East of Alice Read online

  Amelia stamped her foot, but her words were whispered. ‘No, I will not allow it. Nor will Father. That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. And you know I don’t like William. Are you really sure you want to marry him?’

  Rose frowned. Her sister’s words echoed closely some of her own thoughts in the dark of night. Perhaps she had been too hasty in accepting William’s unromantic proposal … but Rose dreamed of being the mistress of her own home, and as each season passed, the risk of being left on the shelf became all too real.

  They had met by chance at Reading Library when Rose had dropped her books in the foyer. To her surprise, the gentleman who helped her had invited her for tea in the adjacent tea room, and she had been feeling very bold. William’s stories of travelling to the Antipodes had fascinated her. When he had met with Father to ask for her hand a scant twelve weeks later, Father had, by all accounts, been very pleased to agree, despite their short acquaintance.

  ‘The proper role of a wife is to love, honour and obey her husband, and when I make my marriage vows in two weeks, that is what I shall then do. When you grow up, Amelia, you will learn that too.’

  ‘Well, I don’t want to grow up if I have to do what some man tells me!’ Amelia folded her arms. ‘And I shall be telling that very same thing to William Woodford when he arrives.’

  Later that night, although Rose was disappointed that William did not arrive to attend the afternoon tea for her aunts, she was equally pleased that Amelia was not able to waylay him and deliver her threatened directive.

  Rose lay on her bed and opened her diary. Privately, she hoped that William would request that she accompany him to the colonies. The content of Mr Lindsay’s expedition report fascinated her, and the land sounded beautiful. How exciting would it be to experience it for herself! She ran her finger down the words that she had copied from the letter William had sent from London, where he had heard a member of the Royal Geographical Society repeat the report Mr Lindsay had given in Port Adelaide.

  We travelled north along the Overland Telegraph line in February 1886. Even though the season was poor compared to previous years, at times, the vegetation was over our heads as we sat upon the camels’ backs. The air was alive with the music of many birds: magpies, parrots of various sorts, pigeons, doves, diamond sparrows, and many others.

  Three days further on took us to the Hale River, another of those sandy rivers peculiar to Central Australia. We followed it downstream until it entered a gorge, where we made camp on the afternoon of 8 March. At that point, we came across a bar of granite completely studded with garnets. Just above this point, when scratching for water under a rocky cliff, I found a quantity of beautiful gem sand containing many garnets and some red stones of great brilliancy which, after careful examination, I believe to be rubies.

  Rose shivered with excitement. Oh, to be there, to explore new lands, and see such sights and riches! She lay back and held her diary to her chest, dreaming of exploring that magical place. She could indulge her love of plants and create a beautiful garden of her own design.

  It was only when she drifted off to sleep that she realised she hadn’t missed William terribly much this afternoon.

  *

  To Rose’s surprise, Father was still in the breakfast room when she made her way downstairs the following morning. She had slept late after lying awake until the early hours, thinking of her new life, dreaming of the freedom it would bring. She would build her own household, create a home where she would have a say, and would no longer face the dreaded fate of spinsterhood.

  ‘Good morning, Father. Are you quite well?’

  Her father looked tired, and for the first time, she took notice of how he was ageing. When Mama had been alive, they had been such a happy family, but these days, Father rarely smiled.

  He nodded. ‘I was about to send Mrs Connell up to get you. I hope you do not continue these bad habits once you are Mr Woodford’s wife. I have done my best in the absence of your mother, and lying abed when you are not ill is not to be tolerated.’

  ‘No, Father.’

  ‘You are required to supervise your sister’s lessons until the new companion arrives.’

  ‘Yes, Father.’

  ‘And I wish to speak to you about Mr Woodford.’

  ‘Yes, Father.’

  ‘It was your mother’s wish that both you and Amelia would be provided for in future years. I am pleased that you are marrying, as it makes the inheritance matter much easier. Now that you will have a husband, as the eldest daughter, on my demise, this estate will go to him. I have also set up a trust for you.’

  ‘There is no need to do that, Father. I do not expect it.’

  Nor do I want it. A new life beckoned, away from the sadness and cloying suffocation of living under Father’s grief.

  ‘This is the way it shall be,’ he said. ‘Please do me the courtesy of listening.’

  Rose suppressed a sigh. ‘Yes, Father.’

  CHAPTER

  3

  Parks and Wildlife office, Alice Springs

  27 January

  ‘Saul. Gotta job for you, mate.’

  Saul Pearce saved the file he was working on and quickly left his desk to join his boss on the other side of the office. The possibility of getting out of the office was very welcome.

  ‘If you want it, that is.’ Terry O’Neil was standing in front of the large map that covered the side wall. ‘You been out to the East MacDonnells yet?’

  ‘Not since I started here, but I spent a lot of time out there when I was a kid.’

  ‘In the East MacDonnells?’ Terry frowned.

  ‘Yeah,’ Saul said. ‘Out at Ruby Gap.’

  ‘I thought you were a blow-in. Didn’t know you grew up out here.’ Terry hitched his pants up, and Saul avoided looking at the huge beer gut that hung over his boss’s trousers.

  ‘Yeah, Alice is home.’ The Darwin office was in a suburban shopping precinct, but here in Alice, they were on the south side of his hometown, on the site of the Arid Zone Research Institute. Saul hadn’t spent much time out in the field yet because of the intense heat. National Parks had bloody rules about being out in the field in high temperatures that made Saul laugh; for him, the heat and the brilliant clear blue of the sky were signs of home.

  Terry pointed to the right-hand side of the map. ‘I want you to go out to Arltunga sometime this week. Check the signs, check the buildings, and put some new brochures out. While you’re out there, swing by Ruby Gap. A couple of hikers were out there last week, and they called in a dumped vehicle when they got back to town. Silly idiots should have had more sense than hiking out there in this heat. The police have passed it on to us. If they chased up every bloody abandoned car, they’d have no time for anything else. Because it’s on our patch, it’s our job. It’ll be another one from the community a bit north of the Gap.’

  ‘Which community?’ The only one he knew out that way was on the Hale River, just off the Binns Track.

  ‘On the way to the Plenty Highway. We’ve had a few of the cars already in the park. The young Arrente kids drive ’em until they break down then walk away.’

  Saul frowned. Even though it had been a few years, the last time he’d been out near the Plenty Highway to see his mate, Danno, there was only a small community with few vehicles.

  ‘The police won’t waste manpower going out there, so it’s up to us to do their bloody work for them. As if we don’t have enough to do.’

  Saul refrained from commenting. He hadn’t seen much evidence of overwork in the three weeks since he’d transferred from head office. Everything Max, his boss, had warned him about before he’d left the Darwin office was right. Max was a great mentor and Saul trusted him.

  ‘I’m pleased you want to transfer back to your home town, Saul,’ he’d said. ‘You’re going to find it very different but I want you to do some work on the quiet for me while you’re there.’

  ‘What sort of work?’ Saul had asked.

&n
bsp; ‘Terry O’Neil’s been running Parks down there for a long time, and for some reason, he focuses all of the attention on the west of town,’ Max had said. ‘A lot of money’s been allocated over the years to get the east side developed, but it never happens. He always has reasonable justification in his reports, but I’d like you to see what’s actually happening in the east. What do you think?’

  Saul had nodded. ‘I’m happy to take a look around and keep in touch.’

  Now he frowned at Terry as he traced a route on the map to the far eastern edge of the nature park. ‘Glen Annie Gorge?’ He frowned. ‘How the hell did a car get out there? We couldn’t even get our bikes up the riverbed, even in the dry.’

  ‘I’m just passing on what was reported.’ Terry shook his head. ‘There’s an old track in from that settlement to the north of Ruby Gap Nature Park. Comes off the Binns Track and bypasses Hale River Homestead. They’ve come in that way, broken down and abandoned their car, then it washed down when the Hale was running,’ Terry said. ‘Don’t waste time out there. Just have a look at it, take a note of the numberplate, and we can call it in.’

  ‘Must be a new road,’ Saul mused. ‘There never used to be one out there.’

  Terry huffed. ‘Look, don’t stress about it, mate. There’s a good chance there’s not even a car out there, but we’ll cooperate and take a look, but don’t bother going any further than Glen Annie.’

  ‘Not out to Fox’s Grave?’

  ‘Mate, I’ve never been out further than Arltunga. Deskbound for the past ten years, and it’s showing.’ Terry patted his beer belly. ‘Would you believe I was a cop before I got this job? Life got cushy and that’s the way I like it.’

  Saul shook his head. ‘If they ever expect me to stay at a desk, I’ll be out of here quick,’ he said.

  ‘No sights set on promotion?’

  Saul grinned. ‘What, and end up with a gut like that?’ They both laughed. ‘Nah, I’m in it for the outdoor side of the job. Staying stuck at the computer for the past three weeks has just about done my head in.’

  ‘I’ve noticed. Never seen a bloke play so much Solitaire on the computer.’

  ‘Well, there’s been nothing else to do.’

  ‘Don’t get your undies in a twist, I’m not having a go at you. At least you make an effort. You’ve done all the work you’ve been given, not like your predecessor. Had to give him the flick after he brought his own laptop in and spent the summer playing games on the office network.’

  Saul shrugged; to him, that was more an indication of poor supervision. There’d always been plenty to keep him occupied in the Darwin office and out in the national parks. He’d started to wonder if his dream job being back in Alice Springs was going to be what he’d hoped, but he’d remembered what Max had said. Maybe he could make a difference.

  ‘So, you’re sweet to go out there and take a look?’

  ‘Of course.’

  ‘Great. You can take Dazza with you. He’s spent the last three weeks washing the cars for the Arid Zone blokes. He’ll be pleased to have a break.’

  ‘Right. You want us to go today?’

  ‘Whenever it suits you.’

  Saul glanced at his watch. The lack of direction didn’t bother him; he was beginning to think Max was right. ‘There’s enough time to get out there and back before dark.’

  ‘Goodo. Darren’s down in the car park. Take the newest LandCruiser, it’s got a satphone mounted on the dash, and we’ve just restocked.’ As well as a fridge that plugged into a second battery, all Parks vehicles carried water, dried food, a pop-up tent, fire blankets and a comprehensive first-aid kit. ‘Let me know what it is when—if—you find it.’

  ‘Will do.’ Saul knew his grin was wide. ‘It’ll be good to be outside.’

  ‘If you’re so antsy about being in the office, I can get you painting the facilities at Ormiston Gorge.’ He shot Saul a sideways look. ‘I didn’t ask because I thought you’d turn your nose up at that sort of work.’

  ‘Shit, no. Anything’s better than being stuck in the office.’

  ‘You can go out to Ormiston Gorge next week. You know, I might have read you wrong.’ Terry looked at him thoughtfully. ‘Welcome to the team.’

  *

  Just under an hour later, Saul turned left before the resort that was at the end of the sealed road—the resort hadn’t been there last time he’d been out here.

  ‘A resort in the bush, for Christ’s sake,’ he muttered.

  ‘What’s up?’ Darren looked at him curiously. Saul had noticed Darren lose motivation over the weeks he’d been back in Alice. He couldn’t blame the young bloke; washing cars was not the sort of work to inspire a love of the job. He’d jumped at the chance to get out with Saul today.

  ‘Nothing, just talking to myself.’

  Even though there was no service, Darren turned back to his phone and Saul focused on the road. The sealed section went longer than it used to, so maybe Terry was right and there were some new roads at the back of Ruby Gap. You never knew with mining companies all over the place. You’d often come across a surveyor, an exploration geologist, or a bloody truck with wheels that were two metres high. He’d discovered that in his years in Darwin. Uranium, zinc-lead, bauxite, gold, phosphate and manganese, and now rare earth, were all mined in the Territory, and probably more he’d never heard of. Wherever you went these days, you were likely to come across a slash in the landscape, and all that mining pissed Saul off, big time.

  The days of camping in the wilderness were long gone. He owed a lot to those days of camping with Ethan and Screw in the wilds at the back of Ruby Gap, where the pristine environment had given him a deep respect for this country. Ethan and Screw had searched for their fortune, while Saul had wandered around, appreciating the solitude and the majestic beauty of the East MacDonnell Ranges.

  He pulled up the satnav, zoomed in on their location, and slowed down.

  ‘Are we there?’ Darren looked up.

  ‘No, we’re not even halfway yet, but the road looks to be badly corrugated from here. I’ll let the tyres down in a bit.’

  ‘It’s pretty rocky from here to Arltunga. It’ll slow us down.’

  ‘What about from Arltunga out to Ruby Gap?’

  Darren put his phone in his shirt pocket and shook his head. ‘I haven’t been past Arltunga.’

  ‘So if Terry doesn’t go out there and you haven’t, who keeps an eye on the nature park?’

  ‘The guy you replaced. Rick O’Connell. But he got the boot. Left the service. Works on boats out of Darwin now.’

  ‘Terry said he was slack.’

  Darren’s eyes widened. ‘You know about it? You mean, it got all the way to head office? Terry said it was all hush-hush. Between you and me, I think Terry got a bit of a kickback from the mine guys to put the skids under Rick.’

  ‘The mine guys?’ He frowned. ‘What mine? I thought he got the sack for playing computer games.’ As soon as he spoke, Saul regretted opening his mouth. If there was one rule he followed, it was keeping his mouth shut in the workplace. He’d learned at a very young age not to trust, and that had stood him in good stead in his years at the Darwin office. He knew he had a reputation as a loner and it didn’t bother him. After Screw and Ethan, Saul had decided to make his way through life on his own, doing what he wanted when he wanted and not depending on anyone else. Sometimes he got lonely, and he’d wander into the local pub for a beer and a bit of a yarn, but most of the time, he and Attila, his bull-mastiff cross, got on just fine by themselves.

  ‘Jeez, no. But hey, forget I said that,’ Darren said urgently. ‘Don’t tell Terry I was talking about it, okay?’

  ‘No problem. I know nothing.’ Saul knew when to shut up. Looked like Max was right.

  Money was always changing hands in the Territory. The influence of money in politics was continuing to undermine integrity across all areas of government, and from Max’s suspicions and what Darren had said, it seemed the local office of the Par
ks service wasn’t immune.

  Lip service was paid to anti-corruption efforts across the country, but Saul was cynical about the implementation of it. He and the boss he’d had before Max had fought against the building of a caravan park in one of the protected areas on the coast west of Darwin, but a government minister had stepped in and approved it, despite the fragility of the mangroves there. A kickback there too, all swept under the carpet.

  One thing he’d admired about Max when he’d taken over was his integrity, and Saul vowed to work the same way.

  ‘So, you know this place we’re going to?’ Darren asked.

  ‘Yeah. I used to camp out there when I was at high school. A couple of mates were keen fossickers, and we’d come out on our bush bikes as far as we could.’ He couldn’t help a smile at the memory. ‘We’d leave all our gear out here in the ruins of the old homestead between visits, but I don’t know if it’s there anymore. It was a long time ago.’

  ‘Your mates don’t come out here these days?’

  Saul stared at the dirt road ahead rutted with corrugations, angled rock veins running across to each side.

  ‘No, they moved on too,’ he said briefly.

  Saul had already moved to Darwin when he heard about Ethan’s disappearance, and he’d called Mrs Hayden to see if he could help. He couldn’t get any sense out of her, and he didn’t ask to speak to Gemma. He doubted if she would have talked to him anyway. He knew that Screw had gone west; he hadn’t heard from him since Screw’s dad had dropped Saul off in Katherine. He’d hitched the rest of the way to Darwin.

  ‘It’ll be interesting to see if your old house is there and your stuff’s still in it. Like a blast from the past. What were you looking for out there? Gold?’ Darren sounded keen. ‘I’ve heard there’s still gold out here.’