"Hark, hark, the dogs do bark, the beggars are coming to town."
The line from the old rhyme ran though Lee's mind as her own Dalmatian set up its barking. The dog had heard some sound above the summer storm that raged outside. Lee listened, trying to detect what the animal had heard.
She was alone with her six months old baby on a five-hectare property about ten kilometres out of town. Not that she was especially fearful. Before the birth of her child, she had conducted classes in the martial arts in town, so felt herself well able to defend herself if necessary. Never the less, she was angered that Ted had left her on her own with their child so young.
Ted was one of the heroes of the motor cycle racing fraternity. He was currently away touring overseas tracks and gaining more fame and prizes, and would be away for another three months.
They had married three years before, she attracted by the glamour that seemed to surround him, and he by her beauty. The media had given their marriage a big beat up. The handsome hero of motor cycle racing, and the lovely, athletic bronzed complexioned blonde. They spoke as if Ted had won another prize, and indeed, he had.
What Lee found out fairly quickly was, that Ted was the sort of person who, having won the prize, no longer valued it. Being a hero on the track, he was also a hero off the track, being feted at parties and social gatherings, and above all, he was the idol of the women. Lee knew exactly what he was doing when he was away touring, and if she did not know this for herself, there were plenty of people who told her.
The house on the five-hectare block had been Ted's idea. It was the "in" thing to have such a block and run a few sheep and keep a horse. Once attained, he lost interest in this too, and care of the property was left to Lee. Now, with the baby, she had less time to attend to all the chores, so things were beginning to run down.
The house was the last property before the open country. Beyond the house the bush extended for hundreds of kilometres. There was only the occasional cattle station in that entire arid wilderness.
Above the sound of the storm and the rain beating on the corrugated iron roof, Lee heard knocking on the outside door. Although it was late in the evening, she supposed it was someone from town who was calling for some reason she could not fathom.
She went to the door and called out, "Who is it?"
There was no response for a moment, then a hesitant voice called back, "Please, can I sleep in your shed?"
This curious request was too tempting. Lee opened the door to be confronted with a bedraggled figure with water dripping from a less than adequate "waterproof" coat and a rucksack at his feet. Looking closer, she saw it was a boy who seemed to be about fifteen years of age. He repeated his question.
"Please madam, can I sleep in your shed?"
Having heard stories about the distressing "street kids," Lee decided she had better look further into this request.
"Come in for a minute," she invited.
The boy took off his coat and dropped it in the porch and stepped inside.
Once in the light Lee could see he was soaked to the skin, his clothes looked dirty, and he exuded an unwashed odour.
"Why do you want to sleep in the shed?" she asked.
"I got lost," was the brief reply.
"Well, what's a kid your age doing wandering about in this weather?"
He gave wry grin and said, "I know I look a kid, but actually I'm nineteen. I'm supposed to be on a walking tour, but stupidly I took a sidetrack that I thought would be a short cut to town. It ran out after a while, so I thought I could make my way to the town using my compass, but I've been wandering out there for three days."
This speech seemed to exhaust him, and Lee said, "Sit down. Well, you've almost made it. It's only about another ten kilometres to the town, but I don't think your going to make it tonight."
"I've got money," the boy said wearily, "I can pay you if you let me use the shed."
"I don't want your money," Lee snapped, "and I think we can do better than the shed. So first things first. When did you last eat?"
"Two days ago."
"I'll get some food for you, but while I'm getting it ready, I think you'd better get out of those sopping clothes and have a shower. I'll give you a big bath towel to wrap yourself in, and I'll wash some of those filthy clothes of yours."
Lee had never seen herself as a maternal figure until she had the baby. Since then, she seemed to want to mother everything. Kittens, puppies, lambs, calves and anything young, especially if they seemed helpless, were in danger of her desire to mother them. The boy was only six years younger than she was, but the protective female parent had surfaced.
The boy retrieved a razor from his rucksack and Lee led him to the shower.
"Get your clothes off and give them to me round the door," said Lee. This done, she went to his rucksack and rummaged through it, pulling out anything that looked like clothing. All were then deposited in the washing machine which she set going.
After about twenty minutes, the boy, now wrapped in the huge bath towel, returned to the living area. Lee bade him sit down on the couch and said, "My name is Lee Danvers, what's your name?"
"Jamie Campbell," the boy replied.
Lee surveyed the boy more closely than she had previously. She is a tall woman – around five feet ten inches, and she had noted the boy topped her by about one inch. He was slim and had a very sensitive looking face which, despite the fact that the shower and shave had made him a little more presentable, looked worn and haggard.
"Well, Jamie, you're not going anywhere tonight, unless you go naked. All your clothes are being washed. There's no question of your sleeping in the shed. There's a spare bed you can use."
"That's very kind of you," he said.
Lee noticed how "well spoken" he was, and very polite. She liked that.
"I've just got to finish preparing your food. It won't be long."
She left Jamie and retired to the kitchen where she was hastily putting together a cold meal for him. On returning with the food to the living room, Jamie was fast asleep. Lee cogitated for a moment as to whether she would wake him or not, and finally decided to let him sleep.
She covered the plate of food with some plastic wrapping, then fetched a blanket from a cupboard and carefully put it over Jamie, then turning off the main light, to leave only a low powered standard lamp on, she left the room. She then showered and retired to bed herself.
Around two o'clock in the morning, the baby crying wakened Lee. Her breasts were heavy with milk, so she decided that a feed was in order.
Normally she would have fed the baby in its room, but she decided to look in on Jamie. Going into the living room, she saw he was asleep. She sat down in an armchair, unfastened the front of her nightdress which was specially designed for breast feeding, and putting the nipple of a rather swollen and uncomfortable breast into the child's mouth, she sat back, and softly began to croon a cradlesong.
Lee had been producing more breast milk than the child needed, so she had frequently to express some of it. Now, as she felt her breast become more comfortable, she transferred the child to the other breast. The baby barely sucked on this before it drifted off to sleep. Lee, with the child still at her breast, also drifted into a doze.
What woke her she did not know, but looking at him, she saw Jamie, sitting up on the couch staring at her and the baby. This did not trouble Lee, as she was not one of those women who are shy about being seen to breast-feed. It was Jamie's comment that startled her.
In an awed tone he said, "I think that is one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen."
