Sticks and Stones (30 page)

‘But would that mean he'd have to sell the house?'

‘What if it does?' Robyn cocked her head, regarding Maddie pensively. ‘The chances are he'll probably just pay you off, but if he can't, then that's his problem. Given he's had years to sort things out to his advantage, I'm guessing he'll come out of this substantially better than you. He hasn't had to pay child support for starters. So you're living in a rental while he's got two houses, one down there and the rental up here. And he can still afford impromptu holidays to Seaworld. You don't need to worry about him, Maddie, you need to worry about
you
.'

Maddie nodded, because she knew it was true. But she also knew that nothing would be more guaranteed to anger Jake than a property application. And the thought of his reaction sent nerves dancing fitfully within her gut. She reached out and straightened Robyn's pen, aligning it with the edge of her desk calendar.

‘You can think about it for a few days,' Robyn smiled sympathetically, as if she knew the issues. ‘In the meantime fill out a financial statement so we can get rolling on the legal aid. Oh, and they'll most likely slap a caveat on the house anyway, so that you make a contribution also.' The smile stretched further at Maddie's expression. ‘I'll give you a leaflet to look through, and we can discuss it further next week. Before we file the application. Okay?'

Maddie nodded again, gratefully this time. ‘Okay.'

Robyn's phone rang, vibrating the handset against the desk. She frowned as she picked it up, dragging her barely visible eyebrows downwards, and quickly launched into a heated discussion about someone who had just contravened a court order. Maddie glanced over at the writing pad, trying to decipher what Robyn had written about her case. Looking for a word like
solid
or even
slamdunk
. But from this angle it was just a series of squiggles. Legal hieroglyphics.

‘No, that's not acceptable,' snapped Robyn angrily. ‘There's
always
some half-assed reason. But it's all part of a
pattern
and frankly, Chris, I've had enough.'

Maddie glanced away, over towards Robyn's bookshelf with the family photo. The older girl strongly resembled her mother, despite the red hair, but the younger one was very attractive. Deep auburn hair and porcelain skin, emerald-green eyes. She also looked like she had a strong, vivacious personality and Maddie thought that she and Ashley would get along well. Both of them like a fizzy drink: effervescent, sparkling.

‘Fuck that,' said Robyn suddenly, harshly. Immediately grimacing at Maddie apologetically as she continued. ‘I gave in last time and look what happens? Two weeks and he's already back to his old tricks. Face it, the guy's an arsehole.'

Maddie dragged her eyes away again. Beside the bookshelf, on the wall, were several framed certificates. Some for membership of legal associations and others with qualifications.
Robyna Leslie. Bachelor of Arts/Law.
Maddie peered closer, reading, and then sat back and blurred her eyes slightly, replacing Robyn's name with her own. She thought about returning to university, and then the different sort of impact she could have with a law degree. Helping women just like her negotiate the legal maze without being victimised further. Forced into an adversarial system that only prolonged and legitimised the abuse.
Madeline Anne McCourt. Bachelor of Arts/Law.

The enormity of this concept, and her own effrontery for even considering it, dried her mouth. She swallowed and then ran her tongue around the inside of her lips. Picturing Jake's face when she graduated. Black gown flapping in the wind, one hand holding onto her hat. With a broad, red-lipped smile that didn't just speak of happiness, but
shouted
it. Because she would be about to take all the bad things that had happened to her and transform them into good. Use them to rebuild her future.

Maddie's mobile phone rang, breaking into the daydream. She grinned at herself, and her ridiculousness, as she scrabbled the phone from her bag and pressed
Talk
. Checking that Robyn was still engaged; exchanging brisk, rueful smiles. There were several metallic clicks before she could answer and then an elderly woman's voice echoed down the line.

‘Hello? Hello?'

‘Hello?' repeated Maddie, frowning. She got up and walked across to the doorway, pressing a finger against her other ear.

‘Hello? Is this Mattie? Am I speaking to Mattie?'

‘Yes. Who
is
this?'

‘It is Hilda! Hilda Kaltenbrunner!'

Maddie's eyes widened. ‘Hilda?'

‘That is right!' Hilda's voice came through clearly now, the undulating Austrian accent unmistakable. ‘My daughter-in-law gave me your number, she said you had rung. But we have been away, you see, on a cruise. Down the Danube.'

‘With Ernest?' asked Maddie. Hilda had been her next-door neigh-bour after she had first left Jake, during that shaky, muddy period when she thought they could still make it, even as everything escalated out of control. Hilda was one of the reasons she had survived.

‘Yes, with Ernest of course. Doing nothing but complain about this, about that.' Hilda put on a singsong, whiny voice. ‘The weather is too hot, the weather is too cold. My bed is too hard, my bed is too soft. I tell him he needs to visit the three bears. Then he would be just right.'

Maddie laughed. ‘Oh Hilda, it's so nice to speak to you.'

‘But is that why you rang? To just speak? I thought maybe something has happened.'

‘It has.' Maddie took a deep breath. ‘Jake tracked us down and we've ended up in court, over custody.'

‘Ah, Mattie. So he found you, after all this time.' Hilda's sigh echoed down the line, and then she continued briskly. ‘You need someone to say what it was like? A witness? That is not a problem. I can say what I heard, why I rang police. And also what I saw. Your bruises.'

‘Hilda, thank you. Thank you so much.'

‘But when do you need me? I am in Vienna now until Krampus. That is in early December.'

‘That's fine,' said Maddie quickly. ‘Because all you need to do is fill out an affidavit. It's like a statutory declaration and then you can just fax it.' She flicked a glance over towards Robyn, who had hung up and was now jotting down some notes. ‘Probably to my lawyer.'

‘Yes. Good. And my cousin's son is a law clerk so I will go to him tomorrow and ask him to help me with this form. He is a clever boy. He will know what is needed.'

‘That's wonderful, Hilda. You don't know what this means,' Maddie spoke quickly. ‘But I'm going to have to go. I'm actually at my lawyer's office right now.'

‘Yes. Of course. Very good. I will ring again tomorrow, when I have filled out this form.'

‘Thank you, Hilda. Thank you so much.'

‘My pleasure.'

Maddie returned to her seat, smiling apologetically at Robyn. Waiting for her to finish writing so that she could tell her who that had been on the other end of the phone. Her number-one witness. It seemed that one thing after another was just tumbling into place, building her case. Her future. But even as this thought formulated, superstition fluttered within. It would all be jinxed if she didn't do
something
, right now. She reached forward, straightening the pen a little more, and then the desk calendar beside it. But that wasn't enough, it had to be more. So she tapped her foot against the desk leg, gently so that Robyn would not feel the vibrations. Fourteen times for Sam, twelve times for Ashley. And one for luck. Only then realising that all the way through the ritual, her smile had stayed in place. Because everything was finally going her way.

NINETEEN

E
verything was ready long before they were due. Clean sheets on the beds, rooms tidied, Guess bathed and brushed, a computer print-out reading:
Welcome Home
! sticky-taped to the fridge, and a chocolate mud cake on the table, with fresh strawberries and whipped cream on the side. She even placed after-dinner mints on their pillows as a joke, just like in a hotel. The small gifts she bought when shopping with Hannah, so long ago, lay on the table beside the cake so that it all looked like a celebration of some sort. Which is exactly what it was.

Just before five o'clock Maddie took up position by the lounge room window, pulling the curtains back slightly for a clear view of the kerb. Guess sat beside her, his tail sweeping the floor as he looked up questioningly. A woman was mowing her lawn further up the road, the drone of the mower swelling every minute or so and then fading again. Maddie looked at her own lawn and grimaced. She thought she might call Kim on the weekend, borrow hers, before the job got out of hand. Or she got another call from the real estate agent.

A car turned into the street and Maddie's heart leapt, thumping up into her throat so that she had no choice but to hold her breath. But it was a gold station wagon, which cruised on past and then turned into a driveway about six houses away. Maddie rubbed her arm, amazed at how
excited
she felt. Like Christmas Eve as a child, lying in bed, electrified by anticipation. She smiled at herself, at everything that was happening, at the weekend to come.

And the smile stayed in place throughout the next fifteen minutes, while nine cars came and went, none of them the one she wanted. She was even able to laugh at herself, and the naive expectation that they would be on time. Of
course
, Jake would take this opportunity to score points. She should have been prepared. The lawnmower up the road spluttered to a halt, leaving behind a silence that seemed absolute. Maddie wandered back out into the kitchen, straightened the two presents, wiped a few crumbs off the cake plate, smoothed down the sign on the fridge. Then she washed her hands at the sink and shook them dry, watching the droplets fly through the air. Beside her, Guess shook his head and backed away, looking confused.

‘It's only water,' Maddie grinned and shook her hands some more, aiming them in the dog's direction. Then she went back to the lounge room, taking up her position by the window. She was rather surprised to find that she was relatively unperturbed by this little ploy of Jake's. Irritated certainly, but more with what it said about his inability to work within orders that
favoured
him. And the childish stupidity of it all. But she had no doubt that they
would
turn up, sooner or later, and that was enough to rejuvenate her happiness, even when it began to slip.

In the end they arrived just as she bobbed down to pat Guess, so that when she stood it was to suddenly see an unfamiliar red hatchback by the kerb, with both back doors open and Sam and Ashley clambering out. Her heart immediately cannoned back to her throat, with such force that for a moment she thought she was going to be sick. She swallowed, forcing everything down. Taking a couple of steadying breaths as she watched them lean back into the car, speak to the driver, then emerge again. The car took off as soon as the doors were closed, as if it hadn't wanted to be there in the first place.

Guess leapt to his feet and barked once, twice. Then he raced towards the kitchen, pausing momentarily and then leaping against the back door to be let out. Maddie followed, a little slower, just in time to see their heads bob past the kitchen window. Guess increased his urgency at the door, scrabbling his claws against the wood, barking frenetically. Then it swung open, forcing him backwards, and there they were. Guess went crazy. Jumping up first against Sam and then Ashley and then repeating the order again and again. His bark edged with a whine that sounded desperate, his plumy tail whipping through the air as he tried to climb their bodies. And they responded in kind, both embracing him and then laughing as he whipped from one to the other.

‘Calm down!' Sam tried to hold him steady, but the dog wriggled out and continued his assault.

Ashley was still laughing. ‘He's gone mad!'

‘Sit!' Sam made his voice stern, pushing down on Guess's hind-quarters. After a momentary struggle the dog acquiesced, though his bottom still had a wriggle that polished the floor. Sam ruffled his fur. ‘Good boy. Good boy.'

‘He's gone mad!' said Ashley again, this time looking at her mother and smiling, almost shyly.

Without thinking, or planning, Maddie returned the smile and then simply held out her arms. And Ashley didn't hesitate, shooting forward to wrap herself within her mother's embrace and then return it. They hugged, rocking slightly from side to side. Both exactly the same height but very different.

‘I'm sorry,' muttered Ashley against Maddie's shoulder. ‘I'm really, really sorry.'

Maddie pushed her away, holding the girl by her shoulders. Drinking in her appearance – same new jeans from the airport, T-shirt with a horrid Betty Boop caricature, brown hair done up in a high pony-tail with tendrils hanging either side of her face – even as she frowned. ‘You've got
nothing
to be sorry for. Understand?
Nothing
.' Her frown deepened when Ashley didn't answer. ‘Do you hear me?'

Ashley nodded, finally.

‘Good.' Maddie dragged her forward again, hugged her briefly as if for emphasis. Then she left her arm around the girl's shoulder as she searched for a change of subject. ‘Who was that who dropped you off? The red hatchback?'

‘Oh, just Natalie.'

Maddie closed her eyes briefly, flicking them open again to continue brightly: ‘Hey, how do you like your welcome home cake?'

‘Yum.' Ashley stared at the table. ‘Are those presents for us?'

‘Absolutely.'

‘Can I open mine now? Is it the one with the pink and purple wrapping?'

Maddie nodded, grinning at her pleasure, pushing aside all thoughts of Natalie and the hatchback and
her
scoring points by delivering them late. Or perhaps just doing what she was told. Ashley had leapt over to the table and was now tearing open the wrapping, pulling out the pewter
Twilight
key ring. She gave a squeal that clearly indicated her appreciation. The stickers fluttered down onto the table and she grabbed those up too. ‘Look! There's one of all of them! Even Jasper and he's my favourite!
Wicked!
'