Eleven
It wasn’t Ryder’s first body. As the others took a step back, Ryder patted down the trouser pockets on the male skeleton, wearing an old-style Akubra.
He found a wallet and flicked it open.
‘What’s the name?’ Bree was pale.
It made his stomach churn to see her like that, so he hesitated.
‘Don’t you dare.’ She went to grab the wallet.
‘It’s your great-uncle. It’s Harry Splint.’
Dex wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. He’d turned the torch into a lamp, its beam highlighting his wide-eyes as he stared at the skeletons. ‘So, that’d be her. Penelope Price.’
Dust particles drifted through the beams of sunlight streaming from the mouth of the cave, never quite reaching the skeletons huddled together in the shadows.
Bree unsheathed her hand-forged bushman’s knife, as she kneeled down to the box bearing the label: Charlie Splint . ‘Do you have your satphone on you?’
‘No.’ Ryder wished he did. But he’d agreed with Charlie to have a phone-free muster. ‘Hey, that could be evidence.’
‘It’s got my grandfather’s name on it.’ Using the blade, she jimmied open the lid of the wooden box to reveal a pile of rocks and an envelope.
Dex peered over her shoulder, holding the lamp higher so they could all see. ‘It that gold?’
‘Raw gold ore. I’ve seen enough of Charlie’s paydays to recognise it.’ Bree passed out some stones.
Surprisingly, the gold wasn’t what had captured her interest, it was the envelope hidden inside. ‘Pop knew it. He always said his brother would leave him a note.’ She held up the envelope that said: To my baby brother, Charlie ‘Splinter’ Splint.
Dex ran his fingers through the rock pile, shifting its weight. ‘That’s a lot of gold.’
‘It’s raw,’ Ryder said, tossing the rock he was holding back into the box. ‘It’ll need to be smelted down.’
‘Yeah, but it’s still a lot, right?’
Ryder nodded, knowing his brother was already calculating the fortune hidden in those rough chunks. ‘Bree, are you okay?’ She didn’t look okay.
Pulling her hat free, she used the sleeve of her shirt to wipe away the dust covering her forehead that was now shiny with sweat, as she glanced back at the skeletons.
‘Did you know him, Bree?’
She screwed her nose up at Dex. ‘My mother wasn’t even born when Harry went missing. Oh, Charlie.’ She sighed, with her hand covering her heart. ‘I owe that old man the biggest apology.’ Slapping on her hat, she headed for the entrance.
‘Where are you going?’ Ryder followed.
‘To get Charlie. He’ll want to see this.’
‘Bree, no.’
‘You can’t hide this from Charlie. For sixty years, he’s been wondering what happened to his brother.’ She stopped and faced him. ‘Once I’ve returned with Charlie, I’ll lead the herd to the yards.’
‘Why?’
‘Because you’ll need them out of the way to bring the police here.’ Her mind was ticking over already with a plan.
‘Send the girls back home, too,’ he said.
‘Good idea.’ She actually agreed with him for the first time that day. It was enough for Dex to cock his eyebrows in surprise. ‘Can you go back with Charlie? He’ll show you the shortcut through the Scary Forest.’
‘Why?’ Ryder wasn’t a babysitter.
‘Because you’re the boss, it’s your land, and you know the town’s top cop well. I know when Charlie sees this he’ll crumble or go into shock. He’ll need someone strong—like you—by his side.’ She even squeezed his hand, without any of her usual sass. It was impossible to say no to the redhead when she was like this. ‘You’ll know what to do. You’ll help Charlie back to the cottage, you’ll call the police, and help him unsaddle the horses, before fuelling up the Razorback. By then, the girls should have arrived at the homestead, having taken the long way around, because they’re not confident enough to race the horses through Scary Forest, and they would only slow you guys down. I estimate they’ll show up not long after you guys have done all your other tasks to help them unsaddle, keeping Charlie busy until the police arrive.’
It made sense. ‘And what will you be doing?’
‘Helping your brothers finish this muster. But that’s after I’ve brought Charlie here. It’s better coming from me than you, Ryder.’ For once, she’d said his name and not the nickname. ‘Hey, why are you looking at me like you’re about to spit nails?’
He wasn’t angry at her, but at this whole stupid situation. ‘What if I say no?’
‘Really? You’re going to argue with me now? Unless you’ve got a better idea?’
She was right. He’d want to be there to meet the police, because this was his land.
‘Well then, I’d better go break the news to my grandfather.’
‘Hey...’ He gently gripped her arm. ‘Are you okay?’
‘I’m more worried about Charlie and how he’s going to react, which is why I’m asking for your help. Please?’
This was a whole new side to Bree he hadn’t seen before. The vulnerable side that slammed into his heart to ignite something deep into his soul.
Her ex-husband, Finn had advised him that if Bree ever asked for help to do it. Without question. Because it was rare for her to even ask. And in the entire time he’d known her, she’d asked nothing of them. Ever. Yet the rest of his family were always seeking Bree out for her opinion, and to work on the musters. Now, here she was, volunteering to step up as head stockman for the good of his family’s station. ‘Okay, I’ll wait here for you and Charlie to return.’
‘Thank you.’ She gave a nod and left the cave.
‘What’s going on with you two?’ Dex asked, coming up beside him.
How could he answer that when Ryder didn’t know himself? Instead, he grabbed Dex’s torch. ‘Let’s check out this cave.’
‘What do you think happened?’
Ryder shone the beam of light over the structure. The cave itself was solid, with sturdy beams that had survived a cave-in. After sixty years, they still stood strong as ever.
Guessing by the condition of the suitcases’ leather, the cave had somehow preserved them from the outdoor elements. Although covered in dust, even the clothing on the skeletons was in fairly good condition. ‘I’m guessing they got trapped behind a landslide that buried the entrance, cutting off their way out. They must’ve run out of oxygen.’
‘Brother, the escarpment’s wall is strong,’ said Dex, tapping on the sides of the cave. ‘It survived a landslide.’
‘And?’
‘It’s not natural.’
Ryder paused to watch his brother go over the load-bearing beams. Dex had a mechanical engineer’s brain, was a whiz with maths and could have gone places, but as a kid who’d gotten expelled from school, he was content to play with the tools on the station. ‘What are you trying to say?’
‘I went through those devastating earthquakes in New Zealand and other places to see those landslide aftereffects. But for a shotgun and a herd of cattle to cause that much damage?’ He shook his head.
‘We all felt the thunder of that racing herd back when the stampede began.’
‘But for that amount of rock to fall, it doesn’t seem right. Not when this cave is still intact like this. In theory, it should have collapsed in on itself.’
Dex had a point.
Ryder crouched down beside the skeletons, that were holding onto each other. Those words: Together Forever , would have been the last thing they saw, if they had light. But there were no signs of a campfire, obviously to conserve the oxygen.
‘It’d be a horrible way to die.’ Dex’s torchlight swept over the skeletons, causing their shadows to stretch over the cave’s walls.
‘It’s every underground miner’s nightmare.’ Ryder felt sorry for them. ‘I’d say the couple would have lost consciousness and eventually succumbed to hypoxia.’
‘What’s that?’
‘Oxygen deprivation. They would have become dizzy and suffered with a shortness of breath.’ He pointed to the shovels and the old mallet and pick leaning against the wall, where they’d tried to dig themselves out. ‘Eventually they would have passed out.’ Which they did in each other’s arms. ‘At least they weren’t in any pain.’
‘Do you think, that if they died trapped in here, was this some sort of cosmic karma, as a payback for murdering Penelope’s husband, Jack Price?’
‘That’s for the forensic team to decide. But at least Charlie will finally have his answers.’ But how was the old man going to react when he discovered his brother had been trapped inside this cave, like a tomb, for sixty years?
In desperate need of some fresh air, Ryder exited the cave with Dex right beside him. He faced the sun, inhaling heavily to peer up at the sky, and the sheer wall that towered above them that made up Cattleman’s Keep.
Ash stood nearby, holding the horses’ reins in the shade of the stone wall. ‘What did you find? Bree said little.’
‘We found Charlie’s brother Harry.’ Dex dragged out his water bottle from his saddlebags.
Ryder took the reins of his horse. ‘Ash, can you ride back and help the girls pack up camp, and send them home. Tell Cap to get his dogs ready to finish this muster, then follow Bree’s lead.’
‘Fine by me, I’m not one for stirring up ghosts in dark caves.’ Ash quickly flung himself into the saddle and adjusted his reins. ‘I’m glad we’re sending the ladies home. That stampede reminded me how dangerous mustering can be.’
‘It’s the wake-up call we all needed.’
‘It’s what I was warning you about.’ Ryder scowled at his two younger brothers.
‘What’s up your nose? Bree stopped the stampede and the way the cattle are, they’ll follow her.’
‘Bree nearly got trampled by the cattle—and then almost crushed by the landslide. This is our job, our herd, not hers. Remember, Bree isn’t even on our payroll, yet she’s about to lead the muster.’ The memory of how close she’d come to disaster, and how much she was already doing for them, had him so angry that if he gritted his teeth any harder, they’d crack.
Ryder saw through Bree’s need for being overly independent. It was a defence mechanism for being constantly let down—and he did not want to let her down. Yet there was nothing he could do to help Bree, who was about to give her grandfather the kind of heartbreaking news no one ever wants to deliver to someone they love.