Twenty-one
‘What the flip?’ Dex pointed at the Razorback cutting through the outback, as Ash started to curse under his breath.
‘What’s the matter?’ Cap stood beside Ryder, high on the viewing platform, giving them a grand view over the drafting yards.
‘It’s time to lock up the ladies,’ said Ash, ‘because Cowboy freaking Craig, is here at Elsie Creek Station.’
‘What have you been drinking?’ Ryder asked Ash.
‘Sounds like he’s been into Dex’s stash.’ Cap chuckled.
‘He’d better not have.’ Dex crossed his arms, his eyes shaded beneath his hat’s wide brim. ‘You know, that’s the first time I’ve seen Bree driving the Razorback.’
The dust plume was high as the Razorback skimmed over the red soils like a boat flying on air. Charlie sat in the passenger seat and in the back stood Craig and Mia, holding onto the rail, with Willow beside her. The wind blew back Mia’s hair, exposing her wide smile. She was obviously having the time of her life.
‘They’ve got Scout with them.’ Cap pointed to the beagle sitting on Charlie’s lap with her long ears flapping like wings.
Ryder positively growled deep in his chest. ‘What is that woman up to now? She’s got her shotgun with her, too.’
Bree parked the Razorback near the stairs. Craig held his hand out to help Mia climb off the back like a lady in a carriage.
Cap frowned.
‘Careful, Cap. Cowboy Craig loves the single ladies, or they love him,’ teased Dex.
‘Mia is her own woman.’ He didn’t dare expect anything with Mia, not after what she’d been through.
Yet, the heated pangs of jealousy created an unexpected rage that crept up his shoulders to skim across the back of his neck. He removed his hat and used his shirt’s sleeve to savagely wipe the sweat from his brow. He’d never been jealous of anyone.
Somewhere along the way he’d begun to care about Mia, so much so that she’d become his first and final thought of the day. She’d become his number one priority so quickly and so easily, it worried him. Tangling with the emotions of a woman who was in Mia’s situation was not right. She needed to heal and not have some tool like him in her space.
Yet, he couldn’t help but worry about her—it was maddening.
It was also madness that he was experiencing a whole new range of emotions he only felt when he was around Mia. Like jealousy and a territorial protectiveness that easily turned into rage. He’d never been like this with anyone. It wasn’t right.
He shifted in his boots, crossed and uncrossed his arms to at least pretend he didn’t care, while slyly sneaking glances at Mia to check she was okay. She had been through enough, she needed time to heal. By then she wouldn’t even give someone like Cap a second glance.
‘Hey, fellas. Have you met Craig?’ Charlie slowly clambered up the steps with his bandy-legged swagger, while the taller cowboy effortlessly took two steps at a time.
The show-off.
‘Congrats on the boy, Ash,’ said Craig. ‘Mason is a good-looking lad, and so is your clever little lady, Harper.’
‘Thanks, Craig.’ Ash shook hands with Craig.
‘Craig reckons he knows you two,’ said Charlie.
‘Craig came out home with Jonathan one Christmas,’ replied Ash.
‘And it was Dex here who knocked me out cold in the boxing ring. Rum and boxing do not go together.’
‘Especially when you’d started with our grandfather at breakfast.’ Dex chuckled, shaking hands and patting Craig on the back like old friends. ‘This is Ryder. And have you met Cap?’
‘I’ve heard plenty, but we’ve never officially met. Ryan, the local vet, is a good mate of mine. He speaks highly of what you do with the muster dogs, Cap.’
Cap shook Craig’s solid working hand, noticing the shiny belt buckle. ‘Rodeo?’
‘Bronc champion.’ Old Charlie lifted his chin with pride, as if Craig was his son. ‘I trained Craig on the bulls, I did.’
Craig peered over the rails to check out the cattle in the yards. ‘I prefer the broncs these days, they don’t come with horns.’
‘Bree?’ Ryder’s deep voice cut through the chitchat. ‘Care to explain why you have Scout with you, and why you were coming in from the east boundary?’
‘It’s a nice day for a drive.’ Bree walked up the stairs, carrying a clipboard, the same one Charlie used for the drafting.
Dex started humming Darth Vader’s imperial march from Star Wars .
Bree sneered at Dex like he was an insect. ‘Well hello, stormcloud. Shoot, punch, or maim anyone today?’
‘Shouldn’t I be asking you that?’
‘Charlie, what’s going on?’ Ryder’s voice was deep, and even though his eyes were hidden behind his dark sunglasses, he managed to glare at Bree and Dex.
‘I thought you were getting us a stock agent, not another stockman,’ said Dex. ‘No offence, Craig.’
‘None taken.’ Craig shrugged.
‘Listen, stormcloud, do you want me to steal some of baby Mason’s crayons and draw you some stick figures for the presentation? Or can you put your big cowboy pants on and let me explain?’
‘Bree, play nice. They look like they want to hoist me into the pen,’ said Craig.
‘Why are you here, Craig?’ Ryder was blunt.
‘Because Bree told me about the hidden herd kept out at Wombat Flats that were never noted on the land sale as assets.’
‘But—’ Charlie’s eyes widened as he gaped up at Bree, then at Ryder as if only now realising the legalities of their actions.
‘It’s true,’ said Ryder. ‘I was able to negotiate the price down a substantial amount because we were all under the impression there was no cattle on the station.’
‘Listen, Pop, technically, we did squirrel away their best stock. Craig, what is the average sawdust price for a grey Brahman?’
‘About twelve k for a scrubber.’
‘They’re not scrubbers.’ Charlie’s frown was ferocious, as he pointed to the cattle milling around in the pens below them. ‘Bree’s bull, Freckles, has gotta be worthtwenty times that amount, more.’
Bree lifted the clipboard to read out loud, ‘We escorted one thousand, three hundred and forty-five head from a hidden valley. And at sawdust sale price—’
‘ What the flip! That’s sixteen million, one hundred and forty thousand dollars’ worth of beef at below basement price.’ Dex, the family’s maths genius, had calculated the sum in the blink of an eye.
Ash let out a low whistle, pushing back the brim of his hat, as they all looked at the herd milling around in the yards below them.
‘So, we screwed up, kid? Is that what you’re saying?’ Charlie’s brow ruffled with worry.
‘No, you did good, Pop. That’s a healthy bounty, in that mob.’
‘I had to do something. They were going to rape this property and leave the new owners with nothin’.’ Charlie rubbed at his forehead. ‘All that hard work me, Darcie did, and you too, kid, stolen like that. I couldn’t let ‘em do that.’
Bree stroked her grandfather’s shoulder. ‘I know, Pop. That’s why I agreed to help you hide that herd in Wombat Flats.’
‘I wish you’d told me. I would’ve helped,’ said Craig.
Bree grinned. ‘You’re here now, to save us from being busted for cattle rustling.’
‘Are you for real?’ Mia stood behind them, with wide eyes. ‘ Cattle rustling, is that really a thing?’
‘You bet your sweet chilli sauce cattle thieving is a problem, girlie. Flamin’ bloody mongrel duffers they are,’ mumbled Charlie, pushing back his hat to expose his scowl.
‘Listen, Pop, we might be able to argue that those mustering contractors missed these cattle. It’s why I brought Craig out—to cover our arses. But, Pop, you have to stop telling people that we hid them in Wombat Flats.’
‘I only told these boys, as the owners.’
‘And the Station Hand. And—’
‘I swear we won’t say anything to anyone.’ Cap had to help them. ‘We wouldn’t even have a herd if it weren’t for you two.’
‘Cap is right. The stock you took gives us a great head start,’ said Dex.
‘Technically, we didn’t take them,’ said Bree. ‘We just moved them.’
Ryder crossed his arms over his chest. ‘What happens on the station, stays on the station.’
‘Aw, cupcake, now you’re speaking my language.’ Bree even tapped his arm. ‘Look, guys, Craig is a stock inspector, who can sign off on your herd’s Waybills to stop any questions being asked. It’ll be like glossing over the details on the paperwork that other stock inspectors would be asking. And I don’t trust them, like I trust Craig with our business.’
‘It’ll just be for the first sale, that’s all,’ explained Craig.
‘Thank you.’ Charlie sighed with relief, patting Craig’s back.
‘It’s the least I can do for you and Bree. You’re family.’
‘Not to interfere with your business, guys,’ spoke Bree, ‘but as the new owners of Elsie Creek Station lots of eyes will be on you, especially when you take your first lot of fats to the Elsie Creek train station. Everyone in town will wonder where they’ve been. Especially when they take one look at your beef and see their age and exceptional condition.’
‘So, Craig is here to make it all look legit?’ Ryder asked.
Craig nodded at Ryder. ‘With the disbandment of the local co-op, I can hook you up with a few stock agents I’d recommend. Not only will they get you a good price for your stock, they won’t ask too many questions, because they trust me enough to know I’ll only trade a decent beast. But I need to see the stock first, because I’m putting my reputation on the line, too.’
‘As a ladies’ man.’ Dex playfully punched Craig’s arm.
‘Leave off. Craig’s one of the best stock inspectors in the district. He just hates doing paperwork, so we’re lucky to have him on board,’ said Charlie.
‘You taught me, but I’ll never have as good an eye for stock as Bree has.’
‘But the kid could never track a hoof trail as good as you.’
‘I knew it!’ Ryder pointed at Bree. ‘You went to the east boundary searching for where those wild dogs came onto the property, didn’t you?’
‘We did. And they came in through the east fence line.’ Bree dragged out a map from her back pocket. ‘It was two vehicles, heavy tread, big utes. Craig, you agree?’
Craig nodded, pointing at the map. ‘They weren’t buggies, bikes, or trucks, but utes. One of them had these special all- terrain tyres, the type you’d expect to find on fancy tyre rims used by concrete cowboys. But they came from your neighbour’s block. One was extra heavy, like it was weighed down by a steel cage, probably for the dogs.’
‘You didn’t jump the fence and follow those tracks, did you, Bree?’ asked Ryder.
‘Bree wanted to, but I made sure she didn’t.’ Craig tapped on the map. ‘We worked out that someone cut your boundary fence here… They then backed up to let the dogs out of the cage, fixed up the fence and the rest you dealt with. We saw your cameras. Those fake ones look fake, mate.’
‘Sorry, Ash, the weather got to them.’ Bree patted Ash’s shoulders.
‘It was only a temporary measure while we were out mustering in Wombat Flats.’
‘At least we have those poles in place to add the new cameras,’ said Dex. ‘Are they here?’
‘Yep. Box on the porch. I’ve ordered more for Ash’s intranet system, too.’ Ryder straightened out the map to extend the area. ‘I’ve already put camera’s here and here. Could you tell if that cut fence was in clear sight?’
Bree shook her head as Craig said, ‘We think they picked that area purposely because it’s a blind spot.’
‘Damn.’ Ryder wiped over his mouth. ‘Can you estimate when it happened?’
‘The same night you guys got that visit from those wild dogs. From the condition Bree was telling me they were in, I’d hazard a guess to say that they hadn’t been fed in a while and the smell of prey…’
‘No way.’ Cap’s stomach dropped at how people could be so cruel to animals. Only to blink in surprise at Mia’s tiny hand on his arm giving him a squeeze to console him.
‘I knew it wasn’t a coincidence,’ muttered Dex, shaking his head. ‘We’d only had that mongrel, Leo, visit that same day. He’d been planning this—he’s playing us.’
‘Bree agreed. It’s why she asked me to check it out,’ said Craig.
‘We’ve never had wild dogs before,’ said Bree. ‘Have we, Pop?’
‘Nope. Never. Dingoes, sure. Just so you know, Cap, that little Scout is a brilliant tracker. She followed those dogs’ tracks right to where Bree cut them off from the herd.’
‘What do we do now? Call Porter?’ Ash asked.
‘We’ve burnt the carcasses and can’t prove anything,’ replied Dex. ‘And cutting the fence like that, they could claim they were being neighbourly fixing it.’
‘All we can hope is that the cameras picked up something. I’ll look again.’ Ryder rubbed his neck. ‘Ash, does your drone do night vision?’
‘Not this one. But I’ve ordered a new one that does. It’ll have more range and speed for mustering.’
‘Good. In the meantime, Dex, can clear any blind spots along the perimeter, and I’ll put in more cameras to replace the fake ones.’
‘I’ll widen that firebreak big time with the grader, so they’ll have nowhere to hide,’ said Dex. ‘I do like playing with that grader.’
‘Good call, the wider the better,’ said Craig. ‘Charlie said they started a fire that destroyed the crops last dry season.’
‘I’m hoping that by putting in wildlife corridors we’ll be able to minimise the risks of that happening again,’ said Cap.
‘Yeah, well, I’m sorry, brother…’ Dex dropped his heavy hand on Cap’s shoulder. ‘I’ll be tearing down trees when I expand that firebreak.’
‘That’s brilliant.’ Mia piped in and they all looked at her like she was weird.
‘Aren’t you meant to be saving trees?’ Dex arched his eyebrow at her.
‘Cap, it’s a good thing. Trust me.’ Her tiny hand squeezed his, practically jumping with excitement. ‘We can use the best saplings from that area and transfer them to your new wildlife corridor, as an enormous head start. Bree, Charlie, and Craig were helping me collect samples all morning.’ Mia jumped down the steps.
From the high boards they watched her rummage around the back of the Razorback filled with heavy hessian sacks, where she scooped out handfuls of seeds. ‘ Look. We collected all these viable native seeds to start your native nursery.’
Cap leapt over the rail to land beside her and poked around the bags. There had to be thousands of seeds from countless native varieties.
Mia was so excited, opening one bag, then another as she tapped his chest. ‘It’s just like you said. It’s all here.’ She reached into another bag and pulled out thick clusters of seed pods as if she’d struck oil. ‘Bree showed me how the entire eastern firebreak has an amazing number of saplings available and recommended which varieties to use. We can transplant the best ones to get your wildlife settled in long before the rains come, repurposing the trough water from Ash’s paddock to water them.’
It was music to his ears, a dream that Mia was making into a reality for him. ‘For fate’s sake, you’re a godsend, you are, Mia. This is brilliant.’ He wanted to hug her, but his brothers were watching.
‘And you thought we were up to no good, Ryder?’ Bree crossed her arms, wearing a smug look.
‘Hmph.’ Ryder rubbed the tip of his nose. ‘Cap, when are you letting the guardian dogs loose?’
‘Tonight.’ Cap dusted his hands, looking up at his brothers.
‘I’ll help.’ Mia used some string, that curiously matched the twine wrapped around Bree’s hatband, to close the hessian sacks. ‘We can sort out the seeds and create a nursery plan at the same time.’
‘You don’t have to.’ But he’d love to see all that she’d collected.
‘I want to. You’ve only got three weeks before the campdraft is here to get them ready for sale.’
‘What are you selling now?’ Dex asked.
For fate’s sake! He pursed his lips together and began the climb back up the stairs to finally share his plans with his brothers. ‘I was planning on selling the excess of these native seedlings at the campdraft to contribute towards the dog food, and any future vet bills.’
Mia rushed up the stairs behind him and tugged on Cap’s shirt, her excited eyes so pretty in the sunlight. ‘We’ll have stacks to sell. And Craig says he knows people who’d be interested in the guardian dogs, too.’
Dex screwed his nose up. ‘You haven’t even let those fluffy bears out of the kennels yet.’
Cap frowned at his brother. ‘I will, and they’ll work brilliantly. I’d even bet on it.’
‘How much?’
‘A pineapple?’
‘Nah, a grey nurse.’
‘You’re on.’ Dex shook hands with Cap.
‘A what?’ Mia asked Charlie.
‘Pineapple is fifty dollars, and the grey nurse is a hundred.’
‘What’s a twenty?’
‘The redback.’
‘Now that’s all sorted,’ said Bree. ‘Can we let Craig get on with his job, so you boys can sell your cattle, Ryder can beef up the security, Dex can start stripping the scrub, and Mia can start playing garden gnome to regenerate the property.’
‘And what will you be doing?’ Ash asked.
Bree’s grin widened, full of mischief. ‘Charlie, Craig, and I are planning on a long liquid lunch. Remember, I don’t work for you boys.’ She then nudged Mia. ‘And for you, precious, I’ll make you a hamper to share with Cap, because Craig’s got the couch tonight. You can collect it when you pick up my swag.’
Eh? Cap raised an eyebrow at Mia. What was Bree up to?