Icefall

by Hallowes, Guy

  The defence argued that he had been a loyal member of the community for many years and had done a great deal of good in the community. He had perhaps been misguided in helping his brother, but many others would have acted the same way if they had been in his shoes. 'I ask the jury to find him not guilty on any charges; especially since no actual damage was done to anyone.'

  While the jury was considering the verdict, Tanya had a brief conversation with David. 'Maybe we should ask Fred what he wants to do. I'm not concerned about the personal comments he made towards me, but his position here is now untenable; and we have other builders. If he opts to leave it may ease the pain and he won't be quite as hostile as he might otherwise be. We will have to come to some arrangement regarding his house, but that shouldn't be difficult.'

  David looked at her in astonishment. 'You would offer him that after all he said about you?'

  Tanya shrugged. 'I am thinking about The Settlement. Fred's wife might even choose to return here on her own one day. When the Ice Shelf collapses, Bill and Demetriou will be released from jail along with all the other prisoners. The fewer people out there hostile to this community, the better. We can't sentence Fred to imprisonment since we have no prison. He might even be persuaded that what is being suggested is actually his own idea.'

  Tanya was genuinely concerned about the future of The Settlement, but she also wanted Fred out of the way. She was still deeply ashamed about her affair with Demetriou; she had risked putting power in Demetriou's hands thus endangering the future of the project. She desperately wanted to hide her indiscretion. Getting Fred out of the way would reduce that risk.

  David approached the prosecutor, who then convened a meeting with the judge. Before the jury had concluded their deliberations Fred was approached; he was amazed at the benign nature of the proposal. He was obliged to sign a legal document, drafted by Tanya, acknowledging his guilt on all counts and agreeing never to live in or approach The Settlement again. The document made it clear that the restrictions did not apply to his wife and children and that ownership of their house was transferred forthwith to his wife.

  The agreement was published in full in the community newspaper, with most settlers supporting what had been agreed. Tanya hadn't wanted any credit so most people assumed, wrongly, that the judicial process had arrived at the solution. Fred and his family left one night under the watchful supervision of David.

  Fred had the grace to say to David prior to leaving, 'Thank you. If it wasn't for you I envisaged being locked up somewhere.'

  'Thank Tanya,' he said, trying to keep the anger from his voice. 'It was her idea, despite the unjust things you said about her. She even drafted the agreement you signed.' He was determined somehow to make it up to Tanya.

  Fred looked shocked, saying nothing, but climbed into his car and drove off with his family all of whom were crying. Months later, David received a letter from Fred spelling out the details of Tanya's misdeeds as a teenager in Cabramatta. Nothing was left out. David had not known about the drug dealing, but he was not altogether surprised. It was the final paragraph of the letter that shocked him.

  "David, you may like to know that the sexual liaison between Tanya and Demetriou continued after Demetriou arrived in The Settlement. Tanya was also responsible for Demetriou's riding accident. It is not surprising she was so keen to be rid of me."

  Tanya's not so perfect after all, he thought.

  For months he wondered what to do with the letter. Should I tell Mark? He concluded that Tanya was more important than anyone to the development of The Settlement, even the honour of his son. A few months later, he burnt it.

  Mark was surprised by the arrangements made for Fred. He could see that Tanya had come up with a very good solution. Again he wished he had thought of it himself. He had never stopped hiding a portion of his income from Tanya and investing it secretly. Virginia had accompanied him on one short business trip overseas, where they spent a few days in his Tuscan hideaway. Yet he still longed for more control at The Settlement.

  The Bower family decided to establish a number of principles under which justice would be administered based on the acceptance of the first "local trial". They would consult the community to establish what the new laws would be and how they would differ from Australian law. However, Australian law would apply until isolation occurred.

  They made it clear at the outset of the consultation that The Settlement would have no jail or police as the resources did not exist to maintain those institutions. Under these circumstances, other punishments would have to be administered for crimes that would normally be the subject of a custodial sentence.

  Punishment for a variety of crimes including theft, firearm offences, assault, wilful property damage, and mistreatment of animals would include a combination of the following—naming and shaming; counselling; bans; premise searches. A repeat offence or more serious crime would result in public flogging with a cane. A major offence or repeat offender could see the guilty party expelled from The Settlement. In aggravated circumstances, in the case of rape or murder, the death penalty, by firing squad, could be imposed by the court.

  There were several days of discussions in the community hall relating to the laws that would apply when they became isolated. The community was wholly engaged in the process. 'Why are we unable to just keep all the laws we have presently?'

  'We have no jail and no police,' answered David, 'and don't propose to invest in either of those institutions.'

  'Why?'

  'Can you imagine a jail here, especially if someone was being held for a long period of time, for murder or rape for example? It would just hang over the community.'

  'We could send them to jail in Australia.'

  'We don't know that any jails will exist in Australia. It's possible that when the Ice Shelf collapses all jails will have to be abandoned and inmates released to fend for themselves. Anyway, isolation means isolation. We will not have any contact with the outside world.'

  There was silence after the last comment.

  After much discussion there was general agreement on the more minor offences. There was some grumbling about the introduction of corporal punishment, but in the end it was agreed that the application of corporal punishment would be exceptional and that processes existed to minimise its use. There was considerable opposition to the introduction of the death penalty for rape and murder.

  'Along with most of the Western world we abolished the death penalty years ago. Surely this is a backward step,' argued someone.

  Tanya had remained quiet up to that point. 'We will be returning to a more primitive existence,' said Tanya. 'We have military training now for a reason. The possibility exists that we will have to defend ourselves. Other communities may run short of food and try to take what we have by force. Anyway, the court can order the expulsion of anyone found guilty of rape and murder, but I think it should have the option of imposing the death penalty in extreme circumstances.'

  'What is meant by extreme circumstances?'

  'Let us assume a child was abducted, and murdered by a member of the community. Would anything less than the death penalty be appropriate in those circumstances? We don't want individuals taking the law into their own hands. If we allowed that to happen this community would descend into anarchy. The ability to apply the strictest sanctions is warranted in extreme circumstances.'

  'Who would apply the death penalty?'

  'Our Academy,' answered Mark. 'It would be their duty to implement any sentence imposed. There are well-established methods of concealing the identity of individuals firing the fatal shots.'

  'Expelling people from the community is almost the same as implementing the death penalty.'

  'Maybe,' agreed Mark. 'We are here to nurture and protect our own. Anything that threatens us should and will be severely punished. We may not survive otherwise. Currently, in the wider Australian community, when a person is sentenced for a crime he or she commits they are sent away and the wider
community remains largely unaffected. That does not apply here. We will be facing people convicted of offences day in, day out. With minor offences we will be able to live with that, but I don't think anyone would be willing to associate on a daily basis with a person convicted of a major offence. Under those circumstances, people may take the law into their own hands.'

  'Expelled people might hold a grudge and try to take revenge.'

  'Possibly, yes,' agreed Mark, 'but we can't execute everyone. We will be strong enough to take our chances in that regard.'

  Chapter Fourteen

  The Pool

  2017 to 2021

  Tanya had thought she would be the main contact between The Settlement and The Bandstand. But very quickly, she realised David had made it his business to run the relationship. She didn't really mind, but was curious about the reason and sooner or later she knew he would come and tell her. Tanya thought about how the situation would change if David ever found out about her indiscretion with Demetriou, remembering how he had briefly turned on her during the Harold debacle.

  'I still think others at The Bandstand would have known about Demetriou and Bill's raid. Keep your eyes and ears open to see if someone lets anything slip. I'm sure they are all hoping we will let sleeping dogs lie,' said Tanya.

  David privately thought Tanya was flogging a dead horse. With Bill and Demetriou out of the way, any individual's ill will would have long since dissipated.

  Tanya knew all was not well between Chloe and David. Chloe had never really accepted the move to the mountains and spent far too much time in Sydney. However, she was dedicated to the stables and the riding school and was keen to instill in the youth a sense of adventure as well as the ability to look after oneself or a group without outside assistance. She had already established a difficult cross country course, but it was confined within the boundaries of the larger settlement. Among her pupils, Chloe had always had the record time for completing the course, but there were two young boys in their mid-teens who were now challenging her.

  'I have been speaking to Mark and, as an adjunct to the military training, I have agreed to take some of the better riders out of The Settlement for a week on horseback,' she told Tanya. 'Just ten of them from here and maybe some from The Bandstand plus me. They're going to do everything themselves.'

  'Shouldn't you have one other adult with you, in case of an accident? Imagine a kid with a broken leg and you are out of mobile range. How would you handle that? Anyway, are you comfortable with such an expedition? I thought you hated the bush?'

  'I actually quite like the bush, in small doses,' said Chloe quietly. 'I asked Mark to come, but he is too busy. Maybe you could come with us.'

  'I could, but who would fly the helicopter if it were needed?'

  'When Australia was colonised they didn't have helicopters,' responded Chloe acerbically.

  Tanya grinned, 'Touché. Okay, I'll come with you. I'm actually owed a very large amount of holidays.' But Tanya never did anything without consideration. At the least, I'll find out what's going on in Chloe's life.

  There were seven teenage boys and seven teenage girls, plus the two adults. The teenagers had planned everything—the route, each meal, the quantity of horse food they would carry, and where they would camp. The horses would have to be tied up at night since there were no paddocks, so they planned appropriate watches through each night.

  'We have fourteen teenagers, all with their hormones raging. What do you think we should do about that?' asked Tanya before they set off.

  'Dunno, it is so long since I had to deal with anything like that.'

  'I have some condoms and will talk to each girl individually. I don't want to encourage them to do anything they wouldn't be doing anyway, but we don't want any unwanted pregnancies. Some of the parents will have dealt with this issue but not all.'

  When Tanya spoke to each girl, two of them were quite open and actually showed her the condoms included in their luggage. Three were grateful for the discussion and took the condoms on offer. The last two were just embarrassed.

  'I know this is a sensitive and personal subject,' said Tanya, 'but if you need any advice please come to me. We will all be very close for a week and will learn a lot about each other.'

  There was a great send off from The Settlement. Travelling north, each participant rode one horse and led another, carrying their own food, horse food, and cooking utensils. In addition, each person carried their own clothing and toiletries and was provided with a cape that could be made into a two man tent when buttoned together with another. Chloe had brought a large amount of first aid equipment to deal with every possible eventuality. Tanya had brought her own 30.06 and her twelve bore shotgun. Two of the boys were each allowed to carry a 30.06.

  Before they set off, Tanya had insisted that the three of them carrying firearms had a brief inspection, making sure each weapon was clean and that none of them was loaded. Tanya took the first inspection and thereafter they took it in turns, morning and evening. The boys enjoyed being treated as adults. Four of the group were from The Bandstand, so the route was planned to drop them off on the way home.

  The first day was slow, but uneventful. Chloe and Tanya just let everyone get on with things and deliberately gave little advice; eventually, one of the older boys, Roger, took charge. After they had stopped for the night, some people were directed to collect firewood, some were put in charge of the meal, others tended the horses. Deciding who was to share each tent took some time. Neither Chloe nor Tanya checked on who was sharing with whom.

  'I am sure it will change over the week,' said Chloe in an aside to Tanya.

  Tanya checked that all the horses were correctly tethered. One camper had to come back and learn how to tie the beast up properly.

  'If a horse gets loose and canters off, the others will become restless and we will end up losing half of them. They might also injure themselves if they escape.'

  'Thanks, I was coming back to check, but there just seems to be so much to do.'

  'Simple rule,' said Tanya, 'horses first, people second.'

  The girls had taken charge of the meal and soon produced something simple and tasty. Gradually, the relationships sorted themselves out; some people did more than was expected of them and some less. There was a lot of chatter but by nine o'clock most of the group had retired.

  'Tanya and I will take the first watch,' said Chloe. 'Two hours.' They chatted about inconsequential things, but it was noticeable that Chloe avoided any discussion related to The Settlement.

  I will get to that over the next few days, thought Tanya.

  At eleven, two girls emerged sleepily from their tent. Tanya went around the horses with them making sure they were all quiet.

  'Keep a small fire going,' she advised, 'it helps in the morning. It will also keep dingoes away. I have hung all the spare food up in the trees so they will not be able to reach it, but they may sniff around. Don't under any circumstances feed any animals.'

  Chloe was asleep when Tanya crept into her own sleeping bag.

  The last watch woke the camp up at five, just before dawn. 'Eat well,' urged Chloe. 'There will just be sandwiches on the move.'

  They packed up the camp. By nine o'clock they were all ready to move. Tanya and Roger took a turn around the site making certain the fire was out and buried and there were no signs of rubbish anywhere.

  They made better progress the next day and by three o'clock they had arrived at the next campsite. They all stood in a semi-circle to admire the spectacle; a spray of water creating a twenty foot waterfall flowing into a deep, beautifully clear pool. There was a grassy bank where they were standing and sheer rock walls on the other side.

  Chloe said, 'Horses first ...'

  'People next,' chorused the group.

  Tanya watered and fed her horse and found a spot near the pool to dump her and Chloe's equipment. She then stripped everything off and stepped gingerly into the pool as if she was completely alone. Her nipples p
uckered in the cold water as she splashed a little water onto herself. As the boys' eyes almost stood out on stalks, Tanya slipped into the water, swam across the pool and back, and yelled, 'What are you all waiting for? It's beautiful.'

  She ran to where her clothes were, picked up her underwear and a piece of soap, sat on a rock in the pool and proceeded to wash herself and her clothing. She made no attempt to cover herself. She knew she was beautiful, with her slim body and long legs culminating in the small dark patch between them. She hoped if they all followed her example then they would soon ignore each other's nakedness and just see each other as people. Gradually the group followed her lead, first Chloe and then the rest of them. One or two thought they would swim in their underwear, but as soon as they did there was a cry of 'off, off, off.' Within ten minutes, the pool was a boiling, splashing, yelling place of teenage fun.

  Tanya pulled on her calf-length riding boots, hung her now clean underwear on a nearby bush, and went to check on the horses, quietly grazing. She checked each one of the thirty-two horses. With the help of two of the now unselfconscious but still naked girls, she looked at the hooves of every horse, picking their feet up and getting rid of the small stones with a hoof-pick she had in her baggage. As she was about to return to the pool, she saw five Aboriginal people standing in the shade, dressed in animal skins; two men and three women. They had obviously been there for a while but had only just decided to show themselves. Tanya was quite calm, although the girls drew a deep breath.

  'Hello,' said Tanya, uncertainly.