by Paula Boer
“Nah, Graeme and John have to leave later today. There’s no time. We’ll have to work out how we can do another muster without them.”
Louise’s face had brightened when he mentioned another muster. “Can we do it on our own?”
“It’ll be hard with only three of us, but maybe some of our neighbours can help.”
Louise’s shoulders slumped as she kicked at the gate post. “Is there enough time left on the permit? And what if someone lets the horses out again?”
“I guess we’ll have to truck the horses out the same day so they’re not here overnight. Maybe next time we’ll catch your buckskin mare.”
And his liver chestnut colt.
Mr Naylor overheard their talk. “There won’t be a next time. I’ll be phoning the ranger about this, but I’m not wasting any more time. There’s real work to be done. It was a foolhardy notion to catch brumbies in the first place.”
He turned to Louise. “If you really want one, get your folks to go to the sales and buy something after the big muster. The ranger might even catch that mare you fancy.”
Chapter 7
The swish of rubber tyres on wet bitumen added a mournful accompaniment to Louise’s mood as she pedalled into Crowhurst. Although the overnight storm had blown away leaving everything fresh and sweet, Louise didn’t revel in the crisp greenness or jubilant bird song as she normally would. The disappointment of losing the brumbies hung heavily on her. She felt lethargic and queasy. Who could have let them out? It didn’t seem fair.
Only two weeks ago she hadn’t even seen her first brumby. She sighed as she pushed her bike’s pedals down hard. She couldn’t be too upset. At least she’d participated in a muster, and seen brumbies galloping wild. She would never forget that first glimpse of them through the trees, manes and tails flying, and the energy that emanated from their muscular bodies. Maybe it had been for the best that they had escaped; her parents wouldn’t let her keep one anyway. She hoped the buckskin mare remained free after the big muster.
Lost in her thoughts, Louise reached the shops before she felt she’d even left home. She pulled up outside the saddlery. She didn’t have money to buy anything, and without her own horse she didn’t need any of the tack or other equipment that adorned the window. She eyed the hand-carved stock saddle, stitched in black and white with silver rings and buckles. If only she had a horse to put that on and could go mustering and roping cattle!
Her gaze passed on to the display of matching horse gear all in purple—a rug with a hood, headcollar and lead rope, buckets and brushes. How good would that look on a buckskin?
The clock tower above the old church chimed ten. She had to get on with the shopping. Her mum had asked her to buy meat as Mr Hazelburger the butcher always had his special spicy European sausages on Tuesdays.
A friendly voice interrupted Louise’s thoughts. “Bad luck about those brumbies.”
“Oh, hello, Mr Cartwright.”
Louise straightened up and gave a half-hearted smile to the ranger. She didn’t want him to see her miserable.
“They looked like a nice bunch of horses. It’s such a shame someone released them. Any idea who might have done something like that?”
Mr Cartwright shook his head. “No. We’ll have to post a guard after the big muster. Why don’t you join us? If you help you’ll have a chance to buy one of the horses before the auction.”
Despite his friendly nature, Louise didn’t think the ranger looked too worried about her and Ben losing their brumbies. “No thanks. I can’t afford one so I’d rather not see them caught for dog meat. Anyway, the permit hasn’t expired yet. We may still catch some for ourselves.”
“Well, good luck.” He gave her a short wave before striding away down the street.
Louise wondered how she and Ben could convince Mr Naylor to let them do another muster.
She pushed her bike to the butcher’s shop around the corner where it nestled in the old stone buildings behind the main street. The narrow road in this part of town had no pathways. She propped her bike up on its stand behind a large white four-wheel drive. Mud splattered the car as if it had been travelling across country after the rain.
The tingling of a bell announced her entry as she pushed open the door. A short roly-poly man served an old lady with a shopping trolley on wheels. A young woman struggled with two small boys who kept trying to climb on the glass display cabinet, squabbling and tugging at each other’s clothes. A large man took up the rest of the room, gathering bags of meat from the countertop.
He turned as Louise took her place in the queue. “Ah, our intrepid musterer.”
The man’s eyebrows joined in the middle and wriggled.
His lips curled up in a sneer. “Hear they got away.”
Louise recognised the man from the ranger’s office.
Mr Smythe-Waters moved closer to her and peered down his bulbous nose. “You’ll be able to buy yourself a nice fat filly for dinner soon.”
His laugh echoed around the tiled room.
Heat rushed to Louise’s face. She didn’t know what to say. Before she could reply, the farmer had left the shop. Louise tried to breathe deeply to calm herself. As soon as she felt she had her emotions under control, she heard a metallic crashing outside. The other people in the shop turned with her at the sound.
“No!”
Louise rushed outside, letting the door slam behind her. Her bike lay in a tangled mess, one wheel spinning in the air, the handlebars twisted like crazy bull horns.
Mr Hazelburger bustled out of the shop, wiping his hands on his striped apron. He bent over his large paunch to help Louise right her bike.
“You won’t be riding this no more.” He shook his head and stroked his chin. “That accident broke her good.”
Louise looked from the butcher to her bike and back again. “Do you think that was an accident? I think he did it deliberately.”
Her temper flared and then she erupted in a flood of tears. “That was my Christmas present. How will I get around without it?”
She flopped to the ground and sobbed into her hands.
“Now, now. Come on in. I find you something nice to take home. Your parents work something out.” Mr Hazelburger patted her on the shoulder and held out his hand.
“Thanks. I think I can push it home.” Louise sniffled and stood up.
Sure that Mr Smythe-Waters must have seen her bike behind his car when he left the shop, she stopped crying and clenched her fists. There hadn’t been any need for him to reverse; no cars blocked his way in front.
Ben took a large bite of his chicken and mayonnaise sandwich and mumbled with his mouth full. “These are good.”
The two friends sat under the big gum tree in the garden at Louise’s home. Louise swallowed a mouthful of her lunch and brushed the crumbs off her lap. She watched a line of ants detect the crumbs and inspect them before walking round the obstacles to continue on their way up the tree trunk.
“I’m really glad you came over.”
“That’s okay. I can’t stay long though, ’cause Dad wants me to help him this afternoon.” A light breeze ruffled Ben’s hair, causing it to fall in front of his eyes. He brushed it back with his hand.
He chuckled. “We shouldn’t have done such a good job on those yards. Now I’ll have to do all the fencing at home.”
The fact that Mr Naylor approved of their efforts with the yards made Louise feel better. “So he agrees that someone let the horses out? The rail didn’t come down by accident?”
Ben shook his head, his mouth full of chicken. When he had finished eating, he stretched out on the grass in the shade. “Dad saw the tyre marks on the other side of the yards. No one visiting the old homestead would be over there. And he could see that the wire had been cut. It wasn’t our fault.”
He kicked with his heels at the bas
e of the tree. “I can’t believe we lost those horses, especially after Graeme and John made the effort to come and help too.”
The ants continued their winding trail up and down the tree next to Louise. She tried to get them to pick up the crumbs she had dropped.
“I think I know who. That’s why I rang you.”
Ben bolted upright. “Who? I thought you wanted me to come over ’cause of your bike.”
Louise nodded. “That’s part of it. But the tyre marks from the four-wheel drive that ran over my bike are the same as the ones that we saw by the yards. I saw them in the mud outside the butcher’s shop. The car belongs to Mr Smythe-Waters.”
She watched a wry grin spread cross Ben’s face as she continued. “Remember how angry he was at the ranger’s headquarters when he heard we wanted to muster the horses? He said they were his.”
“You’re right. I thought it must be him but I didn’t know how to prove it.”
Ben plucked at his lips with his fingers. “But why would he let them out? He won’t catch those ones at the muster now. They’re too spooked.”
“Maybe he thinks no one else should have them. He can always catch them another year. In the meantime he can round up some of the other herds.”
Louise had thought about the landholder a lot on her walk home, pushing her broken bike with the front wheel and frame buckled beyond repair. The journey had taken twice as long as normal because she kept getting her legs tangled with the broken wheel.
“No-one else apart from Mr Cartwright knew we were doing a private muster. Everyone else is talking about the big one in February.”
Ben looked thoughtful. “You’re right. And what’s more, there’s an old track that leads to his old leasehold land from the homestead. Do you remember that locked gate we passed? That fire trail goes to his place.”
“So he could have gone across country. That’s why we didn’t see the tyre marks on the main track.” Louise felt convinced that Robert Smythe-Waters had released the horses.
The two friends pondered the situation for a while.
Ben stood and picked up his empty glass and plate. “I’d better get going. I don’t know what we can do about Smythe-Waters; it’d be hard to prove anything, but I do know we should do another muster before the permit runs out.”
Louise’s heart soared at the thought before reality hit her. She shivered as her stomach churned. “How? Your dad said he wouldn’t help again. He said it’s a waste of time.”
Ben shook his head. “We’ll have to do it on our own. Graeme and John brought those horses in on their own. You and I will have to do the same. I’m sure we can find a small herd somewhere that’s not been spooked.”
“Cool! When do you want to try?” Louise took the dirty dishes from Ben as they walked into the kitchen where Ben had left his bag.
“Thursday’ll be good. I’ll lend you my bike so you can cycle over early. It’s not too far for me to jog home.”
Louise returned his grin, pleased to have such a great friend. She already felt excited about another chase across the grasslands.
“Thanks. I’ll tell Mum we’re going for a ride.”
Chapter 8
A thick fog greeted Ben as he left the farmhouse after a hasty breakfast of toast and vegemite. He couldn’t see the horses in the small paddock behind the house.
He whistled to Snifter who came at a lope, tongue lolling. “Hey, boy. Go find ’em. Get the horses.”
Unable to see where the dog raced, Ben listened for the drum of hooves. The mist played games with his hearing, making it sound as if the horses ran away from the yards rather than towards them. He whistled Snifter again. The blue heeler gave a short bark then fell silent.
Ben waited at the gate to the holding pen, changing his weight from foot to foot. He hoped Snifter hadn’t been hurt. He normally had no trouble rounding up the stock horses despite having only three legs.
As he was beginning to think he’d better go and check, Ben saw a bay with a wide blaze break through the fog and gallop straight at the yards. A big grey followed. The horses ran in every morning for a feed so they knew where to go despite the heavy mist.
Ben checked the horses as they passed him; his father’s stockhorse Jake, his young black Snip, Louise’s mount Ned, the two mares and another bay gelding. He always knew if one of them had an injury or felt unwell as then they changed sequence and moved differently. Today they all looked fine.
Closing the gate, Ben watched Snifter hurry the horses into the smaller yard. He appeared unharmed. His bark must have been in answer to Ben’s whistle. He felt proud of the way his dog worked.
“That’ll do, boy. Here!”
The dog immediately turned and ran to Ben’s side, wagging his tail, panting from his run. “Sorry, you can’t come today mate. We’re going to the park. Besides which, it’s too far for you.”
He ruffled the dog’s ears and strode across to the barn to get hay for the horses.
“Hi, Ben,” A small voice sounded through the mist.
Louise appeared, pushing Ben’s bike. “I think it’ll be hot when the fog lifts.”
Ben chucked a slice of hay into the hay rack and dusted the loose wisps off his jeans. “Yeh, it should clear up soon. I’m glad you’re early, you can help me brush these guys.”
“Sure. Who am I riding today?”
Louise propped the bike against the shed and slid her pack off her back. She removed her light windcheater and stuffed it in her bag.
Ben looked over the yard rails at the horses munching on the hay. “I thought you’d better have Ned. If you take Jake, Dad will be suspicious.”
He looked at Louise to make sure she didn’t take offence. He didn’t want her to think he was giving her Ned because she fell off Jake last time.
“Right. Good idea. I think Jake’s a bit too clever for me anyway.”
She re-tied her loose ponytail and went to get the box of brushes. She grabbed a set for Ben too. “Here. Should I tie him up?”
“Nah, he’ll be right. He’s tied by his mouth to the food.” Ben took one of the grooming kits from her and went across to the young black gelding he had broken in before Christmas. “I’ll take Snip. It’ll be his first muster, but he’s fresh and needs the work.”
Louise brushed Ned’s neck before scrubbing a lump of mud off his elbow with the rubber curry comb. “These guys have been rolling in the dam.”
The more she looked, the more dried mud she found. “It’ll take me ages to get him clean.”
Ben laughed. “Yeh, that’s why I was glad to see you so early. I didn’t want to have to do two horses.”
He worked on his own mount to make sure that no mud would rub under the tack. “We’d better hurry, ’cause we might have to go a long way to find brumbies today.”
Typical of summer in the mountains, the fog cleared early. The day became hot and bright. Snip danced sideways as they left the shelter of the trees and wide grasslands opened up.
Ben kept his legs on his horse’s sides and spoke quietly to him. “Save your energy, boy. You’ll need it by the end of the day.”
He sat deep in the saddle and relaxed, giving a light touch to the reins. Snip settled back to a brisk walk.
“How’s Ned going?” Ben hadn’t had a chance to talk to Louise since they left the farm as Snip had taken all his concentration.
Louise caught up. “Fine, but I think he’d like a run.”
Ben scanned the native pasture ahead of them. “I can’t see any brumbies. Not that I expected any this close to the homestead. We’ll have a trot and let the horses settle, but don’t go too fast. Stop if I shout.”
He didn’t want Snip getting too excited and pulling on his bit. At least he could trust Louise to keep a steady pace.
The two riders rode side by side, rising in comfortable rhythm with
their mounts’ strides. Ben felt confident with his young horse. He had done a lot of ground work with him before he broke him in, and the horse responded well to his voice. All those hours in the round yard building an understanding of each other had paid off.
Once the horses had settled, Ben glanced across to Louise. She handled Ned well.
“Let’s canter across here.”
When he received a nod from Louise, he pressed his left leg against Snip’s side. The horse smoothly changed pace and loped along on a loose rein. Ben loved the wind on his face and a good horse underneath him. The horses’ hooves thrummed on the ground and the smell of crushed grass mingled with warm horse.
The meadow ended too soon for Ben. He pulled up as they approached a creek.
“Let’s give them a drink.”
He loosened the reins to the buckle and let the gelding walk towards the water, head down. Ned followed. The two horses blew at the running stream, snorting loudly. Ned took a sip first. Rather than drink, Snip wiggled his lips in the cool water and pawed with his front hoof, spraying Ben, Louise and Ned.
“Hey! I don’t need a bath. Cut it out.” Louise moved Ned further up the creek.
Snip took a giant leap sideways, shying away from something in the creek. Ben’s laughing stopped abruptly as he grasped for his reins. “Whoa! Did you see a fish or something?”
His smile returned and he patted his horse’s neck. “Calm down. It’s only water.”
After the horses had finished drinking, Ben pushed Snip up to Ned’s side. “We’d better get going. I haven’t seen any fresh droppings or other signs of horses around here. Come on.”
He trotted alongside the creek and headed up a valley.
“What’s that mountain ahead of us?”
Louise pointed to a massive grey peak, whose top shone in the sunlight—no trees could grow on the bare rock. The lower slopes looked dark where short scrub covered the cliff faces like stubble on a man’s face.