As Luke was thinking how to answer that, the freshly dug grave of the stranger in eyesight, Belle poked her head out of the door. ‘Papa?’
‘Belle?’
‘I had no idea she was coming, sir,’ said Luke, wetting his lips. ‘Honestly. She just showed up.’
Belle emerged from the hut, hands on hips, with a defiant tilt to her chin. ‘I know everything, Papa. Luke told me, just as you should have done. No, Papa, leave him alone. I’m no child to be sheltered from the truth. Luke has answered my questions honestly, which is more than I can say for you and Mama.’
‘I want to talk to Luke alone,’ said Daniel, rounding on him, taller in his anger.
‘You won’t believe it, Papa. Luke’s captured three tiger cubs, healthy and unharmed. I’ve named the biggest one King, and the other two Mindi and Bindi. They’re in the hut.’
‘Tigers? Is this true?’ In his excitement, Daniel’s mood swiftly changed. ‘That’s marvellous. However did you do it?’
Luke shrugged. It sounded too ridiculous to say the cubs walked in of their own accord. He told Bear to go inside and lie down, hoping the dog’s calm presence would reassure them. Then he showed the rare youngsters to Daniel, gently parting the bracken to reveal each one in turn. Despite some hissing, the tigers didn’t seem too concerned.
Next, Daniel inspected the meat safe containing the sleepy devils. ‘Remarkable! Tell me everything.’
Luke could offer a reasonable amount of information about the little devils, but of the tiger cubs he was largely ignorant. He didn’t know why they’d come, why they’d so inexplicably attached themselves to Bear or where their mother was. It had only been twenty-four hours since their arrival and they’d spent most of that time hiding.
‘Have they eaten?’ asked Daniel.
‘The largest cub has,’ said Luke. ‘Not sure about the others. But I do know they seem much happier when Bear’s with them.’
‘Odd animal associations can form when a species is thrown off balance,’ Daniel said. ‘I’ve heard accounts from Rhodesia of lone lionesses adopting antelope fawns after their pride was killed by hunters, caring for them as they would their own young. Cheetahs adopting orphaned jackal puppies. Polar bears protecting wolf cubs. In times of need, in search of comfort, differences don’t matter. We could all learn lessons of tolerance and compassion from these creatures.’
Luke listened, fascinated. There was no need for secrets now. He told them his theory about Bear hunting with the tigers.
‘Entirely possible, my dear boy. Although I admit that at first I discounted such stories as nonsense.’ Daniel beamed at Bear, who graciously raised his head and wagged his tail. ‘So here we have the demon dog, eh? Who single-handedly has cast such fear into the ignorant?’ Bear walked over for a pat. ‘This splendid creature, alone in the wilderness, chose unusual companions – as, I might add, did you, my boy.’
Daniel shot Luke a glance of such open admiration that he fairly burst with happiness. The world had changed utterly in the space of an hour.
‘We have these apparently orphaned thylacines, bonded to Bear as surely as to their true parent,’ said Daniel. ‘This is a natural history experiment too good to waste. I implore you, Luke, for the safety of Bear and these magnificent cubs, let’s bring them to Binburra without delay.’
‘Of course.’
‘Wait here and I’ll bring a cart to collect you. Ah, here’s Angus now.’ Daniel clasped Luke’s hand. ‘Goodbye. I’ll be back before dark.’
‘What about me?’ asked Belle.
‘I can’t have an extra rider slowing down my horse. Since it’s improper for you to remain here with Luke unchaperoned, you must go home whichever way you came.’
Unchaperoned. Luke felt Belle’s lips again on his, and a confusing jumble of feelings swept through him. Desire, which he tried and failed to suppress. Shame. Rightness.
‘I walked for hours through the forest,’ Belle said. ‘Surely, Papa, I can wait here for the cart?’
Belle looked so beautiful. Luke longed to have her all to himself again. What would Daniel say?
‘Oh, very well then.’ Daniel’s mind seemed already to be on something else. He mounted his impatient stallion and set off at a gallop, while Angus was only half in the saddle. Angus lost his stirrups, hanging on precariously as his fleet mare raced after Daniel’s horse.
Luke stood next to Belle, laughing.
‘I’m starving,’ said Belle, as the riders faded from sight. ‘I don’t suppose there’s anything to eat?’
Now they were alone, Luke was suddenly shy. ‘I’ll cook you something.’
Yes, that was it. He’d prepare a proper feast, a last supper of sorts, celebrating his final afternoon here and the things for which he was grateful. Not only protecting the cubs but finding them a powerful ally. Pleasing Daniel in the process. Being able to leave the hut. And Belle. Belle standing before him in her muddy trousers, her fingers tracing the blooms of the waratahs.
No longer burdened by so many secrets, the tension in his body was slipping away. He could feel it in his shoulders, his jaw, in the skin of his face. But still he was holding onto something. Deep inside lay the knowledge of Bear’s fatal attack on the stranger. Luke did not want to bring it to the surface. But it lay in the pit of his stomach, a kernel of anxiety that never entirely left him.
Belle watched Luke place a leg of lamb and some potatoes into a cast-iron pot. She’d never seen a man do even simple cooking before. How very impressive. She was even more impressed when Luke removed his shirt to cut firewood. Strong, sure strokes, expertly executed by muscled arms. A flush of warmth washed through her. It seemed incomprehensible that he was the same person she’d all but despised a few short hours ago.
The sun also showed off its strength, scattering the clouds and lighting up the bush. Belle caught sight of Luke’s scarred back and gasped. The sound of axe on wood drowned out the small sound. Belle held her tongue. There’d be time for questions later.
She followed Luke inside, where he mixed flour, salt and water into soft dough, kneaded a flat loaf and slid it into coals at the edge of the hearth. Soon they were feasting on fresh damper spread with golden syrup while waiting for their dinner to cook. When the lamb was ready, he served her a plate with potatoes and warrigal greens. The meat melted off the bone. Belle had never shared a more scrumptious meal, although she politely refused the cooked land crab still in its shell.
Afterwards they finished with tea and the end of the tinned sweets. Belle manoeuvred close to Luke, hoping to rekindle the giddy intimacy of that kiss – her first kiss – but he kept well clear. It didn’t matter. Just being alone with Luke like this was enough.
They wiled away the rest of the afternoon talking and packing up Luke’s few possessions. ‘Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could just stay here like this forever?’ said Belle, oblivious now to the mud and the smell. The little shack felt like a palace.
The barking dogs announced visitors. Luke’s sudden fierceness as he snatched up his rifle unnerved her. A dray drawn by a dignified clydesdale mare trundled towards the hut, a beaming Angus at the reins. The cart carried a sturdy crate piled high with hay, usually used for transporting poddy calves or lambs.
‘Now this is more like it,’ Angus declared as he drew the rig to a halt. ‘One more ride on that crazy mare is more than my life’s worth.’
Her father brought up the rear on Solomon. ‘Hurry,’ he called. ‘Only three hours, maybe less, before dark.’
With the help of some blankets, they caught the tigers and transferred them, growling and hissing, to their crate. Luke unceremoniously shoved Bear in as well. Then he wedged his meagre bundle and the meat safe containing the little devils at the rear of the driver’s seat.
Luke took Belle’s hand and helped her onto the dray. She squeezed in beside him, thrilled at the feel of his hard body pressed against her.
‘There’s no more room,’ she told Sasha. ‘You’ll have to walk.’
Taki
ng the strain, the patient clydesdale and its unlikely entourage began the bumpy journey back to Binburra.
CHAPTER 19
Christmas had come and gone, and the full heat of summer scorched the range. A frowning Elizabeth watched Belle and Luke canter their horses down the hill towards the house. Lately, whenever she searched for her daughter, she could be found by Luke’s side. Elizabeth considered herself modern enough, but she knew it was courting trouble to allow the pair to spend so much time alone together. When Belle visited Edward at his estate she was always properly chaperoned. It was true the pair often slipped off by themselves, but at least there was the semblance of propriety. It annoyed Elizabeth that Luke and Belle behaved as if they were still children, taking off whenever they pleased.
Her own mother had always enforced strict rules of conduct for girls. ‘An unmarried woman under thirty should never be alone in the company of a man. If a suitable companion cannot be arranged then she should remain in the home or, at the very least, confine herself to the garden.’
How outraged Mother would have been by the behaviour of her unconventional granddaughter. More outraged with Elizabeth, perhaps, for allowing the situation to arise in the first place. For the first time she wondered if her mother’s way was right. She ran her hand across her eyes and moved from the window to the next one. The truth was that neither she nor Daniel had much control of their headstrong child. And the situation was growing worse, keeping Elizabeth awake at night. She wished things could go back to the way they were before Luke arrived.
The horses drew up at the gate. Luke sprang from his saddle, took a firm, familiar grip on Belle’s waist, and lifted the laughing girl to the ground. Elizabeth decided there and then to take her daughter to Hobart for the rest of summer.
A group of unfamiliar riders came into view, heading for the homestead. She hurried to the verandah and called out a warning, but Luke had already spotted the horses and made himself scarce. Elizabeth ran inside to alert her husband. She found him reading in the library.
‘Riders, Daniel. Are the dogs away?’
Daniel closed his book. ‘I’ll check.’
Recently, Bear and Sasha had been restricted either to the house (much to their housekeeper’s dismay) or to the tigers’ pen. Although there’d been no more visits from angry farmers, it was clear the dogs would be shot if they roamed. The nearby hills were crawling with hunters keen to claim the demon dog bounty.
Elizabeth had hoped the attacks on sheep would stop now that Bear and the cubs no longer hunted at night, but the killings continued unabated. This didn’t surprise Daniel, who’d maintained all along that feral dogs and duffers were mainly to blame.
The riders drew to a halt at the front of the house and Elizabeth went to greet them. Allan Grant, the Mitchells’ foreman, dismounted and politely removed his hat. Strung across his saddle lay the body of a large black dog. For a moment her heart forgot to beat.
‘We’ve come to apologise, ma’am,’ began Grant. Daniel emerged from the side of the house and shot his wife a reassuring look. ‘Mr Campbell, sir, as I was just explaining to your lady wife, we’re here to apologise. I shot this brute earlier today along with two others. It’s not your dog, is it, sir?’
‘Indeed, no.’
‘That’s what I thought,’ said Grant. ‘This here’s our culprit.’ He gestured to the dog’s corpse. ‘I caught him pulling down a ewe, bold as brass. A ragged bunch of a dozen or more got away. Quite a few streaky brindle dogs among them. It got me thinking that folks’ imaginations have been playing tricks on them and that you, sir, were right all along. This big black bastard here’s been leading a motley pack of striped mongrels, not wolves. Apparently he’s a rogue fighting dog that gave his owner the slip a few months back, and I’ll collect a fine bounty for him. So it seems we owe you an apology, sir, on two counts. First for accusing your animal. And second, for not taking you serious when you said wild dogs was to blame.’
The other riders muttered their assent as Grant mounted his horse. ‘You must think us a mob of bloody fools to believe something as daft as dogs and wolves teaming up. Especially since you say there ain’t no wolves left in these parts anyways.’
There was silence, apart from the jangling bits of the restless horses. The apology had left Daniel speechless.
‘Why, thank you, Mr Grant,’ said Elizabeth. ‘Your apology is accepted. My husband and I are grateful that you’ve resolved this unfortunate business’
‘Of course,’ said Daniel, taking her cue. ‘Good day to you.’
With a nod the riders departed.
Elizabeth and Daniel stared at each other, astonished. For once a misunderstanding was working in their favour. Mrs Scott came to tell them lunch was ready, and Elizabeth went to find Belle. The shooting of this other dog simplified things. With the bounty claimed and Bear and Sasha safe at Binburra it seemed a perfect time to raise the idea of going to Hobart with her daughter. Ada Mitchell was taking Grace, and the two girls always had fun together. There was a new play at the Theatre Royal, and a natural history exhibition at the museum, all the way from London. She hoped against hope that Belle would be pleased with the plan.
CHAPTER 20
‘I hate you, Mama!’ Belle said, before running from the dining room in tears.
Daniel looked at his wife, silently requesting an explanation. This was an explanation Elizabeth did not feel inclined to give. She knew very well why Belle refused to go to Hobart. What were those two young fools thinking? Even without Luke’s prison sentence hanging over them, there was no future for those two. Society’s rules were uncompromising. Girls like Belle simply didn’t marry below their station. Daniel, however, seemed blissfully unaware of their daughter’s unfortunate attachment to Luke. He thought so highly of the boy. In any case, the situation wasn’t really Luke’s fault. It was her own, and she must rectify her mistake. Whatever it took she was determined to separate the pair.
Elizabeth smiled reassuringly at her husband and excused herself. She knew what he would do – go for a long ride into the mountains. He never fancied being at home during an argument between his wife and daughter.
Elizabeth found Belle in her room, face buried in a pillow, her chest rising and falling with heaving sobs. She sat down beside her child, gently stroking her hair until the weeping subsided. ‘Belle, darling. Tell me. Is it that you have feelings for Luke?’
‘Don’t be stupid, Mama.’
‘Your rudeness does nothing to change the facts. This is an impossible union, Belle. You must understand this right from the start. Neither myself, nor Papa, nor anybody else will ever countenance it.’
‘It’s got nothing to do with Luke. It’s the tigers. I love them and now you mean to send me away. I can stroke Mindi, and play with Bindi a little. Even King puts up with me. I won’t go now, Mama.’ Belle’s face went scarlet with determination. ‘I just won’t.’
‘You know as well as I do that the plan is to release the tigers high in the range. They’re not pets, Belle, and besides, you always enjoy going to Hobart with Grace.’
‘Not any more. Things have changed.’
Elizabeth examined her daughter’s stubborn, tear-drenched face and knew exactly how things had changed. She kissed Belle and sat for a while longer, stroking her hair.
‘Very well then. You may stay.’
Belle sobbed out her thanks. Extracting herself from her daughter’s grateful embrace, Elizabeth left the room. Her mood was grim. There was no alternative.
First she went to find Harrison, communicating quietly with the coachman in urgent tones. Within minutes, he was galloping out the homestead gate. Then she went looking for Luke. She found him at the killing-gallows, butchering a sheep. Ordinarily she avoided this place, but the urgency of her business left no room for squeamishness. Elizabeth drew close enough to be heard above the grinding of saw blade on bone.
‘Mrs Campbell?’ Luke set aside his grisly task, and washed his hands and arms at the trough.
His clothes reeked and she could sense his embarrassment.
With a smile Elizabeth indicated that he should walk with her, past the greenhouses and up the little path to the orchard.
As they went she confessed to Luke her fears for Belle, should she continue with her infatuation. The expression on Luke’s face confirmed for Elizabeth that this attachment was mutual. She hadn’t much doubted it.
‘I’m not good enough for your daughter, is that it?’
‘Oh Luke, the facts of the matter speak plainly. You’re on the run from the law. Any hint of a union between yourself and my daughter would ruin her. I’ve arranged for Belle to accompany me to Hobart but she insists she won’t go. We both know that she is staying for you. I dare not confide in my husband – his loyalty to you clouds his judgement. I implore you, Luke: if you have any regard for my family, and I know you do, leave here at once. I bear you no ill will. On the contrary, I’m very fond of you. But the Lord knows my wilful daughter will do as she pleases, regardless of the consequences. I doubt that even you could change her mind. So we must agree to protect her. Harrison rides to town as we speak to fetch Angus McLeod. I expect you to leave with him tonight. Tell no one, not even Belle, of your departure. Will you do this for me, Luke?’
Luke stood a minute in stunned silence, digesting her words. She was right. For the past few weeks he’d lived in a sort of fool’s paradise. His status as a fugitive, his lowly birth, his shameful cowardice, Bear’s dreadful secret – all forgotten in the rare glow of Belle’s affection. For Belle this might be no more than a passing fancy, but for him? Luke loved her. A deep, satisfying love that caused him to smile if she smiled, be saddened by her sadness, and place her welfare paramount among his concerns. The proposition that his love in some way endangered her horrified him.
‘I’ll do anything to protect Belle,’ he said. ‘Bear and I will leave right away.’
‘No. You must leave Bear here, for his own safety.’
‘He’s been cleared of killing sheep.’
Fortune's Son Page 12
