Hugh & Kate

Chapter Four: The Conversation

Kate barely left Hugh's side.
He felt safe and comfortable, the conversation felt like home. He spoke of familiar things, he asked her questions no one had asked her for a long while, and it made her smile, she couldn't wipe it off her face. She hadn't smiled like that since she moved to Adelaide.

"I need another beer!" She announced, taking Hugh's glass from his hand, "and so do you!"

"I'll meet you back at the table." Hugh points and she nods.

She waltzed up the the bar, Lara hot on her heels.
"You've been extraordinarily excitable," she chuckles, "what's got you?"

"It's nice to see these guys. We haven't seen them for ages." Kate replied happily, "maybe we should consider a trip home."

Lara's eyes widened, "I'm not sure Katie. We might never leave. That's why we left in the first place."

"Nah, we'll come back. We've got degrees to finish anyway."

"To quote you, 'if we don't leave now, we'll never leave at all', and I tend to agree so going back could change it all." Lara replied.

Lara was studying to be a nurse. It wasn't her first choice, but something called her to it and here she was in the third year of her degree, and loved every second. She'd done placements at prestigious hospitals and the supervisors offered her a job in every place she went.
She had something going.

Kate loved teaching. It was all she ever talked about. She was passionate about supporting students and was eager to get into her own classroom. Uni was always a first priority.

"Nah, it'd be fine! We're too set up here not to come back. We need more of a balance. I'm missing the country, and I think you are too!" Kate curled her lips in with excitement.

"What has Hugh said to you?" Lara exclaims.

"Nothing!" Kate replies quickly, "I just think it's time to go home."

"How much have you had to drink?"

"Not enough for me to be making decisions like these," Kate sighs, "don't you miss it Larz? Don't you miss the community, and the work, the animals, our families?"

Lara nods, "of course I do."

"Well? Why aren't we there?"

The two fall silent.
There were plenty of reasons why home was so far away, and why home was not often visited.

"You really want to go home?" Lara asked, her voice a little softer than before.

"I don't know, I think I really do need to go and check in on mum and my sisters, it's has just made me realise you know." Kate almost mutters not really wanting to admit the fact she hadn't been a brilliant daughter.

Lara sighs, a heaving sigh, one that only someone who didn't want to be persuaded but was would sigh.
"Fine, Monday. We'll pack up and go. One night max. I'm okay with that." She says reluctantly.

Kate grins, and trots back to Hugh with two drinks clutched in her hands.
She hands one to him, and he sips at it to make sure it doesn't spill.

"I wasn't sure which one to get!" She yells over the music, "but this one is my favourite."

"Anything with beer written on the front will go down just fine!" Hugh replies, putting his arm around her shoulders. "It's been good tonight hasn't it?"

"Yes, it's been great!" Kate replies honestly, "How long are you down in Adelaide?"

"The boys and I planned to head back tomorrow afternoon I think, have to go to church and all." Hugh shrugs.

"Church? Your family still doing that?" Kate laughs.

Hugh furrows his eyebrows, "what do you mean?"

Kate back peddles, "oh I just didn't think many people did it anymore."

"You'd be surprised," His heart thuds loud and heavy in his chest, "a lot of the town still goes. You'd know if you came home. In fact your Mum and Dad still attend almost every Sunday."
Hugh is almost offended.

Kate purses her lips, "I'm sorry Hugh," she mutters, "It's just unusual these days you know."

"It isn't that strange, a lot of us young ones still go. It's just routine I think." Hugh takes a deep breath, "maybe you should come with me tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Kate gulped at her drink. "You want me to come to church tomorrow?"

"Why not? Can't hurt right?" Hugh raises an eyebrow, intrigued as to her reply.

"I guess not," Kate paused, "I didn't realise Mum and Dad still went."

"Maybe you should ask them why," Hugh drains the last of his drink, "they do miss you and your three sisters."

"I didn't even go home for Christmas last year. I thought it was more important to spend it with my friends. Mum wasn't impressed with that. She called me selfish and hung up on me. I don't blame her," Kate sighs, "Lara and I want to head home on Monday, would you take us?"

"We're going home tomorrow afternoon, plus isn't your birthday tomorrow? Maybe you should come with us then, and surprise your parents." Hugh suggests.

Kate pauses, tapping her fingers against the table.
"Alright," she murmurs, "I'll see what Lara reckons, and we can head back tomorrow. I think that'll work."

Hugh smiles, "I'm proud of you. It isn't easy."

"What's Olive Creek like these days anyway?" Kate asks, spinning a coin on the table.

"Cold at the moment, it's the middle of June," Hugh chuckles, "but so dry. Hasn't rained for three years."

"Three years?" Kate's eyes widen, "what about the stock?"

"They're drinking bore water, but each farm is running out one by one. There just isn't enough water." Hugh explains. "Dad was chatting to me and Ben last year about maybe having to sell a few head of cattle, now we've only got 100 and we're trying to grow crops but it just isn't happening. If only it would bloody rain."

"It's just amazing how quickly things change. I remember your family's cows, they used to stand up on the hill near that look out, I used to think they were so beautiful." Kate reminisces, her eyes

"I remember your sheep always getting out on the main road, and Ben and I mustering them back in for your Dad. Then he'd ring us up and ask us to help fix the fence."

The two of them laugh. A hearty laugh that keeps them smiling long after the comment was made.

"I'm glad you are there to help him. My sisters and I were useless." Kate sighs.

"I don't know if your dad thinks so, he always says 'well the dogs can't drive the Ute can they' whenever we ask if he needs a hand. I think he'd appreciate your return." Hugh explains.

Kate chuckles at the memory of the three sheep dogs that the property inhabited. Beans, Bobby and Boots had been her companions for a long time and her responsibility. She wondered for a moment whether they'd still remember her.

Maybe it really was time to come home.