Outback Heritage

by K'Anne Meinel

  “Yank, yer gonna have to wait for the auction just like everyone else,” he said as he turned to hurry and help with the other sheep being loaded in another of the paddocks. They were filling the small space end to end with the poor animals.

  “I’ll go halves,” Carmen murmured as she saw Mel’s determined look.

  Mel turned to look down on the petite woman in surprise. He had forgotten she was there as he thought about what obtaining the sheep would mean.

  Just then, more sheep and more men arrived. Neither Mel nor Carmen had ever seen the stockyards this full, but it explained the many pens that had lain empty. The stockyard could easily accommodate thousands of animals. Mel looked down at his dogs. They were shaking with excitement at the idea of helping, and he could tell they were barely constrained and only obeying him because he had fed them, and they were now loyal to him.

  “Let’s see what else we can find out,” he advised, and Carmen nodded. Mel wanted all five thousand sheep for himself but didn’t know if he could handle that many alone. He wasn’t ready to hire other shepherds, or stockmen as the Australians called them, to work for him just yet. He didn’t even know where he was going.

  It was Paco who learned there were eight thousand sheep and which bank owned them. Mel and Carmen headed for that bank to ask about purchasing them outright and not waiting for the auction. Mel had a good idea how much they were worth unshorn and discussed it with the woman as they rode towards the bank. Two of her men followed them, guarding the senora and looking menacingly towards any who would look sideways at the woman. The four dogs followed Mel’s horses’ hooves, keeping an eye out, so they didn’t get trampled, but Mel figured they could use the exercise, and he wanted to keep them away from the temptation of the sheep.

  “They are to go up for auction,” the bank manager stated loftily when they approached him.

  “Mr. Allen, I’m sure I could make this easier for you,” Mel stated. “Your bank stands to lose money on the deal since the owner forfeited them.”

  “How did you–?” he began, but Mel interrupted, lifting a hand to silence the man, something a woman wouldn’t have dared or been allowed to get away with. The banker glanced from the large man to the petite woman next to Mel.

  “I’m sure you understand how these rumors get started. The animals have just come from a long voyage and are in poor shape. You are going to have to have them sheared, if they survive, and then of course, their value is halved after shearing.” Mel and Carmen both saw him start at the phrase ‘if they survive.’ “We are willing to pay you for them outright,” he dangled the offer.

  “I don’t even know you…” he began, suspicious of the Yank’s accent as well as the dusky beauty who accompanied him and remained silent.

  “You can check with the Bank of England. My account will be used for this transaction, and they will assure you I have the funds,” he said firmly, using the snobby tone he had acquired defensively back in his days in New York.

  “And you are…?”

  “Mel Lawrence,” he returned, not even thinking of using his full name with Carmen Pearson listening.

  The banker had heard the name. Bankers congregated often, and a Yank transferring funds to the Bank of England branch here in Sydney had been titillating gossip. The name didn’t sound quite right, but it had been awhile since it was discussed, and he could be remembering it wrong. “Would you be willing to pay what they are worth in England?”

  “Come now, man. They have just gotten off a ship from England. They barely survived the crossing and look terrible.” Actually, they had looked good, considering the trip. It was obvious they had been well taken care of. “If I take them–” he began but Carmen interrupted.

  “We,” she breathed, clutching at Mel’s elbow slightly to remind him that she was there.

  Mel looked down and saw the twinkle in the woman’s eye. She knew he was bargaining with the banker and was not fooled at all. The banker, however, didn’t know stock. By the time they agreed to buy the entire flock as is, they had wheedled the price down considerably, but it was a cash deal, and the banker felt pleased for having gotten anything for the poor, diseased, and apparently dying sheep. He accepted a bank draft from both Americans, each paying for half the deal and signed the animals over to them.

  “Now, what?” Carmen asked with a grin as they left the bank, each holding firmly to the bills of sale with both their names on them.

  “I guess we get our sheep sheared and finish stocking up for the trip out to your station. I’ll see what I can find nearby when we split up the flock.”

  “Maybe you will be one of my neighbors,” Carmen said generously, having no idea what she would find when she got out to Twin Station where her cousins were running the sheep station. They were her reluctant partners, and she wondered how they would feel about her purchase. The lawyer here in Sydney had tried to get her to sell out several times since she had arrived. She’d perversely stayed in the large city to get the lay of the land, but it was time she headed out. Her men would be pleased as they were restless.

  “Maybe,” Mel agreed, delighted with their purchase. It was a great bargain, and they congratulated each other as they headed back to the stockyards.

  They disappointed quite a few people, who had looked forward to buying some of the sheep and were hoping to get a bargain themselves. When they found out the auction was completely off because two Yanks had bought the entire flock, it created some ill will. Mel watched as they sheep were sheared, wanting to learn how to do it himself. He was disappointed that some of the ill will towards his and Carmen’s purchase from under the noses of more experienced grazers continued as the shearers swore at, nicked, and treated their sheep badly. Carmen watched as well, learning an aspect of animal husbandry she knew would be valuable on the sheep station where she was heading.

  “Easy there. Either cut him evenly or get another job,” Mel warned one of the shearers menacingly when he saw the slipshod job he was doing.

  “Yeah? Whatcha going to do about it?” the shearer challenged, rising from where he had been bending over the sheep he was shearing.

  Mel didn’t hesitate. He knew that waiting and posturing was pointless. He hit the man, one hard right to his unprotected jaw, and he went down. He seemed to fly as he also tripped over the downed sheep he had been shearing, and he was out cold. Mel looked around for other troublemakers, but the other shearers got busy over their own animals and began clipping a little more carefully as they took off the sheep’s long, wool coats.

  “I don’t think we’ll have any more problems with them,” Carmen commented after she observed her partner taking down that man. Mel hadn’t followed through with the man, and one of his mates had picked the stunned man up from the floor when he began to come around. He had gone back to work, doing a better and more careful job from then on.

  The men got paid according to how many sheep they clipped, no matter how long the coats or how quickly they did it. Eight thousand sheep were quickly defrocked, and the wool was taken away to be shipped to England and the mills there.

  Mel and Carmen both filled wagons with supplies, peas, rice, salt pork, flour, and other necessities that were frequently shipped inland to the various stations. Mel met the rest of the dozen men Carmen had traveling with her as they readied for the long trip. Some had families of their own, and he found himself liking them. Carmen’s children were a hoot, but their nursemaids seemingly disapproved of the Yank they had heard so much about from the men. A guide, who had been to Twin Station before and was returning with their annual supplies, agreed to travel with the Americans and show them the way. Several wagons, Mel’s included, which Carmen bought from him, left the stockyards and met up with the drayage company’s wagons. Mel had purchased two more dogs and Carmen found five, so there were eleven dogs surrounding the flock as they set out. Another dog was acquired by Paco as they drove the large flock west along Paramatta road in a long line.

  “You sure about
this trip?” Carmen asked as she admired the large Brumby horse that Mel had acquired, and he explained about the shaggy beast. The two other pack horses he had bought were also of this wild and sturdy, if shaggy, breed. Mel was admiring the two dozen horses Carmen had shipped from America, wishing he could afford them, but the woman wasn’t selling anyway, as was attested by the many offers she had received and turned down for the fine beasts. Still, Mel had put in for one of their offspring when they became available, knowing his new friend would hold it for him even if it was years in the making.

  “Nope, I’m not sure about this trip, but I’m willing to look wherever my heart is sending me,” she replied cryptically.

  Carmen had figured out Mel’s secret after their first week on the trip. She understood the large woman’s need to keep her identity under wraps and didn’t pry. She respected her too much to reveal her secret. She let on to Mel that she knew, but from the little she had gleaned about being shanghaied and ostracized by her peers back in New England, she thought she understood why Mel would rather go about as a man. She certainly had more freedom as a man; the transaction at the bank had proven that. She also sensed Mel’s attraction to her, and while it pleased her vanity, the feeling wasn’t returned.

  Mel had been pleased to meet Carmen’s children. The maturity of the four children was a surprise as they occasionally rode along on horses belonging to their mother, not in the least afraid of their size. They also weren’t fearful of Dancer, the stallion that Carmen rode. She didn’t ride side saddle, and they were well supplied with western saddles, one of which Mel purchased. She didn’t like that the Australian saddles had no pommels, and she felt more comfortable in the familiar Western one.

  They continued west on the track they were assured would take them to Menindee. They had to cross a river there that some described as being so muddy that the good water ran under all the silt. They said it ran upside down, and Carmen had appreciated the humor of that. Used to the clean waters of the Sierra Nevada mountains in California, she missed the cold, clear water. She’d enjoyed the Blue Mountains here in New South Wales as they traveled through them but was told that wasn’t even a quarter of the trip on their journey to Twin Station.

  Carmen had a lot to think about on this trip, like meeting Mel Lawrence, the American who had assured her she had been shanghaied. Mel had confided in her but only after Carmen had accidentally discovered her secret. Mel Lawrence was not a big-boned, burly man but a big-boned, burly woman. Melissa Lawrence had mistakenly been taken for a man because of her short hair, mannish attire, and her size. Not willing to be gang-raped on the vessel that had absconded with her person, she let them think she was a man, hiding her sexuality from them in the months it had taken to cross the vast ocean from San Francisco. Working hard, they didn’t suspect the large person was a woman and accepted her at face value as a man. Carmen realized now that her own vessel transporting her worldly goods, horses, and people had left many months apart from the ship that had taken Mel.

  Mel had also asked that Carmen keep her secret, which she willingly agreed to. She knew there was probably a good reason for it and hoped to someday find out. The two Americans had become good friends in this foreign land while both heading for the Outback.

  CHAPTER TEN

  As they were coming out of the Blue Mountains, heading for Bathurst and then past it onto the rolling hills, they encountered drays pulled by bullocks bringing back mounds of wool from the various stations. This group of men were a cordial lot and anxious to get back to Sydney, but one of them stood out because he owned an aboriginal woman. Camping near them, they were able to listen to the boisterous talk and bragging of a few of the men, who were intent on impressing the Yanks. A few tried to flirt with the Senora, not in the least intimidated by the vaqueros she had with her. The big Yank backed up the vaqueros, and a few of them men backed down. They didn’t realize that the Hispanic men were more of a threat while protecting their Senora.

  The men were interested in the large flock of sheep the Americans were taking onto the Outback and exchanged information. Mel was watching how the carter treated the woman in his care and decided to challenge the men to a game of cards. She played to their vanities and finally enticed the one named Bradley, who apparently owned the woman, to play cards. She didn’t even have to use the tricks she had learned so long ago in New Orleans to win against the man. His confidence, ego, and overweening pride kept him in the game. Mel let him think he was a good player, keeping him in the game just long enough for him to borrow against the woman’s value and then lose. Mel had to get a little forceful to collect her bet, but the man sulkily complied eventually and turned the woman over to the big Yank.

  * * * * *

  “What are you going to do with her?” Carmen asked Mel, referring to the chained Australian Aborigine she had acquired.

  “Free her,” Mel said shortly and succinctly. It had never occurred to her to keep the woman. She looked distastefully at the collar around the woman’s neck and the chain attached to it. The chains around the woman’s ankles were equally alarming.

  Carmen nodded, never doubting her friend or her decision to acquire the woman. The woman looked afraid, ready to bolt, but Mel tried to lessen her fear by communicating with her.

  “Dog…daaawg,” she said, drawing it out and pointing at the dogs as they came in to eat.

  The woman tried. She realized her new man expected her to learn his language, but some sounds, no matter how hard she tried, were difficult for her. Still, she was eager to learn as she realized that being able to communicate with these white men would be a good thing. She was surprised that they were heading back the way she had come. The wagons—way-guns, the man told her—were heading back towards the Outback. She wondered if she could get back to the area where her family was. Then she realized, her family would never accept her. Her father had abandoned her because her value was gone. Realizing her family was forever gone to her, she decided to make the best of what was before her. The man was kindly to her and teaching her his white words. She looked about more now, not forced to look down while trying to avoid being noticed by the men. No more was she used, and Mel had supplied her with more clothing.

  Carmen watched as her friend attempted to teach the aboriginal woman, her patience tested as the intelligent but rather primitive woman was at first fearful and then, seemed to learn by leaps and bounds. Carmen was fascinated watching the two women interact. She was pleased to see the Aborigine seemed to enjoy her children, who were equally fascinated by the woman whose name they all learned was Alinta.

  They stopped in the next town, and Mel sought out a blacksmith to remove the collar and chain, selling the metal back to the man. Mel looked on curiously as the blacksmith removed the restraints, not having seen a slave collar before, and realizing the only way to remove it was by sheer force.

  Alinta struggled at first, not having understood when it was first being put on, and now, not willing to have another put on. Carmen watched when Mel firmly held the wild woman as the man removed it, the wool between the collar and her neck falling away. The Hispanic woman watched as Alinta felt wonderingly at her neck when Mel put her back on her feet and smiled at her. The collar, despite the wool padding, had chafed, and Alinta must have felt the loss of weight immediately from the heavy iron. She was equally surprised when the man removed the manacles around her ankles. She looked at the despised collar and watched as Mel offered the metal to the other man, who negotiated for the used iron, a commodity he could well use in his blacksmith shop.

  Next, Mel and Carmen headed for a store. Those inside frowned as the Aborigine entered with them but shut their mouths as Mel quickly looked for ready-made clothing and paid for it with cash. Mel’s size alone kept them from ordering the aboriginal woman out of their store. Carmen wasn’t aware when the frowns were directed to her own darkly tanned skin, but when she mentioned she was going out to Twin Station and was one of the owners, their attitudes changed, although,
they were still doubtful. Alinta didn’t understand at first when Mel held up first one shirt and then another against her body to see if they would fit, followed by miner’s pants and underwear. A small, almost childlike stockman’s hat completed the outfit, and Alinta carried it all, not understanding it was for her to keep. As Mel and Carmen headed back to their camp outside of the small town, Alinta followed, hurrying to keep up with the taller woman’s long strides.

  Carmen nodded encouragingly, pleased at the large American’s actions towards the poor woman and wondering what Mel would do for her next. She could see the Aborigine was confused by turns and wondered when the woman would realize Mel was a woman too. She watched as the woman learned to wear clothing, although she wouldn’t use everything that Mel had supplied her with. She preferred less clothing, and as they saw other less civilized Aborigines than the ones in Sydney, Carmen understood. It was simply too hot for a lot of clothing. She was sweltering in her clothing, and it continued to get hotter the farther west they traveled. The children complained, their nurses complained, and her men were stoically quiet about the heat. It had been hot in the inland valley, but this was a different heat. It was dryer and dustier, and she worried about her horses and how they would adapt to this land. Still, she loved watching them in their herd off to the side of the trail the sheep and their wagons traveled on. They would occasionally run, their manes and tails flowing in the wind and their beauty obvious to all who watched.

  Carmen observed that Mel allowed the aboriginal woman other freedoms. Her gathering stick had been lost when she was captured, and Alinta had searched among the deadfalls for another that she could fashion, using stones to smooth it and create another. Mel watched, wishing she could ask the Aborigine what she was doing. Still, the word game, as Mel termed it, was coming along, and Alinta had a phenomenal memory. Carmen and her children participated, taking great delight in the game. Alinta remembered all the words she had acquired, only having to repeat them two or three times before they were hers, so long as she understood the concept. Mel was surprised that the woman had no words for dog or horse in her own language. Apparently, they didn’t have these animals where she came from. The closest she came to dog was dingo and that seemed universal. They heard the wild dogs, usually at night as they trailed their large flock for a time, but the combination of man’s smell and dogs seemed to be a deterrent. However, while they were traveling, they entered other territories where more of the wild dogs existed and tried their patience by attempting to make a meal of their sheep.