CHAPTER 67
Life took a turn for the bloody busy after that evening. We were both working full time, of course, and there were our combination recreation and social sessions at music nights and at the climbing wall, but there was so much else to deal with. Australia has a very relaxed approach to marriage, in its own way, barring a few slightly irksome formalities. We could indeed marry just about anywhere, but that choice had been sneakily covered by Murdo. We could always say no, of course, but given what he was offering to us a refusal would have been more than rude.

We needed to sort two items out before anything else, though, and that involved sending a specific form and finding a particular type of person---specifically, a ‘notice of intended marriage’ to what the website called to an ‘authorised marriage celebrant’. A bit like the banns in an Englich marriage, in its effect. I assumed it was so that others could object or claim we weren’t eligible, and we had a very silly evening with the Butts where the possible reasons we came up with became more and more fantastic and silly, but there were tears from both of us later when we declared our actual status.

Widow and widower. Here are the death certificates, here are the circumstances.

Emotions and memories that would never leave us, and I prayed that some sort of shell might wrap around them, to keep them safe for us, and ourselves safe from the pain.

Yet again, what I sometimes thought of as Perth’s nepotism brought us a friend of a friend in in Ronnie’s sister, who knew someone and so on, and we met Dina Corrigan, a humanist something or other. Not a vicar, not a priest, just a celebrant. She was a solidly built woman with cropped grey hair and a winning smile, and as we sat in Soapy’s for a first meeting, Maz just squeezed my thigh and gave the slightest of nods: this was the one.

We were running against the calendar, of course, that of a growing child-to-be, so, following a quick check of availability with Mirdo, the date was set for six weeks after we submitted the notice.

It was a bit of a rush, but we got there, just. Maz spent a night at the Butt house, for the sake of perceived propriety, I avoided a stag night on the basis of a headache and wobbly stomach being a bit of a liability when combined with a boat trip, and Kul did the business when, three days before the wedding, Bets arrived at Perth airport with Doug, Joe and Amy. I had been given absolutely no warning they were coming.

Maz and I joined them at Chez Butt, and they were already in full swing with their family’s raucous style of humour. Both of us received loads of hugs, and Bets was straight to the point.

“When did that one change her name, then?”

Kul tried to be blasé, but in the end he folded.

“It’s local stuff, Bets. They abbreviate everything differently down here, and I kept saying ‘Sanny’, and Ronnie and the neighbours kept saying ‘Geeta’, so we just gave up in the end. Good job they didn’t do it with my own name. It’s like the Borg here”

Bets gave him an arch look.

“Dunno, love. You’ve always been a winder-up; would have suited. Now, Maz. I want all the messy details. Not those messy details, Doug: just how they met properly. Yes I know they work together; I want the SP on what she saw in this oversized lunk”

Dal snorted, and all eyes turned to him, and he grinned.

“Aussie phrase I heard, and it’s just so, you know, weird. Great hunk of spunk”

Doug sprayed some of his beer out, thankfully into his glass, while Betty just shook her head and changed the subject.

“Right, then. As you all know, we declined the offer of the job out here, at least first time, but Shaun is always a bit pushy, so…. This is our recon trip, in essence. Have a snout around, see what the place is like. For Mike’s benefit, we’ve got four weeks, and we’re doing the traditional bit, and thanks, Kul”

That man raised his beer in acknowledgement.

“Rod’s sorted them out for us. Four berth van, traditional as a traditional thing”

He grinned at me.

“Nearly slipped there, nearly just said ‘Traditional as’. Er, ripper, bonzer, she’ll be right, et cetera. They pick up the van day after tomorrow. Park it here until after the festivities, and then off into the RFO”

Maz perked up at that remark.

“Well, we know a good caravan park down near Margaret River, which would make a good start. Got the number; if you have a starting date, we can check for vacancies. Fancy being a bridesmaid, Amy?”

Betty laughed out loud once again.

“Like she’d say no? anyway, Maz: answer my question. I want details!”

Maz gave her own laugh, and called over to Dal.

“You got that climbing wall video to hand? Feed it through the telly?”

Dal was up like a flash, and after he had done his usual rearrangement of cables, we were being treated to footage of the ‘English Rock Star’ and other people sitting by him. Amy was open-mouthed.

“Uncle Mike?”

“Yes, love?”

“When we were in Wales you wore more clothes”

Betty was nodding.

“Yes, love. I noticed. I notice that sort of thing very well, Maz?”

“Yes, Betty?”

“Tell me he wears more than that for work”

That evening continued in the usual way, including Dal’s failure at teasing them about drop bears. By the time I drove Maz over to the Butt house again, the evening before our appointment on Rotto, a Canning Van’s four berth special was on the drive and being loaded with the necessities for their expedition. She hugged me so tightly that I felt my breathing failing.

“Not apart long, love. One boat ride, and that’s it for separation. One night, and them well, rest of our lives”

I put a hand to her stomach, where she wasn’t yet showing, and then kissed her.

“Lots of new stuff to come, love, and we’ll find out together. Just one night---hang on”

My phone had chirped in my pocket, and when I flicked it on I found an e-mail alert. I tapped the appropriate icons, and it was from Neil.

‘Hiya mate. Just sorting out a sim card. Could you give me a phone number I can call?’

I sent off my number, a little confused, and showed Maz the message. Her eyes widened.

“You don’t think he’s…?”

“I bloody well do think exactly that! Could you keep all those thoughts we were sharing nice and fresh, and go and let Geeta and Kul know? I’ll do the run, if we’re right”

Two minutes later, and my phone rang.

“Can I help you?”

Neil sounded drained.

“Hiya, Big Boy. I am absolutely buggered. How do I get to yours?”

I thought frantically. Easiest place to put him up would be in the soon-to-be marital home, but getting from Joondalup into the chaos of the airport was likely to be a nightmare. Right…

“You’re at the airport, aren’t you?”

“Yes”

“No chance of a bit of a bit of a warning beforehand?”

“Nope. Only really decided three days ago. Came by Dubai”

“Right… Taxi will cost the Earth, and driving through the arrivals traffic will be awful. Out the front of the airport you’ll find buses. Look for one going to the Busport”

Dal appeared next to me.

“Tell him to get the 902”

“Get that, Neil? I’ll meet you there. How much luggage?”

“Suitcase, and a cabin bag for my cameras and shit”

“Get on the 902 then, and I ‘ll get down to the CBD. Er, city centre”

“You got a cold one in?”

Dal grinned, trotted off and returned with an eskie bag.

“Dad says remember it’s a boat ride in the morning!”

Bag in boot, car in gear, and off into the traffic. Only decided to come three days ago, Neil said, and he would have lost a day or even two in the travel. Home first, then, beers in fridge, make sure the guest bed was ready, and then down to the big car park near the Busport. I was there in ‘zone B’ only three minutes before the 092 pulled in, disgorging any number of commuters and an utterly exhausted Neil Strachan. He simply stared at me as if through the wrong end of a telescope, then grinned.

“Shower. Beer. Bed. Oh, and you look bloody well”

“In the nicest way, mate, you look like shit”

“How I feel, mate. Love you too, aye?”

Manly hugs, but still loving ones. I took his suitcase from him and led him out into the busy streets as he visibly wilted even further in the heat, already plotting.

“Camera kit?”

“Never without it, Mike, but you know that”

“Got someone to do the honours tomorrow?”

“Dal’s setting up a video shoot. Pro kit from college”

“Mind if I sneak around with my own kit, then?”

“That would be lovely. Now, the car’s in here…”

He was snoring before I had driven four hundred yards, but woke as I pulled up in Scarborough. I hauled his case into the spare room, showed him where the shower was and, after a quick couple of questions, I rang the local pizzeria for a delivery. By the time I had sorted out the toppings, he was settling into an armchair, dressed in a T-shirt and shorts, hair damp.

“Bugger me it’s warm, Mike Bloody good job the beer isn’t. What’s the plan?”

“Grab my phone, just in case the pizzeria ring. Aussie sim on yours?”

“Yeah. Got it from a little desk in the concourse”

“Can I borrow it? Keep mine free?”

He passed it across, and I quickly rang Kul.

“It’s Mike, on Neil’s phone. Package collected, mate. Getting pizza delivered. Could you do us a favour and let the venue know we’ve got one more for food?”

“Already done, mate. What state’s he in?”

“Breathing. That’s about it, apart from necking that beer”

“Then keep him awake as long as you can before bedtime”

“He’s brought his cameras, Kul. Will that put Dal out at all?”

He thought for a moment, then sighed.

“Lad’s already come to terms with you eloping with his crush, so probably not. He’s all keen to play with the video. I will sell it as taking an extra load off him. I’ve got some last minute extras to sort, so I will leave you to it—that was your doorbell I believe”

He killed the call, as Neil collected two pizzas from the delivery driver, and I started the process of ensuring he didn’t say the wrong thing to Maz the next day, starting with how she lost Alan.