Freedom's Land

by Anna Jacobs

  She could feel him nod but he didn’t say anything, just continued to hold her close.

  After a while, she decided to give him something to do to take his mind off things. ‘We’d better make arrangements for milking the cows and separating the cream. Can’t leave the poor things with full udders, can we?’

  ‘How do we separate the cream? Everything was burned.’

  ‘We’ll borrow Gil’s cart and go into Northcliffe and replace what we can. I still have my savings. We’re not penniless.’

  His voice was harsh, with an edge to it. ‘Money won’t buy buildings, won’t take us back to where we were.’

  ‘No, we’ll take ourselves back, step by step.’

  ‘And what if there’s another bush fire? And another. What if we lose everything again? We’ve not been lucky here. First we drew the worst block of land, now this!’

  She’d never seen him so discouraged. ‘We’ll just – do what we have to,’ was all she could manage.

  He gave her another quick hug then pushed her to arm’s length, looked at her and smiled. Just a slight lifting of the lips, but it lifted her heart with it.

  ‘I was lucky in one thing, at least, the most important thing of all.’

  She was a little puzzled. ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘Lucky to find you, to marry a strong woman who’ll work by my side, who’ll brighten my darker moments and gild my happy ones.’

  A tide of warmth ran through her and the words echoed in her mind. She would never forget this wonderful compliment, never. ‘As you do for me.’

  He kissed her, and she kissed him back sweetly and gently.

  She tried to pull away and he wouldn’t let her, so she laid her cheek against his and tried to lighten the tension. ‘I really like this sort of work, you know, being outdoors and working with animals.’ To her relief, his smile still lingered and the bitterness had gone from his face.

  ‘I like it too. So . . . we’ll start again. Together.’

  His next kiss wasn’t gentle, it was full of passion and need. It lasted a long time, making her head spin with pleasure and the wonderful knowledge of how much she was loved.

  Then she heard giggles and he must have too, because he stiffened and moved his lips from hers. Together they looked back at the house to see the three children grinning at them from the doorway.

  ‘Look at them,’ she said. ‘What grand children they are.’ She let go of him and held out her arms.

  Janie immediately set off running towards her. A few seconds later Ned followed, then Jack, and they were all hugging and kissing one another, a rare demonstration of their love, but something to hold on to in the hard times to come.

  ‘I’m hungry,’ Ned said, when the moment had passed.

  ‘You’re always hungry. All right, I’ll come and get you some food. Andrew love, if I send Ned out with one of my mixing bowls, can you wash Blossom’s udder and get some milk from her for breakfast?’

  And so the work began.

  But the fire had done one good thing, Norah thought later. It had bound them tightly together as a family, and for that she was deeply thankful. So far away from home, they had only one another so needed strong love to support them all.

  Gil sat beside the driver as the truck jolted along the road to Northcliffe. He didn’t really want to make conversation, but forced himself to pay enough attention not to upset his garrulous companion. Billy obviously loved talking.

  When they got into Northcliffe, they saw no one in the town centre.

  ‘Don’t stop,’ he told Billy. ‘I want to see if I’ve still got a house left.’

  There weren’t any signs of men working this side of the camp ground and he wondered where they were. But the first few farms were untouched, thank goodness, and cream cans were standing by their entrances as usual.

  The camp ground was empty too. Gil’s anxiety rose as the truck slowed down to enter a burnt landscape. Where was everyone? Had someone been killed?

  ‘Damned bush fires!’ the other muttered as they drove into the part where the fire had struck, a desolate landscape, all black tree trunks and scorched earth.

  There was no edge of pain to his companion’s voice, Gil thought, no real understanding of what it meant to stand helpless as fire raced through a piece of bush, destroying what you’d created with your own hands. Billy was just echoing what unaffected people always said.

  But Gil had seen the effects of bush fires before, had helped a friend who’d had one go through his place, and seen how devastated both land and man were afterwards. Besides, this was his group, his friends who’d suffered.

  Above all, he prayed no lives had been lost. Land endured and plants regenerated, buildings could be replaced but people couldn’t.

  They were driving even more slowly now. On both sides of the track stood blackened trees, some with shreds of curling leaves clustered here and there, most bare. Some had tumbled over, others pointed what remained of the charred trunk upwards in a final jagged salute to the fire.

  Some of the larger fallen trees were still smouldering, giving off little wisps of smoke and he made a mental note to send men to shovel earth over them to make sure they didn’t erupt into another fire.

  Every now and then a group of trees near the track was only half burned, the lower leaves scorched and curled, but some of the upper branches still showing clumps of green. Bush fires were like that, moving on sudden whims, sparing some, totally destroying others.

  The air smelled strongly of smoke, so acrid his breath caught in his throat as he drew it in.

  Where was everyone? Had the fire damage been worse than he’d heard?

  Was his own home still safe?

  Damnation! He should have stopped in Northcliffe for the latest news, not rushed blindly on.

  Before Andrew could set off to borrow the cart, which was in Pete’s keeping while Gil was away, Norah insisted on everyone eating a proper breakfast. Then together they wrote out a list of basic necessities and she handed over her savings to pay for them, knowing he didn’t have enough of his own money left.

  ‘I hate taking it from you,’ he said.

  ‘It’s not mine or yours, it’s ours now.’ She went to the door with him and looked across the burnt land. The paddocks might not have any grass left on them at the moment, but that would grow again. They’d need the fences mending, though, to keep the animals from straying. Some of them looked intact, but were badly burnt. Even as she watched, one of the pigs pushed down a section of blackened fence, raising a cloud of sooty ash. Then it set off for a stroll.

  Andrew cursed it under his breath.

  Norah realised he could do more here than she could. ‘Why don’t I go into town to get these things?’

  He hesitated. ‘Don’t you have things to do here?’

  ‘I think it’s more important that you fence in the animals than I clean the house, don’t you? And I’ll buy a loaf from the baker’s. We’ll make do with sandwiches and porridge for the moment.’

  ‘You’re right. I can do more here.’

  ‘I’m sure Pete will drive me back afterwards with the things I buy.’ There would be too much to carry, that was sure.

  ‘He has his own work to do. I don’t like to bother him.’

  ‘Well, I can ask, can’t I? We really need some help, love.’

  ‘If he’s too busy, bring what you can and I’ll go back for the rest later. We’ll manage somehow.’

  Andrew hated asking for help. She’d noticed it before, this stubbornly independent streak in her husband, so she didn’t comment or argue. But if Pete didn’t help her to bring everything back, she’d be surprised and disappointed. It was such a pity Gil was away, because he’d have been here first thing this morning, helping out. And Andrew would have accepted his friend’s help more easily, wouldn’t have had a choice about it if she knew Gil.

  She set off to walk into town, taking Janie with her to help carry things and leaving the boys to help their father me
nd the fences. All three were dressed in yesterday’s filthy, torn clothes.

  It was going to be hard going setting things to rights, rebuilding what they’d lost.

  ‘The turn to my place is just round the bend, to the right,’ Gil said. He hadn’t let the driver turn into the camp ground, because his anxiety to see his home was all he could focus on.

  The truck edged forward slowly, weaving in and out of tumbled branches and trunks. Twice they’d had to stop to move a fallen, half-burned tree trunk, using the jack as a lever. He could have got off and walked as fast as this, but the truck was loaded with his and Irene’s things.

  As they left the main track and bumped up the hill to his place, he saw that his house was still standing. The fire had gone through further down the slope, but where he lived was green still. ‘Oh, thank goodness!’ he exclaimed in a voice choked with relief. ‘Thank bloody goodness!’

  Billy looked at him. ‘Your place looks all right, mate. You’re lucky.’

  ‘Yes.’ As he glanced back along the main track, he noticed two figures approaching from the burned part. ‘Stop!’ He was off the truck and running towards her before the driver finished braking. ‘Norah! How have you and Andrew fared?’

  ‘Oh, Gil, I’m so glad you’re back.’

  She clutched his hands so tightly, he was terrified for a moment or two. ‘No one’s hurt?’

  ‘No. The house is all right, but we’ve lost all our outbuildings, every single one. I was caught at the farm and Andrew had to wait out the fire at the camp ground. The children and I just kept wetting everything down.’

  He could guess how hard that had been. ‘What about your stock?’

  ‘We drove them into the garden. They’re alive but hungry. Andrew’s rebuilding the fences now, fetching poles from the unburned bush along the track. Only a few hundred yards and the fire would have missed us. It was only a spur fire, not the main one. No one else got hit so badly.’ She snapped her mouth shut, a bleak look on her face.

  He bit back a curse at the unkindness of fate. ‘Where are you going now?’

  ‘To the store. We need stock feed and other things. I was hoping Pete would give me a lift back with them on your cart. We’ll have to milk in the open till he can build us another cowshed. Good thing the weather is warmer.’

  ‘We’ll go up to my house and I’ll lend you a few things to start you off.’ He shoved her and Janie into the cab of the truck, and clung to the back as it jolted up the slope.

  At his house, he checked that everything was all right, which it was apart from the smell of smoke and drifts of ash here and there. With the driver’s help, he lugged all his things inside, then turned back to Norah. ‘What do you need most?’

  ‘I’ve got a list.’

  ‘Good. Give it me and I’ll get them for you, then I’ll bring them out to you myself.’

  He turned to the other man. ‘Will you take her home with these things then come back for me and take me into town to buy what they need, Billy?’

  ‘We can’t ask you to do all that,’ she said quickly, conscious of Andrew’s pride.

  Gil grinned at her. ‘Try stopping me.’

  The driver grinned at her too. ‘Same goes for me, missus. I’m my own boss and if a man can’t help someone after a bush fire, he’s as worthless as teats on a bull!’

  When the truck chugged up to the house, Andrew came running out.

  ‘Norah! Is something wrong?’

  Janie slid out of the cab and she followed. ‘No. Quite the opposite. I met Gil on the way into town and he lent me some things. He said he’d go into town and buy the rest for us.’

  Andrew’s expression brightened and he helped them unload.

  Only when the driver had left did he think to ask, ‘How did Gil get on in Freo?’

  ‘I forgot to ask him. It can’t be good news or he’d have told me, surely?’

  ‘We’d better not say anything about Irene, unless he does.’ He looked down at the pile of clean buckets and bowls. ‘Well, let’s get those poor beasts milked. At least we can do that properly now.’

  He was, she could see, still grim-faced and trying to hide it. Sighing for his pain, she went into the house to start shaking the ash out of things and tidying up the children’s room. She was glad they still had their possessions. They’d lost a lot, but not everything.

  If only Andrew didn’t lose the will to start again. She couldn’t imagine living anywhere else now.

  Armed with Norah’s shopping list, Gil went back into town, where he found his horse and cart behind the store and Pete inside buying hardware.

  ‘Where is everyone?’

  ‘Those who can be spared are cutting trees and making slabs. A couple of men are down at the timber mill getting what they can.’

  ‘For what?’

  Pete looked at him as if he’d lost his wits. ‘To help the Boyds, of course. They were worst hit by the fire, so we’ll work on their place first, build them a few sheds. The others only lost a few bits of fence.’

  Gil felt a tide of warmth run through him. This was what it’d been like when he was growing up, neighbour helping neighbour through the bad times. He hadn’t expected the group to reach this stage so quickly, but the news only made him more certain he wanted to put down roots in this community.

  ‘Let’s go through the details,’ he said brusquely to cover his feelings. ‘Oh, and this is Billy. He’s volunteered to help us take the stuff out to the Boyds’ farm.’

  Pete immediately shook Billy’s hand and slapped him on the back. ‘Good man, good man! I was going to have to make several journeys.’

  ‘I’ll go and ask that builder fellow if he can spare some dressed wood in a good cause,’ Gil said. He turned to the storekeeper. ‘I hope you’ll give us a good price on the stuff we’re buying. This is no time to be thinking of profit when a family’s lost so much.’

  The man pursed his lips, then nodded. ‘Cost price.’

  ‘Thanks.’ Filled with determination, Gil went off to see what else he could scrounge for his friend.

  Ned was the first to hear the truck coming back and went to fetch his father, who was felling some more small trees further down the track to use as fencing poles.

  By the time they got back to the farm, not only was the truck parked outside the house, but the cart was just drawing to a halt and men were gathered round both vehicles. Other men could be seen in the distance, walking along the track towards his farm. Women too.

  Janie came flying across to him. ‘Daddy, everyone’s coming to help us,’ she shouted. ‘All our friends.’

  Norah had been talking to the driver, but turned to beam at her husband. ‘Isn’t it marvellous?’

  ‘Come and help us unload,’ Gil yelled from the rear of the truck. ‘There’s another load of timber to come out yet.’

  Andrew couldn’t move. He’d never have asked, never. But he hadn’t needed to. Half their neighbours were there. Even as he looked there was a squeaking sound and Ted came up from the track pushing a handcart he’d built himself. It had been the cause of much teasing, with its solid wooden wheels made from a tree trunk and the squeak that no amount of oiling would stop.

  Now, the cart was full of tools and small pieces of wood, the sort you needed for crosspieces or slats.

  ‘Thought you might like some help with the rebuilding,’ Ted said cheerfully. ‘We all had a few bits and pieces to spare.’

  ‘Good man!’ Gil said as Andrew seemed lost for words. ‘We’ll need to clear up the mess before we can make a start. Do you want the sheds in the same places?’

  Andrew’s gulp was quite audible and Norah could see that he was fighting against tears, blinking furiously.

  ‘We’re so grateful for your help,’ she told Ted, to give her husband time to pull himself together.

  ‘We’ve money to pay for the timber.’ Andrew gestured to the pile that had been unloaded. His voice was rough, sounding almost ungracious.

  ‘They’ve given
you the first load free,’ Gil said. ‘And the hardware at cost price. A couple of men are down the track, felling trees and splitting them into slabs for your shed walls. Your animals won’t complain about how green the wood is. Now, where do we build?’

  ‘In the same place,’ Andrew managed. ‘Thanks. I can’t—’ He broke off again.

  One man nudged another and jerked his head. They walked over to the ruined cowshed and began knocking the remains of it down, heedless of the black dirt that flew everywhere.

  Andrew pressed one hand against his mouth for a moment then took a deep breath. ‘I don’t know how to thank you enough.’

  ‘Argh, you’d do the same for us,’ someone said.

  The men were fidgeting, seemed at a loss for what to say, embarrassed by the emotion, so Norah intervened again. ‘I’ll brew us all a big pot of tea. It’s thirsty work clearing up a mess like this.’ She had a former kerosene can that Andrew had converted into a square bucket. That’d do.

  ‘You’re right there, missus,’ someone called. ‘Make mine sweet and strong.’

  ‘My Pam’s coming over later to help you, soon as she’s finished at our place,’ Ted told her. ‘We’re all here for the rest of the day, so she’s bringing some food. She’s been cooking since dawn. Some of the other women will be along later, and they’ll be bringing food, too.’

  The men exchanged jokes and mocking insults as they split up into pairs and found small trees for poles or felled bigger ones to make slabs. The milled timber soon started going up to frame the buildings again, and the second load the truck brought out from town contained some battered sheets of corrugated iron for roofing, pieces they’d been given for nothing.

  The women helped Norah clear out the house and hang up the bedding and clothes that reeked of smoke. Some prepared food for the whole group of workers, others began to repair the damage to the garden, one took a gaggle of children to find wood for the fire in the unburnt bush, using the squeaking handcart to bring it back, again amid much laughter. And for once, no one scolded the children for dirtying their clothes.

  Everyone worked as long as they could that day, some staying until it was too dark to place a nail correctly. They snatched something to eat now and then, not caring what it was, and they drank gallons of tea.