Chapter 9

After clearing the smell of shit from my nose, (riding shotgun on a dunny cart was interesting but not as a full time occupation). I was headed for Pakenham to pick pears and apples. Stopping at a cafe for a bite to eat I got talking to the waitress, it was another one of those one horse town so I started to tease the girl.

"What do they do after they roll up the footpath for the night?" I quipped with a cheeky grin on my face.

"Well city slicker, there's a dance in the Mechanics Hall tonight, they put on a good supper at half time and Claude Warren and his band make very good music. Nothing like you folk from the big smoke are used to but we enjoy it."

"I'm just a country boy love, so I guess I'll have to go along and check it out."

"I just might save you a dance then."

She gave me directions to the hall so I drove Alchemy over to find a parking spot with the intentions of overnighting. There was a vacant block next to the hall so I parked towards the back and away from the building. Waiting for the dance to begin, I decided on a long overdue clean up. I'd been living in Alchemy for about eight months and although I'm a reasonably clean person I'm a bit untidy. I stripped the bed and put clean sheets and pillow cases on it, collected all my dirty laundry in a bag and went looking for a Laundromat.

Everything shipshape I was ready for the dance and looking forward to the supper interval. The first strains of music wafted through the evening air, so a quick check to make sure I was presentable I locked Alchemy up and headed on over.

I paid my entrance fee and stepped inside, it was nice big hall and the floor looked to be in good shape. I spied the girl from the cafe and she gave me a wave, definitely a follow up required, glad I changed the sheets. The patrons were the usual ones for this type of dance, mainly young girls with a smattering of matrons. The music started a new set and one of the matrons latched onto me.

"Come on young feller, nice to have a bit of fresh blood here, staying long?" By this time we were on the floor tripping the light fantastic, or at least my version of it.

"No love, just passing through, the waitress at the cafe told me about the dance so I decided to drop it and have a look see."

"Ah Rosie, nice girl but be aware, her boyfriend isn't so pleasant."

"Ah well I'll probably just have one dance to be polite, I'm a lover not a fighter."

"Good thinking. So, back on the road tomorrow?"

"Yep, heading over to Pakenham to pick apples and pears."

"Ah to be young again, today's generation have it all over mine."

"Haw! ... you're not that old." I quipped.

"Sweet talker, I better warn the young 'virgins' about you."

The banter continued until the end of the set, I thanked her and suggested I might look her up later. I did have a dance with young Rosie but heeded the matrons advice. Several dances later, I'd been out for a leak, the next set was in progress, looking around for a partner I saw a lady sitting on her own.

"Would you care to dance?" She appeared to be a little older than myself and had a ring on her finger.

"Thank you, I'm not much of a dancer though."

"Ah! That's good, I'm not Fred Astaire either so let's do the 'get to know you shuffle'."

"Poohee! I been watching you dance with the other ladies, you're no slouch."

"I see your ring, I hope you don't have an irate husband in the wings."

"No, Chummy's resting up for the footy game tomorrow, he's probably in bed by now."

"Watching the kids as well?"

"N ... oo, no kids yet."

"Sorry, I seemed to have hit a raw nerve there, my apologies, I didn't mean to intrude."

"Hmmm, that's OK, we've been trying for a while, a few maybe's that weren't, so we just keep trying."

"Not trying to be crass, perhaps you need fresh blood."

"And I suppose you want to be the knight in shining armour who comes to rescue the damsel in distress?"

"You could do worse, I'm healthy, as far as I know there's no genetic throwbacks in my linage, plus the fact I'm a sensitive lover who, at this time tomorrow will be two hundred miles down the road."

"In your dreams mister, in your dreams."

"Can't blame a bloke for trying."