Haunted Creek (22 page)

Time went by. Boris the cook, bringing out drinks for the men, was very calm. ‘Keep down low on the floor,’ he growled at the children in his deep voice. It was now pitch black in the building as the smoke crept inside. Her heart thumping, Rose joined the
children
and found herself crouching next to Maeve.

‘I’ll never see Jasper again. He’ll not live through this, he’s had it this time. If only … if only I’d told him I really do care for him,’ she whispered to Rose.

‘Jasper is a kind, brave man,’ Rose said quietly. ‘Did I tell you how he saved Ada from a snake?’

Rose had regrets of her own.
Oh, Erik, I wish we’d been friends and talked to each other
. She should have approached him, broken down that wall of reserve to find out why he had changed towards her. She should have realized how he felt when he heard about Lordy living at the hut. It all looked so simple now, when it was too late. Rose shook her head as she realized that her mourning dresses had been too effective.

The heat increased and the children whimpered. Rose found herself thinking about long ago – how long it seemed since she had seen snow! In its way, snow was as lethal as fire. People could lose their way on the moors above Kirkby in the snow, when it
covered familiar landmarks. Sometimes a man had died up there. Was it better to die of cold or heat? Like everybody else, Rose was trying not to cough. It was likely that the smoke would kill them soon.

E
RIK DROVE AS
fast as he could on the rutted road and his horse seemed to sense the urgency. The air was thick with smoke and ash and the wind was blowing leaves and small branches across the track. He turned to his passenger. ‘I have to get back to the farm but you could have stayed in Moe. Are you sure you want to go on? The fire seems to be heading up Wattle Tree way.’

Lord Barrington’s face was grimy but he looked quite cheerful. ‘We can jump in a water hole if we need to, dear boy,’ he said briskly. ‘And I may be of some small use to you, or to one of the neighbours. Haven’t fought a fire for years, but I still know what to do.’ He paused and then added, ‘I always like to get out of the town again, y’know. Go there as seldom as I can.’

‘Well, I’m afraid we seem to be in for it this time.’

After this there was silence for a while, apart from the incessant moaning of the wind. Thank goodness, Freda was safely on the Melbourne coach, one less person to worry about. Erik’s mind was busy with plans to meet various possible emergencies at home and in any case, he had no wish to talk to Barrington. But it seemed that his lordship wanted to get something off his chest.

‘I had thought of coming to see you,’ Lordy began. ‘Would you mind very much if we had a talk, while you are driving? I believe it is time I set the record straight.’

Erik sighed. ‘Very well, let’s get it over with. I’ve a lot on my mind at the moment.’ He wiped the sweat out of his eyes.

‘It won’t take long.’ Lordy dived into a pocket and handed over a bottle of water.

‘Thanks,’ Erik muttered. It was just what he needed but he found it hard to tolerate the man. He drank some water and felt slightly less irritable.

‘It seems that Mrs Teesdale’s reputation is suffering as a result of my actions,’ Lordy said quietly, looking straight ahead. ‘I was badly injured, y’see, damned careless of me really, and she found me near her garden. I was barely alive.’

‘So I believe,’ Erik said coldly, peering at the glow from the nearest ridge. ‘This is hardly the time to go over the past. I’m worrying about the fire.’ He was probably going to announce their marriage.

‘With great respect, Mr Jensen, this is important to me and I suspect it may be of some interest to you, also. If I could have removed from Rose’s house I would have done so, but I was very weak and in need of care. So she gave me her new cabin for my own use, and tended my wound until it healed. There was no
impropriety
at all, I assure you.’ The man was cool, you had to admit it. Lying in his teeth and also cool in the face of a huge fire.

The horse clopped on for a few minutes. Then Erik shook his head. ‘I saw you together,’ he said, all the bitterness welling up inside him. ‘There was no mistake; you needn’t lie to save her
reputation
. I suppose I shouldn’t blame you – Rose is an attractive woman. But I’d rather see her with someone her own age.’

Lord Barrington went on with a touch of hauteur. ‘I give you my word as a gentleman – and I am accustomed to being believed.’ The old villain’s eyes were flashing and his head was up. ‘You may have seen Rose bandaging my wound, and mistaken it for an embrace. I assure you it was nothing of the kind.’

Erik felt his face growing even hotter. ‘So you saw me at the gate, that evening … Then why did she suddenly stop wearing black? She went out of mourning when you arrived. It seemed obvious to everyone that she’s found a new man.’

Lordy hesitated. ‘As a matter of fact, Rose had another reason. I shouldn’t tell you this … but I happened – unintentionally, of course, I was working in the house – to overhear part of a
conversation
she had with a lady from Moe who appeared one day.’ They both ducked to avoid a flying branch and the horse danced
nervously
. ‘This is a betrayal of confidence, but justified, I think. The woman said she was Luke’s mistress, which shocked Rose to the core. And then she suggested that the hapless youth might not be dead, but might have absconded. Left her in the lurch.’ He turned to look at Erik. ‘It was bound to affect her deeply … she had always honoured his memory. Several of us knew that he had, um, indulged in an active social life, but evidently Rose did not.’

‘I knew,’ Erik muttered. ‘The swine never treated her well.’

‘Just so. The next day, I noticed that Rose had changed to a lighter dress. I have tried to make enquiries as to Luke’s fate – without telling Rose, of course – but his employer has departed for distant places and apparently he was the only witness. There was no formal burial, no parson, they couldn’t wait. The weather was hot, you understand.’

The wind was fiercer than ever as they neared Wattle Tree. To go on seemed risky, but what else could they do? ‘We’d better stop here, give the horse a drink.’ Erik pulled up by a water hole and as the horse drank he said, ‘Thank you, Lord Barrington.’ In spite of the fire, he felt lighter than for months. ‘Poor Rose! If she’d asked me, I could have told her that Luke did die at Noojee.’

‘That would be preferable,’ Lordy said quietly. ‘It would be impertinent of me to comment on your affairs, but … I happen to know that Rose thinks very highly of you.’

Erik led the horse back to the track and they jumped into the vehicle. ‘And I of her,’ he admitted. ‘But we’ve got to survive today first, all of us. Let’s see what we can do.’ He squared his shoulders, now full of energy. If the wind would only drop they could have a chance. ‘I only hope Rose and the children are safe.’

At a time like this, you realized what was really important. It was possible that none of them would survive, Rose thought with a strange feeling of calm. She held Ada’s hand in hers and hoped that these children would live to grow up.

The All Nations was filled with smoke and with the noise of things hitting the roof, flying debris from the fire. Down on the floor they could just breathe. Should they have come here, or would the creek have been safer? The temperature rose even more and sweat ran down their faces.

‘Let’s sing,’ Rose suggested to the children, who were wide-eyed with fear. ‘Twinkle, twinkle, little star …’ One by one, the children joined in, even Lizzie who sang out of tune. ‘Up above the world so high …’ The little voices sometimes rose above the roar of the wind. Over and over they went through their sewing room songs, clinging on to something familiar.

‘Girl dear—’ Maeve began, as the door burst open and one of the men rushed in. Behind him they could see the inferno; Rose shut her eyes. The end must be close now. One of the children began to cry and Rose stretched out and held her close. The rest went steadily on: ‘Up above the world so high …’

The man gasped and coughed and Maeve gave him a drink of water. ‘Wind’s changed. Fire’s within a few yards, but it’s being blown back, away from us. Let’s hope wind holds.’ He staggered outside again.

‘Saints be praised, we might have a chance!’ Maeve turned to Rose with a sob of relief. It would take a miracle to save them but it might just happen. Rose allowed herself a deep sigh. ‘Twinkle, twinkle …’ the song went on.

There was movement in and out, as men took it in turns to come in for a drink. They said they were putting out spot fires all round the building, started by flying embers.

After a while the air cleared a little, as outside the wind blew the smoke away. Boris lit the lamps and made pots of tea and Rose looked round the room. Twenty or thirty grimy people with relief
on their faces were slumped on the benches. The immediate danger was over.

It was a few days before Rose could go back up the track beside the creek. As soon as people could move about, fathers came on
horseback
to collect their children, very thankful to find them safe and well. Mr Sawley had told them where Rose and the class had gone. ‘You’ll have a sad time,’ one man told Rose, but said no more. She waited until all the children except Ada had gone and then saddled up Dougal for the journey home.

Maeve was still a tragic figure, going about her work without a spark of her normal self. ‘If you hear anything about Jasper, let me know,’ she begged everybody that went out. ‘If he’d been alive he would have been back here by now,’ she said mournfully.

Rose made her way slowly back through an alien world. The sun filtered through bare branches. Trees were black skeletons, the ground was covered in ash and no birds sang. Only the creek was the same, making its placid way down to the river, a small fringe of green on the banks. ‘It was a big fire, Mama,’ Ada said, looking round from her perch on the donkey’s back. ‘Where did all the birdies go?’

‘I think they flew away, Ada. I hope they’ll come back one day.’

When they came to her home clearing, Rose could hardly
recognize
the place. The hut and the cabin were gone. There was nothing left except smouldering ruins. Ada sat wide-eyed and Rose had to fight back tears. She had hated the hut at first but it had been her home and the few things she’d possessed were there. Her memories were mainly happy ones.

There was movement on a stump and Rose looked down to find a huge spider staring at her, one of That Spider’s family. ‘Hello, you’re alive!’ Who thought she would ever be pleased to see a huntsman spider?

‘We’ll find somewhere else to live,’ Rose told Ada gently. There was a little money but not enough for a house. What was she to do,
a lone woman with nowhere to go? The child was shocked, and no wonder. Ada needed reassurance.

Who among her neighbours had survived? It was eerily quiet. Perhaps she and Ada were the only ones left. Feeling the shock and the strain of the last week overwhelming her, Rose stood in the ruins for some minutes. Her mind was a blank.

The child tugged at her hand and for Ada’s sake Rose shook herself out of the trance. Something had to be done. From here they would go up the track with the donkey to Wattle Tree, to see whether anyone was there. But first, painful though it was, Rose decided to sift through the ashes where the cabin had once been. There might be some relic left, some twisted keepsake from the past. She moved aside a tangle of tree branches and started in horror. There was somebody here … a man was standing in the ruins. Possibly a thief.

A second look and Rose saw a figure bowed down with grief, holding the charred remains of her blue dress, the one she’d worn at school on the day of the fire. Somebody here was mourning for her, thinking she had died in the fire. Somebody cared; she was not alone after all. Quietly, she went up to Erik and put her arms round him. ‘I’m here,’ she said gently. He didn’t react at first.

Erik looked years older than when she’d last seen him, with singed hair and ragged clothes. His eyes lit up and his whole face changed when he realized that although the hut was gone, Rose and Ada were alive. He was speechless, but he took them both in his arms and hugged them tightly. Rose felt the old surge of love. Erik was alive; that was all that mattered. ‘You’re here, too, thank goodness.’

‘I was sure you were dead. That was the dress you were wearing …’ They clung to each other.

‘All the trees are dead, Mr Jensen,’ Ada said wistfully.

Erik squatted down to be level with the child. ‘Not dead, Ada. A lot of Australian trees wake up again after a fire, they put out green branches. And the tiny seeds in the earth will soon sprout and grow
more … a fire gets them going.’ He looked up at Rose. ‘It’s true, fire makes some plants germinate. This land of yours will
regenerate
quite quickly, you know.’

‘I hope so.’ Ada wandered off to look at the ruin of the garden. Rose and Erik held each other, with no words.

Eventually Erik said, ‘I think you know how much I love you. We should have been together long ago. Only this week did I realize how wrong I’ve been, leaving you to fend for yourself.’

Now was the time to overcome his shyness, to break down the barriers while emotions were still raw. Gently pulling away from him, Rose considered what to say. ‘Erik, I was never involved with Jasper Barrington.’ She took a deep breath. ‘It was unconventional to look after him in my home, but necessary. He’s a decent man, he would have died if I hadn’t cared for him.’

Erik was listening. ‘I thought you were … committed. I know how loyal you are.’ He hesitated. ‘I’ve just found out the truth.’ He kissed her gently. ‘My darling Rose, I’ll never leave you again. We’ll rebuild our lives together.’ He looked down at her, more his old self. ‘The school has gone, Freda’s house too, but my new house – it’s empty but still standing. The fire went round my new block of land – a lot of it was ploughed and I think that saved it. We’ve been lucky … the fire swept down to the creek but it missed Sawleys and the shop, and the donkeys survived. And do you know, your goats came up the hill – they’re at my place.’ He took a deep breath. ‘We have the land, we can start again. Can’t we, Ada?’

The child had come back and inserted herself between them. ‘Mr Jensen, do you want to marry Mama? She’s not going to marry Lordy, he’s going to marry someone else. Can I come to your wedding?’

‘I’m going to marry your mama as soon as I can, if she’ll have me. But for now … how would you like to camp out in an empty house, Ada?’ Erik was bubbling with joy. ‘We can all camp until we get some furniture.’

Ada smiled, a wise smile for so young a child. ‘And the birdies and possums will soon come back.’

That night they sat on the veranda of Erik’s new house. His land was an oasis in a sea of blackened stumps. Erik had bought some bread, cheese and apples from the store for them to eat. ‘There’s been no loss of life, as far as I know. You’ve accounted for all the children … everybody had time to get out. My horses and dogs are here, the sheep are scattered, but I hope to get them back
eventually
. It could have been a lot worse. I thought it was a lot worse, when I found your dress,’ he whispered.

They were quiet for a while, exhausted. Ada went to sleep and the first stars came out. Erik stirred eventually and took Rose in his arms as the moon came up and turned his blond hair to silver. ‘Please marry me, Rose. We must never be apart again. Ada has it all planned – we mustn’t disappoint her! But is it possible? Do you love me?’ He held her at arm’s length and looked into her eyes. He was not taking her for granted, even now.