Blackbird

by David Crookes

  Charles buried himself in his work, diligently preparing detailed schedules of projected income and expenditure covering the early voyages the new vessels would undertake. This was the period when he knew costs would be at their highest and income at its lowest, as Stonehouse's sought to acquire a share of the market. In addition he prepared rigid budgets which he insisted would have to be strictly adhered to, if the venture was to be the financial success he was sure it would be.

  At home in the big house at Hamilton the tension gradually eased, although Charles could tell there was something lingering on Catherine's mind which constantly preoccupied her thoughts day and night. But with the passage of time, that too seemed to ease and eventually she returned to his bed in the apartment in the tower.

  The night she came back they made love with the same fire and urgency they had as newly-weds. But when it was over Charles didn't hold her. For the first time since they were married he found the warmth in his heart was gone.

  Silas Moser concentrated as always on the making of immediate profits. The coastal steamers were showing good returns, and the labor ships were showing astronomical profits as the demand for cheap black labor soared to a fever pitch ahead of the proposed banning of the Kanaka labor trade in 1890. But Moser also spent a great deal of time to ensuring the cavernous refrigerated holds of his new ships would never stand empty, awaiting a cargo alongside the South Brisbane wharf.

  * Shamus McClintock was already standing at the bar in the members lounge of the Colonial Club when Silas Moser arrived for their pre-arranged luncheon meeting. Moser looked reproachfully at the large whiskey the grazier nursed in his huge hand and doubted it was his first of the day.

  `Good day Silas. What will it be?' McClintock's voice boomed out loudly across the room, causing some of the members seated about the lounge to look up disapprovingly from their newspapers.

  Moser frowned at the unwelcome attention. 'Perhaps a very small sherry Shamus. I'm afraid I have little time, and I'd appreciate it if we could get on with the business at hand.'

  McClintock signaled the bartender and ordered a sherry for Moser and another large whiskey for himself. `You will be pleased to hear that I've been able to recruit three more sheep producers and two more cattlemen to our meat exporter's syndicate,' McClintock said, his voice now little more than a whisper.

  Moser's face showed a brief trace of elation.

  `Excellent Shamus. I take it their entry fees have been paid and they have committed themselves on paper to their share of the financing of the second refrigerated warehouse on the wharf.'

  `My oath, they have Silas.'

  `And they are aware of the stipulation in the agreement stating they must agree to allow the syndicate's agent in London to effect all meat sales directly off the British wharfs at the most favorable price he can obtain at the time of arrival of each shipment.'

  McClintock took a long swallow of whiskey. `But of course. That's what make's the proposition so appealing, it's the chance of a lifetime. The dream of every man on the land. To cut out the middle-man and get in on the ground floor of a new and unlimited market all at the same time.' McClintock grinned widely. `And how are things going at your end Silas?'

  `Everything is running very smoothly.' Moser took a sip of his sherry. `Although there have been some obstacles to overcome. You can appreciate things are a little more complex than they were when Alexander was alive. I now have the whims of Miss Catherine to contend with.'

  `Oh yes, that reminds me Silas. I was at Madam Jane's last night. She asked me to tell you that Catherine had called on her some time ago, asking questions about Alexander and the Kanaka girl.'

  Moser emptied his sherry. `And?'

  `Madam Jane said to tell you that she told Catherine exactly what you told her to say.' *

  Kiri's loveliness seemed to grow with the security and contentment that living at Jarrah brought her. She was still only nineteen, but motherhood and a new life in happy surroundings had gradually given her an inner warmth and understanding well beyond her years, and a peace of mind she had not known since she lived on the island of Kiriwina.

  Her love for Ben had only intensified during the two years which had passed since he brought her and Sky home to Jarrah on the day of the storm. From that day on they lived together as man and wife, living for each other—heart and mind, body and soul.

  There had never been a formal ceremony with a public declaration of love and promises of honor and servitude; and there were no ink marks scratched in a dusty church register to record their personal commitment and legal obligations to each other. There was no need. They knew what they had would last forever.

  Kiri knew if there was one thing that could bring them more happiness it would be the arrival of another child. For as much as she loved Sky and loved Ben for taking her son to his heart as if he were his own, she desperately wanted Ben's child—their own child.

  Every day she hoped and waited for a sign. She had almost given up when the sign came in December of 1887. When she was certain, she told Ben, on Christmas morning.

  ﾁIt was the best gift either of them had ever received.

  *

  There were a good number of local tradesmen ready and willing to regularly supply and deliver whatever goods and services were required at Jarrah.Most of the small local merchants shared in one way or another in the considerable sum spent in the running and operation of the yard, and also to a lesser extent in the household budget. But there were always lots of things that could only be bought by travelling into Brisbane.

  Every second Friday, Kiri, Sky and Mrs Llewellyn would make a trip to town in the carriage. The foray provided an opportunity to shop in the ever increasing number of large well-stocked stores which had popped up during the building boom. It was also their only regular outing off the property and something they all looked forward to.

  The first trip in the new year was at mid-January and their driver brought the carriage to the front door soon after breakfast. On this visit to Brisbane the shopping list was especially long after the Christmas and the New Year festive season.

  It was mid-morning when they arrived in the town centre and the streets were alive with people. As always their driver pulled up at the wooden kerb outside the entrance to one of the larger and more fashionable stores. They all got out and Mrs Llewellyn asked the driver to return for them at three o'clock in the afternoon. He touched his cap and took up the reins to start on his own long list of brickyard errands.

  As the carriage pulled away, its place in front of the store was taken up by an enclosed tradesman's cart drawn by a big grey mare. A door opened on the kerb side of the cart and two burly men stepped out onto the street. One man was dressed in a dark suit of clothes which was one or two sizes too small for his frame, and the other wore seaman's clothes—light baggy trousers with the customary navy blue jacket and cap.

  The man in the ill-fitting suit moved quickly and entered the store directly behind Mrs Llewellyn, Kiri and Sky. The man in the seaman's clothes patted the grey mare for a few moments, then stood at the kerb and talked with the driver who remained at the reins.

  Mrs Llewellyn and Kiri spent nearly an hour browsing about in the large store. They made a number of purchases and asked the manager to hold the packages until their carriage returned for them later in the day. Then as usual they made their way through the town's shopping district, popping in and out of most of the larger shops.

  As they walked from store to store with Sky in tow, the man in the ill-fitting suit was always nearby, unobtrusively keeping them within his sight. Early in the afternoon, they left the main shopping district and went to a tiny haberdashery in a quiet back-street. Mrs Llewellyn insisted on entering the little shop alone, not wanting Kiri to see the material she was going to buy for making clothes for the new baby.

  While Mrs Llewellyn was in the haberdashery, Kiri waited outside a sweet shop next door, while Sky, hands and face pressed to the glass, tried to make a selec
tion from the multitude of delights on display in the window.

  The man in the dark suit was standing barely thirty yards away on the corner of the sidestreet and a small lane. Finally, with Kiri and Sky at last alone he made his move. He signaled quickly to the cart which was standing at the kerb just around the corner. The big grey leapt to the sting of the whip. The cart swung around the corner into the street and lurched wildly down toward the sweet shop.

  By the time Kiri realized what was happening it was too late. She spun around just in time to see the huge fist a split second before it slammed into her jaw.She felt strong arms catch her as she fell. A moment later, her head swimming, she was shoved roughly into the cart and down onto the floor. Just before she passed out she saw the man in sailor's clothes hurl Sky bodily through the air into the carriage on top of her.

  Minutes later when Mrs Llewellyn emerged from the shop with her arms full of parcels the street was empty

  *

  Isaiah Cockburn paced the deck impatiently. The Faithful lay just inside the mouth of the Brisbane River, ready to sail at a moments notice. Timbers in the old brigantine creaked lazily as she swung slowly around on her anchor rode to lay bow-on to the outgoing tide.

  Cockburn looked for the tenth time in as many minutes toward a small sandy beach on the river bank. A ship's-boat was pulled up on the sand. Two sailors sat idly on her gunwales. Thirty yards from them a horse and carriage stood absolutely still in a clearing in the scrub beside the beach.

  Inside the coach, Silas Moser sat on one side facing a stony-faced Catherine WorthingtonJones on the other. Neither had spoken for almost an hour. They heard the sound of hooves and turned their heads. A tradesman's cart pulled by a big grey swung into the clearing.

  The cart came to rest just yards away and the doors flew open immediately. Two big men jumped out and dragged a woman and a little boy out behind them. Both the boy and the woman wore blindfolds and had their hands tied behind their backs.

  Moser and Catherine peered out at the captives through slits in the window blinds of the carriage. The prisoners were so close that even in the twilight they could see the terror on their dark faces.

  `Are you satisfied Miss Catherine?' Moser asked. `Now you've seen the Kanaka and her son being taken away with your own eyes.'

  Catherine's fingers held open the window blind. She looked on intently as Kiri and Sky were bundled roughly into the boat, and she continued to watch as the small craft skimmed over the smooth water towards the Faithful.

  `Yes I suppose I'm as satisfied as I can be under the circumstances Silas. You've kept your end of our bargain. You're going to get your new ships and my father's niggers are going back where they belong. Perhaps now I can get on with my life without any nasty little surprises.'

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Mrs Llewellyn soon became distraught beyond words. But she remained outside the haberdashery until it was almost time to meet the carriage in the main shopping district, in the hope Kiri and Sky would appear with some sort of an explanation for their disappearance.

  Minutes after she arrived at Jarrah alone, Ben saddled up and took off at a full gallop for Brisbane. He went directly to the little haberdashery and stood outside it for several hours in the darkness, hoping as Mrs Llewellyn had, that somehow Kiri and Sky would return there eventually. Few locals passed by at that hour, but Ben anxiously asked those that did if they had seen any sign of Kiri and Sky. None were able to say they had.

  It was after ten o'clock when he went to a nearby police barracks, and a sleepy and seemingly disinterested constable told him to return the next morning to see the sergeant if Kiri and Sky were still missing.

  An ageing police sergeant with a red face and thick grey hair opened up the station-house the next morning to find Ben, tired but still awake, huddled on the steps outside. Ben explained briefly what had happened and the sergeant told him to come inside, take a chair, and wait.

  A full half hour passed before the sergeant returned, then pen in hand, he stood behind a tall narrow oak desk to take down the particulars of Ben's missing persons report.

  `Alright now...the names of the missing persons?'

  `Kiri and Sky.'

  The sergeant frowned.

  `Unusual names Mr Luk.'

  `They are Melanesian Islanders.'

  The policeman's eyebrows rose.

  `Kanakas! Your missing persons are Kanakas? I thought they were your wife and son'

  `They are Sergeant.'ﾁ

  The sergeant looked thoughtful as he penned the names into a thick leather-bound journal. When he had finished he said: `If you don't mind my asking Mr Luk, just when and where were you and your wife married?'

  `What has that got to do with finding them Sergeant?' Ben snapped angrily.

  The sergeant sneered knowingly

  `You are married aren't you Mr Luk?' Because the law clearly states that Kanakas can only be admitted and remain in the colony as plantation workers. There are penalties for using them in any other way. The penalties are particularly severe if Kanakas have been used for sexual gratification. Now tell me. Are you legally married to this woman or not?'

  Ben sighed in exasperation and shook his head. `There is no official record of marriage at any church or at the registrars office Sergeant. And there is no official registration of the birth of the boy either.But I am the common law husband of this woman, and I would appreciate your help in finding her and her son.'

  `Her son? So now, not only is the woman not your wife, but the boy isn't even your son.' The sergeant put down his pen and closed the thick leather journal with a loud slap. His lips curled into a sneer. `You know...I've been a policeman for a long time. I've seen how you Chinese lure destitute women and young runaways into your opium dens, use and abuse them, then pass them on from hand to hand like old shoes.' The policeman grinned. `You know what I think?I think your Kanaka got a chance to escape from it all with her son, and she took it. I say good luck to her.'

  The sergeant walked across the room and opened the door onto the street. Ben suppressed his anger. He knew well the dangers of a full blown confrontation with the sergeant, and also the utter futility of trying to explain his relationship with Kiri. Without saying another word he stood up and walked out the door.

  Ben returned to Jarrah and tried to sleep. But sleep wouldn't come. He got up and paced around the house.By nightfall he was so tired that he fell asleep in a chair in the drawingroom.He woke in the early hours and went back upstairs to bed. He lay awake for an hour or so staring into the darkness. Then mercifully, he fell asleep again.

  ﾁWhen Ben woke, the sun was already high in the sky. He got up quickly, bathed and dressed and went downstairs. Mrs Llewellyn offered him breakfast. He shook his head. Ben could tell Mrs Llewellyn had had little, if any sleep, and could hardly hold back her tears. Without a word he walked briskly to the drawing-room and took the carbine down from above the mantelpiece, loaded it, then headed for the stables.

  Minutes later he mounted his mare and galloped off towards Brisbane again. *

  Silas Moser was in his office going over the schedules of projected income and expenditure that Charles had prepared for the refrigerated meat vessels, when he heard a commotion outside his door.

  A moment later, Skinner, the sullen faced office boy who was now a clerk in the front office, burst into the room.

  `Mr Moser, there's a man with a gun out there and he's demanding to see you. He said....'

  `I said I will not go away until I have spoken with you Silas Moser.' Ben's voice roared over Skinner's, and he sent the clerk sprawling headlong as he strode into the room. `Do you wish to speak in private or do you wish this clerk to remain?'

  Moser's face paled. `Leave us Skinner.' He fanned a hand toward the door. `I will speak with Mr Luk alone.'

  `So you remember my name.' Ben said as Skinner backed out through the door.

  Moser eyed Ben and the carbine he held at his side with caution. `How could I possibly forget
it Mr Luk. You are a dangerous man. I remember well, that only hours after we met at the Colonial Club, you forcibly kidnapped the Kanaka girl from Madam Jane's.'

  `I would say rescued her is closer to the truth.'

  `Call it whatever you wish Mr Luk. The incident at Madam Jane's is of no consequence to me. Under the circumstances everyone just thought it better to drop the matter and not seek retribution.'

  `But for how long Moser?'

  `Just what is it you came here to say Mr Luk?'

  Ben cocked the carbine and raised it to his shoulder. He leveled the short barrel directly at Moser's heart. `Kiri has vanished. So has her child. I believe you know where she is. I am giving you this one chance to tell me... now.'

  Moser's face tightened, but he remained calm. `I know nothing of her or any child. I cannot tell you what I don't know. I wasn't even aware that she was still with you. Now please Mr Luk. I have a company to run here. I have neither the time nor the desire to engage in personal vendettas of any kind.'

  Ben kept the carbine raised. `And I suppose you are going to tell me you know nothing of the fire which destroyed my property two years ago.'

  Moser threw his arms open wide. `As God is my witness, Mr Luk, I know nothing of any fire. Please I beg of you, don't blame me for every adverse thing that happens in your life.'

  Ben slowly lowered the rifle. `I have no proof Moser, so there is little I can do. But if Kiri does not return and I find out later that you are in any way responsible for her disappearance, I shall kill you, of that you may be certain. But if you do know where she is, and you send her back to Jarrah within the next twenty four hours, you have my word no harm will come to you.'

  As Ben turned to leave, the door crashed open, and Charles and a dozen of the biggest stevedores Skinner could round up on the Stonehouse wharf poured into the office. In an instant Ben was disarmed and knocked to the floor in a hail of blows.

  `It's all right gentlemen.' Silas Moser was quick to call off the dockers. `It's all right. Thank you for your concern. Mr Luk here was under a misapprehension. But I'm glad to say we have resolved the misunderstanding amicably.'