Kit shook his head, his face hard. ‘Nah, Boyd’s got a few agisted on my place at the moment. Be easier to leave them there than truck them south.’
‘Agisted up here? Ha! Usually it’s the other way round. Well, I’ll see what I can get organised.’ He wrote down a few notes and looked up with a smile. ‘I’m sure—’
Kit was standing, leaning on the desk and towering over Digby, his voice soft and menacing. ‘Not “I’ll see what I can get organised”, Digby. You will find someone to take those cattle. No ifs or buts. Otherwise,’ he drew a finger across his neck, ‘you know what happens when I don’t get what I want.’ He watched as Digby drew back. Giving a brittle smile, Kit nodded. ‘Don’t forget to work with me—’ He broke off as loud voices sounded outside the office.
‘You fuckers, you been out stealing any cattle lately?’
Digby, still clearly unsettled by Kit’s threat, looked at him. ‘That sounds like Dylan Jeffries,’ he said. ‘I bet the boys from Spinifex Downs are out there. Better go and break that up before they wreck my office.’
Kit held up his hand. ‘Just let them have a go at each other, bloody dickheads! I’m sick and tired of nursing these idiots.’ He eyeballed Digby again. ‘Have I made myself clear about shifting those cattle? Don’t fuck me around. And don’t be passing judgement on where Boyd agists cattle.’
Muffled voices filtered through the door. ‘You’re nothing but a wanker, Jeffries!’
‘We’ve gotta intervene.’ Digby danced on the spot, his eyes between Kit and the door and whatever was happening beyond it.
Kit took a step towards Digby. ‘You haven’t answered me.’
‘I’ll shift your fucking cattle, Kit,’ Digby snapped as the sound of a fight starting up reached the office. ‘I always do, you two-faced son of a bitch.’
Kit glared at him and stood back. ‘Knew you’d see it my way.’ He rearranged his face into a concerned smile. ‘Now, let’s just hold on a minute before we go out there. Have a listen first, never know what you might find out. Hotheads all of them, and at some point whoever is stealing cattle won’t be able to keep their mouth shut.’ He got up and opened the door a crack, looking out.
‘This is my shop and I want them shut down,’ Digby said.
‘And this is my town and I run things the way I want to.’ Digby kept jiggling. The words were clearer now the
door was open. ‘Not anymore it’s not,’ he said quietly.
‘Don’t you go pointing the finger at us, you white prick!’ Sounded like Harry from Spinifex.
‘Now, boys,’ said one of the merch guys.
‘We know it’s you. The money the government gives you all to prop you up, it doesn’t keep you in cigarettes and booze, does it?’ said Dylan Jeffries. ‘You’ve gotta take other people’s cattle to make everything work out there.’
‘Not on our watch, arsehole. We know it’s you lot who are coming onto Spinifex Downs. You’ve been doing it for years, you whitefellas. Always trying to throw the blame on us. Well, not anymore. We’ve got Kev now. And he’s going to find out who’s doing this.’
‘Guys,’ came the muffled voice of another merch bloke, ‘you really need to stop this. Break it up. Dylan, how about you get outside and calm down?’
‘What, so you’re going to send me outside to calm down, not this cattle-thieving prick?’
‘I—’
Kit opened the door further and stepped out to intervene.
‘You fuckers are gonna go for a row,’ Harry said. ‘We’ve got cameras on our place now and we’re gonna know if you go there. If your face turns up on our camera, mate, we’ll be straight to the police to get you locked up.’
‘You watch what you say, you black prick. No copper is ever gonna believe you. And you wouldn’t know how to breed cattle to save yourself. That’s why you lot have to steal.’ Dylan threw a punch that Harry dodged.
‘Right-oh, boys. That’s more than enough. Harry, Dylan, back away, put down your fists,’ Kit said, striding towards them. ‘What are you lot thinking?’
‘You know as well as I do that they’re the ones stealing the cattle, Kit,’ Dylan said, breathing hard.
‘Actually, I don’t.’ Kit stood in front of Dylan and stared at him. ‘All I know is Spinifex Downs have had cattle stolen. How you think they’ve stolen their own cattle, well, I don’t know. Have you had a think about that?’
‘Maybe they’re just dead from bad management,’ Dylan snarled. ‘Or trying to get an insurance payout.’
‘I think you know that’s not the answer,’ Kit answered calmly.
‘No, we don’t!’
‘What’s going on?’ Kevin came running through the door. ‘Harry, get here now. Next to me.’ He grabbed hold of Harry’s arm and pulled him away from the crowd of people.
‘It’s all right, mate, think we’ve got these two hotheads sorted,’ Kit said, pushing his hand into Dylan’s chest. ‘Jesus Christ, Dylan. If that was the case, don’t you reckon the government and animal welfare would be all over them like a rash? And we’d know about it, because we’d smell the carcasses and see them when we flew over. Grow a brain. Sometimes you make me wonder what goes on in that head of yours.’
Kevin grabbed hold of the back of Harry’s shirt and pulled him back to the merchandise desk. ‘You sit down there and shut up,’ he said.
‘Sorry, Kev. He got me so worked up.’ Harry hung his head.
‘I can see that. Just shut up. We don’t need any more trouble.’ He turned to Digby, who was standing behind Kit. ‘Sorry, mate, is there any damage? I’ll pay for it,’ he said.
‘Nah, she’s right,’ Digby answered, looking around. ‘Just get him out of here. Dylan, you too, go on! Get out of here and only come back when you can treat each other with respect. I don’t give a shit what colour your skin is. Respect! Hear me?’
Kevin gave Harry a little push. ‘You heard the man. Get out of here. I’ll be out in a minute.’
Kit watched as Harry went out the front door and Dylan out the side, then turned back to Digby.
‘Geez, I didn’t see that happening today when I left home,’ Kit said, for the benefit of the other people in the room. ‘We’ve got to put a stop to this somehow, don’t you think, Digby?’
‘Yeah, sorry about that, Kit, Digby,’ Kevin said. ‘Harry’s not usually one to cause trouble.’
‘Guess if you get accused of being a thief, there’s only so much a bloke can take,’ Digby said, running his hand over his head, glaring hard at Kit. ‘You right over there, Sally?’
Kit looked over and saw Sally coming out of the ladies’ room.
‘Yeah, all fine. I was ready to call the cops if I needed to,’ she said, waving the cordless phone.
‘You’re all over it,’ laughed Kit, breaking the tension in the room. ‘Well, I’d better get out of here. Got other things to do today. Kev, you got a moment?’
Kevin nodded.
‘Let’s walk,’ he said. Over his shoulder, he said, ‘Catch you all later.’ His eyes fell on Digby and he winked, before walking out the door.
Outside Kit leaned against the wall in the sun, flicking his sunglasses down over his eyes. ‘Hope those detectives from down south are going to get this sorted soon. We really don’t want a fight up here.’
‘I know and I’ve told them all that. Like I said, Harry’s pretty quiet. That’s why I brought him instead of Charlie. There would’ve been a worse issue in there if he’d come.’
‘Mate, have you got any idea who might be doing this to you? Like I said, I just want the shire to go back to the quiet, peaceful place it can be. Not with all this tension and shit.’
Kevin shook his head. ‘If I did, I’d be knocking on their door.’ He crossed his arms.
‘Such a bugger. Such a bugger.’ Kit sighed as if the weight of everyone’s problems were on his shoulders. Then his head snapped up. ‘Harry said you blokes have got cameras rigged up out there now? Great idea.’
Staying quiet, Kev kick
ed the ground.
‘Where’d you put them?’
‘Around about.’
‘Well, mate, you don’t have to tell me, I just think it’s a great idea. Taking the initiative, you know? Hopefully that’ll help the cops.’
Kevin nodded. ‘That’s the plan,’ he said.
Dave walked back into the ward, not knowing how Mel was going to greet him. Truth be told, he rarely knew how she would react to him when he came home.
Alice was back in her crib and Mel was up, dressed in her dressing gown, sitting in a chair and looking out the window.
‘I’m back,’ he said. ‘Brought you a coffee.’
‘Thanks.’ She didn’t turn away from the window, so he put the coffee on the table and went to look in the cot.
Alice was wrapped up in a pink baby rug, sound asleep, with her eyes tightly shut. Reaching forwards he stroked her cheek, thinking his heart might burst.
‘She looks like Bec did when she was a baby,’ he said softly. ‘Like you.’
‘I think she looks like Mum.’
Dave looked again. ‘Maybe a little bit. She’s got the cutest chin and that comes from you.’
Finally Mel got up and came to stand beside him and they looked at Alice together. He wanted to put his arm around her shoulders, but he wasn’t sure how he would be received, so he didn’t move.
‘What are we going to do?’ Mel whispered.
Dave didn’t answer.
‘I’m sure it’s the job,’ she said.
‘You don’t sound certain.’ He glanced sideways at her and saw she was staring at Alice.
Mel turned to him. ‘I am.’
Dave nodded. A tiny bit of hate started, like a small balloon in his stomach, and he tried to push it away. He couldn’t hate her. She was his wife.
Should a wife ask you to give up something you love? he wondered. Should anyone? Spencer’s words came to him again: No one should ask anyone to give up something they love.
He took a breath. ‘I don’t think I can give up the job.’
The air felt thick and heavy and Mel let out a small sound—a cry or groan, Dave couldn’t be sure.
She went and sat back down in the chair and rubbed her eyes. ‘Stalemate,’ she said.
Alice started to stir, and Dave reached down to pick her up. He cradled her in his arms and rocked her back and forth, bending to kiss her, his head touching hers and his eyes shut.
What did the future hold for her? For him? For them all?
‘I think you should go,’ Mel said, sounding like she’d given up.
‘What?’ Dave didn’t move, although his voice rose in surprise.
‘Go back up north and do what you’ve got to do. Maybe we can sort this out when you get back. Just leave, Dave. You won’t be happy until the case is finished, so you might as well finish it, then we’ll work something out when you’re back and you can concentrate on us.’
‘Mel, come on, sweetie. Don’t be like that. I don’t want to leave you within twenty-four hours of you having a baby. Our baby.’
‘Hmm, well, you weren’t here for the birth, so I don’t think you not being here will make a difference to me. I’ll be in hospital for a few days and I’ll just go back to Mum and Dad’s until you get back.’
‘And you’ll come back home then?’
‘Yes, I will.’ She gave a brittle laugh. ‘I didn’t think I’d ever say this, but maybe we should go to counselling, Dave. We don’t seem to be able to break any new ground when we talk. We go over the same thing every time. It’s tiring and boring and we’re not getting anywhere.’
‘Look, Mel,’ he put Alice back in her cot and turned to his wife. Squatting down in front of her, he took her hands. ‘I’ll do whatever it takes to make us work. If you want to go to counselling, let’s give it a go. But I won’t give up policing.’
‘You sound like Meatloaf,’ she answered without a smile.
‘I won’t do that,’ he said, hoping he’d make her smile. He’d always been able to.
Withdrawing her hands, Mel looked away. ‘Go, Dave. Go and do what you have to, then come home. We’ll work everything out from there.’
Chapter 31
Dave disembarked the plane and glanced up at the sky as the humidity hit him in the face and the small bush flies buzzed around his head. He’d tried to sleep through the flight, but images of Alice and Mel kept going through his head. Mel and her lack of interest in him and their relationship—acting as if she’d already given up on him. Alice with her long eyelashes touching her cheeks as she slept, and her little rosebud mouth moving as if she was sucking at her mother’s breast. Walking out the door of the hospital had been one of the hardest things he’d ever done, leaving his family behind, not knowing what the future held for them.
In the terminal there were only a handful of people picking up bags and looking around for loved ones. Dave could see the troopy through the sliding doors and he grabbed his duffle bag from the conveyor belt and strode outside, trying to put his wife and two daughters out of his mind until this case was finished.
‘Good to have you back,’ Bob said, and Dave was grateful that he didn’t ask how the visit went. The fact he was back within twenty-four hours of leaving probably told the story anyway.
‘What’s happened since I’ve been gone?’ he asked, clipping on his belt. ‘Any updates?’
‘Well, young Harry from Spinifex Downs and Dylan Jeffries from Cassia Plains had a bit of a to-do in the merchandise shop yesterday. Only heard about it when Glenn came in and told me. They were both throwing accusations around.
‘Apparently Kit Redman was in town and broke it up. Once it was all over, Kev hightailed it out of town, his young lad in tow.’
‘Ah bugger,’ Dave said, scratching his head. ‘I don’t know why those two had to go around casting aspersions.’
Bob turned the corner onto the main road and headed south. ‘Come on, I’ll bring you up to speed with what I’ve found out. Do you need a coffee before we get on the road? Too early for a beer.’
‘Didn’t think I’d ever hear you say that! Where’re we going?’
‘To a little station called Avaglong. Out of Gassy Junction, son.’
Dave’s head whipped around. ‘Boyd Shepard?’
‘I thought we’d pay him a little visit. How about that coffee? It’s a bit of a drive.’
‘Yeah, that’d be good.’
Dave went into the pub and ordered two takeaways. Mae looked him up and down. ‘You run away for the day yesterday?’ she asked as she set out two cups.
‘Had a couple of little jobs to do at home, yeah,’ Dave said, wondering how she’d noticed when he’d only ever set foot in the pub once to get a coffee.
‘Yeah, Glenn and Kit were here for lunch yesterday and I heard them talking. Said you had to go home ’cause your missus had a baby.’
Dave grinned. ‘Yeah, that’s right. A little girl.’
‘Congratulations! What’s her name?’
‘Alice. She’s a little ripper!’
Mae looked up from the milk she was pouring and gave him a hard look. ‘Why are you back up again so soon then? Shouldn’t you be at home at your wife’s beck and call, changing shitty nappies?’
‘No, we’ve got an understanding,’ he said, wishing she’d hurry up. He didn’t need to be reminded.
‘Hmm, maybe you do. I’m sure she doesn’t.’ Mae poured the hot water in and pushed the cups over the counter. ‘I don’t think I’d be that happy with a husband who flew home to see me for twenty-four hours then went back to work. I’d watch yourself if I was you. Might go home and find there’s no one there.’
‘I’ll keep that in mind,’ Dave said, wondering what gave her the right to pass judgement on his life. He dropped the correct money on the counter.
‘Yeah, bit of advice for free!’ She winked. ‘Us women need to stick together.’
Dave raised one of the coffees at her and went outside, his heart beating just a little faster
.
‘Damn,’ he muttered. Getting back into the car, he leaned his head back against the seat and closed his eyes. Bob didn’t say anything, only put the vehicle in gear and drove off slowly.
‘Kit and Glenn were in the pub yesterday having lunch,’ Dave finally said.
‘Oh yeah?’
‘Mae was offering some maternal advice.’ He looked over at Bob. ‘Glenn and Kit were in yesterday for lunch and they were talking about Alice’s birth. Mae overheard them.’
‘Hmm, Kit and Glenn?’
‘Yeah. Got me thinking about something.’
The white lines flew beside the troopy as they drove towards Gascoyne Junction. Termite mounds, large as a six-foot human and vivid red, stood out against the flat landscape, while scrappy grasslands coloured the ground. The sky stretched out in an endless blue.
‘We know they’re mates, those two.’
‘Mmm.’
‘Remember how Glenn had changed his attitude towards Kev and the community when we got back up here?’
‘Like I said, son, I think that’s ignorance rather than anything else. He’s allowed to have mates, you know.’
‘Yeah, yeah, but it’s worth noting.’
‘Sure is. Now listen. Going to the airport yesterday gave me an idea. I decided to charter a plane and go for a fly. Told Kevin what I was doing in case he had someone shoot me out of the sky but didn’t tell anyone else.
‘Gives you a whole different perspective up there, I tell you. And this really is God’s own country—the ranges and gorges. Do you know, we flew over a couple of waterholes where we could see the reflection of the plane? Beautiful.’ Bob took a sip of his coffee and went on.
‘We flew the boundary of all properties that border Spinifex Downs—Deep-Water, Cassia and Paperbark.’
Dave couldn’t help himself. ‘What did you see?’
‘To be honest, not much. But there were a couple of things that caught my interest. On Cassia Plains, I remember Dylan saying that they hadn’t sold any cattle for twelve months. If that were the case, there shouldn’t be any truck tracks in there, should there?’
‘Unless it was the fuel truck,’ Dave suggested.
‘Good point. There were tracks in. We flew low enough to be able to see them. I got the binoculars out and had a real good look. And you’re right, maybe they were bringing in fuel, but the fact of the matter is that they’re there. So that’s number one.
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