“I sometimes wonder how I shall fit in.”
“And marriage … with a stranger … a meaningless sort of marriage. Let’s hope that in due course we shall come to some compromise about that.”
I wondered what he meant by compromise.
There are lawless elements out here,” he went on.
There are in all countries. “
“Have you ever heard of bush rangers ?”
“Of course. ” But you do not know what they are really like. Desperate men . perhaps they’ve failed in the gold-fields or the opal and sapphire mines. They’re desperadoes who live by robbery. This is the ideal background for them. They can hide in the Bush and ply their trade with comparative ease. They’re deter mined not to be caught, which would mean hanging from a tree as a warning to their kind. They don’t hesitate to kill if the occasion arises. “
“I believe you’d like me to go straight home.”
He laughed.
“I’d like to see if you’re the sort of person who would go straight home because of a few discomforts.”
"I'll tell you one thing. I’m the sort of person who would put up with a great deal to prove you wrong. “
That made him laugh and I stared straight ahead because I did not care to meet his eyes, which I thought over bold.
Looking for bush rangers he asked.
“Don’t fret You’ve got a protector You?”
“And this.” He took out a small pistol from a belt at his hip.
“A beauty,” he said.
“I never travel without her. Neat, insignificant in appearance and deadly in action. They wouldn’t stand much chance, I can tell you, with us around.”
We rode side by side through the Bush.
The Trant Homestead is about fifteen miles on,” he said. The horses will be in need of a rest when we get there and so will we.”
I looked about me at the scenery which was wild and interesting.
“What are those pale-looking trees over there?” I asked.
“Ghost gums. Some people believe that when people die violently in the Bush they take up their habitation inside the trees and that where there is a ghost gum there will in time be others to join it. You should see them in moonlight; then you would believe the legend. There are some who won’t pass a dump of ghost gums after dusk. They think the branches will turn into arms and that in the morning there will be another ghost gum to stand beside those who were there the day before.”
“Every country has its legends.”
“And we’re a down-to-earth people here.”
There was a sudden cackle of laughter above us which startled me so violently that I moved sideways in the saddle. Joss noticed and laughed.
“It’s only a kookaburra,” he said, ‘the laughing jackass or a kingfisher. Ah, there’s his mate. They are often in pairs. They seem to find life very amusing. You’ll hear them often round Peacock House.”
We rode over dried-up creeks and gullies.
The wild flowers would have been a picture,” said Joss, ‘if it hadn’t been for the drought.”
It must have been about seven in the evening when Joss pulled up on a slight hillock and looked about him at the Bush spread out around us.
“We should be able to see Trant’s from here,” he said.
“It’s built in a hollow. ” It’ll be dark soon. “
“Yes, I want to get there before sundown. The Bush can be treacherous.
I know it well, of course, but even old stagers have been known to be lost. You have to be careful, and not wander out alone. You see how the same kind of landscape goes on and on. I’ve known people to be lost in the Bush; they walk miles and often end up literally going round in circles.
They can’t make a landmark because the scenery repeats itself again and again. So take care. I think I can see Trant’s. Look. Over there in that hollow. “
We rode on. The sun had sunk below the horizon. The first stars had started to appear and there was a thin crescent of moon.
He galloped on and I followed. Suddenly he pulled up short and I came up beside him.
“Good God!” he cried.
“Just look at that!”
It was an eerie sight in the pale light of the moon and stars-a shell of a house. Joss rode on and I followed him, picking my way carefully over the sparse, scorched grass. Fire had ravaged one side of the two-storey building; the rest had been severely licked by the flames.
“We’ll look round,” said Joss, ‘and see what there is. “
We dismounted and he tethered the horses to a piece of iron fence.
“Careful how you go,” he called over his shoulder. Then he turned and took my hand and together we stepped over the blackened threshold.
They must have lost everything,” he said.
“I wonder where they went.”
“I hope their lives were saved.”
“Who can say?”
“How far are we from Fancy Town?”
Thirty miles or so. Trant’s! People used to stay here. It was like an oasis in the desert . there’s nothing else for miles round. ” He turned and looked at me.
“We’ll have to stay here for the night. The horses can’t go on. There’s a river close by. Let’s hope it’s not dried up. The horses could drink and there might be some grass that’s not been scorched by the fire. Wait here. I’ll go and look.”
As I stood in that burned-out shell I felt a sudden horror of the place. There was an atmosphere of doom about it. Tragedy had happened here, and death and disaster seemed to have dung to the air. I shivered and a sudden coldness came over me. I felt that I was alone with the dead. I touched the blackened walls. This had once been a parlour, I imagined, where people had sat and talked and laughed together; within these four walls they had lived their lives. I imagined their coming from England, settlers who had sought a new life and had hit on the idea of making an inn where travellers through the Bush could stay for a night or so. They would farm the land as well, for not enough people would pass this way to give them a living as innkeepers; they would go for walks without seeing anyone . nothing but wild bush. I wondered if they had lived in fear of bush rangers Those blackened walls filled me with foreboding and I don’t think I fully realized the loneliness of the Bush until that moment.
I noticed that there were some remains of habitation-a half-burned table, pieces of metal which could have been part of some fitting, two battered candlesticks which had once been shining brass, and there was a tin box such as the one Maddy had at home. She always referred to it as ‘my box and it carried her possessions in it. It had come to Oakland Hall when she had and it would be with her all her life.
A figure loomed up beside me and I gasped in horror.
Sorry I scared you,” said Joss.
“Why. what’s the matter?”
“It’s this place. There’s something haunted about it.”
Why, there’s little left but the walls. I found the stream and mercifully there’s grass there. We’ll take the horses down. “
“Are we going to stay here?” asked.
“It’s shelter and we’re not equipped for camping.”
“Couldn’t we go on?"
" For thirty miles? The horses need rest. We’ll stay here till dawn and then we’ll get going. Let’s see if there’s anything we can use. We’ll explore. But be careful.”
I said: There’s a tin box over there. There might be something in that. As we moved across the floor my foot struck something. I stooped and picked up a half-burned candle. Joss took it from me and said:
“Someone’s been here recently and must have had the same idea as we have of using it for the night.” He examined the stump and then took matches from his pocket and lighted it. He held the candle high and the place looked more forbidding than ever in the dim light. His face looked different too. His eyes were darker and the bronze of his skin less obvious. There was something half amused and enigmatic in his expression as he regarded me; I noticed his ears were large and faintly pointed at the tips which gave him the appearance of a satyr.