Dan Amos adjusted his chair and rolled in under the desk. He could hear Ruth’s footsteps in the house above as she moved things around the linen press preparing for the removal van.
He grew momentarily excited about their plans. They had settled on a house on the River Heads peninsular. From the balcony you could watch a sandbar slowly emerge from the sea, and at low tide it seemed you could walk a land bridge all the way to Fraser Island. He had seen many lonely anglers strolling along the bar, fishing the sandy channels. The water of the incoming tide was clear like a mountain stream and even from a distance you could see fishermen’s spinners sparkling at the end of their lines.
Mini stood and her tiny paws pattered across the floor towards the desk. She leapt up onto his lap and began licking his hand. Something was bugging him and he glanced over his shoulder and stared at the grandfather clock beating away behind him. How much time did one have?
He rested, recalling, for reasons unknown, the day he had bought the antique; his son helping him carry it across the yard...
He pulled up in the drive one Saturday afternoon and had seen Jay appear through the front gate, head down, seemingly deep in thought. He watched him going away down the side of the house and finally called out. ‘Hey, son!’
Jay stopped, seemingly surprised to hear his father’s voice. He blinked as if torn from a dream. ‘Hey, dad,’ he said quietly and he slowly headed towards the car.
Dan approached the passenger door. ‘Give me a hand, will you?’ he said. ‘I bought something for the office.’
The car door creaked open and Jay came around the bonnet. ‘Here, Pop, let me,’ he said. His muscular arms reached in and he began dragging the clock from the passenger seat. ‘Good grief – how big is this thing?’ Dan took the head of the clock and Jay nudged the car door closed with his knee, and they carried the timepiece down the side of the manse with the mechanism banging away. It was dark under the house and Jay backed in through the posts. It grew bright in the office and he placed the base of the clock down onto the parquet floor.
‘Wow, I’m exhausted,’ Dan said chuckling and he slumped into his chair. He glanced at his son and saw he was hardly breathing. ‘Gosh, you’re fit, boy,’ he said.
Jay smiled to himself. ‘You’re getting old, Dad. You’re getting old.’
‘So, where have you been?’
Jay rubbed his hands clean of dust. ‘At the gym,’ he said.
‘Really?’ he said. ‘I see… What’s that all about?’
Jay shrugged. ‘I want to be bigger, I guess.’
Dan winced at him. ‘What in blazes for? And why the urgency with everything this year?’
Jay went quiet.
‘The outside world?’ Dan said. ‘Remember, I’ve been there too and seen it,’ he said, ‘and it’s nothing to write home about.’
Jay pouted and glanced at the antique. ‘Why do you need a clock?’
Dan gestured enthusiastically at it. ‘Looks great, doesn’t it?’
Jay reached out and opened the glass face then clicked it closed. ‘Not my cup of tea.’
‘Your mum liked it when she saw it,’ he said. He put a hand on the desk and stood. ‘Want to help me in the yard later?’
Jay shrugged. ‘Sure.’
Dan walked to the clock, took hold of the large brass key, opened the glass face and started winding. He glanced at Jay and saw him looking out the window towards the road. Dan peered through the glass at the gate. Jay blinked then looked at him.
‘Is that all, Dad?’ he said.
Dan looked at his clock, very happy with it. ‘Sure.’
Jay turned and started walking towards the door.
‘Thanks for your help, son,’ he said.
Jay glanced back and exhibited a pensive smile. He had been thinking – Dan knew that look. His son walked slowly out between the post then Dan turned and looked through the glass at the spot at which he was staring. He studied the gap in the hibiscus over the gate and noted the usual traffic passing by. Then, he saw it – a young couple standing on the sidewalk, kissing passionately. Dan could still hear Jay’s feet moving away under the house.
‘It wasn’t that long ago,’ Dan said, ‘you were just a boy.’ He turned and looked through the doorway and saw Jay pull up at the paling gate. ‘Hey – what about the Sweeny girl in the congregation?’
Jay winced. ‘Na,’ he said. ‘Not my thing.’
Dan hesitated. ‘I guess one day soon you’ll find someone, like I did, get married and have children,’ he said.
‘Yeah, I guess,’ Jay said, nodding pensively. He smiled, looking down. ‘I’ll come down later and help you in the yard, OK?’
‘Sure.’
Jay slowly turned and began walking up the stairs.
Dan felt sorry for what he had said – expressing scepticism about what was out there. But things like that were totally necessary. He loved him and needed to protect him from all the things he knew people did, and most notably, from the darkness he knew existed in their hearts.