Epilogue

Time was a funny thing.

It moved in cycles, both fast and slow. Some days Albie could have sworn time flew by too fast, seasons merging into years far too easily. Some days working cattle and horses outside was so cold time seemed to stop altogether.

And then some days it seemed like just yesterday that he said a final goodbye to his father.

It had been ten years to the day that Albie had inherited his father’s farm and signed the title deeds to his property. Ten years to the day that a thin and wiry blond man not much younger than him smiled his way into Albie’s life.

And into his heart.

He wasn’t so thin and wiry anymore.

Percy had filled out nicely. A strong man of almost thirty years now. His blond hair still probably a little too long, but those blue eyes still sparked with mischief, and his smile...

That smile still stole Albie’s breath.

He’d never tire of it.

Never tire of waking up next to him, working alongside him.

And never tire of seeing Percy’s name next to Albie’s on the deeds to his property.

“Mr Bramwell, Mr Collins,” Mr Flannigan said. “Congratulations.”

Congratulations, indeed.

It had taken ten years, but Percy finally agreed to be partners.

Life partners, always.

Business partners, starting now.

“I’m sure your father would be very proud of your success, Albie,” Mr Flannigan added. He gestured to them both in their nice attire, sitting across from him.

They both did look good today.

Clean suits, hair brushed.

A far cry from the kid that walked into this office ten years ago in his too-worn clothes, covered in dirt and sweat, full of grit and determination.

Well, the determination still remained.

They smelled a little better this time though.

“I would like to think he would be too,” Albie said.

“Opening up the bottom parcel of your land was the right decision,” Mr Flannigan added. “Made a few folks around these parts think about their land a bit differently. The men from Echo Creek, huh?”

Albie and Percy both smiled. “Yeah,” Albie said, his heart so full it could burst.

Yes, running sheep and cattle in the winter down on the lowland had been the right decision. It soon became running sheep and cattle all year round, and the good townsfolk of Alpine Falls attributed Albie’s slow-growing wealth to this decision.

They had no idea of the real reason.

No one did.

They’d found quite a few nuggets over the years.

More than enough to secure the future of Echo Creek. Enough to purchase good breeding stock, enough to buy shares in the stock market. Enough to never worry about affording their next meal ever again.

They hired more workers, making Des and Robert both leading foremen, and paid them handsomely for it. Even built them a house to share with their wives.

While Albie and Percy managed the property as a whole, they spent most of their time in the small house on the lowlands. They’d kept true to their promise. Their main priority would always be the mountain farm, but when they were alone and when time allowed, they did look for more gold.

It could have been so easy for Albie to neglect the farm and focus only on finding gold, panning, mining. But he remembered his father’s love and pride in his farm, and he remembered the look of fear in Percy’s eyes that day when they’d found the first nugget.

And he swore to himself he’d do everything in his power to never see that look again.

And Percy had been right.

They were now living the best of both worlds. Running the farm with enough money behind them to never have to worry again.

“How does it feel?” Albie asked him as they stepped outside of the lawyer’s office.

The streets of Alpine Falls were busier these days. The town was growing, but a lot of familiar faces remained. “Morning,” the chemist said, tipping his hat at them as he passed.

“Charles,” Albie replied with a smile and a nod.

“Nice morning,” he said as he went about his business.

Percy smiled out into the street. “It feels good, Albie,” Percy finally answered. “I get it now.”

“You get what now?”

“My name next to yours. It’s not about the land itself. Not for me, at least. But my name next to yours.”

Albie grinned at him, his heart full. “Exactly.” Then he lowered his voice. “If we were wed and I were to die, you’d get the farm. This is just ensuring the same. And just so you know, if we could be married, I would.”

Percy’s cheeks flushed a little pink, and he swallowed hard. “Can we not talk about you dying, thanks. I won’t have a word of it.”

“Oh, I have no intention of it,” Albie said. “I have a life with you to live first.”

“Ah, Mr Bramwell,” a familiar voice said. “Albie.”

Albie turned to find none other than Williams walking to them. He appeared mostly dishevelled, and he had a cane now, after an intoxicated fall from a horse broke his leg. Ironically, not too dissimilar an injury to Des’s. An injury Williams here had mocked Des for. Williams found himself fired from McAllister’s and he’d come knocking on Albie’s door, begging for work.

Only to have Elsie hunt him off the veranda with a shotgun pointed in his face, and for what he’d tried to do to Clara, Albie couldn’t blame her.

Needless to say, he was not welcome.

That did start the rumour that Elsie and Clara were sharing the house with Albie and Percy, and Albie was happy for that rumour to run its course.

Let people believe what they will. It was more readily accepted than the truth would have ever been.

“Morning, Williams,” Albie said.

“Not, uh, not looking for any more workers by chance, are ya?”

“No,” Albie replied. “Sorry.”

Not that he’d hire him even if he was.

“Shame,” Williams said, squinting at the sun. “Say, could you perhaps keep an ear out for anything, maybe put in a good word.”

He would do neither.

“You could perhaps try the church,” Albie said. He didn’t like Williams at all, but he would never be as callous or cold as the likes of McAllister. Albie’s father raised him better than that. “Maybe old Father Michael might need some ground maintenance work done. Or the school yard.”

Williams nodded as if that was a good idea and went on his way. They watched him hobble off.

“You’re nicer than he deserves,” Percy murmured.

“I’d like to think so, yes,” Albie replied with a smile.

“Percy? Percy Collins?”

Both Percy and Albie turned to find a woman with a small child at her side. She was well-dressed, a fine dress and hat, a purse in her hand. She had curls of blond hair around her ears and very familiar blue eyes.

“Marie?” Percy asked.

“Oh, it is you!” she cried, her eyes shining.

Percy collected her in an embrace, and Albie remembered the name Marie.

Percy’s sister. One of them, at least.

She pulled back and dabbed tears from her eyes as she took him in. “Look at you,” she said. “I’ve missed you. Where have you been? Where did you go when...” She dabbed at more tears. “I’ve missed you so much.”

“I found myself here,” he replied, then he looked at Albie. “This is Albie. He’s my... partner. Business partner,” he added quickly.

And damn, if it didn’t give Albie’s heart a stir.

Partner.

He held out his hand and gently took hers. “So nice to meet you. I can see the family resemblance.”

Her smile was familiar too, but she quickly turned back to Percy. “You’ve clearly done well for yourself,” she said. “Look at you. Oh, Percy.”

“We have,” Percy said. “Done well for ourselves. Cattle, mostly. Sheep, and the best stock horses around,” he explained for people now watching. “How long are you staying in town for?”

She looked back down toward the train station. “We’ve only stopped momentarily, on our way to Sydney,” she said. “Young Thomas here needed to stretch his legs. The ticket master said just ten minutes.”

Percy looked at the boy and tousled his hair. He had a nephew...

“We best walk you back,” Albie suggested, giving Percy some time with his sister.

They strode ahead, arms interlocked, and it warmed Albie’s heart to watch. They saw them to the platform where they exchanged mailing addresses and promises to write.

“Echo Creek,” she said, reading the name.

“That’s us,” Percy replied. “The men from Echo Creek.”

That will always be us,Albie thought.

She hugged him goodbye, then he and Percy watched the train pull away, a horn and plumes of black smoke announcing its departure. And Percy stared after it for a long while.

“Percy,” Albie said gently.

He turned, eyes a little watery. “Can you believe that?”

“She looks just like you.”

“My baby sister.”

“I’m so happy for you. You’ll stay in touch. Maybe we can visit. She’s more than welcome to visit us.”

He nodded quickly and swallowed thickly. “She said our mother is well and our father is...” he shook his head.

“Oh, Percy. I’m sorry.”

“No, he’s not dead. He was incarcerated.” He shook his head in disbelief. Just like Albie could barely believe it either. Then he leaned in and whispered, smiling. “He’s a criminal, and my mother’s two brothers threw him out of the house.”

Albie put his hand to his mouth. Smiling didn’t feel quite right. “Oh.”

Percy laughed, but then he shook his head, sadly. “Gold fever,” he murmured. “I told you it rots a man’s brain.”

Albie smiled and sighed at the warm winter sun. “Lucky we made that promise to protect each other from that.”

Percy smiled up at him, slipping the folded note paper with his sister’s mailing address on it into his breast pocket. “Can we go home now?”

“We sure can. To our home. It’s half yours now, remember.”

“I only did it to see my name next to yours.”

“That’s as good a reason as any,” Albie said. They walked off the platform, men tipping their hats in their direction, ladies smiling as they walked the busy street. “Do you need anything else in town? From the store perhaps?”

“No,” Percy said. “I’ve got everything I’ll ever need.”

Albie laughed, and he wore a smile the whole way home. They rode up the mountain, laughing and singing, telling stories and making plans, and the higher they got, the colder it became, the heavy mist settling in, dampening everything it touched. The smell of eucalypt and damp earth made him long to be home.

And when the rolling green field finally came into view, with the long drive to his house on the rise, Albie’s heart had never been so full.

So happy.

Oh, how he wished his father could see him now.

“What’s this?” Percy said, stopping at the gate.

There on the long wooden railing was the name Echo Creek, where Albie’s name had been underneath it now for ten years. Another name was now etched in beside it, painted in white.

Echo Creek

A Bramwell and P Collins

Albie beamed with pride.“I had Des amend it while we were gone. Do you like it?”

Percy turned to him, his eyes full of tears. “Albie. I don’t know what to say.”

“Say you’ll open the gate.”

He barked out a teary laugh and slid down off his horse. He opened the gate and Bandit walked through, only to race off without him, heading straight for the warm barn and fresh hay.

Albie laughed and laughed, but he slid down off Minnie, and let her do the same. She raced down the drive to the barn, leaving them both stranded by the gate. They could hear Des laughing as they got closer, and one of the farm hands followed the two horses into the barn.

Then he and Percy walked down toward the house, together.

As they always would.

As partners.

In business and in life.

The End