Absolution Creek (72 page)

‘Can you set me down?’

The pilot gave James a thumbs-down. ‘That’s a negative. I can’t drop you alone, James, you know that. Anyway, this flood water looks to be draining away fairly well. The current will be too strong.’

James looked at Sam. Meg nudged her husband.

‘Always did want to jump out of a chopper,’ Sam said unenthusiastically.

‘I’ve got a volunteer,’ James yelled over the noise of the rotor blade. ‘How about heading to the south-east boundary? It should be drier there and then we can walk back towards the water.’

The pilot handed James a hand-held two-way radio. ‘I’ll be back in one hour. You’ve only got a small window; it’ll be dark soon.’

Meg told Sam to take care and then crawled carefully to James’s side as her husband calmed the twins. ‘James –’ she gripped his arm ‘– be careful.’

He turned towards the water-devoured land. ‘Look –’ James pointed to the south-east where a saddled horse stood forlornly in water ‘– it looks like there’s a dog sitting on top of that animal.’

The pilot nodded. ‘I’ll be damned.’

‘You sure you want to do this?’ Sam queried. ‘Dropping into flood water isn’t high on my to-do list.’

‘This is it, James.’ The pilot gave a thumbs-up.

James whipped the headphones off. ‘This is Cora we’re talking about, Sam.’

‘Fine,’ Sam responded dully.

The helicopter found a spot well clear of the worst of the water and hovered close to the ground. ‘If you don’t want to help then bugger off, but I’m going to find her.’ He jumped out the door of the chopper and landed in knee-deep water.

Sam turned to Meg. ‘I know you liked him, but it looks like you lucked out.’

Meg watched as Sam jumped from the helicopter, slipped and fell over on the soggy ground. She never had been religious, but on the odd occasion Meg almost believed there was a god, and today, at least, he had a sense of humour.

Around mid-afternoon, when exhaustion finally claimed Matt’s daughter, Scrubber raised his face to the clearing drizzle. In the west the sun was poking through the clouds. Opposite to where he perched, the bark of a gum tree showed a slight drop in the water’s level. Overhead a helicopter whirred towards them.

Despite the paleness of her skin and bedraggled hair she was still his Squib; the young girl he’d harmed by default. Scrubber took a long drink of her, this girl who was the last remnant of Matt Hamilton. At last he knew he could let go. He’d dreamt of a silver brigalow, a shady canopy that sheltered a grassy patch of solitude, and now the tree beckoned. Scrubber had travelled west in search of absolution. Absolution for his attack on Olive, absolution for his part in the demise of Matt Hamilton’s family and absolution for killing Jack Manning. In the end he hadn’t even bothered to discover if Squib was okay after they all left Stringybark Point, and hadn’t Matt asked him to look after his girl? Sure, they stayed the month at the Five Mile. Then he and Veronica fled east.

In the end, Scrubber realised, forgiveness wouldn’t be forthcoming. For his sins to be wiped clean he needed to admit them and if he did so Cora ‘Squib’ Hamilton’s world would be ripped apart again. What was the point of opening old wounds when he could simply leave with something far more valuable – her respect, maybe even her affection. At the thought his eyes moistened.

Slipping quietly from the branch, Scrubber splashed into the water. The cool current carried him aloft and he floated away on a dream of his earlier life. These imagined recollections centred around his time at Waverly Station and in his final fancying of how life may have unfolded. Scrubber accepted his fate. When the water took hold he was sure a silver brigalow waited just ahead and he closed his eyes in anticipation.

Seconds later leathery fingers released their grasp on a string of pearls. The luminous necklace disappeared quickly into the murky current.

A few minutes later a leathery hand rose and then very slowly Scrubber sank from sight.

There was movement and noise. Cora would have answered the voices were she not so unsure of where she was. The lower part of her body was numb, while the upper half stung with constriction. Flashes of churning water, a horse and a mangy dog were interspersed with the images of the main street of Stringybark Point and Scrubber. Jack Manning lay dead in her arms, blood seeping into dirt and dust. Cora sobbed for the man she’d loved and lost, yet when she imagined him again it was a young girl, Squib, who was with Jack. The distance grew between the scene and Cora’s imagining. Like a cloud, the picture detached itself and floated away. Cora cried out at the loss of it. She wasn’t ready to let go.

‘Let go, Cora, I’ve got you.’

There was a rush of air, a jolt of pain and then warmth.

‘I’ll have to carry her, Sam. She can’t stand. Radio the chopper and tell them we’ve got her.’

James lifted Cora into his arms. ‘It’s the old injury, James,’ she whispered, barely conscious of where she was.

‘My dear girl,’ he replied, striding through the water, ‘all wounds heal.’

Chapter 62

C
ora opened her eyes. Sunlight streamed through lemony silk curtains to reveal mahogany wood and cream walls. She knew she was in a bedroom, however she had expected to see a different environment; one of white and chrome. That sterile room came with an irritating nurse with a tendency towards waking her throughout the night. Rubbing sleep from the corners of her eyes Cora struggled up in the bed. This was the Lemon guest room at Campbell Station. Clearly her delusions were lessening, but her memory still suffered from infuriating gaps. Snatches of the hospital, of a helicopter, of James carrying her, were interspersed with flood water and the strangest of dreams. Cora was almost certain Scrubber McCoy had been by her side, had in fact rescued her from the swollen creek. But that couldn’t possibly be true, and even the fractious night nurse agreed: no one else had been rescued from that part of Absolution Creek. Flipping back the bed covers, Cora stared at her plastered leg. She sure had done a proper job on herself this time.

‘How are you feeling?’ Meg, her arms stuffed with books and magazines, dumped her hoard on the bedside table. ‘You’ve been out of it for quite a few days.’

‘My waist is sore.’

Meg patted her hand. ‘You were strung up in a tree, Cora, when James and Sam found you. Damn smart thing to do. The doctor said that you probably would have fallen out of it otherwise. You were pretty weak.’ She poured water into a glass.

Cora wanted to ask about Scrubber but she didn’t want to sound like a crazy person.

‘This was with your belongings at the hospital.’ Meg handed over an old leather pouch.

Cora clutched it in amazement. Scrubber wasn’t a hallucination! He’d saved her.

‘Is everything okay, Cora?’

‘Yes, fine. Thanks. Is everyone else okay?’ She accepted the water gratefully, taking a noisy gulp. Images of Scrubber sitting in the tree next to her flitted through her brain.

‘Well, Kendal had a bit of an accident, however he’ll be fine, and Sam’s left.’

‘Left you and the girls?’ Cora sat the glass on the table, but kept the pouch tightly in her hand.

‘It’s a mutual decision. And I’m leaving as well. I’m going back to Sydney tomorrow, with Mum.’

Cora shook her head. ‘Jane’s here?’ Seeing her stepsister while laid up like an invalid wasn’t exactly how Cora pictured their first meeting after all these years.

‘Yes.’ Meg looked a little uncomfortable. ‘I know it’s not the best timing for it.’ She glanced at Cora as if expecting agreement. ‘It’s just that I’ve been staying here with James for a week now and although he’s been very kind I think it’s best if the girls and I leave.’

Meg’s cheeks were a mottled pink.

‘Oh.’ Cora didn’t understand.

Meg made a fuss of straightening the magazines. ‘He’s a good man, Cora, and he’s certainly not hanging around Absolution to check on the livestock.’ She looked at her aunt almost severely. ‘You know he slept at the hospital while you were there?’

‘No, I didn’t know. I’ve been hallucinating a little.’ Cora tilted her head sideways. ‘You like him,’ she stated. ‘Have you and he . . . well, have you –’

Meg’s cheeks turned scarlet. ‘No.’

Cora closed her eyes briefly in relief. ‘Anyway, why is Jane here and why don’t you go back to Absolution Creek while I’m recuperating?’

‘We thought you’d drowned, Cora. Mum was already on her way here when James found you. Anyway, I have to get back to Sydney somehow.’ Meg took Cora’s hand in hers. ‘Cora, the house is ruined. There isn’t anything to go back to. What hasn’t fallen down will have to be destroyed and then totally rebuilt.’

‘Then I have nothing.’

Meg gave a wan smile. ‘You have the land.’

‘But I don’t own Absolution Creek. I was only the manager, and if I default on just one payment the contract is terminated and then I have nothing. I’ll never be able to repair the flood damage let alone build another house.’ Cora ran her fingers through messy hair.

Meg frowned. ‘I don’t understand. I thought you owned the property. I thought I’d inherit it. That’s half the reason why I made the decision to move. I couldn’t think of any other purpose for you to have contacted me. It’s not like you needed a carer.’

Cora manoeuvred to the edge of the bed and carefully lifted her plastered leg to rest both feet on the floor. ‘Are you sure that you don’t understand, Meg? Think back to the little girl, Squib.’

Meg tilted her head to one side. ‘What?’

‘An eye for an eye.’ Cora softened her voice. ‘Your mother took everything from me and so I wanted the only thing left of her. I wanted to make her mad. I wanted to come back into her life and change hers, however insignificantly. I wanted you to understand what
she
did. I told you that the night we sat by the fire.’

Meg gave a burst of laughter. ‘Me? I’m not sure if my moving out of Mum’s place had the effect you were after.’

‘Maybe not, but now you know the truth. She never would have revealed it.’ Cora gave a satisfied smile. ‘Little wins are sweet.’

Meg frowned. ‘A little similar to your Aboriginal ancestry – a small fact you omitted to mention.’

‘
Et tu
, Brutus?’ Cora’s niece was silent. ‘Maybe now you can understand the importance of Absolution Creek. It protected me. It gave me the one thing white people couldn’t touch – self-respect.’