by A B Facey
It was a very dark night and we carried out our plan in the early hours of the morning. We took three bottles of whisky, three bottles of rum and four bottles of wine. They were all quart bottles. We weren’t seen by anyone. Bill climbed up onto the roof of the stable and I handed the bottles up to him. Bill put them in holes that he made in the straw, then covered them over.
Next morning, Christmas Day, everyone was asleep when I went up to light the fire. Bill went with me to get the cows, then we filled up the water-troughs at the soak. That took nearly an hour, but there was still no movement over at the house. They were still asleep. We fed and watered the pigs and Bill milked the two cows that had to be milked. We took the milk up to the cooler and then the old lady came out and told us to get our own breakfast. After we had our breakfast we took the sheep out to graze and arrived back near midday. The women were busy preparing Christmas dinner. The men were all under the weather, some couldn’t walk.
When Bill and I went in to dinner everyone was drinking. Some were so drunk they couldn’t sit in their chairs properly. We had our dinner and then went and refilled the water-trough. After that we had a sleep in the stable until it was time to bring the cows in. I went for the cows and Bill filled the water-trough again. Besides the cattle and horses, the sheep had to have extra water in the summertime. This Christmas Day it was really hot – a hundred and one degrees fahrenheit in the shade.
When I got back with the cows it was nearly sundown. Bill came to meet me and said that there was a big row on at the house. The grog had run out and Bob was blaming everyone for getting away with it, or stealing it, even the old lady. This made Bill and me very scared. Bill had heard Bob say that last Christmas he had found some bottles planted in the stable and he would search it this time from end to end. Bill suggested that we take the grog that we had planted and put it somewhere else.
We got the bottles off the stable roof (it was getting dark), and put them into two bags. We put these on top of the pig shed roof. A little while later Bob and three others commenced looking for the missing bottles. They were still pretty drunk, so we felt sure they wouldn’t find them.
About half an hour later Bill’s brother George came and told us that Bob wanted Bill up at the house. Bill went up to Bob and I stayed in the stable. Later I heard Bill yelling and I knew then that he was copping a belting. They were trying to make him tell them where the grog was. This made me frightened so I thought I would shift the bottles from the roof of the pig house in case Bill gave in and told.
It was very dark by then so I went to the pig house and brought the bottles down to the ground. I intended to put them in a bag and hide them. The pigs were all asleep, so I knocked the heads off the bottles and emptied them into the trough with the pig feed. This would save me two trips to get rid of the grog, as I couldn’t have carried all the full bottles but the empties were easy to manage in a bag. I put the bag, full of broken bottles, over the fence and took it down into the gully close to the soak.
When I was clear I heard loud voices going towards the pig house. I couldn’t see who it was, but one of the voices was Bob’s and I could also hear Alec. I was safe as it was very dark, and as long as I didn’t make a noise I would be all right. All at once it came to me to let the bag and broken bottles down into the water. There was always about eight feet of water in the soak and the weight of the bottles would hold the bag down, and no one would be able to find it. Having done this I sneaked back to the pig house and could hear that Bill was copping it again. They were belting him and calling him a liar, then Bob’s voice came above the others and said, ‘Find Berty. Then we will get to the bottom of this.’
They all started looking for me. I had no boots on so I quietly got away into the bush and stayed hidden. They never came near where I was. Then a terrible din came from the pig shed. Two or three pigs started to squeal, then a few more, then finally all the pigs were squealing. Oh, what a noise. This brought all the half-drunk men and the women to the pig house. I sneaked up as close as I dared, wondering what was wrong. Then I heard. Bob yelled out, ‘The young sod has poured the grog into the pig trough and they’re all drunk. Wait until I get hold of him, he’ll be sorry for this. I’ll skin him alive.’
This made me go back into hiding in the bush. About two hours later things became quieter. The pigs were not so noisy and everyone seemed to be settled down for the night.
It was in the early hours of the morning when I ventured into the stables to get my blanket. Bill was not there. Everything was quiet. My idea was to wait until daylight came, then clear out and try to get to Uncle’s place. I was very tired and fell asleep and when I woke it wasn’t only daylight but the sun was well up, and standing over me was Bob with a stock-whip in his hand. I had not undressed for bed. I still had on my pants and a shirt, and an old rag hat. These, along with my red blanket, were all my belongings.
Bob said, ‘Well, how much grog did you and Bill put into the pig trough last night? Now there’s no use denying it, we thrashed it out of Bill last night and you’ve still got yours coming. Come on, get up, where’s the rest of the grog?’ I didn’t speak, just stood looking up at him. He gave me a cut around the legs, then he lashed me three or four times around the shoulders and body. I jumped up and tried to run out of the stable. As I got out of the doors he caught me around the legs again and I fell to the ground. He continued to whip me. The whip was one he used to tame the horses with and he was an expert. He knew how to use that whip. I don’t know how many times he cut me because I must have fainted.
The next thing I knew I was up at the house on a sofa in the living-room. The old lady and some other women were washing my back, legs, arms and shoulders, and applying some kind of ointment to my cuts. Some of the cuts were an inch wide, and up to twelve inches long, and went into my flesh half an inch in places. I was so ill, I kept fainting. They seemed to be terribly worried about me and one woman said, ‘I think he will die, this is shocking. What were the other men doing to let Bob flog the boy like this?’ Old Albert said that Alec had stopped Bob and knocked him down. They had fought and Alec and Alf had given Bob a hiding. After that Bob had got on his horse and cleared out. The old lady asked where Alf was. Albert said that he had gone to get a woman to attend my wounds. She was a new settler’s wife and had been a nurse before she married, so she would know how serious my condition was. Albert said that Alf should be back soon because it was only seven miles to the settler’s place. The old lady was very worried.
It was a long while before Alf came back, but the nurse was with him. She came straight to me. I was terribly sore but I could understand what she was saying. She washed my wounds clean of the ointment and dabbed some sort of white powder onto the whip marks. This eased the pain just a little. I felt very bad. The old lady gave me a drink of milk and she used an old teapot because I couldn’t sit up; in fact, I couldn’t move my arms or legs – they were stiff.
Then I started to vomit. The nurse looked very worried. Alf came in and asked me how I was but I couldn’t talk. The nurse asked Alf how far it was to the nearest doctor. I heard Alf tell her it was about thirty miles when the doctor was at the nearest town, but he served several towns and could be a hundred miles away. It could take a week or more to get to him. The nurse said, ‘That would be too late. We will have to do the best we can.’
It was dark by this time and they had the lights burning. Everyone was too worried to leave the place. The nurse was an angel. She stayed up with me all that night and kept putting the powder onto the cuts and this slowly eased the pain. Near daylight the next morning, I dozed off.
It was nearly midday when I awoke and I thought I felt a little better. Albert was the first to notice that I was awake and he asked how I was. I tried to talk but was unable to make any sound. My neck was very sore and swollen, as the whip had caught me around the neck and throat. Albert went out and the nurse came in to see me. She said, ‘Can you hear me?’ I couldn’t reply. Then she said, ‘If you can he
ar me just close your eyes and open them again.’ I did this and she smiled and said, ‘I think that you will come through this all right, you must be made of leather.’ Then she told me that she would put some hot packs on my neck and try and get the swelling down. She said that if that worked I would be able to talk, and then maybe keep some food down. My legs and arms were still swollen, and I couldn’t move them.
For the next few days the nurse kept hot packs around my neck and arms and legs. This was hard to stand at first, but it did reduce the swelling, though for a while I could only whisper. Then my voice came back and I was able to move my arms and legs. Two days later the nurse left, leaving instructions as to what was to be done. She said goodbye and told us that she would come back again in about a week’s time to see how I was getting along. I had to do exercises with my arms and legs.
8
JOURNEY AT NIGHT
So now we were in 1905. Bob hadn’t returned, and a lad of sixteen came to help the old lady while I was unable to walk. His name was Jimmy. He was a part-blood Aboriginal and he did all my work and made friends with me.
When the nurse came to see how I was getting along, about eight days later, I was much better. I could sit up, and I could eat anything without fear of vomiting, and although I was still very sore, the swelling had gone down to almost normal in places. I could use my hands and turn my neck about without much pain. The nurse was very pleased with my recovery and only stayed for about two hours.
I made up my mind to clear out from Cave Rock as soon as I was well enough and could find a way that would not attract too much attention. Jimmy had travelled around a lot and he told me that the gully where Uncle’s land was was called Connigin Creek by the blacks. I asked him how far it was from Cave Rock. He replied that it was about thirty miles.
A few days later a man came looking for strayed horses. He stayed the night because his place was near Gillimanning, about fifteen miles away. My bed had been moved to the living-room when I was ill, so I could hear all that the man said. He left next morning and I asked Jimmy where this Gillimanning was, and he told me that it was on the road leading to my uncle’s place. I knew this road because Bob had pointed it out to me once.
It was about the middle of January before I could walk properly. One day Alec came home to see how I was. He had been away working and he told me that he had sent Jimmy to help until I was well again. One night I was lying awake – I couldn’t sleep because of the heat – and thinking about how I could get back home again, when a scheme came to me. I had a lot of time to myself since Jimmy was away a lot with the sheep and busy doing my other chores, so I worked out a plan to escape.
I had no boots. This meant that I would have a rough time walking at night, so I went down to the stable when no one was around and cut bags into pieces to make coverings for my feet. I could walk very well again and move around without my arms or legs hurting so much. My skin felt very tight, and any quick movement brought pain. I was getting better but I didn’t let anyone know just how well I was. I knew that I would have to get away before Jimmy left. The old lady kept asking me how soon I would be well enough to do my work, and so did Albert, but I made out that my arms and legs were not working properly and it would be a few more weeks yet.
I made four pairs of bag boots and hid them under a rail in the stable. I had to wait then until there was no moon, or until the moon set at about eleven o’clock in the evening, so that I would have at least six hours to travel in before daylight. I had to work out a way to make them believe I had taken a different direction to the one that I intended to take. I made up a story to tell Jimmy. I was going to tell him that he was not to let anyone know, but the nurse’s husband had offered me a job that would give me five shillings a week and keep but I was too frightened to ask the old lady to let me go. I hoped this would throw them off my trail, because the nurse lived in the opposite direction to what I would be taking when I ran away. I didn’t intend to tell Jimmy until the evening I was to make the break.
Bob came home near the end of January. He was very nice to me, asking a lot of questions about how I was and what the nurse had said. I told him I didn’t have much to say to the nurse because I had been too ill to bother about anything. He said to me, ‘You shouldn’t have taken those bottles. I lost my head and am very sorry for what I did and I will make it up to you later on.’ I never answered him, and after a few minutes he left. I could hear him asking the old lady if she thought that my people would do anything about it if they found out what had happened. The old lady suggested that Bob go away and not let anyone know where he was for at least six months. She said, ‘You could get years in gaol for what you did.’ She told him that when everything was safe she would let him know through Charlie’s tribe. So Bob left early next morning. I never saw him again.
Near the end of February I judged the moon was about right for my break, so I got my things ready. All I had was a single red blanket and the bag boots I had made. I managed to put some home-made bread and a small jar filled with butter together, and I rolled them up with my boots in my red rug. I also found a small knife to take with me, and had put aside a clean jar to fill with milk. Now I was ready to ask the old lady if I could go and work for the nurse’s husband. So that day I told Jimmy about the job, and the next morning I asked the old lady. She thought for awhile, then she said, ‘No. Not on any account can you go there. What have you and that nurse woman been hatching up between you? Now don’t let me hear you mention this again, and don’t think you can run away because Bob will soon get you back again and you know what he will do to you, so just you forget it.’
The night came and everyone went to bed early. The moon was very bright and I guessed it would set at about ten thirty or eleven, so I went to bed the same time as the others. Jimmy came in and talked with me before he went to sleep. He slept on a small verandah on the north side of the house.
That evening I had filled the bottle with milk and planted it along with my other things in the stable. I was all set. Jimmy asked me if I had asked the old lady. I told him what she had said and that I’d have to forget about the job because I didn’t want any more trouble with them. Jimmy said that he would like to work for the nurse and that he thought that they would be nice. I started to yawn on purpose and made out I was sleepy, so Jimmy went to bed. It was now about nine thirty and the moon was getting low. I was all alone in the living-room, where I still had my bed. I waited and could hear Old Albert breathing heavily and the old lady was very quiet. I stayed awake waiting for the moon to set. Three or four times I started to doze off and had to sit up to keep myself awake. I had gone to bed that night with my clothes on, or I should say rags, because that’s just what they were. The moon went down and it became very dark. I got out of bed very quietly and slowly edged my way to the door. It was always left open during the summer nights. I got away without anyone knowing. I got my swag and set off towards Uncle’s place and freedom.
When I got clear of the Cave Rock homestead I sat down and put on my first pair of bag boots and tied them to my feet with string. This enabled me to walk off the track a few yards and not leave any footprints that could be followed. I walked all that night and when daylight came I was very tired. It had been a tiring and frightening night. I wasn’t used to the weird noises made by the wild animals: the sharp, piercing howl of the wild dog or dingo. The dingoes were close to me and no doubt watching me all night. One of them would howl and then a few minutes later its mates would answer. Each time one howled close to me, a funny, frightened feeling went up and down my spine.
I knew that Jimmy would be the first to notice that I had gone. He would no doubt look around to be sure before he told the old lady. Then it was possible that they would send Jimmy over to the nurse’s place before they searched anywhere else, so I felt safe. I continued on my way until well after the sun had come up, then I turned into some very thick scrub and prepared a place to sleep. I would set off again when it was dark. I had used two
pairs of my boots and my feet were starting to get very sore. After making a place to sleep, I had some bread and drank the remains of the milk. I lay down on the rug and fell asleep.
I must have slept for hours, because when I woke the sun was set low in the west. I felt rested but very frightened. I was thirsty and had nothing to drink. I ate some bread and butter and then got up and had a look outside the patch of thick scrub and bush. Everything was very quiet. The birds were flitting about and the noise that they made was lovely. I lay down again and watched and listened to the many species of birds. I wasn’t game to move until darkness came. The spot I chose to hide in was nice and shady, and cool. I could see that it was a hot day because some of the birds had their wings hanging when they sat on a limb. I had seen fowls do this with their wings on very hot days.
The sun went down and darkness approached. I got my rug and rolled it up into a swag, putting the remains of the bread and butter inside. I had worn out two pairs of bag boots so on went the third pair to start the second night’s walk.
Night came, it was a bright moon, and I came out of hiding. I walked on the track because there weren’t any fresh hoof marks, and I felt that if a man on horseback came I would hear him long before he saw me. Walking on the track was much better for my feet.
So I went on. Oh! was I thirsty. My mouth was very dry so I picked some leaves from a tree and chewed on them while I was walking along. I hadn’t gone very far when my friends the dingoes started to howl. They frightened the very devil out of me. The bush seemed to come alive at night. The possums calling to one another sounded like a flat, loud whisper, and occasionally there was a distressed noise, some possum or kangaroo rat fighting for its life. The kangaroo rats only came out at night. They are a small animal, about the size of a house cat, with a body and legs and tail like a kangaroo, and a head like a rat’s. When the native cat catches one of these small animals it puts up a real fight. The native cat is the most savage of all the small animals in Western Australia. It is a little bigger than the average house cat and has a longish head with little ears and powerful jaws, and teeth like a dog’s. It is like the dingo in that it won’t harm you unless it is cornered. Then it will put up a real fight for its life. A domestic dog usually won’t attack a dingo or native cat on account of their viciousness.