Under the Flame Tree Read online

  ‘So that’s why you’re so feisty about everything.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  He didn’t answer. ‘What do you want to study?’

  ‘Equine nursing,’ she answered, trying to keep her voice steady. His fingertips still trailed along her skin. ‘It’s like vet nursing but tailored towards horses.’

  ‘You’d be good at that.’

  She told him about Iceman’s injuries. ‘Ever since Mum helped me stitch him up, I knew that’s what I wanted to do.’

  Daniel stared back out at the station again.

  ‘Do you want to go to uni?’ she asked.

  ‘I just want to stay out of trouble right now.’

  ‘You must have some dreams. You know, stuff you want to do in life.’

  ‘I’m good for the moment.’

  ‘So, breaking in horses is it?’

  He didn’t answer, but his fingertips scrolled yep over the top of her arm.

  He was trying to distract her again. And doing a good job of it. ‘You didn’t answer my question.’

  ‘No, I didn’t.’

  ‘You just seem to . . .’

  ‘I could kiss you, and then you’d have to shut up.’

  Kirra’s mouth opened and closed like a goldfish. If she spoke, she would be inviting him to kiss her; if she didn’t, he would win. Checkmate. Either way, she had completely forgotten what she had been about to say.

  Daniel disappeared under the water and Kirra startled when his head bobbed up in front of her, gasping for breath, between her arms.

  ‘Dare you to keep talking,’ he said, staring at her intently, deliberately.

  A moment of silence hung between them.

  He was such a contradiction: surly and unpredictable one moment, and then solid, familiar and real, like a rock with creek water swirling around it. The way he cocked his head to one side and pulled that tricky half smile made something stir inside her, weave into her chest and cling to her heart.

  Kirra stared back defiantly. ‘Who taught you to break in horses?’

  Daniel’s face came closer, looming dangerously, threatening to kiss her.

  Something akin to panic shot through her. She pulled her head back away from him. ‘Answer my question.’

  She froze with shock when his lips pressed against the skin of her neck and kissed their way up to her ear. ‘A guy I worked with on a station, I can’t remember his name,’ he whispered.

  Her insides sparked and fizzed so sharply, she barely comprehended his words. His voice lingered over her skin for moments after he’d uttered them.

  She put her hand on the contours of his chest and laughed. ‘Stop trying to distract me!’ With a sharp shove, she pushed herself away from him and let herself sink beneath the dark soundless water, where she allowed herself a moment of complete hysteria.

  He’d kissed her . . . nearly sort of . . . on the neck. She could still feel his lips there. She waved her arms back and forth to keep herself underwater for as long as possible. When she couldn’t hold her breath any longer, she surfaced.

  Daniel was staring over the rim of the tank again, his back to her. His serrated edges had returned. Had she offended him? Was it because she wouldn’t kiss him? He muttered something she didn’t quite make out.

  Kirra swum over to him. ‘What’s wrong?’

  She followed his gaze, beyond the homestead and out to the road. Headlights glided along the fenceline. They turned into the Moorinja driveway. Daniel cursed under his breath.

  ‘What?’ Light washed over the station. ‘Is that Dad home?’

  Someone’s car was coming down the driveway. She looked at her watch. It was ten-thirty – probably time to get going.

  More lights glided along the road, another wash of light. And another. The lights were on high beam. It was an unwritten rule that you turned your headlights down and went quietly when driving into a homestead at night. Everyone knew that. It was common courtesy.

  She didn’t recognise any of these cars. Who did they belong to?

  Daniel made a sudden dash for the ladder and began climbing out.

  12

  ‘Hey, coward!’ a voice yelled from one of the cars as it rolled down the driveway. ‘Come out, come out, wherever you are!’

  ‘Come on, coward!’ voices yelled from the cars that followed. There was more jeering and chaotic laughter. Kirra reckoned there were at least twelve people altogether.

  The air was suddenly thick and heavy. Kirra felt as though she was breathing bricks. Her limbs went heavy with fear.

  ‘You stay here,’ said Daniel, scrambling for his boots. ‘It’s the Blackbrae boys.’

  ‘Nancy is home alone,’ said Kirra, panic rising like nausea in her gut. She knew none of the other men were home. They were still at the rodeo. Did the Blackbrae boys know that when they decided to come here?

  ‘Find your phone and ring her,’ said Daniel. ‘Ask her to get hold of Jim and Tom. Where’s your friend?’

  ‘Natalie? At my place.’ Kirra was instantly terrified for her. ‘On her own.’

  ‘Ring her. Tell her to keep the lights off and hide. Anywhere. In a wardrobe. Under the bed.’

  Outside the engines grew louder, and so did the voices, jeering and hooting. Daniel started across the paddock.

  Kirra followed and pulled at his arm. ‘You’re not going over there, are you?’

  He turned to her and touched her face. His eyes were set hard. ‘Do not ring the cops, unless I’m dead.’

  She stared wide-eyed at him. ‘There are too many of them, Daniel.’

  ‘Promise me,’ he said.

  ‘Are you crazy?’ she squeaked.

  His voice rose. ‘Promise me, Kirra. I don’t want you to ring the cops, no matter what!’

  ‘But . . . why don’t you hide?’

  ‘They’ll never stop looking. Just promise me, Kirra!’

  She swallowed and nodded. ‘Okay.’

  He softened his tone. ‘I’m nearly eighteen. If I break parole, I won’t be going to juvy.’ His eyes searched her face for understanding.

  Prison? He would go to prison?

  Okay. She understood. ‘I promise,’ she said. ‘No cops.’ Ambulance might be a different story.

  ‘Ring Nance. I gotta get this over with.’

  He set off across the paddock. Letting him go felt like feeding him to the lions. She watched him bend and slip through the fence as if he were off to greet old friends.

  Hands trembling, she rummaged through her clothes and found her phone in her shirt pocket. She pulled her towel around her shoulders and walked after Daniel as she waited for it to ring. The house number was engaged. She hung up and within half a second it buzzed in her hands. Nancy. She stabbed at the screen, and put it to her ear.

  ‘Nance, there are heaps of them,’ she said in a low voice, sinking back into the shadow of the trees. ‘We were at the hill tank. Daniel’s already gone over there!’ She peered around the shrub as she whispered into the phone. The cars reached the end of the driveway and began circling the house yard, revving their engines and shining their spotlights over the homestead. She could hear yahooing and laughter.

  ‘Well, don’t you follow,’ Nancy said firmly. ‘Natalie is already here with me. You stay put while I ring Tom and the boys and tell them to get back here.’ The phone clunked in Kirra’s ear.

  She watched in horror as Daniel walked out into the middle of the yard and stood there while the rushing waves of light encircled him. He hooked his thumbs into his front pockets and kicked casually at the ground as though he was bored waiting for them.

  There was a sedan, followed by two twin-cab white utes, both with Blackbrae logos on the front doors. Their lights remained dazzlingly bright over the yard while the place went eerily quiet.

  A lone figure in a wide-brimmed mustering hat got out of the passenger-side door of the car. He slammed it shut, walked directly to Daniel and stood before him with his chin raised. Kirra recognised him: Jarred Young.
He was smaller and wirier than Daniel.

  Without warning, Jarred shoved at Daniel’s chest, making it clear he was looking for a fight. Excited whoops and laughter rose from the mob of teenagers, who had stepped out of their cars. Daniel’s feet didn’t move as he deflected Jarred’s shoving. Kirra heard him speak but couldn’t make out the words. Jarred pushed Daniel again and several of the boys began jeering.

  Kirra glanced up the road, looking for headlights, praying Tom and her dad would come home, but the festival was over an hour’s drive away.

  Jarred launched a punch at Daniel and it connected with a nauseating crunch that Kirra heard from the edge of the yard. Her hands flew to her face and she stifled a scream.

  Daniel reeled backwards and then found his feet. He looked up slowly and rubbed his jaw. The place went eerie and silent again as the boys waited for his response.

  He walked back to Jarred with his chin held high and defiant. Kirra could see the heaving of his chest, the clenching of his fists.

  ‘Come on, you gutless piece of trash,’ Jarred taunted. ‘Hit me again. I’m ready for you this time.’

  Daniel shook his head. ‘We’re even. It’s over.’

  Jarred’s voice rose. ‘Come on, hit me. Hit me so I can send you straight to prison where you belong, you lowlife.’

  One of the other boys stepped forward and took Jarred by the arm. ‘Come on, bro, that’s enough. It’s settled.’ He had the same wiry frame as Jarred and Kirra guessed he was an older brother, trying to keep his sibling out of trouble.

  Jarred shook him off and stared Daniel down. ‘I never drove any car that night and you know it.’

  ‘Then who did, Jarred?’ Daniel said in a low, choked voice. ‘Because whoever did was driving one of those Blackbrae utes and they hurt my sister.’

  Jarred let out a mocking laugh. He pointed a finger into Daniel’s chest. ‘You need to pay for your own stupid mistakes.’

  Daniel didn’t answer. He pushed Jarred’s finger off and stood there, waiting. Several other boys began goading him. The one who Kirra guessed was Jarred’s brother shrank back into the shadows. Kirra prayed Daniel would keep control. If he lost the plot and hit anyone he’d break his release agreement and he’d go straight back to juvy, which was exactly what these jerks wanted. What could Daniel do but stand there and cop it sweet?

  ‘You’re a dingo,’ someone yelled. ‘Nothin’ but a yellow dog.’

  It made Kirra sick in the stomach. The realisation that Daniel wouldn’t fight back seemed to spur Jarred on. He made a mocking chicken noise and his entourage guffawed around him. He slapped Daniel across the side of his head. Again, Daniel deflected him with a lift of his arm. And then Jarred punched him again. Kirra barely contained the scream that lurched from her throat.

  She had to do something. She had to break this up. Her eyes flew around the home yard. The Hino! She stole silently towards the horse shed, yanked at the truck’s door and locked herself securely inside. Her hand shook as she fumbled with the ignition. Finally the key slotted in, and the engine fired beneath her. She rammed it into gear and clicked the headlights on.

  The Hino lurched out of the shed, washing light over the yard, engine roaring. The boys shielded their eyes in the piercing headlights. Kirra aimed for the middle of the pack, pumping the accelerator, making as much noise as she could. She slammed her fist hard on the horn. People scattered everywhere, diving into sheds and crawling under fences. They sprinted into the surrounding paddocks and climbed back into their cars.

  Someone jumped onto the side of the truck and banged on the door. She grabbed the air horns and pulled them long and hard, blasting thunder through the night. Whoever it was dived off into the darkness.

  Maybe it was the size of the truck. Maybe it was the way the bull-bar caught the tray of a ute and dragged it sideways. Maybe it was because they thought she was a raving psycho. Whatever it was, people bolted back to their cars and madly fled, tyres spinning in the gravel.

  Kirra saw Daniel stumble to the house and stand on the porch, his hands on his knees, heaving as if he was going to throw up. She sat with the engine running, watching them retreat in a smear of headlights and idle threats, back out the driveway and along the road.

  When they’d vanished beyond the trees, she shoved the truck into neutral, hung her head on the steering wheel and burst into tears. She cried uncontrollably, unable to move, until the door rattled beside her. She wearily reached for the knob, unlocked it and pushed the door open.

  Daniel looked up at her, his face a bloody mess, fat in all the wrong places and with one eye closing over. ‘For the last time, Kirra,’ he panted, ‘will you please give me those truck keys?’

  A burst of relieved laughter shot from her chest. ‘You can have them, Daniel.’

  But he wasn’t laughing. He looked angry.

  ‘What’s up?’

  ‘That ute you pushed halfway up the driveway?’

  She grinned at him, sure he would have enjoyed that as much as she did. ‘Made a proper mess of it, didn’t I?’

  ‘That was mine.’

  She dropped her head back onto the steering wheel and returned to sobbing hysterically. Daniel’s hand reached up and took the keys out of the ignition. Then she felt his arms pull her down from the cabin and wrap around her.

  13

  Daniel half-carried, half-walked her back to the cottage, sat on the couch, and pulled her onto his lap. She smeared tears over his neck while he ran his hand up and down her back. ‘It’s okay,’ he said. ‘They’re gone, Kirra. It’s over.’

  ‘I thought they were going to kill you.’

  Nancy appeared through the front door. ‘Tom and Jim are on their way,’ she said, slowing and looking them both over. ‘Are you guys all right?’

  Nat burst in behind her. ‘I thought those rednecks were going to kill you, Daniel.’ She stopped when she saw Kirra on his lap. ‘Are you guys okay?’

  ‘I’ve had worse,’ Daniel said. But as he spoke, his eyes glazed and his lids fluttered. Kirra wasn’t so sure he was okay. She felt him slump beneath her and she crawled off him. Her eyes caught her jeans hanging over a kitchen chair and she suddenly became aware of being caught, on his lap, in his cottage, at night . . . wearing his shorts.

  She could explain . . .

  Nancy stepped forward and checked his eyes. ‘I hope you’re not concussed.’

  ‘I’m fine,’ he said, straightening his shoulders.

  As Nancy fussed over Daniel, Kirra used the moment to discreetly slip to the bathroom and change back into her jeans. It wouldn’t do to have her father arrive while she was like this, especially on top of everything else. She grimaced as she pulled them over her bruised leg.

  By the time Jim and Tom arrived, there was a large gathering outside the house. Every man from Moorinja and Scrubby Creek seemed to be there.

  ‘Where’s Kirra?’ she heard Jim say, before he appeared in the doorway.

  ‘I’m okay,’ she said.

  ‘What happened?’

  The boss came in after Jim, and Kirra cringed. Tom Carney only got involved when things where serious, when things affected the running of the station. Kirra tried to explain. Daniel had done nothing wrong. He hadn’t fought back. Tom listened with a grave face, not offering any clue to his thoughts. ‘Do you need a doctor?’ he finally asked Daniel.

  Daniel shook his head. ‘I’m sorry, Tom.’

  ‘He’s not concussed, but he needs to get this seen to,’ said Nancy, gesturing at a long cut under Daniel’s eye.

  ‘I’ll clean it up myself,’ said Daniel, turning away from her. ‘It’ll be fine.’

  ‘Good,’ said Tom. ‘If you’re smart, you’ll shut up and forget it happened. Let it blow over.’

  Daniel nodded in agreement.

  Kirra couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

  ‘I really think he should go and get checked over by a doctor,’ said Nancy.

  ‘My case officer will hear about it,’ Daniel
said. ‘Those guys’ll make up lies. Please. I’m fine. If it’s not okay in the morning, I’ll go to a doctor, I promise.’

  ‘Jocelyn will be back from night shift in the morning,’ said Jim. ‘She could check him over.’

  Tom nodded in agreement. Nancy didn’t look happy.

  Kirra seethed. It was so unjust. Finally Daniel convinced them that all he wanted was to be left alone. The adrenaline was leaving his body and the bruises were kicking in. Everyone filed out of the house, including Kirra.

  She and Natalie sat on the old couch on the front porch of the foreman’s residence, long after everyone else had gone to bed. ‘You probably think Daniel’s a real loser,’ she said, drawing her knees up to her chin and hugging them tight.

  ‘Not a loser,’ said Nat, sitting cross-legged with a blanket around her shoulders. ‘But I reckon Jamie would be a lot less complicated.’

  ‘So you keep saying,’ said Kirra.

  ‘Why don’t you like him? He’s a total sweetie and he obviously likes you.’

  ’I do like him, just not like that.’ Jamie had been crushing on her since he came to work at Moorinja nearly a year ago. Every time she came home from school he was there. She’d catch him staring at her from across the dinner room and he’d grin. He was there to help before she even knew she needed help, lifting sacks of chaff, holding a spare horse, lifting the tailgate on the horse float. Jamie just always magically appeared with a smile on his face. He was a nice guy, a friend.

  But that’s where it ended for her. Somehow, he was just too nice, or something. ‘Maybe he suits you better.’

  Nat slapped Kirra’s arm with the back of her hand. ‘Stop it. He likes you.’

  ‘But I like Daniel,’ said Kirra.

  ‘Did you kiss him tonight?’

  ‘Nearly.’ Kirra closed her eyes and exhaled slowly as she remembered his lips on her neck in the water tank. His fingertips touching her skin. ‘Do you think I’m crazy?’

  Nat paused before she spoke. ‘Probably.’