The Silent Frontier (27 page)

‘Have a drink,’ John offered.

Lachlan accepted the bottle passed to him.

‘Your party is settled in,’ John said. ‘They will join you tomorrow at first light.’

Lachlan nodded, taking a long swig from the rum bottle and wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

‘Lady Sparkes was quite a surprise,’ Lachlan said. ‘At least she did not let on to her husband that she knew me.’

‘We can’t be sure that she will not inform her brother that you are here,’ John said. ‘The telegraph can be a blessing or a curse.’

‘I don’t think she will tell him,’ Lachlan said, gazing out at the dimly lit street. ‘I think that she will try to pretend to herself that I don’t really exist.’

John made no comment. He found it hard to accept that a woman could be that insensitive, considering the little that he knew of his brother’s past love for her.

‘We will part for the time being in the morning,’ John said quietly. ‘I just wanted to tell you how much I have enjoyed sharing this country with you, my dear brother.’

Lachlan gazed at his brother’s face in the dim light of the kerosene lantern. John’s tender gratitude brought a lump to his throat.

‘Be careful,’ Lachlan replied. ‘It can be very dangerous in the lands that you will be passing through. Always keep your gun handy.’

‘I will,’ John smiled. ‘I have given the rifle a name. It’s called Lachie.’

Lachlan broke into a broad grin. ‘Good name,’ he said. ‘Well, time to find Matthew and get him home for some sleep before we ride out at dawn.’

‘Do you know where he is?’ John asked.

‘I have a good idea,’ Lachlan replied. ‘I made the mistake of paying him his wages today and when I last saw him he was heading in the direction of a house of ill repute.’

‘Take care, and I will share breakfast with you before we leave,’ John said, settling down to a bed he had fashioned from loose straw.

Lachlan found Matthew exactly where he had expected him to be. He was just in time, as the Maori was standing toe to toe with a powerfully built American prospector, arguing over a girl. Reluctantly, Matthew left the establishment, throwing a stream of Maori curses over his shoulder.

‘Time for us to head back to the stables,’ Lachlan said. ‘We have an appointment with the Black Mountain.’

‘I still don’t like that place,’ Matthew mumbled. ‘It has a bad feeling.’

TWENTY-SIX

T
he following morning, with his brother gone, Lachlan remained with Matthew at the stables. Although they had been supposed to depart Cooktown at first light it was almost mid-morning before Sir Percival arrived with Amanda.

‘Sorry to be late, old chap,’ Sir Percival said cheerily. ‘But I had to send a telegram south to my brother-in-law, to inform him that we had arrived safely in Cooktown.’

‘That’s okay,’ Lachlan growled. ‘You are paying.’

If the English aristocrat had detected Lachlan’s surly comment, he ignored it. Lachlan regretted being so churlish. He hoped the English aristocrat had not mentioned him in the telegram. But it was too late to worry if he had. On the trip up from Townsville, John had detailed the plan to ruin Charles Lightfoot and Lachlan felt no guilt that should it succeed the scheme would also drag Sir Percival into
financial devastation. Although it would also probably mean Amanda finding herself in dire straits, Lachlan was not too troubled. It would be a fitting fate for the woman who had hurt him so deeply. This morning Amanda was dressed in riding boots and a long dress tied at the waist with a sash.

‘I hope that you have a side saddle,’ she said to Lachlan.

‘I was able to find one yesterday,’ Lachlan replied. ‘Your horse is already saddled.’

They were the only words that passed between them before they departed from Cooktown.

Nicholas had arranged to meet with Lightfoot at the Australia Club. Over dinner, Lightfoot told him that the contracts for purchase had been examined and all seemed to be in order. The settlement date had been agreed for the next week.

‘Good,’ Nicholas said, raising his claret. ‘Here is to your windfall.’

‘You are sure that this deal will pay off?’ Lightfoot asked.

Nicholas sensed the other man’s nervousness. ‘All business is a gamble, my dear chap. I am sure that you will reap what you deserve.’

At this reassurance, Lightfoot relaxed. He was looking forward to surprising his brother-in-law with the good news of the purchase that he had made in his name and its subsequent resale for a huge profit.

Lachlan called a halt to set up camp for the evening. It had been an arduous day traversing the dense rainforest tracks, but Sir Percival had proved to be a competent horseman and appeared to be at home in the terrain. His background as a
young officer in Her Majesty’s army had clearly prepared him for such conditions.

‘I had the opportunity to hunt tigers in India,’ he said when Lachlan begrudgingly complimented him on his skills. ‘It is a pity that you do not have such game in the colonies.’

‘We have a big bird up here called a cassowary,’ Lachlan said. ‘You don’t want to get on the bad side of one without a good gun to defend yourself. It’s a bit like an emu but its axe-like horn can smash your chest.’

‘With any luck we may come across one that I can bag,’ Sir Percival said, emptying a hip flask of whisky into an enamel mug and passing it to Lachlan. ‘Here, old chap, have a swig. You have done pretty well yourself today.’

Lachlan accepted the mug and poured half its contents into another mug, passing it to Matthew.

‘Cheers,’ Sir Percival said, raising his flask. ‘To sighting the mountain on the morrow.’

Lachlan glanced across the flickering flames. Amanda appeared exhausted at the end of the day. Riding sidesaddle along the narrow tracks had sapped her strength. Wisps of hair had come free and fallen across her dirt-smeared face.

‘You appear ready to put your head down,’ Lachlan said.

She glanced up at him with a wan smile. ‘I am very tired,’ she admitted. ‘I think that I shall retire to leave you gentlemen to your own devices.’

‘I will ensure that your tent is clear of snakes or spiders,’ Lachlan volunteered.

‘I would be grateful for that,’ Amanda said.

‘With your permission, Sir Percival,’ Lachlan said, rising from beside the fire with a fit lantern.

‘You have it, old boy,’ Sir Percival replied, content to sit and sip his whisky.

Amanda followed Lachlan to the tent that had been pitched to accommodate her and her husband.

‘You have not revealed that you knew me in the past,’ Lachlan whispered when he calculated that they could not be overheard.

‘I do not think that is necessary,’ Amanda replied quietly. ‘The past is the past and cannot be relived.’

As Lachlan opened the flap of the tent for Amanda to enter, she stumbled, falling backwards against Lachlan. He quickly put his arm around her waist to steady her.

‘Why, Amanda?’ he asked in a hoarse whisper. ‘Why did you suddenly leave New Zealand without a word to me and marry another? You know, when I returned to Sydney I swore that I would hate you for the rest of my life.’

‘And do you?’ she asked, gazing directly into his eyes.

Lachlan released his grip on her and stood back. ‘No,’ he sighed. ‘That feeling disappeared a long time ago, when I was deep in the rainforests. I had the opportunity to remember how your letters kept me going in the war. All I could think of was seeing your beautiful face for that first time in Sydney.’

Amanda looked away. ‘That was a long time ago, Lachlan, and much has changed. You can see that I am a married woman.’

‘I understand your marital position, but do you love your husband as you once professed your love for me?’ he asked.

‘It should not matter to you how I feel about my husband,’ she replied, biting her bottom lip. ‘What we had is past, you must accept that.’

‘I never thought that I would see you again,’ Lachlan said.

‘And I believed the same. I thought that I might faint when I saw you standing with your brother at the river.’

‘So, you still feel something for me?’ Lachlan asked.

‘It does not matter about my feelings. I am married and will remain so as long as my husband is alive.’

‘Please,’ Lachlan said in a pleading voice, ‘I do not want you to think that I am asking anything of you other than an answer as to why you left me without a word.’

Amanda looked at Lachlan with tears welling in her eyes. ‘I did so only because my brother threatened to use all in his power to have you shot – and I know that he was in a position to do so. I could not bear the thought that my presence might cause your death. When I returned to Sydney, Charles pressured me to marry Percival. My brother had squandered much of our inheritance on the card tables and saw my marriage as a means of redeeming himself. I was obliged to accept Percival’s proposal to help my brother, who had always supported me after the death of our parents. The marriage has proved to be convenient, as my husband has often been away on his trips. This is the first time I have actually accompanied him. I wanted to return to the colonies, which I have grown fond of. Meeting you again is something I never expected to happen. I always wondered about your fate and prayed that you would find the happiness you deserved.’

Lachlan was stunned by Amanda’s revelation. There were so many things he wanted to say to her, but he couldn’t find the words. She had sacrificed her love for him rather than see him dead. ‘I do not see anything here that might harm you,’ Lachlan finally said quietly. ‘So, I will bid you a good evening.’

‘Ah, all safe in the tent?’ Sir Percival asked when Lachlan returned to the camp fire.

‘Nothing to worry about, Sir Percival,’ Lachlan replied, taking a seat on a log, his mind still reeling.

‘Your man here was telling me the extraordinary story of
how you two met in New Zealand. I believe you both tried to kill each other. And now Mr Te Paea informs me that he considers you a brother. What a tale to tell the chaps back at my club in London.’

Lachlan glanced at Matthew, who ducked his head sheepishly. They were friends, but Matthew had never expressed the true depth of his feelings in that way before.

‘It was a bad time for . . . ’

Lachlan did not finish his sentence but reached for his revolver as Matthew snatched up his shotgun.

‘What in the devil . . . ’ muttered Sir Percival, startled at the sudden urgent action on the part of his companions by the fire.

‘Hello there!’ a voice said from the dark. ‘We smelt yer coffee and was wonderin’ if you had any to spare for a couple of poor travellers on this dark night.’

Lachlan had his pistol levelled at two figures who had appeared at the edge of the light thrown off by the fire. The strangers were dressed in dirty clothes that reflected they’d been a long time in the scrub. Neither appeared to be armed, but Matthew kept his shotgun in his lap pointed in their direction nonetheless.

‘Come,’ Lachlan said, slightly dropping the barrel of his revolver.

The two men shuffled forward, wary of the guns pointed at them. They squatted on the opposite side of the fire. ‘You got any coffee or tucker to spare?’ the older one asked. His companion appeared to be around his late teens and sported a wispy beard.

‘Help yourself,’ Lachlan said. ‘There is a damper loaf you can share.’

‘Thanks, matey,’ the older of the two said, reaching for the flat loaf. ‘Been a while since we had any tucker.’

‘Where you from?’ Lachlan asked.

‘Been on the Palmer but didn’t have any luck,’ the older man said, stuffing his mouth with a chunk of the warm bread. ‘Now headin’ south to Townsville lookin’ for work.’

Lachlan stared hard at the two men. They did not look like they had been starving. Indeed they both looked well fed. ‘Where are you lot travellin’?’ the man asked, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

‘Just travelling,’ Lachlan replied, noticing that the younger man seemed very interested in everything around the camp site. He did not speak but his eyes flitted from one thing to another. Lachlan did not trust the two – there was something wrong and he would be glad to be rid of them.

‘You can take a tin of coffee, a bag of flour and some sugar and a tin of treacle with you,’ he offered politely but firmly.

The older man rose from where he squatted and Matthew passed him the items Lachlan had nominated.

‘Thanks, matey,’ the man said, accepting the small hessian bag. ‘Me and me mate will be off. Hope you have a good trip.’

‘Don’t trust them,’ Matthew muttered as the two men disappeared into the dark. ‘I thought I heard horses a while back before they turned up.’

‘I agree,’ Lachlan said. ‘Sir Percival, are you armed?’

‘I have this,’ Sir Percival said, producing a small-calibre revolver from his trouser pocket.

‘Keep it close by you tonight,’ Lachlan cautioned. ‘There are some pretty desperate types who roam these areas. A traveller can go missing and the police would have trouble finding any evidence of foul play in these lands.’

‘Quite agree, old chap,’ Sir Percival replied. ‘Do we post a guard tonight?’

‘Matthew and I will keep a lookout,’ Lachlan said, easing the hammer off his pistol. ‘I am sure all will be well. If those two had been making a reconnoitre of our camp, then they would have seen that we are well armed. Maybe they will move on.’

Although Matthew and Lachlan took turns to stand watch through the night, the only sounds that came to them were the mournful cries of the curlews and the howls of dingoes deep in the scrub. At sun-up Lachlan organised striking the camp and after a breakfast of tinned meat with damper they saddled up the hobbled horses to continue south to the Black Mountain.

Although Amanda did not avoid Lachlan, they had little opportunity to speak privately on the trip. Lachlan felt the pain of seeing her riding just behind the man she admitted marrying for her brother’s sake. Lachlan had to stop himself from telling her all that he knew about her murderous brother. It would only sound like sour grapes to do so. He could no longer hate her, but still he would be glad when the assignment was over and Amanda would forever leave his life.

At a rest break around mid-morning, Matthew signalled to speak with Lachlan in private.

‘I think that I should drop back and sit off our track,’ Matthew said quietly. ‘Then I will catch up with you when you camp tonight.’

‘You have the same feeling as me,’ Lachlan replied. ‘It could be blackfellas, but I don’t think so. Jupiter told me most of his clan were wiped out around this area.’

When the break was over, Lachlan approached Sir Percival. ‘Matthew has to go back down the track for a
while,’ he said. ‘We might have lost one of our loads from the pack-horses. He will catch up to us when we camp tonight.’

‘Nothing wrong is there, old chap?’ Sir Percival asked with a frown. ‘Not those two we met last night by any chance?’

‘No,’ Lachlan lied, wanting to spare Amanda any concern. ‘We will mount up and head on to the Black Mountain. All going well, we should reach it about mid-afternoon.’

Sir Percival stood in his stirrups to gaze at the low jumble of black boulders that made up the hill. ‘By Jove, it certainly is an interesting outcrop!’ he exclaimed in his excitement. ‘I can hardly wait to have a close look at it.’

Lachlan glanced at Amanda, who looked weary, and decided that he should pitch camp to establish a base for Sir Percival. With a hand from Lachlan, Amanda slid from the saddle.

‘Thank you,’ she said. ‘I think I should have a drink of water.’

Lachlan passed her a canteen and she drank in great gulps.

‘Sit in the shade of a bush while your husband and I pitch camp,’ Lachlan said, observing that Amanda appeared to be suffering a touch of heat stroke. She did not protest as Lachlan helped her across to a small tree, Sir Percival seemingly oblivious to such matters as keeping an eye on the condition of his wife.

‘My husband does not agree that ladies should be on such an expedition,’ she said. ‘He believes that our place is in the parlour or bed only.’

‘Well, if you are to be here he could at least keep an eye out for you,’ Lachlan growled.

‘I know that you are doing that,’ Amanda said. ‘That is enough.’

Her words bit deep into Lachlan’s heart and he turned quickly away.

Just before sunset, Matthew rode into the camp and slid from his horse. Lachlan strode out to meet him at the edge of the clearing amongst the low scrub at the base of the hill.