Blackbird

by David Crookes

  Ben tasted the salt from Kiri's tears as she held his head in her lap and smothered his face with kisses.He looked up at her through the two slits which remained open in his badly swollen eyes. He tried to smile.

  `I have come for you and Sky...' he gasped, fighting desperately to remain conscious, `to take you home to Jarrah.'

  `We always knew you would Ben Luk.' Kiri was crying and laughing at the same time. She reached for her baby and held the infant close to his face. `And so did our baby daughter.'

  Just as Ben raised a finger to touch the baby's cheek, he passed out.

  He was still unconscious when Christian Blue came ashore with two boats just before dark, when a party of islanders appeared on the beach carrying Ben on a makeshift litter.

  `Ben Luk will be all right,' Kiri said when Christian Blue stepped ashore. `But we must leave without delay. My people thought a labor-ship had run the blockade to kidnap islanders. My father has already sent for naval gunboats. If they catch us they will confiscate the Faithful, and they will not allow me or my children to leave Kiriwina.'

  Christian Blue grimaced. `I don't know the reef strewn waters around these islands well enough to risk sailing through them at night Miss Kiri. We'll have to wait for first light before we make sail.'

  Kiri sat beside Ben's bunk in the master's cabin all through the long night.In the early hours she got up from her chair and peered through a porthole, looking for the first streaks of dawn. But it was still some time before daybreak. Outside a huge full moon illuminated the anchorage. Just as she turned away from the porthole, she was startled to see the silhouette of a large ship glide silently into view.

  Kiri raced out of the cabin. `Captain Blue, Captain Blue'.

  When the captain bounded up to the deck he found the look-out asleep. He looked out over the rail. A hundred yards away a British warship lay bathed in moonlight, broadside on, gunflaps down, with her long row of sixty eight pound muzzle-loaders trained directly on the Faithful.

  Christian Blue watched as the warship lowered a boat into the water. Minutes later, a young officer clambered from the boat onto the deck of the Faithful. He was followed by a dozen or so armed Royal Marines. The last man to climb aboard also wore the uniform of an officer. He remained standing in the shadows by the rail while the lieutenant crossed the deck with two marines and began to question Christian Blue.

  `I take it you are the captain of this brig.'

  `I am, sir.'

  The lieutenant's eyes shifted to Kiri. `And I see you have taken islanders aboard your vessel.'

  `Yes, sir.'

  `And I am aboard this ship of my own free will Lieutenant,' Kiri said quickly in Christian Blue's

  defense.

  The Lieutenant looked astonished to hear Kiri speak English, and in such a refined tone. He was not the only one taken by surprise. The second officer walked over from the rail. He wore the insignia of a captain.

  `Excuse me, miss,' the captain said. `But have we not met before?'

  Kiri looked up into the captain's face. It was becoming light now. She could see his features clearly. Her face lit up. `Why yes, we certainly have, Lord Waverley, at my home at Jarrah on the banks of the Brisbane River.'

  *

  The Faithful returned to Queensland at a cracking pace on the opposite tack to her outward journey, her sails filled again by the boisterous southeast tradewind.

  In Kiri's constant care, Ben began to recover quickly. They spent the days of the passage lost in the love which they feared had been taken from them forever. Their joy was shared by Sky, who was eagerly looking forward to returning to Jarrah. And with Christian Blue's approval, Ben and Kiri named their two-month-old baby daughter Christine, as a mark of their gratitude to him.

  Just after dark on the thirteenth day out from Kiriwina, the look-out sighted the Cape Moreton light at the entrance of Moreton Bay. Ben insisted the Faithful not venture far into the bay.Christian Blue put the family ashore, under the cover of darkness, at the pilot station at Bulwer on Moreton Island, nearly twenty miles from the mouth of the Brisbane River.

  `Thank you for all you have done Captain Blue,' Ben said. `Now go quickly, out to the safety of the open sea. There is danger here.'

  Christian Blue shook Ben's hand firmly. `And what of you Ben Luk?' Will you take Silas Moser and the Stonehouse family to task for all they have done to you?'

  `I told the bishop I would not seek retribution.' Ben said. `I shall not break my word. Now I have Kiri and the children, I want only that we should live our lives in peace at Jarrah.' *

  The skipper of a small steam barge returning from Bulwer to Brisbane the next morning, couldn't believe his luck when a family paid him the equivalent of three weeks wages to take them back with him to Brisbane, and then upstream to the jetty at Jarrah.

  PART THREE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  It seemed the years of unbridled growth and prosperity which Queensland enjoyed during the late 1880's would never end. But now a new decade dawned over the colony. It brought with it the early signs of change.

  The population of Brisbane and other coastal centers had more than doubled during the decade. Now the iron grip, held so long by Conservative pastoralists on the allocation of land and the policies of the Queensland Government, was finally being loosened by urban Liberals.

  In 1890, legislation ending the South Seas labor trade was passed into law. It brought the northern sugar plantations to their knees, as finance dried up for an industry long considered to be unviable without cheap black labor. But in 1892, Sam Griffith, in a desperate bid to revive the industry, astounded everyone by repealing his own legislation and allowing the labor trade to continue.

  At about this time, the floodgates through which enormous amounts of British capital flowed unabated for so many years, and upon which Queensland depended on for its development, were slammed shut as British investors lost confidence in the colony.

  The Colonial Government immediately curtailed its lavish public works programmed, turning thousands out of work. Private business was soon forced to follow suit. It was then that the banks and building societies in the colony, which for years had thrown prudence to the wind and fuelled wild speculation in land and property,felt the chill winds of monetary reality.

  By late 1892, it was clear Queensland was locked into a severe depression. By early 1893 the colony was on the very verge of collapse.

  * Ben had been one of the first to feel the effects of the downturn. As building activity in the colony slowed, so did demand for bricks fell. By Christmas of 1892 the work-force at the brickyard was only a fraction of what it had been at the height of the boom.

  Then January brought the first of the summer rains. Falls were heavier than usual, and once they arrived they refused to go away. For two weeks there was no let-up in the deluge which fell over south-east Queensland.

  Jack Stark and Ben watched anxiously as the land at the edge of the river became submerged. They had seen this land go under before, and at first they weren't unduly concerned. But when the heavy rain continued unabated into a third devastating week, they prepared Jarrah for the worst.

  As the river rose, buildings which were far above any previous high-water mark became awash, and all the brick kilns were flooded. Ben directed the few yard-workers he still had to begin relocating any machinery and equipment that could be moved to higher ground. But when all their efforts were overtaken by the rising water, Ben and Jack were forced to stand back and watch nature take her course.

  Toward the end of the third week the rain began to ease and tiny patches of blue appeared in an otherwise leaden sky. The apparent change in the weather was encouraging. But Ben knew the flood was far from over, and the worst was yet to come.

  Inland, hundreds of rain-swollen gullies spilled into larger streams and creeks, turning them into angry seething torrents, which in turn emptied into the tributaries of the muddy Brisbane River . Soon the river was transformed into an awesome unstoppa
ble wall of water, which consumed all before it as it thundered its way down to the sea.

  Ben lay awake in his bed, exhausted, but unable to find sleep. Outside, a severe electrical storm raged, continually lighting up the night sky. Kiri lay in an uneasy sleep beside him, her arms clasped rightly around Christine, who had sought refuge from the storm in her parents' bed.

  Ben had found them clinging together when he came up to the house just before midnight, after spending the long day with Jack Stark, struggling in vain against the flood-waters which eventually swept away the entire brickyard before their very eyes.

  Another brilliant flash of light lit up the room. As Ben waited for the thunder clap, he heard a muffled roar outside the house. After an ear-splitting thunder-roll, he heard the roar again. It was a sort of low, continuous groan which was gradually becoming louder. Ben got up and went to the window.

  Rain hammered against the panes. Ben looked down toward the river. Lightening flashed. He saw clearly Jack Stark's little house—the only building set high enough in the brickyard to escape the raging river, and hoped Jack was at last getting some much-needed sleep.

  The muffled roar was now a deep rumbling. It was coming from upstream. The noise woke Kiri. She got up and went to the window. She held Ben tightly. By now the rumbling had become an almost deafening roar.

  Suddenly, lightening lit up the entire sky again. For several seconds Ben and Kiri could see everything clearly. And they watched in horror as a towering wall of water, littered with accumulated debris, pounded through what remained of the brickyard. Then the lightening stopped, and darkness mercifully hid the terrible scene from their eyes.

  When the light returned a moment later, they caught a fleeting glimpse of jack Stark's house as it was carried downstream like a matchbox on an angry sea.

  * The great flood of 1893 saw the level of the Brisbane River rise over thirty feet. During its wild rampage, the river swept away, or submerged everything in its path including bridges, homes , warehouses and factories. Even a number of sea-going ships were wrenched from their moorings and set adrift, leaving their own path of destruction as they battered their way downstream.

  South Brisbane was particularly badly hit, with Stonehouse's left under twenty feet of water. Some of the wharves on the south bank were damaged beyond repair, and the nearby Victoria bridge was completely destroyed.

  Fortunately, the SS Clare and SS Catherine which hadbeen in port during the heavy rains, had managed to fill their holds with meat, then find the relative safety of the open sea, before the near-empty, refrigerated warehouses at Stonehouse's were inundated.

  * A week had passed since the river had peaked. Charles stood alone in the midday sun, immersed in his own thoughts. watching the receding flood-waters reveal the full extent of the damage caused by the worst flood in the colony's history. Few places in Brisbane afforded a better view of the natural disaster than Hamilton Heights, and none better than the battlements of the tower at Castlecraig.

  In the years that had passed since his angry departure, and subsequent brief absence from Castlecraig, Charles had come to accept, even be partially satisfied with the status quo which had developed between Catherine and himself. She had devoted all her time and effort to enhancing her social position, while over the years he had allowed his work at Stonehouse's to become his obsession.

  The loveless, childless lives they led had somehow become comfortable and convenient to the pursuit of their own ambitions. Charles had learned to live without love and affection. Over the years he tried to close his heart to his emotions entirely. But he never really succeeded. Occasionally, and sometimes frequently, thoughts of Vivian Stokes, and what might have been, still stole across his mind.

  She was on his mind when he was suddenly startled by the shrill steam-whistle of a tugboat on the river. With most of the roads from Brisbane to Hamilton still under water, the river was alive with small craft. When Charles saw the Stonehouse emblem on the tug's funnel, he watched it more closely.

  Soon the little vessel veered from mid-channel toward the riverbank. When it neared the shore, a tender was lowered, and a tall, thin man was transferred to the land. When the man began walking up the hill toward Castlecraig, Charles turned and went downstairs.In doing so he saved Jenkins' old body the strain of climbing the steep tower steps to announce the arrival of Silas Moser.

  Clare Stonehouse had been surprised when Silas Moser had requested a business meeting which required both her presence and Catherine's, as shareholders of the Stonehouse Shipping Company. She was even more surprised when she was told it was a matter of some urgency, and should take place without delay, in spite of the inconveniences caused by the flood.

  She arranged for the meeting to convene over a light lunch on the terrace off the diningroom at Castlecraig. Clare and Charles were already on the terrace when Jenkins announced the arrival of Silas Moser. A few moments later Catherine appeared, immaculately groomed, and wearing a fashionable green dress.

  'Tell me, Silas, what is it that is so important as to take you away from your garden on a Sunday?' Clare asked, as everyone took their places at the table.

  Moser took a white linen napkin from the table and spread it carefully over his lap as kitchen staff began carrying food to the table. He glanced quickly at Catherine, then turned his attention to Clare.

  I have received word that Percival Fairweather, our London agent, is to visit the colony later in the year. It seems a number of his clients in England are concerned about the considerable amounts of money they have invested in Queensland, and indeed all the Australian colonies. Percival feels it is necessary for him to evaluate first-hand the state of affairs that now exists in this country.

  Clare looked puzzled. 'But what can that have to do with us, Silas ? The firm has made no borrowings in England has it?'

  'None at all, Clare,' Moser smiled reassuringly. 'But there is another matter which must be addressed.'

  'Look,' Catherine interrupted. She waved away a dish offered to her by one of the servants.' Is it absolutely necessary I be here for this? I really do have a most important engagement in town this afternoon, and with half the roads still under water, I really should be getting along.'

  Clare Stonehouse sighed. 'What is it this time, Catherine?'

  Catherine raised her eyebrows. 'Only that I have been asked to arrange a reception for the officers of the Royal Navy attached to the Australian Squadron when Commodore Lord Clive Waverley brings the entire fleet to Brisbane at the end of July. It really is a great honor, you know.'

  Clare showed no signs of being impressed. She turned to Silas Moser. 'Why have you called this meeting, Silas?'

  Moser sipped from a glass of white wine. He moved the liquid around in his mouth thoughtfully for a few moments before answering.

  'As Charles well knows,' he said at last, 'Percival Fairweather has been instrumental from the very beginning in our involvement in the frozen meat trade. He has seen our share of the market grow to the extent that we will soon need to purchase more ships in order to keep up with demand. At present, the trade is responsible for most of the profits being shown by the company. And all this at a time when almost every other industry in the colony is in the depths of depression.'

  'Please, get to the point, Silas,' Clare snapped impatiently.

  'A large British shipping firm has shown interest in entering the frozen meat trade,' Moser replied quickly. 'Fairweather has told me they are prepared to pay a very generous figure to purchase the Stonehouse Shipping Company.'

  Everyone was caught off-guard, taken so completely by surprise that no-one spoke for some time. Eventually Charles broke the silence.

  'How long have you known about this, Silas?' he asked.

  'Just a few days.'

  'Several days. But you mentioned nothing to me.'

  'You are not a shareholder in the firm, Charles.'

  'But I am, ' Catherine said quickly. 'And Stonehouse's is not for sale.'

 
; Moser pursed his lips. 'The thirty-five percent left to you by your father doesn't entitle you to make that decision alone, Catherine. I am in the same position with the fifteen percent he willed to me. Fairweather said in his letter, his client would prefer an outright purchase. But he did say they were prepared to accept fifty-one percent of the stock, a figure which would give them control of the company. Now, for that to take place, firstly your mother must agree to sell, and secondly, either one of us , must agree to relinquish at least an additional one percent.'

  Catherine laughed and stood up. 'But Mother won't sell either, Silas, so you can consider this meeting at an end. Now, if you will excuse me, I really must be leaving.' She smiled briefly and turned and walked away.

  'And what would you consider to be a good price for Stonehouse's, Silas?'

  Catherine had almost reached the door leading into the dining-room when she heard her mother's question. She turned and hurried back across the terrace.

  'You wouldn't dream of selling, would you, Mother?' she asked incredulously.

  'Why not?' Clare Stonehouse said flatly.

  'I'll tell you why not, Mother,' Catherine snarled angrily. 'Because you can't sell my heritage. It's not what I want, and it's not what Daddy would have wanted.'

  Clare's pale face flushed with anger. She gripped the arms of her chair tightly with tiny white-knuckled hands. 'Not what you want? Not what Alexander would want?' Her voice rose sharply. 'And what about what I want. Have you ever thought about that? I think not, or you would know that the only joy in old age is grandchildren, and the only blessing is a loving partner to grow old with. I have neither. Alexander drank himself into an early grave, and your selfishness and stupidity has denied me grandchildren. All I have is this house and half of the Stonehouse Shipping Company, which I will do with as I please. I owe you nothing. Do you understand Catherine? I owe you nothing.'

  Catherine, stunned by her mother's rare outburst and for once lost for words, sat back down at the table. Charles saw a hint of satisfaction on Silas Moser's face. There was an uneasy silence, eventually broken by Clare.