Undara

by Annie Seaton

  Emlyn shook her head. ‘Look, if you have guests, I won’t bother your dad. I just need to know about a back gate being unlocked.’ She pulled out the piece of paper where she’d written down the details. ‘The gate that joins the Einasleigh Road.’

  ‘No, they’re not guests. It’s just Mum and Cass.’ Joel looked at his brother as he came down the steps. ‘And I don’t know about the gate.’ He called out to Jase. ‘Do you know if the back gate is open?’

  Jase shook his head. ‘We haven’t been out that way for a while. Not since the holidays before last. There’s no feed there and no water for the cattle. Dad kept it locked to stop the mining company coming on our land,’ he added.

  Joel nodded. ‘Sorry, Emlyn, you’ll have to ask Dad. Why do you need to know?’

  ‘I’ve got a delivery coming across from Mt Surprise and they asked if the gate was locked. Apparently, it makes the trip shorter.’

  ‘That’d be right. Old Janet’s as tight as they come, anything to save a dollar,’ Jase said.

  ‘Although to be fair, Jase, it is about fifty kilometres shorter to come the back way,’ Joel said.

  The door opened and Travis stepped out, and a small girl followed him. She was a pretty little thing with blonde curls that fell in ringlets to her shoulders. Emlyn’s breath caught, and she tried to focus on what Jase was saying.

  ‘It’s a couple of years since Dad was having trouble, so it’s probably not locked anymore, but you’d better ask him.’

  She swallowed. ‘Thank you, I will.’ Taking a deep breath, she walked to the bottom of the stairs; there was no sign of the red kelpie today. Keeping her eyes on Travis, Emlyn ignored the child up on the landing and cleared her throat. ‘Good morning, Travis. I’m sorry to bother you so early, but I need to know about a back gate being locked for the delivery from Mt Surprise.’

  He frowned, and she waited for him to reply for a full minute.

  ‘Yeah, it’s still locked,’ he finally said. ‘When are they coming through?’

  ‘This afternoon.’

  ‘Sorry, we don’t have time to go out there now. I’ll have to give you the key and get you to unlock it.’ His tone held no apology at all and again Emlyn thought what a difficult man he could be.

  ‘I’ll tell you how to get out there.’

  ‘I can go and do it, Dad.’ Joel flicked her an apologetic look, but Travis shook his head.

  ‘No, I need both of you to help me all day.’

  Emlyn put her hands in her pocket. ‘I don’t mind doing it. I’ll go there now. I won’t bother you any longer.’

  Travis shrugged and went back inside.

  ‘Just ignore him. Dad can be an old grumpy-bum sometimes.’ Joel smiled at Emlyn. ‘I’m sorry.’

  The little girl came down the steps. ‘Dadda’s got moo cows.’ If her smile was any indication, it was something she was very happy about. She stared at Emlyn and screwed up her face. ‘Who you?’

  ‘Emlyn.’

  ‘Come on, Cass. I’ll give you a piggyback around to the chook pen, so you can feed them.’ Jase squatted down in front of her and she climbed up. As they disappeared around the side of the house, Joel walked over to Emlyn. ‘Sorry, the whole family’s rude today.’

  ‘Not rude. Just busy.’ Emlyn forced a polite smile to her face. ‘I’m sorry I’m a bother.’

  ‘Stop apologising.’

  Emlyn caught his eye and smiled, and this time her smile stayed. ‘I’m just not good with people, either.’

  ‘So, you’re not lonely out there? Dad said you’re still by yourself?’

  ‘The others arrive tomorrow.’

  As Joel nodded, Travis reappeared with a key. ‘There’s a padlock on the gate. This should open it.’

  ‘Should?’

  ‘Yeah, it should. I think it’s the right key.’

  ‘Okay, so how do I get there?’ Emlyn was starting to think it would be easier to just tell the delivery driver the gate was locked.

  Travis pointed to the road. ‘Go back a couple of kilometres and take the left fork where the track splits.’

  ‘A track?’

  ‘Okay, I mean a road. Your Troopie will handle it no problem. You won’t even need low range. We haven’t had enough rain for the creeks to be up yet.’ He turned away and spoke to Joel. ‘Get your brother and hurry up and get ready. The cattle truck’s meeting us at the yards in a while. We’ve got a big job to do after the cattle are loaded. Bluey’s down there already.’

  ‘What job, Dad?’

  ‘I’ll tell you when we get there.’

  Again, an apologetic look from Joel. Emlyn dropped her eyes down to the key in her hand. It was rusted and slightly bent. She placed it in her shirt pocket.

  ‘And then you stay on the road for another thirty kilometres and you’ll come to the locked gate. You can’t go wrong,’ Travis finished off. ‘Okay? Got that?’

  ‘Yes. I’ll head out there straight away.’ Emlyn kept her tone even, despite feeling cross that a few hours would be taken out of her day.

  ‘Leave the padlock on the gate and just bring the key back. Kev can lock it on his way out.’

  ‘Thank you for the information and the key.’ Emlyn turned on her heel and headed back to the truck; by the time she’d put her seatbelt on and started the engine, there was no sign of any of the Carlyles. ‘Thanks for all your help,’ she muttered under her breath. She had been going to thank him for sending Bluey over to fix the water problem, but Travis Carlyle could go whistle.

  Once she’d taken the left fork, she pulled over to the side and texted the store at Mt Surprise. There were just enough bars to send a text.

  The gate will be unlocked.

  Emlyn pulled back onto the road; it was encouraging that there was some service out here, because the road was rutted and narrow, and there was a good chance of getting a flat. If that happened, she’d have to ring Mr Cranky Carlyle because there’d be no chance of getting road service out here.

  It was more like the track he’d said than a road. An hour later, and another twenty-five kilometres further on, Emlyn’s simmering temper deteriorated further. The wheel ruts that she had to negotiate in the road were deep and wide, some of them almost big enough for the Troop Carrier to fall into. When the front wheel teetered over a huge drop as she turned a curve, she wrenched the wheel and turned the vehicle into the long grass at the side of the road. It was safer to risk a flat tyre from grass seeds than risk rolling the vehicle into one of those huge ruts. It looked like a bulldozer had got bogged in the wet season, but she knew that couldn’t be right because the ruts continued for the next two kilometres. Finally, the road smoothed out and she drove back onto it, easing her grip on the steering wheel, and grateful that the four tyres were still intact.

  Her hands were sweaty and she was thirsty, but Emlyn realised too late she had no water in the car. She’d taken the eskies out the first night she’d arrived and hadn’t thought to go back for water before setting off.

  All the more reason to drive carefully and avoid getting stranded out here.

  Equally cross with herself, and with Travis Carlyle, she pushed her damp hair back from her forehead and looked out for the gate. She flicked a glance at the odometer; according to that, it should be within the next half-kilometre.

  ‘Bloody hell.’ She wrenched the handbrake up and turned off the ignition as she stared at the gate.

  The unlocked, open gate.

  CHAPTER

  8

  Hidden Valley, October 1879

  The marriage of Thomas Carlyle and Lila Jane Cragg had taken place at St James’ Anglican church in Townsville in 1861. Missy loved hearing the story of how Father had met Mother when he and his brother, Richard, were travelling up the Burdekin and she’d been helping her own father with their cattle. Mother said that Father had spent three weeks camping at the lagoon where her family had their cattle run, and he’d asked her to marry him before he moved further north with the cattle to the land where he and h
is brother had taken up a lease. Since then, Father and his brother had taken out occupational licences for four new runs.

  It was hard to imagine what Mother would have found here when she arrived as a young bride. An old shanty, very little fresh water and no one within miles and miles. Eunice came along quickly and then five years later she and—

  ‘Missy! Stop daydreaming and hurry up. The next ones are ready for you.’ Despite the sharpness of her voice, Mother’s smile was indulgent. She stood over the copper stirring the clothes with the washing stick. Her cheeks were flushed as the day was hot and dry.

  ‘Yes, Mother.’ Missy looked up from the washboard where she was reluctantly spending her Monday morning. As usual, she had drawn the short straw. Tommy was out helping Father, and she’d been roped into washing day. Of course, being the youngest and female she’d got the hard job. Mother handed over the work clothes, still stained with cattle shit and mud after she lifted them out of the boiling water. Like Mother’s hands, Missy’s were red raw after two hours at the glass-and-timber washboard. Being in the small room with the fire burning brightly beneath the old copper tub was where Missy hated being more than anything. She’d much rather be in the schoolroom with her books, but Eunice had gone to Townsville on the coach yesterday. She was catching the train down to Bundaberg and would be away helping Mother’s sister with her new baby for a few weeks. And that’s where George Fairweather was. Bundaberg. Missy would be surprised if Eunice ever came back.

  Missy frowned; she and Tommy had planned a trip back to the cave this afternoon, but it looked like they’d be kept busy all day. Although she’d escaped to the glade a few times, she had not ventured any further in since she’d seen that huge snake there in the winter.

  Since gold had been discovered over at Spring Creek on the Einasleigh River almost a year ago, there had been an influx of diggers into the region. A couple of months ago, rumours of a strike in a gully about twenty miles west of their boundary had seen thousands more hopefuls on the road west. The camp was growing bigger every day, according to those who headed back east once they gave up. The storekeepers had set up establishments in the small settlement that was growing there, but Father had seized the opportunity and built a store on the road at the edge of their leased land and stocked it with implements and food that the miners could purchase on their way to the diggings. The small slab hut with a weatherboard front and a glass window now sat on the edge of the road where there had been a constant stream of miners heading west over the past six months. Bags of flour, tea and sugar were stacked against the front wall, and tins of golden syrup and molasses filled the shelves. Mother and the girls baked dozens of dampers to sell to the men as they passed by. When Father had gone to Townsville last month to stock the store, Tommy had been allowed to go with him and Missy had been green with envy. She’d never seen the ocean. She’d been born on the property and the way things were going, she’d never get away from it.

  ‘Not fair,’ she muttered under her breath as she scrubbed.

  ‘What have you got a bee in your bonnet about now, young lady?’ Mother held the stick high above the tin bucket next to the washboard and steam rose from the clothes piled ready for Missy to scrub.

  ‘Nothing.’

  Last night when she and Tommy were in bed, she’d heard the glee in Father’s voice as he’d told Mother of the prices they’d got for the cattle he’d taken to the digger’s camp. Maybe if things were as good as he’d said, they’d be able to afford for her to go away to school. Missy desperately wanted to learn more than what was on offer with the scant number of books in the schoolroom. She’d begged Eunice to bring back some new books from the coast, but knowing her sister, that wasn’t likely to happen.

  ‘I just saw your father and brother ride along the ridge. Go and get that mutton pie out and slice up some of that cold potato, too. Leave those clothes. I’ll finish them off and peg them out.’

  ‘Yes, Mother.’ Missy ran from the washhouse as though her feet were winged. No more scrubbing; kitchen duty was much more appealing.

  By the time Father and Tommy came into the house, Missy had the table set and the midday meal laid out.

  ‘Father’s going down to the station store this afternoon, and we have to catch up on our schoolwork.’ Tommy’s voice was proper, and Missy rolled her eyes. As soon as Father turned away, Tommy winked and mouthed ‘the cave’ before he shoved a piece of cold pie into his mouth.

  ‘Yes. I need your mother’s help so you might as well get into the schoolroom and keep working while Eunice is away.’

  ‘That will be good, Father.’ Tommy’s voice was angelic, and Missy kicked him under the table as Mother walked in. If Tommy overdid it, Mother would know that they were up to something.

  ‘What will be good?’ Mother asked as she walked across to the stove and checked the fire.

  Missy glared at Tommy. He pointed to his mouth and shook his head as he chewed.

  ‘Some decent manners at last,’ Mother said. ‘Mercy, I never thought we’d see the day.’

  ‘Tommy meant it was good that you were going to help Father in the store,’ Missy chimed in.

  Their father nodded. ‘Yes, business has been excellent these past days. I need your mother over there this afternoon. Is that extra leg of mutton cooked and ready to take over, love?’

  ‘It is.’ Mother pulled out a chair and sat beside Missy. ‘Have you heard any more about the troubles on the road, Thomas?’

  Father nodded. ‘Yes, unfortunately. I met a fellow yesterday who told me they’re having a lot of trouble west of Spring Creek with the myalls.’

  ‘What’s a myall, Father?’ Missy asked, only to put her fork down in surprise when Tommy interrupted, his eyes wide.

  ‘They’re wild Aborigines and they’re spearing the cattle, the bloke said.’

  ‘Tommy,’ Mother chastised. ‘Don’t exaggerate.’

  Father put his knife and fork down and sat back. ‘Unfortunately he’s not exaggerating, Lila. The children need to know that we all have to be careful. I’m going to show you how to use the revolver. When I go to Townsville next week I want you to keep it loaded.’

  Tommy’s eyes were like saucers now, and a trickle of fear ran down Missy’s back. ‘Do we need to be scared?’ she asked.

  ‘No. Just careful. We’re a long way from the troubles. They say it’s where the blacks have been pushed off their land by the gold claims. The claims are moving east and a few cattle have been speared.’

  Missy sat up straight. ‘It could be the miners after free food. Why blame the Aborigines!’

  ‘You could be right, but I want you all to be careful. No wandering about by yourselves anymore. You pair stay close to the homestead.’

  This time Missy and Tommy locked gazes as they nodded. ‘Yes, Father,’ they said dutifully.

  After their parents had loaded up the wagon, they headed towards the front gate where the store was on the main road west, two miles from the house.

  ‘Come on, we’ve got at least three hours before they come back. Let’s go.’ Tommy waited at the door while Missy put the dishes in the cupboard.

  ‘Where’s Stanley?’ Missy asked.

  ‘He’s busy with Wally, and anyway he’s scared of the cave. He reckons something bad happened there.’

  ‘Father will tan our hides if he finds out we went exploring when he told us to stay close to the house.’

  ‘Wouldn’t be the first time.’ Tommy’s smile was cheeky as he put his hands on his hips. ‘Besides, there’s probably more chance of trouble at the house, not up the hill in the scrub.’

  ‘I don’t believe it’s the Aborigines, anyway. It’s those damned Chinamen spearing the cattle.’ Missy pulled down the hessian on the front of the cupboard and checked the stove was tamped down.

  ‘And anyway, how’s Father going to know? I won’t tell, and you won’t tell. As long as we’re back well before sundown, it’s all good.’ Tommy spoke sense. They would be the only ones wh
o knew they’d been exploring. Neither of them had mentioned their discovery. Missy hadn’t because she wanted a place to be alone, and Tommy because he knew they’d be in trouble.

  ‘Come on, sis. You are so slow sometimes.’

  Excitement curled in Missy’s stomach as she threw off her apron and followed Tommy outside.

  * * *

  Missy lay on her stomach and held the kerosene lantern high above the rock edge that overlooked the cave. Now that they were here and about to explore the dark depths below them, a shiver raised goosebumps on her skin. What if Stanley was right and it was a bad place? A feeling of dread lodged in her throat and the lantern bobbed as she leaned forwards and called to Tommy.

  ‘Maybe this isn’t such a good plan, after all.’

  ‘Oh, don’t be such a sook!’ His voice was hollow as he called up to her. Missy could just see him in the ghoulish shadows as he picked his way carefully down the fallen rocks.

  ‘What if the lantern goes out?’

  ‘It’s all right. I can see lots of places where there are chinks of light coming in through the roof. Take the lantern back from the edge for a minute. Let me see how dark it is without it.’

  Missy did as he said and waited until her brother called her back.

  ‘It’s amazing. We don’t need it and it’ll be easier for you to climb down. Leave the lantern at the top and come down. It’s safe.’

  ‘No snakes?’ She hadn’t forgotten that big one that had made her run out the day the rocks caved in.

  ‘No. There’s nothing alive down here. It’s dead quiet and still.’

  ‘Really?’

  ‘Not much, anyway.’ Tommy’s chuckle spurred her on. She hated him calling her a sook.

  Missy carefully put the lantern on a flat rock near the entrance to the glade and lowered the wick. She waited for the lamp to go out before she walked slowly back to the edge.