A Wicked Deception (11 page)

“Did you find any of those rebels?” A man’s voice coming from outside shattered the stillness.

A quick glance at Robbie lying pale and stricken, and her tear-filled eyes looked straight into Michael’s. Beseeching him not to betray them. A pulse convulsed at the side of his throat. He hesitated for a few seconds before swinging away from them.

“There are no rebels here.” Without a backward glance he strode off.

As the door banged shut, Robbie moved, and she covered his mouth with her hand to block out any sounds he might make. The pistol fell to the floor. She left it there. Her hands shook so badly it would have been impossible to pick it up even if she had wanted to.

The men’s voices came again and harnesses jingled, followed almost immediately by the sounds of horses’ hooves beating against the rock hard earth. In her worst nightmare, she would never have dreamed it possible for the troopers to be searching out this far so soon.
Why was Michael with them? Had the fact that they had once been good friends stopped him from betraying them? Perhaps his silence was his way of making amends for Priscilla’s treatment of her?

Time
dragged by so slowly she felt like screaming at it to hurry up. The only activity to break the monotony was two trips to the creek to fill the flask. Robbie would wake, drink then fall asleep again. Better for him this way, sleep would dull the pain he must surely be suffering.

Melanie dozed fitfully, but felt little refreshed from these cat naps, as something in her subconscious mind prevented her falling into a deep sleep.
It was imperative to get back to the homestead for supplies tonight. She stood in the doorway watching the sun drop into the horizon like a fireball, the sky turning crimson, looked as if it were awash with blood. It probably was. The blood of miners betrayed and slaughtered at the Eureka Stockade.

She reentered the hut to find Robbie awake. “Are you thirsty?”

“Is it very late?” He struggled to sit up. “I feel so weak.”

“You’ve lost a lot of blood. Listen carefully, I have to get you to a doctor, the bullet needs to come out before it poisons your system.”

“There’s a fellow living in Creswick who used to be an army doctor.” His voice sounded so husky she could barely hear him, and finally it faded away altogether.

She shook him slightly, and he groaned in pain. “Whereabouts in Creswick?”

“Ballarat side. Harry Jamieson,” he rasped. “Hates the army.”

“Here, drink some of this.” She gave him more water to revive him. If he slipped into unconsciousness before she could get him on the horse, they were both doomed
. Dashing outside, she brought the horse as close to the hut as she dared.

Robbie hadn’t moved and she splashed water over his face to rouse him
. “Please, you have to stay awake.” She shook him again, harder.

“Oh God, I’m a goner
. Leave me and save yourself.”

“No, no.” She tried to drag him to his feet. “We can make it, I know we can.”

“It’s no use,” he fell back. “I’m finished.”

“If you really loved me you’d try harder
. You can do it. For me, please.” Salty tears stung her grazed cheeks as she pleaded with him.

She would never know how she got him out of the hut, or on to the horse
. Her hands trembled, her legs felt so watery she feared they might actually float away. “Help me God, please help me.”
Once, twice, she tried to mount but couldn’t. Her foot kept slipping out of the stirrup.

In desperation she walked the horse to a fallen tree that had lain on the forest floor for years
, covered in moss and half eaten away by termites. She stepped up on it and swung her leg over the horse’s back. Perspiration poured from her, the dampness running between her breasts, pooling in the waistband of her gown.

They set off slowly, the horse instinctively picking its way through the scrub. Robbie was a dead weight against her
. Thank goodness their steed proved to be a placid beast, easy to control.

After an hour or so
, they came to the track leading to Creswick. There was no sign of any other living person. Never had she felt so alone or fearful. They could have been the last two people left on earth.

The bush brooded black and eerie, with only moonbeams and stars to light their way
. The sudden, mournful howl of wild dogs caused the hair at the back of her neck to bristle. Had they escaped the redcoats, only to be mauled by a pack of savage animals?

On and on they plodded
. She could feel Robbie’s blood wet and sticky against her skin. He groaned every now and again, so she knew he hadn’t died.

Would he bleed to death before she could get him to the doctor?
Should she have left him in the hut and gone for help on her own? Sobs rose up in her throat, but she swallowed them back down again.

“Please God,” she prayed from the depths of her soul
. “Don’t let Robbie die.” He had always been brave and fearless, all the things she wasn’t. She castigated herself for being so scared and pitiful as she fought to still her trembling hands and calm her splintered nerves.

At the end of her tether
, when she truly feared the bush had swallowed them up for eternity, flickering lights from dozens of tents appeared on the horizon. Creswick at last. She tethered the horse a little distance away from the first tent. Leaving Robbie hunched in the saddle she went to ask directions.

Lifting up the tent flap she called out. “Can you tell me where to find to Dr
. Jamieson?” Thank goodness, in the darkness no one could see her wretched state.

“Dammit. You woke me up,” a voice grumbled from the back of the tent. “I only got off to sleep after a fourteen hour shift at the mine.”

“I’m sorry, m … my baby’s sick and I need the doctor to come and see him.”

“He lives in the last hut in that row of buildings at the back of us.”

“Thank you.”
Feeling as if a ton weight had been removed from her shoulders, and with hope renewing her strength, she hurried back to the horse and remounted.

The doctor
’s bark shanty sat at the edge of the goldfields. When he finally answered her frenzied knocking, she was shocked at his appearance, wizened, hump-backed and at least seventy years old.

“Are you Dr
. Jamieson?”

“Who wants to know?” he growled.

“I’m Melanie O’Dea. My, my friend has been shot.”

“Shot!”
He dropped a shocking oath. “I suppose he’s one of those rebels from Eureka?”

“Yes
. Please, you have to help him.”

He squinted at her, hesitating for a moment
. “Bring him in. Be careful though, there are spies everywhere, even here.”

“Can you help me? I don’t think I can get him off the horse on my own.”

Between them they half-dragged, half-carried Robbie inside, and laid him on a large wooden table. The cluttered room looked untidy, but the table was scrubbed clean. By the lamp light the doctor seemed even older, more shriveled, his eyes bloodshot. His hands trembled as he tried to lift Robbie’s shirt away.

“We’ll have to cut it off
. There’s a pot on the stove with my instruments in it, bring it over will you, girl.”

Dr
. Jamieson cut off Robbie’s shirt and the bandages. She turned her head away from the gory mess, but vomit still rose in her throat. It cost her huge effort to stop it spewing on to the ground.

“Now don’t go fainting away on me,
” the doctor growled. “I’ll need your help. Bullet appears to have gone in deep and he’s lost a lot of blood. Luckily he’s young and strong. Unfortunately, I don’t have any Laudanum left.”

Robbie
lay unconscious, but as a precautionary measure she held him down as the doctor worked on him. “Another couple of inches and our young rebel would have been dead.”

A loud ringing noise filled her ears, and a black fuzzy veil settled over her eyes. The next thing she remembered was lying on the floor with the doctor forcing brandy between her lips
. “What happened?” When she tried to get up, the room somersaulted.

“You fainted
. Shock and exhaustion, I should think. Rest for a while, I’ll watch the young fellow. I can only hide him for a couple of days at most. I hate the bloody police, they killed my son, but I can’t risk getting caught with him here. There’s jail for anyone caught harboring rebels.”

“I know. I’m sorry to have put you in such a terrible position, but I didn’t know where else to go. I’ll
be all right in a few minutes.” She sat up slowly, and mercifully the room didn’t move. “I live on a farm a couple of miles out of Ballarat. If I can get back there and gather up supplies, I’ll take him and try to meet up with my brother. He’ll know what’s best for us to do.”

The doctor gave her a cup of sweet, black tea, and she drank the scalding liquid gratefully, watching as he took several swigs from a whisky bottle.

“Sleep for a couple of hours, I’ll wake you up. Get home and collect your stuff while it’s still dark. Dress up as a boy, safer that way,” he suggested. “It’ll be daylight by the time you get back here. I’ll hide both of you until it gets dark again, but after that you’ll have to go.”

“Yes, thank you. I don’t have any money on me now, but I’ve got a little bit at home, my brother will have more.”

“Don’t worry about payment.” He waved his arms about like a windmill. “I don’t need money to put one over on the police. Military did the dirty on me, too, bastards. Kicked me out of the army and wouldn’t pay me a pension,” he spat the words out, “because I liked a few drinks. I was still one of the best surgeons they ever had.”

“I’m sorry.”
She didn’t know what else to say.

“
Rest, don’t talk. I’ll give the young fellow a special herbal mixture to make him sleep, and I’ll put a poultice on his shoulder before you take him away. It’ll help keep out any infection. Your greatest challenge will be making sure the wound stays clean.”

Melanie fe
ll asleep on the ground in a corner. Groggily she glanced around as the doctor shook her awake. Stiff from sleeping on such a hard surface, she rose awkwardly and stamped her feet trying to bring back the circulation.

“Here
, drink this.” The doctor handed over a mug of tea which she gulped down before hurrying over to check on Robbie. He looked as white as death, his skin damp with perspiration, but he slept peacefully now.

S
eeing no one after a wary glance outside, she crept to where the horse was still tethered. “You’re a docile, patient beast.” She rubbed its nose before mounting and galloping away. How terrible having to leave Robbie with a stranger. What if the doctor decided to betray him? Turn him in for any reward the redcoats might offer. Fear of something happening to him almost killed her, but she had to ignore her anguish and concentrate on getting home without mishap.

For what seemed like hours
she galloped, down gullies, up hills, passing through endless green tunnels of dense bush where the moon light could not penetrate.

A light shone out like a beacon from the
ir homestead, James must be home earlier than expected. Her heart leapt for a moment before plummeting again. He wasn’t due back for days. Were the troopers waiting in ambush? She slowed the horse down, dismounted at the stockyard, and all the while her heart raced, and every breath hurt her lungs. She felt as if her rib cage had collapsed.

Stealthily creeping towards the homestead, staying in the shadows, she made for the side window. Peering inside, she nearly screamed with relief
, James was slumped at the table holding his head in his hands. No need for caution now. Pushing open the door, she launched herself at him.

“James, James.” She laugh
ed and cried at the same time.

“Melanie, where have you been? For God’s sake, I’ve been worried sick. Where the hell is Robbie?
Alex is nearly frantic after what happened.” He put her aside and stood. “My God, what happened? Have you been attacked by someone?” His face turned white with shock.

“It’s Robbie, he’s badly hurt.” The story poured out and she didn’t pause for breath until it was finished.

“Bloody young fool,” he exploded. “Getting himself mixed up with something like this and dragging you into it. Alex feared as much. The troopers are out everywhere searching for rebels, including Peter Lalor their leader. I should have known Robbie would be one of them.”

“He’s badly hurt, he bled all over me
,” she blubbered.

“I’m sorry for being such a brute.
” He tugged at his beard. “You only did what you had to. God help him if he’s caught, though. Some of the rebels surrendered or were captured. Dozens of them are crammed into prison with barely enough room to stand up. Others got shot where they stood. Talk is they could all hang.”

“The troopers came to the hut where we hid, Michael was with them.”

“I’m not surprised. His father used to be some high ranking army officer, so naturally he’s all for the redcoats. A wonder he didn’t turn you in. Ballarat was buzzing with talk this afternoon when I passed through.”