Sam and Nate stared at each other, neither moving, the tension building between them. Suddenly Sam scrunched up his eyes and ran his hand though his hair before flinging his hand back down by his side, a sharp movement filled with such intensity it made Nate flinch. His father stood for a moment and stared at the ground with a frown, and to Nate it almost looked as if the man was grappling with his thoughts. After another second or two he finally looked back up at Nate and sighed. ‘So, now the truth is out,’ he said. Then he continued, defiance lighting in his eyes. ‘Jordy wouldn’t tell me where it was, and he knew how desperate I was back then. I was out of my mind with worry and I snapped. I didn’t mean to do what I did—it just happened.’
‘My father didn’t murder my mother,’ Berry stated simply, as if by saying it out loud her mind might comprehend the fact.
Sam shook his head. ‘Your dad loved her beyond reason—he would never have harmed her. I doubt he’d could have hurt anyone.’
‘You killed them all … My grandparents.’
‘Yes, well, I had to, didn’t I? I didn’t want to, but they saw what happened. They would have sent me to jail, and I couldn’t let that happen.’
Berry started to tremble violently as realisation hit home and anger welled up inside her like a volcano. ‘All these years …’
His eyes pinned her. ‘I’ve wronged you and I’m sorry for it. In hindsight I would have acted differently, but you can’t erase the past.’
‘You bastard,’ she hissed. ‘You murdered my family, and you made me believe it was Dad. Everyone despises him and tries to forget him, when he was the most loving and caring man. You did this!’
‘Berry,’ Nate said, ‘don’t talk to him. Just come up here now—you’re not safe.’
‘He destroyed my family! He butchered my mother and my grandparents, and set up my father to take the blame.’
‘Look,’ said Sam, ‘I never planned for it to happen.’
‘Don’t you dare speak to me!’ she spat at him. ‘What sort of a person are you? You’ve come into my home and talked to me like a friend when all along you had the blood of my family on your hands. You’re scum, Sam Tarant. Scum!’
Sam glanced up at Nate with a look that resembled sadness and regret, but it was laced with something harder, darker. ‘Ah, Nate, this wasn’t the way it was supposed to be. How did you work it out?’
Nate looked at his father. ‘Well, for a start, your sleazy friend Laurie gave the game away. Oh, he tried to hold out and not say anything, but when the police hinted about how much jail time was up for grabs, he confessed everything.
‘He told Rob Mendez that you’re the guaranteed buyer and you’re the one behind all his actions. That made me wonder why you would go to such great lengths to scare Berry and buy Stone Gully. And then I remembered you told me where Berry’s mother was killed. I asked Rob about it and he confirmed she had been found near the dam, but he also said that no one knew about that. But you knew about that, didn’t you? The only way you could have known about that is if you had been there when it happened. What was it Dad … the gold?’
‘Nate—’
‘And the fire—that was you, wasn’t it?’
‘Yes, but listen, son—’
‘No!’ Nate exclaimed. ‘I won’t listen to you. Never again. You’re a low-life murderer. You destroyed Berry’s family and disgraced ours.’ Nate straightened and stared down his father. ‘When you’re locked away for the rest of your miserable life, I’ll know that I no longer have a father.’
‘It doesn’t have to be that way, Nate.’
‘Actually, it does. There’s no avoiding it now. You have to pay for what you’ve done,’ Nate said as he quickly tied one end of the rope he was carrying around a sapling at the top of the gully.
Berry had just made it to the second tree when she looked behind her and saw Sam had made it to the first.
‘Berry, here!’ Nate tossed the rope down to her. ‘Hold on and I’ll pull you up.’
She grabbed the rope with both hands and started walking up the slope. The ground was still moving with each step, but she hung onto the rope and managed to move towards Nate.
‘Think about this, son,’ his father called out. ‘I can make this right. All you have to do is walk away. I can take care of everything.’
‘Just shut up!’ Nate called out. ‘That’s never going to happen.’
Nate made eye contact with Berry. ‘Just keep moving. You’re almost to the top. Don’t listen to him, he’s talking bullshit—I won’t let anything happen to you, I promise,’ he said as he pulled on the rope.
Berry grimaced as she pushed herself to keep going. She could hear Sam behind her, but with a final yank of the rope she was almost there. She reached out her hand and Nate took it.
‘I’ve got you,’ he said as he grabbed her under the arms and drew her towards him.
But before he could pull her all the way to safety, Sam’s hand wrapped around her ankle and clung on with an iron grip.
Berry’s eyes widened with fear as she felt herself slip back down.
‘Nate!’ she called out.
Nate held onto her but his father was almost to the top and he still clutched her leg.
‘Just let her go,’ his father said as he looked up and managed to grab the edge of the gully. ‘Just let her go and everything will be back to how it was. We can put this all behind us and no one needs to know. Come on, son—she’s nothing to us.’
‘That’s not true. She’s everything to me—I love her,’ Nate said as in one final effort he shoved his boot onto Sam’s shoulder and gave him a shove in an attempt to free Berry.
For a second, there was a look of confusion in Sam’s eyes as Berry was wrenched from his grasp and he began to fall back down into the rocky gully. The momentum of pulling Berry free sent her and Nate flying backwards until they both hit the ground. They lay there for a moment stunned and wrapped in each other’s arms, and the only thought that went through Berry’s mind was that he hadn’t let her go.
Nate sat up and looked at her. He ran his hand down the side of her face. ‘Are you hurt?’
She shook her head. ‘No, I don’t think so,’ she whispered.
‘Good,’ he said as he got to his feet and pulled her up into a tight hug. ‘You’re safe now, it’s over and nobody’s going to hurt you.’
Berry held onto Nate. Her body trembled as she tried to process everything that had happened, but she couldn’t. All she could do in that moment was to hang on to Nate and let the warmth and strength of his body enfold her.
Finally Nate let her go. He looked down at her, his hands resting on her shoulders. ‘You stay here. I’ll be back in a second. Okay?’
‘Where are you going?’
Nate glanced over to the gully. ‘I have to look.’
‘Then I’ll come with you,’ Berry replied.
‘You don’t have to.’
‘I think I do,’ Berry said quietly.
Hand in hand they walked back to the edge and looked down. For a second Berry couldn’t see Sam but then she found him, lying at the bottom of the gully near the blackberry bushes. He was alive but Berry saw that his left leg was at a strange angle.
A low-pitched wail echoed through the gully as Sam tried to move. He looked around until he stared up to where they were standing.
‘Nate! Nate, help me!’ Sam Tarant called out. ‘Nate!’
For a moment Berry looked dispassionately down at him before turning and taking a few steps away from the edge.
Berry glanced at Nate as he pulled out his phone and scrolled through and found the number he was looking for. It rang a couple of times before it was answered.
Nate took a deep breath before he spoke. ‘Hi Rob, it’s Nate Tarant. Could you come to Stone Gully Farm—we’ve got a situation down here. Berry and I need your help.’
Chapter Forty
Stone Gully Farm, 2007
Sam Tarant was hunched over as he walked through the paddoc
ks towards Stone Gully. He didn’t know what he was going to do but somehow Jordy had to help him. Fifteen minutes ago he’d just got off the phone from the bank—they were threatening to take Tarantale Downs unless he came up with money for the arrears. What could he do? You can’t get blood out of a damn stone. He tried to tell them that there was a payout coming but it was still going through the insurance companies and the court. But nothing he said would placate them. Jordy was his last chance.
He stopped for a moment and looked up at the sky. What the hell am I doing? Jordy wasn’t even sure where the gold seam was—oh, he kept boasting that he knew where it was but he hadn’t shared that information with Sam.
His hand closed around the object in his pocket. Maybe he’d just make Jordy tell him—that’s right, that’s what he’d do. He dragged in a breath and started walking again, this time increasing his pace. How could Jordy not share where the gold was? He was meant to be his friend, wasn’t he? Why would he keep that sort of secret when it could change both their lives?
The sun was descending towards the far-off hills but the heat of the day still lingered. Sweat trickled down Sam’s back but he felt chilled to the bone. Once again he stopped, this time looking back over his shoulder. He should go home and forget that he was going to confront Jordy. This was a mistake, a monumental mistake.
Slowly he turned his head back and looked ahead. But was it? Maybe Jordy was pretending about the gold. Maybe because it was on his land he was going to keep it all for himself. Sam stood as still as a statue as the warm summer breeze blew over him.
But Jordy wasn’t like that—if he had the money he would help. It wasn’t as if Sam was asking for charity. It would be a loan, just until he got back on his feet. He couldn’t lose Tarantale Downs, it was in his blood, his bones, it was what defined him. What would he be without it? Nothing.
And if Jordy McCalister was really his friend, he’d help him.
Another gust blew over him, bringing the scent of dust and dry grass. His heart told him to turn around and go back. Instead he took a step forwards, his boot crushing a small plant struggling to survive in the dried-off paddock. Sam didn’t notice, he just straightened his shoulders and kept going.
Chapter Forty-one
It was a rough day, the second worst one of her life. And yet with all the revelations and secrets from the past finally being freed, there was something cathartic about it as well. The past was finally purged clean, and even though the events of her tenth birthday could never be changed, at least the truth had finally surfaced.
The shadow that had hung over Jordy McCalister disappeared. He was no longer the monster; he became again nothing more than what he’d always been—her dad. The injustice still bit at Berry, nonetheless. Sam Tarant had ruined her family, killed his friend and then had the audacity to frame him for it. They say forgiveness is the key to living a peaceful and happy life, but she couldn’t do it—at least not today.
Berry rang Uncle Dave and told him what had happened. She assured him that she was okay but didn’t try to stop him when he announced that he was going to get her brother and sister and drive up straightaway.
The worst part was having to tell Nate’s mum and sisters. Nate asked Berry if she’d go with him. She almost said no because she was still reeling from what had happened but changed her mind. She would go to support Nate, and maybe even more importantly to show his mum that she didn’t hold her in any way responsible. She also realised that now it was Nate who had a murderer for a father, and she understood how difficult that was to come to terms with. She more than many others knew what it was like to feel the burden of family shame as well as the loss of a father.
‘What?’ Jackie asked as she stared round-eyed at Nate. ‘What did you say?’ She stumbled for a second as she sat down at the kitchen table.
Nate went over, sat next to her and took her hand. ‘I’m sorry, Mum, but it’s true. Dad killed the McCalisters, and he would have tried to do the same thing to Berry this afternoon if I hadn’t turned up.’
Jackie slowly shook her head in denial. ‘No,’ she whispered, ‘he wouldn’t do something like that—he couldn’t.’
‘But he did,’ Nate said softly. ‘He did. He told me.’
Jackie’s face was pale and tears welled then fell down her cheeks. She looked over to Berry, who was standing by the door.
‘Oh, I’m so sorry, Berry. I’m so sorry. I never knew, never thought that he could …’ Her voice cracked and she buried her head in her hands. ‘Oh, how can you ever forgive me?’
Berry walked over and kneeled before her. ‘It’s not your fault. You didn’t know and no one is blaming you,’ she said as she reached over and hugged her.
The late afternoon breeze rustled through the pasture carrying the sounds of the stable hands grooming and feeding the horses, and the smell of the evening meal being cooked in the house. Nate was gazing across the fields in deep thought, while occasionally waving away the persistent mosquitoes that came out with the onset of evening shadows. Berry stood beside him, her own thoughts whirling as she came to terms with her new reality. Everything had changed and she was feeling unbalanced and slightly overwhelmed.
Nate broke the silence that had settled over them. ‘Where do we go from here, Berry?’
‘What do you mean?’ she answered.
‘My father murdered your family and then put the blame on your dad. Your dad was a good man, a man who loved his wife and his kids, and because of what my father did, he’s been despised for so many years. My dad ruined your life, Berry. It’s hard to get past that.’
‘Nate—’
‘No,’ he interrupted her, and went on in a rush as if he needed to say his piece now or he wouldn’t be able to. ‘Listen, I’m the son of a despicable person who destroyed your family and your childhood, and caused so much pain and damage. How can you stand to be with me?’
Berry looked at Nate, and smiled, the first real smile in what felt like forever. ‘You’re not your father, Nate. He’s in prison now and will most likely spend the rest of his life there. You’re just as much a victim as I am. You’ve lost your dad as well.’
‘It’s not the same.’
‘Isn’t it? You think I don’t know what you’re going through at the moment? I know what it’s like to have people in town look at you, and to know what they’re thinking. When you walk into a room, and everyone goes quiet. When people are overly nice and trying to be supportive, when you know that they’re pitying you and, yes, judging you as well. That’s what being a victim is. It’s not something that happens and then goes away. It carries on for years and years.’
‘So, what am I supposed to do?’ he asked her, desperation creeping into his voice.
‘Hold on to the things that matter. The people that matter.’
‘But I’ll always be a living reminder of what happened. How can you bear that?’
‘No. You’re a living reminder of how much I love you. Don’t you get it? The sins of the father be damned. We both have a chance for a new start, to leave all of this behind and make something good out of this.’
Nate focused his misty eyes on her face. ‘Do you mean that?’
‘Yes, I mean that,’ Berry stepped into his arms. ‘Now, stop talking and kiss me.’
Chapter Forty-two
Berry was leaning against the wooden fence of the training arena when Nate sauntered up and stood by her. They both watched as Justin led around the newest addition to Tarantale Downs. A lot had happened in the past nine months, the biggest thing being that Berry didn’t ever go back to Melbourne. Nate had taken over the running of Tarantale; he was still finding his footing but the business was beginning to thrive. All those years of working under his father had paid off, but now he was able to implement his own ideas and the whole place had a different atmosphere. But what made it all the better was that Berry was by his side. She shared his life, his home and his business.
‘He’s pretty,’ Berry said as she watched
the silver–grey stallion trot past.
‘Sir Tristram or Justin?’ Nate said as he turned his head and looked at her.
She gave him an innocent smile. ‘Ah, both.’
He cleared his throat. ‘Um, are you trying to make me jealous?’ he asked as he slung his arm around her shoulders.
‘No need to be,’ Berry said as she stared up into his eyes. ‘I guess you’re stuck with me now.’
‘How’s it looking, boss?’ Justin called out as the stallion passed by again.
Nate didn’t change his gaze, instead he was focused on Berry. ‘It’s good—very good,’ he said before he bent over and kissed her.
Justin rolled his eyes and decided to lead the horse back into the stable.
By the time Berry and Nate pulled apart, the training arena was empty.
‘Well, I guess we found a way to clear a room—or in this case a training arena,’ Berry said with a smirk.
‘That’s not a bad thing,’ Nate answered before changing the subject. ‘So, is everything set for tonight?’
Berry reached over, took Nate’s hand and looked at his watch. ‘Yeah, Uncle Dave, Jess and Tommy should be arriving in the next hour or so. And I told Andrea and Jodie to come over at six o’clock. And so is Young Ned. How about your sisters and your mum?’
‘Pestering me about what the party is for. I’ve also invited Justin,’ he said.
‘Well, that will make the girls happy,’ Berry said with a laugh. ‘So, no one has worked out why they’re coming?’
Nate shook his head. ‘Nope, I just kept it vague, told them it was time we all got together and also we could do with a celebration.’ He looked down at Berry’s hand and the ring of diamonds that encased her finger. The stones danced and glittered in the afternoon sun. ‘They’ve got no idea we’re throwing an engagement party. Thank you for saying yes—I love you, Berry.’
She wrapped her arms around his waist. ‘I love you, too,’ she said as she laid her head against his chest.
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