Alison storms into the mansion and knocks on the door to Fiona's room. There's no response, so she pokes her head into the room. She finds it empty. Looking annoyed, she sighs heavily. Michael emerges from his room suddenly and says, "Hello! Someone told me you were off holidaying in the country." Alison replies curtly, "I was. I decided to cut it short." She then asks, "Is Fiona around?" Michael shrugs, "Probably - she never seems to be that far away!" Alison explains, "I've got some boarding house business I want to discuss." Michael just asks, "Why the sudden return to the big smoke? Charlie said you'd run into Pamela up at Woombai and were getting along famously." Alison, however, retorts, "That's old news, I'm afraid. Janice told Pamela I was the Wicked Witch in Caroline's book. I'm afraid Pamela rather took it to heart. Everything was going so well until then; now I'm about as popular as a third armpit." Michael remarks, "You seem to place great store in becoming friends with Pamela; a week ago, you'd never even met the woman." Alison tells him, "Most people don't know what it's like to have their freedom taken away from them; I didn't until I did that community service debt I was telling you about. It was awful. I only had to put up with it for a couple of weeks; Pamela's been locked up for ten years. I just want to see she has the chance for a fresh start, that's all. I think I can help." Michael smiles, "You never struck me as the social worker-type." Alison mutters, "You live and you learn, don't you?" She then says, "So, what do you suggest, doctor? How do I repair the rift?" Michael suggests, "By not pushing so hard? Just act naturally; be yourself. It might take a few weeks, but if you hang in there and show some patience..." Alison muses, "That's never been one of my strong points, I'm afraid. Still, doesn't look like there's anything else I can do at the moment, does there?" Michael tells her, "Not from where I'm standing."

Gordon is standing with a guard in a visitor's room at the Bendala Detention Centre. Beryl walks into the room and Gordon smiles, "Hello." Beryl smiles, "Hello," back. She goes to give Gordon a hug, but he pulls away quickly, saying, "We're not allowed to touch, I'm afraid: it's a non-contact visit." Beryl nods reluctantly. The two of them sit down at the table in the middle of the room and Gordon goes on, "Everybody sends their love; they're thinking of you." Beryl murmurs, "I'm thinking of them too, believe me - especially Robert. If I didn't have family and friends, I--" Gordon interrupts and points out, "You have - so don't get too depressed about it, eh?" Beryl murmurs, "No." She then asks more brightly, "Any luck tracing the ring?" Gordon, however, admits, "No - but neither Fiona, Susan nor I are giving up on it." Beryl suggests, "It might be a good idea to get some others to look around for it as well." Gordon, however, explains, "We talked about that with Nick and we all agreed that the fewer people who know, the better; we don't want to warn whoever it is that we're onto them." Beryl sighs, "I suppose not. As long as we do find out who owns it eventually; that's the only hope I've got." Gordon insists, "We'll find it, don't you worry." Beryl sits there and rubs her bare right arm with her left hand. Gordon stares at Beryl's left arm and asks, "What's that on your arm?" Beryl looks down at a bruise and replies, "I must have bumped it; I can't remember." Gordon says quietly, "If somebody's coming-on with the rough treatment, then you make a complaint." Beryl, looking at the guard in concern, mumbles, "Let's not talk about it." Gordon asks in surprise, "Why not?" Beryl retorts, "Because you don't understand about things in here. You don't go running and making complaints every time--" Gordon interrupts and mutters, "Every time somebody gets rough with you?" Beryl just sighs, "Gordon, it's hard enough coping in here as it is. Having you visit makes it worthwhile. Please don't get talking about something that's not important. You're here and that's all that matters." Gordon stares at her and nods, sadly.

Sometime later, Gordon is talking on the public 'phone in the hallway at the mansion, saying, "When I asked her what happened, she said she didn't want to talk about it - but it's as plain as day that somebody's been belting into her. I thought I might put in a complaint myself." At the Woombai homestead, Pamela frowns as she replies quickly, "No, no, whatever you do, don't do that; that'll just get her into even more strife. There's nothing you can do." Gordon insists, "I can't let it continue. She is my wife; I can't just stand by and see her hurt." Pamela pauses before saying, "Don't worry; I'll handle it. I'll come back to Sydney and have a talk to a couple of mates. They'll put a stop to it." She listens before adding, "That's alright: I can come back here another time." With that, she hangs up and stands there, looking thoughtful.

Craig and Debbie are hand-washing down a car together at the carwash. Craig heads off to get them a drink, just as a car pulls up. Debbie turns to look at the female driver and smiles, "Good afternoon." As the woman climbs out of the car, Debbie goes on, "Today's your lucky day." The woman asks, "Really? Why's that?" Debbie explains, "All our female customers get their cars washed for half-price today." The woman raises her eyebrows and remarks, "Is that so? How interesting." Craig is over at a soft-drinks cabinet, taking out a couple of cans. He looks over at Debbie and the woman and a look of concern crosses his face. The woman and Debbie are walking towards him, the woman saying, "I don't blame you for making your protest, Debbie, but what I don't understand is why it's necessary: as far as I know, my husband's always had a policy of equal pay for equal work. Debbie looks at the woman and says in concern, "Your husband?" The woman looks over towards a nearby office and calls, "Jack, have you got a minute?" Debbie murmurs in concern, "Oh no, I think I'm in trouble." The woman, however, insists, "Of course you're not; don't be silly!" Jack emerges from the office and asks, "What's the trouble?" The woman tells him, "Young Debbie, here, says she doesn't get the same pay as Craig. Is that right?" Jack, however, retorts, "No, they both get the same." Debbie gasps, "That's not true." Jack insists, "Of course it is." Looking at the owner's wife, he adds, "The books are inside; you can check them if you want, but you won't find anything wrong." Craig growls, "I bet you won't." Jack goes to head back into the office. As he does so, Debbie says, "Craig, do you have last week's pay slip?" Jack says quickly, "You don't need to worry what's on the slips - everyone gets different deductions. It's what's written down in the books that counts." Debbie takes out her last payslip from her bag and shows it to the owner's wife, saying, "Here's my slip. There's no deductions except tax. Look at the rate." Craig hands over his payslip, adding as he does so, "Here's mine." Debbie goes on, "I don't know what Jack's been putting in his books, but he hasn't been paying us the same amount on payday." The woman looks at the payslips and then at Jack. She growls, "The rates are different. Debbie's right." Jack glares at Craig and growls, "You think you're clever, don't you? But I wouldn't get too cocky: you'll be delivering pizza or washing cars for the rest of your life, boyo, because that's all you're capable of. Your girlfriend's not much better: she's a loser, too, if I ever saw one." The owner's wife just says curtly, "I think you and I had better go and have a chat in the office, Jack." She smiles at Debbie, "I'll be back shortly. Looks like we do owe you some money." A broad grin crosses Debbie's face and she throws her arms round Craig as she exclaims, "We got him! We won!" Craig doesn't look so happy, though...

There's a knock on the door of Fiona's room at the mansion. Gordon is in the room and he opens the door to find Alison standing there. She steps inside, commenting sarcastically as she does so, "Contain yourself - there's no need to look so thrilled to see me!" Gordon explains, "I thought it might be Pamela." Alison queries in surprise, "Pamela?" Gordon nods, "Yes - I asked her to come down and help Beryl." Alison, looking blank, says, "I must have missed something." Gordon tells her, "Beryl's having a hard time in jail. Pamela thinks she can... well, fix things. Anyway, what can I do for you?" Alison replies, "I was after Fiona, actually." Gordon retorts, "She isn't in. What's the problem? Maybe I can help." Alison, however, tells him, "No, no, it's alright - I was just going to talk about rents. As a matter of fact, I was thinking of upping yours to $150 a week." Gordon stares at her and gasps incredulously, "You're joking!" Alison smiles, "Yes, that's right, I'm joking! I can't help myself sometimes!" Gordon says coldly, "I'll tell Fiona you called." Alison, however, insists, "It's alright; I'll wait." She sits down. She then asks, "Is Pamela coming back here?" Gordon replies, "She could be - why?" Alison says quickly, "No reason." She then pauses before saying, "If I asked you a serious question, would you give me an honest answer?" Gordon retorts, "That depends." Alison muses, "You don't like me very much, do you?" Gordon replies sharply, "Is that the question?" Alison mutters, "No, I just--" She then growls, "Oh, forget it." Gordon comments, "Pamela said you were up at Woombai. I don't know how you expect people to believe that was a coincidence." Alison snaps, "I wanted to get to know her better. What's wrong with that? Is that a crime?" Gordon replies coolly, "No, no, it isn't. It's just the way you went about it. The trouble, Alison, has always been the way you go about things: if there's an underhand way of achieving results, then that's invariably the road you take. If you put your foot into something, instead of slipping out of it gracefully you try and prove to people that your foot should have been there in the first place." Alison stares at him and exclaims, "Alright, so I annoy people. I'm not perfect. But damn it, Gordon, you lived with me for nearly twenty years. I must have some good points, don't I?" Gordon just replies, "You wear nice clothes." With that, he heads towards the door. He adds as he does so, "I'm going to see how Susan is. If Pamela comes in, tell her that I'm at Charlie's." He walks out, leaving Alison looking annoyed.

Pamela is sitting with Beryl at the table in the visitor's room at the Bendala Detention Centre. Beryl is commenting in surprise, "It was all Gordon's idea?" Pamela nods, "Yeah - he 'phoned; arranged for me to fly down straight away. You've got a good husband there, Beryl; you're very lucky." Beryl smiles, "I know!" She then adds, "I must admit, I didn't expect to see you, but I'm glad you're here - things have been a little rough lately." Pam replies quickly, "Yeah, well, we'll see what we can do about that. I think I've still got a bit of influence around here." She then looks over at the guard standing by the door and says, "Dave, can I speak to you for a minute? Alone." The guard looks across at Beryl and tells her, "Wait outside." Beryl heads out of the room and the guard closes the door. Pamela then says to him, "Time to call in a favour." The guard mutters, "Don't remember owing you any favours, Pam." Pamela, however, retorts, "Come on. Remember the scams you've been running in this place over the years? I hate to think of the number of times I've saved your skin." The guard growls, "Which you always did out of the goodness of your heart." Pam just goes on, "Look, some of the girls are being a bit too rough on Beryl. I want you to call them off." The guard crosses his arms and retorts, "What's in it for me?" Pamela sighs, "The knowledge that you're doing something decent for mankind." The guard, however, retorts, "Sorry, Pam - decency's not one of my strong points. If you want me to do you a favour, I'll expect a bit more than a 'thankyou' note in return." Pam demands, "Are you talking money?" She then gasps, "I just got out of here. I'm flat stick. How am I supposed to lay my hands on a couple of hundred?" The guard just shrugs, "That's your problem, isn't it? Or Beryl's, more to the point..." Pamela hesitates before nodding, "I'll get it." The guard snarls, "Good. Problem solved, then." Pamela stands there, looking worried.

A while later, Pamela heads into Fiona's room at the mansion. Alison is standing by the public 'phone in the hallway and she calls, "Gordon said you were back." Pamela steps back out into the corridor and growls, "My God! I never know where you're going to spring from next!" Alison ignores this, going on, "He's over visiting Susan; he said he'll see you when he gets home. In the meantime, I thought we could have a chat." Pamela mutters, "Never give up, do you?" Alison retorts, "No - not until you give me a chance to set the record straight on that stupid book." Pamela snaps, "Save it. I'm not interested. I'm not your friend, I don't want to be your friend, I don't even like you - and if you don't stop hanging around me like a bad smell, I'm going to punch your head in." Alison stares at her and retorts, "Fine. Fine, you do what you want - but there's something you should know first. It might explain why I've been 'hanging around like a bad smell', as you so delicately put it." Pamela stares at Alison as she then announces, "You happen to be my sister."

A few moments later, Pamela bursts out laughing! She chuckles, "What have you been on?!" Alison insists, "It's true. We're sisters. We have the same mother and father." Pamela stares at her before retorting, "If I'd been adopted, my folks would've told me." Alison just shrugs, "Obviously they didn't." Pamela snaps, "You're off your head. There's no way in the world that we could be related." Alison insists, "It's a shock, I know--" Pam interrupts and growls, "It's not a shock; it's a straight-out lie." She goes to head back into Fiona's room. Alison follows her, going on, "No it's not. Why don't you ask your mother? Why don't we fly to Albury and see what she has to say?" Pamela stops in her tracks and turns to look at Alison again. She demands, "How do you know I come from Albury?" Alison retorts, "I've been reading up on our family history." Pamela muses, "Either that or Fiona told you; I haven't exactly kept it a secret. Anyway, I am not flying anywhere with you; I don't even know why I'm standing here talking to you." Alison suggests curtly, "Perhaps there's the nasty possibility niggling away at the back of your mind that I might be right." Pamela snarls, "The only thing going through my mind is what I am going to do to you if you don't get off my back." Alison smiles suddenly, "You're scared!" Pamela snaps, "Of you? Get real!" Alison challenges, "Then come with me. If what I'm saying proves to be wrong, I promise I'll never bother you again." Pamela snorts, "Oh, I've read all about your promises: not worth a pinch of salt. Why should I believe you?" Alison snaps, "Because I'm telling the truth. Do you honestly think I'd put myself up as a prize idiot if I didn't think I could prove what I was saying? I can - and all you have to do is come with me to Albury." Pamela stands there, looking worried. After several seconds, she says coolly, "Look, I have hurt my folks badly enough, and I don't want to make it any worse - so, if we get to Albury and I find out that you've been lying, believe me, you will live to regret it." Alison smiles, "I take it you'll come?" Pamela nods, "Yeah. I'll come. By God, you better be telling the truth."

ALBURY

An elderly woman is sweeping up the leaves from the front lawn of a house. A car pulls up suddenly in the road nearby and she turns to look at the visitors. It's Pamela and Alison. They walk up to the woman, who nods coolly, "Pamela." Pamela murmurs, "Mamma. Last person I expected to see, I'll bet." The woman retorts, "I had hoped you'd stay away. You've caused enough embarrassment to this family; we don't want any more." Pamela just sighs, "Yeah, well, I won't be staying. Don't worry: the neighbours won't even know I've scuffed the 'Welcome' mat." Pamela's mother then looks at Alison and says, "Miss. Carr, isn't it?" Pamela looks at Alison with a frown and gasps, "You two know each other?" Pamela's mother tells her daughter, "Miss. Carr's a social worker. She was writing a paper on how families suffer when their children go to jail." Alison looks down at the ground. Pamela bursts out laughing and exclaims at Alison, "I've got to hand it to you: you're good!" Alison looks at Pamela's mother and says, "Mrs. Morgan, there are one or two questions we'd like to ask you." Mrs. Morgan says sharply, "Whose idea's that? Pamela's, I'll bet. You doing a story on her, now? How much are you paying her? I bet there's money involved." Before Alison can respond, Pamela says sharply, "I want to see dad before we talk about anything." Mrs. Morgan retorts, "You can't." Pamela snaps, "If I want to see my father, I will; you're not going to stop me." Mrs. Morgan just tells her coolly, "I don't have to. Your father's dead. He died six weeks ago." A look of shock crosses Pamela's face.

Debbie is sitting on the couch in the lounge room at Caroline's. She counts out some cash and smiles, "$88 back-pay. Pretty good, eh?!" Craig just murmurs distantly, "Yeah, great." Debbie goes on enthusiastically, "Why don't we go and celebrate? Dinner then a disco." Craig, however, murmurs, "Nah." Debbie looks at him and sighs, "Do you want to tell me about it? Something's bothering you." Craig tells her reluctantly, "Jack was right: I'll be delivering pizzas and washing cars for the rest of my life." Debbie insists, "Of course you won't." Craig, however, demands, "What else am I going to do? I never finished school... you can't get a decent job nowadays unless you have some sort of education. I'm going to end up on the scrapheap; I can see that sticking out a mile." Debbie looks at him in concern. She then says, "Go back to school." Craig sighs, "I'm too old to be sitting in a room with a bunch of 16-year-old kids, Deb." Debbie suggests, "Then go to Tech, then; finish your secondary there: Adult Education." Craig demands, "How do you expect me to live while I do that?" Debbie points out, "I'll be working." Craig gasps, "I'm not having my girlfriend supporting me!" Debbie laughs, "Now you're being sexist!" Craig insists, "Sexist or not, it's not on." Debbie points out, "You can claim an allowance: once you've been to work, they'll pay you to go back to work, if you want." Craig asks in surprise, "Do they?" Debbie nods, "Yeah. We'll both be bringing money into the house." Looking thoughtful, Craig muses, "Mightn't be a bad idea, I guess. At least I'd have something I'd be aiming at; looking forward to." Debbie smiles, "I think it's a great idea: my boyfriend, the student." Craig smiles back, "My girlfriend, the breadwinner!" Debbie grins, "We make a good team!" She then suggests again, "Dinner and a disco?" Craig muses, "As long as you're paying... I'm a poor, struggling student, remember?!" Debbie beams, "Don't worry: we'll only go to places where they take student concession!" With that, the two of them start kissing passionately.

Pamela is standing staring at her mother's house. Mrs. Morgan is standing nearby with Alison, saying quietly, "All I'm asking, Miss. Carr, is that you respect the privacy of this family." Alison insists, "I'm quite happy to do that; it's just that this is something that has to be resolved." Mrs. Morgan, however, murmurs, "I'm not prepared." Alison goes on, "All I ask is that you tell her the whole story and we won't ever bother you again." Pamela walks back over to them. Her mother stares at her and then tells her sharply, "I'll say this once, and then the subject is closed forever. You were born in Melbourne. Your parents - your real parents - were Joe and Mary Dunne. You had a twin sister, Patricia, another sister, Margaret, and brother, Patrick. The family never had much money and it was always a struggle to make ends meet. When the twins came along, your mum and dad knew they'd never be able to afford, feed and clothe four kids. One of the twins had to be adopted out. Which one, they couldn't decide; they loved you both. It was simply a question of economics: putting food on your plate and a roof over your head. So they decided to toss a coin. Heads, Patricia was adopted out, tails, you were. That's how you came to live with us." Pamela turns and looks at Alison. She then gasps in horror, "Toss of a coin?" and she storms off, looking hurt. Alison follows her and says quickly, "Pamela, I had no idea how we were separated, honestly. When we get back to Sydney, I'll do anything I can to make it up to you; whatever I can." Pamela, standing in front of Alison, her back to her sister, cries, "My father's dead... my mother can't stand the sight of me... and my real parents toss a coin to have me adopted out. It's a bit much all in the one day, don't you think? Just a bit much." With that, she marches back over to the car, climbs into the driver's seat and drives off. Alison closes her eyes, looking worried.

A short time later, Pamela is standing in a graveyard. She looks down at a fresh gravestone, attached to which is a plaque with an inscription etched on it: 'In Loving Memory of Alec James Morgan. 1-8-1915 - 7-1-1987. At Peace.' Pamela bends down by the grave, tears welling-up in her eyes.

At the Morgan house, Mrs. Morgan asks Alison, "Do you want me to call you a taxi?" Alison, however, tells her, "No thanks. I think I'll walk back into town - at least part of the way." She then goes on more sharply, "You know, I do think you could've been a little more sensitive with her." Mrs. Morgan just retorts, "She wanted to know. So did you. Now you do." Alison shakes her head and sighs, "She's going to hate you for this; she really is. Unfortunately, she's going to hate me, too." Mrs. Morgan asks in surprise, "Why? What have you got to do with it? It's none of your business." Alison, however, explains, "Oh, it is, you see. I'm the other twin: Pamela's sister." Mrs. Morgan exclaims in surprise, "But you don't look anything like Pamela." Alison just replies, "I did once." She then sighs, "She's going to resent me for this. The luck of the draw: she ends up with nothing and everything I ever wanted was handed to me on a silver platter. Life's not fair when you think about it. You should never let anyone tell us it is."

Pamela is still bending down by her father's grave. She says quietly and sadly, "You're the only one who ever cared, dad; the only one. Trouble is, it wasn't enough. But you did your best." Her expression perking up suddenly, she then goes on coldly, "Now it's my turn. I've got a brand new sister who wants to make everything up to me. She don't know the half of it: I'm going to take the lot..."

Alison is walking briskly along a country road when Pamela pulls up next to her in the car. She climbs out and says, "I'm sorry I took off like that; it just all got too much for me for a minute." Alison smiles reassuringly, "I understand." Pamela adds, "It's not every day you find out you've got a twin sister." Alison points out, "At least now you understand why I was hanging around like a bad smell." Pamela tells her, "Sorry about that!" She then goes on, "That clean slate you were talking about - the one I was going to crack over your head! - do you think we could give it another try?" Alison nods, "I'd like that." She then suggests gently, "Come on - let's go home." She heads over to the car, leaving Pamela standing there, a devious expression on her face...