Red Dust

by Fleur McDonald

  'Push 'em, Scoota,' Gemma said. Her black kelpie ran forward and barked at the sheep. Turning, they ran in the direction of the open gate and piled in through it. 'Good boy. Siddown now.' Gemma closed the gate and pushed the sheep towards the race. Whistling to Scoota, she filled the backpack with chemical, hoisted it on her back and gave the instruction to 'pack 'em in'. The wethers, feeling energised without the wool on their backs, jumped and bucked as they ran into the race. They ran fast until they realised there was a gate at the end and tried to stop. The first three went crashing into the gate while the others ran into the backs of the sheep in front of them with a domino effect. Gemma shut the gate behind them and started walking along the race, squirting the bright blue liquid on their backs. When they were all done, she opened the front gate and let them into the big yard where they would wait for the rest of the mob, and started on the next lot of wethers.

  Gemma made her way back to the homestead that night weary but happy. The sheep had cut about six kilos per head and the amount of wool they had baled for the first day was above her expectations. She'd been working out prices per kilo a bale in her head all day, knowing the amount she needed to achieve to make all the payments she had coming up, and so far she thought she might be above what she needed. How good it would be to actually have a bit left over after paying everything! Gemma felt a surge of optimism for the future. Going into the office, she listened to her messages, writing them all down so she wouldn't forget any phone calls she needed to return. Jess was the first one, Dave Burrows the next. Two from Patrick.

  Gemma made her way to the bathroom and washed, then thought about some tea. While she was preparing everything she grabbed the cordless phone and started to return the calls, starting with Dave, who confirmed that he and his partner Craig would be out tomorrow to look over Billbinya, and she agreed to let them camp on the property for a couple of nights. She dialled Patrick at Hayelle.

  'Hey, Pat, what's happening?' she asked when he picked up the phone.

  'Ah, it's the sister. How're you going?'

  'Shearing went brilliantly. I'm so excited. We cut about six kilos per head.'

  'That's great.'

  'How's everything in Adelaide?'

  'Oh well, probably not the best. Dad's a bit down in the dumps, reckons he's gonna cark it any minute. Mum's scared he's going to and is watching him like a hawk, and Leisha is finding them all a bit hard to cope with. I think they'll sort it out over time but at the moment it's a bit hard.'

  'Yeah, right. I guess it's natural to be a bit scared after a heart attack. Brings mortality to the front of your mind. Did they all dump on you? Are you coping okay?'

  'Pleased to get out of the city,' Patrick conceded. 'Tell you what though, those two little girls are just great. If they don't bring a bit of sunshine to their grandparents, I don't know what will.'

  Gemma smiled. She could imagine the chaos of two active kids, a fraught pregnant mother, a sick grandpa and an overwrought grandma.

  'I bet they've grown since I saw them last. They were brilliant then. Do you want to come over tomorrow and stay for a bit?' Gemma tried to keep the hopefulness out of her voice.

  'Nah, sis, I can't. Dad has given me a list of jobs as long as my arm. Don't know why, when he couldn't care less about the farm at the moment, but gotta do these things. Dutiful son and all that.'

  'You wanting out, Pat? Ready to head north again?'

  'Sometime soon I reckon. Need to get a bit of sun and see Kate. I'll hang in here a bit longer though and see what happens with Dad and how things shape up for you.'

  'Well, Dave Burrows from the stock squad and his partner are coming out tomorrow for a look around. They're going to be camping on Billbinya for the next couple of days, so hopefully this mess will be sorted out by the end of the week and I'll be able to go to Adelaide and see Mum and Dad myself. And once everything's back to normal I can cope with Hayelle and Billbinya with the guys' help,' Gemma assured him, hoping it was true.

  They said their goodbyes, and Gemma turned her attention to stirring the pot full of tinned spaghetti and turning the toast. She'd call Jess after she ate. Barely had she sat down at the table when the phone rang.

  'Hello?'

  'Hi, Gemma, it's Paige Nicholls here.'

  'Hi, Paige,' Gemma said warmly. 'You were on my list to call tonight. Sorry I haven't called back; we've just started shearing so I've been a bit busy over the past few days. How've you been?'

  'Oh, that's okay. I know you're busy. Yeah, I'm good. Busy with work and stuff. You know how it is.'

  At Gemma's prompting, Paige told her a bit about what had led her into nursing.

  'It's so fulfilling,' she enthused. 'You get to help people, and often when people are really sick and you're the one that makes them better, the gratitude is amazing. I love it.'

  'That's great, Paige. I'm so happy that you found something that you love. Working is just a means to a pay packet for so many people; to really enjoy your work is such a bonus. I know when Adam died I found that work wasn't as much fun as it had been when he was alive. But it's getting better and I've just had the most brilliant day with shearing. It's so great to know that I've managed it all by myself and there haven't been any problems. That gives me a buzz!'

  'Oh, of course it would. How are you managing with the workload since Adam . . . ?' Paige trailed off.

  'Died? It's okay to say it, Paige. The workload's hard, of course, but I'm so lucky. I've got the two most fabulous stockmen who've been here since Adam's mum and dad ran the place. They've been so helpful since the accident. I ended up having to put another guy on just in the last couple of months. He seems okay with all the work I give him, he can handle it all, but I think he's a bit weird. Bit of a loner or something.'

  'Well, I'm glad to hear everything's going okay. I've been thinking about you. I heard there were a few exciting things happening with stock out your way,' Paige said.

  Gemma suddenly remembered that one of the things she'd never liked about Paige was her gossipy nature. She seemed to be one of those people who felt important and fulfilled if they knew everyone's business. Had this phone call been all about milking her for information so she could talk about it around town?

  Gemma considered her next words carefully. 'Yeah, there has been a bit of excitement. Don't know much about it though. Think the police have been around asking questions, but I haven't come across them at all.'

  'Well, that has to be good,' Paige answered. 'Okay, if you're shearing again tomorrow I'd better let you get some rest. Maybe next time you're in town we could have lunch?'

  'Sounds good, Paige.' Gemma was suddenly desperate to get off the phone. 'Talk soon, okay? Bye.' Sighing, Gemma hung up the phone with a sense of relief. She picked at her now-cold dinner and finally pushed it away in disgust. Cold spaghetti on toast. Yuk.

  Tucked up in bed with a hot chocolate, Gemma finally dialled Jess's phone number. The answering machine kicked in and Gemma felt a stab of disappointment. She'd really wanted to hear Jess's upbeat voice and laugh with her for a while. Leaving a message to say she'd called, she pressed the disconnect button. Maybe Ben would be home . . .

  Chapter 21

  Dave threw his swag up on the roof-rack next to Craig's. Roping them both down, he rechecked the oil and water while Craig loaded food supplies and investigative gear into the four-wheel drive.

  Opening the stainless-steel chest full of equipment, Craig checked through it. 'Okay, we've got the video camera, sat phone, NLIS wand for scanning the tags if we need to, binocs, night-vision goggles . . . How long did you say we're goin' for?'

  'Maybe two nights, depending on what we find.'

  'Looks like we're goin' for bloody weeks.'

  'I think our mobiles will work out there anyway; shouldn't really need the sat phone,' Dave conceded.

  'Better to be prepared though, hey? Just in case we hit a black spot or something. Jeez, it's cold.' Craig rubbed his hands together and blew on them.

>   'Wait until we get out to Billbinya. You'll know

  what cold is then. So, you right? Can I back into the trailer now?'

  'Yep.' Craig directed Dave as he backed up to the trailer that held a quad bike in case they needed to muster any stock. After attaching it to the tow ball and hooking up the lights, he jumped in the passenger side. He adjusted the squelch on the CB radio and asked, 'Have you been listening to the CB as you've been driving?'

  'Yeah, I haven't heard anything that indicates unusual stock movements. I've heard the truckies telling others that we're around, though, so it's common knowledge that we've arrived.'

  As they drove towards Billbinya, Dave discussed the program he had in mind.

  'I want to try and do a stocktake of all the animals that are on Billbinya. So we'll get Gemma's stock numbers and a map, work out what stock is in which paddock. We'll check out those animals. You can check the earmarks and I'll see if I can get a count of the mobs we come across. If we don't get it all done by tomorrow we'll stay another night. If we find anything untoward we'll ask to see the paperwork. Weigh bills, stock sale invoices. Gemma told me that Ned has done a full stock count for the 30 June figures, so they should be pretty up to date.'

  'I reckon talking to Ned and Ben would be a good idea too,' Craig suggested. 'Theoretically, they should have copies of all the contracts to do with stock from the past few years, that way we can cross-reference it with Gemma's paperwork.'

  'Yeah, that's true,' Dave said. 'That might be worth following up when we get back. You didn't find anything criminally interesting on any of the players, did you? Jess or Ned? I assume you would have said if you had.'

  'Nah, nothing of interest; Ned's had a couple of DUIs, but that's about it. Do you think Gemma is involved?'

  Dave thought for a while. 'You know, I'm not convinced she's guilty. I think there's enough information to indicate that Adam was somehow involved. Now whether he was the mastermind or just a participant, I'm not sure. There's no way he could have managed it all by himself. But having Gemma as the accomplice just doesn't sit right with me. I'm really not sure. I'm thinking we might have to go into their bank records and see if there is anything incriminating there, but we've not had any indication where – or even if – the animals have been sold, so that could be a dead end. I'd have thought that Ned would have told us if there had been stock sold through the Billbinya name that wasn't owned by Billbinya. Do you see where I'm going?'

  Craig nodded. 'Absolutely, I agree. If they'd tried anything like that Ned would have spotted it. You know what I don't understand? In every other investigation I've been involved in, farmers aren't that happy about giving out too much information, yet this time it's been flowing very easily. I mean, let's start with the anonymous phone call. That gave us information on how the stock stealing is happening. Then you've gone to heaps of different farms, been welcomed with open arms and had information spewed at you. It's really weird.'

  'Yeah, you're right. It's not the way it normally happens – but I think in this case, people are pissed off at having their stock nicked. Don't forget, this is their income you're talking about. Times are pretty tight so I guess no one wants to see their dollar notes walking out the front gate. It's pretty obvious that they are being taken and the alleged culprit is dead, so they don't think anyone will get hurt. Although,' Dave said as an afterthought, 'I'm not sure how they think Gemma is not being hurt somehow – innocent or otherwise.'

  They drove in silence for a while, Craig thinking about Jess. She'd filled his head for the last few days and he was hoping to meet her again. She really was stunning . . .

  'You dreaming?' Dave asked.

  'What?' Craig's mind cleared.

  'What are you dreaming about?'

  'Nothing much. Just wondering about Jess Rawlings and how she might fit into it all.'

  'Is that right?' Dave gave his partner a knowing look.

  'What?' Craig asked again.

  'A word of warning. You remember what happened last time you fell for someone who was involved in an investigation? Turned out she was guilty, didn't it? I know nothing happened between you, but, all the same, don't let your tool rule your head again, okay?'

  Craig didn't answer. He hated to even think about that incident, let alone have it pointed out to him. He nodded slightly to let Dave know he'd heard, but turned to look out of the window, ending the conversation.

  The dirt road kicked up a purplish-coloured dust and he looked at the low scrubby bushes that were the colour of kangaroos. The fences were old wire netting and looked like they had seen better times.

  'Not surprising stock goes missing with these fences,' Craig said.

  Dave nodded in agreement. 'I told you about coming back that night and the sheep being on the road, didn't I?' he asked.

  Craig nodded, looked out the window again, and silence reigned.

  Gemma's phone rang at 5.30 am, startling her from a deep sleep. Wondering who on earth could be ringing, she leapt from her bed, praying her dad was okay.

  'Hello?'

  'Morning, Gem.' It was Jess.

  'Jess! What are you doing awake at this time of the morning?' Gemma asked, completely thrown.

  'Needed to ask you a few questions and I knew that you'd be leaving early. How's the shearing going?'

  'Yeah, really good,' said Gemma and proceeded to tell Jess all about the wool cut and her hope that there would even be some money left over after paying her debts.

  Jess listened, toying with the pen and paper she had in front of her. 'Sounds great, Gem. Now listen, I have some questions about your financials – have you got time to answer them?'

  'Yeah, go for it.'

  'What time of the year do you make the payments to Adam's family?'

  'Um, I think it's in September sometime, depending on when shearing is completed. We need to have time to sell the wool and work out what we've made before we can make the payments to them.'

  'Okay. And was there a payment made last year?'

  'Yeah, as far as I know. I'm sure they would have said something to us if they hadn't received it. Why?'

  'Well, I've been looking through the bank statements and the monthly reports of expenditure and I can't see that there has been a payment of substance made. How do you make the payment? Cheque? Or do you give them some of the wool to sell in their own name? That would explain why I can't find a large payment.' Jess waited, hoping that was the case.

  Gemma answered slowly. 'As far as I know the payment came directly out of the bank account. It was set up so that Adam would authorise the payment when we knew how much we had made. If prices were good, we would pay more than the agreed amount of fifty thousand a year, but if the wool was down, we were able to drop it to twenty thou.' Gemma played with the phone cord and waited for Jess to deliver what she assumed was going to be bad news.

  'Okay.' Gemma could almost hear Jess thinking. 'Look, Gem, I'm certain that there hasn't been anything near those amounts coming out of the Billbinya account for at least two years . . .'

  'Two years?' Gemma screeched. 'You're joking. Ian and Joan wouldn't have let Adam get away with not paying for two years.'

  'No, the payments have been made. I've been through the financials that you gave me and the payments have definitely been made and the debt reduced. I'm wondering if there's another bank account, or shares, or some sort of investment that Adam could have been making the payments from?'

  'Not that I know about,' Gemma stated firmly.

  'Okay, well maybe that needs a bit more research. The payments have been around the sixty k mark over the past two years. That's a lot of money to be made just from wool. Gem, I know you're not going to like this, but he must have been getting the money from somewhere else. It just isn't coming out of the Billbinya bank account and there is insufficient money going through that account to make those kinds of payments. In fact, I'm not sure how the hell you're managing to survive. It's a lot worse than you've ever told me. And how you're g
oing to be able to convince the bank to lend you more money next year, unless you have a great wool clip, I don't know.'

  'Jess, don't take that banking tone of voice with me,' Gemma interrupted. 'I know how bad things are, okay? I live it every day. But the wool clip is going to be good. Didn't you listen to what I said at the beginning of the call?'