She gave her attention to the bush as they moved on down the rough, rutted road, marvelling at the beauty of the flowering gums, the paper-bark trees and the acacias — so different to the trees of England — and wondered if their land at South Creek would have similar trees. Thinking of the land brought instant memories of her husband-to-be. Dear God, she would be so glad to see him again.
Daniel and Hannah married in a small hall at Windsor which later became the site for the historic St. Matthews Church of England, Hannah coming down the aisle on the arm of a proud John Bridges. Rosie Williams did dance at Hannah’s wedding as she so vehemently promised. Together, she and Hannah laughed and remembered the good and the worst of times. As usual when they met, their thoughts turned to the third member of the Canada trio, the unforgettable Hannah Porter. She had left Newcastle in a cloud and disappeared from the colony. It had been impossible to find out what happened to her. Was she lying low in the colony somehow or had she fled to New Zealand as one report indicated? The thought of never seeing her cheerful face again was unbearable. Wherever she was, they could only hope and pray that she found some happiness in her life.
Hannah and Daniel stood at the entrance to the inn at Windsor and bid farewell to the departure of their wedding guests and friends, Reverend Melville and his Margaret, Edna Radcliffe, John and Sarah Bridges, and the last to leave, a tearful Rosie and John Williams. With Daniel’s arm around his wife’s waist, they watched the fine surrey until it disappeared in the distance.
‘They have a long journey ahead of them,’ Hannah said. ‘It was wonderful that they came but it could be a long time before we see them again.’ Her voice choked with emotion and he saw the wetness in her eyes.
Daniel kissed her softly on her lips. ‘Hannah,’ he said. ‘I have taken you away from your friends into this wilderness. I only hope I’ve done the right thing for us both. Have you any regrets?’
‘No, Daniel,’ she replied, with conviction. ‘I’m proud to be your wife and one more thing . . .’
‘Yes?’
‘Wherever you go, I will be with you until the end.’
Daniel caught his breath, eyes misting. ‘Thank you, I’m a lucky man.’ He took her hand in his. ‘Come, Mrs. Clarke, I do believe there’s a room waiting for us.’
Chapter 11
SOUTH CREEK, WINDSOR
1814
‘Ye’ll find it a bit hard at first but ye soon get used to it.’ The old man sucked on his clay pipe although the tobacco in it was dead. ‘There’s a hut of sorts on the block and I’ll take ye down there so you don’t have to carry ye things too far and then there’s the little one to consider.’ He pointed with the pipe stem back at Charlotte, swinging her legs happily over the side of the cart, the pup’s head in her lap. ‘She’ll not want to walk too far yet, I wager.’
‘I didn’t see any fencing on the property,’ Daniel commented.
‘No, that’s because there is none. Ye don’t need ‘em unless you’re goin’ to run stock.’
‘How long have you lived around here, Mr. Kilpatrick?’ Hannah asked.
‘Too long, some say. I guess goin’ on four, five year back.’ The old man gave her a toothless grin. ‘I keep telling people I’m goin’ to Sydney Town one day but the truth is I’ll never leave here now.’ He gave Daniel a searching look. ‘It gets to ye, this place,’ he added. ‘See if it doesn’t happen to you.’
Daniel turned to give Hannah a secret wink and she smiled back at her husband.
‘We turn off the road up here.’ Kilpatrick pointed ahead. ‘See that burnt out old flood gum with the lean on it? That’s ye sign post. The track gets a bit rough up a bit where ye turn. Be careful there and don’t drop a wheel in a rut.’
‘Yes, I will.’ Daniel eyed the heavily-whiskered old man. ‘You’ve probably seen that I’ve only got one horse to start our holding.’
‘Well,’ Kilpatrick turned to eye the heavy-footed horse tied to the end of his cart, ‘he’s nothing much to look at, that rough one, but he’s honest, by the look of him. He’ll do.’
The horse-drawn cart trudged on down the track, the bush quiet in its midday slumber as the sun rose higher in the sky. Only a few crows flew into the air to ark their protest at the intrusion. Kilpatrick stopped the cart at a pile of rocks. ‘See them. That’s ye west boundary. Over there . . .’ He pointed with the pipe through the trees. ‘Are the Dalgetys, Herb and his sons and his daughter-in-law. See the smoke from their chimney? They’re good people. They carry some stock, too. It’s mostly fenced but . . .’ He laughed. ‘That darn bull of theirs always seems to get out. Just keep ye eye out for it. It’s a cantankerous bugger. Ye best keep the young one away if you see it hanging around.’
‘Great.’ Daniel heard Hannah’s muffled comment from the rear. ‘Is there any more bad news that we should know, Mr. Kilpatrick?’ She resorted to irony. ‘You haven’t told us about the savages and the snakes and God only knows what yet. We can hardly wait.’
Kilpatrick gave a belly laugh. ‘Ye got a good one here,’ he spluttered to Daniel. ‘I like a woman with spunk. She doesn’t stand any nonsense, does she?’
‘She never does,’ Daniel replied, with a smile. ‘That’s why I married her. Hannah’s right, though. Tell us about the blacks in particular. Will they be a problem for us?’
‘They can be,’ Kilpatrick nodded flatly. ‘Giddap there,’ he ordered the horse and flicked at its shanks. They moved on, pushing down the long grass as they went, following the almost indiscernible track. ‘Needs a path cuttin’ through this lot,’ Kilpatrick muttered.
‘But what can you tell us about the blacks?’ Daniel persisted.
‘Well, I’ll tell ye what I know. They’re always around but ye won’t see them most times. They’re like ghosts in the bush. They can be cheeky too. They come to ye begging food and bacca, maybe just their women and young boys at first. Don’t feed ‘em or they’ll be back again and again. That’s my advice. They will test you out, ye and the missus, to see if ye are soft. If you back down to them, your life here will be hell. You may as well pack up and go back to Sydney Town.’ His eyes sought out Daniel then drifted back to Hannah. ‘Ye all understand what I am tellin’ ye?’
‘Yes,’ Daniel replied, rolling his eyes and thought he heard his wife giggle. ‘I understand.’
‘Ye got a firearm?’
‘Yes.’
‘Use it, only if necessary, but first fire over their heads. That’ll scatter ‘em most times. Look, I don’t want to put a scare in ye both. Ye may not see them for months if at all. Then again . . .’ He paused to point ahead. ‘See, there’s the old hut. That’s all you got for now.’
Hannah jumped off the cart. ‘Stay there, Charlotte,’ she cautioned the child. ‘Wait.’ She walked through thick grass to view the shelter and stared at the precariously leaning slab and bark eyesore. ‘My God,’ she glared at Daniel and shook her head in disbelief. ‘Is this it?’
An amused Kilpatrick dropped the reins and jumped down to join her. ‘It’s not really too bad, missus. It just needs a little bit of work here and there.’
‘Here and there? You’re joking. It’s a shambles, Mr. Kilpatrick, and well you know it.’ She fixed him with her penetrating grey eyes. ‘But it’ll have to do for a start, I suppose.’ She swung around to watch Daniel tethering their horse to a low gum. ‘Well, mister, what do you think of our new homestead?’ She asked, hands on hips and a sardonic grin on her face.
‘It’ll do us.’ Daniel gave a roar of laughter. He grabbed her waist and swung her around like he’d done on that day on the docks while she squealed in mock protest. On the cart, Charlotte watched the cavorting grown-ups with her deep, dark thoughtful eyes while Kilpatrick smiled.
‘Okay, now for work.’ Daniel set Hannah back on her feet. ‘Let’s unpack the cart so Mr. Kilpatrick can get on his way.’
‘The name’s Toby to friends.’ The old man held out a calloused hand.
Daniel shook it firmly. ‘I’m Danie
l and this wife of mine is Hannah and the little one is Charlotte and we’re indebted to you, Toby, for the lift so thank you.’
‘Next time I’m passing the turnoff, I’ll call in,’ Kilpatrick said. ‘To see how ye all are.’
‘You do that, Toby.’ Hannah lowered Charlotte to the ground. ‘And I’ll have a cuppa ready and if I find something to cook on, you will have some oatmeal biscuits.’
‘Then there’s another good reason to come back,’ Toby grinned.
They removed their scant belongings from the cart and stacked them in front of the shelter. Kilpatrick climbed up and picked up the reins. ‘Oh, if I was you, Daniel,’ he said, flicking at the horse’s rump. ‘I’d check that hut before ye move in.’ He looked at their worried faces. ‘Ye wouldn’t want ye missus to tangle with a dirty big red-bellied black snake, now, would ye? ’
‘Snake,’ Charlotte said, pointing at the shelter, Hannah frowned and Daniel laughed.
The Clarkes stood with their arms around each other — Charlotte, thumb in mouth, leaning back on them, one hand clutching at her mother’s dress — and watched Toby until he and his cart were out of sight. ‘Now, we’re on our own, here in the middle of the Australian bush.’ Hannah Clarke eyed the hut then looked questionably at her husband. ‘Do you really think there could be a snake in there? ‘
‘There’s only one way to find out.’ Daniel pulled on the door, which collapsed in his hands, falling away from the shelter in pieces. ‘Great,’ he mumbled. ‘Very secure.’ He peeped inside and retreated. ‘It is pitch-black in there, Hannah,’ he added.
‘But my big, brave husband will go in, won’t he?’ She waved a hand in dismissal. ‘He’s not afraid of anything. Isn’t that so, Charlie?’
‘Go in, Daddy,’ Charlie ordered.
‘Shouldn’t it be ladies first?’ Daniel queried with a chuckle. When the two girls shook their heads in unison, he sighed and disappeared inside.
Hannah heard him making a noise, things being shifted and cursing. ‘What are you doing in there?’ she asked, a little edgy. ‘Come out now.’
Daniel tousled head appeared at the gap, a cheeky grin on his face. ‘Well, there are no snakes in here, love.’
‘Thank God for that.’
‘But there’s a nest of big, black spiders—’
‘Ugh, not spiders,’ she screamed then watched the amusement on his face. She moved to him and punched his arm. ‘Stop scaring us like that.’
‘Naughty Daddy,’ Charlotte giggled.
‘Hannah,’ he said, tenderly kissing her forehead. ‘It’s not too bad but it needs clearing out.’
‘Well,’ she replied, rolling back the sleeves of her smock. ‘We’d better get on with it.’
Hannah would never forget that first day and night that she, Daniel and little Charlotte spent on the property at South Creek in the wilderness of the Hawkesbury. Many years later, she would experience the joy of sitting in front of a warm fire in the southern highlands of New South Wales and relating the story to her grandchildren who hung on her every word.
Daniel made an opening in one wall to let in the light and they spent most of the afternoon clearing out the odds and ends from the previous owner. ‘It’s like an Indian bazaar, Hannah,’ Daniel commented, as they threw out an accumulation of metal and leather pieces, rotting boots and clothes from a smelly pile and pots and pans — most with rusty bottoms — and numerous useless bits and pieces. Daniel pointed to the back wall and the coiled ropes hanging there. ‘They will be useful.’
‘Humph.’ Hannah replied, absently poking around in the ground with a stick. ‘We’ll have to put something down for a floor,’ she said.
‘I’m glad I have those juke bags. I can put them down.’
‘Why not use that canvas cover?’
‘No, we’ll want that in case it rains.’ He studied the smudge of dirt on her face. She’s a good woman, he thought, solid, dependable. We’ll be happy here. ‘I’ll need to make some type of bed for Charlotte though before it gets dark.’
‘Yes,’ she said, ‘that’s good but what more can I do now―’
‘We need wood for a fire. Can you...?’
She gave him a questioning look. ‘Daniel, I’m a farm girl, remember? I’ll do it. Hey, look at this.’ She stooped, picked up something from the ground, and examined it. ‘It’s a coin.’ She held it out to him. ‘Can you read what is on it?’
He turned his palm over, to better catch the light. ‘It’s a Spanish dollar. It says 1786.’ He looked at her. ‘They say these are lucky.’
‘Give it to me.’ Hannah extended her hand. ‘I’ll keep it in my bag. We’ll pass it on to the eldest girl in our family.’
‘That’ll be our Charlie?’
‘Yes,’ she looked at him closely, ‘if you don’t mind.’
‘She’s my daughter too,’ he replied simply.
‘Just think, Daniel, we’ve only been here a few hours and we’ve already made a profit. Ha ha.’ She eyed him with appreciation as she clasped Charlotte’s hand. ‘Leave the puppy now. Daddy will look after him. Let’s go find some wood, little one.’
They huddled under blankets on the jute-bagged floor as darkness descended on the land. Through the gap in the roof, they watched the stars twinkling in the heavens. Strange, she thought, here I am with my husband and the sight of stars brings back memories of the Canada and John Dixon. Fleetingly, she wondered where he was before she dispelled such thoughts and turned closer to the comforting warmth and closeness of her Daniel. ‘Are you asleep, my love?’ she whispered and listened to his low, steady breathing before burrowing in contentedly.
Beside Hannah, in the makeshift bed Daniel made from tree branches and jute bags, Charlotte slept deeply as she always did. The child never has any trouble sleeping, Hannah thought. Thank God. Every so often she heard a faint whimper from the far corner of the hut where the pup was tethered. They’d covered him up with old rags but tomorrow, they’d build him a shelter outside the hut to sleep in.
‘A dog’s place is outside,’ she’d told Daniel, remembering her farming days. ‘I don’t want him inside. ’
‘It’s your house, Hannah,’ he’d replied, arm around her shoulder.
She thought about that as she lay sleepless. It was her house no matter how humble. She’d never had one in her life. Outside the wind picked up and she heard the rustle of the thatch on the roof and the swish of the nearby eucalyptus. There were other sounds that came to her in between the rise and fall of the wind ... mysterious, unique voices of the Australian bush. She listened to them all while her family slept... the sudden shriek from some animal as if in pain, sad-like moaning — or was it howling? — from wild animals and sudden close pitter-patter of soft-padded feet that forced her to hold her breath to better estimate their proximity to the hut. Often, there was hurried scuffling of something in the grass, the hooting of what she believed could be owls and sometimes the clear, whip-like ring of a branch cracking, for reasons unknown. She listened, anxious to retain them in her memory, for future recognition. There was no turning back now, she knew. This lonely piece of land was their future, for better or worse. This is where their family would be born and raised.
She wanted children and Daniel always talked about it with such enthusiasm. Besides, she told herself, the responsibility of building a family would keep him from ever contemplating going back to sea. Not that he ever even mentioned it, of course. With this comforting thought firmly fixed in her mind and, as the early hours heralded a new day, her eyelids finally closed in the early hours of the morn and she slept . . .
The following morning, Daniel rose, glanced at his sleeping wife and daughter, shook and pulled on his boots. The pup looked up expectantly and he carried him outside where he ran around sniffing and licking the dew on the grass and lifting a leg to mark his territory. He’ll make a good dog, he thought, as he bent to the fire.
Whistling, he stoked up the embers, threw on some twigs and blew. In a moment, it caught. He
waited until the coals deepened before crisscrossing with dry acacia bush and a couple of hefty eucalyptus limbs. Daniel held his hands out to the fire and glanced up at the sky. It was mild now but the winter was coming. There was a lot to do before the cold and the shorter days set in.
He set Hannah’s pot above the fire and called the dog to him. Together, they walked a little way south into a clearing. Straining, he dragged the dead trunk of a red gum along the grass and dropped it close to the fire. Wielding the axe, he began to trim its branches, pausing only to look up when the dog gave a welcoming bark.
Hannah stood in the doorway, yawning and running her fingers through her long brown hair. ‘Good morning.’ She eyed the makeshift seat. ‘I like it, Daniel.’
‘That’s good,’ he replied. ‘Now, missus, be kind enough to get the tea bag and pannikins. I think the water’s boiled.’ He bent back to his task.
‘Yes, sir,’ Hannah gave a mock wave. ‘As you command, sir, right away, sir, immediately, sir.’ They both laughed. ‘You know, Daniel,’ she said, throwing the tea into the pot and then taking a seat at the end of the log. ‘I didn’t think you were so good at making things—’
‘Ah, well, there we go, my love, underestimating your old man again. Isn’t that so, boy? ‘Daniel asked the dog who turned his head quizzically.
They sat side by side on the log, silent with their thoughts, sipping the hot, heavily-sweetened black tea in the early morning light and absorbing the sights and sounds of their property. To the east, the sun peeped through the row of trees that hid the creek and, sloping away to the south, they eyed with appreciation the thick virgin bush that had spared the previous tenant’s axe. Daniel pointed at the scrub. ‘There’s as much timber here as we’ll ever need.’
‘Oh, look, ‘Hannah exclaimed. ‘There’s a kangaroo. See, Daniel? It’s near that tree with the black trunk. It’s a grey one.’
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