Page 59

‘Claire, I’m so sorry.’

The woman found a brave smile. ‘I have three other beautiful children, Fleur. I must remind myself constantly to stay grateful for being as blessed as I have been. Plus, I have Jamie. For a while during the war, I didn’t think I’d ever see him again.’

‘He’s had his own battles, I can see.’

Claire nodded. ‘He says he stayed alive for me. We were both at the front in France, neither knowing the other was there. We met at Gallipoli.’

‘What a story you both have.’

Now Claire smiled easily. ‘It is romantic. I’ll tell you about it someday.’

‘I like that we might see each other again,’ Fleur said, meaning it, feeling a curious and instant kinship with the older woman.

‘Are you and Tom . . .?’

Fleur nodded. ‘I hope so. We first met when we were young children and then didn’t see each other again until yesterday.’

‘Good grief! And I thought my romance was fashioned by the gods.’

Fleur laughed with genuine pleasure. ‘I barely know him and yet . . . I know him. Does that make sense?’

‘More than you can imagine. I think it’s wonderful.’

They watched the children clambering up onto the wagon that Lillian was going to pull around the rotunda.

‘The last elephant, Mary Ann, carried her passengers on one of those Indian howdahs,’ Fleur explained. ‘Poor little Lillian, but she is growing. They ride her to the East End Markets to an enormous weighing station.’

‘You mean where they sell all the fresh goods?’

Fleur laughed. ‘Yes, and the flowers and herbs. Darling thing stomps up North Terrace with a rider on her back so she can be weighed, and the zoo can make sure she’s doing well.’ She chuckled. ‘I think I might have made a good zookeeper.’

‘And what do you do, Fleur?’

Fleur cut her a cautionary glance. ‘Don’t be shocked but I’m a mortician.’ She paused fractionally but when Claire didn’t react, as many people did, she continued. ‘Our family have been undertakers for several generations. I . . . er, I specialise in women and . . .’ She didn’t – couldn’t – finish her sentence.

Claire blinked and seemed to understand. ‘Well, what a special role you have.’

Fleur nodded. ‘It’s hard to say this to most, but I love my work. People think it’s bleak or frightening, but really it’s the opposite. It’s uplifting . . . an honour to take care of the beloved for their beloved.’

‘I understand. As a nurse, I always felt it was a privilege to hold a soldier’s hand and hear his last words, or to sit with the dying, see them through to the end with tenderness, but also a smile. It’s not a miserable thing, is it? An honour, as you say.’ Claire glanced to where the two men were lifting the children down from the wagon. ‘And Tom?’

‘Tom is a wool classer, but he’s left the sheep station to come to the city and start afresh . . . to sort of find himself.’

‘Instead he found you, Fleur.’

Fleur blushed. ‘I think he needs to work out his next step.’

Claire’s kind eyes sparkled a little. ‘It’s pretty obvious to me that you are his next step.’

Fleur smiled. ‘He’s a country boy – I don’t want to force him to stay in the big smoke.’

Claire nodded. ‘So’s Jamie. I’m from England and we’ve quite recently moved to Australia to be near Jamie’s family. I have no family left, but he’s from a place called Quorn, way out in this state’s mid north. He tells me it’s about four hundred miles north of here.’ She smiled. ‘You could travel from John o’ Groats in Scotland to Land’s End in Cornwall, and it would probably only be that far as the crow flies. Australia has such great distances – I can barely think in the vast numbers it is from place to place, and let’s not forget we’re still talking about the same state!’

Fleur was stunned. ‘That’s quite a coincidence, actually. Tom’s from the north too – much further on, as I understand it, at a place called Farina, but in the same direction. They’ll have plenty to share. So, are you moving to Quorn?’

‘No,’ Claire gusted, as though scared of the notion. ‘But we’ll visit soon while it stays cool, Jamie says. We thought about moving there – the bush needs more doctors and nurses – but there’s nothing for Jamie out there any more . . . not in his, er, situation. So I’ve agreed to take on a role here in the city, in which I shall be training hundreds of new nurses, and I promise to encourage them to look to the rural regions. We’ve bought a big old place in an area called North Adelaide. It’s a lovely, draughty old home, two storeys, big garden, and the children can walk to school. I know you feel a bit sad for us,’ Claire said, glancing at Fleur, ‘but don’t. We have a lot to be grateful for, especially that my love came home from the war.’

Fleur withdrew a calling card from her handbag. ‘Here. If you ever find yourself in need of a familiar face or a babysitter, or just a companion for the day, please don’t hesitate. I’d love to talk with you again.’