by Annie Seaton
E4.
Dru picked up the map and looked closer. In the bottom of each square there was a key and the square E4 was the one that was circled. Glancing at the co-ordinates, she crossed to her desk and pulled up a map of the mine site. The square that Rocky had marked sat in the middle of the rocky area beside the tailings dam. The same place he had been wandering around and supposedly meeting tribal members. The same place that the traditional people had requested be returned to them because it was a sacred site.
Her excitement grew as she reached for the two smaller cloth bundles. Picking up the first one, she held it gently in one hand. Carefully folding the cloth back, she stared down at the piece of stone nestled on the soft cloth. She lifted it between her index finger and her thumb and turned it over. It was a small piece of basalt, and the top edge was smooth and glossy. It looked like an axe head. The shape of this fragment and the way it was highly polished on one side showed it had been worked into that shape. It was not a natural feature of the stone.
Bloody hell, Rocky. What have you found?
Dru put the sharp piece of carved stone back into the cloth and turned to the other one, taking care to be as gentle as she could. Unrolling it, she placed the cloth on the coffee table and looked at the artefacts in front of her. Six shell beads between five and ten millimetres long nestled together on the fabric. They had been made from the front end of the shell and three had a circle of natural grooves around the spheres that were a deep ochre colour. Residue of some sort? The largest bead still held a fragment of fibre. Dru picked it up and held it up to the light. Had it come from the string that originally held the beads together?
Whatever Rocky had found was of great significance and he’d obviously known that. No wonder he wanted to make sure the bag was safe. He’d said she would know what to do with it.
Dru thought over the options. Hand the bag over or keep it for now? She decided to keep it with her until the next weekly meeting with the Aboriginal community in Wipporing; it all depended on Rocky’s recovery. If he was recovered by then, she would give it back to him. If not, she’d seek out Tom Wari’s details and get it to him as soon as she could. In the meantime, she would hang onto it. The bag could stay in the donga when she was here, and when she was at work, she’d lock it in the glove box of the ute.
So Rocky had been telling the truth all along. There was a sacred site of great significance next to the tailings dam. His find was going to have huge ramifications for the mine. She wasn’t sure what yet, but she wouldn’t let him down.
Dru locked the door and headed for the bathroom. She stood beneath a cool shower for five minutes. Lifting her face to the water, she let the tension seep from her shoulders. It had been a strange day but she felt she had made some progress with Connor. Switching the taps off, she gave a dry laugh. He’d almost been friendly to her. As she stepped from the shower, the cloying heat of the donga surrounded her once again. She pulled on a pair of boxer shorts, but threw her T-shirt back onto the chair before she lay on top of the bed. Exhausted from the heat and the events of the night, Dru fell asleep quickly.
Strange dreams peppered her sleep; she was in the desert in Dubai. Rocky was following her and picking up diamonds from the sand dunes and wrapping them in Christmas paper. The paper crackled as he folded it over the huge purple diamonds.
Dru woke suddenly and turned over onto her back. Her heart was pounding, and she caught her breath as the crackling noise from her dream continued. Something was in the room with her. She lay perfectly still and opened her eyes slowly. She held her breath as a large shadow crossed the wall on the other side of the room.
No, it wasn’t an animal. Damn it, there was someone in her room. Her throat dried and she froze, conscious of her bare breasts exposed as she lay on her back. The sheet was draped over her legs and her arms were rigid at her side. The only light spilling into the room came through the door that was now open wide; she’d double-checked it was locked before she turned the light out. Her thoughts raced furiously; there was nothing close by that she could grab to defend herself.
The shadowy figure headed for the door and Dru let out a shuddering breath as it disappeared through the gap. As she watched the door was pulled shut and closed quietly.
Her pulse was racing as she swung her legs over the side of the bed and grabbed the T-shirt that she’d left on the chair. She pulled it on and tiptoed silently across to the door. Taking a deep breath, she put a shaking hand to the knob, trying to work up the courage to open the door. She turned the knob slowly so that it didn’t make a noise.
There was no movement in her immediate line of sight, so she took another shuddering breath and put her head out a fraction. The road was deserted; no lights were on anywhere and there was no sign of life from any of the other dongas. As she waited, she heard a door click shut, but it was too far away to tell which building it had come from.
Whoever had been in there had to be in one of the dongas in this row. How the hell had they got into her room? She spun around and crossed to the table where she’d left Rocky’s bag. Letting her breath out in a whoosh, she relaxed. It was as she had left it; nothing had been touched. With a frown, she looked around the darkness of the room. There was nothing else of any value in here apart from her phone, and that was still on the table where she’d left it. Dru crossed to the door and checked the lock again. This time she wedged a chair beneath the doorknob.
It took her a long time to get back to sleep. All she could think of was Connor’s curiosity about what had been in Rocky’s bag, and that he was in the donga next to hers. Did he have access to the master keys as part of his role?
Chapter 22
Dru’s eyes were gritty from lack of sleep when she started her ute the next morning. In the early hours she’d finally convinced herself that she’d had another nightmare; the worry of Rocky’s accident had wound her up. No one had come into her room. A night terror; that’s all it had been. She’d suffered from similar nightmares for weeks when she’d first left Dubai. But from now on, no matter how hot it was, she wouldn’t be leaving the door open.
Rocky was sitting in the foyer of the medical building when she called in on the way to work.
‘Hey, there,’ Dru said with a smile. ‘You’re looking much better this morning.’ The only sign of an injury was a piece of sticking plaster on the side of his forehead.
‘Thanking my lucky stars, I am. If I can get a lift back home, I can get out of here right now.’
‘I’ll take you. I’m due for a visit out to Wipporing.’ Dru lowered her voice. ‘And you need to tell me all about that bag you handed over last night.’
Rocky looked at her, his one good eye wide open. ‘Where did you put it?’
‘Don’t worry; the bag’s locked in the glove box of my ute.’ Dru smiled as the paramedic came over. ‘I looked inside. It’s a pretty impressive find.’
‘It is, and thanks for keeping it safe. When I get home I’ll give Tom a call. He’s got the right contacts.’
‘Now any dizzy spells or headaches, you get yourself straight to a doctor.’ The paramedic helped Rocky out to Dru’s ute and settled him into the passenger seat. ‘You were a lucky bugger. If you’d gone any further down the levels—’
‘Wasn’t my time. I’ve got a few good poker games left in me yet, hey Dru?’
‘You sure have.’ She waved to the paramedic who waited until they drove away. ‘I was just wondering. Does anyone else know what you had in that bag?’
‘Nope. Only you. Why?’
‘Just curious.’ She slowed the ute down as they approached the fuel depot. ‘I just have to top up the diesel.’ Before she got out of the car she asked him casually, ‘Do you think there’ll be a problem taking those artefacts off site?’
‘There’d better not be. They belong to my people. They’re not diamonds so anyone who tries to stop me can go take a flying leap.’
‘Okay,’ Dru said slowly. ‘I hope there’s no problem.’
He looked sideways at her. ‘I was so bloody excited about finding them, I couldn’t believe that I left them on the table up there.’
‘Why were you up there in the first place?’
The sheepish look stayed on his face. ‘Promise you won’t laugh?’
‘Promise.’ Dru glanced across at him.
‘I found them just before sunset yesterday. There’s a small cave at the edge of the sacred site, and I dunno, I just got this feeling I needed to go inside.’ He turned his head and looked at her. ‘I know you get me, Dru. You’ve told me all the stories about growing up with my people up your way in Kakadu. I just sort of had to go in.’
‘And what happened?’ Dru changed back a gear as they approached the main gate.
‘It was like someone had just laid them out for me. Sitting on a bit of ground on the other side of a rock at the back of the cave.’ He rubbed his eyes with his knuckle. His voice was thick. ‘When I drove back up the hill, I stopped at the top there. You know? That place I showed you when you started work here.’
Dru cast her mind back to her first day out on the mine site. After her induction, Adam Hennessey had called Rocky to the main office to take Dru across to the rehabilitation site.
‘Rocky here knows this place like the back of his hand.’ Adam had smiled. ‘He’s the head of your crew over on the rehabilitation site works.’
Dru had shaken Rocky’s hand and followed him to a Matsu work ute. On the way to the rehabilitation site, he’d asked about her background but all she’d told him was about growing up at Kakadu and how much she’d loved it.
‘I bin there when I was a young fella,’ Rocky had said. ‘Like in Kakadu, we have a strong spiritual attachment to our land.’
Dru had nodded. ‘We had an Aboriginal worker on our mango farm. Bill taught my sisters and me so much about the land.’ As they drove past the open pit, Dru had pointed to the mountains in the distance. ‘Even though it’s a desert landscape, it’s still beautiful.’
Rocky had nodded. ‘You in a hurry?’
Dru shook her head. ‘I’ve got all day to look around and see the site.’
‘Good.’ Rocky had turned off the road after they passed the open pit. ‘I’ll show you just how special this place is.’
He’d driven her up the hill where the dump trucks were parked next to the tourist area overlooking the open cut pit. Dru had wandered over to the signs near the covered shelter.
‘That’s our Dreamtime story of where the diamonds come from.’ Rocky pointed to the painting that depicted the story along the edges of the sign. ‘Barramundi Gap is one of the resting places of the female Barramundi Dreaming being.’
Dru stood quietly for a few moments and read the story on the large sign. It was beautiful. When she reached the end she turned to Rocky. ‘So according to tradition, when the Barramundi escaped from the wall of rolled spinifex pushed through the water by the Dreamtime women to entrap her, she lost some of her scales?’
Rocky had taken his hat off and wiped his brow. ‘Yeah. When the geologists discovered the diamonds they thought they were the first to know about them. But through the Dreaming we’ve always known that the diamonds have been there. The success of the mine is due to the power of the Dreaming.’
‘Tell me more about the story.’ Dru had loved hearing Bill’s Dreamtime stories about Kakadu.
Rocky smiled. ‘The gap in the range where the mine sits is where the Barramundi escaped. And also the colours of the diamonds prove her escape. The diamonds are her internal organs, transformed. The pink diamonds are her body fat, and the cognacs and champagne-coloured ones are from her lungs and liver. The grey and green are from her guts.’
‘It makes you wonder why we have to take them from the earth, doesn’t it?’ Dru said thoughtfully. ‘And it has such cultural significance to your people. It’s essential we restore the landscape.’ She shrugged. ‘Even though the diamonds are no longer there.’
‘Come over here with me and look at this. I want you to know this land, and to remember what I am saying as you lead the rehabilitation project.’ He turned his back to the pit and walked across to the other side of the flat area at the top of the hill. It was early autumn and the sky was hazy with smoke. In the distance the Matsu Ranges broke the flat landscape.
‘Over there is the range where diamond exploration first started. Some of us were invited to join the venture as we knew our land so well. We followed Smokey Creek from the foot of the range for twenty miles until we reached this point. Would you believe we were picking up diamonds from the top of termite mounds, and when we sieved gravel from parts of the creek we’d get up to thirty-five stones in our trays?’
Dru had stared out over the landscape. It was almost ethereal in its beauty. The blue shimmering haze hovered over the desert and the red mountains edged it in the far distance. Nothing moved; there was no sign of any wildlife nor was there any indication of human habitation.
‘It’s very beautiful.’
Rocky had put his hand on her arm. ‘Now turn around. I want you to remember what you just looked at.’
She turned slowly and looked to the north. Tier after tier of slashed red earth met her gaze as the open pit mine filled her line of sight in each direction. Dust hung in the air as the dump trucks collected the olivine lamproite ore which they trucked to the processing plant for crushing and separation.
‘I see what you’re trying to say. There’s no need for words.’
Now they’d reached the main gate, Dru brought her thoughts back to the present.
Rocky looked ahead at the buildings that dotted the landscape as Dru pulled up at the security checkpoint.
‘When I found the artefacts yesterday I wanted to go back and remind myself of how it was before,’ he said.
‘And?’ She put the car into neutral and let the engine idle.
‘I went up there and looked at the landscape and then I stupidly left the bag up there on the ground. By the time I remembered it, I’d had a drink or two and I put my foot on the bloody accelerator instead of the brake pedal when I went back up there to get it.’
‘You were very lucky.’ Dru shook her head as she waited for the boom gate to go up. ‘You’ve got to stop drinking on site. You’ll lose your job.’
‘You know, Dru. I don’t know if I want it any more. It breaks my heart to see this landscape devastated. Our land. Once we get that site returned to us—and I have no doubt that we will—I’ll work on that land.’ His sheepish grin took on a sly tinge. ‘And it won’t hurt us to have the tailings dam handed over sooner than later.’
Dru raised her eyebrows as his grin got wider. ‘Why’s that?’
‘It’s full of bloody diamonds. Why else do you think John Robinson wants to “negotiate” and “consult” and bloody procrastinate? It belongs to my people.’
Before she could respond to Rocky’s bombshell, Dru’s attention was pulled away as the security guard waved them over.
‘Morning. Sorry, we’ll be a bit slower getting you through today. Another breakdown so we’ve got a manual check inside.’
‘What the bloody hell’s a manual check?’ Rocky scowled and pointed to his head. ‘I’m crook, mate.’
‘Sorry. Just a shoe check and turn out your pockets. Thank God there’s no plane going out today.’
Luckily there were only a couple of others in front of them. It didn’t take too long, despite Rocky whingeing about being injured.
‘I’ll just take a look in the ute. No bags?’ the guard asked.
‘No, I’m heading to a meeting at Wipporing, and then I’m coming straight back.’
At a nod from the guard, Dru unlocked the glove box and held her breath as he popped it open and
pulled out the bag containing the artefacts. But she needn’t have worried—satisfied there were no diamonds stashed away in either the bag or the glove box, he grunted and closed the passenger door. He walked around the rest of the ute and then waved them through. ‘You’re good to go.’
As she put the ute into gear, ready to drive off, Adam came out of the building and waved her to stop.
‘Dru!’ He hurried across the road to the car.
She turned the motor off, opened the door and stepped out to wait for him. His face was shiny with perspiration and his fair skin was flushed.
‘Hi Adam, what’s up?’
‘I just wanted to catch you before you left. I’ve been so bloody busy with these camera breakdowns I haven’t had a chance to come and see you.’ He wiped his face with the heel of his hand. ‘Are you heading to Kununurra today?’
‘No, Rocky and I are off to Wipporing for the meeting with the elders.’
‘Oh, that’s a relief.’ He smiled. ‘I haven’t got any cash on me.’
Dru frowned. ‘What’s the problem?’
‘I posted that face cream stuff to Cathy. She loved it and she wants me to send over another jar for her sister.’ He screwed his nose up and shook his head. ‘Honestly, she doesn’t understand the distances over here. She just thinks I can pop across to the shop and do her Christmas shopping for her.’ Despite his expression, his words were light and he chuckled. ‘I’ve been flat out here and can’t spare half a day to drive out. I was going to ask you to pick up another jar next time you go to Kununurra, if it isn’t too much trouble?’
‘No, that’s fine. Happy to help. I’m going out in a few days. Do you want me to post it for you?’
‘No, I won’t impose on you.’ He waved his hand. ‘I’m just grateful you’ll collect it for me. I can post it from here.’
‘Consider it done.’ Dru smiled. ‘Are you okay, Adam? You look frazzled.’
‘Busy days. But no more than most of us here, hey?’ As Adam turned away, he grinned. ‘As soon as Don’s back from his leave I’m taking a month off. I’m spending all of January at the beach with Cathy and the kids.’