Promise of Hunters Ridge

by Sarah Barrie

  ‘What people? Other prisoners?’

  ‘I think so. And if he dies, the chance to get Rob could die with him.’

  ‘I get that. But Mia, please, keep me in the loop from now on.’ He hadn’t meant to sound so sharp; he softened his tone. ‘I just want to keep you safe.’

  ‘And I appreciate that,’ she told him in much the same tone, ‘but until you get Rob, no one’s safe.’

  He had to agree with her.

  First thing the following morning, he called Russ and Indy into his office.

  ‘So she’s waiting to see if the information turns up. I’ve told her I’ll let it play out for now.’

  ‘Boland told Mia someone in remand is killing anyone who threatens to talk,’ Indy said, ‘and the only person left who can talk is Boland.’

  ‘Which means we need to find someone else in there with ties to Littleton,’ Russ said.

  ‘And figure out how they’re communicating with him,’ Ben agreed. ‘But Mia doesn’t come into this. For any reason.’

  ‘What’s she worried about?’ Indy asked. ‘Boland came to her.’

  ‘I don’t think I’ve got the full story yet.’

  ‘Surprise, surprise,’ Russ said. ‘I don’t like the way she ran straight to Boland, and she really didn’t give up many details about what happened to her the night of the hunt, either.’

  ‘I think it’s pretty understandable she doesn’t want to go over and over what went on that night,’ Indy said. ‘But Mia’s not going to hide anything she knows would help us get Littleton.’

  ‘Yeah, fair enough.’

  ‘And speaking of Davis sending Mia out to see Boland,’ Indy said, ‘did you read his follow-up on the number five murder?’

  ‘No.’ Ben had spotted it in the paper, but hadn’t had a chance to read it. ‘Why?’

  ‘Because he seems to have included a few details that he couldn’t have overheard. Like Littleton’s fingerprints on the phone. You didn’t know that when you were at the crime scene.’

  ‘So not only is Boland talking to Davis, but someone—probably in forensics—is talking to him too. We don’t need this. It might be worth tackling him about Boland.’

  ‘I’ll do it,’ Indy said.

  ‘He won’t talk unless you trade,’ Russ said.

  ‘It’s worth a try,’ Indy said. ‘Someone in remand is killing prisoners and we only have the one witness left. If Boland dies, that’s it.’

  ‘Jack Marsden and our unknown hunter are still out there,’ Ben reminded them. ‘And this information, if it turns up, is going to help us find them.’

  CHAPTER

  6

  Jasper bounded alongside Mia as she ran a third lap of the cottage paddock. The track was overgrown and dew from the long grass was soaking through her joggers and socks, causing a blister to form on her right heel. She’d have to sweet talk her brother-in-law into coming down and mowing it for her again with the tractor and slasher. Machinery, like cooking, was not one of her strong points.

  She heard a car coming, and saw Ally’s appear as she made the turn for home.

  ‘You need to cool it. You’re making me feel fat,’ Ally complained good-naturedly, getting out of the car to look her sister over.

  ‘You’ve just had a baby. Give yourself a break.’ Mia dropped her hands to her knees and took some deep breaths, recovering. ‘What are you up to?’

  ‘I need to go into town and wanted to see if you were back. Cassie asked if we’d drop by.’

  Mia peeked into the back of the car where Chloe was wrapped up in her car seat, sleeping peacefully. ‘Cassie did?’

  ‘She bailed me up in town yesterday and said something about photos you were going to take of the house? So, feel like a drive?’

  ‘I could do with some food in the house, so I suppose so. Bring Chloe in and relax for ten.’

  Ally unloaded the baby and they filed up the steps to the veranda. The radio was playing and a newsbreak came on as they stepped inside the front door.

  ‘… had the number five carved into her back, though at this stage, police won’t confirm this is the case … there will be a service for the victim at the …’

  Mia stopped so suddenly Ally bumped into her.

  ‘Hey, watch it,’ Ally teased. Then listened. ‘Oh, it’s about that poor girl again—hey are you okay?’

  Had the number five carved into her back. Mia nodded. ‘Yes. Yes, fine. He’d actually numbered her.’

  ‘I know you don’t watch much television but did you not read the paper? Our friend Davis Walker wrote about it days ago.’

  ‘Our friend Davis Walker is why I’ve been avoiding the paper,’ Mia replied. She shivered and took a deep breath. ‘Let me have a quick shower.’

  She closed the bathroom door and lifted her shirt. In the mirror she took another look at her back, at the small circle. A zero? The mark Rob had put on her finally made sense. You’re running out of time. It was a countdown: a deadline. There was no choice. She had to get that information from Brent Boland. No matter what.

  ‘Mia, are you sure everything is okay?’ Ally asked as they made their way to Cassie’s place. ‘You’re very quiet.’

  ‘Yeah, I just—’ She almost told her. Almost blurted it out. But what was the point in worrying Ally? She was already worried enough. Rob would never get near Chloe. She was never out of their sight; the house was a fort.

  ‘Oh, how cute is that?’ She pointed at a pony in a paddock by the road. Anything to change the subject. ‘I love pintos.’

  Ally grinned. ‘Remember that big overo Quarter Horse you used to ride that jumped the fence and threw you off into the front wall of the stable block?’

  ‘Hippo?’ Mia grinned back at her sister. ‘He was a great horse mostly. And very handsome.’

  ‘You always liked fast, crazy horses.’

  ‘Spirited. I think the term you’re looking for is spirited,’ she said. ‘I’ve been thinking lately how nice it would be to start riding again. I’d like to buy a horse now I’m pretty much living out here.’

  ‘You want to what?’

  ‘Buy a horse. I’m out at the farm all the time feeding and watching everyone else ride. I miss it.’

  ‘You can always ride Summer,’ Ally said of the gentle pony she’d bought to give lessons on.

  ‘I don’t want to ride a ploddy old school horse—no offence. I think I’d like a pinto—or maybe a buckskin.’

  ‘You are not picking a riding horse based on coat colour. There are so many more important considerations.’

  ‘Here we go,’ Mia complained good-naturedly.

  ‘Okay, okay … I won’t lecture. And it would be fun to find you something. To go riding together again. Let me look into some possibilities for you.’

  ‘Thanks.’

  ‘Here we are.’

  As they walked towards the house, Mia noticed the gardens had been tidied significantly since she’d last dropped in, though there was still some work to do. ‘I keep thinking it’s like walking into another century.’

  ‘Those azaleas are going to be stunning very soon. I want to see inside,’ Ally said.

  They followed the path to the open front door then stepped back when a workman excused his way past them.

  Cassie was up a ladder in the front room, hanging lace curtains. The room, with its decorative plasterwork and high ceilings, had been recently painted and the smell still lingered.

  When Cassie spotted them, she smiled. ‘Hi, Ally, hi, Mia.’ She climbed down and the smile intensified. ‘Before we start, Ally, I have a present for your beautiful baby.’ She went into another room and came back a moment later with something wrapped in pale pink tissue paper.

  Ally unwrapped it, unfolded the crocheted baby blanket and held it up. ‘It’s lovely, Cassie, thank you.’

  ‘I made it myself of course.’ Cassie looked into the carrier. ‘She’s a cute one. Good place to raise kids out here. My daughter’s married. She always wanted to raise her kids i
n the country. That’s how this renovation really got started. When Mum died I was going to sell it, but Lara got this notion in her head. She’s a jewellery maker so she thought it might be fun to turn this old place into a bit of a gallery—you know, get some local arts and crafts in, hire out a section for a café. She’s already got some friend of hers lined up for that. With the new road taking tourists right past here, we should get some business, especially in the holidays. She’ll still be selling to her city stores of course, so not too much risk. Just enough to keep me out of trouble when I retire from nursing, and to keep this old place in the family.’

  ‘The garden is looking amazing,’ Ally said. ‘It’s quite a project you’ve got going on.’

  ‘The garden’s won some awards in its day. I like seeing it come back to life. It was just too much for Mum in the end. I’m hoping it will be up to scratch in time for the new book being brought out.’

  ‘New book?’

  ‘Our historical society is doing one on Hunters Ridge and surrounds from the eighteen hundreds to present. Actually, Mia, that’s why I wanted to see you. Dale put the idea in my head and, well, I checked your website. You’ve done so many lovely pictures. I was hoping you might get involved.’

  Mia kept the smile on her face with effort. The last thing she needed at the moment was to take on voluntary work. But she was practically living in this town, and that seemed to be the way of things, so … ‘I guess I could spare some time here and there.’

  Cassie’s face lit up. ‘Wonderful! I’ll get you a list of the places we have in mind. A couple of members wouldn’t mind using some of your location shots in the tourist magazines as well. Of course, I told them quite firmly that they’d have to pay you something for the promotional ones, even if it’s just a token, right?’

  A token? ‘I appreciate that.’

  ‘Take a look at these.’ Cassie led them into another room where some old photographs were laid out on a long table. ‘These are some of the places we want to get up-to-date shots of. Like a then and now. A remarkable number of buildings are still standing. Some have been looked after, others are derelict. It should prove to be an interesting project for you.’

  ‘I can hardly wait.’ Mia tried to keep the sarcasm out of her voice, and when Cassie looked up from the pictures, she smiled nicely.

  ‘I know I’ve got a preliminary list of places around here somewhere … of course, we’ll also be looking for a lot of nature shots, just landscapes really. We’re going to include some in the background of the text. I’ll give you a quick tour of the house.’

  Mia couldn’t help but think of the woman as a polite bulldozer as she followed her around.

  ‘This is going to be the café in here,’ Cassie said, walking them into a room off the main one. ‘It’s in front of the kitchen so it makes sense. Of course, the kitchen’s going to be extended and modernised. We’re going to try to keep the food different from Elaine’s café, even though we’re a good drive out of the way. I don’t want to get anyone’s nose out of joint. I suppose with Elaine heading off to live closer to Bella, though, her café could just as soon end up as a fish and chip shop as anything else.’

  ‘Elaine’s moving permanently?’ Ally asked.

  ‘Oh, yes. You didn’t hear? Bella won’t come back and the travelling’s killing Elaine. Jacqui has enough on her plate with running her husband’s construction business and those grandkids of hers. She can’t mind the café indefinitely. Poor Bella. I can’t say I shed any tears over that horrible Martin Sullivan’s death.’

  ‘No, but it was Rob Littleton that hurt Bella,’ Mia said.

  Cassie sniffed. ‘Or so we’re led to believe. I never liked that Martin. Just couldn’t take to the man.’

  Mia opened her mouth to object but Cassie walked away, expecting them to follow.

  ‘I’m just dying for a cuppa,’ she said from the kitchen. ‘Would either of you like a cup of tea?’

  ‘No, thank you,’ Mia said, and was relieved when Ally also declined. The kitchen was beautiful and Mia couldn’t help but think it was a shame it was going to be redone. She wondered if they would keep the old wood stove.

  A series of small thuds above them had her asking Cassie, ‘What’s up there?’

  ‘Oh, just storage.’ Another creak. ‘I really have to do something about the family of resident possums. I’m fond of the things but they’ve made themselves a home in one of my knitting boxes. You should see the mess!’ She walked across the room and thumped on the wall. ‘I can show you upstairs another day.’

  ‘I can see you’re busy,’ Mia said. ‘How about I drop in when I’m coming through next time and pick up that list of locations? I already have some really nice local landscapes I can show you. I’ll bring some with me.’

  ‘Perfect!’ Cassie beamed. ‘Oh, and what about a few mounted ones I can sell on commission once the gallery is up and running?’

  ‘Why not?’ Mia wondered out loud. ‘I’ll get a couple made up next time I’m in the city and bring them back with me.’

  They said their goodbyes and Ally put Chloe in the car, then climbed in and looked at Mia. She burst out laughing. ‘I’m not sure I know what to say.’

  Mia put a hand on her forehead. ‘I feel a bit that way myself.’

  ‘It was nice of you to agree.’

  ‘She lives out here, she’s in a society, she knows everyone. I was too scared to say no. I have to fit in.’

  ‘That’s a reasonable point.’ Ally’s laughter gurgled up again. ‘If you could have seen your face when she said “token payment”.’

  Mia pressed her lips into a thin smile. ‘I don’t mind providing some photos for the society free of charge, of course I don’t. But taking care of everyone’s advertising as well? I’ll offer a discount, but that’s it.’

  ‘Do you think you can still spare time for the dressage day tomorrow? You’re getting busier by the minute.’

  ‘Why not?’

  * * *

  But despite how much else she had to do, as she sat on the sidelines of the arena the following afternoon, Mia found herself enjoying the day.

  The final team of the day, Rebecca and her mount, Prince, entered the dressage arena in a graceful collected canter. Mia took the shot, then lifted her head from the lens to watch Rebecca halt Prince perfectly square before saluting the judge. She got another shot, keeping her eye pressed to the lens as the pair moved off to perform a shoulder-in, half-passes, a half-pirouette. Rebecca had come a long way since Ally had begun teaching her a couple of years back. Rebecca and Prince were the only competitors in the advanced test at the local showground, meaning the ribbon was guaranteed, but with dressage, Mia knew it was beating your own best score that was the true test of how you’d performed. And this pair was outdoing themselves. Ally’s students were cleaning up with the ribbons: Lucy had done well earlier in the day for a strong second in her elementary test, beaten by yet another of Ally’s students.

  Rebecca halted and saluted the judge, then gave Prince a well-deserved pat. Test complete, they left the arena. Mia stretched, lifted her camera and tripod and headed over to where the others were waiting.

  ‘Well done!’ Ally was saying to Rebecca. ‘That was fantastic.’

  ‘Thanks.’ Rebecca dismounted and gave Prince another pat. ‘Good boy. I’m going to put him away.’

  ‘Is that everyone covered?’ Mia asked Ally.

  ‘Yep. We just have to wait around for the last couple of scoresheets to come through.’ Rain from scattered dark clouds started spitting lightly. ‘Glad that held off.’

  ‘Yes, I—Is he kidding?’

  ‘Who?’

  Without answering, Mia pushed her equipment at Ally and charged across the grounds, eyes locked on Davis Walker.

  He smiled when she reached him, taking a photo of her with a smirk. ‘Hi, Mia.’

  ‘You should be running. If I get my hands on that camera …’ She snatched at it and had the satisfaction of seeing him take a
few quick steps back.

  ‘Problem, sweetheart?’

  ‘Big one—you. What do you want?’

  ‘Just getting a few shots.’

  ‘Yeah, and it looked a lot like that camera was pointed in our direction.’

  ‘Of course it was. I needed something nice and fresh for my next article. I have it on good authority that Rob contacted you during that attack and I intend to play that up to the hilt. You’re hot news, Mia. Most people would expect you’d be hiding away traumatised after a phone call like that. But not you, no, you’re out here playing horses after the shocking experience of—’

  ‘I’ll give you a “shocking experience”, you piece of shit. I never got that phone call and if you don’t pack up and get lost that camera will be taking photos of the inside of your—’

  ‘Mia. Let’s just go,’ Ally suggested from right behind her.

  ‘One wrong word, Davis,’ Mia threatened, ‘just one, and you’re history.’ She reluctantly turned her back on him and followed Ally away.

  ‘You know, the more you fight, the more he’ll pester you.’

  ‘It doesn’t make any difference what I do. He turns up everywhere.’ With one last scowl in his direction, she turned her attention to the weather. ‘Let’s get out of here before that black cloud over there reaches us.’

  They just finished loading up before the rain really started to fall. Mia looked out the window as she settled herself in her seat and noticed some less fortunate people trying to get packed up. A couple of teenage girls were struggling to get an uncooperative horse on their float. The horse ran backwards, walked up a few steps, tossed its head and banged it on the roof of the float, then ran off again in fright.

  Ally had also spotted them and they watched a few more attempts, then looked at each other. The horse was getting worse, not better. The rain shower cleared, but the ground was now slippery, and the horse dropped to one knee as it slid on the ramp.

  Mia wasn’t surprised when Ally pushed open the car door. She followed her.

  ‘Hi!’ Ally called out. ‘Need some help?’

  The girl holding the horse nodded with obvious gratitude. ‘Please! It took us ages to get him on this morning, but he wasn’t this bad. I think the rain spooked him. We haven’t had him long, but he’s an ex-racehorse, so he should be used to travelling, right?’