Lang Downs

by Ariel Tachna

  “I guess we’d better talk to Caine and Macklin about the schedule for days off,” Jesse said. “He’s tried to arrange it so couples are off together, but that only covers five days, six if they go down to help too.”

  “I can take a day,” Jason offered. “If nothing else, he probably needs a vet to take a look at the mob and make sure they’re healthy, and I’d always intended to offer my vet services to Taylor. I just hadn’t got around to it yet.”

  “I can go too,” Seth said. “I don’t know if they have a mechanic, but even if they do, I can ride out with a crew.”

  “And there’s the week covered,” Linda said. “See? That wasn’t so hard.”

  Jason smiled at her. Kyle had done a good thing when he married Linda and brought her and her daughter to the station. He didn’t know if Laura had plans after high school, but she’d already made a place for herself on Lang Downs. “Now we just have to convince Sam and Jeremy to accept.”

  “That’s easy,” Thorne said. “We don’t ask them. We just show up and get to work. They can’t say no to that.”

  JEREMY WATCHED in stony silence as Devlin’s casket was lowered into the ground. He didn’t even know the men holding the ropes. Sam had asked for volunteers and had arranged it without Jeremy’s input. That was the way most of his life felt at the moment. Probably just as well, since he didn’t feel capable of making even the most basic decisions. Life just kept eddying around him, but he was too numb to feel it.

  The minister had spoken words of comfort and praise for a life well lived, but they hadn’t been enough to break through the ice that had settled in Jeremy’s chest since they’d returned to Taylor Peak Sunday night. Neil had taken charge of the jackaroos, making sure the station kept running, and Sam had taken charge of the arrangements for the funeral.

  “Jeremy.”

  He blinked a couple of times at the sound of his name, trying to pull himself together enough to respond. Sam stood next to him holding a shovel. Jeremy took it and stepped toward the gaping hole that held Devlin’s remains. He swallowed hard and filled the shovel with dirt. Shuddering against the thought of the cold, hard earth covering the casket Ian had so quickly and beautifully crafted, Jeremy did as expected and tossed his spadeful into the grave.

  All around the site, men and women stood with heads bowed, hats held respectfully over their hearts. Molly had tears in her eyes, he noticed. So did Linda.

  Linda was here? He didn’t remember her arriving, but as he looked around the small crowd, he saw other familiar faces mixed in with the Taylor Peak jackaroos. Ian and Thorne stood next to Neil and Molly. Caine and Macklin stood in the back with Seth and Jason. He remembered Jason coming back to the station, but he’d thought Seth was just coming for a visit. Kyle stood with Linda and Laura, his arm around Laura’s shoulders. Chris and Jesse were there too. All his friends from Lang Downs had come to support him. He shouldn’t have been surprised. If the situation had been reversed, he would have gone to their sides in a heartbeat, but the days at the hospital had created a gulf he didn’t know how to bridge. He wasn’t a Lang Downs crew boss anymore. He was the grazier at Taylor Peak, and everyone knew the two crews didn’t mix.

  The minister finished the final prayer and people began milling around. Some of the jackaroos left almost immediately. Jeremy didn’t blame them. He’d leave too if he could, but a hundred fifty years of family history tied him to the station, and he couldn’t slough that off.

  Molly came up to him first, enclosing him in a gentle embrace. He leaned against her soft shoulder and let the contact steady him. She wouldn’t ask more of him than he could give. Everyone else needed something from him, even Sam and Neil to some extent, but Molly was just there for him.

  She’d gone through Devlin’s closets and boxed up his clothes. She’d organized the kitchen and taken care of the week’s order from Boorowa. She’d cleaned the main house from top to bottom so Sam and Jeremy would have a fresh start. And she’d done all of it without asking Jeremy a single question. He hadn’t had to decide if this or that was worth keeping or where to put a single pot or pan or photograph. And when the weight of his responsibilities became more than he could bear, she’d set aside what she was working on and held him until he could go out and face the world again.

  “I’m so sorry,” she said against his hair. “I know I’ve said it a dozen times, but it’s still true.”

  Jeremy nodded, not able to speak. He wanted to thank her for everything, but if he opened his mouth, he’d start crying. It wouldn’t matter if Molly saw him cry, but he’d lose all credibility with the jackaroos at Taylor Peak if he broke down in front of them. He had little enough to begin with. Neil hadn’t given any explanation for the three jackaroos who had quit in the past two days, but Jeremy didn’t need one. They’d taken one look at Jeremy and Sam and seen all they needed to see. He was only surprised it wasn’t more. If he wanted to keep running the station, he’d have to be ten times tougher than anyone else or they’d never listen to him.

  Neil joined Molly and put a comforting hand on Jeremy’s shoulder as he wrapped his other arm around Molly’s waist. “I talked to Caine before the funeral started. We’re going to stay for at least another week, until you get your feet under you. Caine says Macklin is enjoying getting to be the foreman again. I think he just likes scaring the shit out of the blow-ins who don’t know one end of a horse from the other.”

  An entirely inappropriate snort of laughter escaped at that. “I might have to sneak back up to Lang Downs to watch,” Jeremy said. “Watching my dad and Williams with the blow-ins was always a good start to any season. You don’t take their crap either, but you’re not scary the way Macklin or my dad were.”

  “Just watch me,” Neil said. “Even the blow-ins at Lang Downs don’t need to be taken down a peg or two. The idiots your brother hired, on the other hand… I have some arse to kick before I turn them over to whoever you pick to be your foreman.”

  “Can any of them be the foreman?” Jeremy asked. “I haven’t seen enough gumption in the lot.”

  “If not, find one as fast as you can,” Neil said. “You don’t want to do this by yourself. You’re a bloody good crew boss, and you’ll be fine as the grazier, but trying to do it all himself is what got Devlin killed. You’re not allowed to make the same mistake.”

  “I won’t,” Jeremy said. “If you hear of anyone looking for work, send them my way? I doubt we’re done with men leaving because of Sam and me. I’m going to need all the help I can get.”

  “I’m setting that straight too,” Neil said. “They’ll learn to watch their mouths or they’ll be docked pay or out of a job. Most of them aren’t stupid enough to badmouth the boss directly, but there’s a few I’m not so sure about.”

  “Thank you,” Jeremy said. “I think Sam said something about food. You should go eat.”

  “Sarah and Kami outdid themselves with some help from your cook,” Molly said. “But that can wait until you’re ready.”

  “I’ll come,” Jeremy promised, “but I need to speak to everyone first.”

  “You can speak to them while we’re eating,” Sam insisted. “It’ll be easier than standing out here in the heat of the day.”

  Jeremy let Sam and Molly lead him away from the family plot back toward the main house. He didn’t want to go in the canteen and face the jackaroos, but as he drew closer, he saw that someone had set up tables under the trees behind the house, and Sarah and Kami had all the food set out buffet-style on the veranda.

  He looked around for Neil, but he was talking with Thorne and Ian. At Molly’s urging, Jeremy filled a plate and took a seat at one of the tables. He’d taken three bites when Thorne joined him.

  “My condolences,” Thorne said. “I know what it’s like to lose your family, so I know words don’t help. If I can help in any other way, please let me know.”

  “I don’t suppose you know an out-of-work foreman,” Jeremy quipped. “Neil can only stay so long, and I need someone
to whip my jackaroos into shape.”

  “Actually,” Thorne said, “I might. You remember my friend Nick Walker who came to visit last time he was on leave?”

  Jeremy nodded. Walker had spent a week on Lang Downs, and Jeremy had wondered at the time how long it would be before the man became a permanent fixture on the station.

  “He retired from the Commandos about a month ago. He wasn’t looking for a job right away. He said he wanted to relax and travel a bit before he decided what to do next. Anyway, he’s back in Wagga Wagga and looking for a job. He grew up on a sheep station in Western Australia. He’s never worked as a foreman, but he knows how a station runs, and if he can lead a Commando team, he can handle a group of jackaroos with bad attitudes. Do you want me to see if he’s interested?”

  “If he’s interested, he sounds about perfect,” Jeremy said. Walker was nearly as big as Thorne, six-foot-something and built like a brick shithouse. He pitied any of the jackaroos who thought they could mouth off with him around.

  “I’ll call him tonight,” Thorne promised. “If he’s interested, I’ll bring his number by in the morning.”

  “You don’t need to make a trip just for that,” Jeremy protested.

  “It’s not for that. Tomorrow’s my day off. I figured I’d pitch in around here, help you get your feet under you. I may not have Walker’s childhood of experience, but I’ve learnt enough since I got to Lang Downs to take a crew out and evaluate them for you. And Ian said he’d help out too. Neil’s already assigned us to crews for the day.”

  “I…. You didn’t have to,” Jeremy stuttered. “Thank you.”

  “No thanks necessary,” Thorne said. “If our situations were reversed, you’d do the same. Now, enjoy your meal before it goes cold.”

  Jeremy smiled weakly and turned back to his plate. He wasn’t hungry—hadn’t been for days—but if he didn’t eat, Sarah would make Molly’s mothering look like child’s play. He loved that about her, but not today, so he put another bite of potato salad in his mouth and pretended it didn’t taste like dust to him.

  “Hey, Jeremy.”

  Jeremy swallowed so he could answer Seth. “Hi, Seth. I didn’t expect you to still be here. I thought you’d be on your way back to Sydney by now.”

  “No, I’m back for good,” Seth said. “There’s no place like home and all that shit. Caine’s got me helping out Patrick and looking into improvements for the drover’s huts, but I still get a day off a week. Do you have someone maintaining your equipment?”

  “No one who hired on just for that,” Sam answered when Jeremy turned to look at him. “Devlin didn’t appear to believe in specialization. I haven’t finished talking to all the jackaroos to see if any of them have enough of a background or interest to take on the job.”

  “Then I’ll see you on Friday,” Seth declared. “I don’t know if I can check everything out in one day, but I’ll get through what I can. I’ll be more help to you that way than out with a crew.”

  “Wait,” Jeremy said as Seth started to stand up. “Why are you coming on Friday?”

  “It’s my day off,” Seth said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Maybe it would have been at any other time. “I might as well do something useful with that time. Tuning up your machinery will be fun.”

  “Fun,” Jeremy repeated. “I guess that’s one word for it.”

  Seth grinned. “You forget. Engines were the only thing I was good at before I moved to Lang Downs. Even now, I’m happier with grease up to my elbows from cleaning out a dirty engine than doing anything else.”

  “We need to find you a girl, mate, if that’s what makes you happiest,” Jeremy said with a shake of his head.

  “I had one,” Seth said. “I left her in Sydney where she belongs. We’re both happier this way.”

  “If you say so,” Jeremy replied. “I don’t know if I can pay you. We haven’t even made a dent in the station’s finances—”

  “Who said anything about paying me?” Seth interrupted. “Family helps each other. You might be living here instead of on Lang Downs now, but you’re still one of us.”

  Jeremy took a deep breath to steady himself. “Thank you. That means a lot.”

  “Cheers,” Seth said as he stood up. “I’m sorry about your brother. I can’t imagine what it would be like if Chris weren’t there. I can’t bring him back, but I’ll help any way I can.”

  Jeremy summoned a smile and sent Seth off with a nod.

  “How are you holding up?” Sam asked.

  Jeremy shrugged. “I haven’t broken down today.”

  “I’m not sure if that’s good or bad,” Sam said. “At least we’ll have plenty of extra help if we need it. Hiring Walker is a good idea if he will come.”

  “Can we afford it?” Jeremy asked.

  “We’ve had three men quit in the past two days,” Sam reminded him. “We can take Walker’s salary out of that.”

  Nine

  SETH STOOD to the side of the gathering. He’d spoken to Jeremy and made his offer. He had to stay until everyone else was ready because he’d ridden over with them and so had no way to get home quicker, but he’d about had his fill of Taylor Peak for a while. No one said anything in Jeremy’s hearing—or even in Neil’s—but Seth had overheard some of the comments the jackaroos had made.

  “Poofter” was the nicest word he’d heard them use to describe their new bosses. Most of them had gone straight for “shirt lifter” or “pillow biter.” On Lang Downs, that kind of language got a man a warning and then his walking papers, but after eleven years of Caine and Macklin’s benevolent guidance, most people never even went that far. The year-rounders and the repeat seasonal staff made their opinions clear, and anyone who didn’t like it could leave. They had enough hands to cover the shifts. Seth feared Jeremy wouldn’t be so lucky. If he kept them, he’d have to listen to their insults for the rest of the season. If he fired them, he’d be shorthanded in a matter of days. All the year-rounders at Lang Downs had offered to help on their days off, but that only came to fourteen extra hands total, and Jeremy would rarely have more than two of them at a time. They couldn’t run a station this size with a crew that small.

  “Seth? You okay, mate?”

  Seth looked up as Jason ambled toward him. “Yeah, just worried about Jeremy and Sam.”

  “It’ll be hard, but they’ll manage. They know how to run a station.”

  “All the knowing in the world doesn’t do any good if they don’t have the men to do the work.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “I’ve been listening to the Taylor Peak jackaroos, and I’ve heard a lot of language that would get them thrown off Lang Downs,” Seth said. “It makes me nervous for Jeremy.”

  “Bloody hell,” Jason said. “It’ll be like the summer you came to Lang Downs all over again. The worst summer I can remember the station ever having.”

  “Hey, I thought it was a good summer,” Seth protested.

  “It was, for me, but having you there was its only redeeming feature. You didn’t see it, I guess, since you didn’t know how things were before, but almost all the seasonal jackaroos were blow-ins, new to the work as well as to the station. We had enough bodies but not enough knowledge to really run the station right. I’ve never seen Neil or Macklin as run-down as they were that summer. All the crew bosses worked extra shifts, trying to teach the blow-ins what to do and keep the station running at the same time. They kept it together, but it was close.”

  “I’m scared it’ll go even farther than that,” Seth said. “It wouldn’t be the first time a mob mentality took hold and someone got hurt. They attacked Chris in broad daylight in town. What’s to stop them from attacking Sam and Jeremy? Or even Neil and Molly, since they’re helping out?”

  “You think it’ll come to that?”

  “God, I hope not, but I didn’t believe it would happen in Yass either.”

  “We should say something to Thorne. He’s got the most training.�
�

  “I didn’t hear any actual threats,” Seth said. “Just grumbling. I hope they’ll take their attitudes and just quit. Even if we have to work double to help Jeremy through the season, it’s better than someone getting hurt.”

  “Yes, but let’s not borrow trouble if we can help it,” Jason said. “A little grumbling isn’t the same as quitting or even being disrespectful to Jeremy and Sam directly. Maybe they’ll get it out of their systems and settle back in to work. Jeremy is a Taylor, and he does know what he’s doing, so if they stay more than a few days, they’ll see it’s still a good place to work.”

  “I guess it depends on how much of Devlin’s feud with Lang Downs carried over to his jackaroos. Caine never let us—even Neil—get away with bad-mouthing Taylor Peak, but from what Sam and Jeremy have said, Devlin had no qualms about talking shit about us. Do you know why he hated Lang Downs so much?”

  “Not really,” Jason said. “His dad died fairly young too, and Michael—Caine’s uncle—tried to help him, but Devlin wouldn’t ever accept. Maybe he suspected Michael was gay and hated him for that, or maybe he just hated him for being successful while Taylor Peak struggled. I know he wanted to buy Lang Downs when Caine’s mother inherited. He figured she wouldn’t know what she had and would sell it cheap. Caine came instead, which ended his hope of acquiring the station. Then Jeremy left Taylor Peak for Lang Downs, and that was the end of any hope of reconciliation.”

  “Will we make things worse by coming to help?”

  “That’s Jeremy’s call. If he decides it’s doing that, he’ll tell us, and if he does, we’ll listen. I’m going to catch Thorne. You want to come with me?”