Nothing will come between us

The day was sultry as Penny trudged along the riverbank that formed the eastern limit of the property. The rope chafed her neck as she dragged it towards the eucalypt, her eyes intent on a large branch that jutted out over the river. Feelings of loss came flooding back to her as she positioned the rope, ready for the final act that would end the torture that she felt deep in her heart.

In school, Penny was always a quiet girl; most would say plain, with only a few friends and none of them particularly close. So it was a great surprise to her – as well as everyone else – when Andrew, the most popular boy in her class, asked her to the school dance.

To her wonder, their relationship grew, and after school had finished they remained a couple, often talking about marriage and children. In the intervening years Andrew had gone off to university in the city. Penny would visit him, staying longer and longer each time until she was virtually living with him. If Andrew noticed any change in his lifestyle, he never mentioned it. He never seemed to miss going out with his friends, and did not sense that he now had no female company outside of Penny.

When Andrew graduated, they moved back to the idyllic lifestyle of the NSW country. Penny looked beautiful on their wedding day, dressed in the most striking gown ever seen in the district; it was the event of the century, not unlike a wedding from Neighbours or Home and Away. “Promise me that nothing is ever going to come between us,” Penny said on their wedding night. “Of course not, you mean the world to me.” Andrew answered as he drifted off to sleep.

Back on the farm it was hard, Dairy farming meant that Andrew was up early and home late, but he made sure that every non-working moment was spent with his wife sharing life together. Penny for her part, made the perfect country wife. She was involved in the CWA, baking cakes for their stalls and occupied with fund raising. But something was wrong; Penny was feeling sick and lethargic, a visit to the doctors confirmed her inner feelings, Penny was pregnant.

Andrew, naturally, was ecstatic and busied himself preparing the spare room for the impending arrival of their bundle of joy. Every waking minute, when he was not working, was now spent painting walls and building furniture. Penny hardly ever saw him these days. She was busy herself, with doctors’ appointments and the CWA Christmas pageant coming up – she was a natural this year to play Mary. That did not help the situation but still, her husband could have spent more time with her!

Andrew, as usual, was milking cows early. At around 10 he heard the car leave the house knowing, that Penny was scheduled for some final rehearsal for the pageant that would play in three days time. When he came home from the milking yards the phone was ringing, he answered it not knowing the chaos that his life was to become.

“Andrew, this is Dr Brooklyn, I have bad news.”
He broke the land speed record and made it from his homestead to the base hospital in just under half an hour. Once there, he found his wife in what passed for the ICU of the small country facility. “Your wife was in an accident, she’s fine but I’m sorry, she lost the baby.” informed Dr Brooklyn.
“But Penny’s OK?” he asked.
“Yes she is, there will be bruising and the stitches will have to come out but otherwise she’s fine. The only concern is that the police say there were no skid marks, she seems to have driven straight into the wall.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Penny would never deliberately harm herself.”
“I’m just letting you know, I’m sure she would not do anything intentionally.”

With that the conversation was over. Eventually, Penny was able to go home, Andrew never doubted her and never spoke about what the doctor had told him. With Penny convalescing, Andrew bought himself a cattle dog to keep him company and he proceeded to go on long walks after dinner never dreaming of what Penny was thinking, never realising her soul was tortured.

As she pulled on the rope to move it into position, Penny began to cry. “You promised me Andrew, you promised that nothing would come between us,” she sobbed. “First it was the baby, now the dog, well I won’t share you.” With that, she let go of the rope sending the canvas bag with the remains of her husband’s dog into the water. The rain had been good recently and the river was very deep and fast flowing.