Published: 24 Mar 2025

Kevin’s return to Hughenden in sixty-two now aged twelve and almost a teenager had expectations he would be reunited with his horses but it wasn’t to be. In the most it was a new school and kids to become accustomed to. Home for the duration would be with his cousins and his bedroom a corner of the living room on a camp stretcher.

Staying with family placed strain on his Aunt Mary with her four boys and girl as for a greater part of the year her husband was away sheering sheep, often not returning for weeks at a time.

Kevin found a friend in one of his cousins Glen but the girl never warmed to him even, when some years later when they both lived with their grandparents in Melbourne. Margaret was a snooty girl who disregarded Kevin at every opportunity and when she arrived to also board with their grandparents her almost first words were, my mother said I’m not to marry you. As first cousins how could that be possible, besides marrying any woman was far from Kevin’s intention even after becoming engaged to a country girl but that was a story beyond present requirement.

Hughenden got its name from a sheep station besides the Flinders River, founded on the traditional land of the Yirandhali people by Ernest Henry in the eighteen-sixties. Henry and his cousins had family connections with Hughenden Manor the home of the once British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli thus influencing the naming of the new property and later the town itself.

During the fifties Hughenden had a population of almost three thousand servicing the cattle industry to the north and sheep to the south along the east west highway, that is if a graded road of corrugation with an occasional narrow strip of tar at its centre could be considered a highway. The road connected Townsville on the coast to the copper and zinc mines of Mt. Isa far off towards the Queensland and Northern Territory border.

There was also the railway and as the town was approximately half distance it was a railway service town. Unfortunately with the coming of the sealed road and large transporters the rail service became a bus service and the trains nothing more than mile long ore trains from Mt. Isa to the Townsville docks.

Hughenden nestling on the banks of a mighty river may sound inviting but the Flinders River was seasonal therefore during most of the year and sometimes for more than one season, it remained nothing but a string of waterholes and sand, although when the monsoon broke it could be a raging torrent with its banks miles apart. As for the town’s drinking water, it was brought up from the Great Artesian Basin containing more samples of mineral than one could find on the periodic table. Kevin’s delicate youthful stomach couldn’t cope with the water and where possible he would bum tank water from neighbours, bumming being a terminology for begging, for example, could I a bum a smoke from you – or in the Aussie vernacular, givis’ a durry (smoke) mate.

Another oddity about Hughenden being that part of Queensland was too hot and humid for dairy cattle and at that time too distant for the transportation of milk. With the lack of milking cows the town used goat milk. After milking the goats were let loose onto the town and goats are notorious at eating anything they chance upon. It wasn’t unusual to see his Aunt Mary, broom in hand, chasing the goats as they reached across the fence line to chew on her washing or feeding on what little greenery she had successfully grown.

Kevin had been back in Hughenden for less than a week when there was a visitor to the property’s cyclone fence, in the person of a scruffy middle aged man calling for Ivy. The scruffy fellow was Taffy Jones and you may recall him mentioned earlier as the budding trucking magnate from Torrens Creek who still remained in Kevin’s belief to be his father.

Fortunately Ivy’s brother-in-law was home at the time and hearing Taffy’s drunken call from the road he went to see what the commotion was about. Seeing Taffy at the fence Sid’s uncompromising nature became more so, Telling Taffy to piss off and if came back he’d get a foot up his arse. Sid was two of Taffy becoming strong from many years sheering, as for Taffy too many years spent in hotel bars without manual labour had lessened his frame to fragility.

The encounter at the fence was the last Ivy heard from Taffy but not Kevin. After being warned against fraternising, Kevin chanced upon Taffy while on his way home from school and taking the longer route through the main street. Kevin wished to see what picture was programmed for the Saturday matinee, in doing so needed to pass the hotel. It was Friday afternoon with a busy bar, even more so with the arrival of a travelling carnival set up at the town’s showground.

While passing Kevin failed to notice Taffy close to the bar door in conversation with a drinking mate who worked on the railway. Taffy quickly broke conversation and stepped in front of Kevin who attempted to move on but Taffy prevented his progress placing a firm hand on the lad’s shoulder.

“Haven’t you time for an old mate,” Taffy says.

Kevin shakes off Taffy’s hold, “I’m not allowed to talk to you.”

“There’s a carnival at the showgrounds tonight, will I see you there?” Taffy asks.

“Maybe.”

Kevin may have been vague but he would meet with Taffy, if only to enquire the whereabouts of his horses, most of all his beloved Roany.

After dinner Kevin shares his wish to visit the carnival and innocently Ivy agrees. At first his cousin wishes to go with him but fortunately Mary doesn’t allow, as he had fallen behind with his homework.

Nervously Kevin leaves for town. It is a short walk to the showgrounds and he can feel the tension building in his chest. How would he approach Taffy regarding the whereabouts of his horses? In Kevin’s thinking they remained living the life of luxury back in Torrens Creek where he last saw them. As for reacquainting with Taffy Jones he realised that was impossible, even he knew Taffy was past history and his mother had well moved on since they departed from his company seven years previously.

Closing in on the showgrounds the whirly-burley music of the carnival soon took away Kevin’s anxiety as the tune of On the Wings of a Dove from one of the rides permeated the hot evening air. Kevin’s mind is whirling with the merry-go-round’s music as he approaches, failing to notice Taffy close by.

“Hey boy!” Taffy roughly calls.

Kevin pauses, his eyes are on the painted horses of the merry-go-round as they swing violently away from the structure, seemingly much too swift for the slow tempo of the music. He pretends not to have heard Taffy’s call.

“Kevin.”

Kevin draws his eyes towards Taffy who appears to have difficult rising to his limited height.

‘He’s drunk,’ Kevin thinks as that was the usual description of Taffy’s condition.

“I’ll shout you a ride,” Taffy says and nods towards the flying horses.

“Where are my horses?” Kevin disrespectfully demands. “Where is Roany?”

“They were very old – boy,” Taffy says, “come on for old times sake; show me how well you ride.” Taffy puts his hand into his pocket and extracts a coin. He offers the coin to Kevin.

Kevin refuses, in his mind he is a rider of real horses, not the painted wooden effigies from some travelling carnival, besides being seen on a carnival ride would be considered embarrassing.

Taffy returns the coin to his pocket, “how is you mother?” he asks.

“I’ve gotta’ go,” Kevin says and quickly departs company but only advances to the far side of the carnival where he turns as Taffy walks towards town and in probability to the hotel bar.

That was the last time Kevin saw Taffy Jones.

Kevin had been back in Hughenden for almost a full school term and was beginning to settle; even so he didn’t much like the school. Possibly so many changes began to wear thin and leaving Queensland to live in Victoria then being kept down a year before returning to Queensland Kevin discovered he is now well below the standard expected of him. In retrospect it is possible that was the beginning of his disinterest in education also with indifference come the lack of application, therefore during study time he would prefer to draw maps of imaginary countries.

The map drawing continued even after Kevin returned to Herberton and high school. During the doodling there was guilt for not applying time to what was set but come the following school day he would simply copy his homework from the board as the answers were displayed. Kevin had an adage towards cheating being it showed initiative; besides eventually he would work with cattle or sheep, therefore as long as he could count the herd algebra and trigonometry were redundant. He did have a flair for Geography and History providing it was about British battles and monarchs but he had no memory for historical dates.

During that short stay with his Hughenden cousins, Kevin failed to realise the building strain between his mother and her sister. Firstly Ivy had difficulty finding employment in Hughenden and Kevin was becoming a negative influence on the boys. Also money was tight with Mary bringing up five of her own and the house wasn’t designed for such an extended family. Something would have to give and it would be Kevin’s freedom with an obvious return to the hostel.

It was a quiet Sunday afternoon, Kevin with his cousin Glen in tow had returned from using old rusting sheets of roofing iron as toboggans down the rough slope of the river bank surviving without a scratch from such a dangerous game. Once the boys are inside the house Ivy approaches Kevin and by her expression he wasn’t going to like what she wished to share.

‘She knows about me talking with Taffy,’ was the lad’s first thought as his expression turned to guilt.

“You know we can’t stay here in Hughenden permanently,” Ivy eventually explains.

Immediately she has Kevin’s attention.

Excitement builds, “are we going back to Melbourne?”

“No not Melbourne, I have taken the offer of work further north?” Ivy’s voice lowers as she is well aware of her son’s reaction.

“Where?”

“I’ve been offered the position of housemaid on a cattle station near Georgetown.”

“Will I do school of the air, or go to school in Georgetown?”

“I’m sorry love, Georgetown’s school only goes as far as grade six and you will be in grade seven come the New Year; besides the property is more than forty miles from town.”

“Will I be staying with Edith in Mareeba?” Kevin’s tone lifts with expecting pleasure. At least he knew Mareeba and he once had friends there although three years had past, possibly they would no longer remember him.

“For the remainder of this year and grade six yes but sorry it will need to be Herberton for year seven and high school.”

From the elated heights of pleasure, Kevin’s mood falls to despair, “oh!”

“Sorry love but there isn’t any other way.”

“When are we leaving?”

“At the end of the month.”

“I could stay here with Aunty Mary.”

“Mary has enough to do with you cousins. By the way I did hear about your little visit with Taffy. I hope you have put an end to that.”

“So we have you back in Mareeba?” Neil asks.

“Yes but for the life of me I can not recollect getting there. I can recall my arrival and staying with Edith at the railway refreshment rooms but nothing about the trip. I digress, I do remember one thing.”

“What would that be?”

“It was the train trip to Townsville. The train departed at night and as we passed through Torrens Creek I wished to get a glimpse of our old house, possibly my reasoning and well beyond sensibility was I half expected to spy Roany in the adjoining paddock. I asked mum to wake me if I fell asleep, as it had been a tiring day and I could hardly keep my eyes open.”

“Did you mother wake you?”

“No; I guess she didn’t wish to be reminded of her stressful time with Taffy Jones.”

Neil interrupts, “therefore we find the young Kevin at another school?”

“Yes and number four in five school terms with one to come.”

“How did you find the Mareeba School?”

“Like the trip north I recollect very little which is strange as I have vivid memory of most else. I remember much of my time with Edith and her bothersome son Timmy but almost nothing about my Mareeba schooling.

“Did you ever return to Hughenden?”

“Not until many years later. By then both my Aunt Mary and Uncle Sid had passed on and only one of my cousins remained in town.”

“Did you miss Hughenden?”

“Not really, once I realised my horses were gone I lost interest.”

“Were you happy at school in Hughenden?”

“I don’t recollect much about it either. The most I can remember is my class was divided into to two activity groups, the bee club and the gardening club. I was in the bee club and I remember collecting honey from the school’s single beehive.”

“What about your cousins, were any of them in your grade at school?”

“No they all went to the Catholic school. Uncle Sid was from a Catholic family although he was non-practicing but under the belief the church school gave a better education than that from the state education system. Mary would have been Church of England as was the family although like mum she didn’t appear to have time for religion. After a while the cousins were transferred back to the state school.”

“Why so?”

“I later learned they were being teased, called bastards, as their parents weren’t married in a Catholic church.”

“That sounds a little unfair.”

“I guess it isn’t any worse than what most said about the Catholics.”

“Tell me a little about your time in Mareeba?”

Gary’s stories are about life for gay men in Australia’s past and present. Your emails to him are the only payment he receives. Email Gary to let him know you are reading: Conder 333 at Hotmail dot Com

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