The Girl From Eureka

by Cheryl Adnams

  ‘Queensland,’ she said, sitting up again and pulling the bedsheet up to cover her breasts, which only drew his attention to them more. ‘I hear it’s warm all year round as it’s in the tropics. We can lay on the beach, swim in the ocean.’

  He let out a soft laugh. ‘How can we? We have no money. I have nothing to give you, Indy.’

  ‘I have plenty of money.’

  She’d said it so matter-of-factly he almost believed her.

  ‘Unofficially, I have the third largest chunk of gold found in any lead in the Ballarat Goldfields.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘I kept my find quiet,’ Indy explained. ‘Should any of the men find out, it wouldn’t be long before one of them robbed me of it. Only Annie and Sean know it’s real. Others who saw this huge chunk of gold think it is pyrite—fool’s gold. There have only been two other finds that big before. I’ve kept it hidden. Kept it safe.’

  ‘How big?’

  ‘Ninety pounds,’ she answered and watched his eyes widen. ‘And that’s only the one chunk. Since 1852, my mine has produced over a thousand pounds of gold. Sean has half of it, of course, but it’s still more than we need.’

  ‘Good Lord.’ He ran a hand through his sex-rumpled hair.

  ‘So we can go away,’ she said again, becoming more excited. ‘I have enough money for the both of us.’

  ‘So I’m to be a kept man?’ he asked, a small frown marred his features.

  ‘Is that a problem?’

  He shook his head. ‘No, not at all. I’ve been working for nigh on twenty years. It’s time I had a break.’

  She snorted out a laugh and he joined her. ‘You won’t be resting. Not once we set up the sugar plantation. I’ll work you so hard you will wish you were still in the army.’

  ‘Sugar?’ he asked, grinning.

  ‘I hear there is a burgeoning sugar cane industry in Queensland,’ she went on, her voice full of excitement. ‘My gold will buy us land enough to start a farm of sorts.’

  ‘Why have you not exchanged your gold already? Why are you still here?’

  Indy shrugged. ‘My mother loves her house. But I can’t sit around and do nothing so I continue to dig and help out at the fields. Besides, I adore Annie and Sean. I couldn’t just up and leave them alone. But I admit, I have been thinking about giving up the mine for a while now. Sean can work on the mine alone if he wants to.’

  He stared at the amazing woman before him. ‘You are indeed a rare creature, Indy. You put the needs of everyone ahead of yourself.’

  She shook her head. ‘I don’t. I can be selfish when I want to be. I’ll be selfish when it comes to you. Things have changed. This place is a barrel of gunpowder ready to blow. You said so yourself. We could leave, Will. Leave all this behind. We should go now, before it’s too late.’

  ‘You just said Annie and Sean need you. Your mother needs you.’ He lay back on the bed and exhaled heavily, hating the look of disappointment on her face. ‘But you’re right.’ Hope flashed in Indy’s eyes, her smile instantly brightening her features. He hated to quash it. ‘You should go. Take your mother and get far away from this place.’

  Beaming, she leaned down as though to kiss him. He stopped her with a hand to her shoulder, a shake of his head. ‘But I cannot desert the army. It is my home. My only home.’

  She sat back, lifting her eyes to stare wistfully out the window towards the moonlight as understanding began to sink in.

  ‘Indy, I …’ He tugged on her hands to make her look at him. ‘I love you. But I can’t go with you.’

  ***

  When Will finally fell asleep, Indy lay awake for a long time watching him breathing deeply in slumber. Her head and her heart were torn as she gazed upon the beautiful man before her.

  One minute they’d been planning a future together. A mere moment later, the joking, teasing, lighthearted lover had been replaced by the level-headed soldier once again. Her mother had been right. His life was with the army. He would never give it up to stay with her. Her heart was crushed, broken. She didn’t like the feeling at all.

  She could take her mother and leave. Just leave Ballarat and all its troubles behind her. And if Will didn’t want to go with them? Well, then she would leave him behind as well. Just the thought of that had her chest constricting all over again.

  Where had all her strength gone? Six months ago she would never have thought twice about doing what she wanted to do. She most certainly would not have let a man dictate her actions. But Will was not just any man. She loved him. If she stayed in Ballarat, what good would it do her? Her mother had said he would probably be gone by year’s end anyway. He’d said he loved her. But not enough. Not more than he loved his army.

  She hated being this woman. She hated this feeling of desperation now that she was in love. Love was surrendering control wasn’t it? So why wouldn’t he surrender to her? She hated that she couldn’t control what he did. But even worse, she hated that she wanted to. She would never allow him, or any man, to control her. There was nothing left to do. They had reached an impasse. Their fledgling relationship was over before it had even begun.

  Decision made, she climbed carefully from the small bed and dressed quietly so as not to disturb him. Taking one last look at the man who had shown her so much love and kindness, she crept from the room and out into the night. Calculating the angle of the full moon, she decided it must have been about two in the morning. Listlessly, and with her heart aching, she meandered back towards the Eureka camp.

  ***

  Will dreamed of Indy. Dreamed of her lying beside him on warm tropical beaches. Queensland, she had said. His subconscious mind conjured up soft, fine white sand and they swam together in the clear, warm waters. Naked. He dreamed of her naked.

  Aroused by his dreams, Will rolled over to pull her closer to him in the small bed. But when his arm found nothing but cool sheet, he opened his eyes. She was gone. Back to her tent in the campsite before morning broke he guessed. It would do neither of them any good to be caught here together. He had to protect her reputation, but more importantly, he had to protect her from the dangers of being found sleeping with the enemy.

  The light from the full moon brightened the little room and made it easy for him to see the furnishings, the small chair by the door where his miner’s costume had been carelessly tossed in the throes of passion. Beneath it, lay his soldier’s red coat.

  It was probably time for him to get up too and head back to camp before dawn. It would be the last straw for him to be caught outside the government camp after curfew. He’d switch back his miner’s garb for his officer’s uniform on the road, as he neared the camp. If caught by the miners in his red coat, he’d more than likely be shot or lynched. If he was caught by the government camp he might just get that flogging Captain Thomas had threatened him with the last time he’d stepped out of line.

  He heard what he thought was a gunshot and frowned. It was the middle of the night, but that didn’t mean anything. Miners protected their claims with gunfire at all hours of the day and night. Drunks often set off a volley of shots just for the hell of it.

  But then he heard the call of the bugle, and his blood turned cold.

  Chapter 27

  Will sat bolt upright in bed.

  A second, louder volley of multiple simultaneous shots rang out. He knew it already without having to look outside. The Army had attacked the stockade.

  The miners would have been sleeping, unprepared other than the two sentries he’d seen posted on the front entrance. It was the perfectly strategised dawn offensive so successful in war.

  But this wasn’t a war.

  He recalled the tents unlucky enough to be positioned so that the stockade surrounded them whether they wanted to be included or not. Simple men, women too, had been taking refuge behind the flimsy barricades.

  Women.

  Indy!

  In seconds he was out of bed and getting dressed. He grabbed whatever was closest and ended up w
ith the miner’s trousers and his uniform coat. Without bothering to fasten the brass buttons he was out the door and flying down the stairs, almost bowling over the widow Barnett and other guests, as in their nightclothes they too ventured out.

  ‘Lieutenant!’ the widow called after him. ‘What goes on?’

  Ignoring her, he barrelled out the door.

  The streets of Ballarat were in chaos. People, many still in their night garments and wrapped in blankets, alternately congregated on verandas of stores or ran from the gun battle blazing around the nearby stockade.

  The unholy noise of the skirmish had woken everyone. In the distance, Will could see the flashes as the gunpowder exploded, sending lead balls out of the barrels of the military rifles.

  At first he was stunned. There were so many soldiers, so many police surrounding the stockade. There had to be well over a hundred infantry in the first offensive line alone. And he knew enough of Captain Thomas’s strategising to be assured a second wave of mounted soldiers waited in the east and west flanks. It was the perfect storming formation. They were taking no chances. This uprising would be put down tonight. And put down fast with force unmatched.

  People rushed passed Will, screaming and crying, frantically trying to escape the gunfire that was now being returned by the men in the stockade. Will was the only person running towards the battle. He fought his way past the soldiers waiting in reserve, rushing to get to where Captain Thomas sat on his horse overseeing the conflict.

  ‘Present arms!’ came Thomas’s call. ‘Fire! Reload!’

  Will had to cover his ears with his hands, such was the noise of fifty rifles in chorus.

  ‘What are you doing?’ he yelled at Thomas.

  ‘Marsh?’ Captain Thomas looked down at Will with obvious surprise. ‘We received orders to storm the stockade and break the rebellion. The Commissioner agreed we could no longer sit back and wait for the miners to attack the government camp.’

  ‘It’s not yet five in the morning!’

  ‘I’m sorry, Lieutenant Marsh, did we wake you?’ the Captain asked sarcastically, eyeing Will’s shabby state of dress.

  ‘There are women and children in there!’ Will yelled, horrified as he watched a woman fleeing the stockade only to be shot in the back.

  ‘You are out of uniform, Lieutenant,’ Thomas scowled. Will looked down at his mismatched clothing. Was he a miner, or was he a soldier?

  As though reading his mind Thomas demanded, ‘Decide where your loyalties lie, Lieutenant Marsh.’

  Will stared at his superior officer, then turned to look back across to the frontline of the battle. The military had the upper hand. They hardly needed his help. But what else could he do to try and halt the fighting before anyone was killed or injured? He was just one man, and his only priority was to find Indy. He had a choice to make and he had to make it quick.

  ‘I said, take up arms, Lieutenant.’

  ‘No,’ he defied. ‘I will not be a part of murdering innocent women and children.’

  ‘Innocent!?’ Thomas said glaring back at him. ‘Like that woman you’ve been cavorting with? She’s hardly innocent. Gambling, fights and sharing herself with officers. Fall in, Lieutenant Marsh, or face the consequences.’

  Will hesitated. It would do him no good to get fired up over Thomas’s appraisal of Indy. The battle continued through the thick gun smoke that hung heavy in the air, obscuring the aim of the military rifles. Unable to see their mark, the soldiers were ordered forward and ran towards the stockade, clambering over the low pikes, attacking miners with bayonets. Random shots still rang out, echoing in the haze, blocking all other sound.

  Another man fell as Will watched. A few minutes more and he wouldn’t have to choose. This battle wouldn’t last much longer, and he had to find Indy.

  ‘Fall in, Lieutenant. That’s an order!’

  Making the only decision he could make and still live with himself, Will turned and ran. The gunfire swallowed his superior officer’s shouted demands to return and he made his way around the soldiers and the local troopers, being sure to steer clear of the firing range. There was nothing he could do to save the poor blighters in the stockade. And even if there was, nothing mattered more to him than getting to Indy, than making sure she was safe in all this madness.

  He ran until he felt his lungs would collapse. Smoke wafted into his eyes, stinging, burning, as he bolted into the trees. He circled around through the tents where the diggers and their families watched in horror the battle for the stockade.

  Forgetting he still wore his military red, he was spotted by a miner just outside the Eureka camp.

  ‘The bastards are sneaking up on us!’ the man yelled.

  Will was set upon by a group of men, armed with whatever they could lift and hit him with, or their own fists if they could find no weapon.

  ‘No!’ Will fought back as best he could. ‘I mean you no harm.’

  ‘Like hell you don’t!’

  He went down hard, and once down it was impossible to get back up again no matter how hard he fought.

  ‘Please! I need to find Indy Wallace!’ he shouted desperately to no avail.

  ‘You need to be dead,’ someone yelled back. He lost his breath and his ability to speak with the kick landed to his stomach. A blow to his head came a moment later, grogginess enveloped him and he fell into the black.

  ***

  Will heard voices as though from under a deep, deep ocean. He tried to swim to the surface, tried to open his eyes. When he finally managed it, the bright light sent searing pain into his skull and he slammed his eyes shut again. Slowly, he eased them open again and was eventually able to keep them open, although his left eye felt swollen and partially pasted closed.

  The voices became clearer and then a woman appeared in his blurred vision.

  ‘He’s awake is he?’

  The Irish brogue was unmistakable.

  ‘Annie?’

  ‘Aye,’ she answered, and he felt a cool cloth over his damaged eye. It soothed and he sighed at the instant relief. When she pulled it away, he saw the red of his own blood by the bright light of the lantern as she continued to wipe at his battered forehead and face.

  He tried to sit up, pain ricocheting through his ribs.

  ‘Stay down, you fool!’ Annie scolded. ‘They did a good job of you before Lenny here managed to pull them off.’

  Will’s good eye focused on the big black man he recognised as Lenny the American.

  ‘I’m indebted to you, sir,’ Will said and slowly pushed himself up again, wincing at the pain.

  Outside the tent, it was still dark so he couldn’t have been out for long. Dawn had not yet set in.

  ‘I said stay down,’ Annie instructed.

  ‘Is it over?’ he asked. He could only hear the occasional gunshot now.

  ‘I’ll say,’ Annie said, anger and frustration in her voice. ‘One sided fight that it was. The rebels didn’t stand a chance after the surprise attack. The battle didn’t last much longer than twenty minutes, but those bastards are still out there now rounding up miners.’

  ‘Indy?’ he asked through his pain. ‘Have you seen her?’

  ‘Not since the shooting started,’ Annie said, gnawing in her lip. ‘Only Indigo Wallace would run into a gunfight.’

  Will’s eyes were wide open now as he stared at the woman’s anxious face.

  ‘She ran towards the stockade? During the attack?’

  ‘Aye, she did.’ Annie gave a curt nod. ‘Foolish child. Her poor mother will be broken in two if she’s gone and got herself killed.’

  Annie’s wrath was replaced by a sudden sob and she turned her back on him. Will waited for her to collect herself. He knew how much Indy meant to Annie and it wouldn’t just be Indy’s mother who would be broken.

  Refusing to think the worst, Will stood despite the flare of pain that rolled along his chest and into his gut making him nauseated and dizzy. Taking stock, he was quite sure one or two ribs were broken c
onsidering the pain that flared each time he took a breath. His leg ached as well, but severe bruising was the extent there he determined when he was able to put some weight on the limb.

  ‘Sit back down, you great eejit!’ Annie reprimanded, her usual iron lady disposition back in place. ‘You’re badly injured.’

  ‘I’ve had worse,’ he muttered. ‘Annie, please. I can’t just sit here. I have to find her. I told her not to do anything stupid. She has no sense of her own safety.’ He was rambling, probably still a bit dazed he realised, but he needed to go. He looked determinedly into Annie’s eyes. ‘Please, Annie. I beg you. Let me go. I have to find her. No matter the consequences. I need to find her.’

  Annie hesitated a moment. ‘Lenny, will go with you.’

  ‘No, really, I’m fine. Lenny will be more help here.’

  ‘It’s for your protection,’ she added. ‘You’ll not get five yards out there without him. They’ll leave you alone if you have Lenny alongside.’

  He agreed, more to save time in arguments, but as it turned out he couldn’t walk easily on his bad leg, so having Lenny supporting him helped immensely.

  The scene that greeted him outside the tent was one of devastation and grief. The sun had not yet risen and the blue haze of pre-dawn, and the setting moon, released only shadowy figures as everywhere he looked women were crying over their injured men. Babies wailed. Gun smoke still hung in the air, acrid and bitter. He could smell the blood, could smell death. It was a scent a man of war never forgot and so at odds with the sweet, fresh, perfume of dew on the eucalypts. It was a blending of scents to make a man nauseated. It was impossible to miss the hatred aimed his way, even with his bung eye. But Annie was right. No one came near him while he had his six-foot-seven guard beside him.

  He searched the Eureka campsite first, looking for Indy, asking anyone if they’d seen her. He came across the newly married couple, Eliza and Trevor. They had been smart enough to stay out of the stockade and promised they would keep an eye out for Indy.

  As he neared the now dilapidated stockade itself, he had to cover his nose. The rank odour of death was everywhere. Bodies were being removed by friends or loved ones under the keen eye of the contingent of soldiers who remained. The walking wounded helped those who were not ambulatory. The looks he got from the diggers were vicious. A woman spat on his red coat as she walked beside a stretcher carrying a man—her dead husband.