Free The Silent Country by Di Morrissey Page A

to celebrate the launch of filming

Wild Australia,
a film by Topov

3

    ‘P RINCE’S R ESTAURANT . I’ VE HEARD of it,’ said Veronica. ‘My granddad proposed to my grandmother over dinner there. It must have been pretty fancy. She often talked about it. Soft lights, sweet music, fine food. Very romantic.’
    Colin nodded. ‘Oh my, yes. I was so nervous going to the dinner Topov gave to celebrate the start of the movie. As it turned out Madame Olga was the hostess. I don’t think we all quite scrubbed up to Prince’s usual standard. It was black tie, very formal. Marta looked beautiful, Helen was a bit of a plain stick. She wore black and some family heirloom jewellery. Turns out she came from landed gentry. Funny, though, the person most at home was Johnny.’
    ‘The cockney cook?’
    ‘Yes. Turns out he had connections in restaurantsand clubland. He was into everything, worked for some very, er, colourful characters. I was surprised at how many people Johnny knew after such a short time in Australia.’
    ‘You have very clear memories of the night it seems.’
    ‘For an unsophisticated boy working in a bank, a dinner at Prince’s was a wonderful experience. I remember the tablecloths and napkins were pale pink damask. It was all very glamorous – a last blast before heading to the bush. It also made us feel we were part of a substantial company.’ He gave a chuckle. ‘A week later was a different story.’
    Veronica fiddled with her coffee cup, wondering if she could tell Andy there was a story here or not. Here was a cast of intriguing characters, heading into inhospitable and unknown wilderness at an interesting time. Perhaps it didn’t matter about the success or not of the expedition. Maybe this was a case of the journey being more interesting than the destination. Nevertheless, she would have to find out a lot more before it would work as a story for a television program.
    ‘What happened to the film Topov made?’ she asked Colin.
    ‘The picture was never finished, although we did shoot quite a bit of film on the trip.’
    ‘So there was some film?’
    ‘Yes. Several cans of it. It was sent back to Sydney for processing and safekeeping and replaced with new stock as we went along. It’s probably long gone.’
    ‘That seems a shame. It’d be interesting to see it now. Have you any idea what happened to that film footage?’
    ‘All I know is that it was sent to Madame Olga. So many questions. You are thorough,’ he smiled.
    ‘It’s my job, Colin. I trained as a journalist and I’m trying to work out how your story could fit into a program on the Australian film industry. There’ve always been a lotof mavericks in our film history and Topov seems to take the cake.’
    ‘Topov was certainly larger than life,’ said Colin thoughtfully. ‘His background was a bit mysterious though. Sometimes we got conflicting stories. You know, I’ve wondered if the Topov film that I saw and was supposed to be set in Russia was actually shot there. Sometimes I’m not even sure that Topov was even a Russian.’
    Veronica was planning to pay for the coffee and return to the office, but this made her pause. She knew that Andy would expect her to find out all she could before making a final judgment about the suitability of the story for
Our Country
. ‘Colin, as we’re here, why don’t we order lunch? You might as well tell me as much as you can. I mean, you started the story, why not finish it for me?’
    Colin didn’t answer for a moment as he stared out at the street of smart cars and restaurants, passing people, all so far from the country he had seen so many years before. In reply, he reached for the menu and Veronica turned to a fresh page in her notebook.

    ‘Colin, you write newspaper story. Make publicity,’ ordered Topov.
    Colin pulled out his diary and began to make notes. They were at Nino’s. Topov, Peter, Drago and Johnny.
    ‘What do we tell the press?’ asked Colin, hoping now he’d