The Burial (24 page)

What about Jack Brown?
said Jessie.

I will walk down
, said Jack Brown.
If there is a short cut I'll take it and I will meet you at the bottom of the casing.

The track narrowed as it wound down and Barlow and Jessie disappeared ahead of Jack Brown.

He was sulking, which he was not proud of, and he let the space between them lengthen. He had supposed Barlow's shooting of his horse was deliberate and, thinking about it more, he concluded that it was, that now Barlow had found Jessie he had no use for him. He felt shafted by both of them, that Barlow's offering of his horse was just a hollow attempt to save face. Jessie gave little away and he had no way of knowing what she was thinking or how she was planning to escape this time or if she was planning an escape at all. He could tell there was some history between her and Barlow, some recognition. He felt jealous of it and he hated that they were now riding together in front of him. It all swilled inside of him and became an ache in his gut and he thought of deserting them both and disappearing into the mountains. He did not know why he was following them. What good could come of it now?

But the thought of Jessie out there in front of him, possibly in danger, kept him walking. He picked up a branch and threw it out against the drop of the cliff in a futile but satisfying gesture.

He walked on.

JESSIE AND BARLOW rode along the slowly descending track with Jessie turning her head at each bend to see if Jack Brown was following.

He won't lose us
, said Barlow.
He's the tracker.

It made Jessie anxious not to see Jack Brown, not to know if he was actually following them directly. What was his intention? And what was Bandy Arrow's? Her head was spinning.

I know who you are
, she said.

You recognised me?

You look the same.

I'm not Bandy Arrow and I'm not seven years old.

What happened to you? You're a fucking cop?

I was adopted by a police sergeant and his wife, who were there the night of the fall. They saw it all. Took pity on a broken orphan boy.

Did they treat you well?

They weren't blood. They weren't you.

I'm not your blood.

You're the closest thing. You should have come to find me.

Are you going to drag me back down to the valley to punish me?

Maybe I am. You can take your chances and swing down now. But I'd advise against it. There's a pack of men after you as wild as dogs. And they don't even care about you enough to punish you.

Seems I'm done for either way.

Seems you are.

They rode along in silence and although Jessie looked out for him there was never any sign of Jack Brown.

When they heard the sound of riders coming up the lower track both of them froze.

Fuck
, said Barlow.
My badge. Where's my badge? Jessie, feel in the pack.

She flipped up the leather top and searched through the pack.
There's handcuffs but no badge.

Put them around our ankles.

What?

Fucking do it.

Jessie secured their ankles together as four men rode around the bend.

What's this?
said the one in the lead.

Look here. A boy and his pony and a suspicious-looking lady.

Would you call 'er that?

The four men rode in close.

She's the prize. You've got the prize.

Gentlemen, my name is Sergeant Andrew Barlow.
His voice was wavering.

I wouldn't call 'er a lady and I wouldn't call us gentlemen
, one of the men sniggered.

I'm a sergeant of the law and this woman is under arrest.

A sergeant? Where's your badge?

It's in my pack.

The men started laughing until the one in the lead raised his gun and turned to Barlow.
Sergeant, how about if you don't hand her over we will blow your fucking head off.

It's alright, Barlow
, said Jessie.
I'll go with them.

There's no choice to be made here
, said Barlow.
They cannot take you.

The men began to argue among themselves.
What if he is the sergeant that he says he is? Should we kill him? We can't kill him. Let's kill him. There's no law on this mountain. A man can rape or kill and expect no consequence except his own consequence. You mean conscience? Consequence is what I said and what I mean to say!

In their arguing, the men seemed to forget their purpose.

So what will it be?
said Barlow.

The men all raised their guns and then one of them dismounted and stripped Jessie and Barlow of the guns they carried.
We'll ride till we find a camp and then we'll decide what to do with you. So just be good little soldiers now and follow our lead.

Jessie and Barlow kept quiet, both wondering if the other was forging a plan. The men and the perilous slope of the mountain had finally hemmed them in and neither of them had any idea of how to escape.

WHEN JACK BROWN heard the rabble of voices, he stayed well back and hidden. He squatted in the bush and, listening, discerned that there were four men. He had no clarity other than that. He did not know what to do.

He knew he could not do nothing. If he acted now, what was the right way to act? There was no law to guide him except his instinct to protect Jessie and then the terrible feeling that until this moment, for all of his instinct, he had not. So how could he trust himself now?

Jack Brown stalked them. He kept low in the bush and he knew if he had any powers to be invisible, now was the time to find them. He followed them all day and they set up camp and when a roo appeared near him he lay right down on the ground, because he guessed that soon they would spot the roo and start taking pot shots in his direction.

When it was dark, he got close enough to the camp to hear them. The men had already turned to celebrating and he could see Barlow and Jessie tied up on the ground.

So what's a thousand pounds divided by four?
said one of the men.

Dunno.

You blockhead. It's two hundred and fifty, all divided.
They were sculling whiskey and staggering around the fire.

So do we get more for her alive or dead?

Doesn't matter. It's all the same. We're better to keep her alive than to have to drag her carcass down the mountain. If she's all rotted up, how can we prove it's her? Better to keep her in one piece.

The night passed more slowly than any night Jack Brown had ever known. The men were large and for all they drank they did not seem to relent from drinking more. Their talk was violent and Jack Brown felt sick with rage when one of them staggered over to where Jessie and Barlow were tied up and blindfoldeded them with his own stinking socks and began pissing on them.

But he must wait. He could not charge out and launch a showdown. The risk was of harming Jessie and the risk for him was too great. He must wait. It felt the same to him as when he had been fighting from the trenches. But even then the enemy did not seem so real as it did now.

He heard one of them say,
So we can carve up the blondie and feed him to her. I've heard that eating human flesh will increase your sexual appetite. So we could be happy men and rich men too.

The men let out explosive laughs that Jack Brown thought would surely echo around the mountains. It was almost daylight again when they were finally asleep, though aside from their reclining bodies he could not be sure they were really sleeping.

He crept in anyway. Jessie and Barlow were lying twisted on the ground, still blindfolded. He did not disturb them.

He reached the closest man and with no hesitation cut his throat. He kinked the man's neck so he would not gurgle and splutter and put his hand over his mouth in case he had any sound left in him. He moved from man to man in the same way and he was so silent about his task that none of the men woke the other and Jessie and Barlow did not hear him.

The last man opened his eyes as Jack Brown pulled the knife across his throat. He held his hand across the man's mouth and nose as the man struggled, the whites of his eyes turning over like stones in his head.

He cleaned the knife on the last man's coat and went to Jessie and Barlow and cut the ropes that bound them. They both stood up and fell over again, forgetting the cuffs that were still around their ankles.

Where's the key?
whispered Jack Brown.

It's in my saddlebag.

Jack Brown sought out Barlow's horse from the others and unhooked the bag from the saddle. He emptied the bag on the ground and, finding the key to be there along with the police badge, threw them both to Barlow.

What are you doing?
said the sergeant.
You'll wake them.

They can't be woken
, said Jack Brown.

Jack Brown led out three horses and Barlow's was one of them. They mounted the horses in silence. As Jack Brown settled into the saddle he was aware that the last man who had sat in the saddle was now dead, and he was the man who had killed him.

VII

I HAVE HEARD hard-hoofed creatures moving over me, coming to drink at the river. I have heard dry trees falling down, split to their roots, and strong winds collecting topsoil as dry as dust. And through my stone pillow, I heard my mother.

They rode down into the valley, all three of them uneasy, two of them on stolen horses, Jessie in the middle, Jack Brown and Barlow on either side.

Each of them was a wreck, thin and hollow-cheeked and looking grave. Both Jack Brown and Barlow had grown beards that were caked with dust and the clothes on their backs were putrid and drenched with the sweat of fear. In an attempt to conceal herself, Jessie was wearing Jack Brown's hat, her hair tucked up inside it, and she wore Barlow's jacket to give her bulk that she did not have. As they rode, they hoped they looked like any three ragged men crossing the field.

It's not safe to go back to the hut
, said Barlow.
We'll take you to the Seven Sisters. You'll be safer there till the constabulary arrive tomorrow.

You mean safe till I'm arrested?

You're still worth a thousand pounds to any man who can read a poster or hear a rumour. So take your punt.

Who has that kind of money anyway?
asked Jessie.

It's probably all a ruse
, said Jack Brown.
But there's enough men now who believe it.

They were quiet for a while and then Jessie said,
Sergeant, why are we crossing here in broad daylight?

Because there's nowhere to hide.
Barlow was rigid in the saddle, kept his eyes straight ahead.

They all breathed shallowly with the suspense of knowing they could be killed from a distant shot at any moment.

They rode on.

The wind picked up and Jessie had to hold down the hat on her head. They kicked their horses to a gallop and swayed out to ride with the wind at their backs. They kept pace with each other and found a rhythm as they rode through the long and crackling grass, and under the midday sun shimmering waves of heat rose up from the open field and from the far view made their separate forms indistinct from each other.

When they reached the gate of the Seven Sisters it was almost dark. Jessie had never been inside the Seven Sisters though she had often ridden past it wondering if Fitz was in there. She noticed that it now looked like a welcoming homestead, which was different to any other time she had seen it.

Barlow pulled up his horse at the gate and was staring at the sky.

What are you waiting for?
said Jack Brown.
I thought you'd had enough stargazing in the mountains.

I'm not coming with you. I need to go to the postmaster's hut and send a message to get the constabulary here, to get her out alive.
Barlow handed Jack Brown the handcuffs
. They'll need to see these on her, and for God's sake make sure she's not armed because they won't have any compunction in shooting her.