Heart of the Country (39 page)

Thomas stiffened. He locked eyes with Terrett.

“He liked the grog, young Zac. Used to beg me for it.” He threw back his head and laughed. “I told Mr Wiltshire the good-for-nothing wouldn't come back here again. Not after the beating the boss ordered for him and I dished out.”

“You bastard!” Thomas roared. His horse reared. Terrett sprang at Thomas and Neales grabbed at the reins.

Thomas wheeled his horse away and both men lost their hold. He took the whip from his saddle and cracked it.

They both stopped where they were, half stooped, their hands hanging at their sides, watching him closely.

“I'll have this out with Wiltshire when I find him in Port Augusta. In the meantime you keep your sheep and yourselves off my land,” Thomas growled. “And Terrett, if ever I find you've taken a Wildu Creek sheep, I'll make sure the law finds you.”

Terrett glowered at him then slowly put his hands to his hips. “I'm not frightened of you, Baker, or the law,” he said.

Thomas turned his horse and rode away. Behind him Terrett began to laugh. The awful sound echoed around him in the gloom of the late afternoon shadows. He hoped he'd delivered a strong message but he had the uneasy feeling he'd only stirred up more trouble.

*

The sound of a horse nickering woke him. There was just the hint of light to the east; it was too early for most people to be about. Thomas sat up and reached for the firearm he'd kept at his side. The fire was out and his fingers were stiff with cold.

He'd camped just inside the boundary of his property, not far from the waterhole he'd checked yesterday. Dark had fallen not long after he'd left Terrett and he'd been keen to put distance between them, but it had been a moonless night and eventually he'd had to stop. He couldn't be sure Terrett wouldn't follow him but at least the darkness that made travel difficult for him would do the same for Terrett.

A bush rustled. Thomas raised the firearm.

A figure loomed.

“Mr Tom?”

Thomas blew out a breath. “Gulda. What are you doing creeping around in the dark?”

“Mrs Lizzie worry.”

Thomas groaned. Then he thought about his trip to Port Augusta. He had planned to go home to see Lizzie then head straight off again. Wiltshire might be only a few days ahead of him and Thomas wanted to get on the road.

“It might be a good thing you've found me, Gulda. You can ride back and tell Mrs Lizzie I am well and I have gone straight to the port.”

“No, Mr Tom.” Gulda squatted down beside him. “Mrs Lizzie needs you.”

“Why?” Thomas jumped to his feet. “Is it Joseph?” Please God; he'd lost one child. He couldn't bear to lose another.

“Joseph is well, Mr Tom. It's Mr Zac. He's bad.” Gulda shook his head. “Very bad.”

Lizzie was waiting on the verandah as Thomas rode up. He was pleased to see Joseph and Tommie were both safe and playing under a tree beside Daisy while she worked on a possum skin.

“What's happened?” he asked. He could see the exhausted lines of Lizzie's face now that he was closer.

“It's Zac. After you left he kept drinking.” She gripped both his arms as he reached her. “Oh Thomas,” she whispered. “I think he tried to kill himself.”

“Tell me,” Thomas said gently.

“He was in such a bad way he could barely walk. I found two empty flasks in his hut and another half full. I emptied it all out then I put him to bed to sleep it off but … Well, last night I went to check on him and he wasn't there. Gulda and Daisy and I all set out looking for him. Gulda found him in the waterhole further along the creek. The only part with any decent water left in it.”

“Perhaps he was going to wash. Try to sober himself up.”

Lizzie looked up at him with tired, sad eyes. “He had his boots on and … his pockets were full of stones. When Gulda tried to pull him out, he started to scream.” Her lip trembled. “It was such a horrible sound, Thomas. Daisy and I both came running. It took all three of us to drag him from the water.” She stopped and sucked in a breath. “He pleaded with me to let him die.” The last words came out in a gush as tears began to roll down her cheeks.

Thomas pulled her into his arms and pressed his lips to her hair. She sobbed into his chest. It hurt to see Zac turning into this person they didn't know and yet he felt powerless to stop it.

He felt Lizzie relax in his arms. “Where is he now?” he asked.

“In our back room. On the bed you made for Joseph. He's sleeping but I didn't want to let him out of my sight. I sent Gulda to find you because I didn't know what to do.”

He stood back from her and saw the tears begin to brim in her eyes again. Thomas sighed. He knew Zac was a troubled man but he hadn't thought him a danger to himself. “I don't know what I can do,” he said.

“Can't you talk to him? Make him see we love him and he's got a home here.”

“I know that.”

They both spun at Zac's voice. He was standing just inside the house, squinting out at them. Thomas was shocked to see how much thinner and more gaunt he looked just since the previous day.

Lizzie moved towards her brother but Thomas held her back. There was something else about Zac. He looked like a man who'd been through hell and yet – it was his eyes. There was something in his look that Thomas hadn't seen since their droving days: determination, perhaps.

“I'm thirsty,” Thomas said. “Let's take some water and go sit under the trees.”

Once more Lizzie made to move.

“It's all right, Lizzie,” he said and kissed her forehead. “Just Zac and me this time.”

Over the top of her head, Zac gave a slight nod.

“You go ahead,” Thomas said. “I'll bring the water pouch.”

He took a moment to reassure Lizzie then made his way down the slope to the trees that had become their outdoor room. Zac was sitting in one of the rough chairs, staring across the creek.

Thomas offered him the pouch and watched while he drank deeply. Then he took a few mouthfuls for himself and hung the pouch between them on a jutting branch. He looked out at the scene that held Zac's attention. The valley stretched before them, changing to rolling hills covered in the green of eucalypt and bluebush stretching up to the brown haze of Smith's Ridge. Beyond that the rugged mountain range towered into a grey sky.

Zac broke the silence between them. “I'm sorry I've caused you and Lizzie trouble,” he said.

Thomas kept his eyes on the view. He hoped Zac would be able to talk about what bothered him. “Trouble usually has a reason.”

He heard Zac take in a deep breath then slowly let it out. “Jacob and I were never so happy as those first days at Smith's Ridge. We lost a few more sheep after we got back but we still managed to make the quota. The sun was shining, there was plenty of feed and water in the creeks. We even thought about building a proper hut.” He paused. “We didn't know about Annie, of course.”

Thomas lifted his shoulders. “There was no way you could.”

“When the government man came, we were as happy as larks. We showed him the count but when he checked his papers he said we were a week late. Jacob and I were having it out with him. We said we'd been there two days before but he said that made us five days late. Then, out of the blue, this Wiltshire bloke turns up. He had another paper that said the lease was his too. It had Father's signature and the date was a week earlier than we thought. Because we hadn't stocked by the due date, Wiltshire took over the lease. He acted all concerned and offered Jacob and me work as shepherds. Said he had his own man who would arrive later and be overseer. Jacob blew his stack there and then but I believed Wiltshire when he said it was all unfortunate and he would do his best to see us back on our feet.”

Thomas nodded. He'd heard the same story from Jacob when he'd left Smith's Ridge and lived at Wildu Creek for that first winter.

“It wasn't too bad there for another week or so. I was on my own and imagined it was still our lease even if it wasn't. Then Terrett turned up.”

From the corner of his eye, Thomas saw Zac grip his hands together. “He's a mean bastard.” He pulled his hands apart and formed them into fists. “Treated animals bad; treated the blacks even worse; and if I spoke up he laid into me. He made a still. Wiltshire didn't permit drinking but Terrett said what we did in our own time was our own business. I had a swig or two at night. Made working with that animal a little easier.”

“Why didn't you leave?” Thomas asked. “We'd have welcomed you here.”

Zac glanced at Thomas then looked away again. “I know, but I thought I could somehow get Smith's Ridge back. Terrett was so terrible I thought the soft-looking Wiltshire would send him packing and decide it was all too hard to manage.” Zac let out a snort. “How wrong I was. Wiltshire might dress like a gentleman but he's out of the gutter. He was no better than Terrett. I tried to tell him about Terrett on his next visit but he just laughed at me. Told me to toughen up or move on.”

“But you stayed.” Thomas was more puzzled than ever.

“Yes. I heard them talking when they thought I was away with the sheep, but I snuck back to get a bit of Terrett's grog. He had a stash near the shelter he slept in. He and Wiltshire were sitting by the fire laughing. Then I heard Father's name mentioned and I stopped to listen. Wiltshire was bragging about how he'd duped the old man.”

Thomas sat forward and studied Zac. He'd often wondered what had happened. George and Anne had visited after Joseph was born but his father-in-law had clammed up when Thomas broached the topic of Smith's Ridge. Said he'd been a fool, and lost his money, and that's all there was to it.

“Wiltshire got Father to sign the papers,” Zac said. “Then he rode hell for leather to make Adelaide as quickly as he could. He lodged the lease application then held up the paperwork to purchase the sheep. It was nearly all his money going into the stock. We were a week late leaving Encounter Bay but what we didn't know was we were already two weeks into the time we had to get the stock back to the Ridge. Wiltshire set it up so that we wouldn't make the deadline and he was waiting to take over the lease. No doubt it had been his intention all along. We did all the hard work, finding the place, marking it out and stocking it, then he took it away from us.”

Thomas shook his head.

“Anyway, they heard me,” Zac continued. “Wiltshire told Terrett to rough me up so I knew to keep my trap shut.”

“You still didn't leave.”

“No. I thought I could make them think I didn't care. All along I was trying to find a way to get the lease back, but it was useless. I drank Terrett's grog and listened to his stories. That was bad enough. Then one day we were out checking waterholes and we came across this young native woman. Terrett leaped on her. I thought he was just trying to frighten her but then he tied her to a tree and …”

Zac spat then took another long drink from the water pouch. He continued in a low voice. Thomas had to strain to hear.

“I tried to get him off her but he clobbered me so hard I didn't feel my head hit the ground. When I came to he was still at her.”

Zac's chest began to heave and he tipped his head to the side and brought up some water. Thomas felt his own stomach clench. Terrett was an animal.

“Sorry,” Zac mumbled. “I still have nightmares about what he did to that poor girl. But that wasn't the worst of it. He came and pulled me to my feet by my hair. He dragged me over and made me look at her and then he said … He told me if I spoke a word of it he'd do my sister the same.”

Thomas leaped to his feet. “Bastard!” His roar echoed across the creek.

Zac continued to talk. Fury burned inside Thomas. He didn't want to hear any more but he knew he must.

“From then on I couldn't get enough of his grog. Anything to drown out that poor girl's cries, her big eyes pleading with me to help her, and I couldn't. Every time I closed my eyes I saw her. I thought of Lizzie. The grog knocked me out so I couldn't think any more. And then I didn't want to leave. I was frightened if I came here, he might think I'd tell you and then he'd take it out on Lizzie. I had nowhere else to go and he had the grog. I was desperate for it.”

Thomas turned back to Zac, who was still sitting in the chair.

“But you did leave eventually.”

“Wiltshire turned up about a week later. I was drunk and he lost his temper. He bellowed at Terrett to give me a lesson I wouldn't forget and to send me packing.”

Thomas breathed deeply. Anger burned within him. That was what Terrett had bragged about.

“I still couldn't leave,” Zac said. “I couldn't even walk let alone ride a horse after Terrett had finished with me. He dumped me on the edge of our boundary. I lived there for nearly a month. Gulda found me but I begged him not to tell you. He brought me food and kept an eye on me until my wounds had healed and the bruises had faded. Then I came here. I hadn't intended to stay but it was so good to be with my family again. All I had to do was keep my mouth shut. But I couldn't escape the dreams.” Zac clutched his head in his hands. “Those terrible dreams.”

Thomas put a gentle hand on Zac's shoulder but inside he was consumed with his own terrible rage. This was Daisy's country. The woman could be her sister or cousin. Whoever the poor girl was, it made him sick to the stomach to think about Terrett and what he'd done. Septimus Wiltshire was an underhanded crook but surely even he wouldn't condone Terrett's actions.

Thomas squatted down in front of Zac and pulled his hands from his face.

“You didn't carry out the vile act, Zac, and you did your best to prevent it. You must stop blaming yourself.”

Zac slowly raised his head. He met Thomas's gaze and Thomas knew he'd been right earlier. He could see a purpose in Zac's eyes that had been missing for months.