ii

“So what’s the plan for today?” Josh asked as he pushed back his chair. “Well,” Sarah began, “seeing as Kate has to go into the village for a haircut at 11, why don’t we all go in?” she suggested. “Sounds ok to me,” Bess responded, “we can pick up a few supplies.” Ben agreed, “I wouldn’t mind a paper,” he added. “That’s settled then Gather around the front at twenty to,” she rose from the table. She and Josh were going for a walk because she wanted to show Josh the place where she had grown up. She dragged him away from the boys who had begun comparing forearms. Kate could see an arm wrestling contest was about to begin. She excused herself and beckoned to Jo. She had heard that there was tree house among the stand of pines near the old milk shed, and she wanted to explore. Bess tagged along. She didn’t have any patience for boys and their silly games of one-up-mans-ship. “Those boys,” she said as she fell in beside Kate and Jo, “What is it with this country air?” Kate laughed, “It brings out their animal instincts!” Bess joined in the laughter and Jo looked at them quizzically, “Race you to the pine trees!” Kate proclaimed and sped off. Bess and Jo were left in her wake but soon joined the chase. Kate allowed Jo to catch up and overtake her. She arrived at the trees pleasantly out-of-breath. “Boy, you’re fast!” she exclaimed, and ruffled his hair. He gave a yell of delight as he spotted the tree house a little way off and he raced over to it. Kate noticed that it was in good condition, “the grandkids must play here,” she mused aloud as she climbed the wooden ladder and squeezed through the tiny doorway. “Come up Bess, its great in here!” she encouraged Bess to follow her inside the tree house. Bess clambered up after her; she was smaller than Kate so slipped though the entrance easily. “Wow! It’s bigger in here than I would have thought.” There was a trapdoor in the roof that lead to a rope ladder. Jo looked at Kate inquisitively as if to ask for her permission to explore further. Kate nodded; she couldn’t deprive him of an adventure. He climbed up the rope ladder with enthusiasm. Kate noticed that he was quite agile, ‘handy,’ she thought. She’d have to remember that.

She and Bess began to reminisce about their own childhoods. Bess had grown up in the outer suburbs and had had a tree house of her own. Kate had never had one. They laughed happily and sighed, “Where has Jo got to?” Kate wondered aloud, “I’ll go up and check,” Bess offered. Kate’s frame wouldn’t fit through the little trap door. Bess scrambled up the ladder and called back down to Kate from the top, “there’s a lookout up here complete with a telescope!” she exclaimed. ‘Ah, no wonder he didn’t come back down,’ thought Kate, she was glad he was enjoying himself. She looked at her watch and called up to the others, “You’d better climb down, we’ll be heading off soon.”

They were all gathered out the front when Tim joined them, “Dad suggested that we visit the brewery for lunch.” He said. “There’s a brewery? “ asked Steve, “awesome!” They piled into two cars and headed off. They dropped Jo at Sarah’s sister Lucy’s place on the edge of town. Lucy has three kids of her own and they would welcome a new face. Jo’s eyes lit up as he spied the menagerie of pets around the house. He practically pounced over Kate’s lap and into the yard. He raced to the rabbit hutch. Kate laughed, “I never realised that he loved animals so much!” she exclaimed in surprise. They left Jo happy with all of his new friends. Sarah directed Kate to Snippety-Sip and the others spread out in different directions.

There was a nice variety of shops in the Village. Kate explained what she wanted to the hairdresser and then settled into a chair by the basin. She emerged from the hairdressers about 90 minutes later, “wow!” exclaimed Bess, “you look so different Kate. The darker look suits you.” The boys looked up from their papers, Steve was reading the Herald Sun, Ben and Josh were sharing an Age, Alex had The Financial Review and Tim the latest copy of The Trading Post. They all stared at her, and were at a loss for words. Ben broke the silence first, “that colour really brings out your eyes, and they’re beautiful.” Kate blushed, and Steve threw Ben a scowl. Kate wondered if he was jealous, the weekend could prove to be trickier than she thought. She joined Bess on the bench; Bess was reading November’s Marie Claire. “I got the things that you wanted,” she said and handed her a bag. “Thanks,” Kate said as she examined the contents of the calico bag. Sarah stood, “Well, shall we get going? I feel the worms biting.” They all got up and piled back into the cars. Sarah and Tim were driving, as it was easy to get lost in the hills. They spotted kangaroos, wallabies and even a wombat as they wound up the steep and densely forested road on their journey to the brewery. Kate could see how easy it would be to get lost up here. “They usually have tours of the brewery on long weekends,” Tim commented, “It’s fascinating!” Ben threw Kate a meaningful look and raised his eyebrows, she looked so different with her dark bobbed hair and it was straighter too. He wanted to touch her, but he was acutely aware of Steve in the front seat. Kate was sure that Steve was jealous as she added up Steve’s various reactions to Ben in her mind. She hadn’t considered that he might have thought of her as more than just a friend. , She certainly didn’t think of him that way. They entered the town and spotted the Brewery at the end of the street. Tim parked next to Sarah’s car and they all got out. Ben whispered to Kate, “do you think that we could try and lose them a bit later?” Kate nodded and squeezed his hand surreptitiously. Thankfully Steve was preoccupied with the Brewery and their exchange had gone unnoticed.

Their lunch had been satisfying, though not as delicious as Mrs Jones’ country fare. A tour would begin in five minutes; Kate winked at Ben and excused herself. She headed in the direction of the ladies. Ben initially joined the tour but lingered at the back and slipped away when they were all investigating the contents of a holding vat. He caught up with Kate at the front bar, she was sampling the beer, “you should try this,” she handed him a small plastic cup. He took a sip, “Not bad, what is it?” he inquired. “That’s our Pilsner,” the barman said proudly, “very popular with the ladies.” Kate laughed and they headed outside hand in hand. They browsed through he shops briefly and then found their way to a quiet little park; it was deserted. As soon as they reached the cover of the trees Ben pulled Kate into a tight embrace and kissed her full on the mouth. Kate was slightly breathless; Ben sure was a good kisser! They strolled hand in hand for a short time in silence and then Ben spoke. “I know why you changed your hair,” he said softly and squeezed her hand. It was cool in the cover of the trees and Kate shivered a little. “I wanted to blend in,” she said haltingly. “If it weren’t for your eyes you would,” Ben said and laughed, Kate joined in. “I hadn’t realised how beautiful they were,” Ben said a little more seriously. “I think I love you Kate.” She looked at him in silence for a moment; she thought that she was rapidly falling for him too. They kissed again, gently at first but then more strongly. Kate could stay under these trees with Ben for a long time, but she knew that they had to get back to the brewery. She didn’t want to arouse suspicion. They turned and made their way back into the sunshine. Ben didn’t want their walk to end either, but he also knew that it had to, “what are you thinking?” he asked Kate. “I don’t want this weekend to end,” Kate replied wistfully, “if only….”

They met up with the others in the gift shop. They had entered separately so as not to arouse suspicion. The others had just finished the tour and were tasting beers at the front bar. Steve spotted Kate, “Where did you get to?” he asked her. He had also spotted Ben, but chose to ignore him. “The tour had already left when I returned from the bathroom,” she explained, “So I sampled the beers and then went for a little walk. There are a couple of great craft shops across the road,” she directed at Bess. Bess was an avid quilter. “Great! Can we check them out?” she said. The others all agreed. Tim had a Frisbee in his car, so the boys would throw that around in the park while the girls investigated the shops. “This is great!” Bess was wrapped. She had already picked up several fat quarters. “Slow down Bess, you’ll clear their stock if you’re not careful,” Kate warned. She was always the one to prevent Bess from overspending, as she wasn’t an impulse buyer. Bess conceded defeat when she had picked out about a dozen small pieces of fabric, “you’re right as usual,” she said as she presented her items at the counter. They didn’t take credit but Bess always carried cash and had enough to cover it. Sarah poked her head into the shop; she has been throwing the Frisbee with the boys, “You girls done yet? We all want to get going.” The shop assistant handed Bess her purchases and change. The girls headed for the door, “we’re coming!” Steve contrived to sit next to Kate on their return journey, while Ben sat up front next to Tim. “Why don’t we visit the wind farm on the way back?” he suggested, “the view is great from up there. You can see the Prom!” He wound down his window and spoke to Sarah, “We’re going to stop by the wind farm in Toora on the way back. You coming?” Sarah thought it was a good idea and agreed, “you lead the way though, I got lost the last time I went there and that was ages ago!” she said to him. “Ok,” he said, “follow me!” He pulled into the street and they were soon winding their way back down the hill. “So Kate,” Steve began, “I wanted to talk to you about something, it’s important, can we catch up when we get back?” he asked Kate hopefully. Kate inwardly grimaced. This could get very awkward. “Sure Steve,” she attempted lightness but didn’t quite achieve it and she couldn’t look Steve in the eye. She bit her lip. “Great,” he replied, “It really is important.” Kate took a deep breath and changed the topic of conversation, “I wonder how Jo is getting on?” Tim answered, “Oh, I’m sure that he’ll be fine, Lucy’s kids aren’t fazed by anything. He’ll be having a great time.

The view from the wind farm was almost breathtaking. Kate wished that Jo could see it. The wind turbines rose majestically from the paddock and spun slowly. Kate couldn’t understand how anyone could think that they were ugly because she thought that they were beautiful. “They look so graceful, towering above the landscape,” she commented loudly so as to be heard over the wind. “Yeah, and I can tell why they chose this spot, too, it’s practically blowing a gale up her!” Ben almost had to shout to be heard, but it was a good excuse to stand close to Kate. “Want to go for another walk after your chat with Steve?” he spoke into Kate’s ear. Kate smile and squeezed his hand, she was cold, “Sure, that would be good,” she spoke close to his ear on her tiptoes. Bess was watching them from a distance, ‘is something going on there?’ she wondered. She would have to corner Kate and dig out the truth. Previous experience told her that Kate wouldn’t give up the details easily. “Can we go?” Bess practically yelled over the strengthening wind, “It’s freezing up here!” The others agreed and returned to the cars. By the time they were at the bottom of the hill Kate had thawed out. She was dreading her chat with Steve and her stomach had begun to knot up.

They were at Lucy’s place now and Jo came running out holding a small puppy in his hands. “It’s too young to be weaned just yet, but he can have him when he is,” Lucy offered Kate kindly. “He’s the runt of the litter,” explained Tim, “he’s not worth much.” Kate smiled; she could see that Jo was already forming a bond with the little pup. She thought that they were well suited, both small and seemingly worthless. “Come on Jo, we’re going, say goodbye to all your new friends.” Jo was reluctant to let go of the puppy, but he relinquished it to Sam, Lucy’s middle child. He was about the same size, if not a little bigger than Jo, but he was obviously a couple of years younger. “I’ll look after him for you Jo,” he said seriously in his small, childish voice. Kate smiled and took Jo’s hand in hers, “thank you, Sam,” she said, “goodbye.” They got into the car and Jo waved until the house was out of sight. He looked back at it wistfully. “You can visit again tomorrow, Jo,” she told him and he brightened at the suggestion.