The Lost Man(18)

‘Thanks.’

No-one spoke and for a while the only sound was cutlery against plates. After a few minutes, Xander turned to the backpackers, as Nathan had known he would. The kid lived in a city. He couldn’t cope with quiet like the rest of them.

‘How long have you been out here travelling?’ Xander asked Simon, who also seemed relieved to have the silence broken.

‘Nearly a year.’

‘You’re not heading home for Christmas?’

‘No plans –’ Simon started, as at the same time Katy said: ‘It’s too expensive.’ Their eyes met and something passed between them that Nathan couldn’t read.

‘And Cam hired you?’ Nathan said, and they looked over. ‘Was that pre-arranged, or –?’

‘No. Just lucky.’ Simon swallowed and put his fork down. ‘We were in the pub in town and got talking to him. I’ve worked in a few trades at home so I’ve been helping fix the fences, water bores, whatever.’

Harry’s features moved a hair’s breadth and Nathan wondered how much help the new guy had actually been.

Simon nodded at Katy. ‘And she’s a teacher, so it worked out well with the girls here. Doing their School of the Air lessons with them.’

Katy gave a small smile. She had put down her knife and was picking at her thumbnail.

‘Do you like it out here?’ Xander asked.

‘Love it,’ Simon said. Katy didn’t reply.

‘Must be a fair change of pace for you,’ Nathan said.

‘That’s kind of the point,’ Simon said, and Nathan had a vague sense he was being patronised. ‘You don’t get anything like this at home. We were blown away by how big these stations actually are when we first came out. We passed through one in WA which was half the size of Wales.’

‘Oh.’ Nathan had no idea how big Wales was, but it didn’t surprise him. ‘So you’ve worked at other stations?’

‘Yeah, a couple.’

‘Where?’

‘Out west, mostly.’

‘Yeah, you said. West is a bloody big place.’

‘I don’t think you would have heard of it.’

‘Try me.’

‘Armistead.’

Nathan hadn’t heard of it, much to his irritation. ‘Where’s that exactly?’

‘Kind of east of Perth.’

‘Everything’s bloody east –’

Liz dropped her fork on her plate with a clatter. ‘Jesus, Nathan.’

‘Why don’t you let them eat in peace, mate?’ Harry said.

‘No, it’s my fault,’ Simon said. ‘It’s a crap description, I know. But it’s so hard out here. There’s nothing to help pinpoint things.’

That was only true, Nathan thought, if you were completely blind to the subtleties of the land.

Across the table, Xander swallowed his mouthful. ‘What brought you over to Queensland?’

Simon had taken a sip of water and took his time swallowing. ‘Weather.’

‘Really?’

‘Too bloody hot in WA.’

‘You know this is officially the hottest part of Australia?’

‘Oh. I didn’t, actually. Still, better than the freezing fog at home, isn’t it?’ Simon looked to Katy, who blinked, distracted.

‘Sorry. What?’ She had been staring at something unseen out of the window. The sky was dusky as evening drew in.

‘I was saying –’

He was interrupted by the landline jangling loudly from the hall. Word must be spreading, Nathan thought.

‘I’ll get it.’ Harry started to stand, but Liz was already gone, leaving her plate practically untouched. Harry looked at the empty doorway for a moment, then shook his head.

‘We’re so sorry about Cameron,’ Simon said, to no-one in particular. Katy was picking her nails again. ‘He was a great guy. When we were in town looking for work, we heard a lot of nice things about him, and people were right. They all said we’d be lucky to work for him.’

That was probably true, Nathan thought. Cameron had a reputation for being a good boss.

‘I hadn’t actually realised at first that you still lived so close to town yourself, Nathan,’ Simon was saying.

‘Not that close, nearly three hours away.’

‘Yeah, relatively speaking, though. I’d got the impression you’d moved further away.’

‘Nope.’

Katy had looked up now as well, and both she and Simon were watching Nathan with curiosity. He wondered what else people had been saying in town while they were singing Cam’s praises. Although he didn’t need to wonder, really. He could guess. The atmosphere had grown awkward but Nathan did nothing to displace it. He simply stared back, impassive, until Simon dropped his eyes. The backpacker turned to Xander.

‘You live with your dad?’

‘No,’ Xander said. ‘I go to school in Brisbane.’

The eternal diplomat, Nathan thought, with a rush of something both sharp and sweet. Seven words that glossed over a decade-long tug of war between him, his ex-wife Jacqui and, now, her new husband as well. Fractious phone calls, lawyers’ letters, court orders, visitation schedules and always, always, the legal bills. Xander flashed a half-smile at Nathan as though he knew what he was thinking.