Fenced-In Felix Read online

  After twenty minutes, I levered myself to my feet. “I better go. Early start and all that.” I folded my chair and emptied the last drops of tea onto the dirt.

  Josie stood too. “I will as well. I sleep so well when I’m in a tent, but I’m always tired.”

  We walked in silence away from the fire. There was a sliver of moon, but the stars cast enough light to see. I stopped at the gate to the home paddock. My path took me up to the house, hers down to her tent by the creek.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow.” For a moment, I lingered, my hand on the chain that held the gate closed. “Thanks for what you did today.”

  She took a pace forwards so that she, too, was by the gate. “It was nothing. Just a couple of obvious things.”

  “Obvious to you, maybe.”

  Her teeth flashed white in the starlight. “I was happy to help. I like coming here, Felix. And you let me ride your horses for free.”

  “You’re paying for a horse you don’t ride.”

  She moved closer, and her hand rose to flick the end of the plait that hung over my shoulder in a thick rope.

  “That’s my problem, not yours.” Her fingers closed around my plait, and she tugged. Her intention was obvious.

  My breath caught in my throat. How long had it been since I’d been about to kiss a woman? Too long, said a tiny voice in my head. Too damn long. Over three years.

  I stepped forwards into her space. My hand found her upper arm and traced the muscle lightly.

  “And I like coming here to see you.” Her words were soft. “I want you to know that, Felix.”

  “I’m glad you do.”

  And then her lips touched mine. They were soft and dry and curiously tentative. She seemed unsure of my reaction.

  I remembered how I’d inadvertently snubbed her before, so I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and deepened the kiss. It was a kiss of starlight and longing and desire, and the thunder in my blood was a tide of pleasure that I hoped I might soon get to slake.

  She responded, and for long moments, we kissed, advanced, and retreated, lips touching and withdrawing. It was tantalising. It was warm. It was anticipatory.

  And then she was gone.

  One minute she was in my arms, the next she was three feet away, shaking her foot.

  “What’s the matter?” Even though it was obvious something had happened, I couldn’t suppress the momentary pang when I thought she was rejecting me.

  “Something ran over my foot. A mouse probably.” She shuddered. “I hate mice. Comes from sleeping in barns when fruit picking. Rodents everywhere.”

  Neither of us had a torch, but even if it was a mouse, it would have gone.

  “Another reason to get a dog, I guess.”

  The moment when something more might have happened had passed.

  “Borrow a terrier, and leave it in the barn.”

  I thought of Sue and Moni and their Jack Russell, Ripper.

  “I will.” I didn’t know what to do—whether to move forwards and kiss her again, or let the moment slide.

  “I better get moving.” I opted for the latter. “Thank you, Josie.”

  Her smile held understanding, and she leant forwards and kissed my cheek. “I hope we can do more of this.” With a squeeze of my hand, she was gone, leaving me staring stupidly at the hole in the night that had once held her presence.

  CHAPTER 7

  “Felix! How are you?”

  The voice on the phone was exuberant, loud, and very American.

  “Moni. Long time no hear.” I settled back into the chair and picked up a pen to doodle with.

  “We’re just bonzer. Do you like my Australianism? I learnt that one from a patient.”

  “I’d unlearn it then. No one says that any more, unless they’re about ninety.”

  “Now that you mention it, he is.” Laughter in her voice. For all her strong Texan accent, she was acquiring an overlay of the Queensland intonation. Her sentences tilted up at the end now, and she even occasionally ended a sentence with the ubiquitous Queensland “eh”.

  “How’s Sue?”

  “Good. Great. Working hard as usual. And that’s partly why I’m calling. We’ve got visitors coming next week—friends from England. They’re in Sydney at the moment, and it’s a bit hard for them to figure out when they’ll be with us. We’d love to show them the real outback, maybe get them up on a horse. We’re wondering if both of your cabins would be free for two nights sometime next week? I’m sorry about the short notice—they’re kinda hard to wrestle to the ground and pin down. We can flex the days. At least I can, now that I’ve got a part-time doctor to cover me, and I’m going to force Sue to take some time off.”

  “Let me look.” I drew the diary across and opened it to the next week. “Will your guests share a bed, or will I need a foldaway bed as well?”

  “Nora and Geraldine will very definitely share a bed—they’re married.”

  “How about Wednesday and Thursday night?”

  “That should work. Can I reserve it for us and confirm tomorrow?”

  “No worries.”

  “I think you’ll like them, Felix. I hope we’ll get to spend some time with you.”

  “I’ll cook dinner one night. It will be easier than cooking in the camp kitchen.” I wrote the booking in as we spoke. That meant that both cabins were booked for six nights out of seven that week.

  “Nora fancies herself as a bit of a cook. Sue’s got her convinced that she’ll have to shoot a kangaroo and throw the entire thing on a campfire. She’s up for it, though.” There was a voice in the background. “I have to go. My next patient is here. We’ll call you tomorrow, hopefully to confirm. Bye, Felix.”

  The line went dead.

  I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had four people over for dinner. Certainly not four lesbians. I couldn’t ever remember being in the same room as four other lesbians before. Maybe Josie could swing a couple of days off and come down to make it six.

  I went out to the campground, passing Flame, who stood alone in the paddock dozing under the scant shade of a gum. Despite the lack of grass, Flame was actually filling out, thanks to a combination of the hay that Josie paid for and the lack of exercise. Her coat was sleek, whereas before it was dusty and staring, and the extra weight made her look like the young horse that she was. On a whim, I walked across to her and ran a hand down her shoulder. She turned her head and pushed her nose into my side, begging for scratches between the ears. I obliged.

  Josie had said she was about seven. I cupped her jaw, slid my thumb into her mouth, and pushed down on the bare bit of gum to make her open her mouth. I pulled back her lips and looked at her teeth. It was obvious she was a young horse—her teeth were still a pale yellow, without the browning associated with age. The teeth also met in a vertical line. They had none of the slope that develops in an older horse. To me, she looked younger than seven, more like four or five. I let her jaw go and scratched her between the ears again. She was a sweetie. Saddle or no saddle, I didn’t see Josie having any problem riding her bareback, but I guessed Josie knew her horse.

  With a final scratch on her poll, I went onto the campground. Both cabins had been occupied last night, and I had new bookings for today. I had a lot to do.

  Sue and Moni and their friends arrived around noon. I was leaving the barn when I saw Sue’s four-wheel drive pull up in front of the house. By the time I walked over, they were already on the veranda, and Moni was pointing out the campground and cabins to the visitors. Ripper, Sue’s little terrier, came running to greet me, going up on his hind legs and patting my thigh with his front paws.

  Sue saw me first and came across to greet me, a huge smile on her face. We hugged, and then I turned to Moni and hugged her too while their visitors hung back.

  “Felix, meet our very good friends from England, Nora and Geraldine.”

  They both smiled but didn’t try to shake hands. Someone must have clued them in that politeness was appreciate
d in the outback, but formality wasn’t. Nora was tall and lean with short brown hair and a quick smile. Her wife, Geraldine, was stunning. She was shorter and had a curvaceous figure and vivid auburn hair. It was drawn up in a messy bun on top of her head, but when loose, it would probably hang well below her shoulders. Both wore shorts, but while Nora’s were topped with a plain navy T-shirt, Geraldine had paired her denim shorts with a beige T-shirt that had a complicated hand-painted design.

  “I’m very happy to meet you both,” I said. “Come into the office, and I’ll get you signed in. Then I’ll show you the cabins.”

  “Is there any chance of a glass of water?” asked Nora. “I’m dying of thirst. We had a little confusion over who was supposed to fill the water bottles before we left Sue and Moni’s place.”

  Her English accent was very pronounced, at least to my ears. The grin she flashed in Sue’s direction revealed their easy friendship.

  “That would be the same person who was supposed to pack the wine.” Sue nudged me in the ribs and stage-whispered, “Her name starts with N. We went back for the wine but still forgot the water.”

  “And then we went back a second time for Ripper’s kibble,” said Moni.

  “And forgot the water yet again!” Ger chimed in. Her accent was softer than Nora’s.

  “We’re all total eejits.” Nora bent to scratch Ripper behind the ears. “But in our defence, Ger and I are utter novices at this whole nothing-for-hundreds-of-miles thing. Whereas these two…”

  “Hey! I resent that remark!” Moni stuck her hands on her hips. “Sue and I drink stagnant water from a depression in the rock and dig witchetty grubs with our bare hands for breakfast. Just you wait until tomorrow morning. Those bacon and eggs we packed were to lull you into a false sense of security.”

  The banter had doubtless gone on since the English women had arrived in the country, and they could probably keep it up indefinitely. They all followed me into the office, and while Sue filled in the paperwork, the others looked at the photos on the wall. I went to get water and handed each of them a glass.

  “Is this you, Felix?” Geraldine pointed to a photo of me and Patch barrel racing.

  I nodded.

  “Sue says we can go horse riding here. Reckon you can teach me to ride like that?”

  “Got a couple of years?” Nora slung an arm around her wife’s shoulders. “I think you and I will be on elderly ponies so small our feet will brush the daisies. Brush the dirt,” she amended.

  “Not quite. But I do have quiet mounts for beginners.”

  “Good. I’m not sure I want to be that far from the ground.” Geraldine shuddered, but I got the feeling she was putting it on.

  “What happened to your desire to be next year’s barrel racing champ at the Isa show?” Moni came up beside me. “Felix has that horse out in the barn, waiting for you to come and ride her.”

  “She can wait a bit longer.” Ger shot me a glance. “Unless she’s one of the quiet horses you mentioned?”

  “Nope. She’s for experienced riders. Sue or I will ride her. Don’t worry. They’re winding you up. I’ll take you out to the paddock later, if you want, so you can meet your horse.”

  “I’d like that. Thanks, Felix.”

  Sue had finished signing in, and when the others went back out onto the veranda, she and I had a brief tussle over money.

  “Mates’ rates,” I said. “You’re paying half the going price. No arguments.”

  “No.” She tried to shove the cash into the pocket of my shirt. “I accept mates’ rates for me and Moni, but you don’t know Nora and Ger. Full price for them.”

  “No way. Friends of yours are friends of mine. Mates’ rates for them as well, or I won’t invite you around for dinner later. I’m making spaghetti carbonara. Or I will if you take back half this money.”

  Sue wavered. “That’s not playing fair. Seriously, Felix, let me pay full price for them.”

  “No.” I closed her fist around the cash. “You and Moni have done a lot for me these last years. You’ve been the best of friends. You’ve helped me out with the right-of-access agreement with Jayboro. Moni answers medical questions when I’m too busy to see my doctor. Mates’ rates on the cabins.”

  “Full price for the trail rides, then.” Sue wore her best lawyer face, the one with narrowed eyes and steely voice.

  “You can pay full price for the English; you and Moni pay half price.”

  She capitulated, but only with a parting shot. “Okay, but we’re bringing all the wine for dinner tonight. And don’t argue on that one. You have no idea how much those two can put away!”

  “Deal.”

  We joined the other three on the veranda. “Cabins or horses first?”

  “Horses,” said Nora. “We’re dusty and sweaty, so let’s see these dusty and sweaty animals while we’re in the same state.”

  We walked across the paddock to where the horses grazed together at the far end.

  I pointed to each horse in turn. “Sue, you want to ride Patch again?”

  “Absolutely! She’s a fantastic ride.”

  “Moni, you want to take Budgie?” I pointed at one of the ponies. “You haven’t ridden him before, but he’s a willing mount for a good rider. And you’re light enough.”

  Moni nodded and went over to the little bay and patted his neck.

  “Nora, you’ll ride Smoke, the grey over there. She’s quiet and well-mannered, and I think you’ll enjoy her.”

  “I will. Whether she’ll enjoy me remains to be seen.”

  “Geraldine, that leaves you with Jetta. She’s the chestnut over there.”

  “The tall one? She’s beautiful.”

  “She has the same colour hair as you.” Nora’s gaze followed where Ger was looking.

  I looked in the same direction. Flame stood alone by the fence, head up, snorting at something on the far side. “No, not Flame. She’s on agistment. Jetta is the pony over there.” I pointed to where Jetta and Ben stood nose to tail, their tails swishing flies from the other’s face.

  “I’m a bit sorry you said that.” Ger smiled. “I could see myself on Flame, galloping along, chasing kangaroos or something.”

  “More likely plonk on your nose in the dust while Flame gallops on without you.” Moni’s gaze was also locked on Flame. “She is a stunner of a horse.”

  Ger walked towards Flame. She went slowly, her hand held out to the mare. “Hello, gorgeous.”

  Flame stretched out her nose and touched Ger’s hand. Ger sidled closer and patted her neck with a tentative motion. Flame responded by nudging her side.

  There was a click, and I looked around to see Moni lowering a camera. “That’s one for the family album. Ger, you and Flame have identical colouring.”

  “Flame’s nose is smaller, though,” said Nora.

  Ger glared. “Thank you, lover. Lucky we’re not talking about the size of feet.”

  Nora went over, and Ger wound her arms around her wife’s neck. It was obvious that the teasing was a long-established part of their relationship. They kissed, and Moni’s camera clicked again.

  “Can you send me those photos later?” Ger asked. “I’d like to email the one of me and Flame home to my family, see if they can tell us apart.”

  We walked back to where Sue had left her car, and I squeezed into the back seat with Nora and Ger for the short drive to the cabins. I left the four of them settling in, with instructions to come up to the house later for dinner.

  For once, I had nothing pressing to do, so I headed home. I wanted to call Josie. I’d told her that the four women were visiting and had asked if she thought she could get time off.

  I rang her mobile, but it went straight to voicemail, which either meant she was working or out of range. I rang the pub, and she answered.

  “I’ve been meaning to call you,” she said the moment she heard my voice. “I’ve got tomorrow and the next day off. I can come down early. Will your friends be riding?”

 
“That’s great! And yes, they’ll be riding. So if you’re early enough, you can come with us. You’ll have to ride Diesel, though. He’s all that’s left, unless you’re going to ride Flame.”

  “I hope old Diesel will be able to keep up.”

  “We won’t be going fast. Nora and Geraldine have never ridden before.”

  “I’m looking forward to it.” Her voice bubbled with anticipation. “It will be one glorious lesbian fest.”

  “Pity you’re not here tonight. I’m cooking spaghetti carbonara, and the others have brought more red wine with them than is found in the bottlo at the Commercial.”

  “I hope it’s better quality. Save some for me—I’m sick of drinking the crap that comes out of the casks of house wine.”

  Somehow, I’d had her pegged for a beer drinker.

  “Can’t promise.”

  The murmur of voices in the background rose to a clamour. “I have to go,” she said. “See you tomorrow.”

  I didn’t want to intrude upon the others, so I passed the time catching up on the accounts. I was glad I did; the cabins were proving more popular than I’d thought. Even allowing for the wet season, at this rate I’d be able to get the builder back from the Isa to build the remaining two cabins a lot sooner than anticipated.

  There was a scuffle of feet at the door, and Nora came in. “Hi. Am I disturbing you?”

  “Nothing important. Is there something I can help with?”

  Geraldine also entered. “We went for a walk. The other two are getting loved up in your cabin. You shouldn’t have put in such a good bed.”

  “Glad you like it.”

  “We’ve just found out the hard way that there’s a reason why no one else is out walking at this time of the afternoon.” Geraldine’s pale skin was flushed bright red in the heat. “Sue said you had wi-fi here. We were wondering if we could impose and use it to send a couple of emails and photos to family back home?”

  “No worries. You can use this desk. I’m going to feed the horses.”

  “Thanks.” Nora moved to the desk and set down the laptop she carried. “Do I need a password?”