Chapter 43

I read Al's draft in the morning, made a few comments and sent it back to him. Rachel was going through the midden on her table and came up with Sandra Wynne's card. While she phoned Sandra, I called Winnie. Luckily she was still at home.

"I gather that when you became a widow, you inherited a reasonable sum?"

"Is this a quiz programme?"

I explained that I would be receiving a rather large sum of money soon.

"Did you win the lottery?"

"No. Both of my grandfathers left legacies payable when I became twenty-one."

"Aha!"

"Our account here is with the Commonwealth. And the funds in Perth are at the Commonwealth, too. But I visited the branch yesterday and was singularly unimpressed. Then I stopped at the NAB, they seemed more alert. But I thought I'd ask you."

"Well, as you know, NAB is the biggest Australian bank. Commonwealth Bank is third. Following the three bears, I bank with the middle one, Westpac. I deal with the office on George St., about 15 minutes from the Gallery. If you're interested, I'll give Rachel my investment advisor's card when she's next in."

"That would be great."

"Anyway, I've got to run."

"Thanks. Sorry to have detained you."

I could hear Rachel chatting in the other room. When she got off, I told her of my conversation with Winnie. "Well," she said. "Sandra doesn't know anyone in maths, but she did tell me something interesting."

"To wit?"

"Oooh, you're so-o-o legal! It appears that Macquarie has a program where some students get admitted in mid-year."

"And?"

"So if Al completes his current term at UNSW and if all goes well, he should be able to start there next semester, not wasting an entire year."

"That does sound good."

On Friday both sets of parents called around noon (WA time) to wish me 'happy birthday.' I wasn't sure whether Al knew, but I was a bit ticked that Sarah hadn't called when evening came. The post brought several cards, including one from Audie, Gerri and Gordy and one from Sue Carr. Rachel surprised me by having Mark and Allison waiting when we went for dinner. It was nice. I hadn't expected any gifts, as we'd received a lot between the wedding and the reception. And the family knew about the funds. But when we got home, there was a carefully-wrapped gift: an acrylic on canvas about 60 by 80 – "Mulju" [dry waterholes] by Janet Long Nakamarra.

It's too much!"

"Not for you."

"Thanks. Thanks."

"Happy birthday, Patrick. I love you."

"And I love you. Wow!"

Sunday Rachel called Alf to see how he was doing and around noon an excited Al phoned. He'd an answer from Macquarie and was going for a chat (an interview?) on Tuesday. Rachel congratulated him and passed him on to me. I told him to dress decently, but not to overdo it, and to try to pause and think before answering queries. He got off to call Perth.

We decided where to hang "Mulju" and I put in a nail.

"Too high," Rachel said. "Men always hang art too high!"

I re-positioned the nail about 10 cm. down.

"Lots better. I've learned that the top of the picture should be barely above eye-level."

"You're the curator – of the pictures and of my heart."

We spent the rest of Sunday putting my papers in order, talking over our queries, and making certain that we didn't commit to anything prior to getting information about Westpac.

The two Monday appointments were disillusioning: the bloke at the Commonwealth was interested in our money, but had no real advice and didn't seem prepared for discussion; the woman at NAB was more forthcoming: the branch here at the uni just wasn't up to the sort of advice we were seeking. She gave us the business card of someone at the main branch. We were less than elated when we left.

Rachel headed downtown to the Gallery and I went off to the Law Library.

In the evening, Rachel gave me the Westpac card. I'd phone in the morning and try to set up a meeting.

"Did you hear about the Noongar art?" she asked.

"No."

"A university in New York is returning a lot of paintings from Carrolup to Curtin."