Shadows in the Valley

by Elizabeth Haran

  Leading the horse by the reins, Abbey headed in the direction it had come from. They crossed an open paddock, where she saw sheep in the distance, and she headed toward them. There was no point in worrying about getting any more lost than she already was, and Ernie was obviously in trouble. She had to find him.

  The sheep appeared to be unattended, and they had no lambs, so Abbey assumed they were a flock of wethers, grazing peacefully. She kept going, all the while expecting to find Ernie lying on the ground, injured. She found a broken fence and saw hoof-prints in the dry dirt on the other side, so she crossed through into another paddock.

  Up ahead, near an outcrop of rocks at the base of another hill, Abbey saw something move, and stopped. Was it Ernie? She watched for a few moments, and determined that it wasn’t a man on the ground, but a light-colored animal, a dog of some kind. She walked the horses closer before she realised the animal was a dingo. She’d seen them around the Burra Township, but had never actually had a close encounter. All she knew of them was that they weren’t particularly dangerous unless they were very hungry. Then she heard a lamb bleat.

  “Oh, no,” Abbey murmured and ventured closer. She saw another dingo and heard the lamb bleat again, obviously in distress. Pushing her fears aside, she galloped towards the rocks, hoping to frighten the dingoes away. They scattered, but only went as far as the shelter of some nearby bushes.

  Some of the rocks were enormous boulders, jutting out from the base of the hillside, but there were many small rocks around the perimeter of the larger boulders. Abbey couldn’t see the lamb. She dismounted to take a closer look, all the while keeping an eye on the dingoes. Listening for the lamb, she peered into the dim spaces between the larger boulders. There appeared to be a narrow cavern between them, but there wasn’t a space large enough for her to squeeze through. Then Abbey heard the bleat again. The lamb was definitely hiding or stuck inside the cavern somewhere.

  Abbey walked around the base of the rocks, hoping for a glimpse of the lamb. Crouching, she thought she could just see something white through another gap. She could make out two of the lamb’s legs. Then she saw a piece of red ribbon dangling. It was Josephine!

  “Oh, Josephine,” Abbey cried in despair. She frantically looked around the rock base again, desperate to find a way to reach her, but there didn’t seem to be a space large enough for Abbey to get in. Any gaps in the rocks were all too narrow—but not too narrow for a dingo. Abbey walked around the rocks again, and noticed that whenever she was out of sight, the hungry dingoes came out from their hiding place in the bushes and tried to find a way to reach their prey.

  Abbey had to rescue Josephine before it was too late. She threw rocks at the dingoes, and they backed away, but they kept a wary eye on her and refused to go away altogether.

  Abbey suddenly wondered if she could reach Josephine from the top of the rocky outcrop. If there were any gaps up there, the lamb might have fallen through during the night or slipped while grazing on higher ground with her mother.

  The hillside beside the rocks was quite steep, and climbing in a skirt wasn’t going to be easy. Abbey also worried that the dingoes would reach Josephine before she did. She glanced at the rifle in the saddle holster and decided to take it with her, just in case. After retrieving the gun, she began to climb the steep ground to the top of the rocks. She kept glancing back to make sure the dingoes weren’t trying to get Josephine from below.

  Finally, Abbey reached the top of the rocks, and she could see the space that Josephine had likely fallen through. It was a larger space than those below, so she was sure she could get down into it and retrieve the lamb. She crawled to the edge, still holding the gun, and she could clearly see the lamb, eight to ten feet below. When she’d fallen into the cavern, she’d become wedged between two rocks at the bottom.

  “I’m coming, Josephine,” Abbey called. As she looked down at the lamb in the space below, she saw the nose of a dingo poke through a gap in the rocks, and she gasped. “Get away,” she shouted. The nose darted back, but only momentarily. Abbey picked up a rock and threw it over the side of the big boulder, being careful not to throw it in the direction where she’d left the horses tethered to a small tree. The nose of the dingo darted back again, but not for long. Abbey’s worry increased, and so did Josephine’s. The lamb started bleating louder, obviously sensing she was close to death. The noises she made only further excited the dingoes.

  Abbey stood up and went to the edge of the rocks. She pointed the gun at the ground below. She couldn’t see the dingoes because of the curvature of the rocks, but she hoped to drive them off. She realised she could alert Aboriginals to her position, but she had to take the chance. She fired the gun, and the dingoes scattered. This time they ran through the distant bushes and kept going.

  Abbey went back to the space in the rocks and looked down at Josephine, who was struggling to free herself. “I’m sorry I frightened you, little one,” she said soothingly. “But I had to drive those dingoes away.”

  Josephine looked up, and Abbey’s heart melted. Her sweet little face was so innocent. Abbey placed the gun down on the rock and using both arms, tried to lower herself into the crevice. She struggled for a minute, trying to find footholds—then slipped.

  Landing heavily in the crevice, Abbey cried out. Luckily her feet had missed the lamb, but she’d grazed her arm and hurt her ankle on the side of a rock at the bottom.

  “Oh, hell,” she muttered as pain shot up her arm and leg. “Now we’re both stuck.” She tried and tried, but she couldn’t get a foothold to lift herself upwards again. “What am I going to do now?”

  ***

  Half an hour passed, and Abbey was starting to panic. If the horses ran off, no one would ever find her. She’d tried everything to lift herself out of the crevice. She could have freed Josephine, but if the lamb ran off alone, the dingoes would make an easy meal of her.

  Suddenly a shadow appeared over the top of the crevice, blocking the sunlight. Abbey looked up to see a dark face. She almost fainted with fright. The tribal Aboriginal men must have found her—she cursed herself for leaving the gun up there.

  “What you doin’ down there, missus?” Ernie asked.

  “Oh, Ernie. I’ve never in my life been so glad to see someone.”

  “I’m glad to see you, too, missus. And my horse. The fool ran off after throwing me.” Ernie had been expecting to see Michael Dobson after recognising his horse.

  “Can you get me out of here, Ernie?” Abbey asked.

  “Reckon I can,” Ernie said, disappearing from view again.

  A few minutes later Ernie used a rope he kept in his saddlebag to pull Abbey and the lamb out of the crevice. Abbey was at once relieved to be out of the crevice and also annoyed with herself for not thinking to see if there was a rope in Ernie’s saddlebag.

  Ernie explained that his horse had thrown him when it almost stepped on a brown snake and had then run off. Abbey told him how she tried to rescue Josephine, but had become stuck in the rocks.

  “If I hadn’t heard your gun-shot, I’d still be walking the wrong way.”

  “Where’s Wilbur?” Abbey asked.

  “He left me with the sheep and went to see where the smoke was coming from. He hasn’t come back yet.”

  “There is a lot of smoke, isn’t there? Do you think a bush fire is coming this way?”

  “No, looks like it’s been put out,” Ernie said.

  For the first time, Abbey noticed that the smoke in the air was diminishing.

  “What are you doin’ out here anyway, missus?” Ernie asked.

  “I was looking for you and got lost,” Abbey said, cradling Josephine in her arms.

  “Why were you looking for me?” Ernie asked. “Is something wrong at the homestead?”

  “Clementine Feeble’s father is very ill because his burns have become infected. Mrs. Hubert told us that you on
ce made something for Ben Dobson that healed his burns very quickly. We were hoping you’d do the same for Ralph Feeble.”

  To Abbey’s amazement, Ernie didn’t immediately say he would.

  “What happened to this man, Ralph Feeble, missus?”

  “Are you asking me how he came to be burned, Ernie?”

  “Yes, missus,” Ernie said.

  “Is that important, Ernie?”

  “Yes, missus. I have to know before I can help him.”

  Abbey didn’t understand. “Ralph Feeble was burned while trying to save his daughter from a house fire,” she said.

  Ernie seemed to be thinking about what she had said.

  Abbey couldn’t take the suspense. “Can you help him, Ernie?”

  “How did the fire start, missus?”

  “Mr. Feeble said an ember from the kitchen fire landed on a garment that his daughter had been working on before she retired for the night,” Abbey replied.

  “So, it was an accident,” Ernie said, making sure he understood.

  “Yes, it was,” Abbey said. “Will you help him, Ernie? If you don’t, he might die.”

  ”Yes, missus,” Ernie said, much to Abbey’s relief. “But don’t be giving any of what I make to the cook.”

  Abbey was again puzzled. “I won’t, Ernie, I promise, but what have you got against Sabu?”

  Ernie looked angry. “He said that the Aboriginal medicine I made for Ben Dobson looked and smelled like horse shit, and that the smithy already had plenty of that.”

  Abbey was startled, but she couldn’t help smiling. She looked away, trying to hide her amusement. Her instincts had been right. Sabu had tried to appear superior to Ernie and now had egg on his face.

  CHAPTER 21

  Abbey was watching Ernie dig under a bush for a root he needed for his remedy, when Wilbur came across them.

  “Where was the fire?” Ernie asked as he straightened up and Wilbur dismounted.

  “At Parrallana Station,” Wilbur said. He was quite surprised to see Abbey with Ernie. “Some gum trees were burning near William Hawker’s house.”

  “Is the house all right, Wilbur?” Abbey asked, fearing the worst.

  “It’s fine, missus. The roof started to burn, but the boss turned up with his brother Tom, Elias, and Father Quinlan, and they helped William put the fire out.”

  Abbey didn’t want to think about how dangerous it must have been up on a burning roof. “Is William’s wife all right? She’s expecting a baby, so she must have been terrified when the roof caught fire.”

  “She wasn’t there when I got there, missus. Everyone had gone except for some neighbours who were keepin’ watch for any grass fires that might start up. What are you doin’ out here, missus?” He also wondered why Ernie wasn’t with the sheep.

  “I came looking for Ernie. Ralph Feeble is quite sick. He needs some of Ernie’s remedy for burns.”

  “It’s easy to get lost out here, missus,” he said with a frown of concern on his weathered face.

  “I found that out the hard way,” Abbey admitted. “But keep that between us.”

  Wilbur looked at Josephine in her arms. “Where’d ya find the lamb, missus?”

  “She was stuck in some rocks at the bottom of a hill,” Abbey said. “I got to her just in time to rescue her from some hungry dingoes.” She glanced at Ernie, and a rueful grin appeared on her face. “Unfortunately, by the time Ernie found me, I also needed rescuing.” Josephine started bleating loudly. “Do you know where her mother is, Wilbur? She must want some milk by now.”

  “She’ll be with the mob about half a mile from here, missus,” Wilbur said. “Do you want me to take her there?”

  Abbey was hesitant as she looked at Josephine’s sweet face. “Only if you make sure she’s reunited with her mother.”

  One corner of Wilbur’s mouth lifted. “I will, missus.”

  Abbey knew it was the best thing for Josephine, and she had to get back to the house with Ernie and the remedy. “Well, then,” she said, handing the lamb over after kissing the top of her head.

  Ernie collected leaves and seedpods from a tree, along with two different kinds of bushes. He also dug up pieces of roots from beneath two plants that looked like weeds. He explained to Abbey what some of them were—the root of Northern black wattle, beaty leaf, and billy goat weed—but she’d never heard of them, as they were native to Australia. After Ernie had all he needed, they began their trek back to the homestead.

  ***

  They arrived at the stables just as Jack, Elias, and Father Quinlan turned towards the house from the road, followed by William and Martha, who were aboard their buggy. They’d had to travel via the road because of the buggy, so it had taken them longer to reach Bungaree than it would have had they been able to ride straight home.

  While Ernie disappeared to prepare the remedy, Abbey waited for Jack, as she knew he’d want an explanation about where she’d been.

  “You have been out riding, Abbey?” Jack said, frowning when he reached her. He’d seen her dismounting Michael’s horse from near the road and was not pleased about it.

  “Ralph Feeble needed a remedy that Ernie makes for burns,” Abbey said in nervous anticipation of his response. “He’s quite ill.”

  Jack interrupted. “Are you telling me you went to find Ernie by yourself?”

  “Yes, I had to,” Abbey said, as casually as she could. The buggy was just passing them on its way to the front of the house. The sight of a woman aboard, whom Abbey believed was Martha Hawker, distracted her. Martha’s face was an unhealthy shade of white, and she was clutching her abdomen in obvious pain. There was also a baby crib fastened to the back of the buggy. “Is something wrong?” she asked Jack.

  “Martha seems to be having her baby,” Jack said absently, as he tried to digest what Abbey had told him.

  Abbey gasped. “Isn’t it a bit soon?” She thought she remembered being told that Martha had three weeks to go.

  “Yes, but the excitement seems to have sped things up,” Jack said.

  Abbey noticed that his clothes were covered in ash. “Wilbur said there was a fire on your brother’s station. What about the house? Has it been damaged?”

  “We managed to save it, but while we were extinguishing the fire, Martha started having pains. We insisted she come here but she refused until we agreed to bring the crib, as well.” She’d been very stubborn about it, and nobody had wanted to argue with her, so they had loaded the crib on the back of the buggy. “I can’t believe my mother let you go out alone, Abbey, especially after all that’s been happening. What if you’d gotten lost or attacked?”

  Abbey had no intention of admitting she’d become lost. “It was my idea to go. Mr. Feeble is very ill. As you can see, I was quite safe, but I took a rifle with me as a precaution. As it happened, I had to use it to chase some dingoes away from Josephine.”

  “What?”

  “She’d fallen between some rocks and got stuck, but she’s fine. I got to her just in time, however. Wilbur has taken her back to her mother.”

  Jack shook his head angrily. He couldn’t believe how much danger Abbey had been in and considered it a miracle she was safe. “Mother shouldn’t have let you go,” he said tersely.

  “Don’t be cross with her. She tried to stop me.” Abbey was worried that Jack and Sybil would argue. That was the last thing she wanted.

  Jack left his horse with Elias and Father Quinlan, and he and Abbey went up to the house together. Ernie was already busy cooking up his salve in a billy can over the fire in the smithy’s shop. He boiled up the crushed ingredients until they formed a jelly-like pulp and then mixed this with a small amount of animal fat to make a salve, which needed to be applied directly to the burns.

  As soon as Jack walked in through the backdoor with Abbey, Sybil threw her arms around her companion in
relief. “Thank God you are all right, Abbey,” she said, her eyes bright with tears of joy. She’d been almost sick with worry. Abbey had been gone for ages. When she glanced at Jack and saw the expression on his face, she suspected she was in trouble.

  “I know you are cross with me, Jack,” Sybil said in a small voice. “But I had to let Abbey go. Mr. Feeble is gravely ill.”

  Jack’s eyes hardened, and he glanced at Abbey, who flushed. She’d been caught in a white lie.

  “Abbey,” Clementine said, rushing to Abbey’s side when she heard her voice. “Did you find Ernie? Is he going to make the remedy to help my father?”

  “Yes, Clementine. He’s making it now,” Abbey said. “Apparently, it won’t take long.”

  “Oh, thank you, Abbey,” Clementine said.

  Jack ignored Clementine. “How could you let Abbey go, Mother?” he admonished. “What if she’d been attacked by the Aboriginal men? How would you feel, then?”

  Sybil looked down in shame. He wasn’t saying anything she hadn’t said to herself.

  “It was my idea, Jack,” Abbey said, determined to defend Sybil. “Your mother really tried to talk me out of it.” Whatever he thought, this was the truth.

  “She should have tried harder. Those men lit a fire at William’s house that could have killed William and Martha. They wouldn’t have hesitated to kill you, given the chance.”

  Clementine was glaring at Jack. “Didn’t you hear your mother, Jack? My father is terribly ill. He needs help, and Dr. Ashbourne hasn’t come yet. Abbey is safe, and it was good of her to go. At least she is concerned about my father.” She couldn’t believe that Jack appeared to be more worried about Abbey than about Clementine’s father.

  Jack glanced at Clementine and then went to have a closer look at Ralph. He was still lying on the couch with his eyes closed. “Have his burns become infected?” he asked Clementine.

  “Yes, they have,” she replied curtly.