Cherish the Land (12 page)

J
ASON
LOOKED
up when Caine walked to the front of the canteen and whistled to get everyone’s attention.

“I spoke with Jeremy this morning,” he said. “The funeral will be on Tuesday at Taylor Peak, and Devlin will be interred in the family plot immediately after. I’ve made adjustments to the shift rosters in order to allow those closest to Jeremy to attend. I realize this means some of you will sacrifice your day off this week, but we will add an extra day’s pay to this week’s payroll to make up for it if you’re in that situation. We appreciate everyone’s hard work in keeping things running despite the uncertainty of the past few days.”

He posted the new shift rosters on the bulletin board and then returned to his seat. Some of the seasonal jackaroos rose to look at it, but none of the year-rounders bothered. Caine would have arranged for them to be free to support Jeremy. Jason would check on his way out, not sure if he counted as a year-rounder as far as this was concerned. He’d spent enough time with Sam and Jeremy to want to go to the funeral, but he also understood the reality of running a station, and he hadn’t been here for the past seven years. If Caine needed him to stay, he would, and he’d find another time to go down to Taylor Peak to speak with Jeremy and Sam.

“I’d better get started tonight, then,” Ian said, bringing Jason out of his thoughts.

“Started on what?”

“On the casket,” Ian said. “Sam texted to ask if I’d make it, but they didn’t know when the funeral would be. It’s the least I can do for Jeremy after everything he’s done for us. I just wish it weren’t necessary.”

“Don’t we all,” Chris said from next to Jason. “I wish I had something that concrete I could do for him. I’ll have to settle for offering to help them move whatever they want to take with them.”

“Are they really going to move to Taylor Peak?” Seth asked.

Jason could sympathize. Sure, he’d gone away to uni, but the idea of leaving Lang Downs for good didn’t sit well with him.

“They haven’t said,” Chris replied, “but how else is Jeremy supposed to run the station? It’s an hour and a half in ideal conditions to get to the main house at Taylor Peak. If the weather’s bad, some days you can’t get there at all. I don’t see how they can live here and work there. It’s just not feasible.”

“I can’t imagine them not being here,” Jesse said. “Who will ruffle Neil’s feathers if Sam isn’t around to tease him?”

“I’m sure we can take up the slack,” Ian replied, “but you’re right. They’re as much a part of the station now as any of us. Bloody hell, why did Taylor have to get himself killed? Bad enough when Michael died, but at least he was old and had lived a full life. We’re losing two year-rounders in one blow because Taylor was careless.”

“We’re not losing them,” Linda, Kyle’s wife, insisted. “No, they won’t be here every day, but you don’t lose friends like that just because they don’t live as close anymore. You all have days off, even if you only take them half the time. You could spend your days off at Taylor Peak helping out if Jeremy needs it, or just visiting if he doesn’t. Maybe not every week if he doesn’t need help, but often enough that you’d still see him. We all know Taylor had an odd way of running things. Jeremy may get in there and realize the whole system needs an overhaul, and if that’s the case, he’ll need all the help he can get. And who better to give it to him than the men who understand the way he’s lived since he got here? If anyone knows how to run a station, it’s the lot of you. If you alternated your days right, you could each give him a day a week and he’d have an extra set of hands he trusts and someone who thinks the way he does every day. Think what a difference that could make to him.”

“I guess we’d better talk to Caine and Macklin about the schedule for days off,” Jesse said. “He’s tried to arrange it so couples are off together, but that only covers five days, six if they go down to help too.”

“I can take a day,” Jason offered. “If nothing else, he probably needs a vet to take a look at the mob and make sure they’re healthy, and I’d always intended to offer my vet services to Taylor. I just hadn’t got around to it yet.”

“I can go too,” Seth said. “I don’t know if they have a mechanic, but even if they do, I can ride out with a crew.”

“And there’s the week covered,” Linda said. “See? That wasn’t so hard.”

Jason smiled at her. Kyle had done a good thing when he married Linda and brought her and her daughter to the station. He didn’t know if Laura had plans after high school, but she’d already made a place for herself on Lang Downs. “Now we just have to convince Sam and Jeremy to accept.”

“That’s easy,” Thorne said. “We don’t ask them. We just show up and get to work. They can’t say no to that.”

J
EREMY
WATCHED
in stony silence as Devlin’s casket was lowered into the ground. He didn’t even know the men holding the ropes. Sam had asked for volunteers and had arranged it without Jeremy’s input. That was the way most of his life felt at the moment. Probably just as well, since he didn’t feel capable of making even the most basic decisions. Life just kept eddying around him, but he was too numb to feel it.

The minister had spoken words of comfort and praise for a life well lived, but they hadn’t been enough to break through the ice that had settled in Jeremy’s chest since they’d returned to Taylor Peak Sunday night. Neil had taken charge of the jackaroos, making sure the station kept running, and Sam had taken charge of the arrangements for the funeral.

“Jeremy.”

He blinked a couple of times at the sound of his name, trying to pull himself together enough to respond. Sam stood next to him holding a shovel. Jeremy took it and stepped toward the gaping hole that held Devlin’s remains. He swallowed hard and filled the shovel with dirt. Shuddering against the thought of the cold, hard earth covering the casket Ian had so quickly and beautifully crafted, Jeremy did as expected and tossed his spadeful into the grave.

All around the site, men and women stood with heads bowed, hats held respectfully over their hearts. Molly had tears in her eyes, he noticed. So did Linda.

Linda was here? He didn’t remember her arriving, but as he looked around the small crowd, he saw other familiar faces mixed in with the Taylor Peak jackaroos. Ian and Thorne stood next to Neil and Molly. Caine and Macklin stood in the back with Seth and Jason. He remembered Jason coming back to the station, but he’d thought Seth was just coming for a visit. Kyle stood with Linda and Laura, his arm around Laura’s shoulders. Chris and Jesse were there too. All his friends from Lang Downs had come to support him. He shouldn’t have been surprised. If the situation had been reversed, he would have gone to their sides in a heartbeat, but the days at the hospital had created a gulf he didn’t know how to bridge. He wasn’t a Lang Downs crew boss anymore. He was the grazier at Taylor Peak, and everyone knew the two crews didn’t mix.

The minister finished the final prayer and people began milling around. Some of the jackaroos left almost immediately. Jeremy didn’t blame them. He’d leave too if he could, but a hundred fifty years of family history tied him to the station, and he couldn’t slough that off.

Molly came up to him first, enclosing him in a gentle embrace. He leaned against her soft shoulder and let the contact steady him. She wouldn’t ask more of him than he could give. Everyone else needed something from him, even Sam and Neil to some extent, but Molly was just there for him.

She’d gone through Devlin’s closets and boxed up his clothes. She’d organized the kitchen and taken care of the week’s order from Boorowa. She’d cleaned the main house from top to bottom so Sam and Jeremy would have a fresh start. And she’d done all of it without asking Jeremy a single question. He hadn’t had to decide if this or that was worth keeping or where to put a single pot or pan or photograph. And when the weight of his responsibilities became more than he could bear, she’d set aside what she was working on and held him until he could go out and face the world again.

“I’m so sorry,” she said against his hair. “I know I’ve said it a dozen times, but it’s still true.”

Jeremy nodded, not able to speak. He wanted to thank her for everything, but if he opened his mouth, he’d start crying. It wouldn’t matter if Molly saw him cry, but he’d lose all credibility with the jackaroos at Taylor Peak if he broke down in front of them. He had little enough to begin with. Neil hadn’t given any explanation for the three jackaroos who had quit in the past two days, but Jeremy didn’t need one. They’d taken one look at Jeremy and Sam and seen all they needed to see. He was only surprised it wasn’t more. If he wanted to keep running the station, he’d have to be ten times tougher than anyone else or they’d never listen to him.

Neil joined Molly and put a comforting hand on Jeremy’s shoulder as he wrapped his other arm around Molly’s waist. “I talked to Caine before the funeral started. We’re going to stay for at least another week, until you get your feet under you. Caine says Macklin is enjoying getting to be the foreman again. I think he just likes scaring the shit out of the blow-ins who don’t know one end of a horse from the other.”

An entirely inappropriate snort of laughter escaped at that. “I might have to sneak back up to Lang Downs to watch,” Jeremy said. “Watching my dad and Williams with the blow-ins was always a good start to any season. You don’t take their crap either, but you’re not scary the way Macklin or my dad were.”

“Just watch me,” Neil said. “Even the blow-ins at Lang Downs don’t need to be taken down a peg or two. The idiots your brother hired, on the other hand… I have some arse to kick before I turn them over to whoever you pick to be your foreman.”

“Can any of them be the foreman?” Jeremy asked. “I haven’t seen enough gumption in the lot.”

“If not, find one as fast as you can,” Neil said. “You don’t want to do this by yourself. You’re a bloody good crew boss, and you’ll be fine as the grazier, but trying to do it all himself is what got Devlin killed. You’re not allowed to make the same mistake.”

“I won’t,” Jeremy said. “If you hear of anyone looking for work, send them my way? I doubt we’re done with men leaving because of Sam and me. I’m going to need all the help I can get.”

“I’m setting that straight too,” Neil said. “They’ll learn to watch their mouths or they’ll be docked pay or out of a job. Most of them aren’t stupid enough to badmouth the boss directly, but there’s a few I’m not so sure about.”

“Thank you,” Jeremy said. “I think Sam said something about food. You should go eat.”

“Sarah and Kami outdid themselves with some help from your cook,” Molly said. “But that can wait until you’re ready.”

“I’ll come,” Jeremy promised, “but I need to speak to everyone first.”

“You can speak to them while we’re eating,” Sam insisted. “It’ll be easier than standing out here in the heat of the day.”

Jeremy let Sam and Molly lead him away from the family plot back toward the main house. He didn’t want to go in the canteen and face the jackaroos, but as he drew closer, he saw that someone had set up tables under the trees behind the house, and Sarah and Kami had all the food set out buffet-style on the veranda.

He looked around for Neil, but he was talking with Thorne and Ian. At Molly’s urging, Jeremy filled a plate and took a seat at one of the tables. He’d taken three bites when Thorne joined him.

“My condolences,” Thorne said. “I know what it’s like to lose your family, so I know words don’t help. If I can help in any other way, please let me know.”

“I don’t suppose you know an out-of-work foreman,” Jeremy quipped. “Neil can only stay so long, and I need someone to whip my jackaroos into shape.”

“Actually,” Thorne said, “I might. You remember my friend Nick Walker who came to visit last time he was on leave?”

Jeremy nodded. Walker had spent a week on Lang Downs, and Jeremy had wondered at the time how long it would be before the man became a permanent fixture on the station.

“He retired from the Commandos about a month ago. He wasn’t looking for a job right away. He said he wanted to relax and travel a bit before he decided what to do next. Anyway, he’s back in Wagga Wagga and looking for a job. He grew up on a sheep station in Western Australia. He’s never worked as a foreman, but he knows how a station runs, and if he can lead a Commando team, he can handle a group of jackaroos with bad attitudes. Do you want me to see if he’s interested?”

“If he’s interested, he sounds about perfect,” Jeremy said. Walker was nearly as big as Thorne, six-foot-something and built like a brick shithouse. He pitied any of the jackaroos who thought they could mouth off with him around.

“I’ll call him tonight,” Thorne promised. “If he’s interested, I’ll bring his number by in the morning.”

“You don’t need to make a trip just for that,” Jeremy protested.

“It’s not for that. Tomorrow’s my day off. I figured I’d pitch in around here, help you get your feet under you. I may not have Walker’s childhood of experience, but I’ve learnt enough since I got to Lang Downs to take a crew out and evaluate them for you. And Ian said he’d help out too. Neil’s already assigned us to crews for the day.”

“I…. You didn’t have to,” Jeremy stuttered. “Thank you.”

“No thanks necessary,” Thorne said. “If our situations were reversed, you’d do the same. Now, enjoy your meal before it goes cold.”

Jeremy smiled weakly and turned back to his plate. He wasn’t hungry—hadn’t been for days—but if he didn’t eat, Sarah would make Molly’s mothering look like child’s play. He loved that about her, but not today, so he put another bite of potato salad in his mouth and pretended it didn’t taste like dust to him.

“Hey, Jeremy.”

Jeremy swallowed so he could answer Seth. “Hi, Seth. I didn’t expect you to still be here. I thought you’d be on your way back to Sydney by now.”

“No, I’m back for good,” Seth said. “There’s no place like home and all that shit. Caine’s got me helping out Patrick and looking into improvements for the drover’s huts, but I still get a day off a week. Do you have someone maintaining your equipment?”