maybe they had something to do with the house. I doubt they will tell us where she is though.” He put them back on the side table and left the room.
Hamish drove back to the house, turned off the highway, drove a few hundred meters on the road, which brought them to the driveway. They shared a glance as they drove over the cattle grid.
Huge trees jacaranda trees lined the high side of the drive, their branches spread over most of the driveway. They crossed another cattle grid, drove around a sweeping bend and the house came into view. Majestic was the perfect word for it. It rose up as though the sandstone blocks had spewed forth from the land around it. Seamless perfection, it sat on a small rise that towered over the valley below. Without gardens to break the connection with the earth, the house screamed a connection with the land.
“There’s Mom’s car.” The excitement in Alex’s voice matched the hitch in Hamish’s chest at the sight of her vehicle. They parked next to it on the crushed gravel driveway and scrambled out. Alex tried the driver’s door and found it open, the keys still sitting in the ignition. “Typical, she hardly ever takes them out. She has to be here somewhere, then.”
Hamish peered in the back. Her messenger bag lay on the seat. He tended to agree
