Blood Bond (24 page)

‘Worse when it's one of your own, isn't it? See these?' Corky made a sweeping motion along the row of graves with his rifle. ‘They were my family. Thanks to you lot, they're all dead.'

‘What about Robert's brother, Luke?' Penny asked. ‘Where's he?'

‘That's my business.'

Steven stared at Robert's grave a little longer, wanting to ask what had happened to the brothers but not wishing Penny and Lee to hear the answer. When he finally turned around, he saw Corky had moved across to Penny and was holding one of her arms up her back, the muzzle of the rifle pressed against her neck. Lee was hanging on to his mother's leg.

‘Start digging,' Corky said, nodding at the spade lying beside Robert's grave. ‘You might as well join him.'

‘No!' Penny screamed.

‘Shut it, bitch. Unless you want him to dig a grave for your kid too.'

Steven bent down and picked up the spade. ‘What are you going to gain out of killing me?'

‘Your woman,' laughed Corky.

Steven cut the first sod. ‘Killing me doesn't make sense.'

‘Yeah yeah, I know, it's all a question of genes. Like you told me the last time we met. Just keep digging.'

Penny began to cry and Lee, seeing his mother's distress, joined in. ‘Couldn't we do some sort of deal?'

‘What, I have her on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and you have her Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays? No thanks, I'm no sheep-shagger. I don't bat on a sticky wicket.'

‘Surely there's something you want.'

‘There are only two things I want. I want her in my bed and I want you dead.'

‘So you're not prepared to compromise?'

‘Sure. Tell you what, you choose — either you die or the kid does.'

‘We could take you back to New Zealand — even to England.'

‘Why would I want to go to either place? Don't tell me — it's all a question of genes. All I need is a good-looking woman to see me out the rest of my days and a little servant boy thrown in for good measure.'

In between digging and pleading for his life, Steven had been sizing up the situation. There seemed little immediate hope of escape. Corky was keeping his distance and continuing to press the rifle barrel hard against Penny's neck.

‘That's deep enough,' Corky announced. Penny and Lee began to sob even louder. ‘Right, sheep-shagger, put down the spade and stand at the end of the grave.'

Corky pushed Penny and Lee to the ground and raised his rifle to his shoulder. The sound of a shot reverberated around the bay, sending the seagulls squawking and wheeling into the air.

Through eyes clouded by tears, Penny waited for Steven to topple into the open grave. But he didn't fall. Instead, he ran towards Corky, who was slumped across the graves of his harem, blood flowing from his temple. Steven grabbed Corky's rifle before bending down to Penny and Lee.

‘Steven!' called a voice. They all looked up. Running down the beach towards them, rifle in hand, was the slight figure of Luke Dalton. He was even thinner than ever, his baby-faced looks stripped away.

‘Get me out of here!' he called.

‘Calm down everyone,' Steven said as he found himself consoling Penny, Lee and Luke. ‘Corky's dead. We're all safe now.'

‘So what happened?' Steven asked Luke once Lee had stopped crying and Penny had stopped shaking.

 

Luke wasn't sure whether it was the lure of his brother's escape or the naked women in the boat that caused him, on the spur of the
moment, to climb over
Archangel
's pulpit and slip down the anchor chain into the water.

Hidden from the view of
Archangel
's crew, he heard the two Aboriginal women ask to be taken to New Zealand and watched as they climbed aboard. As they disappeared from view, one of the women remaining in the rowing boat glanced in Luke's direction. He held his finger to his lips, shook his head and pointed to the shore.

Far from betraying him, the woman's eyes lit up. She surreptitiously motioned him to swim to the lee of her rowboat. He let go of the anchor chain, dived under the boat and resurfaced on the far side, where he clung to the rubbing strake, still out of sight of the crew of
Archangel
. He was still clinging on for dear life as the rowboat was pushed clear and the two women began rowing towards shore, towing the other, empty boat.

‘Ruby, why we going this way?' queried the woman on the starboard oar.

‘We've got a passenger.'

‘What you talking about?'

‘There's a young fella hanging onto my side of the boat.'

The questioner stopped rowing. ‘What?'

‘Keep rowing,' Ruby pleaded.

The little girl in the boat scrambled aft from the forepeak and peered over the gunwale at Luke. ‘I'm Harriet, and this is Cocoa,' she said, holding up her pet koala.

Reluctantly, the other woman began to row half-heartedly, glancing past her companion at the white fingers gripping the side of the boat.

‘You're mad. Corky will kill you. He's already going to give us both a beating for leaving Sophia and Lily behind.'

‘Emily Jackson, do you think I'm stupid? I ain't going to tell Corky about this young fella, am I now? What's your name, boy?' she added as an afterthought, peering at her trophy.

‘Luke.'

‘Someone's bound to tell Corky,' Emily warned.

‘I don't intend to tell anyone I've got him.'

Luke struggled to see over the gunwale. ‘Why not?'

‘Well, Corky ain't too happy about your brother, and he's going to be even unhappier about you. I wouldn't put it past him shooting you.'

‘He wouldn't.'

‘He might well do,' Emily confirmed. ‘You won't be the first fella he's shot over a woman.' The seriousness of her voice made Luke suddenly wish he hadn't jumped ship.

Ruby saw the scared look on his face. ‘Don't worry, lad, I'll look after you.'

‘Me too,' Emily volunteered.

Ruby shot her a glance. ‘I'll take care of him myself, thanks.'

‘Share him or lose him.'

The scowl on Ruby's face suggested she wasn't pleased at the offer. ‘OK,' she said grudgingly. ‘But we keep him to ourselves right? I'm not sharing him with anyone else.'

Luke bobbed his head above the gunwale. ‘What do you mean keep me to yourselves? What are you going to do with me?'

‘You,' Emily replied, ‘are going to be the filling in a Brisbane sandwich.'

Both Emily and Ruby noticed the look of horror on the boy's face and burst into laughter.

‘Don't worry, lad, we're not going to eat you,' Emily assured him.

‘We might have a bit of a nibble, though,' Ruby added. The two women began laughing again. It was obvious to Luke that they were enjoying a joke at his expense.

‘You ever heard of a Brisbane sandwich?' Emily asked.

‘No. I don't like sandwiches.'

The women laughed again. ‘You'll like this sandwich.'

‘Now, Luke, when we row past that headland over there, let go, swim ashore and wait in the mangroves. When it's safe, cross the road to the park and hide in the bandstand.'

‘Hide?'

‘We're not joking about Corky. If he finds you, you're in real trouble,' Emily said. ‘And if any of the other women find out about you, they'll tell him and we'll all be in trouble. Just hole up in the
bandstand and keep quiet. We'll be back for you after dark.'

Luke's head disappeared below the gunwale. ‘After dark! I'll be starving by then. I'll eat anything — even a Brisbane sandwich.'

The two women started giggling again.

 

It was fully dark when Luke, resting on the floor of the bandstand, heard the rustle of bushes announcing the arrival of Ruby and Emily. At least his clothes had dried out. As predicted, he was starving. ‘Got my sandwich?' he asked.

‘Not long now. Follow us, and keep quiet.'

‘Can I see my brother?'

‘He's pretty busy, that brother of yours. Don't think he'll want to see you for a day or two.'

‘Busy? What's he doing?'

‘You'll find out soon enough.'

Emily and Ruby led Luke from the park to a deserted house near the beach, around a hundred and fifty metres from the bungalows occupied by the rest of the community. They quickly ushered him up the stairs to a bedroom and pulled the curtains before lighting a candle. The flickering light revealed that both women were bruised about the face. Emily's lip was swollen and cut.

Luke was alarmed. ‘Did Corky do that?'

‘Yes,' Ruby said. ‘And judging by the mood he's in, he'll do a lot worse to you if he finds you. You're to stay here out of sight until we think it's safe to tell him about you.'

‘And that's going to be a while yet,' Emily added, touching her swollen lip.

Not for the first time, Luke wished he'd stayed aboard
Archangel
.

‘Here's your dinner,' Emily said, handing him a plate.

He was ravenous. ‘This is great — I thought all I was going to get was a sandwich,' he said as he gulped down the meat and vegetables.

Ruby laughed. ‘You're still going to get one.'

Luke was trying his best to look at the women's bodies without them noticing his interest. In turn, they were making no attempt to
hide the fact they were eying him up. Emily, who Luke thought had the nicer figure, walked over and stood close to him.

‘How old are you, Luke?'

‘Fifteen,' he lied.

‘You ever slept with a girl?'

‘Yep, lots of girls.'

‘That's good then,' she said. ‘It's time for your Brisbane sandwich.' She took his hand, led him to the bed and lay down beside him.

Ruby climbed on the other side of the bed and whispered in his ear. ‘This is the Brisbane sandwich, Luke. Emily, me and you in the middle.'

He felt Ruby undoing the belt of his shorts. ‘I lied,' he said suddenly. ‘I've never slept with a woman.'

‘You think we hadn't guessed that? Bet you're not fifteen either, are you?'

‘No,' he said as he felt his shorts being pulled over his ankles.

‘Perhaps we should give him the Dunwich barrel test?' Emily suggested.

‘What's the Dunwich barrel test?' he asked, half afraid he would pass the test, and half afraid he wouldn't.

‘Well, if we're not sure a young fella's big enough, we stand him in the Dunwich barrel,' Emily said as she unbuttoned his shirt. He felt her hot nipples brush against his chest. ‘If he can see over the top of the barrel, he's big enough.'

‘And what happens if he can't see over the top?'

‘We just get a smaller barrel.' The two women started giggling uncontrollably.

When Emily and Ruby finally left, Luke lay exhausted and sore, but convinced he was living in paradise.

 

Paradise lasted for little more than a week.

‘Where's Ruby?' he asked on the night that Emily arrived alone.

She put his food on the table and watched as he started to eat. ‘She's crook. Some of the other girls are crook too. Corky's blaming your brother.'

‘Crook? What do you mean crook?'

‘What you Poms call ill. So there'll be no Brisbane sandwich tonight.'

Luke was a little relieved. Being the filling in the sandwich was proving hard work — even if it was enjoyable.

Emily wasn't feeling well either, so she excused herself a little after midnight. She looked terrible the next night when she stumbled in, carrying a bag of dried food. Things were getting worse: everyone except Robert was very ill. Corky was delirious and threatening to shoot everyone. Emily warned Luke that whatever happened, he was to stay hidden. She was so sick she wasn't interested in lovemaking but she promised to return the next night.

However, she didn't return, not the following night, nor the night after. The food she had left lasted for five days. Finally, early one morning, hungry and frightened, Luke crept out of the house and made his way through the gardens to the houses at the top of the beach, taking care to remain out of sight.

He heard Corky's voice before he saw him. ‘Dig, you lazy little bugger.'

‘I dug three yesterday and two today already.' Luke was relieved to hear Robert respond.

Luke crept along beside a fence less than a hundred metres from where the conversation was taking place and peered through a clump of bushes. Across the road on the grass strip near the top of the beach, he could see several mounds of earth, each with a cross on the top. His brother was standing in a hole, digging, while Corky sat on an upturned dinghy behind him, his rifle cradled in his arms.

‘What are you complaining about — it's your fault they're dead, you disease-ridden little bugger,' Corky swore.

‘There's nothing wrong with me.'

‘So how come all my women are dropping off their perches?'

The look on Robert's face was even more petulant than usual. ‘If the women mean so much to you, why don't you help dig their graves?'

‘You killed them. You do the digging.'

Robert was close to tears. ‘I didn't kill them.'

Corky said nothing and Robert continued to dig. He was clearly
exhausted. ‘Who's this one for?' he asked after a while.

‘Stop asking questions. Just keep digging.'

Robert flung out two more shovelfuls of earth then climbed out of the hole and leaned on the shovel, his back to his tormentor. ‘That's deep enough,' he said defiantly.

‘Are you sure?'

‘Course it is. Didn't I say it was?' Robert shouted. ‘You want it any deeper, dig it yourself.'

Corky raised his rifle and shot Robert in the back.

‘No!' Luke yelled as his brother slumped forward into the grave. He began to climb over the fence but Corky pointed the rifle in his direction. He jumped back over the barrier as a volley of shots shattered the wood on one side of him. He set off across the gardens, leaping over fences and crashing through hedges. The sight of Corky reloading the rifle and setting off after him spurred him on. Fortunately he was the better athlete and soon disappeared from Corky's view.

 

Luke was terrified, but he recalled his Uncle Mark's promise to return for Robert. Even though he knew Mark would be angry that he had jumped ship, he was sure
Archangel
would come back one day. He hoped it would be sooner rather than later.

For that reason alone, he knew that despite the danger, he must stay in the vicinity of Corky's settlement. He guessed Mark would make a surprise visit, and wouldn't risk sailing
Archangel
into Rose Bay in full view. If the rescue party killed Corky and found the graves while he was away somewhere, they might assume he was also dead and leave without him. He considered leaving messages on the approach roads to the settlement but discounted the idea when he realised that if Corky found the messages, he would be alerted to Mark's intention to return.

His only other option was to shoot Corky before he was shot himself. Finding a firearm proved easy, finding ammunition impossible. In the period following the outbreak of the pandemic, ammunition stocks had been exhausted as the dwindling population in the area had hunted game and birds for food or fought one another to gain control of resources.

Luke's immediate concern was to find food. Without a loaded rifle even that was difficult, particularly since he had to continually keep an eye open for Corky. The second night after his brother's murder he crept along the beach and stole fish drying on the racks at the top of the beach. He also set a simple, small, wooden plaque into the soil on the top of his brother's grave. He had wanted to erect a cross, but he knew a cross would be seen by Corky and he didn't want it ripped off and burned.

The next morning, he watched Corky look suspiciously at the gaps on the fish rack. Later that day Corky collected the remainder of the fish and took it to what Luke assumed was his own dwelling. Fortunately, Corky didn't notice the plaque.

Two days later, Corky shot a kangaroo that wandered onto the beach. He hung the carcass from the bough of a tree and skinned it, cut off a leg and left the remainder of the meat hanging from the branch.

Luke was starving. In the early hours of the morning, when the moon finally slipped behind the clouds, he picked his way stealthily through the gardens towards the carcass. He was already over the fence when the clouds cleared momentarily, illuminating him for a split second. A rifle shot rang out and he felt the pressure as the bullet whizzed past. Had he been a few metres further closer to the carcass, or had the gap in the clouds been a fraction larger, he had no doubt Corky's shot would have killed him.