Chapter 53: Home Again

Mary had barely settled down with her fresh cup of tea after Tom had left when she heard puppies barking.

She got up and went to the front door to find Tom and Nena each holding a squirming mass of excited fur. “Surprise,” Tom shouted and pushed the dog into his mother’s shocked arms.

Mary stepped back into the room and made a horrid face as the Blue Heeler pup enthusiastically tried to lick her face. She started chuckling as she tried to wrestle the three-month-old puppy into some sort of submission.

She ended up bending over and just letting the excited beast go. Its mate was soon on the floor beside it, and off they went exploring everything with their noses down and their bums and tails wagging frantically.

“Mum, I have someone for you to meet,” Tom started and stepped out of the way so his mother could see Matilda. Mary immediately stepped up to Matilda and hugged her.

Tom noticed that they were the same height and had to smile. His smile broadened when Mary let Matilda go and turned to him and said, “So you had to go and get her, did you?”

“Yes, Mum. After all, I could hardly marry my grand-daughter now, could I?”

Mary shook her head, “I think I need to sit down for this revelation. It is probably going to take me another five years to get over this visit, Tom.”

“Sorry, Mum,” Tom replied as he dragged Matilda into the house after his mother. Nena went to the kitchen to organise tea for them and to check on where the puppies had gone.

“Wow, ripping house, Mrs White,” Matilda said in her accented English as she entered the lounge room. Mary thought it sounded more British than Australian, but it was cute and sounded good coming from a girl that looked like an English rose with her pale-pink, unblemished skin.

They were all soon seated, and Tom had to explain to his mother where and when he met Matte and some of his time on Harmony. He also told her the cover story, so she knew what to say if anyone asked about Matilda, as she was to call his girlfriend.

“Oh, that poor girl. Do you think you should make some enquiries about her?” Mary asked.

Tom shook his head, “Lee went and checked out the Island and found a working transport portal. She said it had been used multiple times in the last couple of hundred years, before her time. She even found an Aussie water bottle that was from the World War Two era.”

“So, she thinks that the real Matilda travelled through this portal thing?” Mary asked.

“Yes, we may come across her in the future, but for now, she is having her own adventure and won’t be back here for at least twenty years if ever, as far as Lee can work out. Lee said that this sort of thing has happened quite a few times in Earth’s past and it will happen again in our future.”

“Well, as long as the girl is all right, I guess it won’t hurt to borrow her name in the meantime,” Mary reasoned.

“So, Mum, I know we weren’t gone very long to your way of thinking, but are you still interested in moving to the coast with us?”

Mary smiled at Tom and then looked at the two girls with him. She still found it hard to believe Nena was her great-granddaughter, but then again, weird things just seem to happen around Tom.

“No, Tom. I think for the next little while I’ll stay here since you fixed the place up so nice. I will get Mark to organise selling the house in Emerald so that you can have your share. The current tenants are interested in buying it. It will be one less worry for me.”

“I now have more than enough money to live comfortably for quite some time to come. You have given me some new puppies to love and keep me company, and I do have some really good friends here.”

“It will also seem a bit crass of me to buggar off just after Bill died. I feel I have to do the right thing, and at least be around for his funeral. Plus, it is a lot cheaper to live here, and it is my home. I don’t like big cities, even Mackay and Emerald are too big for me.”

“Now that I’m not working, I plan to get my garden started, and I should probably fill that flash new chook-pen you built me, so I do have plenty to do. I also know that if I need you, you are not so far away, are you?” she smiled at Tom.

“Well, if you’re sure you don’t want to go, I’ll just have to be happy with your decision. I did your old ute up so it won’t have any mechanical problems, but I didn’t want to change the exterior too much, or it would look odd.”

“How do I explain the house?” Mary asked and waved her hand about the room.

Tom shrugged, “Just tell everyone I turned up with a team of renovators and did the place over. They carted all the junk off in the semi-trailers after they emptied them. I’m sure all of your friends have watched those one-day home renovation programs, so it is believable.”

“Hum, I might take the puppies to Mackay and visit my friend Bridget for a couple of weeks. I can drop Bill’s shit off with his wife while I’m at it. I’ll also ring a few people here to tell them Bill died, and that’s why I’ve had to go away, and that I need time to heal. That way, your magical makeover of me and here has longer to happen.”

“If that works for you, Mum, then that is fine by me,” Tom said. “I can even put a spell on the fence so only you can enter the property for the next two weeks.”

“I can live with that. Now, you lot buggar off and see what else you can break and let me make my calls. You can use the ute if you like.”

“Okay, Mum,” Tom smiled. “Care for a look around the countryside?” he asked the girls.

They both nodded, and after quick hugs for Mary, they headed downstairs.

Tom soon had them heading into the township of Comet.

They stopped at the Servo, and Tom got out to fill the tank. Nena was happily telling her new cousin Matilda all about Australian norms in 2020. She was rather surprised by just how much Matilda knew.