Tarrapaldi

by Wayne T Mathews

  “I can understand your desire to see your brother, Lads,” Harrington said. “But the country up that way is no place for a lady like Miss Wordsworth.”

  “And why not?” Richard asked. “She’s game enough to give it a go. And with all of us along to keep a lookout for her, she’ll have a grand time.”

  “It’s just not on, Lads. I’ve got official government business up there. And neither Miss Wordsworth, or you, are allowed to come.”

  Andrew stiffened while taking a tighter grip on his gun. “We don’t give a tinker’s damn what sort of business you’re on, Guv. Our business is with our brother. And you don’t have the right, or the power, to tell us what we can or can’t do.”

  Claire stepped close to Harrington. Placing herself between him and the boys, she took hold of his arms.

  “Give it up, Dennis. You’re not going to win this one,” she said softly. “Even if they agree to do what you want, I won’t. I’m going with you. So do try to be gracious, dear.”

  “Gracious be damned, Claire. You’re carrying our child. You need to be back in Sydney, looking after yourself, and making arrangements for our wedding. Not gallivanting around out here in the wilderness.”

  Claire smiled. “Oh, I’m not gallivanting, Dennis. My coming with you on this mission is dead-set serious. I intend making damn sure we get our share of what this land has to offer. And I can’t very well do that skulking around back in Sydney, now can I?”

  “What are they saying?” Tarrapaldi asked.

  “I don’t know,” Nathaniel replied. “But I’ll wager the lieutenant is saying he doesn’t want a pregnant woman coming with us.”

  “Why not?”

  “It’s the English way, Tarrapaldi. When ladies of her class get pregnant, they’re treated with kid gloves. They’re not allowed to do anything strenuous, for fear of hurting themselves or the baby.”

  Tarrapaldi frowned. “Are you serious? Surely they’re not so cruel to the mothers of their children? A woman needs to exercise her muscles, to prepare herself for the child’s passage. If she doesn’t, the pain will be huge.”

  Nathaniel shrugged. “I’m only telling you the way it is. The common women don’t get it so good. They’re expected to keep working right up until they whelp. But a rich man’s wife? Hah! All she’s expected to do, is lie back and think of England.”

  “Stupid.” Tarrapaldi shuddered. “In so many ways, these Goobahs are so stupid. How did they manage to become so powerful?”

  “Because they’re smarter more often than they’re stupid.

  “It can’t be that simple, Nathaniel.” Tarrapaldi said. “There has to be something about them that’s different. Come, we’ll bring them their horses and take them to Tunggaree. If he examines a young pregnant example of these people, maybe he’ll be able to see what it is we have to breed into our own.”

  “Good God, woman, you’re not seriously suggesting we take her to Tunggaree, like some living specimen for him to examine, are you?”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Caruthers and the troopers resting in the field, felt more than heard the huge rock hit the ground when it swatted the life out of Billings. Nobody moved. Furtively, the men began glancing at each other while avoiding eye contact. Caruthers, after initially looking in the direction the sound had come from, went back to drawing-in details on the map he had out.

  Though the words were not clear, the sound of MacLaughlin’s familiar roar brought the men to their feet and started them running for their horses.

  “Steady, men,” Caruthers called, “we don’t want to put everybody at risk. Miles, be a good chap will you, and go see what the sergeant’s shouting about.”

  Miles nodded to the lieutenant, handed his reins to the nearest trooper, and ran along the track leading to the rock face.

  Coming around the large boulder, Miles skidded to a halt when he saw MacLaughlin still facing the rockslide.

  “You all right, Sargn’t? Where’s Billings?”

  MacLaughlin turned, holding up the grizzly remains with his left hand, while palming the rock he had in his right hand, into his pocket.

  “This’s all that’s left of him, lad. The rest of him’s crushed under that rock.” MacLaughlin indicated the slab with his right hand. “Poor bastard. If he’d have stood his ground, and not tried to out-run the bloody thing, it’d have missed him like it did me.”

  “Jesus wept, Bob. This mongrel country’s got more ways to do a man in than God’s got angels. One of ‘em must’ve been looking out for you though. It’d take an angel to give you the strength to stand your ground, when this came crashing down.” Miles moved forward, took MacLaughlin by the arm and led him back to the troop.

  Caruthers continued working on his map, studiously ignoring the approach of Miles and MacLaughlin, until their shadows interrupted his light.

  “So you’re back from the valley of death, Sergeant?” Caruthers said, before looking up.

  “Sir, that’s not funny. Billings was crushed under a ten-ton slab of rock back there. And this.” MacLaughlin leaned forward, placing the severed hand carefully on the map, “Is all that’s left of the poor sod.”

  “Good Lord, man!” Caruthers swept the hand onto the ground, leapt to his feet, and began dabbing the map on his trouser leg to remove the bloodstains. “Be careful. This is our only map, damn it. Here.” He thrust the map into MacLaughlin’s hand. “You clean the blood off on your trousers. And have that thing disposed of.” He indicated the discarded hand with a flick of his wrist, before stomping off to stare back up the valley.

  “Compassionate piece of dung,” MacLaughlin muttered to no one in particular. “More concerned about your friggin’ map, than you are about your men.”

  MacLaughlin undid the sweat rag from his neck. Applying spit to a corner of the rag, he began cleaning the bloodstains from the paper before he stopped, discarded the rag, and closely studied the marks Caruthers had made.

  So that’s the way the winds blowing is it, Mr. Caruthers? MacLaughlin thought when he looked up to where the lieutenant was standing, staring off into the distance. You’re going to claim the whole bloody valley as your own are you? Well we’ll have to see about that, now won’t we?

  Taking an indelible pencil from his pocket, MacLaughlin licked the tip before drawing in lines to represent 160 acres, in which he put his own name. Then very carefully, he marked out other plots representing 40 acres each, and wrote the names in each plot, of the people he wanted to form a buffer between his land, and the land the Lieutenant was trying to claim.

  “What in damnation are you doing, Sergeant?” Caruthers snatched the map out of MacLaughlin’s hands. Taking an eraser from his pocket, he tried to rub out the marks MacLaughlin had made. “Damn it. You interfering fool. You’ve used an indelible pencil, and the marks won’t come off. Just what are you trying to do? You could see I’d already claimed all of this land.” Caruthers said.

  MacLaughlin stood. While calmly putting the pencil back in his pocket, he turned to face the irate Lieutenant. “Yes, Sir. I saw what you were trying to claim for yourself without a thought for your men. But you’re not entitled to claim that much, without special permission from the governor. Which I happen to know you don’t have. So I drew in what I, and the men, are entitled to claim.” MacLaughlin said.

  “We’ll jolly well see about that, my man.” Caruthers folded the map and put it under his arm. “Get the men mounted, Sergeant. We’re going to survey this valley, and then go back to Bathurst. As the land commissioner, I’ll take your claims under consideration when we get there.”

  “That’d be real decent if you’d do that, Sir,” MacLaughlin said, before turning to bark orders at the men.

  “You don’t seem real happy, Dennis.” Nathaniel said.

  “That’s probably because I’m not. A black woman I can’t talk to is leading us along this pa
th. My pregnant wife to be, is riding between two half-castes, and they all seem to be having the time of their lives. None of them seem to realize that people could get killed over the mission we’re on.”

  “People have already been killed. What we have to do, is make sure it doesn’t happen to anybody else.”

  “That’s getting harder and harder, Nathaniel. You were the only one, apart from the blacks,” Harrington said, “who knew there was gold out here. But Billy Pike knows now. And before very long, unless I miss my guess, his brothers are going to know. How long do you think it’ll be before it becomes general knowledge? You’re already not keeping up your part of the deal”

  Nathaniel reined Bo to a halt, turning the stallion to face Harrington. “Now hang on for a moment. Billy Pike knows about the gold because he happened to have been in the right place at the right time. If he hadn’t, Muchuka and I would already be dead. And it’d have been one of your redcoat troopers who’d have done us in. Billy shot that Newman son-of-a-bitch in the nick of time. Can you imagine how quickly the word would have got out if he’d gathered up the gold in those sacks, and then taken it to town?”

  “Newman’s dead?”

  “Damned right he’s dead. And it nearly cost Billy his life to come to our aid. It was pure dumb luck the ball Newman fired at Billy only grazed the lad’s ribs.”

  “So those young fellows are going to find their brother wounded? That’s another complication we’re going to have to handle.”

  “Not so. Billy believed Tunggaree could heal him. And I swear to God, that’s exactly what happened. Billy’s got a scar he didn’t have before, but that’s all. There’s a lot more to these people than you English would like to believe. And Billy is in fact, one of them. He’s more concerned about the land and the people than he is about gold,” Nathaniel said. “You don’t have to worry about him, and I doubt if we’ll have to worry about his brothers. You on the other hand,” Nathaniel turned to look at Claire, “have a woman along who you’re unable to control. Have you told her about the gold?”

  Harrington shifted uncomfortably in his saddle. “I did mention it, yes. But that was when we were back in Sydney.”

  “Really? Well at least we know why she’s insisting on tagging along. My people are not interested in the gold. But they are interested, in fact they insist, in control of their land, and the right to live on it as they choose. Why is that so hard for you English to understand?”

  Harrington’s eyes narrowed and his nostrils flared. “That’s the second time in as many minutes that you’ve called me English. And if we’re going to be able to resolve the difficulties we’re facing, you’d better stop doing that. I was born and raised in Australia, and that makes me Australian, not bloody English.”

  Tarrapaldi reined in her horse and looked back when she heard the heated words she couldn’t understand. “Are you going to need help back there?”

  “No,” Nathaniel said. “We’re just going through the preliminaries of the negotiations for the land.”

  “But he’s getting angry.”

  “Angry men make mistakes. Don’t worry, we’ll get what we want before this is over.”

  “You just talked to her, didn’t you?” Harrington said.

  “Is it that obvious?” Nathaniel shifted in his saddle to look back at Harrington. “Newman seemed to know when we were communicating, too.”

  “Oh, it’s obvious all right. There’s a sort of stillness that seems to come over you while it’s happening. But about Newman. You do realize don’t you, that killing him has made it really difficult to grant you land?”

  “Why? He was trying to kill us for the gold. Billy stopped him. But then he tried to kill Billy. In the gunfight that followed, Newman lost. That’s justice. It’s what’s supposed to happen to people who steal from others. Or do you think because he was an English soldier, we should have just rolled over and let him kill us?”

  “No I don’t, Nathaniel. And you know me well enough to know that’s not how I think. Did Caruthers, the Lieutenant, did he see the gunfight?”

  “I have no idea,” Nathaniel said. “We know the troop saw us from the valley rim, but we didn’t stay around to find out how much they saw.”

  “Well,” Harrington said, “that’s a bridge we’ll have to cross when we come to it. Did Billy say anything about how many horses are up in this country you want?”

  Nathaniel frowned. “No. But there’s hundreds of them, maybe even a thousand or more. But what’s it matter?”

  “It matters a lot. Before we can give you any sort of land grant, we have to be able to give you a pardon. It doesn’t take a genius to work out that’s hard to do for someone convicted of treason,” Harrington said.

  “Granted. But what’s horses got to do with it?” Nathaniel asked.

  “The army in India needs horses. If you bring in, say a hundred high quality mounts, and contract to supply another twenty or so every month for the King’s army. Well, that could be used by the Governor as a reason to pardon you. It’d also go a long way toward explaining the huge grant he’d have to give you. Not as much as you’ve asked for, mind. But there’s a way we can get round, or rather, compensate for that, if you’re prepared to work with me.”

  “One hundred horses? And another twenty every month?” Nathaniel shook his head. “Are you out of your mind? I’m no stockman. There’s no way I could catch and break that many horses,” Nathaniel said.

  “Agreed.” Harrington smiled. “But Billy and his brothers could.”

  “Maybe,” Nathaniel said. “But where’s that leave me?”

  “As the managing land owner.” Harrington leaned forward and spoke softly. “We need managers in the colony, Nathaniel. People who have the ability to think. To plan for the future. To lead the every-day folks through the decisions that need to be made.”

  “Whoa, big man,” Nathaniel said. “That might be what you need in this land of yours. But it’s not what I need. I need a berth back to America. Back to the land of the free.”

  “Nonsense,” Harrington said. “Look, I’ve never been to the United States, so what I know about it is only what I’ve read or been told. But as I understand it, both this land and that one have people working in chains. The difference being, that while the people in chains over there were born into chains, over here the people wearing chains earned them. They’re convicted criminals.”

  “Uh huh. And while the people over here who’re in power were born into it, over there they have to earn it.”

  “That’s an over simplification of both cases,” Harrington said. “The fact remains though, that in America, I’ve not heard of one slave, or the child of a slave, rising to a position of public importance. In this country we can. My own mother was a convict. She is now a prominent matron of Sydney society, and I’m an officer of the crown.”

  “Ha,” Nathaniel grunted. “There’s a shortage of women in this colony. So a woman who marries well has a chance. But people like me have none. At best in this colony, I’ll be able to be a businessman. But I’ll never be able to practice law.”

  Harrington shook his head. “Not true, Nathaniel. With a pardon given to you because you’re helping the King’s army, and knowing you have studied law in England, Macquarie can make you a justice of the peace. You can be a magistrate here. And Lord knows, you’d be an improvement over the religious zealots and military incompetents who’re doing the job now.”

  “You’re offering me a position as a judge?” Nathaniel asked “Just how much power has Macquarie given you?”

  Harrington laughed. “Not that much. I’m only suggesting it’s possible. Maybe even probable. But it’ll be the Governor’s decision, not mine. Mind you, I’ve reason to believe he’ll look very favorably at what I recommend. Would you be interested in that? Being the owner of this valley you’re taking me to, and the magistrate of the western slopes?”


  “Being the owner of the valley would be grand. But it isn’t all the land we need to close off and protect.”

  “I know. But there’re limits to what we can do without having the imported incompetents yipping like gut-shot dingoes.” Harrington hesitated, looked around, then leaned even closer. “As an officer of the crown, I’m entitled to a grant. As the officer who ‘organized’ horses for the army, I’ll be entitled to a larger than normal grant. I’ll ask for the rest of the land, and we’ll work together, secretly.”

  Nathaniel smiled cynically. “Oh, that’s cute. That’s really cute. My people wind up owning their little valley and Lieutenant Harrington, an officer of the crown, winds up owning everything around them. Effectively land locking them. That’s really cute, Dennis. But it’s not going to happen.”

  “Now hang on a minute, Nathaniel. You’re making this sound like some sort of sinister plot. But it’s not. Work with me on this. You know the land area you’ve asked for is more than can be given to you But it could be given to two,” Harrington said. “We can work together as partners. We’ll get you into the judiciary system as a magistrate, and I’ll keep working my way up in politics, as an officer of the crown. Between us, a couple of ‘colonial kids’, we’ll be able to control what happens west of the mountains. And eventually, what happens in the colony. Is that such a bad thing?”

  Nathaniel sat very still for a moment. “You’re serious aren’t you? You’re suggesting that the son of a convict, and a pardoned convict, could wind up controlling this land.”

  “Someone has to do it, Nathaniel. What do you say? Will you work with me to protect these people, like the Pike boys?” Harrington lifted both hands as though holding a globe. “We’ll build a world where our children, and their children’s children, will be safe and happy? Free from the control of Englishmen like Caruthers?”