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They dumped the beast on the back veranda, and Albie nodded to the hoe she was holding. She’d been at it a while by the looks of it. “You don’t need to do this. One of us men?—”
Elsie stomped the hoe into the dirt. “I ain’t useless, Albie. And I ain’t afraid of a bit of hard work. Did all kinds of jobs at the hotel.” She looked skyward. “Plus, it’s a nice day for winter. A bit of sun’ll do me good.”
Albie wasn’t sure he was game to argue.
“Well, if you’re sure,” he said. “If you need anything done, just be sure to say.”
“I’ll have this garden up to scratch in no time,” she said, going back to tilling the soil, tossing weeds to the chickens. “Already got a pile ready for pickling.” And sure enough, there was indeed a pile of carrots and turnips.
Albie hadn’t realised there were any in need of harvesting. He really wasn’t an expert in these things—though he made a note in his mind that he should learn—but he felt so much better now that Elsie was here to right any of his wrongs.
Percy gave Albie a nudge, then he nodded to the kangaroo. “Let’s get it strung up.”
“Good idea.”
They got it strung up in the tree, leaving it for Robert to gut and bleed it, when he got home. He was skilled with a knife, knew how to cut the skin and carve the meat. Albie was never a fan of watching that, truth be told, but it was something he’d now have to learn.
Now that he was the boss.
Something he still had to remind himself of every now and then.
“What’s the frown for?” Percy asked, pointing to his own forehead. “You got a line right here.”
Albie sighed and took his gloves off, stuffing them into his pocket. “Nothing, really. I just...”
“You just what?”
He took a deep breath in and let it out, feeling foolish for admitting this out loud. But if he could share this with anyone, it was Percy. “I’m realising something about myself,” he began.
Percy gave his undivided attention. “Oh?”
“About my position here and my ability to do my father’s job.”
Percy put a hand on Albie’s arm. He didn’t say anything, but he was waiting patiently for Albie to continue. Silent support that was everything Albie needed from him.
“It occurred to me just now,” Albie said quietly, “that I’m both cursed and blessed, in a way.”
“Cursed? How so?”
“My inexperience. My lack of know-how. I’d have let those vegetables rot in the ground, probably. I mean, I’d pulled some for us to eat, but it didn’t occur to me to pickle them for later. And the meat.” He looked at the dead kangaroo. “I had the thought just now that I should have Robert teach me how to butcher it now that I’m the boss. And I should have Elsie show me how she knows what to do with the vegetable garden. And you, helping me with reading.” Albie sighed. “I’m cursed by my lack of years to know such things, yet I’m blessed, in a way, that I have people here to teach me.”
Percy smiled at him, soft and kind. “You are blessed. And everyone here will happily teach you.”
“Do you not think they’ll consider it odd to be teaching their boss? Does it not prove the point that I’m too young for this?”
“Not at all,” Percy said quickly, seriously. “Where is this self-doubt coming from, Albie? Because the man I see knows how to do more than he gives himself credit for. You seeing just now that you can learn from these good people means you’re better than half the men I know. Do you think the likes of McAllister would ever admit that he can learn from a woman?” Percy snorted. “He’d see himself starve before it came to that.”
Albie took Percy’s words as the comfort they were intended to be and the kindness in his eyes, in his tone. “There you go again, speaking reason and wisdom. I cannot imagine doing this without you, Percy,” he whispered. “You’ve been here for no more than a few weeks and now I struggle to recall a time without you.”
Percy blushed a deep red. “There you go, saying things out loud again.”
Albie laughed. “Shall I tell you again when we’re alone later tonight?”
“Argh,” Percy said. “Albie, stop it.”
He turned just as two figures came up from down past the homestead. Albie and Percy walked to the stable to meet them, and Des and Robert rode up and dismounted. Percy took their horses into the stable.
“How did you go?” Albie asked.
