There were handshakes and kisses all round.
‘We only just got through—water’s still rising in that little creek near our place, Dad. Not sure we’ll get back tonight. I moved the stock to that high ground out in the back paddock. They should be ok out there,’ said Charlie.
They heard the sound of a vehicle approaching from the road. It was a police four wheel drive.
‘That’ll be the coppers and ICAC folks. They had to take the highway via Waymouth and come in via the back road. Still wasn’t sure they’d make it,’ said Mike.
The mud-coated Toyota pulled up and out jumped Luke, Mark, Julie and then finally Lisa.
‘Hey Lisa, you made it. That’s great,’ said Jack giving her a hug. ‘How’s it going at your new posting?’
‘It’s great. I just had to move on from what happened, so going to Sydney has been good for me. A new start, you know,’ she replied.
‘Who’s up for a cuppa?’ asked Mike and there were howls of ‘no’.
‘I thought this was a party, Mike, break out the beer,’ said Sandie, heading inside.
‘So, Mike, when is it going to stop raining?’ asked Luke.
‘Christ, I don’t know. We’ve had eight inches in the last three weeks, as you can see. Of course this is what the country desperately needed and it’ll spring back. We’re already seeing the new growth and the cattle are loving it. We’ve seen some of the waterbirds back too. Huge mobs of whistling ducks, lots of ibis that are starting to nest, and even a few magpie geese.’
They moved onto the veranda and the smell of lamb roasting in the kitchen wafted out through the doorway. The kids had found some inner tyre tubes which they’d inflated and were about to start ‘surfing’ on the slow-moving floodwaters of the home paddock. The dogs were jumping and barking as the kids splashed.
As the second or third beers were being cracked they heard the familiar sound of the chopper approaching. It appeared above the trees and gently settled, the noise deafening for a few minutes and the dogs, chooks and children scattered while it slowly shut down.
Sharon and her man, Daryl climbed out of the rear door and then helped Jen, closely followed by Pip. Jen spied the other kids and the inner tubes and made a beeline for them.
The others stepped up onto the veranda to loud greetings, more hand-shaking and kissing. Now the party could really start.
‘Hey, look at your baby bump, Sharon,’ said Sandie, a tinge of female envy apparent.
‘Don’t even think about it,’ said Charlie, laughing.
‘I did tell you I was going home to shag him that night, didn’t I?’ said Sharon looking at Jack and Pip and also keeping up her reputation.
Things quietened down after a while and smaller conversations started among the groups on the veranda. The kids, dripping wet but happy, joined them for soft drinks and to get some chips and other nibblies.
‘What are you up to, Jack?’ inquired Mark.
‘Since Sharon and I did the feature write up on Operation Volturnus I’ve been helping out at the Dawson Times and Sharon’s asked me to stay until at least six months after the baby is born. So, we’ll see what happens then,’ he said, wrapping his arms around Pip, who smiled broadly.
‘Oh, that reminds me,’ said Luke, dashing for the car. They all paused to see what had him so excited. He returned with a copy of that days’ Sydney Morning Herald and handed it over to Jack.
‘Check out page five,’ he said.
Jack flicked to that page and then looked up in disbelief as he handed the paper to Sharon.
‘What is it?’ asked Mike.
‘Sharon and I have been nominated for a Walkley Award for investigative journalism.’
Spontaneous applause broke out.
‘I’ll get more beer,’ said Charlie.
After the hubbub had died down, Mike asked, ‘Julie, Mark, what’s the latest regarding the fate of our friends in high places?’
Everyone focused their attention on the ICAC representatives.
Julie started. ‘As you know; the minister resigned his portfolio and, pending the outcome of the full inquiry, he may have to relinquish his seat in Parliament. The local member, John Burton, was also forced to resign his seat. The minister’s advisers Todd and Matt were both sacked. Matt has several charges hanging over him, pending further investigation, and it seems certain Todd will have charges laid against him for being complicit in the murder of Peter Wellsmore,’ she hesitated to show respect, and Pip leaned over and squeezed Lisa’s hand.
Mark picked up the story. ‘Vinnie is only just out of hospital—which won’t make anyone too unhappy. He’s been charged with several offences; including as an accessory in Pete’s death, the kidnapping of Jen, the shooting of Mike’s dog, the attempt to torch both this place and Ange’s place in Melbourne, and on it goes. He should be going away for quite a while as will his cousin Georgia and her taxi-driving friend for their roles in some of those things.’
‘What about Billy and Marcus,’ asked Jimmy.
Luke joined in. ‘They were finally apprehended at Ballina and they’re facing murder charges plus a few others. Long story short: they won’t be worrying anyone on the outside for quite a while.’
‘That leaves McMahon, plus Robbo and those almost-high-flying Goodacres people,’ said Mike with a wry grin.
‘McMahon’s been stood down during an inquiry by the Police Integrity Commission. This will unearth all his misdemeanours and should see him dismissed. We’re still trying to ascertain how much he knew in advance about Pete’s death, if anything; and depending on that he may also face accessory charges over that,’ said Luke.
Mark continued. ‘In terms of GrowOz, Robertson has admitted to being a leader in the water thefts although that’s such a convoluted issue it may take years to work out exactly who else was involved here locally.’
Mike let out a loud, ‘Bullshit, I can tell you. We know, don’t we Charlie?’ Charlie smiled and nodded.
‘Once we understand who else from GrowOz had their fingerprints on this, you’ll be formerly interviewed by us as part of the Public Inquiry, Mike, so don’t despair,’ assured Julie.
‘And, who else was there?’ asked Sandie.
‘Can I please do this bit, Julie?’ requested Jack.
‘Go for it,’ she said. ‘You deserve to finish the story.’
‘I think you all heard about how Julie and Mark were standing there as the elevator opened at the international airport—what a moment that must have been for you two,’ said Jack, looking to Julie and Mark who both nodded and smiled.
‘Doesn’t get much better,’ agreed Mark.
Continuing—Jack was revelling in this. ‘It turned out Vinnie the tough guy wasn’t so tough after all. He confessed everything, as did Todd. Seems Vinnie didn’t like Stannard—who they referred to as “The Man”—very much at all. So Stannard’s been charged with a list of things a mile long including being the one who ordered the murder of Pete.’
‘I’ll drink to that,’ said Sharon raising her orange juice. ‘I wish I could have a bloody beer.’
‘That only leaves Sir Lawrence. As you would expect, he’s had one of the best law firms and QCs in the country on his case and that’s made it hard to show he was complicit in the criminal acts. The company will be charged with various offences relating to water theft and as a Director he will be held responsible in some way that the court will determine. It seems likely they will have to pay a heavy fine and possibly more—we’ll have to wait and see. But the good news is he’s been relieved of his role as chairman of the board and as a director and his reputation is in tatters. He’ll find it very hard to move in those circles again,’ said Jack.
This brought spontaneous cheers and another raising of the glasses.
When it quietened down, Mike stood and had their instant attention. ‘My dear friends, I’m not a man who makes a lot of speeches but I do need to say a few things at this moment. Living on the land is tough, and getting tough
er. If it’s not Mother Nature conspiring against you, it’s those dickhead politicians in Sydney and Canberra. None of them’s worth feeding, if you ask me. So when a tough situation gets tougher; when lousy out-of-towners and even some of your neighbours take your water, your lifeline, then the writing’s pretty bloody clear on the wall. I’ve got to admit I was about to give up—like so many others have—and you can’t blame them for that. Then you people came along.’ He took a deep breath.
‘Mary, and Gerry, I take my hat off to you for your courage. It took real guts to do what you did, Mary. You should be very proud. Pip, we couldn’t have done it without you, girl. I’ve learned to love the thump, thump sound as I hear your chopper coming into land. And, Jimmy, you’re a legend with that thunder stick, mate,’ they all laughed. No racism—just admiration and respect.
Mike took another break, clearly becoming emotional. ‘Lisa, you know we all share your grief at losing Pete. He and I had our differences, as you well know, but no-one deserves to go like that. I hope your new posting works out and you come back here as our sergeant in years to come to knock some sense into those young idiots in town. Julie, Mark, Luke, what can I say? You’re always welcome here. Thank God you got involved when you did—it was starting get a bit crazy about then.’ Another pause as Mike looked around.
‘Who have I forgotten, oh Sharon, how could I do that?’ More laughs. ‘Sharon, I’m so happy for you. Look at you, glowing with your pregnancy and wow, haven’t you got your fire back—I’m now buying the paper again just to see who’s copping it from you this week,’ which brought a huge roar of laughter.
‘Jack, I left you until last because I’m really struggling with where to start. There’s too much I need to say, I suppose. That first day you showed up here in that bloody ‘battery bus’, to be honest I thought—“Here we go. Another do-gooder blow-in from the city who’ll hang around for a while and then piss off when it gets tough”. But you proved me wrong mate. You got shot at, nearly killed in your car accident and when those mongrels took this precious little gift away from you,’ he ruffled Jen’s hair, ‘I wouldn’t have blamed you for not coming back. But you did and I thank you for what you’ve done for us, and this community. And look at what you’re writing about now—the issues that really matter,’ he hugged Jack and they could see tears forming in Mike’s eyes.
‘And, before we sit around this great big table as friends, to enjoy a good old Sunday roast, I want to thank all of you for what you’ve done for Charlie, Sandie, the kids and me. I just wish my Marg could be here to see this day and old Max too. Look at all that water—flood country—how good is it?’
The End.
Table of Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Acknowledgements
From the author
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
Chapter 69
Chapter 70
Chapter 71
Chapter 72
Chapter 73
Chapter 74
Chapter 75
Chapter 76
Chapter 77
Chapter 78
Chapter 79
Chapter 80
Chapter 81
Chapter 82
Chapter 83
Chapter 84
Chapter 85
Chapter 86
Chapter 87
Chapter 88
Chapter 89
Chapter 90
Chapter 91
Chapter 92
Chapter 93
Chapter 94
Chapter 95
Chapter 96
Chapter 97
Chapter 98
Chapter 99
Chapter 100
Flood country Page 26