Part 12 (1/2)

'And a special thanks goes to our tireless typist and odd jobs girl, Miss Mona Beaumont ...'

But Mona was nowhere to be seen. The crowd murmured, their heads swayed. Nancy was leaning against the doorjamb at the back of the hall so waved at Trudy and ducked outside, 'Psst, Mona.'

'What?'

'You're on.' Nancy came inside. 'They're coming,' she yelled and Trudy and Elsbeth smiled at the waiting crowd.

Mona and Lesley stumbled back into the hall and the crowd began to clap. They moved to the stage and Mona stepped up to stand between her mother and her sister-in-law. The clapping dwindled and someone giggled. There was a murmur from the crowd as feet shuffled, ladies covered their mouths and men looked at the ceiling.

It was then that Lesley noticed. Mona's frock was inside out.

Tilly stood in her cottage, surrounded by colourful debris. The past two weeks had been a period of intense hand-st.i.tching, draping and shaping, and there was the ball to come. Teddy arrived wearing a pair of new blue denim Levi jeans, a brilliant white T-s.h.i.+rt and a leather jacket with lots of zippers and studs. His hair shone with Brylcream and he had developed an insolent, upper body lean and matching pout. It suited him. She looked at him and smiled. 'You're going to wear leather and denim to the Social Committee's first-ever event?'

'What are you wearing?'

'I'm not going.'

'Come on.' He stepped towards her.

'I've got nothing to wear.'

'Just whip something up, you'll look better than any of them anyway.'

She smiled and said, 'That won't do me much good, will it?'

'Let's just sit in a corner and watch all those beautiful creations swinging about the hall on Miss Dimm and Lois and Muriel.' He stopped. 'I see what you mean.' He slumped into the chair by the fire and put his boots up on the wood box.

Molly looked over to Teddy, lifted her top lip and sent a fine line of spittle into the flames with her tongue. 'You think you're good-looking don't you?' she said to him.

'We could go to Winyerp to the pictures,' said Teddy, 'or we could sit here with Molly all night.'

'What's on?' asked Tilly, brightly.

'Sunset Boulevard, with Gloria Swanson.'

'You two go ahead to the pictures and have a lovely time,' said Molly. 'Don't worry about me, I'll be all right here ... alone, by myself. Again.'

Molly insisted on sitting in the front of Teddy's Ford for her first-ever ride in a car. 'If I'm going to die I'd like to see the tree I'm going to splatter against,' she said, then demanded that they sit right at the front of the picture theatre directly under the screen. She sat between them, hooting and laughing at Tom and Jerry, then made loud, detracting comments about everything else. 'That's not really a car they're in, it's pretend ... He's not very convincing is he? ... She's just kissed him and her lipstick's not smudged and her eyes look like armpits ... Stand up and get out of the way I need to get to the lav, quickly!'

At home they offered to help her to bed but she was reluctant. 'I don't feel sleepy,' she said and looked above at the starry sky to stifle a yawn. Teddy went inside and got a gla.s.s, poured firewater from his flask and handed it to Molly. She drank it and held her gla.s.s out for more. He looked at Tilly, who looked down at the hall lights from where fragments of conversation drifted up, so he gave Molly another splash of watermelon wine. Very shortly they were lifting her onto her bed.

They sat out under the stars again, watching the Dungatar hall flicker to darkness and the socialites disperse.

Teddy turned to her. 'Where did you go from here?'

'To Melbourne, to school.'

'And then where?'

She didn't reply. He looked impatient and said, 'Come on it's me, not them.'

'It's just I've never really talked about it until now.'

He kept his eyes on her, willing her. Finally she said, 'I got a job in a manufacturing factory. I was supposed to work there forever and repay my ”benefactor” but it was horrible. At least it was a clothing factory.'

'Did you know who your benefactor was?'

'I always knew.'

'Then?'

'I ran away. I went to London.'

'Then Spain.'

'Then Spain, Milan, Paris.' She looked away from him.

'Then? There's more, isn't there?'

She stood up. 'I think I'll go inside now '

'All right, all right.' He caught her by the ankle, and she didn't seem to mind, so he stood and slid an arm about her shoulders and she leaned against him, just a little bit.

17.

Mona eventually stopped crying because Lesley started to giggle about it. By then Trudy and Elsbeth had thought of a solution.

'You'll have to marry her ...' said Elsbeth.

The way to solve everything.

Lesley sat down suddenly, 'But I don't want to get '

'... or leave town,' said Trudy.

Lesley had Tilly run him up new riding attire sky blue and pink silks and close fitting, immaculate white jodhpurs. He sent to RM Williams in Adelaide for new knee-high riding boots with Cuban heels. Mona wore her bridesmaid's dress with a white rose pinned behind her ear. It was a quiet ceremony in the front garden at Windswept Crest. Sergeant Farrat conducted the brief ceremony. William drove Mr and Mrs Lesley Muncan to the railway station. They waved to him as their train moved out, standing there with his pipe in his teeth with Hamish and Beula. The Dungatar Social Committee had donated two railway tickets as a wedding gift, so Mr and Mrs Lesley Muncan were to spend a night in the Grand Suite at the Grand Hotel overlooking the river at Winyerp.

When the newlyweds returned to the reception counter a mere five minutes after the publican had shown them to their suite, he was very surprised.

'We're off to see the sights,' said Lesley. 'We'll collect the key about 5:30 and will be down for dinner at 6:00.'

'Zup to youse,' said the publican and winked.

After dinner, they went upstairs. At the door of the Grand Suite the big corner room with the arched window situated nearest the bathroom Lesley turned to his new wife and said, 'I have a surprise for you.'