Tarrapaldi

by Wayne T Mathews

  When Harrington was on the horse, holding Claire in front of him, Caruthers carefully relocked the manacles, joining them together again.

  “You can ride your own horse, or the big gelding if you like, sergeant,” Caruthers said. “But I’m going to ride the gray. And I’d like at least one of the pistols.”

  MacLaughlin smiled and gently shook his head. “I’m sure you would, Clive. But your being on Harrington’s mare will be a handful for you, so I’ll keep the pistols. Lead on, Dennis,” MacLaughlin said. “The sooner you get us there, the sooner you’ll be able to tend to your lady.”

  Chapter Twenty One

  They’d accomplished a lot in the three days since Harrington and Claire had left to survey the land they were going to claim.

  There were over 300 horses contained in the pass. The spring that trickled into a small rock pool supplied water for them. But what feed had been there, was almost gone.

  Billy and Andrew had selected six horses from the first mob they’d brought in. Using a surprisingly gentle technique, where they seemed to be talking to the horses with body language, they’d trained the horses quickly to accept the saddle and rider, and to respond to the commands of the bridle.

  Billy and Andrew had used those green broke horses to do the legwork in the valley. Rounding up, and bringing in the groups of horses Nathaniel and Tunggaree had told them they’d seen in their dreamings.

  Tarrapaldi and Muchuka had worked the gates. Opening them when they heard the horses approaching, and closing them once they’d galloped through.

  It’d been hot, hard work. But a lot of fun. The two young men were now mounted on their fully trained horses. Huge grins on their faces, and at times, roaring with laughter, while they wheeled and dashed among the wild horses, cutting out the brood mares and younger stock that wouldn’t be going to Sydney.

  Tunggaree had been delighted when Nathaniel told him he would stay. Every morning he took the young man away from the group, and taught him more of the Koradji secrets. At night, Tunggaree sat with Tarrapaldi and whispered to her, telling her of the amazing progress Nathaniel was making. Telling her of Nathaniel’s strengths and occasional weaknesses. Training her to support and guide the young white man she’d selected as her mate.

  She could see the effort was tiring her father. But when she mentioned it, he smiled, patted her hand, and told her not to worry. He told her his time on earth was coming to the end. That he was looking forward to being reunited with her mother. But before he left, he said he had one more important thing to do. When Tarrapaldi asked what that was, he smiled again and told her she’d know when she saw it happen.

  Tunggaree had stayed in his gunyah this morning, sleeping. Nathaniel had gone off by himself. Tarrapaldi wasn’t worried though. She knew he could leave his body by himself now. That he could fly with eagles, or be a finch if he chose, and be safe.

  She was surprised when she saw Nathaniel coming back to the camp. He was running hard, clearing rocks and logs in his stride, occasionally grabbing hold of branches and things to steady himself in his headlong rush.

  “Slow down, Nathaniel. You’ll frighten the horses.” Tarrapaldi said.

  “Stuff the horses. Where’s Tunggaree? I’ve been trying to call him, but he won’t answer.”

  “He’s resting. He’s not as young as he used to be. And the flying you two have been doing these last couple of days, has really worn him down.”

  “Well, he’s going to get even more worn out. As we speak, we’ve got a dead-set, serious problem coming into the valley,” Nathaniel said. “Caruthers and his sergeant have Harrington and Claire in irons. They’ve just come through the most western pass.”

  Tarrapaldi frowned. “I can see that’s going to cause us a problem. But I don’t see why you’re so upset.”

  Nathaniel looked across at the two Pike boys working their horses. “Richard isn’t with them. Dennis and Claire are both up on the carthorse he took. I need Tunggaree to come with me. We need to back-track them and find Richard. He might need help.”

  “You don’t need Tunggaree for that.”

  “Yes I do. I don’t know how to track like he does. And if Richard’s hurt, Tunggaree can help him.”

  “Tunggaree can’t do everything for us, Nathaniel. He’s an old man, and he’s tired. I’ll help you find Richard.”

  “You can’t, Tarrapaldi. There’s things Tunggaree and I do, that a woman can’t do.”

  “Like change into a bird and fly?” Tarrapaldi asked. “I can do that. I can’t put my hands on a man and cure him, because if I did, my father and I would be killed. But you can. And I can tell you how.”

  Nathaniel was stunned. “How do you know about these things? Tunggaree told me they’re secrets that can only be shared with initiated men.”

  “I’m my mother’s daughter.” Tarrapaldi reached over and took hold of his hand. “My father is one of the Koori’s most successful Koradjies, Nathaniel. The reason he is so successful, is because he had, and still has, secret help.”

  “But you could be killed for knowing the Koradji’s secrets.”

  “That’s true. But only if the wrong people find out I know. So come.” She turned, holding his hand, and walked toward the bush. “Nobody needs to know what we do in private. Let them think I’m only Koradji Nathaniel’s woman.”

  Crossing the ridge, Tarrapaldi led Nathaniel to a small clearing inside a thicket of scrub. Sitting crossed-legged on the ground, she held both palms toward him. “It’s easier for us to remain together if you join with me now. Have you flown as a crow yet?”

  “No. I flew as a swallow once, for the pure fun of it. But every other time, we’ve been working. We’ve been up to see things, so we’ve looked through the eyes of eagles.”

  “That’s fine but this time we need to go down amongst the trees, and that’s too hard for eagles,” Tarrapaldi said, “so we’ll go as crows.”

  With his palms pressed against Tarrapaldi’s, and his eyes closed, Nathaniel felt the force begin to pulse. For the simple fun of it, when he felt the force entering him, he sucked it in. Startled, Tarrapaldi hesitated, and then drew back. With a chuckle, Nathaniel pushed hard when he felt her pulling.

  “Nathaniel!” Tarrapaldi’s laughing squeal tickled his mind. “We’re going out of our bodies. Not into mine.”

  “Wow. I didn’t think of that. It sounds like it could be a lot of fun.”

  “Later, big boy.” He felt her presence surround him in an enveloping embrace, then she backed off and led him into the sky.

  When he opened his eyes, he saw a magnificent crow sitting beside him. “Hello, Darling,” he drawled. “Wanna get up to a little mischief while we’re here?”

  The crow squawked and launched itself from the branch, beating its wings wildly as it accelerated away.

  “You might try being a little more careful.” Tarrapaldi said.

  Nathaniel swiveled his head and saw another crow sitting on a branch above and behind him.

  “That’s right, big boy, I’m up here.” Her laughter rippled in his mind. “And you just scared that old man crow half to death.”

  “Well, there goes my reputation in the crow community.”

  “I doubt that. Crows are mischievous birds. But after we find Richard,” Tarrapaldi said, “we could show them what you can do with a female crow, if you like.” Laughing, she launched herself from the branch, dropped into the valley, and flew towards the west with Nathaniel trailing in hot pursuit.

  “I see what you mean about there being a problem down there,” Tarrapaldi commented, when they winged past the mounted group coming east. “Claire’s in a lot of pain. It’s a good thing she has Dennis there to hold her in the saddle.”

  “Should we go down and see if they need any help?”

  “There’s no point. There’s nothing we can do for them right now. What we can d
o though, is find out what happened. Then when we get back, we can organize the help they need.”

  The two crows continued west. Weaving between the trees at times, Tarrapaldi pointed out the obvious signs below them, until they came to where Richard’s body lay dumped on the ground.

  “Land on the branch beside me, Nathaniel. Do not go down to the ground.”

  About to alight beside Richard’s body, Nathaniel beat his wings and swooped back into the sky. “But he’s hurt. We might be able to help him.”

  “He’s not hurt, Nathaniel. He’s dead. They murdered him, and left him for the dingoes.” Tarrapaldi shuffled sideways on the branch she was perched on, so as to give him plenty of room to land. “Come down beside me. You mustn’t disturb the signs on the ground before I have a chance to read them.”

  Nathaniel landed beside her with an awful thump, and a lot of wing flapping to keep his balance. When the branch stopped whipping back and forth, Tarrapaldi began pointing to the signs with her beak.

  “They came here as friends. Richard dismounted there. Tied his horse to that sapling. Then walked over to look down on Dennis and Claire’s camp. The sergeant and Caruthers dismounted and tied their horses there. Then the sergeant walked up behind Richard and stabbed him in the back,” Tarrapaldi said. “But it wasn’t a clean kill. Richard must have had some warning, because he twisted away. He was seriously wounded, but he took his knife out of his boot there, and began to fight back. The sergeant lunged at him there, but Richard sidestepped, and may well have cut the sergeant before he jumped back out of reach. But he mustn’t have known Caruthers was behind him, because that’s where Caruthers ran his long knife through Richard’s back.”

  Nathaniel listened, looking carefully at what Tarrapaldi pointed out with her beak.

  “How can you tell all that by simply looking at scuff marks on the ground?” Nathaniel said.

  “They’re not just scuff marks. The signs of what happened here, are on the ground. It’s clear to anyone who can read the signs.” Tarrapaldi blinked, ruffled her feathers, and pointed again with her beak. “And far more difficult to leave lies, than it is for the Goobahs when they scratch their stories on paper.”

  “So you’re saying it’s the same as reading?” Nathaniel asked.

  “I suppose it is,” Tarrapaldi said. “I don’t know how to interpret the signs you put on paper with your pen, but I do know how to interpret the signs we put on the ground with our bodies. I know someone must have screamed, because those signs tell me Dennis’s horse was running as fast as it could, up to that point.” Tarrapaldi pointed to where Harrington had come up from the valley. “Which is where he would have seen the Sergeant and Caruthers, and he slowed the horse. Then he came over, dismounted, looked at what they’d done to Richard, and then he walked over there and called Claire.”

  Nathaniel shook his head. “That’s amazing. You can tell all that by the tracks? Will Billy and Andrew be able to read the same story?”

  “Oh, yes. When they come up here to bury their brother, they’ll see what happened.”

  “Good. Because when we go back, I want to see Caruthers and MacLaughlin swing for this. Billy and Andrew will be able to testify before a court of law. And with Dennis and Claire to back them up, justice will be done.”

  “You’re right, justice will be done.” Tarrapaldi turned to look at him. “But it won’t be in the Goobah’s court of law where it happens.”

  “What do you mean.”

  “Look at the signs, Nathaniel. Read the rest of the story. When Claire came up here and found out Richard was dead, she wept. Dennis went to comfort her. And that’s when the sergeant and Caruthers took them prisoner,” Tarrapaldi said. “Caruthers chained them to that tree. He hit Dennis hard enough to drop him to his knees, and then took away his little gun and knife. Then he went around to fondle Claire.”

  “Now hang on a minute.” Nathaniel studied the ground she’d pointed to. “Can you really see all that, or’re you making some of it up as you go along?”

  “Most of it I can see. Some of it I’m guessing. But they’re sensible guesses. Like there, you can see Caruthers was standing very close behind her. Being that close, he would have had his hands on her. And that’s when she snapped her heel up. You can see where she did that. Her heel would have hit him in his balls, and that’s why he dropped to his knees there. He would have been in pain and leaning forward when she leaned into the tree and kicked back, probably at his head, because it sprawled him on the ground.”

  “All right, how do you know she leaned into the tree?”

  “Oh, come on.” Tarrapaldi pointed to the tree. “Even a blind man can see the scratches the chain left in the bark.”

  He looked carefully. There were chafe marks on the tree. “All right. But how do you know it was Caruthers?”

  “Nathaniel, please. Caruthers has smaller boots than the other two men. And he leaves a smaller dent in the ground. Surely you can at least see that?”

  “Not really. But I’ll take your word for it.” Nathaniel said.

  “Fine! Then you can also take my word for it, that that little man then got up and kicked her as hard as he could, in the stomach. Her baby is miscarrying. Maybe Caruthers didn’t know that when he cut her trousers off, and positioned himself to mount her from behind. But then maybe he did. Because he didn’t penetrate her with his dong. Although he may well have cut her thigh, when he got her to open her legs. I can’t really tell with the other blood already on the ground.”

  “Good grief! The man’s an animal. But why would he do it?”

  Tarrapaldi looked at Nathaniel. “Does Dennis know where the gold is?”

  Nathaniel was stunned. “God dammit! Of course. That’s why Caruthers did it in front of him. He’s torturing her, to get Dennis to show him where the gold is. Oh, that miserable, low-life, piece of dung. When I get hold of him, I’m going to cut his dong off, and stuff it down his throat ‘till he chokes.”

  “You won’t, Nathaniel. Only a council of elders can sentence a man, no matter how evil he is, to a punishment like that. But once they do, it’ll be the Kadatchies who carryout the sentence, not you.”

  “The hell it will. It’s white men who’ve committed this crime, against a white woman. MacLaughlin is as guilty as Caruthers, for standing back and letting it happen. So he’s going down to hell as well.”

  “I’m sure you’re right, Nathaniel,” Tarrapaldi said. “Except a Dharug warrior was stabbed in the back and murdered first. But let’s not argue about this now. We need to get back to the others and tell them what’s happened. It seems likely that Dennis is leading them to the sacred cave. I think it’s also likely, that once he’s shown them where the gold is, they’ll kill him and Claire. So that doesn’t leave us a lot of time.”

  “You’re right, m’girl.” Nathaniel looked right, and then left. “So what’s the quickest way back to our people from here?”

  “This way.” Tarrapaldi launched herself from the branch, climbed clear of the trees, and with steady beats of her wings, she flew a beeline slightly south of east. Nathaniel found it difficult to keep up, but he managed.

  Chapter Twenty Two

  Tarrapaldi followed Nathaniel into the muster camp, a step behind her man, as custom dictated. But it was her voice that rang out across the clearing, bringing everyone together.

  “We’ll talk Dharug, and I’ll translate for Nathaniel. Billy, Andrew – it’s sad to have to tell you this, but we found Richard. He’s been murdered by the sergeant and Caruthers.”

  Both young men became totally still. Not a blink. They even seemed to stop breathing. Finally, Billy looked at Nathaniel and said one word. “Why?”

  “The gold,” Nathaniel said in English, then remembered to communicate with Tarrapaldi so she could translate his words. She told them, in Nathaniel’s words, what they had seen, and what they believed the sergea
nt and Caruthers were planning to do.

  When Tarrapaldi stopped translating, Billy turned to Andrew. Without speaking, the two brothers began walking to their horses.

  “Wait.” Tunggaree’s voice stopped them in mid stride. “Before anything is done for your brother, first we must prevent any further killing. Lieutenant Harrington and his woman have to be saved,” Tunggaree said. “And then a council of elders will decide the penalties. That is the law.”

  “We don’t have a council of elders,” Billy snapped.

  “Yes we do,” Tarrapaldi said. “We are the elders of our group. Therefore, we can form a council. My father, the great Tunggaree, he can lead us to a just decision that Baiame will approve. That way, we will not have broken the law. We will not be guilty of the same sins the soldiers have committed.”

  “You’re talking about a formality,” Andrew said. “And in this case, it’s a waste of time.”

  Tunggaree frowned. “Yes, it’s a formality. But it’s an important one. You see, justice must not only be done, it must also be seen to be done, within the law.”

  “By God,” Caruthers said. “I recognize this place. This is where we saw them loading their cart. But where’s the opening to the cave?”

  “I don’t know,” Harrington said. “I haven’t been here before. I only know that Johnson said the opening is underwater.”

  “Very well.” MacLaughlin took out and cocked a pistol. “Unlock their manacles, Clive, and then step back while they dismount.”

  MacLaughlin stepped up close to Harrington while he lowered Claire to the ground. Pressing the muzzle of his pistol into the lieutenant’s lower back, the sergeant whispered, “I’ve been thinking about what you said, about not trusting Caruthers. Maybe you and I should make a deal.”

  “What sort of deal, Bob?”

  Before MacLaughlin could answer, Caruthers’ hand snaked out, and snatched a pistol from the sergeant’s belt. Cocking the weapon, he jammed it into MacLaughlin’ side.