Read Novels 02 Red Dust for Free Online Page B

tomorrow to have some more tests.'
    'Yeah, no worries, you just stay there for as long as you need to. Gaz and I'll handle everything out here. You just tell the old man to get better.'
    'Thanks, Bulla,' Gemma said quietly.

    Gemma bought a cup of coffee for herself and one for her mother from a sleepy-looking girl at a cafe outside the hospital.
    As she entered the ward one of the nurses said to her, 'You had a visitor while you were gone.' She held out a piece of paper.
    'Thanks,' said Gemma. Unfolding it, she saw it was from Paige.

    Dear Gemma,
    Sorry I missed you. I was hoping to have a chat. I've moved back to town for good now, so maybe when you have some time we could catch up over a meal or something. I've missed you since we left school. Hope we can get together soon.
    Love Paige

    Beneath her name Paige had written her phone number.
    Gemma thought back to the boarding school she, Jess and Paige had attended in Adelaide, and how their group of friends had promised never to lose touch. They had been friends since primary school – Paige, Jess, Kathy, Claire and her. She thought hard, trying to place where everyone was these days. The occasional Christmas card was about all the contact that Gemma had had with Paige and Kathy for years. The last she'd heard of Kathy she was travelling overseas. Kathy had always had the travel bug. As for Claire, Gemma would never forget the parting words of rage she had flung at her boyfriend before flying out the door of the restaurant.
    'You're nothing but a two-timing prick, Tim Milton. I can't believe I thought I loved you!' Claire had flung the photos of him and another woman at Tim as Gemma and Adam watched open-mouthed. She jumped into her small car and sped off down the road. Ten minutes later she was dead after colliding with a road train. Tim had committed suicide a year later, out of guilt.
    Gemma shook her head. Bugger the memories. Too many of them, and bad times always brought the worst ones back. She took the coffee in to Sarah.
    Both her parents were awake, and as she handed the coffee to her mum, Sarah asked Gemma if she'd call her brother and sister to let them know what had happened.
    'Sure, I'll go outside and give them a call now. What time will the doctor be here?'
    'Sometime after eight, I think, so we have a bit of time to wait.'
    'Okay, I'll make the calls. Then I need you to tell me what's happening on the farm, Dad, and if there's anything coming up that we need to know about.'
    Jake nodded his assent. Gemma thought he looked tired and grey today, but that was probably normal after a heart attack, she reasoned.
    Stepping outside she dialled her sister's number.
    'Hello?' Leisha sounded harassed and Gemma could hear the two girls, Zoë and Kate, arguing in the background. She smiled, imagining Leisha with her brown hair pulled back into a ponytail, phone tucked between her ear and shoulder, frantically trying to complete the million and one jobs she would have on the go at once.
    'Hi, it's me, is it a really bad time?'
    'No. But I've had enough of your two nieces. They've done nothing but argue all morning. Anyway, what's up with you?'
    Half an hour later, all the arrangements had been made. Leisha and the two girls would arrive by the beginning of next week, and their brother, Patrick, would be coming as soon as he could get to Brisbane and a flight. He would meet up with Jake and Sarah in Adelaide, then come out to give her a hand with Jake's farm, Hayelle, and Billbinya. He would be welcome company for a couple of weeks.
    When Gemma rang Ned to say she wouldn't be at Billbinya for a day or so, Ned told her that he and Ben were following the police out to Kettles' farm. With her mind too full of other things, she didn't question him, but felt a twinge of apprehension without knowing why.

Chapter 7

    On Wednesday morning, Ben walked into the Jones and Hawkins Stock Agents and Merchandise office ready for a full day with clients. Ned was sitting at his desk