Icefall

by Hallowes, Guy

  'You need to tell us what support you need,' said Tanya.

  'How many pilots do you have?'

  'Two, that is me and Roger and two in training. I presume you're a trained pilot and can help.'

  'Yup, bit rusty of course. Showing no disrespect, but those babies in Newcastle are a bit more of a handful than your own machine. We'll need to make absolutely certain that anyone who flies them is one hundred percent competent. Anyway, for the moment I need Joe and one other to help me. It may take a month to get one of the machines refurbished and ready to take to the air.'

  Roger took the passenger seats out of the helicopter and flew to Newcastle with Eustace and a large quantity of supplies. They were relieved to see the lights in the warehouse blazing as they landed. Roger continued the supply process on his own, over the next few days, while Eustace and Joe planned the refurbishment of the choppers in the warehouse. Within two weeks, the girl from Kurri-Kurri was up and about and, within another week, she and her mother were on their way back to Kurri-Kurri, with Tanya piloting the helicopter.

  Chapter Thirty-seven

  Jason and Venus

  Tanya spent time with Susan and Chloe trying to help them overcome their loss. Often when she arrived, Susan made some excuse about her responsibilities now that Joe was in Newcastle and left her with Chloe.

  The stupid, stupid bugger, Tanya thought, referring to Mark.

  Tanya had realised that Jason and Venus were an item when Jason came to see her to announce that he and Venus had decided to get married, 'I have just told Mum. She's thrilled. She knows and likes Venus.'

  'Congratulations,' said Tanya, kissing her nephew on the cheek. 'But be careful. We must be sure Thor is comfortable with everything. We don't want to upset him in any way. I expect he will want one of us, either David or me, to formally ask for his approval and he'll certainly ask for a bride price.'

  'What?'

  'In some primitive societies, like The Vikings are mimicking, it is customary for the groom's family to provide gifts to the bride's family on the occasion of the marriage of a daughter. I am slightly surprised Venus hasn't mentioned the subject.'

  'You mean Venus has to be paid for,' said Jason aggressively. 'Why can't we just get married like everyone else round here?' He started to leave.

  'Jason, sit down and listen to me.' He had too much respect for Tanya to ignore her, so he sat glaring at her. 'I'm thrilled you and Venus are in love and are to marry. You have been to The Vikings and your actions saved us a lot of unpleasantness, so you realise things operate very differently over there than they do here. Thor will see a marriage between you, a Bower, and Venus, as an important political alliance, so we just need to be aware of that.'

  'What sort of bride price are we talking about, some more solar installations or something?' asked Jason, now more calmly.

  'Thor will want a bargaining process, which could take a few months. I expect that when he sees this place he'll ask for something like one hundred head of cattle.'

  Jason sat there with his mouth open for a few seconds. 'Where the hell am I to get a hundred head of cattle?'

  'You won't be involved in the bargaining process. The matter will probably be settled between Thor and David. Thor may not want to deal with me because I'm a woman,' Tanya replied.

  'You will pay Thor one hundred head so I can marry Venus?'

  'I don't expect to have to pay quite that much, but yes, in principle.' Tanya laughed at Jason's discomfort. 'You have to understand this alliance is very important to us as well as Thor, so it must all be done properly. Don't under any circumstances go running around telling people, it will just wreck everything. Then you won't be marrying Venus anyway. '

  'You've certainly knocked the shit out of the romance of it all,' said a very subdued Jason. 'I feel like a pawn in some political game.'

  'Only temporarily,' said Tanya. 'Once this is all sorted, and the ceremony is over, life will go back to normal.'

  'Ceremony?'

  'You don't think that Thor is going to let his precious only daughter go without a big hoo-ha, surely,' said Tanya laughing, putting her arms around Jason. 'Come on, this is going to be fun! We've got to play it right and this sort of stuff is just up my street. Just one other thing,' she said to an apprehensive Jason, 'please do not get Venus pregnant.'

  Jason left muttering and shaking his head, 'One hundred fucking head of cattle.'

  Having spoken to David on the phone, Tanya decided that just she and David would pay a visit to Thor, and arranged to do so two weeks after the marriage discussion with Jason. They had been to The Vikings twice since the first encounter, once with Venus.

  'What the hell have you got in the back there?' asked David, laughing as Tanya picked him up at The Bandstand.

  'A present for Thor. It's a pure bred bull calf. I'm sure he'll like it. I had a discussion with him on the subject on our last visit, so I have taken the opportunity to surprise him since the seats are out for the supply trips to Newcastle.'

  'But the bloody thing will crap all over the back of the machine.'

  'It's firmly tied into a sack. It can't really move and will crap, or should I say has crapped, in the sack,' she laughed. 'We're just getting ourselves into Thor mode.'

  Within forty minutes, they were unloading an unstable calf in front of a pleased Thor.

  'No Venus this time?' he asked.

  'Mark had some training exercise planned, so she had to stay,' explained David.

  After making sure the calf would be properly looked after, and offering his guests a refreshing drink of fruit juice, Thor looked at David and said, 'You didn't come here just to deliver a calf.'

  'We've been wondering how we might further cement the relationship with you and your outfit here,' answered David.

  'What do you have in mind?'

  'You already have some of our people here helping you with military training exercises. We could help you install more solar, where it is appropriate. We could certainly help to improve the quality of your herd,' Tanya interrupted.

  Thor looked at them both quizzically. 'One certain way would be to arrange a marriage between my family and yours, the Bowers I mean.'

  Tanya looked at him, saying nothing, hoping he would expand on the intermarriage theme.

  Thor continued, 'Hercules would like to get to know your Kim better, but she does not seem interested. She is very strong, maybe too strong for Hercules.'

  'Would you have any objection if Jason were to court Venus?' asked David.

  Thor's eyes widened as the real purpose of the visit was now unveiled.

  'Jason? Oh yes, the smart one. I actually had one of my senior lieutenants in mind for Venus. She can marry him when she comes back from your place.'

  'And if she doesn't like him?' asked Tanya.

  Thor laughed. 'She'll do what she's told.' He frowned. 'It makes no difference whether she likes anyone or not, she'll get to like the person I choose or get beaten.' David winced, but Tanya didn't bat an eyelid.

  Thor looked at them shrewdly and then said, 'I don't know Jason very well, so send him here for two weeks. He can come in the helicopter, maybe with some more solar installations and that military rifle your people seem to carry. He can ride well?'

  'Yes, very,' said David hurriedly.

  They spent an hour walking around the area immediately surrounding Thor's palace, admiring some of Thor's new initiatives.

  Then Tanya said quietly, 'We are in the process of creating a settlement on the outskirts of Newcastle and expect to be able to open the port within a year or two.'

  Thor looked at her sharply.

  'You don't go anywhere near Newcastle, do you? I could take you over there in the helicopter one day if you were interested,' Tanya continued.

  On the way home David said, 'He seems to be set on marrying Venus off to one of his cronies.'

  'I don't think so,' answered Tanya. 'He understands perfectly all the implications of a deal with us. Having Jason ther
e for two weeks is just the start of a lengthy bargaining process. I can tell you that although he will play hard, this deal will go through.'

  'Deal, you just see it as a deal?' David said in a horrified voice.

  'Sorry, I didn't mean to de-romanticise everything, but in the end this d … er, arrangement will be bigger than either Jason or Venus, as far as the uninterrupted growth of The Settlement is concerned. In the end it will be a deal, but I will confine my conversation and thoughts in that direction to you.'

  'In all the years I've known you, you never fail to surprise me,' said David. 'One step ahead of the sheriff, as always.'

  'Only one? Just watch me. I'm going to have a ball with this one.' Tanya smiled.

  Chapter Thirty-eight

  Barrington Bandits

  Tanya went looking for Derain on their return home. Once she'd found him, or he'd chosen to be found, she told him about the Newcastle initiative and asked whether he knew Eustace. 'He knows about the White Goddess.'

  Derain shook his head. 'Ancestor very powerful, he might tell other group to find and look after this man you are tell me about. Maybe ancestor think that Derain have already too much to look after.'

  Tanya decided Derain would probably never divulge whether he knew Eustace or not. 'I want you to come with me to Newcastle in the helicopter.'

  'Helicopter, no, this will crash and then I'll not be able to look after White Goddess.'

  Tanya laughed. 'I've been flying the machine for many years now, it won't crash. I need your help with something, with two things actually.'

  After much careful persuasion, Tanya managed to get Derain into the machine. During the flight, he changed from holding his head saying, 'This very big noise machine crash,' to excitedly pointing out well-known landmarks.

  On the way, Tanya told him they'd found some isolated people in Kurri-Kurri and that one of their people had been abducted, 'We will go there first. I want you to find out all you can about the gang in Barrington Tops, we need to try and rescue the girl.'

  They landed and introductions were made. At the end of the visit Derain said, 'No need for big, bang-bang rescue. I bring girl back here. I need one person to go with me who the girl recognise. Maybe I need two week.'

  On the short flight to Newcastle, Tanya explained the newly-established relationship with Thor and his people. 'That Thor, very bad man, do not like Aboriginal people.'

  'You know him?'

  There was a mumble from Derain which Tanya took to mean "yes".

  'Derain think that he, Thor, might try something silly with our people in Newcastle. Then you go shoot them. That is best thing for that man, anyway.'

  'No, we can't do that, Jason will marry Venus and we need Thor and his people to accept us. We don't want to fight with them. If they come to Newcastle, I want you to give them a very big fright, like ghosts or something. Something that will scare the shit out of them, and keep them away for a very long time. It'll become part of their storytelling through the ages.'

  Derain grinned from ear to ear, 'I see White Goddess still very smart,' he tapped his head.

  After landing, Tanya took Derain to meet Eustace, but there was no flicker of recognition between the two. 'Either they really don't know each other or they are both very good actors,' she told Joe later.

  'Eustace has described his Aboriginal home, where he stayed all those years after the flood, in some detail,' said Joe. 'It bears no resemblance to Derain's place.'

  'I have some concerns about what The Vikings may try to get up to here in Newcastle,' Tanya told Kim. 'He is worried we may become too powerful. Have you seen any sign of them?'

  'Strangely enough, yes. We've caught glimpses of some people dressed like them in skins.'

  'Brief Derain and leave it all to him. I don't want any violence though. It's important The Vikings stay onside.' Tanya smiled and then said mischievously, 'Hercules still fancies you, you know. A marriage between us and The Vikings would secure our relationship.'

  Kim was about to respond angrily and then saw the amused expression on Tanya's face. 'Marriage with Billy Goat Gruff you mean?' She laughed. 'Two chances—Buckleys and none.'

  Derain made his own way back to the settlers at Kurri-Kurri. 'One person come with me, a person girl recognise. We go through Barrington village, pick up girl, and go north before come back here. People there will think you people here have rescue girl and will jump on horse and try to kill you all. Maybe you can lay ambush for them.' He shrugged. 'I bring girl back here, we need two horse.' He left with the girl's mother Josie, who could ride and shoot as well as any of the men. She was armed with her own rifle and a handgun. Derain was unarmed. Jim handed Josie twenty handwritten notes which said -

  We have taken back what belongs to us.

  If you attempt anything against us in future

  You will regret it bitterly.

  We want peace, nothing more.

  'Drop them all over the camp,' Jim continued. 'It may stop them taking action, but if not, and they come here, we'll destroy them. Derain and I have selected a place for an ambush.'

  Josie looked at him uncomprehendingly for a moment and then nodded. 'Peace is better,' she mumbled.

  It took three days for Derain and Josie to find the Barrington village in the very rugged and steep slopes of Barrington Tops. The camp was well hidden and far into the area. Increased rainfall had made the undergrowth thick and impenetrable at times.

  'Wait here, I be back.' Derain told Josie.

  Two hours later he returned. 'There is girl with rope tied round neck. Must be daughter Emilie. You must see.'

  They tethered the horses firmly to a tree well out of sight of the camp and Josie accompanied Derain to the outskirts of the large, untidy bush camp. There were several scruffy huts, one log cabin, and a central building, perhaps their community centre. There were many tents which had seen better times. Ragged-looking people were wandering around in a disorganised fashion; some were engaged in cooking a meal. A paddock held more than fifty horses as far as Josie could make out. They could hear noises from cattle, but they were held some way from the camp.

  'There,' said Derain, 'that is Emilie?'

  Josie drew a sharp breath as a girl of about fifteen was dragged about, with a rope around her neck, by an older woman. The girl was absolutely filthy.

  'Yes,' she said shakily.

  Derain held her by the arm. 'Don't worry, I bring her back after dark.'

  They had a small meal, without lighting a fire, and rolled up in the sleeping bags for a few hours. Just after midnight, Derain woke Josie and they packed up the camp.

  'You lead horse quietly to other side of camp, just past horse paddock. I bring Emilie to you.'

  Josie handed Derain the handwritten notes. 'Jim says we must drop these all over the camp, could you do that please.'

  Derain shrugged, 'Jim told me, I think it will do no good.' He took the notes and crept off into the bush.

  It took Josie an hour to lead the horses around the camp. She found a spot beyond the horse paddock as she had been directed. She waited for a few minutes when Derain suddenly appeared carrying what appeared to be a large bundle. Josie looked at the bundle. It was indeed the terrified Emilie.

  Josie hugged her. 'Shh,' she whispered. 'You're safe now, but we must make no noise.'

  'Go that way, I come soon,' Derain pointed, as he helped the pair onto Josie's horse.

  'Where … ' but Derain had disappeared.

  Josie moved as quickly as she was able in the dark, down the path indicated, leading both horses. She heard more horses neighing nervously and then the noise of cattle lowing and shouts from the camp. Derain silently appeared. His white teeth flashed a grin in the dark. 'I make all horse and cow run into camp, maybe keep all people busy for few hours. They never find us anyway.'

  It took the Barringtons several hours to regain control and to gather the various animals into their respective paddocks.

  'The girl has gone, she is nowhere
to be seen,' shouted one of the women. A frantic search ensued during which several of the notes Derain had scattered were produced.

  The leader went white with anger, 'Okay, saddle up, we're going to teach those bastards at Kurri-Kurri a lesson they'll never forget.'

  'Be careful,' warned one of the women. 'This rescue took a lot of organisation and planning … '

  All she got was a very hard slap in the face. 'Be quiet woman, those people are weak and disorganised. Anyway, they'll cease to exist when I've finished with them.'

  'But they offered peace.'

  She was ignored as forty-five men clattered off on horseback down the path towards Kurri-Kurri.

  Jim had prepared his ground well. The children and some of the older women were hidden in a basement they had found in one of the nearby houses, already refurbished by the Kurri-Kurri settlers. Altogether, for the ambush, he had the six people including himself from The Settlement, seven of the adults from the Kurri-Kurri settlers, and five of the older children. He had made sure they could all shoot and that the weapons they had were serviceable with sufficient ammunition.

  'They'll be able to see the cattle in the paddock over there,' Jim pointed to the uneasy group. 'That will guide them down this narrow roadway, which they will only be able to negotiate in single file. We need to be spread out for say one hundred metres along the west side of the roadway, which is raised above the level of the road. You must all be well hidden. One Settlement person will be accompanied by two Kurri-Kurri people. I will be in front and will take down the leading two or three horses, probably including the leader.'

  'And then?' asked a voice.

  'I'll make them all dismount and drop their weapons.'

  'And if they don't?' insisted the voice.

  'If there is any resistance, I will shoot the leader, just to wound him if possible.'