In a Great Southern Land

by Mary-Anne O'Connor

  He sighed then, entering the pub, knowing he was helpless to change the laws against them. Hell, he couldn’t even change the law for miners’ fees being set at thirty, unaffordable shillings.

  The building was really little more than a large shed filled with benches and a long narrow bar and, as he and Dave walked in, the raucous chorus of men’s voices filled it to the rafters. Pubs were the only real source of entertainment for the miners and this place, in particular, was notoriously rowdy, setting the scene for many bloody fistfights. In fact, Keiran couldn’t remember a night here without one, but no serious injuries ever seemed to result. Just a black eye or two and a split lip, here and there.

  Dave knew everyone in it by name or nickname, of course. ‘Johnno! Pickle-eyes! How’s the willy, Willy?’

  Kieran followed him through, amused by his antics as usual, and they arrived at the bar amid a lot of ribbing and back-slapping to down beers and get on their merry way. It flowed easily and Dave was dancing about and singing sea shanties by the time Jock came running through the door, eyes wide as he relayed the news that troopers, or ‘traps’ as the miners called them down here, were on their way, looking for Dave.

  ‘Why me?’ Dave asked, pausing mid-reel in surprise.

  ‘They say you took their rum…’

  ‘Took her? I’ll have you know I paid damn good coin. Ask Smiggins at the depot.’

  Jock shook his head. ‘Smiggins is lying ‘bout it. Apparently the troopers had ordered it in and he wasn’t supposed to sell it so he’s letting you take the blame.’

  ‘Bastard,’ someone muttered in the crowd. Smiggins the shopkeeper was unpopular as it was, ripping off the miners whenever he could and charging exorbitant prices for any food he could manage to get in. This would cost him in more ways than one but there were the traps to be handled first.

  ‘Two bob on Dave throwing a punch,’ muttered Jock.

  ‘Done,’ said a few men nearby.

  Then a clatter of hooves sounded as the law arrived and Kieran stood alongside Dave to wait, clenching and unclenching his stiff right hand. Others in the crowd stood alongside them too and it was a united bunch that faced the traps as they strode in.

  ‘You Dave Tumulty?’ asked the leader, Curtis, a burly man with red whiskers along his chin. He was puffing out his chest but his belly was the only thing straining his navy white-crossed uniform.

  ‘Aye, as you well know, Curtis,’ Dave said. ‘I hear you’re looking for me barrel.’

  ‘Straight to the point, ain’t ya?’ Curtis said, spitting on the floor. ‘Must be keen for a stop in the lock-up.’

  ‘Keen for an ale actually,’ Dave told him, grinning and holding his up, ‘although that barrel of she-rum will provide me with a right nice nightcap later on. Might even take her to bed for a cuddle.’ There were chuckles around the pub but Curtis was unimpressed. The man placed his hand on the bludgeon on his belt and cocked his head to the side.

  ‘I’m gonna mark that comment down to you being Irish and therefore daft. Get me m’barrel, Paddy. Now.’

  ‘Now what’s a man like you want with a lovely curved lass like her? Besides, I paid Smiggins for her; a good amount of coin too. If you have a problem with that I suggest you take it up with him.’

  ‘I did take it up with him and he says you never paid him, so it looks like theft to me.’ The trap moved closer, taking out his bludgeon. ‘Take me to it now or feel the brunt of this.’

  Dave looked at the weapon held up to his face and seemed to weigh up his options. There were many miners who would fight but the traps were all armed, one with a gun, and Kieran knew Dave would back down rather than men getting hurt for his sake.

  ‘Well, if you put it like that,’ he said, leading them out. Kieran followed, disgruntled mutterings and the settling of wagers in their wake, and Dave took the traps to their tent, going in to get the barrel and handing it over.

  ‘That’s better, Paddy. Next time less cheek, eh?’ Curtis said, stroking his bludgeon smugly.

  Don’t say anything, don’t say anything, Kieran begged Dave silently, but of course his friend couldn’t resist.

  ‘Oh, there’ll be no cheek, unless it involves me kicking you up the arse.’

  Curtis glared then reacted violently, smashing Dave across the chin with his bludgeon. ‘Good luck with trying that,’ he said as Dave fell to his knees.

  He walked off, laughing with his cronies, and Kieran helped Dave up, wishing he could go after the man and beat him senseless for such a cowardly act, but now was not the time. Vengeance would come though, if not by him by someone else. Sooner or later the miners were bound to strike back against the traps but it wouldn’t be today.

  Dave had a nasty welt on his chin and was spitting blood and Kieran cleaned him up as best he could before they both settled for the night, figuring an early departure would suit them fine. Kieran was keen to get away for a break from the place and keener still to go roaming and continue his search around Melbourne, but when they left before dawn Dave made a quick detour, leaving Kieran in the cart as he disappeared for a while. When he returned Kieran had to shake his head and chuckle but he didn’t say a word. And the half-full she-barrel sat up front in style, all the way out of town.

  Twenty-Three

  Ballan, Victoria, February 1854

  The wind was strong today but it was also hot, hotter than Eve had experienced, not that she minded when her delicious little secret awaited. She climbed down the embankment to look at it contentedly, knowing Amanda Cartwright, her new mistress, would be completely scandalised but uncaring. Amanda was only a decade older than herself but lived like a timid old lady, having been cosseted her whole life as a sickly, if wealthy, child. She would never even consider leaving the main road into town and clambering through the bush, let alone do what Eve was about to do next.

  The river was customarily smooth and it reflected the cloudless blue sky and overhanging gums like a mirror but the wind was sporadically rippling it today and Eve watched the movement, mesmerised. It was so beautiful, her new home, although completely different to anywhere else she’d ever been. There were so many shades of green and gold she lost count when she tried to number them but there wasn’t time to even attempt that today. She’d have to be fast if she was to return from her errands before lunch and she stripped off her dress and underthings quickly now, hanging them over a bush and pinning her hair high.

  The water greeted her like a friend, soothing her in a refreshing, liquid hug and she gasped with pleasure as it cooled her and moved softly against her legs. There was something about this guilty pleasure that she couldn’t seem to resist. Perhaps because it was a river that had first greeted her when she arrived in Australia, when the rash decision to dive into it had ultimately led to her freedom from chains. Or perhaps it was simply the sensation of water on skin itself, a delicious feeling in such a hot climate. Like a lover’s caress.

  A flash of Robert’s face passed through her mind but she felt nothing for him now. Her heart had long emptied of the love she’d once felt and any memories of pleasure had been wiped away, as if the very act of recollection would further damn her soul. Eve cast the last thoughts from her mind, unwilling to consider past sins anymore. Her life was one of redemption these days and she took simpler joys from it now.

  She focused on the natural surrounds instead, allowing herself to just float and enjoy this fleeting time to herself. A flock of large white birds were feasting on something high in the canopy and several kangaroos grazed nearby, although the big male was simply scratching his belly and looking about lazily, one ear flicking. Eve smiled at him, thinking what a handsome fellow he was. She was rather fond of these strange-looking animals; the babies, especially, were rather sweet. ‘Joeys’, Arthur had told her.

  The Cartwrights’ overseer Arthur Blockley was an interesting man, doing the work of several despite being hampered by a missing leg. He’d been Captain Cartwright’s first mate in the navy for a few years before l
osing the limb in a skirmish with pirates, and the captain had given him the job of caring for the farm by way of compensation. Eve had taken a liking to him immediately; in some ways he reminded her of her father with his wealth of knowledge and gentle nature although his broad northern accent was far from cultured. He was good to her, though, and looked after her and Amanda dutifully while the captain was away at sea.

  As for her mistress, Eve conceded Amanda could be endearing at times despite being terribly spoilt, but altogether the trio made things work. In fact, in all Eve would say she had a fairly easy time of it, even when the captain came home who, as it turned out, was more bluster than bite, and he obviously loved his wife dearly, which was nice to be around.

  Ultimately, Eve knew she was incredibly lucky to have been chosen to come here that day in Parramatta. She may well be just a servant and bound to the Crown, perhaps still for life, but there were patches of freedom in her days once more. Moments like now. Looking up at that clear blue sky unhindered by ship hatches or bars, she knew she’d never take that precious state for granted again. And she’d never stop thanking God for his mercy in sending Kieran Clancy to her aid that day. The good Samaritan with the lilting Irish brogue. The kindest man on earth.

  And it’s no, nay, never

  No, nay, never, no more

  And I’ll play the wild rover

  No never, no more

  Kieran sighed, looking back at Dave who lay in the cart singing loudly, wondering if he’d fall asleep soon and eventually sober up. He didn’t usually mind Dave’s wild ways but after drinking with him every night for a week he was tired, especially as he’d risen early each day to go out searching for Eve Richards while Dave slept it off. ‘Near Melbourne’ hadn’t seemed an impossible area to cover on horseback in his mission to find Captain Cartwright’s home when they’d first arrived in Victoria but that was before the full rush. Now the lure of gold had the town bursting at the seams and its surrounding areas swelling by the thousands. He’d managed to scour most of the northern and western areas on three separate visits to Melbourne with Dave but he still hadn’t found anyone who’d even heard of the captain, let alone any members of his household.

  He felt depressed about the fact, although he knew he wouldn’t give up. There were only so many square miles to search and sooner or later he’d find the whereabouts of one fair-haired maiden. Dave thought him mad, saying he was thinking with his heart and a few other areas of his anatomy at times, but Kieran didn’t care. Perhaps it was madness to seek out a girl you’d met only once, and a convict at that, but Eve was part of his destiny now. He’d become obsessed with her over the long lonely months in the goldfields and this was far beyond any old game of chase, this was a full-blown quest and Eve was his grail. That he could feel such a thing for a woman once more was, ultimately, a relief but at other times, like today, it felt more like torture.

  They were only about two hours from home and Kieran peered up at the sky, thinking he really should snap out of his melancholy before he actually did turn mad, when a kangaroo bounded across the road. A kangaroo wearing a dress. Kieran stopped the cart to blink his eyes a few times and look again, momentarily stunned.

  ‘Why’d you stop the…well, would you look at that fecken thing,’ Dave said, turning around to sit up and stare too.

  It wasn’t an average kangaroo, it was a massive male, and it wasn’t wearing the dress exactly, the dress was wearing him, somehow managing to have snagged itself in the animal’s paw and now billowing behind.

  ‘How the hell would it find a dress out here?’

  They were sitting in the middle of a stretch of road several miles out of town and there were no farms in sight. Kieran shrugged. ‘I’ve no idea. Somebody must own it though.’

  Dave looked at him and began to grin. ‘Well, it seems to me the damsel in distress might be needing our assistance, Kier.’

  ‘But why would she…’

  Dave nodded over through the trees where the darker green spoke of river banks nearby and Kieran began to grin too. ‘’Tis a hot day.’

  ‘Aye.’

  Eve decided she didn’t like kangaroos anymore, not one little bit. It may not have been the animal’s fault her dress blew over towards him but it was certainly most unchivalrous of him to bat it with his paw, have it catch, then take off in alarm. Her underthings clung to her as she searched for the big grey, and the undergrowth flicked at her legs as she climbed back up towards the road, praying no-one would come along and see her thus exposed. Reaching the verge she peered out. The animal had stopped a few yards away and was trying to rid himself of her gown.

  ‘Come here, you wretched thing,’ she hissed, hesitant to approach him, firstly because he was a big animal with muscular shoulders, and secondly because it was a public road. But there was nothing else for it. She couldn’t very well turn up at home like this and explaining what had transpired would have Amanda in a fit of vapours. Not to mention the fact that if the captain found out, it could possibly get her fired and sent back to board a ship bound for Tasmania.

  Eve crept out cautiously, only to find her underthings had snagged on a bush and were beginning to rip.

  ‘Of all the…stupid…’ She twisted this way and that but now the strings were loosening and she held on with one hand, trying to keep the blasted things on and free herself with the other. Then to her mortification came the tread of boots.

  ‘You seem to be in a spot of bother there, miss. I’d be honoured if you allowed me to assist you.’

  Eve froze, her exposed flesh suddenly on high alert, her heart skipping painfully. Then she closed her eyes, wondering if there was any way in the world she could be mistaken but as she turned slowly around there he was. Kieran Clancy, the kindest man in the world. Coming to her rescue once more as she stood wet in her boots and bedraggled, his good Samaritan smile in place. Only this time there was something else in those eyes besides pity and Eve was painfully aware of her half-naked state as she stood before him thus, in broad daylight. Then she noticed a second man behind him, openly gawking, and his bearded grin was anything but gentle.

  ‘The uh…kangaroo took my dress,’ she managed to squeak out.

  ‘Aye, lass. Dave, if you wouldn’t mind…?’

  The second man approached the animal cautiously while Kieran helped un-snag her underthings and Eve tried not to flinch as his fingers brushed bare skin. Fortunately he didn’t take too long to release her and she had a strong suspicion he was quite used to the workings of a lady’s undergarments. The thought was strangely annoying.

  ‘Here you go,’ the other man said, swaying slightly, and she suspected he might be drunk.

  Eve took it, blushing. ‘Thank you, Mr…?’

  ‘Dave’s the name, miss. Dave Tumulty, at your service.’

  She put the dress on quickly, then dared to look at Kieran once more. ‘I must thank you too, Mr Clancy. You seem to have rescued me again, as if from thin air.’

  ‘Aye,’ he said, his eyes never leaving her. ‘I’ve a feeling our fates must be entwined for some reason.’

  Eve blushed even deeper, not knowing how to respond to that.

  ‘We’ve a cart just around the corner – can we give you a lift home?’

  Eve wanted nothing more than to hide away somewhere to recover from her embarrassment but the whole episode had her running late now and Amanda and Arthur would be wondering where she was.

  ‘If it isn’t too much trouble that would be much appreciated.’

  ‘Where do you live?’ Kieran asked as they set off around the corner to his cart.

  ‘About half a mile out of Ballan.’

  Both men seemed to find that rather amusing, in fact Dave was openly chortling, and she frowned at them in puzzlement. ‘Is there something funny about that?’

  ‘Oh, there’s something funny about it alright,’ Dave said. ‘It’s a right, funny old world, isn’t it, Kier?’

  ‘Where do you live?’ she asked, wondering if that ha
d something to do with it.

  ‘Ballarat,’ Kieran told her, pausing at the cart to take her hand and help her up. ‘Not two hours from you this entire time.’ He wasn’t laughing anymore and he held onto her hand a little too long as he said it. Eve felt something flutter inside, something she’d long thought dead, and she pushed it down.

  ‘Imagine that,’ she said, trying to sound lighthearted, but she suspected it sounded more like wonder. Kieran smiled a little too knowingly then climbed up next to her while Dave sat in the back, whistling loudly then breaking into song.

  And I’ll play the wild rover

  No never, no more

  She was here. She had been all along, less than two hours away while he searched for gold and dreamed his dream of finding her too. He felt as if he’d discovered the greatest nugget on earth; like all his fortunes had literally come at once and it was all he could do to not grab her and kiss her for joy. He’d said she’d owe him one if he found her, after all. But there was a wariness there, he’d courted too many lasses not to see it, and he would need to bide his time before he claimed this holy grail.

  He settled for talking to her instead, mostly so he could watch that face and bask in her exquisite beauty. If he’d thought her so that long-ago day in Parramatta it was nothing compared to now. She’d gained weight on that thin frame now, not much but enough for her cheeks to be soft and full, and her chest had strained at the bodice of her undergarments and now her dress. It was like sitting next to a feast when you were starving and Kieran forced himself not to stare too much lest he do something rash. Like kiss her. There was that impulse again, unsurprisingly. It was exactly what he shouldn’t do.