Freedom's Land

by Anna Jacobs

  Bert took a leaf or two and tested that out by tearing them up, then continued helping.

  Gil bit back a sharp comment.

  They worked in silence for a few more minutes, then Gil stood back. ‘That should do for now. Let’s go and get a cup of tea. Thanks for your help.’

  Bert nodded and followed him to the fire, where Norah Boyd was once again in charge. Capable woman that, but too tall for his taste, Bert decided. He could see no sign of his wife, so went across to the tent and found her still sleeping, the only one left in bed. He shook her hard and she jerked awake with a squeak of shock.

  ‘Wake up, you lazy bitch! Everyone else is working.’

  She looked at him dopily, then sat up and yawned. ‘I’m no good in the mornings.’

  ‘They get up at dawn here, so you’ll have to change your ways. It looks bad, you lying in bed like this. Did no one try to wake you?’

  She frowned, then nodded slowly. ‘I told ’em to leave me alone.’

  He could imagine it. She had the sharpest voice he’d ever heard when she was annoyed about something and she’d no doubt used language that had shocked the other women. He pulled the cover off her and she complained in that whiny voice he hated. ‘Damned well get up or I’ll tip a bucket of water over you.’

  She called him things his mother wouldn’t have known the meaning of and before he knew it, they were off again, quarrelling. Well, he wasn’t going to let a woman talk to him like that, wife or no wife. In the end he pulled the other blanket from underneath her for good measure, tossing them out of the tent as she squealed in protest.

  Still angry, he went across to join the rest of the group, who were standing around eating breakfast and pretending they weren’t listening to the quarrel. As if anyone could miss it! He avoided their eyes. What did he care about them anyway? When Norah held out a steaming cup he took it from her gratefully. ‘Thanks.’

  He tipped some of the hot liquid down his throat and watched his wife stumble across to the latrines, looking like a sleepwalker.

  ‘She’s always dopey in the mornings,’ he said to no one in particular. ‘And bad tempered.’

  Gil let out a huff of laughter. ‘When you get your farm set up and the cows arrive, she’ll have to get up at dawn every day. Cows need milking early and late.’

  Bert nodded. Susan had been eager to come when he showed her the pamphlet, eager to get on his good side again, more like, because he’d threatened to throw her out when he found out what she’d been doing during the war. But he knew her eagerness was also because she was imagining herself like the farmers’ wives in their town, comfortably circumstanced, with maids to help out.

  He hadn’t enlightened her. If they’d stayed in England, her family would have continued to interfere in their marriage. Those brothers of hers weren’t afraid to use their fists if they thought anyone had hurt their little sister.

  Ha! It was more likely that she was the one doing the hurting. She was cunning, Susan was, nothing like the sweet girl he’d thought he was marrying. She’d stopped hiding her true nature within days of the wedding, but he was stuck with her by then.

  He sighed. He’d never had anyone to stand up for him – and neither would she have here. See how she liked that.

  In the meantime he’d do the best he could for himself and sod everyone else.

  While they were waiting for people to gather for breakfast, and two women were cutting up bread on the top of someone’s tin trunk, Gil showed Norah how to mix and bake a batch of damper. He helped her embed one of the camp ovens in the hot embers at the edge of the fire.

  ‘It’s a good thing those pots are made of solid iron,’ she said as he scattered more hot embers on its lid.

  ‘Aye, they’re tough all right. Think you can make some more batches now?’

  ‘Yes. It’s like soda bread. I just needed to know how to cook it, really.’

  ‘You might keep an eye on the one that’s started, and turn it round later, so the other side gets the heat.’ He turned to assess the other settlers. In spite of a night’s sleep, some of them looked bone weary. Not used to sleeping on the hard ground, he thought.

  He let them finish eating breakfast then called them to order. ‘Come and sit down. We need to plan how we’re going to set up the camp and farms.’

  He waited till they were settled, then explained. ‘We’re supposed to conduct a ballot for the blocks, with everyone present, only the rest of our group hasn’t arrived yet. But as we don’t know when they’re coming, I suggest we do it anyway. We’ll walk along to see the blocks, then we’ll put all twenty pieces of land into the ballot and assign them by number. When the others arrive, they can draw for the numbers.’

  ‘How do we run it fairly?’ Bert asked at once.

  He would ask that, Gil thought. Bert seemed to suspect everyone of trying to cheat him. ‘The government has sent us forms to record the result of the ballot, and we have to do it properly, in public. There are numbers for each block on the map I’ve got, and we can put the same numbers on pieces of paper. You can do that, if you like, Bert.’ He hid a grin at the man’s solemn nod and saw others smiling as if they understood why he was singling out Bert.

  ‘We’ll put the pieces of paper into my hat and let the youngest member of each family draw one and that’s the block they get, no arguments. Afterwards, we’ll keep the rest of the block numbers in a sealed envelope for when the other families arrive.’

  A short time later Gil set off, walking them to see the nearest blocks, but not leaving the road. To his surprise, all of them came, carrying small children if they had to. He pointed out his own block and when they asked why his wasn’t in the ballot, he said simply, ‘Foreman’s privilege.’

  ‘I suppose you’ve taken the best block,’ Susan Grenville sneered.

  ‘I’ve taken the one that best suits my purpose, yes. And I’ll earn the privilege, believe me.’ His had a narrower road frontage but with quite a big stretch of the creek running through it. He preferred that one because it was a bit more secluded than most. He’d build his house further back, didn’t want to live in his neighbours’ pockets.

  Within a couple of hours he had them back at the camp and insisted they eat dinner first, a scratch meal of bread and tinned meat from one of the big tins. He’d sent Pete into Northcliffe in the horse and cart to order regular bread to be sent in from Pemberton, and extra provisions for the time they’d have to spend living together as a group. Once they had their own humpies they could make what arrangements they wanted for feeding themselves and it’d be deducted from the money the men earned by clearing the land.

  He’d claim they were working from today onwards – and who was to know when exactly they’d started now the clerk had gone back to report that the first half of this new group had arrived safely? Selecting their blocks counted as working for the scheme, in Gil’s book anyway.

  No one lingered over the meal and afterwards they gathered round him in a tense silence. He’d be tense too.

  Bert solemnly wrote out the names, cut them up into bits of paper and screwed them up, with the other man Gil had chosen watching every move. Whether you got one of the better blocks or not would make a big difference to your chances of success, though some of this lot looked too soft to last it out to him. And the surveyors might claim they’d divided the blocks fairly, but you couldn’t change the nature of the land. Some blocks were definitely more promising than others.

  Gil carried out the ballot grimly, letting a three-year-old lass pull the first piece of paper out of the hat.

  When the numbers were read out, Gil was disappointed, though he’d tried not to show it. He’d hoped Andrew Boyd would get a good block. The man was a hard worker if Gil had ever met one, and his wife was just as capable. But Boyd had got the worst block of all.

  Irene and her husband had got the block next to it, which was only marginally better, while Bert had got the best block of all.

  Life just wasn’t fair somet
imes.

  8

  After the draw, Andrew, Norah and the children walked up to their new block in silence. The children kept quiet as if they’d sensed the mood of their parents.

  When they got to the block, Andrew said curtly, ‘Don’t go beyond the cleared part, children and don’t go poking your fingers into anything. You heard what Mr Matthews said: there are poisonous spiders and scorpions. Your mother and I are going to have a look round.’

  When they were out of the children’s hearing, Andrew said bluntly, ‘This is the worst of all the blocks. No creek to give water in summer and more big trees to fell than on other blocks.’

  ‘We won’t be short of firewood, then,’ she said, trying to look on the bright side. ‘And I like that group of huge trees. Can we build our house in their shade?’

  He shook his head. ‘Didn’t you hear Gil yesterday evening talking about how that sort of tree drops branches and kills people. He called them “widowmakers”.’

  ‘No. I was clearing up after the meal. We’d better ask him where would be best, then.’

  ‘I want to walk the boundaries today and I think you should too. After all, it’s going to be your home as well as mine.’

  ‘Is there time? I have to get back and help cook tea.’

  Words exploded from him. ‘To hell with cooking tea for everyone else!’ He closed his eyes for a few seconds, then opened them and said in a calmer voice, ‘We’ve come all this way and we both ought to know what our land is like.’ Seizing her hand, he pulled her along. As they reached the edge of the cleared land he looked back to check on the children and called, ‘Your mother and I are going to walk the boundaries. Jack, you’re in charge. Don’t let me down, now.’

  The older boy nodded.

  Janie looked at her mother, her mouth getting that square, I’m-going-to-cry look. Norah said sharply, ‘Behave yourself, Janie, and do as Jack tells you, or I’ll tan your backside.’ It was a threat she rarely carried out, but Janie knew it meant she was very serious about the orders she was giving.

  Relieved, Andrew went on, ‘You three can make yourselves useful by collecting firewood and piling it over there. Look for dead, dry wood, not green branches. Put small pieces for kindling in one pile and bigger branches in another. And bash them with a big stick before you pick them up to make sure there are no spiders hiding in them. If you find any pieces that are fairly straight, like poles, set them on one side for fencing. Now jump to it!’

  ‘Yes, Dad.’

  From the way his sons nodded and set to work, it was clear he was strict with them and even little Ned was used to working. Janie was still looking at her mother pleadingly, but Norah repeated, ‘You heard your father, Janie. Do as he told you.’

  A short distance beyond the cleared land Andrew stopped.

  ‘How are we to be sure of finding our way back?’ Norah asked. It was as if they’d stepped into another world. The bush seemed untouched only twenty yards from the cleared part and it had closed around them as if it never wanted to let them go. It made her feel nervous, but at the same time, she found it beautiful. She’d never been alone in the countryside before, she realised in surprise.

  It even smelled different here, a faint tangy scent. She picked a gum leaf off a lower branch of a tree and crumpled it in her fingers, sniffing them. ‘Eucalyptus oil.’

  He looked at her.

  ‘It smells of eucalyptus oil. My mother always keeps a bottle of it handy for when anyone has a cold. If you put some in hot-water and breathe in the steam, it clears your nose. Or you can gargle with it for a sore throat. Fancy me seeing the trees it comes from! Sorry, I’m going on and we have to hurry if we’re to walk round the block.’

  He smiled at her. ‘That’s all right. It’s exciting to learn about our new country, don’t you think?’

  ‘Yes. And I like being out of doors, I always have. But I don’t want to get lost.’

  ‘We’ll break off branches or pull down saplings to leave a trail as we go. And I’ve got this as well.’ He pulled a small compass out of his pocket.

  It took them almost two hours to walk round the boundaries in this way and she’d have gone astray if it weren’t for him and his compass, because try as they might, it just wasn’t possible to walk in a straight line.

  When they got back they found the children still in the cleared area, with several piles of branches and twigs collected. The boys were in the middle of a mock sword fight with two straight branches and Janie was sleeping on the ground in the shade of a tree.

  ‘I’m hungry, Dad,’ Ned complained, abandoning the sword fight to run over to them, ‘and we’re all thirsty.’

  ‘We are too. We should have brought some water! We’d better remember that next time.’ Andrew looked at the children apologetically. ‘Sorry.’

  Norah shook her daughter awake and studied the children’s sunburnt faces. ‘You three had better stay out of the sun as much as possible for the rest of the day, or you’ll get badly burnt.’

  The boys eyed her rebelliously and looked at their father.

  ‘You heard your mother,’ he said. ‘Do as she tells you.’

  But it was clear to her from the dirty looks they gave her that they resented this command. So far she’d not had much opportunity to deal with them, but she would have to from now on. She didn’t need anyone to tell her that only by pulling together as a team would they make something of their new life. And if she expected Andrew to make Janie part of the family, she had to treat his boys like her own sons.

  Only she still wasn’t sure how they felt about their father’s second marriage. Jack at least had looked at her resentfully a few times, and Janie was still not reconciled to her mother marrying Andrew, or sleeping with him.

  Three blocks away, Bert and Susan were quarrelling again.

  ‘You didn’t tell me it’d be like this,’ she raged. ‘It’s a proper swizzle, this scheme of yours is. These aren’t proper farms and it’s jungle out there. I want to go home. I’m not staying here.’

  ‘Don’t be stupid! How will you get back to England? We don’t have enough money for the fares. Anyway, I don’t want to go back. I’ve nothing to go back to. And we’ve been lucky, got one of the best blocks in this group. It’ll be worth something, that will.’ And he might be selling it sooner rather than later, though he wasn’t telling anyone about that.

  ‘Well, I won’t—’

  ‘Won’t what? If you don’t cook, you won’t have anything to eat. And your mother isn’t round the corner here to help you now.’ His anger overflowed and he added, ‘You’re bone idle, you are.’

  Her hand flew out to hit him, but he caught it and gave her a hard shake. ‘Stop that! I’ll not put up with it here – and you’ve no brothers to run to and whine.’ Her brothers had beaten him up on more than one occasion for ill-treating their spoilt young sister, on her word, not because they’d seen anything.

  Susan burst into loud, angry sobs, but when he walked away instead of comforting her, she soon stopped crying and trailed after him.

  She hadn’t gone far into the untouched bush before something slithered past her. For a moment she stood frozen in fear as she saw a long dark snake. It went on its way unheeding, as if she were just another tree, and not until it had vanished from sight could she move. Then she screamed at the top of her voice.

  From a hundred yards away, Bert heard her clearly and something about the tone of her voice told him there was a real problem this time, not one of her fusses over nothing. He ran back to find her shaking and in hysterics, and it was a few minutes before he could calm her down and find out what had happened.

  When she told him, he pulled her into his arms, soothing her. Then he put his arm round her shoulders, walking slowly back to the road.

  They were the first to return to the camp and he went straight across to tell Gil what had happened.

  The foreman asked Susan exactly what she’d seen, then pursed his lips. ‘Sounds like a tiger snake to me. The
y can kill you if they bite you.’ He looked down at her flimsy shoes. ‘You need a good pair of boots, Susan. Those shoes are only good enough for walking round inside a house.’

  ‘I haven’t got a pair of boots!’ she wailed.

  ‘Then you’ll have to get some. You can order a pair from Perth through the shop.’ He looked at Bert. ‘Worth the money, for safety’s sake.’

  ‘I gave her the money to get some before we left, and I thought she had done.’

  Susan scowled from one to the other. ‘They’re ugly, boots are. Only common women wear boots.’

  Gil shrugged. ‘Your choice. Wear them or risk getting bitten. And since you’re back, you can make a start on cooking tea.’

  ‘Me?’

  ‘You expect to eat, don’t you? So you’ll need to share in the cooking. We all have to pull our weight here.’

  Bert hid a smile as she stamped off and began opening one of the huge tins of corned beef. But he knew only too well how bad a cook she was, so he was relieved when Pam Beeston came back. She watched what his wife was doing for a minute or two then took over, relegating her to the role of helper.

  He was even more relieved to see Susan obeying the older woman’s orders, though she had a sulky look on her face.

  He’d made a bad mistake when he married her, the worst of his whole life. Been bamboozled by a pretty face, and wasn’t the first that had happened to. It made him feel angry all the time, being lumbered with her did. If she didn’t start pulling her weight, he’d leave her and hang the vows he’d taken.

  The rest of the day was spent in putting up the first humpy on the camp ground. The group would be formed of about twenty families, but the clerk had said the others weren’t due yet. This humpy would be used for keeping the stores dry and safe.

  It had been decided quite quickly to put one humpy on each block of land that had been allocated, rather than putting them up at the camp ground and then having to move them later. They all wanted to be on their own land, and Gil didn’t blame them. He’d stay at the camp ground for the time being, so his humpy could go up later.