‘You know damn well what I mean. All I can see are useless sugar gum logs.’
Cowper’s chin came up. ‘I decided that the Huon was too expensive,’ he said. ‘I sold it to another mine.’
Alec stared at the man. ‘You sold it?’
‘At a tidy profit.’
Alec balled his fists. ‘This is not about profit. This is about the safety of the mine. We’ve had this argument before. Sugar gum is too brittle.’
‘I needed the money to pay for the boiler,’ Cowper said. ‘You can’t have everything you want in this business, McLeod. Compromises need to be made.’
‘Not at the risk to the men’s safety.’
‘Nonsense. The wood is perfectly sound. It’ll do for the time being. Once we start turning a decent profit we can replace it with Huon.’
When Alec opened his mouth to protest again, Cowper banged his fist on the desk. ‘My decision, my responsibility. Your job is getting the gold out, McLeod. Leave me and get on with it.’
Still seething, Alec stormed out of the office.
Ian looked up as his brother passed, a questioning quirk to his eyebrow.
Alec shook his head. ‘I’ll tell you later,’ he said. ‘Got to get back to the mine.’
As he put his hand to the door, it opened. Alec took a step back and Jack Tehan sauntered in, his hands in his pockets. The recently promoted mine superintendent of the Shenandoah Mine hung his coat and hat on the hook and turned to Alec and Ian with a smile.
‘Good afternoon, gentlemen. How are the McLeod brothers today?’
‘Tehan. What brings you into town?’ Alec said.
Tehan jerked his head at the manager’s office. ‘As your brother will tell you, Cowper likes me to report in on a weekly basis, McLeod.’ He scratched his beard. ‘Between us, it’s a hell of a hike down the hill every time I want a decision made, but that’s how Cowper wants it.’
‘Report on what? I’ve heard the Shenandoah is going nowhere.’
Tehan shrugged. ‘The valley runs on rumours, you know that. But I’m pleased to run into you, McLeod, I’ve a technical problem and I wouldn’t mind your advice. I know you and Penrose used to exchange thoughts.’
That had been different—Penrose had been a friend. Still, it would be churlish not to offer advice when it was requested, so Alec nodded.
‘That’s grand. I’ll be staying at the Britannia tonight,’ Tehan said.
‘I’ll join you for a drink,’ Alec said. He sensed, rather than saw, the other man’s hesitation.
‘A drink? I didn’t think you Prezzies were up for drinking?’
‘You think just because I’m a Scot, I’ve taken the pledge?’ Alec forced a laugh and glanced at his brother. Ian, sensing he was being addressed, looked up. ‘I leave that to my brother. A good Scottish whisky is my idea of heaven.’
‘As an Irishman, I would have to disagree,’ Tehan said with a laugh. ‘Very well, McLeod, I’ll meet you at the Britannia at eight.’
Alec forced himself to eat the shepherd’s pie left by Bridget O’Grady. The meat was swimming in fat and the potato burned black. Even Ian—who would eat anything without complaining—ate slowly, his face screwed up in a grimace.
‘We have to find a better cook,’ Alec said. ‘Bridget’ll kill us at this rate.’
Ian nodded and pushed his plate to one side. ‘Why are you meeting Tehan?’
‘He says he wants my advice on something. Besides, it wouldn’t hurt to get to know him better. Maybe I can get to the bottom of the ledger discrepancies. Did you hear anything of his conversation with Cowper this evening?’
Ian shook his head. ‘They had their backs to me. Although as he was leaving, Tehan did say something about Eliza Penrose.’
‘What?’
‘I don’t know, it’s hard to read his lips through his beard.’
Alec found Jack Tehan ensconced at a small table in the corner of the bar of the Britannia Hotel, a whiskey already in his hand. To judge by the man’s high colour and relaxed demeanour, he was several drinks ahead of Alec. Alec ordered a beer from Yorkie Oldroyd and joined Tehan.
‘I thought you said you were a whiskey man,’ Tehan said.
Alec looked down at the beer. ‘Start slow and work up to it,’ he said. In truth, he wanted to keep a clear head in this conversation. ‘So, who looks after the Shenandoah when you’re away?’
‘I’ve a decent foreman. Most of the men came with me from Bendigo. They’re experienced and they know how I like things done.’
Alec nodded. ‘What’s the problem you want my advice on?’
Tehan pulled a notebook from his pocket and Alec recognised the handwriting immediately.
‘That’s Penrose’s notebook,’ he said. ‘How did you come by it?’
‘Cowper had them. Figured I’d need them and a godsend they are too, but I don’t have the learning you and Penrose had and I was hoping you could explain this calculation to me?’
He indicated the complex mathematical calculation with a finger, its nail encrusted with dirt. Alec considered the page. When he had worked it out, he turned to a blank page in the notebook and set out the calculation in diagrammatic form. Tehan nodded and asked the right questions. Whatever Tehan’s past may be, he had a sharp mind and he quickly grasped what Penrose had intended. Tehan took the notebook back from Alec and stowed it in his pocket with a gruff thanks, and before Alec could protest, he ordered two whiskies—one Scotch and one Irish. Yorkie Oldroyd set them down with a thump that sloshed liquid onto the table.
Tehan raised his glass. ‘Here’s to gold mining,’ he said. ‘May it bring us the fortune we so richly deserve.’
Alec drained the glass and set it down. As he began to rise from his seat, Tehan waved him back into the chair.
‘Stay a while, McLeod. I prefer doing me drinking in company.’
The whiskey had worked its magic and Alec found no pressing need to return home. ‘What took you to the Bendigo fields?’ he asked.
‘What is anyone doing on the goldfields, McLeod? I came over from Tasmania about eight years ago, looking for me fortune. Nothing to hold me there.’
‘Did you come from mining stock?’
Tehan laughed. ‘Me father was a convict. Served his time, but he was good for nothing. It was me mother who ran the farm and kept us fed. I went to Bendigo knowing nothing about mining, but you learn quickly enough.’
‘Is that where you met Cowper?’
Tehan’s eyes narrowed. ‘Aye. Met him when I first arrived. He was managing the Central Deborah. Saw a young lad with potential and encouraged me to up me knowledge with courses at the Mechanics’ Institute. What about you, McLeod?’
‘Family were coal miners in Lanarkshire. My brother and I emigrated five years ago. I had a couple of years in Ballarat.’
‘Then what on earth induced you to leave a place like that for this carbuncle on the arse of the world?’
Alec smiled and raised his glass to his lips. ‘The money,’ he said. ‘Cowper was prepared to pay me well to move to this carbuncle. Why did you leave Bendigo?’
A smile flickered at the corner of Tehan’s mouth. ‘A lady,’ he said. ‘Judged it prudent to beat a retreat before her husband chased me out with a shotgun.’ He raised his glass. ‘God bless the fairer sex, but they lie at the bottom of all our troubles.’
‘And there I would have to disagree with you,’ Alex said. ‘My wife was my partner in everything.’
Tehan swilled the liquid in his glass. ‘Didn’t know you were married, McLeod.’
‘I was. My wife’s dead.’
Tehan mumbled an apology as Yorkie slapped another round in front of them. The men drank in silence.
‘If you’ve any sense,’ Tehan said after a long moment, ‘You’d be courting Cowper’s niece. She’s his only relative, isn’t she? He’ll be worth a pound or two when he passes over to the other side. You could have a fancy house in Melbourne and everything you want at the click of your fingers.’
‘Maiden’s Creek is doing all right,’ Tehan said.
‘Better than Shenandoah, I hear.’
Tehan’s lips tightened and he shook his head. ‘Can’t talk about Shenandoah.’ He considered the dregs at the bottom of the glass. ‘Yorkie, another … please.’
Yorkie cocked an eyebrow at Alec, who shook his head. There was no distance between enough and one too many and that could lead to regrets.
‘Why not?’ Alec asked. ‘I hear it’s failing.’
Tehan shrugged and sat back as Yorkie set the fresh glass down in front of him and held out his hand for payment.
‘Come on, Yorkie mate,’ Tehan said. ‘I’m good for a bit of credit.’
‘Pay up,’ the barkeeper said.
Tehan fumbled in his pocket and counted out some coins.
‘Not enough.’
‘Here.’ Alec made good the shortfall.
Tehan clapped him on the shoulder. ‘You’re a good man, McLeod. Now, what were we talking about?’
‘The Shenandoah.’
‘That’ll be what it’ll be.’ He leaned forward. ‘What I’d like to know is what your mate Penrose did with his plans for the new boiler.’
Alec kept his face neutral while every nerve in his body tightened. ‘What plans?’
Tehan leaned forward, his eyes sharp. ‘You’re no fool, McLeod. You and I both know that Penrose had been working on the design for some new fandangled boiler.’ He tapped the table. ‘That’s where the money is. Not in these bloody hard hills.’
Alec pulled his wits together, wondering exactly how much Tehan knew about the plans. ‘He mentioned something of the sort but I can only assume that, if they were in Penrose’s possession, then Cowper has them.’
‘Cowper and I went through Penrose’s possessions the day he died. If he had those bloody plans we would have found them.’
Alec shrugged. ‘Can’t help you. Besides if they exist, aren’t they the property of Miss Penrose? They should be of no interest to you or Cowper.’
Silence fell again as Alec fought off the tug of his own conscience.
‘On the subject of Miss Penrose,’ Tehan said. ‘I heard you tried to run her down. That’s never a good way to make a girl’s acquaintance.’ A sly smile curled his mouth. ‘Mind you, I think she likes me.’
‘Oh? And when did you meet her?’
‘I made a point of making her acquaintance this afternoon. Pretty little thing. Are you a betting man, McLeod?’
‘No.’
‘Pity, because I would bet you a month’s wages that I will bed her within …’ He paused, gazing up at the ceiling as if doing a calculation in his head.
Alec stood. ‘That’s enough, Tehan. Miss Penrose is a respectable woman and I’ll not have her spoken of in those terms.’
‘Hah,’ said Tehan. ‘I was right, you do like her.’ He pushed back from the table and stood, his hands resting flat on the table as he leaned over Alec. ‘There is a challenge in bedding a virgin and a virgin with her uncle’s prospects is a challenge worth accepting.’ He tapped his nose. ‘Watch me, McLeod.’
Alec’s hand balled into a fist and it took all his willpower not to break that very nose. He did not need to make an enemy of Black Jack. If anything, he needed Tehan to think of him as a friend and ally—if only for the sake of Eliza Penrose’s reputation.
Chuckling to himself, Tehan weaved out of the bar, leaving Alec alone with his dark thoughts.
Eleven
28 June 1873
Alec had no intention of going to the dance at the Mechanics’ Institute but Ian’s obvious eagerness to attend swayed him. If Ian had not planned a tryst, he at least expected to meet up with Susan Mackie, and while his brother did not need a chaperone, Alec knew Ian was not comfortable among large, overwhelming gatherings.
A sizeable crowd had already filled the hall at the Mechanics’ Institute by the time the brothers arrived. Ian’s step faltered and the rise and fall of his chest told Alec what it cost his brother to attend. He caught Ian’s arm and turned him in the direction of the trestle tables where the ladies were setting out a substantial supper. Susan, wearing a green sprigged dress with a lace collar, was arranging plates. As if aware she was being observed, she looked up and her smile left Alec in no doubt as to the depth of her feelings. Ian glanced at his brother and Alec nodded.
‘Go on. I don’t need your company.’
He watched his brother wend his way through the crowd and smiled. With eyes only for each other, Ian and Susan could have been alone in the room.
‘Good evening, Mr McLeod.’
Alec looked down at the slight figure who stood beside him and caught his breath. For all her diminutive height, Eliza Penrose outshone every woman in the room in a midnight blue satin dress that would have graced the ballroom at Government House.
‘E-evening, Miss Penrose.’
‘I think I overdressed,’ Eliza said, glancing around the crowded room. The other women were gathered in little knots, casting glances in her direction.
‘You look bonny,’ Alec managed and was saved by the band striking up a lively polka. He gathered his courage in both hands. ‘Will you dance with me?’
She smiled. ‘Thank you.’
He led Eliza into the space that had been reserved for dancing. Trevalyn and his wife passed them. The mine foreman had a grin on his face and his eyes shone as he danced his flushed and smiling wife around the floor with gusto.
‘I would never have guessed Trevalyn liked a dance,’ Alec said.
‘Is he Joe Trevalyn’s father?’
Alec nodded. ‘Joe? Is he the one with the club foot? He’s the youngest. A good lad.’
‘He has a good heart,’ Eliza agreed, ‘and I think he’s Charlie O’Reilly’s only friend. So shall we dance, Mr McLeod?’
‘I warn you, I’ve two left feet.’
‘I’ll help,’ she said as he set his large hand on her slender waist. Her fine fingers twined with his and he caught his breath. He could barely remember the last time he had touched a woman.
Eliza gazed up at him, her eyes sparkling and her lips parted, as she tapped out the beat on his arm with the fingers of her right hand. ‘Now,’ she said and led him off.
Alec had never felt more awkward or clumsy in the company of the diminutive Miss Penrose. He fixed his gaze on a corner of the room to avoid looking straight down her décolletage, which showed an indecent amount of shoulder and creamy flesh. No wonder the matrons of Maiden’s Creek looked scandalised.
‘Who’s Charlie O’Reilly?’ Alec asked once he felt confident enough to venture a little conversation.
‘Strange little thing. Dresses in boys’ clothes and lives alone with her mother way out of town.’
‘Oh, you mean Mad Annie’s child?’
A slight flush rose to Eliza’s cheeks. ‘Why do they call her Mad Annie?’
Alec shrugged. ‘Maybe because she chooses to live by herself out there—’ He turned to see who had bumped into him and his brother gave him a sheepish grin of apology before whisking Susan away. Ian may not have been able to hear music but he had once told Alec that he sensed it through the vibrations in the floor and, with an able partner like Susan, no one who didn’t know him would suspect his deafness.
‘Who is that?’ Eliza asked.
‘My brother Ian. I’ll introduce you later.’
‘I’d like that. And you lied—you dance well.’
The polka ended and the band moved into a more sedate waltz. Eliza smiled up at him.
‘Shall we continue?’ she suggested.
Alec awkwardly shifted his position, drawing Eliza closer. As they stepped off, a hand on his shoulder made him pause and he looked around. Jack Tehan grinned at him.
‘You can’t monopolise the only attractive woman in the room, McLeod.’ Tehan bowed in an almost courtly manner. ‘If I may, Miss Penrose.’
As manners dictated, Alec ceded
his place and retired to the table of punchbowls. Nothing alcoholic, of course, but he still poured himself a cup and stood watching Eliza Penrose circle the floor in the arms of the Tasmanian. They made a handsome couple and Jack Tehan had a grace and talent for dancing that Alec knew he lacked.
‘Good evening, Mr McLeod.’
At the sound of Flora Donald’s voice, Alec took a deep breath and forced a smile. ‘Good evening.’ They stood for a moment in awkward silence, before Alec gathered his courage. ‘Do you dance, Miss Donald?’
‘Aye, of course I do. Are you asking me, Mr McLeod?’
Alec steeled himself and waltzed Flora onto the floor. He had no sense of a woman beneath his hand, just the whalebone of her corseting, and unlike Eliza Penrose, Flora’s careful steps, while competent, lacked fluidity and grace. He may as well have been dancing with a broom.
He greeted young Tregloan and his pretty wife, who were acquitting themselves with grace, then excused himself at the end of the dance, heading out into the clear night for some fresh air.
‘I told you. That Miss Penrose is a sweet handful.’ Jack Tehan came to stand beside him, lighting a cheroot.
‘Don’t be crude, Tehan.’
‘I mean it. She doesn’t belong in Maiden’s Creek.’
‘What are you doing here?’
‘The lads are entitled to a bit of a fun, McLeod.’
‘The lads? You’ve brought your crew into town?’
‘Some of them. A couple of them decided to stop at Lil’s on the way in.’
The music drifting from the hall abruptly stopped, only to be replaced by raised voices.
Alec and Tehan exchanged glances and went back into the building. The crowd seemed to have flattened themselves against the wall as two burly men faced off in the centre of the dance floor. Alec recognised one of his men—George Tregloan—but the other man, squat and dark-haired with a heavy black beard, was a stranger.
Tregloan’s eyes blazed. ‘The lady said she didn’t want to dance with you.’
The lady in question stood on the side of the dance floor, ashen faced, rubbing her left wrist—Eliza Penrose. If she had hoped to stay out of the notice of the matrons of Maiden’s Creek, whatever had occurred had definitely pushed her to centre stage.
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