Outback Station

by Aaron Fletcher

  "This garden is in much better condition than I expected, David," Alexandra told him. "It only needs mulching and weeding, which I'll attend to within the next few days. The cabbage and cucumbers are more than large enough to eat, and I'm sure they're delicious."

  "They undoubtedly are," David said. "I've been waiting for you to get here before I have any." He pointed up the hill. "I plan to build the station house just back from where that hut is."

  They rode up the slope to the hut, stopping beside it. The level plateau where it stood was over an acre in area, protected from the prevailing winds by the crest of the hill behind it. Alexandra glanced around, then turned to survey the surrounding terrain.

  She gasped, captivated by the striking scenic beauty of the view from the hill. In the afternoon sunlight,

  with a few luminously fleecy clouds casting shadows over the countryside, it was a panorama of rolling grasslands and open forest stretching for a distance that staggered the imagination. In comparison with the immense landscape, the previous scenes of her life had been small and confining, dwarfed into insignificance.

  "How magnificent, David," she sighed in awe. "I haven't seen nearly this much of the outback all at one time before. In the entire world, there can be few views that are even remotely as lovely as this."

  "I feel the same about it as you, but not everyone would. Many prefer to have busy streets on all sides of them."

  Alexandra laughed as she dismounted and unsaddled her horse. "I did at one time, and the busier the better, but now I've grown to love the outback. That's a large, stout hut you made, David."

  "It'll do for now," he said, unloading her pack horse. "But one day there'll be a house here that will match the view. I'll get on back to the flock and put these horses with the others."

  "Very well, they can use the rest and graze. My gelding has become a bit thin, as I have myself."

  "Every woman on earth can only wish she looked like you," he told her firmly, leading the horses. Then he mounted his horse. "Similarly, I can only wish I could find the words to tell you how happy I am that you're here. I'll see you a bit after sundown, Alexandra."

  With a wide, beaming grin on his face, he turned and led the horses away. She smiled and flushed in pleasure. When he was gone, she gazed at the landscape again for a moment, then went into the hut, and searched through the baggage, taking out clean clothes.

  At the creek, Alexandra found a washstand David had made from split timbers, his razor, mirror, and earthenware pot of soap on it. Nearby, freshlylaundered clothes hung over a rope between two trees. Alexandra bathed and washed her hair, then dressed in the clean clothes and washed those she had been wearing, hanging them over the rope.

  She returned to the hut for a bucket and went to the garden, where she gathered the vegetables. After washing them in the creek, she took the bucket to the hut and began cooking.

  Near sunset, David drove the flock to the creek to drink, then to the paddock. A few minutes later, the dogs followed David as he came up to the hut after washing and shaving, his tanned face ruddy from the cold water. He smiled at Alexandra as he sat down beside the fire, commenting that the food smelled very appetizing.

  Her appetite also keen from smelling the food cooking, she fed the dogs, then filled plates and handed one to David. As he ate, he emphatically remarked that the food was delicious. Alexandra thought the same, even the commonplace mutton and damper tasting better when accompanied by the tart, tangy cabbage in vinegar, the crisp cucumbers, and the fried potatoes and onions mixed with crisp, savory bits of pork.

  Alexandra refilled David's plate and put another small amount of cabbage and cucumbers on hers. When he finished his second helping, he shook his head reluctantly as she offered him more. "It's so tasty that I wish I could, but I can't eat another bite," he told her. "Royalty never had a better meal, though. And," he added with a smile, "any king would envy the companionship I have at dinner."

  Alexandra smiled as she picked up the dishes. "The produce from the garden will be substantial, far more than we'll need. Some thought must be given to storing it for winter."

  David agreed, taking out his pipe and tobacco. Alexandra said that a cellar would be best for storage because of its constant temperature, and he replied that he would begin digging one at the side of the hill within the next few days.

  While David smoked his pipe, he spoke again about his plans for the station, saying that he intended to have amenities that would make life there pleasant. Then he suddenly put down his pipe and reached over, taking her hand.

  "But all this will mean nothing to me unless you share it with me, Alexandra," he said earnestly. "Since I've known you, I've found more meaning in life than I ever knew existed, because I've learned what love truly is. Please tell me that you'll marry me."

  Although she had anticipated it, his manner forewarning her, somehow hearing him say the words had the impact of surprise. But they were also the words she yearned to hear more than she had ever wanted anything. Joyful happiness soaring within her, she smiled at him, nodding. "Yes, I will, David," she replied.

  He took her in his arms and kissed her ardently. A warm glow suffused her as his lips moved over her face. "Pat is a justice of the peace," he murmured against her lips. "When he comes, he can perform the ceremony for us."

  Alexandra nodded, pulling back from him and standing. "Very well, David. In the meantime, we have no neighbors to spy on us and gossip. From now on, we'll share the hut."

  He stood up, pulling her into his arms again, and kissed her as he carried her into the hut. When he put her down on their blankets, for an instant she experienced a fleeting hint of the outrage she had felt at the times when Hinton had seized her. But this was different and it passed, lost in the mounting sensations that his tender, gentle hands created.

  The night air cool against her bare skin, and the feel of his muscular body beside hers stirred a demanding need to be closer, a burning ache for more intimate contact. His lips evoked a growing urgency that turned into an exquisitely torturous yearning inside her. As she pulled at him, he moved over her, his weight gently on her.

  She felt a momentary pang of fulfillment which faded into a numb grasping for a still greater pleasure. It drew closer and then retreated tantalizingly, time standing still as it ebbed and flowed, approaching nearer each time. Then she clung to him and met his surging passion with her own in a throbbing wrenching peak of ecstasy.

  The aftermath was utter quiescence, the most complete contentment she had ever known. It was enriched by his arms around her, his lips moving over her face. Then he lay back, holding her close. "You've made me the happiest man alive, Alexandra," he said.

  "And I'm the happiest of women, David." She sighed, placing a hand on her stomach. "The only thing that could make my happiness more complete would be for this baby to be yours."

  "But it will be," he assured her. "You'll be my wife when it's born, and it'll have my name. Who will know anything more than that?"

  Alexandra said nothing at the moment, pulling the blankets over them. Turning her head, she looked at the smoldering fire and the vast landscape beyond, its features indistinct in the soft moonlight. A few minutes later, David breathed with the slow, regular rhythm of sleep, and then she whispered, "Fate will know."

  Chapter Fourteen

  At the fire in front of the hut, Pat doffed his hat and bowed as David introduced him to Alexandra. "This is indeed a pleasure, Mistress Hammond," he said. "David told me what happened to you, and you have my deepest sympathy. Now that the ones responsible for your misfortune have met a just end, I trust that you're happy and comfortable here."

  "I'm very pleased to meet you, Mr. Garrity," she replied. "Yes, what began as an ordeal has ended very happily. I wouldn't give up my place here with David for any situation a woman could have."

  "Then I'm pleased for you and for David. As I told him, I need witnesses to perform a marriage ceremony, but that's easily arranged. When I return to
my station, I'll make preparations to bring my family and others here within a few days. I'll also send a rider to Sydney with word of your whereabouts so your family will know you're safe and well."

  "That's very obliging of you, Mr. Garrity. I hope that it won't interfere in any way with activities at your station."

  Pat shook his head, assuring her that it would not. They continued talking, and David glowed with pride in Alexandra. Radiantly beautiful, her spirited, independent nature gave her a compelling personality. While she was now five months pregnant, her loose, dungaree dress concealed the slight thickening of her body. For the first time since David had known him, the burly, self-confident Pat was a trifle abashed as he talked with Alexandra, exerting himself to be correct.

  "Dinner will be ready presently," she said, ending the conversation. "In the meantime, I'm sure you would like some refreshment after your long journey." She poured pannikins of rum, handing them to Pat and David, and turned to the pans around the fire as they moved away.

  The two men picked up the supplies the station owner had brought, carrying them into the hut, then sat down. Pat drank his rum and shook his head in amazement, looking at Alexandra. "David, I've met people who've had good fortune," he commented quietly, "but none that would begin to compare with yours."

  "I can hardly believe my good fortune myself, Pat, particularly the fact that she's agreed to marry me."

  "No," Pat disagreed. "You could search the world over and not find another like her, but you're a rare sort yourself, David. You say she collected part of your sheep when they bolted? One might think that a woman from her station in life could never do anything like that, but she has a very steady look in her eyes."

  "She can do anything she sets her mind to, Pat. In that instance, she did much better than many stockmen would have."

  "Aye, she certainly did. You're taking unnecessary risks in grazing such a large flock by yourself, David. You should hire some help."

  David agreed, but primarily because he wanted to stay close to the home paddock as Alexandra's pregnancy advanced. "Do you have any good, steady jackaroos you can spare, Pat?"

  "I can do better than that. If you like, I'll send Adolarious Bodenham and his mob up here to work for you."

  The offer surprised David, as Bodenham was an extremely valuable employee. Pat explained that the number of flocks on his station had increased while Adolarious had been there, and nearby stockmen occasionally visited him, which he disliked intensely. He was dissatisfied, considering the station too congested with people, and was threatening to leave.

  "I've told them to stay away from him," Pat added, "but it does no good. When a stockman runs short of tobacco, salt, or something, he'll go to the nearest stockman to get some. There's no changing that."

  "If that's his complaint," David mused, "then Adolarious would be happy for the rest of his life in my northwest paddock. It's isolated, and the graze is so sparse that I'll never have more than one flock there."

  "Adolarious would be glad to hear about that, and his oldest boys could work here at your home paddock. You'd have to pay them jackaroos wages, but you have more than ample funds in your bank account."

  "More indeed, because I found a heavy purse on Hinton. Also, you saw that plunder in the hut that the bushrangers had with them." David swished the remaining rum around in his pannikin, then drank it. "Even this rum is from their loot, and I don't like gain of that sort."

  "I can understand that, but it's yours by rights, David. It can never be returned to the rightful owners, and you deserve much more for putting those three in the ground, where they belong. If you have any extra pistols and muskets, I'd be more than glad to trade sheep for them. Some of my stockmen's are so old and rusty that they're worthless."

  David smiled wryly as he led his friend into the hut and opened the pack containing the weapons, and Pat exclaimed in surprise, "You could arm a company of soldiers with what you have there, David! Show me how many you can let me have, and I'll make you a fair deal for them."

  After selecting several muskets and pistols for his own needs, David motioned to the remainder. With a wide, happy smile on his bearded face, Pat looked at the weapons as he and David carried them outside. They bundled the firearms in canvas, ready to put on Pat's pack horse the next morning, then Alexandra called them to dinner.

  Though it was late summer, with March only a few days away, the garden still produced vegetables. So to accompany the mutton and damper, Alexandra had prepared fresh peas, carrots, and potatoes, along with a salad of lettuce and cucumbers. The food expertly cooked and seasoned, Pat complimented Alexandra on it, then commented on how well the garden had done.

  "Alexandra is due credit for that," David told him. "Through her knowledge of gardening and hard work, we have enough vegetables stored in a cellar to last a number of people through the winter, as well as several bushels of dried beans and peas put by."

  "If you have the Bodenhams here, the vegetables won't go to waste," Pat commented wryly. "I've almost sprained pack horses' backs taking rations to that mob, because they like their tucker."

  David and Alexandra laughed, then the subject turned to the weather. During many late summers, when the foliage was parched, lightning in dry thunderstorms ignited raging grass fires that raced with the speed of the wind for miles, consuming everything in their path. This year there had been only minor grass fires, and Pat speculated hopefully that the situation would continue until the autumn rains came.

  After the meal, Pat went to the pile where his saddle, bedroll, and supplies were stacked, and brought a large leather pouch back to the fire. He took foolscap, an ink bottle, and a pen out of the pouch, and suggested that Alexandra might like to write a letter to her family.

  Thanking him gratefully, Alexandra took the writing materials as the men talked and smoked. Pat raised the subject of the weapons, commenting that he had been thinking of what would be a fair trade. ''If you're going to hire Adolarious and his mob," he said, "I'll send him with three thousand sheep and enough supplies to last until you get your supplies next spring, and I'll make sure that most of the sheep are young ewes in lamb."

  "That sounds like a fair deal to me, Pat."

  "Well, I'm not through yet, David. Weapons are scarce and valuable out here, and sheep are cheap. I'll also give you six cows in calf and a dozen pigs. You have more than enough horses now, so that will provide you with a good start on all the stock you'll need."

  "I think you're giving me too much, Pat."

  "No, you know yourself that a good musket costs up to forty guineas, and I have ample cattle and pigs. When I come back for your wedding, I'll bring wagons and men to make a track into here. Next spring, you'll have upwards of twelve thousand sheep, if all goes well, and it would be senseless to drive them to my station for shearing."

  "That's true, and the drays could deliver my supplies for the next year. But I'll need a shearing shed, a barracks for the shearers, and a storage building for the supplies."

  "Aye, you will. When I talk to Adolarious, I'll tell him that you want his two oldest boys to work here. They can help you gather timber and get started on the buildings, and while I'm here with my men for the wedding, we should be able to more or less finish them."

  "That'll be a big help, and I appreciate it, Pat."

  The older man shrugged off the thanks, bringing up details of what they had discussed. They decided upon the best route for the track into Tibooburra Station, one that would require the least labor, and would pass a number of water holes while following a reasonably straight line. David then described his northwest paddock and the easiest way of reaching it with a flock so Pat could pass the information on to Adolarious.

  While he talked with his friend, David occasionally glanced at Alexandra as she sat beside the fire and wrote her letter. With the glow of the flames highlighting her lovely face, she was so strikingly beautiful that looking at her made his ardent love for her swell to a bittersweet ache. He knew that
the letter was a difficult one for her to write, because she had set herself against her family by agreeing to marry him and her father would be enraged when he learned of it.

  When they had discussed the subject, she had said that it was regrettable but unavoidable. He knew that it was far more important to her than her quick dismissal suggested, because her loyalties ran deep. However, he had found that she possessed the strength of character to endure what she could not change and to go on cheerfully with her life.

  In addition, he knew that her loyalties had been transferred to him, because she loved him. That continued to be a source of wonder to him, a new keystone that supported everything meaningful to him. He had felt content on his land with his sheep, but in comparison, it had been a dull, gray existence that she had turned into a richly colorful life of joy. In the outback, he had found the life he had wanted, and she had made it complete.

  Pat left the next morning, promising to send Adolarious and the sheep within a few days, and to return himself as soon as he and his men could make a track into the station. David drove his flock to pasture, taking an ax with him. During the previous spring, when he had planted the garden, he had also cut rings around scores of trees. In a grove near the grazing sheep, he began felling and trimming limbs from the dead, seasoned trees.

  During the following days, the thickets at the home paddock became littered with logs, and David watched for some indication that Adolarious had arrived. A week after Pat had left, a faint haze of dust was on the horizon when David drove his flock to pasture that morning. As the sun rose higher, the dust slowly inched to the north, indicating that a flock of sheep were being driven to the northwest paddock.