Land of Fences

by Mark Smith

  I’ve got no idea what to make of this so I stay quiet.

  ‘We’ve been looking for you, Finn’ he says. His voice is even and controlled. ‘You’ve been hard to keep up with.’

  ‘How do you know my name?’ I say.

  He tilts his head to the side. I’ve almost forgotten how my voice sounds to new people.

  ‘You were arrested on the coast road near Megs Creek three weeks ago,’ he says. ‘You were taken to Longley, tried, sentenced and transported to Wentworth. Though, of course, you escaped, with the help of the rebels, so you never actually arrived here. Well, your tracker did, but it didn’t seem to be attached to your hand anymore.’

  I lift my left hand and turn the back to him. ‘This tracker?’ I say.

  His face gives nothing away, but I’ve irritated him. ‘You think you’re pretty clever, don’t you, Finn?’

  ‘I’m just trying to survive. Like everyone else.’

  ‘Everyone else doesn’t harbour Sileys. They don’t evade the decontamination squads. They don’t torch army vehicles. They don’t enter the city without authorisation. And they don’t incite mass escapes. I’d say you’ve done quite a bit more than just survive.’

  ‘If you’re looking for an apology, you’re not going to get one.’

  He sits back in his chair and crosses his arms. ‘Winston told me what happened at the rebel camp,’ he says. ‘It’s the only reason we’re having this conversation.’

  ‘Then he must have told you it wasn’t only me. JT and Willow helped him, too.’

  He thinks on this for a while. ‘What happened on the bridge tonight?’ he asks. I get the sense he’s circling me like a boxer looking for a weakness.

  I try to form the words but nothing comes out. The image of Tusker’s lifeless body floating off into darkness is too fresh in my mind. All I can do is shake my head.

  ‘We’ve been looking for a man named Peter Tusker. Do you know him?’

  ‘You know I do. He was at our trial in Longley.’

  ‘Yes, but you knew him before then,’ he says.

  I’ve been ducking and weaving, but now I come out swinging. ‘Tusker is a Wilder. He works for Ramage. They’re slave traders, rapists and murderers, the worst of the worst.’ I pull my sleeve up to show him the branding on my arm. ‘This is how they treat kids.’

  He tries to keep his face neutral, but his eyes widen when he sees the brand. He takes a deep breath and returns to his questioning. ‘Did you see Tusker tonight?’ he asks.

  ‘Yes, on the bridge. He fell. He drowned.’

  He nods, as though I’m only confirming what he already knows. He stands, walks around the desk and puts his hand on my good shoulder. I try to shrug it off. ‘Finn, we can help each other.’

  ‘Sorry?’ I’m confused.

  ‘Benjamin Ramage has been arrested and charged with corruption and perverting the course of justice.’

  ‘What?’ I say, hardly believing what I’m hearing.

  ‘We’ve been watching him for months, and we have solid evidence against him. But we need more. Is there anything you can tell us about his operations immediately after the virus?’

  I’m on my guard, again. My shoulder aches but I sit up straight and fix my eyes on a spot on the wall behind his head. This has to be a trap. I need to be careful.

  ‘It’s okay. I understand,’ he says. ‘Why should you trust me? Every kind of authority has let you down for three years. I know you survived on your own in Angowrie. I know about the valley and I know about Hope.’

  ‘But how?’

  ‘That’s not important at the moment.’ He takes a deep breath and seems to hold it in his chest for a long time. The braids on his uniform quiver. ‘Let me be perfectly clear here—your fate is in my hands, Finn.’

  ‘If you’ve caught Ramage, does that mean we’re free to go. Since it was him that convicted us.’

  ‘No.’ He answers quickly, like he’s been expecting the question. ‘Three of your companions are Sileys. They have no rights under the law. But you and—’ He stops to look at the notes on his desk. ‘You and Jeremy Tutton have been wrongly reclassified. I can do something about that. And the young girl with you, she’s obviously not a Siley. If you cooperate with us, the three of you will be freed.’

  ‘Sorry, then,’ I say. ‘I’ve got nothing to add.’ I stand up and move towards the door.

  ‘What do you know of what’s happening in Wentworth, Finn?’ he says to my back. My mind flashes to the two kids we saw playing football, to the way the city glowed when the lights came on tonight. Something pulled at me then, something that promised comfort and warmth.

  I turn to face him. ‘Not a lot.’

  ‘We’re getting back on our feet. Slowly. The virus is still a threat but we’re in a better position to cope than at any time in the last three years. We’re rebuilding.’

  ‘Using Sileys,’ I interrupt.

  ‘We’re not perfect, Finn.’

  ‘You don’t have to be perfect, just fair.’

  He sighs deeply. ‘We’re feeling our way. It’s small steps. We’re re-establishing farms, growing food, setting up a society again.’

  ‘A society based on slavery.’

  He ignores this comment. ‘The truth is, we need people like you and Jeremy. Young people to help us set things right—to lead when the time comes.’

  I’m standing between him and the door, weighing what power, if any, I’ve got in this situation. ‘You want me to abandon my friends,’ I say finally. ‘I can’t do that.’ I turn towards the door.

  ‘Corporal,’ Dowling barks. Winston steps through and blocks my way. He nods back towards Dowling, trying to reassure me.

  ‘Come and sit down,’ the general says, his voice sounding tired.

  I try to stare him down. The door closes behind me and I walk back to my seat.

  ‘You don’t understand the situation,’ he continues. ‘You are in no position to bargain.’

  But I think I am. I’ve got to use what I know against what he knows. Dad would have called it horsetrading. ‘I saw Ramage murder a man,’ I say. ‘Near Angowrie, two years ago.’

  This gets his interest. ‘You witnessed it?’ he asks.

  ‘Yes. It was a guy called Perkins, one of his own men.’ The name sticks in my memory from all that time ago, sitting with Rose at the lookout, after we’d seen Ramage kill him at the hayshed. She said he wasn’t all bad. He’d snuck food to the Sileys at the feedstore.

  ‘You saw it happen?’ he asks again.

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘And you’d be prepared to make a statement to that affect?’

  ‘Sure. If Kas, Daymu and Ash are released, too. Today.’

  ‘I’ve told you that’s not possible,’ he says, but his tone has changed. I’m dangling bait, and he’s finding it hard to ignore.

  ‘I can give you more information.’ I leave the words hanging there for a few seconds, giving him time to attach weight to them. ‘I can point you to someone else here in Wentworth who’s seen the worst of Ramage.’ I’m thinking of Bridget Monahan. She saw Ramage drag Ken Butler to his death behind a trailbike. And I haven’t even got to Kas and JT and what they witnessed at the feedstore.

  I feel the balance tip when he breaks eye contact and looks to the ceiling, rubbing his chin with an open hand. He’s weighing everything I’ve said, thinking about the consequences. I’ve seen the steel in his eyes when he mentions Ramage.

  ‘There’s something I want to ask you,’ he says, returning to his fatherly tone. ‘I know you’ve had two chances to kill Ramage, but both times you’ve let him live. Why? If he’s a murderer, as you say, why not get rid of him?’

  Now I take my time to answer, all the while trying to work out where he’s got his information. I’m narrowing it down.

  ‘You know why,’ I answer, finally.

  He raises his eyebrows. ‘Enlighten me,’ he says.

  ‘You’re holding him captive now, right?’

  ‘Obvio
usly. He’s on his way to Wentworth as we speak.’

  ‘So why don’t you execute him. I’m sure you could make it happen. You’re the law here.’

  ‘Because…’ He struggles to find the words.

  ‘Because we’re better than that,’ I say.

  Now he smiles.

  ‘How old are you, Finn?’ he asks.

  ‘Seventeen, I think.’

  ‘You’ve had a tough few years, haven’t you?’

  My heart burns with the thought of everything I’ve lost: Mum, Dad, Rose, my home, my life. ‘You don’t know the half of it,’ I say.

  ‘I’ve got a fair idea.’ He shuffles the papers on his desk, looking at one, then another. ‘What would you do?’ he asks, ‘if I allowed you and your friends to—’

  ‘To what?’

  ‘If we came to an agreement for you to give evidence in return for your freedom, would you stay in Wentworth?’

  ‘Are you including Kas and Daymu and Ash?’

  He hesitates. ‘They couldn’t stay here, but maybe—’

  ‘We’d all go back to Angowrie,’ I say.

  He considers this for a few seconds, looking past me. ‘You know that area is under quarantine?’ he says.

  ‘Yeah, I’ve heard that.’

  ‘You’d have no support. We couldn’t guarantee your safety outside the fences.’

  ‘The way I see it, you can’t guarantee our safety inside the fences.’

  He sits on this for a while, moving a ring up and down his finger in a way I remember Harry doing. ‘And, hypothetically,’ he continues, ‘if this could be arranged, you’d agree to give evidence against Ramage.’

  ‘Absolutely,’ I say.

  He nods his head. ‘There is something else. You witnessed two other murders. Sergeant Jackson and Jacob Sweeney. They were shot by the rebels.’

  I don’t say anything.

  ‘So we’d also expect you to make a statement about those crimes. You know who committed them, don’t you?’

  This is the way deals are made. There’s always a catch. He wants me to betray Tahir. ‘Sweeney, yes. I didn’t see who killed Jackson,’ I say. ‘But—’

  ‘Sorry, Finn, there are no buts. You’ll have to give evidence against the rebels too or we don’t have a deal.’

  ‘I need time to think,’ I say. ‘Besides, you’ll never catch them.’

  ‘Maybe. We’re short of resources right now, but that won’t always be the case. When we do eventually track them down they’ll face the full force of the law.’

  I’ve never agreed with Tahir’s methods but I understand his motives. On the other hand, I’d also hate to see Gabriel and Afa implicated and maybe my evidence could keep them in the clear.

  I try a new tack. ‘They have the virus,’ I say.

  ‘You mean they’re carriers?’

  ‘They have the symptoms. The yellow eyes.’

  If I intended this to gain some pity for the No-landers, it doesn’t work. ‘This is not an offer I’m going to make again,’ Dowling says. ‘It’s all or nothing. You agree to give evidence against Ramage and the rebels, or the very best I can do is to let you and Jeremy go. The Sileys will continue to work in the abattoir.’

  Nothing is ever straightforward—there’s always a sting in the tail. The choice is between Kas and Daymu, and Tahir. In the end, it’s not a hard decision to make. I nod.

  ‘So that’s a yes?’ he says.

  ‘Yeah,’ I say quietly.

  ‘Thank you, Finn,’ he says, and the tension seems to leave his shoulders.

  He gets up from behind the desk and sits on the edge again. ‘There is no precedent for Sileys being freed. This will have to be a confidential agreement between you and me. And my offer stands—if at any time you and Jeremy want to come back to Wentworth, to help us, you’ll be welcome.’

  ‘If the agreement’s confidential, what’s to stop any new commissioner coming and hunting us again?’ I ask. ‘If I give evidence, I could make a lot of enemies.’

  He smiles. ‘Corporal,’ he calls and the door opens behind me. ‘Bring the new commissioner in.’

  Winston closes the door and his boots thump down the corridor.

  Dowling sits more easily now. ‘We have appointed an interim commissioner, until someone else can be found to replace Ramage.’

  He touches my good shoulder and points to the door as it opens again. Harry stands in front of me, beaming, his whole frame filling the doorway. ‘G’day, Finn,’ he says.

  I can’t believe what I’m seeing. Harry! Everything that’s been building up inside me for weeks—all the hurt and pain and fear—spills out. Tears fill my eyes. I lift myself awkwardly out of the chair and fall into Harry. His big arms hold me and I press my face into his chest. He kisses the top of my head. ‘Harry,’ I say finally. ‘It’s so good to see you.’

  He directs me back to the chair.

  ‘Willow’s here,’ I say. ‘She’s with the others.’

  He nods towards the door. Stella walks in, her arm around Willow. Stella’s eyes are rimmed red and tears have cut through the grime on Willow’s cheeks.

  Stella takes my face in her hands. ‘Thank you,’ she says. ‘Thank you, for finding Willow and bringing her back.’

  I smile though my own tears. ‘Ha,’ I say. ‘Willow led us here!’

  Dowling has returned to his position behind the desk. ‘Now,’ he says, staring directly at me. ‘Do we have a deal?’

  I have to pinch myself to make sure this real. ‘Yes,’ I say, trying to hold myself together. ‘We’ve got a deal.’

  He extends his hand and I take it. ‘And remember my offer. We need people like you, Finn.’

  I nod, but all I can think about at the moment is going home.

  ‘Is there anything else I can do for you?’ he asks.

  ‘Yeah, actually, there is. I am really hungry.’

  Winston leads us down the corridor to a long room lit by two hanging lamps and with a table in the middle. I’m still struggling to get my head around everything that’s happened. Harry walks hand-in-hand with Willow, his other arm looped through Stella’s. They look healthy, well fed. Stella’s hair has grown back—it’s sun-bleached and reaches her shoulders. Harry looks more like I remember him from when we first met at Pinchgut Junction. He leans a little to one side when he walks, but other than that you’d never know he was shot last year. They can’t wipe the smiles off their faces.

  ‘You took your time to get here, Finn,’ Harry says, his voice dry.

  ‘Yeah. I’ve been a bit busy,’ I say.

  ‘What happened to your chin?’

  ‘Cut myself shaving.’

  He laughs.

  Kas, JT, Daymu and Ash are brought in. Kas rushes at Stella and hugs her.

  ‘So, what’s going on?’ JT asks. ‘Where are the guards?’

  ‘You won’t be needing guards,’ Harry says.

  I tell them about the conversation with Dowling, stringing it out to keep them guessing. When I get to the part about Angowrie, they look at me like I’m bullshitting them.

  ‘You mean—?’ Kas says.

  ‘We can go home,’ I say.

  ‘What?’ Her eyes are wide.

  Before we know it we’re all hugging, forming a big human knot in the middle of the room. Willow reaches up and kisses me on the cheek.

  A soldier appears at the door carrying a pile of sandwiches. ‘Just Vegemite,’ he says apologetically.

  ‘It’s okay,’ Kas says. ‘We can scrape it off. I swear only cockroaches and Vegemite could survive the apocalypse.’

  I stand back and look at everyone, lost for words. I can’t believe what’s happened tonight—the escape from the abattoir, dragging Tusker off the bridge, then thinking we’d blown it all by getting captured. Everything seemed to be stacked against us returning to Angowrie. But now I feel the sea reaching out to me—the rock pools at the point and the beautiful peeling wave at the river mouth. I can almost feel the shock of the saltwater when I fi
rst dive under, the way it seems to slide through my body as a wave passes over, and the crusted salt on my skin as I dry in the sun.

  Kas is sitting beside me, her legs touching mine, her eyes studying me. ‘I know where you are,’ she says.

  ‘I’m right here,’ I say.

  ‘No, you’re not. You’re home. You’re surfing the river mouth.’ She runs one hand through my hair and kisses me on the lips. ‘I can’t wait,’ she says.

  When we’ve eaten the sandwiches, we’re directed to another building, a long hall lined with bunk beds. It’s not until I lie down that I realise how exhausted I am. Every muscle aches and my shoulder throbs. I’ve been given some painkillers and a proper sling to hold my arm but I can only sleep on my back. Kas and I have pulled two mattresses onto the floor so we can lie together. Daymu and JT do the same. Ash is already asleep, and Harry, Stella and Willow are in another room. Kas rests her head on my good shoulder. As tired as I am, sleep doesn’t come easily. I keep looking at her to make sure she’s real, moving my fingers along her arm to reassure myself. I’ve missed lying next to her so much: the feeling of her breath on my skin, the way she moulds her body to mine, the warmth she generates.

  ‘I couldn’t find Danka,’ she whispers. ‘No one at the convent remembers her.’

  ‘That could be good news. She might not have been captured.’

  ‘I hope you’re right,’ she says, but there’s sadness in her voice.

  ‘Tell me what happened after we saw you at the courthouse.’

  She takes her time to answer, so long I begin to think she’s fallen sleep. ‘It was awful. The feedstore. Daymu and I were the only ones there and Tusker was…’ She stops to draw breath. ‘We had to fight him off. It was Ramage who stopped him in the end, when he saw the bruises and cuts. Said we were too valuable to damage, as if we were cattle being prepared for market.’

  ‘Did he…? Were you…?’ I can’t bring myself to finish the questions.

  ‘No,’ she says firmly. ‘Daymu and I stuck together the whole time. It was always two against one.’