"I been walkabout," said Maureen handing Pop a
chipped mug of hot tea. She eased herself into the battered armchair on the
porch next to Pop. "Them alpacas up the road have gone. Only goats
now." As usual, there was no reply from Pop. He simply scratched at his bearded
chin; all white and scraggy.
From the brilliant blue sky above them the warm Australian
sun beamed down. "We like snakes basking in the sun," Maureen thought
staring at her gnarled black hands. "Red belly blacks." A flock of
galahs screeched noisily overhead. A cool breeze made gum leaves quiver and a
few fluttered gently to the dusty ground. There were dark clouds to the west. That
meant a storm this afternoon. A comment from Pop suddenly startled Maureen out
of her thoughts.
"Remember Laura?" He said.
"Eh, yeah I do. That girl that used to come talking to
us hey." Maureen closed her eyes and cast her mind back. "Gotta be
about three years back at least, if not four. Said she'd come to see them
alpacas ya know."
Once again there was no reply from Pop. Maureen didn't mind
though. She was used to providing the conversation.
"She used to come down here and lean over that front
fence there. Didn't have much to say but she usta stay for a bit. That was back
when we had Murphy hey. She knew all them names off; Murphy, Thursday, Good Friday, Scruffy and Shriek. Now we only got the last two and they gettin pretty
old for dogs."
Leaning over her knees, Maureen lit a cigarette. She took a
long drag and kept going. "Me an' that girl, we had some good yarns. She
listened hard ya know. I telled her about all my life and she listened. I dunno
know why she wanted to come yarn with us. Might be she learned something."
Maureen brought the cig to her lips again, "I wonder
what she was looking for hey..."
Pop bent in his chair and slowly scratched at a sore on his
leg until it glistened red. "I wonder if she found it," he said.
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