Ironbark (62 page)

‘Is it not true this Gypsy stole many horses in his illicit career as a bushranger?'

‘Don't believe everything you read in the newspapers,' Jake shot
back. ‘As for me I can't speak of what I never saw. But in answer to your
mistakes
about Sarishan, he wasn't stolen so I broke no law training him for a race he won fair and square. And he wasn't payment neither. I made Gem a solemn promise I'd care for his horse if he went to prison. Any decent man would.' He turned to Hamberton to explain. ‘Brumbies ain't stolen, Your Honour. They are born in the wild and owned by no one.'

The prosecutor played to the gallery. ‘Never look a gift-horse in the mouth, eh?'

Jake fought to keep his anger in check. ‘In answer to your last question, I never in my life supplied arms or ammunition to Gem Smith or any other bolter. But if
any
man comes to my camp, bond or free, I never refuse to share my food and drink. That's not giving succour, Your Honour, it's the law of survival in outback New South Wales.'

Keziah knew that wasn't a lie, but it wasn't quite the whole truth. Jake refused to deliver arms or ammunition, but he
had
taken food supplies to Gem in the cave.

Asked if he was willing so to swear, Jake answered, ‘Truth is it'd be a hollow oath, Your Honour. I'm second cousin to an atheist. I
will
swear on my own honour. Every man knows Jake Andersen's as good as his word.'

‘That's true!' Keziah's impulsive words drew murmurs of agreement from the surrounding crowd and a gruff, ‘Hear, hear,' from George Hobson.

The magistrate glanced at the court clock. ‘
Every
man considers you an honourable man, Andersen? That is a sweeping claim. Trust light will be shed by the final two witnesses.'

When Keziah saw Gilbert Evans take the oath she hissed at Daniel, ‘Clean water never came out of a dirty place! I've got a good mind to—'

Daniel stopped her mouth with a swift kiss.

• • • 

Daniel felt a stab of empathy at the look Jake exchanged with Keziah. Her eyes were awash with love. He tried to suppress his own feelings to remain alert to any clues that could aid Jake's cause. He was afraid of what lay ahead if Jake was found guilty. Daniel was ashamed of his instinctive aesthetic reaction to the new punishment designed to subdue prisoners. Prolonged dark cell isolation was preferable to the mutilation of Jake's superb body under the lash.

Daniel watched intently as Gilbert Evans gave evidence. The man's manner was silky and servile but his testimony was riddled with more innuendo than facts. When Evans referred to an incriminating unsigned letter to be produced in evidence, he was forced to admit ‘a friend' had passed it on to him and that he had no direct proof as to where and when the letter was obtained.

‘What letter?' Keziah asked Daniel. ‘Evans “speaks with forked tongue”. They can't convict Jake on all this hot air, can they?'

Daniel tried to sound confident. ‘So far all the evidence is circumstantial.'

When the final witness was called to the stand, Daniel felt Keziah sway against him. She turned to him in shock. ‘Daniel, it's
him
! The man with the cleft chin.'

Daniel knew right at that moment the game was up.

The Devil Himself solemnly took the oath, his hand on the King James Bible.

Daniel's mind went blank for several minutes. He broke out in a cold sweat at the sight of Iago. For years Daniel had lived in fear of this man and suffered the consequences of every twist of his devious mind. He'd believed that now he was married with a ticket-of-leave he'd be free of this tyrant forever. But here the man stood only a few feet away. And Daniel did not doubt the bastard would use his power to deliver Jake the
coup de grâce
.

Daniel looked desperately at the magistrate. Would Hamberton recognise the truth about Iago? On the rare occasions Daniel had talked
to Hamberton it was clear he was a passionate dilettante of law and order. But today, despite his bluster, Hamberton appeared nervous that his knowledge was now being put to the test.

When Daniel heard the Devil Himself formally identified as Iago, Overseer of Gideon Park, he knew the name was but one of several aliases that were not revealed in court.
There are no records of his place of birth, how or when he came to the colony. He must have friends in high places.

On the stand Iago projected manly integrity as a gentleman who appeared reluctant to condemn Jake Andersen. His sworn statement claimed Jake had given aid to bushrangers on many unspecified occasions. It read like a masterpiece of fabrication.

Daniel could barely watch, afraid to catch his eye.

Magistrate Hamberton paused before responding to Iago's testimony. ‘Your memory is commendable, Sir, albeit unsubstantiated. However one thing concerns me. You took considerable time to bring your claims to the attention of police officers.'

‘Quite so, Your Honour. I am fully aware of my civic duty. It would be a terrible thing to send an innocent man to prison.' He paused. ‘However on the final occasion I was left with no choice but to inform the authorities.'

Hamberton could barely conceal his irritation. ‘The final occasion?'

Iago looked troubled, as if unwilling to recall the scene.

‘I was riding along the Sydney Road with my friend Mr Gilbert Evans. After we parted company I chanced upon Andersen's stationary wagon. The full moon enabled me to clearly identify Sarishan, the champion racehorse who was The Gypsy's payment for services rendered to him. By Andersen. As the letter in evidence proves.'

When this letter was produced, Iago confirmed he had found it in the vicinity of Andersen's camp site and had passed it on to Evans for the police.

Daniel looked at Keziah to gauge her reaction as it was read.
Although unsigned, the letter had obviously been dictated by Gem and Keziah was clearly the unidentified woman Gem had ‘willed' to Jake's care. Daniel could see Keziah was so moved she could barely breathe. He drew his arm around her shoulders to brace her. He knew Iago. Worse was to come.

He clenched his teeth in anger when he heard Iago's soft voice damning Jake by distorting the letter to ‘prove' that Sarishan was ‘payment for services rendered'.

Instructed to describe what he had witnessed at Andersen's camp that night, Iago continued. ‘I saw the accused lying on the ground in despicable circumstances.'

Keziah turned to Daniel. ‘What the hell is going on?'

Daniel barely heard her. He was overcome with confusion at Jake's horrified reaction.

Iago made a gesture of apology. ‘I hate to say this in the presence of ladies, Your Honour. I saw the accused locked in the embrace of the notorious bushranger Will Martens!' He pointed directly at Jake. ‘Jakob Andersen was
giving the boy succour
.'

Shock spread through the court. Daniel saw the blood drain from Keziah's face.

Jake yelled out, ‘You lying bastard, Iago, it wasn't like that at all!'

The guard battled to restrain Jake, who finally quietened down after he was threatened with contempt of court.

When questioned as to why he had failed to include this evidence in his sworn statement, Iago savoured the moment. He looked in turn at Jake, Keziah and Daniel, then at the magistrate.

‘I was loath to do so, knowing that proof of this bestial act draws the death penalty.'

Hamberton's face looked like a mask. ‘Do we take it you refer to sodomy?'

Iago hung his head. ‘I regret that I do, Your Honour.'

Daniel forcibly stopped Keziah from charging at the witness box,
but he could not stop her screaming out,
‘Bengis in tutes bukko!'

The meaning of the Romani curse was unknown to Daniel but there was no doubting the venom in her words. In the lady spectators' box Daniel saw the fashionable woman in blue rise to her feet. Mrs Hamberton's gloved hands covered her mouth as she sank back in her seat.

Daniel hissed at Keziah, ‘What on earth did you say?'

Her rage was beyond control. ‘
The Devil be in his bowels!
Did you see Iago's face? He knew what it meant! He's no Rom but I'll bet he was cursed by my people in prison!'

Daniel looked at the clock anxiously as the court grew quiet. It was a quarter to four. Being the eve of Her Majesty's birthday no doubt the magistrate desired to end the proceedings. Yet he took his time.

‘Under British law proof of the most heinous crime of sodomy requires a second witness. There is none to corroborate it. Mr Evans produced the letter on exhibit. But his statement clearly shows that he and Iago parted company that evening. Evans did not claim to have witnessed Andersen or Martens together under
any
conditions. Mr Iago did not choose to include this claimed act of abomination in
his
sworn statement.' The magistrate hesitated and glanced at his tipstaff before adding, ‘Therefore I must deem it inadmissible evidence.'

Daniel whispered to Keziah. ‘Look at him. He's new to the job. He's not sure if his ruling is strictly legal.'

He saw Keziah's eyes were fixed on the clock. Time was running out. Six of the seven charges were dismissed from lack of evidence. The seventh charge involved Jake's acknowledgement of Gem's letter and his present ownership of Sarishan. The horse was deemed to have been payment for services rendered to the bushranger Gypsy Gem Smith. The verdict – Guilty.

Keziah screamed out in horror. ‘Two years!
Mi-duvel.
God help us!'

Feeling trapped in a nightmare, impotent and powerless to move,

Daniel watched as Jake, manacled, resisted being dragged back to his cell.

Daniel caught Keziah as she slumped in his arms, but he was unable to tear his eyes from Jake's agonised expression as he struggled in vain to reach her. He felt Jake's pain as if it was in his own body. Jake gave a gut-wrenching cry, helpless to come to the aid of his woman.

Keziah stared at the ceiling rose as she lay in bed in the attic guest room of the Haunted Farm. Time had always been her ally, allowing her to wander between past, present and future. But now, bereft of the gift she had depended on since childhood, she could no longer see any clues to the future.

In the days since her hysterical outburst in court at the announcement of Jake's sentence, she had been drained of all emotion. She could feel nothing for the babe growing in her womb and was only remotely aware of Dr Ross's concern about the threat of a likely premature birth, following the earlier loss of the babe's twin.

He had decreed bed rest and insisted she stay under his direct care. How could she object? She had nowhere else to live. Her previous avoidance of the Haunted Farm and Padraic's
mulo
hardly seemed a battle worth fighting.

When Daniel organised for the children to be sent to Ironbark Farm to attend school under Polly Doyle's care, Keziah had no strength to intervene. Jake was incarcerated in Berrima Gaol, Nerida was miles away in Maitland with Sunny Ah Wei, and Keziah's beloved horses and
vardo
were in Bran's care at the forge. Keziah felt cut off from all family roots, cast adrift in a cold, nightmarish world, sleeping fitfully between draughts of some unnamed liquid to ‘quieten' her.

A firm knock at the door was followed by Leslie's entrance.

‘Rest easy, lass. Daniel will sleep downstairs so as not to disturb you. All Jake's friends are joining forces to fight for his release. Joseph Bloom is expected from Sydney Town at any hour. Then we'll see some action!'

Keziah looked warily at the glass he handed her.

‘I feel so unreal, Doctor. Is it the medication?'

‘You've been in a state of shock, lass. Port wine will help you sleep. Drink it down. Everything will look brighter on the morrow.'

After Dr Ross had left the room, Keziah examined the glass. She trusted the healing power of her own herbs as much as she distrusted all
gaujo
drugs. Did this wine contain traces of the laudanum that she had seen draw Sophie Morgan into its web? She smelled it, took a tentative sip and decided the taste
was
exactly like port wine. Her head soon felt light and clear, yet pleasantly drowsy. When she finished the draught she could hear Janet Macgregor whispering in the corridor.

‘That vacant expression of hers gives me the shivers, Leslie.'

‘The lass has been through a terrible ordeal, Janet. She'll pull through, but at the moment she's not quite in her right mind.'

When their footsteps receded Keziah digested those words.
Not quite in her right mind?
She examined the idea, aware that she was seeing her world through different eyes.
Is this what madness feels like?
she wondered.

Moonlight streamed through the window onto the bed.
What if it does turn my hair white? Queen Marie Antoinette's went white from grief. They cut off her head, so what did her hair matter?

Instead of falling asleep her mind felt totally lucid. She felt as if she was being gently sucked into a pattern of strange, colourful waking dreams unlike any she had ever experienced, beckoning her into another dimension. She became aware of every inch of the room, every knot in the timber. The wallpaper pattern revealed hidden faces. A tiny cobweb in the cornice took on a magical quality.

The darkened house lay silent. Keziah saw the full face of the moon reflected in the mirror. The dimensions of the room were strangely transformed, quivering as if she were observing them under water. Yet the next moment each object was sharply defined, the textures of wood, brass, linen and lace charged with an invisible source of energy. She could feel each one pulsing with a secret life force.

These sensations thrilled her so much she wanted to go on exploring them, but her deepest instincts struggled to gain control over this seductive excitement. She knew she must try to break free from the hold these sensations had over her or she would be lost.