Chapter 23 Chapter Fourteen

Only the thought of Ralph's baby kept Meggie from losing heart as the little train jolted and jolted the long way to Ingram.She is convinced that this trip is not for a new life.Sharing Luke's bed again would have been a great crime to her; but, for the sake of Ralph's child, she was willing to deal with the devil. Nor was it easy from a practical point of view, she knew that.However, she has made her own plans for what she can foresee.Strange to say, she also had Ludy's help, and it was impossible to hide it from him, he was very shrewd.Besides, Anne trusted him very much.He looked at Meggie sadly, shook his head, and then offered her some brilliant ideas.Of course, Lu Di did not mention the real purpose of her trip.But he reasoned as skilfully as most well-read people do.

"You can't tell Luke you're leaving him when he's exhausted from cutting the cane," Ludy said thoughtfully. "It'd be much better if you told him when he was in a good mood, wouldn't you? Better see him on a Saturday night or a Sunday when he's on a week's work. Rumor has it that Luke was one of the cane cutters. Best cook--he learned to cook when he was a lowly sheep shearer, and the sheep shearers are pickier about their meals than the cane-choppers. You know, that means cooking doesn't worry him. He might Find out it's as easy as logging. Then you'll succeed, Meggie. When he's really happy after a week in the shed kitchen, you'll tell him the news casually."

It seemed that Meggie had long ceased to be a person who blushed at every turn.She looked at Lu Di calmly, not even blushing. "Ludy, can you find out which week it's Luke's turn to cook? If you can't find out, how can I find out?" "Oh, she's so naive," he said cheerfully. "I've got eyes and ears there, Meggie, and I'll find out." It was Sunday afternoon when Meggie had checked in at the most respectable-looking Ingame Hotel.All North Queensland towns are known for one thing: there are pubs on every corner of every block.She put her little suitcase in her room and retook the way back to the uninviting hall to find a telephone.There was a football team at the hotel, and the aisles were full of shirtless, drunk players.They cheered and slapped affectionately in front of and behind her, apparently directed at her.At this time, she had already used the phone.She trembled with terror; everything in this adventure seemed a severe ordeal.Amid all the noise and the drunken faces looming before her, she tried to call Brown's Farm, where Luke's gang cut sugar cane.She asked to tell Luke that his wife was in Ingame and wanted to see him.Seeing that she was frightened, the boss walked with her back to her room, and waited there until she heard her turn the key and open his own door.

Meggie leaned against the door, feeling limp in relief.She didn't want to risk the restaurant if it meant not being able to eat again until she got back to Denny.Fortunately, the innkeeper happened to place her next door to the ladies' bathroom, so she could make the walk if necessary.When she thought her legs were strong enough to support her, she staggered to the edge of the bed and sat on it.She looked down at her trembling legs. Along the way, she was thinking about the best way to get this done, and everything in her heart was calling, hurry up, hurry up!She had never read a book about seduction until she settled in Haymillhawk.Even now, having read some of the detailed descriptions, she is still not sure of her ability to do so.But she had to, because she knew that once she started talking to Luke, the uneasiness would pass.Her tongue longed to tell him what she really thought of him.But beyond that, the desire to return to Drogheda with Ralph's baby made her swallow her words cautiously.

The hot, cloying air made her shiver, and she undressed and lay on the bed, closing her eyes, hoping to think of nothing but the tricks she was going to do to keep Ralph's baby safe. When Luke walked into the hotel alone at nine o'clock, the football players didn't worry him at all.Most of the players had drunk themselves unconscious, and the few who were still on their feet couldn't notice anything but their beer steins. Ludy was absolutely right, after a week of cooking, Luke was resting, desperate for a change in his life, and he was all in good spirits.When Brown's youngest son went to the shed with Meggie's message, he was washing the dishes for the last supper, intending to ride his bicycle to Ingham, with Arne and his regular Sunday drinking mates meet.Meeting Meggie had been a welcome change; since holidaying in Atherton Tablelands.He found himself thinking about her now and then, and it was only because of the words he had made her cry about let's get a home of our own that kept him away from Haymillhawk when he was around Denny's.But now she came to him herself, and he had nothing against sharing the same bed for the night.So he finished washing the dishes in a hurry.He was lucky enough to hitch a truck within half a mile of pedaling.However, when he got out of the car he was riding and rode his bicycle three blocks to where Meggie stayed, some of his original hopes were lost. All the drug stores were closed, and there was no one around him condom.He stopped.Stares at a window full of speckled chocolates and dead blowflies, then shrugs.Oh, he had to take his chance, and that was tonight.If there is a child, it will be lucky this time, and it will be a boy.

Meggie jumped up nervously when she heard his knock on the door. "Who?" she asked. "Luke." came his voice. She turned the key, opened the door a crack, hid behind it when Luke pushed it open, slammed it shut the second he entered, and stood looking at him, and he looked at him too. Looking at her, at her breasts, which had grown larger and rounder, more attractive than ever, no longer pale pink, but purple with pregnancy.They are more than enough if he needs stimulation.He reached out and picked her up, and carried her to the bed. She didn't say a word until daylight, though her look welcomed his eagerness to a feverish level that he hadn't tasted before.Now, she lay there, moved aside, leaving him inexplicably.

He stretched comfortably, yawned, and cleared his throat. "Meg, what brought you to Ingame?" She turned her head and stared at him with big eyes full of contempt. "Well, what brought you here?" he repeated irritably. There was no answer, just that calm, piercing stare, as if she didn't bother to answer his.After the night, the look was ridiculous. She smiled and opened her mouth. "I've come to tell you that I'm going home, to Drogheda," she said. For a moment, he didn't believe her words, and then, getting close to her face, he saw that her words were not false. "Why?" he asked.

"I told you what would happen if you didn't take me to Sydney," she said. His astonishment was real. "But, Meg! That's an exaggeration from eighteen months ago! And I think you've had a holiday, four damn weeks in Atherton! Besides, I I can't afford to take you to Sydney!" "You've been to Sydney twice since then, and you didn't take me both times," she said stubbornly. "I could understand the first time, because I was pregnant with Justine, but God knows, since Since the rainy season in January last year, I have been able to go on vacation. "

"Oh Christ!" "Luke, what a cheapskate you are," she said gently. "You took twenty thousand pounds from you that was all mine, and you couldn't bear to pay me a few pounds to take me to Sydney. You and your money! You make me sick." "I didn't touch that money," he said feebly. "All the money is there, not a penny has been moved, but more has come out." "Yeah, that's right, in the bank—it's always going to be like that. You're not going to spend it at all, are you? You're going to worship it like a golden bull. Admit it, Luke, you're a miser." What an inexcusable idiot you are in this deal! You treat your wife and daughter like two dogs, with no regard for their existence, let alone their needs! You smug, conceited , Selfish, bad breed!"

His chest was pale and quivering, trying to find words in his belly, especially after last night, to be attacked like this by Meg was like choking to death on a fly.Her unjust condemnation shocked him, but he seemed powerless to make her understand the purity of his motives.Like a woman, she only sees the superficial things, but cannot appreciate the grand blueprint behind it all. Then he said, "Oh, Meg," in a voice full of bewilderment, despair, and resignation. "I never did you wrong," he added. "Yes, never! No one can say that I was cruel to you. No one! You have enough to eat, you have a roof over your head, you have warm

"Oh, yes." She interrupted him. "I can agree with you on this one. I've never had a warm person in my life." She shook her head and laughed. "What's the use of this? It's like playing the piano against a cow." "I might say the same." "Of course." Meggie said coldly as she got out of bed and pulled on her tights. "I'm not going to divorce you," she said. "I don't want to get married anymore. If you want a divorce, you know where to find me. I'm strictly at fault under the law, aren't I? I've deserted you—perhaps the courts of this country have at least It will be seen that way. You and the judge can pour out bitter tales of women's treachery and ingratitude to each other." "I never abandoned you." You persisted. "Luke, you can take my twenty thousand pounds. But you won't get a penny of the rest, and my future proceeds will be used to support Justine, and maybe another child, if I'm lucky." ." "That's right!" he said. "After all you want another goddamn kid, don't you? That's not why you're here--to get a last word from me, a little present, to take back to Drogheda! Another damn child, that's not what I mean! Never what I mean, is it? I'm nothing more than a bastard to you! Christ, what a deception!" "Most men cheat on women," she said bitterly. "You've said the worst thing about me, Luke, and you'll never understand the magnitude of it. Be happy! I've made you more money for the last three and a half years than you've made cutting sugar cane Much. If there is another child, you have nothing to do with it, and I never want to see you again, even now, not as long as I live." She dressed, and when she picked up the handbag and the small case that lay by the door, she turned and held the doorknob. "Let me give you some advice, Luke. Get yourself another woman when you're too old to cut sugarcane, you're so greedy. Your mouth is wide open, like Swallowing a woman whole like a boa constrictor. Although there is a lot of saliva, it is not a flood after all." She opened her hand viciously and covered her mouth. "You make me want to puke! Luke O'Neill, I'm the one! You're worth nothing!" After she left, he sat on the edge of the bed and stared blankly at the closed door for a long time.Then, shrugging his shoulders, he began to dress.In North Queensland it didn't take much work to get dressed, just a pair of shorts, and if he was in a hurry he could take Arne and the boys back to the shed in the car.Good old Arne, dear old chap.A man is a fool.Sex is one thing, but a male partner is another entirely.