Jewel In the North Read online

  A high-pitched bellow made him pause.

  William grinned. “I reckon one of those bulls is at work already.”

  Joseph stood up and looked in the direction of the sound but all was quiet again. “Robert’s been gone a while.”

  “He went off looking for rabbits.” William turned to the wagon, where their swags were already laid out on the ground. “He’s probably slipped back to camp empty handed and into his bed and is dreaming already.”

  Thomas watched as both his son and grandson started towards the wagon. Robert was the youngest of Joseph’s children by his first wife, Clara, and he’d always been treated as the baby even though there were more children since Joseph had married Millie. They had all been extra watchful of Robert since, several years earlier, he’d received a nasty blow to the head and a badly broken leg. It had taken him some time to recover, but at sixteen he was strong and stocky with no trace of those injuries.

  “He’s not in his bed.” William was the first to reach the wagon.

  The bull bellowed again, closer this time and accompanied by the low rumble of heavy footsteps. Thomas scrutinised the surrounding bush and Binda took a few steps in that direction. Behind them Joseph and William called Robert’s name in unison.

  Thomas looked at Binda. “That bull’s getting closer.”

  Binda’s eyes were wide. He wasn’t keen on cattle and was especially wary of the five large bulls they’d bought.

  “What are you shouting for?” Robert appeared on the other side of the clearing, two rabbits hanging from a rope over his shoulder. He carried a thick branch with two sticks like a fork on one end. The rumble of hooves drew closer and the bush parted.

  Binda began to run. “It’s the black bull.”

  The huge beast charged into the camp and they all scattered.

  Binda was the first to climb up onto the wagon.

  “This way, Father, quick,” William yelled. He was already climbing aboard.

  There were several feet between Thomas and the wagon and, seeing the last man standing, the bull veered around the fire in his direction.

  “Father!” Joseph’s yell and the sight of the lowered horns galvanised Thomas into action. He made a dash for the wagon and threw himself at it with the heat of the bull’s breath on his neck. Joseph and William hefted him up as the bull bunted the side, which shuddered under the force. Thomas’s heart was thumping in his chest as he peered over the enraged animal to the place where Robert had been standing. There was no sign of the boy. They were camped a little way from the creek and there were no big trees close by. Thomas scanned the shadows of the bush looking for a sign of his grandson. The bull backed off, pawed the ground and began again with its low moaning bellow. “I can’t see Robert.” Thomas turned back to the others. Joseph was scrabbling around under the canvas at the side of the wagon.

  “What are you doing, Joseph?”

  “I’m looking for the rifle.”

  “You can’t shoot it.” William grabbed his father’s arm just as the bull dealt the wagon another blow. They all lurched with the force. “It’s our prize bull.”

  “Prize bull be damned.”

  Joseph continued his search, William remonstrated with him and Binda stayed in the corner of the wagon furthest from the beast, which continued to bellow. Only Thomas saw Robert leap from the shadows with his solid wooden stick raised. He grabbed the bull by the tail and hit it across the rump. The blows were forceful and the bull took off across the clearing with Robert still hanging onto its tail with his spare hand, administering more blows with the stick in the other.

  Thomas put a hand to his heaving chest. William and Joseph moved either side of him.

  “Robert.” Joseph’s voice held a note of terror. The shadowy bush swallowed beast and boy and the hoofbeats receded along with the sound of the stick hitting its back.

  “Dear God, Robert.” Joseph was the first to move. The rifle now in his hands, he jumped down from the wagon.

  “Father, wait!” William landed beside Joseph and pulled on his arm.

  Joseph shrugged him off. “I can’t let that mad animal kill your brother.”

  “William’s right.” Binda had also climbed down from the wagon. “You can’t go running out into the night shooting. Even though there’s a full moon you could hit Robert.”

  “Not to mention setting the whole herd into hysterics.” William moved to stand in front of Joseph.

  “But I can’t just leave Robert.” Joseph’s voice was full of fear.

  Thomas saw movement on the edge of the clearing. “It’s all right.” He let out a huge sigh of relief. “Robert, you crazy young fool.”

  Robert stumbled forward into the light thrown by the fire. He still held the stick.

  Joseph was on him in an instant, pulling him close in a hug.

  “I’m all right, Father.” Robert struggled to be free and Joseph let him go.

  “What happened?” William asked.

  “I held onto his tail and kept whacking him for fifty or sixty yards.” The firelight reflected the huge grin on Robert’s face. “He just needed to know who was boss.”

  “I can’t believe it.” William clapped his brother on the back. “Well done, little brother.”

  “I’m not so little.” He lifted his head high.

  “Neither you are.” Robert was almost as tall as William and Joseph already and much thicker of frame.

  “You’ve become a man.” Binda’s voice was full of pride. “You’re a good bush fella.”

  “Someone had to take charge.” Robert chuckled. “You four women needed rescuing. I’ve never seen anything so funny.” His chuckle turned into a laugh.

  Thomas saw the frowns on Joseph’s and William’s faces but like him Binda was grinning. He started to laugh, and finally the other two saw the funny side and they all fell back around the campfire, the sounds of their laughter echoing around them as the night settled again.

  Robert turned away. “I hope that bugger hasn’t tramped my rabbits.”

  “Robert.” Joseph reprimanded.

  He raised his eyebrows. “I’m a man now, Father.” He stood tall, the flames throwing an even taller silhouette across the bush behind him. “Binda said so.”

  “By heaven and hell, that you are.” Joseph began to laugh again as Robert retrieved his rabbits from the dirt where he’d dropped them.

  “Tomorrow’s breakfast.” He held the catch high.

  “A good hunter as well as animal tamer.” Binda poked Joseph in the chest.

  William gathered the mugs and Binda threw some more tea into the billy. Robert and Joseph added wood to the fire and all the while the four of them joked and laughed. Thomas felt his chest swell with happiness. All those years earlier when he’d driven sheep to Wildu Creek only to find his wife Lizzie unwell and his baby daughter succumbed to the same illness he had thought nothing was worth the price, but with Lizzie’s help and that of his native friend Gulda he’d gone on. Now he had two children and eight grandchildren, and Joseph and Millie were expecting another.

  His only wish was that some of the things he’d brought from England, family heirlooms really, were still in his possession: a small link to family that he could pass on to his Australian descendants. They’d been stolen from him by a devil of a man, Septimus Wiltshire. Thomas had been duped by the ex-convict of his money and possessions. Some items such as his mother’s pretty china tea set and her books had been returned by Septimus’s wife Harriet after he died, but others remained lost. He knew his mother’s filigree heart-shaped locket, a gift on her wedding day, had hung around Harriet’s neck when he had seen it last. Lizzie had advised him to forget about it but it had been difficult with Wiltshire turning up again and again to cause grief in their lives.

  Now Wiltshire’s son, Henry, lived in Hawker and ran a business, a place where the Bakers were not welcome. Thomas knew it all stemmed from their mixing with natives. He had always worked alongside the original inhabitants of this l
and and he didn’t care for people who mistreated others simply because of the colour of their skin.

  The happy voices of his son and grandson carried in the still air. Thomas gazed up at the starry night sky and imagined his dear departed wife smiling down on their family. What do you think of them now, Lizzie?

  “Grandpa?”

  Thomas focused again on the young man standing in front of him.

  Robert gave him a gentle smile. “I’ve made you some tea.”

  Thomas reached for the mug he was holding out. “Thank you.”

  They walked back to the fire where the others were already sipping the hot liquid. Thomas felt a chill through his body and he gratefully settled by the flames again. Even though it was early April, the nights had become very cold. The happiness that had filled his chest ebbed away and left a hollow nagging feeling. They’d had no rain to speak of since before Christmas. It wasn’t unusual to go for several months without rain but they’d enjoyed seven good years in a row and the pattern of the weather had changed again; he knew it. Drought had plagued them in the past. He prayed they wouldn’t suffer in its clutches again any time soon.

  “What a night.” Joseph lifted his mug into the air. “I hope this isn’t an omen of things to come, William.”

  “Robert’s done the right thing. That bull needed to be shown who was boss.”

  Robert’s shoulders lifted and he beamed at his older brother.

  “Not that I want you to do anything so foolish again,” William added quickly. “That bull was hand reared from a calf and used to humans. Ellis Prosser says hand-reared cattle have no fear of us. That bull could have become dangerous if Robert hadn’t taught him a lesson.”

  Joseph spluttered over his tea mug. “Could have! What do you call charging into our camp if not dangerous? Imagine the damage he could have done to one or all of us if we hadn’t made it to the wagon. Your grandfather had a lucky escape.”

  “Are you all right, Grandpa?” William raised his eyebrows and his look was one of mock worry.

  “Never better.” Thomas shook off the melancholy feeling. “Plenty of life in this old man yet.”

  William woke in the grey light of pre-dawn. He lay still, listening to the deep breathing of the men around him. Everyone else was asleep. He’d been woken by a different noise. His immediate thought was for the bull, but there were no angry bellows or thundering hooves, just the shuffles and snorts of cattle and horses and men still asleep. He couldn’t help grinning to himself over the events of the night before. His father had been the most upset and fussing over Grandpa. William was quite sure his grandfather was as fit as any of them, even if a little slower these days.

  The snap and crackle of fresh twigs on the fire made him sit up. Robert was bent over the fire, set to one side away from the wagon, his rabbits roasting above the flames. William smiled. He eased from his swag and the chill of the crisp morning sent a shiver through his body. Nearby were the prone forms of his father and grandfather but there was no sign of Binda. He was also a very early riser.

  Robert grinned at he approached. “Bout time you got up.”

  William pointed at the billy. “That got some left in it for me?”

  Robert poured some of the tea into a mug. William wrapped his cold fingers around the hot vessel. They both huddled close to the fire, watching the rabbit.

  “It’s going to be different now.” Robert’s voice was so low William hardly heard him.

  “We all have to get used to cattle.”

  “I don’t mean the cattle.” Robert’s gaze lifted from the rabbit. “With you and Hegarty living at Smith’s Ridge and Timothy and Eliza moving in with Grandpa, things will be different at Wildu Creek.”

  “Now that I’m taking over the house at Smith’s Ridge it’s only fair that Timothy and Eliza get a decent house to live in. They’ve worked for our family since before you and I were born.” William looked away from his brother’s soulful gaze into the flickering flames. He had felt guilty about asking to take over the second family property. Timothy Castles had first worked for his grandfather at Wildu Creek and had become a trusted member of the Baker family along with his wife. After the Bakers reclaimed Smith’s Ridge from Henry Wiltshire, Timothy and his wife Eliza had become the managers there. That had been several years back and now William was itching to take charge of something for himself. At Wildu Creek there were already his father and grandfather having their say and not always agreeing about how things should be done, without William adding his bit. He looked back at Robert. “With you all in the big house, Millie has enough to do, and even more with another baby coming. Grandpa is happy to have the company of Timothy and Eliza even though he’s not far from the new house, and Eliza seemed keen to take him under her wing. It should all work out well.”

  Robert turned the rabbits once more. The fire snapped and spat as fat dripped into the flames. “For everyone but me.”

  William opened his mouth to speak then closed it again. He hadn’t given a thought to Robert in this new arrangement. Their father and sisters, Violet and Esther, lived in the grand new house that had finally been finished up the hill behind Grandpa’s house. There was plenty of room in it but it was a house full of women. Father’s second wife Millie had produced two daughters already.

  “Perhaps Millie will have a boy this time.”

  Robert grimaced. “I don’t care about that. It’s the work that I want. There are plenty of hands at Wildu Creek. They don’t need me. I want to be part of what you’re doing at Smith’s Ridge.”

  William saw the hope in his brother’s dark eyes and knew immediately how he felt. Like William, he wanted to try new things, different ways. At Wildu Creek Robert’s role was virtually that of a shepherd and they employed several of them. Still, he was only sixteen. “You can spend time at Smith’s Ridge whenever you like. It’s only a day’s ride.”

  Robert sat forward eagerly but they were both distracted by Binda’s sudden appearance in the hazy light. He grinned at them, his white teeth a sharp contrast to his dark skin. Another bundle of rabbits hung from a stick he carried over his bare shoulder.

  William got to his feet. The sun would soon rise above the hills. “Time to get started.” He felt a surge of excitement, his conversation with Robert forgotten as he listened to the first low calls of his herd stirring. “Let’s eat and get these cattle home.”

  Three

  William stood on the front verandah of his childhood home, staring out across the sloping terrain to the creek a short walk away. Smith’s Ridge had been first settled by his grandmother’s brothers, who had been swindled out of it by Septimus Wiltshire. When Septimus perished, his widow, Harriet, had handed the lease back to the Bakers. William had been born there but after his mother died in childbirth, seven years later, Joseph had not managed the property well. To add to their troubles the land had been in drought and Joseph had made the difficult decision to let go the lease and move his family to Wildu Creek.

  Smith’s Ridge had been taken over by Septimus’s son, Henry, who had fared little better than the Bakers. Henry’s half-brother, Jack Aldridge, had been installed as the overseer. He had proven to be an evil man. William’s hands clenched into fists at the thought of Jack’s visit to Millie when the man knew Joseph was away from home. Thankfully he’d never done her any real harm but he’d tried. William took in a sharp breath as he recalled the night of Jack’s death, struck by lightning here at Smith’s Ridge. William, Joseph and Henry had all been there, brought together by a common enemy. Jack’s demise had been the catalyst for Henry to quit the lease for Smith’s Ridge and now it was in the hands of the Bakers once more and William had returned.

  William shifted his gaze to the stand of taller gums on a rise further on from the house. His mother and baby brother were buried there. He had been just seven years old then. Now he struggled to remember his mother’s face. He had left Smith’s Ridge as a boy and returned as a man, determined to improve and look after it.

/>   In the front room behind him the murmur of male voices were interspersed with Eliza’s softer tones as she encouraged them to eat more of her food. They had made good time, reaching the paddock that was to house the cattle just after midday. Everyone had washed and lingered over a late lunch inside. After spending more than a month on the back of a horse, droving cattle, they had all enjoyed the comfort of a real table and chairs and a roof over their heads.

  The front door gave a small squeak of protest as it opened. William turned. His father came to stand beside him. They both stared into the distance.

  “Apart from losing your mother I was always happy here.” Joseph leaned on the verandah railing, his shoulder touching William’s.

  “So was I.”

  They lapsed into silence a moment, each conjuring their own memories, then Joseph spoke.

  “This is a fine opportunity for you, son. Hegarty has had some experience with cattle before so he will be a good support.”

  “When will he arrive?”

  “I’ll send him on once we get back to Wildu Creek.”

  “Robert wants to stay.”

  “I’ve said he could.”

  William’s heart sank. In spite of the guilt he felt for not wanting his brother to stay, he needed to do this on his own.

  Joseph met his look. “But only for a few days. With you and Hegarty here, he can have more responsibility at Wildu Creek.” He put a hand on William’s shoulder. “This is your venture, son. Robert’s time will come.” He gave a wry smile. “Besides, I need him home to give some balance to the household. Your sisters like to boss me about if Robert’s not there for them to fuss over.”

  William sucked in a deep breath.

  “I’m glad Hegarty offered to come here.” Joseph patted his trouser pocket. “He knows to keep an eye out for anyone searching for diamonds.”

  “We haven’t had any trouble since that South African fellow came sniffing around a few years back.”