Brumbies

by Paula Boer

  Ben did as instructed. For another half an hour he worked the young horse until it came up to him at an easy walk. By now he could rub his hands all over the horse, under his belly, over his rump, around the ears.

  “Shall I try the halter now?”

  “Yep, but remember what I told yer. Don’t, whatever you do, pull on the rope.” Old Harry nodded as Ben followed his instructions.

  Louise kept looking at the buckskin watching from the far side of the yard. Would she be able to do the same thing with her? She hoped so. Ben made it look easy, but she knew he had years more experience with horses than her. If she couldn’t do it, she was sure the others would help her. This was turning out to be the best day of the holidays.

  Ben ran his hands up the colt’s neck with the rope in his right hand. With the other hand he eased the halter over the horse’s nose. The colt nodded his head as if to test out what he felt, then allowed Ben to tie the halter. Ben turned and walked away, holding the lead rope loosely. The horse followed.

  “Well done.” Louise kept her voice to a whisper.

  Thank goodness Harry had turned up. They had been so close to letting the horses go.

  Old Harry patted Louise’s shoulder. “Go get Ben’s horse and saddle him up. We’ll tie this colt to him and let ’em sort themselves out.”

  Louise did as asked. Snip looked happy to be involved. He strode out as Louise led him into the yard. She held his head as Ben led the colt over to Snip.

  Old Harry secured the colt’s lead rope around Snip’s neck, knotted in such a way that the rope wouldn’t tighten. “Now let ’em both go. They’ll work it out. Let’s get the mare in.”

  Louise stood in the centre of the small enclosure. The buckskin mare stood as far away from her as possible, but didn’t move.

  “Chase her up, girl.”

  Harry stood with Ben outside the log gate. Snip and the liver chestnut colt walked around the larger yard, snuffling noses and giving the occasional squeal.

  Louise opened her arms wide. “Trot on!”

  She had lunged horses at the riding school and used her voice to give a sense of energy. The mare started to circle her then stopped.

  “You’ve got to be more dominant. She’s playing with yer.” Old Harry waved his arms and the young mare shot off. “Now keep ’er going.”

  As Louise relaxed, she found the mare’s pace changed with a small alteration in her own body. She moved in front of the trotting mare to turn her in the opposite direction. The mare came straight at her, picking up speed.

  “Wave yer arMs Turn ’er round.”

  Louise leapt into action like a windmill. The mare propped and spun, then started trotting in the opposite direction.

  Returning to the centre of the circle, Louise grinned. “Wow! This is great.”

  She kept the mare trotting and cantering, despite getting a bit dizzy from the constant turning on the spot. She could no longer feel the pain in her thigh from where the mare had kicked her.

  The buckskin mare settled quicker than the colt. Before long, Louise noticed her chewing and stretching her head down to the ground.

  “Shall I stop now?”

  “Not yet. A few more minutes. She needs to be really submissive.”

  Louise let the mare canter a few more laps before stopping. She turned as she had seen Ben do and waited. Nothing happened. Had she stopped too early? Maybe she wouldn’t be able to catch her after all.

  As she was about to turn around and look at the mare, Louise felt a warm breath on her neck. She froze. The smell of hot horse washed over her. Waiting a few more moments, Louise revelled in being so close to a wild horse, a horse that only a couple of days ago had been running free. She turned and raised her hand for the mare to sniff.

  The mare turned her head away. Rather than follow, Louise took a step back as Harry had told her. The mare followed. Louise couldn’t keep the grin off her face. Again she raised her hand. This time the mare nuzzled her. Gingerly, Louise stroked the golden neck. The mare’s skin rippled as if a fly had landed on her. Louise couldn’t believe she was stroking a brumby. She was really touching her. Her brumby!

  She continued to stroke the mare then played the rope over her back and shoulders. With a giant sigh, the mare relaxed. Louise approached her head and slipped on the halter. She had her. Being careful not to pull the rope, Louise led the mare over to where Old Harry and Ben stood.

  “Well done, Louise. That was quick. She’s going to be easy to break in.” Ben’s joy for her showed on his face. “I’ll go and get Ned for you.”

  “Let ’er have some time tied to yer horse before you lead them home. How about a cuppa? I’ll go and light a fire.”

  Louise stood stroking her mare’s neck while Ben saddled Ned. She felt as if she was in a dream. Had she really caught a wild horse? It seemed forever ago that she and Ben had first seen the brumbies galloping across the plains and she had fallen in love with the buckskin mare.

  Confident that they’d be able to lead the horses back to Ben’s farm, Louise wondered what reaction they’d get. She hoped Ben’s father would be impressed with the quality of the horses and the fact she and Ben had caught them, and not cross that they’d mustered the brumbies after the permit had expired. What if he made them let the horses go? Had it all been a waste of time?

  If they did brand the brumbies, would her parents allow her to keep the mare at home after she had been broken in? Would the buckskin belong to her, or to the Naylors?

  Chapter 16

  Ben helped Old Harry place the last of the stones around a small fireplace. He rustled together a handful of dry grass and dead leaves in the centre.

  The old man struck a flint against the tinder. A wisp of smoke spiralled towards the pale blue sky. No clouds passed overhead. No breeze rustled the dry gum leaves.

  Bird song filled the air. Ben thought this had to be a perfect summer day.

  “Are you sure that fire will be alright? We don’t want to start a bush fire.”

  “Don’t you worry. This little thing is safe. I always boil a cuppa out in the bush.” Old Harry coaxed a few flames around the billy with a few carefully placed twigs. “Not like Smythe-Waters, setting fire to the park.”

  Ben sat up from where he had been resting on his elbows. “Do you mean that fire on the boundary of the old leasehold land? Louise and I found a fuel can there. The police have investigated and agree the fire was deliberately lit, but they said they can’t link it to anyone.”

  Ben had been really disappointed that Robert Smythe-Waters hadn’t been caught for lighting the fire. He and Louise still believed that not only did he do it, he was the person who had released the brumbies.

  Louise looked thoughtful. “How do you know it was Mr Smythe-Waters?”

  She stirred circles in the dirt with a piece of stick, making a pile of dead leaves and dry grass.

  Old Harry added a pinch of tea leaves to his billy which had started to boil. “Remember that day I met you at the old homestead?”

  “Of course we do. Dad told you to go away. I’m glad Louise was nicer.” Ben still felt guilty about his bad manners on the day they had fixed up the yards at the old homestead. “That was the day of the fire. You couldn’t have seen who started it from where we were.”

  “No. But when I’m over that way, Jenny and me stay at that old cattleman’s hut. When I got there the day before, Smythe-Waters was raking up leaves and bark along the fence line. I stayed hidden in the trees until he’d gone. If I’d known he was adding fuel to those old posts I would have removed it. I only worked it out after the fire went through.” He stroked his beard with an arthritic hand, knobbly and bent.

  Louise waved her stick in the air. “You must tell the police. That’s the sort of evidence they need. I hope he gets a whopping great fine. Maybe even put in prison. Think of all the creatures
he killed.”

  Ben agreed with Louise, but doubted that the landholder would be punished. Who would believe Old Harry’s word against the wealthy landowner?

  “You’re right, but I don’t go to town often and I don’t like talking to the authorities.” Old Harry swirled the billy in a circle and poured hot tea into an enamel mug. “Anyone else want a cuppa?”

  The sun dipped behind the mountains and a cool shadow fell across the makeshift camp. Ben looked at his watch. “We’d better get going. It’ll take us a couple of hours at least to get home and we don’t know how the brumbies will go.”

  He jumped to his feet and slung the lasso over his shoulders. They had taken down the small makeshift enclosure after Louise had tied her mare to Ned.

  “We’ll have to come back next weekend to take down the big yard.”

  Louise surprised Ben by giving Old Harry a big hug. “Thanks for helping us. I hope we see you again soon.”

  “Oh, I’ll be around. I’ll take down those yards for yer. Don’t you worry about ’em. And thanks for the oats. Jenny can carry them home on top of the hay that she hasn’t eaten.”

  The mule seemed to know she was being talked about. She turned her head to look at Old Harry, hay sticking out of her mouth from where she had been helping herself to the load on her back.

  “She’s really cute.” Louise crossed to the mare and stroked her long nose.

  “We’d better go. It’s past four o’clock.”

  Ben thanked Old Harry again and went across to Snip and the liver chestnut colt. The young stallion had been tied on the offside of Snip so that Ben could mount as usual from the nearside.

  “Take care on the way home. I’ll find yer in the park one day. Look after those ’orses.” Harry untied Jenny and stood waiting while Ben and Louise mounted.

  Louise settled into Ned’s saddle, the mare still tied to his neck. “I can’t believe it’s so late. My parents will be worried by the time we’re home. It’s a pity mobile phones don’t work out here.”

  The brumbies trotted alongside Snip and Ned without giving any trouble. Ben suspected that they felt safe in the presence of the other horses, as if they were in a herd. Every so often the colt would take a nip at Snip. The gelding took no notice. Ben was proud of the way his young horse had settled to work. All the long days in the mountains to catch the brumbies had turned him from a nervous green horse into a good working mount.

  Louise seemed to be handling her two horses well. The mare dragged back a bit from Ned, but every time the halter tightened she surged forward. “I’m glad we caught these two before the big muster. I couldn’t bear the thought of them going to the sales. These have been the best school holidays ever.”

  Ben agreed. “The big muster’s only a couple of weeks away. I doubt they’ll get many horses this year. I think they’re all too spooked. What with the fire, and our musters, they’ve probably hidden down south. We haven’t seen any other brumbies for ages.”

  Ben realised too that with the hot dry summer there was less grass than usual. “I bet they’ve headed for the other side of Mt. Evans. The musterers won’t go that far in a day.”

  Louise pulled the mare’s lead rope to bring her level with Ned again. “What will we say about where we got these horses from? Our permit has expired, so we’re not supposed to have them.”

  That point had been troubling Ben for a while, but he hadn’t wanted to say anything to Louise. “I think we should ask Uncle Graeme to brand them with his mark. That way no one will know they came from the park.”

  He hoped his uncle would agree to the deception. After all, they would have branded horses with the Naylor mark if they hadn’t been let out after the first muster.

  Louise smiled. “That’s a good idea. We can pretend they came from his stud. You’re a genius.”

  Ben warmed at the compliment. They passed the old mines and turned on to the old road that led back to Mirraburra. A small mob of wallabies grazed at the side of the track. At the sight of the horses, they hopped away, front paws held high, tails held out for balance.

  The horses ignored the bounding wallabies. The rhythmic clatter of their hooves on the stony track lulled Ben as he rode along. He paid no attention to the plume of dust up ahead until the old ute pulled up in front of him.

  Mr Naylor leant out the driver’s window. “So you decided to come home today. We’ve been worried sick about ya.”

  The young stallion baulked at the vehicle and tried to get on the other side of Snip. The pair of horses spun in a circle.

  Ben did his best to control the agitated animals. “We’re almost home, Dad. Can we talk about it there?”

  He didn’t want a lecture in front of Louise, and was worried that he might lose the colt if he didn’t keep moving.

  Mr Hardy climbed out of the passenger side and approached Louise who sat looking shame-faced on Ned. “We thought there must have been another accident. What are these extra horses? Tell me what’s going on, Louise.”

  “Sorry, Dad. Please don’t come too close. They might spook. We caught these brumbies yesterday and it’s taken all day to get a rope on them. We’ve been coming as fast as we could.” Louise’s voice sounded half proud and half regretful. “Isn’t she a beautiful mare?”

  “Well, we’d better get back and tell your mother that you’re safe.” Mr Hardy gave her a stern look before climbing back in the ute.

  Mr Naylor reversed the vehicle to a wider part of the track, turned around and departed.

  The four adults sat in the garden chatting over drinks when Ben and Louise arrived back at the farm. From the laughter and animated conversation, Ben thought they were all getting on really well. Maybe they wouldn’t be in too much trouble.

  Mr Naylor rose as he saw them ride into the yard. “You’d better put all four of them in the cattle yards. You’ll need to keep the brumbies in for a few weeks to work them before you turn them out.”

  Ben couldn’t believe it! It sounded like they could keep the horses. “Yeh, okay. I’ll give them a feed. They’ve all had a hard day.”

  He grinned at Louise as they crossed to the yards. Ben released the brumbies into the small metal-railed yard before hosing down Snip and Ned. Louise fetched hay and oats from the barn.

  The wild horses paced the enclosure, sniffing the ground and checking for a means of escape. When the domesticated horses joined them, they snuffled noses like old friends. The buckskin mare’s hindquarters sank to the ground, and then she lay on her side. With a twist she rolled on her back, squirming in the dust. Standing up, she gave a great shake. Clouds of dust billowed around her.

  “I think she likes it here.” Louise hung over the rails and watched the horses. One after another they all rolled.

  “They’re certainly relaxed. I guess they must be tired too. It’s been a difficult couple of days for them.” Ben tidied away the tack as he waited for Louise. “I’ll let Snifter off his chain then we’d better go face the folks.”

  Ben sauntered into the garden with his hands in his pockets. The table contained all sorts of nibblies and dips; carrot and celery sticks with cream cheese, crackers and chutneys, grapes and crisps. He helped himself to a large chunk of cheese. “Sorry we’re late, Ma. It took a while to halter the brumbies.”

  Mrs Naylor shook her head and frowned. “It’s a good job Adam Cartwright rang today.”

  She paused as Ben looked at her with raised eyebrows. “He’s extended the permit until tomorrow, the end of the school holidays.”

  “Cool! That means it’s legal for us to have those guys.” Ben punched the air and grinned. “Did he say why?”

  Ben’s father took a swig of his beer. “He said he checked the yards and agrees those brumbies must have been let out deliberately. Sounds like he’s impressed with the work you did on the place.”

  “Awesome! We’ve got news for him
too. Old Harry has been helping us, and he says he saw Mr Smythe-Waters set that fire.”

  Louise perched on her mother’s chair. “Harry has been a great help and taught us heaps. I don’t think he’s bad at all.”

  Mrs Hardy wrapped her arms around Louise. “Maybe, but we were so worried about you when you were late. After all that’s happened this summer, I’ll be glad to have you back in school so I know where you are. No more gallivanting around the mountains.”

  She dabbed tears away from the corners of her eyes.

  Mr Naylor coughed. “Ah, so Old Harry has a story to tell, huh? You’d better tell me all about it, and how he helped ya.”

  He guzzled another mouthful of beer. “That’s a good looking colt you’ve caught, Ben. What you going to do with him now?”

  Ben beamed. “I guess we need to brand them and give those forms to Mr Cartwright. Then I can start breaking him in.”

  Snifter jumped up to try and take the cheese out of Ben’s hand. He pushed the dog away. “That should be fun, he’s got plenty of spirit. I thought I’d call him Brandy.”

  Mrs Hardy laughed. “I hope you teach him better manners than your dog.”

  Louise’s father pulled his chair up next to her. “I gather you’ve been handling that mare of yours well. What are you going to do with her?”

  Louise looked across at Ben and shrugged her shoulders.

  Ben answered for her. “She can keep her here, can’t she Dad? We can work them together after school. At least we’ve got the round yard, and the cattle pens. We can’t let a brumby out in a paddock yet, Louise would never catch her.”

  Mr Hardy nodded as if he understood. “Won’t you want to ride her at home though, Louise?”

  She shook her head. “She’s too young to ride yet. We’ll only be doing ground work. It’d be great to keep her here for now.”

  Mr and Mrs Hardy swapped looks. At a nod from Mrs Hardy, Louise’s father clapped his hands together. “Well, if it’s okay with these good people, then that’s settled. You’ve saved her from becoming pet food. What are you going to name her?”