were unsure how to speak to each other. And so they hugged, instead.
Chapter Nine
A Sight For Sore Eyes
FOR DAYS ANTHEA lived on her nerves, waiting for her crime against her sister to be exposed. But Jane kept right on smiling. On the Sunday Jacko met up with his mates to take part in what they called the ‘Undies 500’. The local miners and shearers, men Anthea had dismissed as selfish yobs, had dyed their hair red, blue, green and yellow, to raise money for a children’s cancer charity. Locals had sponsored them to drive around all day in their underwear only. Anthea laughed, finally starting to appreciate the Aussie sense of humour, which was drier, she now realised, than the encroaching desert.
None of the racism she’d seen in the cab driver was apparent here. Jacko’s mates included Aborigines, Asians, Pacific Islanders. These men, stripped down to their underpants, possessed the kind of strong, muscular frames rarely seen in London lawyers. Especially one young miner called Jimbo. Watching him flex and strut in nothing but a pair of skimpy undies (or what the locals called ‘budgie smugglers’), Anthea understood why the tourist brochures boasted of the spectacular local views.
‘I hope you’re gonna come back for the wedding and give your sister away,’ Jimbo encouraged her.
His choice of words seared Anthea. Jacko hadn’t given
her
away. She had misjudged him so completely. Anthea could almost see her glib, unknowing, former self. Oh, how she despised that woman, with her foolish prejudices and pretensions. She knew nothing.
‘Actually, it’d be kind of nice for us all if you could spend some more time out here,’ Jimbo flirted with her. ‘Your sister’s already begun to think of Australia as home. Maybe you could too?’ The handsome young bloke had a big grin, a firm handshake, a long stride and a wide smile. Not to mention his more private attributes. Put it this way, Jimbo filled out his underpants so well, she could detect the man’s religion.
‘I don’t know. I’ve yet to be persuaded of the charms of bush tucker,’ Anthea found herself joking back. ‘And it would be kind if certain people would stop teasing me about my accent.’
‘What accent?’ The handsome man grinned at her.
Driving back to the airport, the town didn’t look as bad as it had done on first sight. There was a raw beauty to it that Anthea hadn’t noticed before. The pub verandas were delicately fringed with iron ‘lace’. The streets, originally built wide enough to allow old-fashioned carts drawn by bullocks to turn in them, were elegantly laid out. The red earth and blue sky reminded Anthea of paintings she’d seen by Salvador Dali. She half expected a face on stilts or a dripping clock to erupt from the landscape.
At the airline check-in desk, Jane embraced Anthea. ‘If you can’t make it back for the wedding, maybe you’ll come for the christening …’
‘You’re pregnant?’ Anthea was stunned. She felt a mix of emotions, joy and jealousy. She had always taken a secret pride in being more successful than her wayward little sister. But now it turned out that it was Jane who had made the real success of her life.
‘We just found out. It’s terrifying actually! But one thing I know for sure is that Jacko’s going to make a great dad … I just wish Mum were around to hear the news,’ Jane said sadly.
‘Me too.’ And then Anthea hugged her sister properly, for the second time in their adult lives.
Controlling her emotions, Jane thumped Jacko in the arm. ‘He’s an ugly devil. But, hey, you can’t always judge by appearances.’
‘At least you can no longer say that all the men who ever liked you for your sense of humour, ended up fancying me instead,’ Anthea said, glancing sideways at Jacko.
‘Anyway,’ he replied good-naturedly, staring right back at Anthea as if seeing straight through her, ‘ugliness is purely in the eye of the beholder. You can get it out with Optrex
Chapter Nine
A Sight For Sore Eyes
FOR DAYS ANTHEA lived on her nerves, waiting for her crime against her sister to be exposed. But Jane kept right on smiling. On the Sunday Jacko met up with his mates to take part in what they called the ‘Undies 500’. The local miners and shearers, men Anthea had dismissed as selfish yobs, had dyed their hair red, blue, green and yellow, to raise money for a children’s cancer charity. Locals had sponsored them to drive around all day in their underwear only. Anthea laughed, finally starting to appreciate the Aussie sense of humour, which was drier, she now realised, than the encroaching desert.
None of the racism she’d seen in the cab driver was apparent here. Jacko’s mates included Aborigines, Asians, Pacific Islanders. These men, stripped down to their underpants, possessed the kind of strong, muscular frames rarely seen in London lawyers. Especially one young miner called Jimbo. Watching him flex and strut in nothing but a pair of skimpy undies (or what the locals called ‘budgie smugglers’), Anthea understood why the tourist brochures boasted of the spectacular local views.
‘I hope you’re gonna come back for the wedding and give your sister away,’ Jimbo encouraged her.
His choice of words seared Anthea. Jacko hadn’t given
her
away. She had misjudged him so completely. Anthea could almost see her glib, unknowing, former self. Oh, how she despised that woman, with her foolish prejudices and pretensions. She knew nothing.
‘Actually, it’d be kind of nice for us all if you could spend some more time out here,’ Jimbo flirted with her. ‘Your sister’s already begun to think of Australia as home. Maybe you could too?’ The handsome young bloke had a big grin, a firm handshake, a long stride and a wide smile. Not to mention his more private attributes. Put it this way, Jimbo filled out his underpants so well, she could detect the man’s religion.
‘I don’t know. I’ve yet to be persuaded of the charms of bush tucker,’ Anthea found herself joking back. ‘And it would be kind if certain people would stop teasing me about my accent.’
‘What accent?’ The handsome man grinned at her.
Driving back to the airport, the town didn’t look as bad as it had done on first sight. There was a raw beauty to it that Anthea hadn’t noticed before. The pub verandas were delicately fringed with iron ‘lace’. The streets, originally built wide enough to allow old-fashioned carts drawn by bullocks to turn in them, were elegantly laid out. The red earth and blue sky reminded Anthea of paintings she’d seen by Salvador Dali. She half expected a face on stilts or a dripping clock to erupt from the landscape.
At the airline check-in desk, Jane embraced Anthea. ‘If you can’t make it back for the wedding, maybe you’ll come for the christening …’
‘You’re pregnant?’ Anthea was stunned. She felt a mix of emotions, joy and jealousy. She had always taken a secret pride in being more successful than her wayward little sister. But now it turned out that it was Jane who had made the real success of her life.
‘We just found out. It’s terrifying actually! But one thing I know for sure is that Jacko’s going to make a great dad … I just wish Mum were around to hear the news,’ Jane said sadly.
‘Me too.’ And then Anthea hugged her sister properly, for the second time in their adult lives.
Controlling her emotions, Jane thumped Jacko in the arm. ‘He’s an ugly devil. But, hey, you can’t always judge by appearances.’
‘At least you can no longer say that all the men who ever liked you for your sense of humour, ended up fancying me instead,’ Anthea said, glancing sideways at Jacko.
‘Anyway,’ he replied good-naturedly, staring right back at Anthea as if seeing straight through her, ‘ugliness is purely in the eye of the beholder. You can get it out with Optrex
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