trick.
Shes checking if the local law
ever go down it, Wyatt explained. So far she hasnt seen anyone use it, not
even a local farmer, but we have to be sure.
He watched Tobin to see that he got
it. He knew it was important to take pains with Tobin. Tobin had a quick,
graceful body, as if he took pleasure in using it, but his mind was plodding.
What was worse, he seemed to know it.
Got you now, Tobin said.
He went back to slapping paint
around. After a while he said, She your bird?
Snyder heard him. He straightened up
next to the wheel hubs he was painting and said, Leave it, mate.
I was only asking. Tobin went back
to his painting. Soon he was whistling a Seekers tune badly.
Wyatt got their minds off it. The tarp,
he said. I misjudged the size.
Mustering lost credit, Tobin said, Looks
like the boss fucked up.
Wyatt frowned at Snyder, warning him
to stay out of it, then turned back to Tobin. One of us will have to go and
buy another one.
Theres a hardware in Vimy Ridge,
Tobin said. Plus I need toothpaste.
They watched each other guardedly.
Wyatt recognised the signs. Tobin was testing him, asking: do you trust me? If Wyatt
said that he couldnt go, the result could be resentment and trouble down the
track. Wyatt also knew that he shouldnt go in with Tobin. Tobin would think he
was being chaperoned.
They continued to watch each other.
Eventually Wyatt nodded. Okay. Go in after lunch. Leah will be back by then. Ill
give you some money.
They returned to their painting.
Leah reappeared at twelve-thirty and they stopped work to eat sandwiches and
drink cups of tea. At one oclock Tobin changed out of his paint-splashed
clothes and drove to Vimy Ridge, $500 of Wyatts money in his pocket. While
Wyatt finished painting the truck, Leah spread maps on the table to familiarise
herself with the local roads and Snyder took his big radio to the top of a hill
to do a band search.
Tobin returned at four oclock. He
gazed levelly at Wyatt as he got out of the utility, then reached into the back
of it and hauled out a tarpaulin. He laid it out on the grass. It was large and
new. All right? he said, looking at Wyatt again.
Perfect.
They worked until five-thirty. Tobin
finished the road-closed signs, then painted a couple of large Brava
Construction logos on the tarpaulin. While he did that, the others washed the
dirt off the Holden utility and painted it. At five-thirty, when Wyatt
announced a halt, Tobin produced his football. He kicked it around with Snyder
and Leah until darkness fell. Wyatt appeared to be watching from his chair on
the farmhouse verandah, but in fact he was watching only the images in his
head, looking at the Steelgard hit from all the angles. Dinner that night was
minestrone soup and spaghetti bolognese. Dessert was a question and answer
session to iron out wrinkles in the job.
* * * *
TWENTY-TWO
Letterman
hated the country. His suit was wrong, so were his shoes, and hed had to park
several kilometres short of the farm and go the rest of the way on foot. Hed
bought the car that morning, soon after Snyder had called him on the radio. It
was a clapped-out Valiant that had set him back $1900. He should have spent
another hundred and bought some suitable bush gear as well.
But hed found Wyatt. He climbed
through a wire fence and cut back across a paddock to the Valiant. A mistake,
he soon realised. The ground was full of traps for the kind of shoes he was
wearing. They slipped off the grass tussocks and twisted on concealed stones and
rabbit holes. Grass seeds hooked themselves to his socks and trousers. Now that
hed found Wyatt all he wanted to do was go back and wash the dirt off. He
badly needed a Quick-eze.
The only accommodation available in Vimy
Ridge had been an on-site caravan in the tourist park. Snyder had called him
there at one-thirty saying he only had a moment, he was supposed to be doing a
band search on his radio.
Where are you? Letterman had
wanted to know.
Were camped
Shes checking if the local law
ever go down it, Wyatt explained. So far she hasnt seen anyone use it, not
even a local farmer, but we have to be sure.
He watched Tobin to see that he got
it. He knew it was important to take pains with Tobin. Tobin had a quick,
graceful body, as if he took pleasure in using it, but his mind was plodding.
What was worse, he seemed to know it.
Got you now, Tobin said.
He went back to slapping paint
around. After a while he said, She your bird?
Snyder heard him. He straightened up
next to the wheel hubs he was painting and said, Leave it, mate.
I was only asking. Tobin went back
to his painting. Soon he was whistling a Seekers tune badly.
Wyatt got their minds off it. The tarp,
he said. I misjudged the size.
Mustering lost credit, Tobin said, Looks
like the boss fucked up.
Wyatt frowned at Snyder, warning him
to stay out of it, then turned back to Tobin. One of us will have to go and
buy another one.
Theres a hardware in Vimy Ridge,
Tobin said. Plus I need toothpaste.
They watched each other guardedly.
Wyatt recognised the signs. Tobin was testing him, asking: do you trust me? If Wyatt
said that he couldnt go, the result could be resentment and trouble down the
track. Wyatt also knew that he shouldnt go in with Tobin. Tobin would think he
was being chaperoned.
They continued to watch each other.
Eventually Wyatt nodded. Okay. Go in after lunch. Leah will be back by then. Ill
give you some money.
They returned to their painting.
Leah reappeared at twelve-thirty and they stopped work to eat sandwiches and
drink cups of tea. At one oclock Tobin changed out of his paint-splashed
clothes and drove to Vimy Ridge, $500 of Wyatts money in his pocket. While
Wyatt finished painting the truck, Leah spread maps on the table to familiarise
herself with the local roads and Snyder took his big radio to the top of a hill
to do a band search.
Tobin returned at four oclock. He
gazed levelly at Wyatt as he got out of the utility, then reached into the back
of it and hauled out a tarpaulin. He laid it out on the grass. It was large and
new. All right? he said, looking at Wyatt again.
Perfect.
They worked until five-thirty. Tobin
finished the road-closed signs, then painted a couple of large Brava
Construction logos on the tarpaulin. While he did that, the others washed the
dirt off the Holden utility and painted it. At five-thirty, when Wyatt
announced a halt, Tobin produced his football. He kicked it around with Snyder
and Leah until darkness fell. Wyatt appeared to be watching from his chair on
the farmhouse verandah, but in fact he was watching only the images in his
head, looking at the Steelgard hit from all the angles. Dinner that night was
minestrone soup and spaghetti bolognese. Dessert was a question and answer
session to iron out wrinkles in the job.
* * * *
TWENTY-TWO
Letterman
hated the country. His suit was wrong, so were his shoes, and hed had to park
several kilometres short of the farm and go the rest of the way on foot. Hed
bought the car that morning, soon after Snyder had called him on the radio. It
was a clapped-out Valiant that had set him back $1900. He should have spent
another hundred and bought some suitable bush gear as well.
But hed found Wyatt. He climbed
through a wire fence and cut back across a paddock to the Valiant. A mistake,
he soon realised. The ground was full of traps for the kind of shoes he was
wearing. They slipped off the grass tussocks and twisted on concealed stones and
rabbit holes. Grass seeds hooked themselves to his socks and trousers. Now that
hed found Wyatt all he wanted to do was go back and wash the dirt off. He
badly needed a Quick-eze.
The only accommodation available in Vimy
Ridge had been an on-site caravan in the tourist park. Snyder had called him
there at one-thirty saying he only had a moment, he was supposed to be doing a
band search on his radio.
Where are you? Letterman had
wanted to know.
Were camped
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