Chapter One
HE LEFT the mustering camp late afternoon, when the still-blazing sun was slipping down the sky in a glory of red, gold and amethyst.
Every bone, every muscle in his body was throbbing with fatigue. It had been a long hard day made doubly frustrating because he and a handful of the men had to fight yet another brushfire at the old âdancing grounds.â
The aboriginals claimed, perhaps with perfect truth, that the grounds were sacred and the brushfires, which had gone on for as long as anyone could remember, were the work of Jumboona, one of the more mischievous of the ancient gods. Sometimes when he was tired, like now, he accepted that possibility with a laconic shrug. Unless the fires were lit deliberatelyâand no one had ever found any evidence of itâthere seemed to be no easy explanation. As his father used to say, âOld Jumboona strikes again!â Charlie Eaglehawk, their best tracker, claimed to have seen Jumboona through the flames, but then Charlie specialized in stories that made the hair on the back of oneâs neck prickle.
He rode on, allowing the splendor of the sunset to revive him. The muster would resume at dawn the next day, but there was a tension in the men and in the cattle he didnât much like. The hot winds had a bearing on it. As well, for the aboriginal stockmen, Jandra Crossing was the site of an old ritual killing by one of the dreaded kurdaitcha men, dispensers of justice since the Dreamtime. Stories about the ritual kurdaitcha killings were interwoven with the legends of Southern Cross; so were the stories about Jumboona and his hostile cavortings. Jumboona certainly liked to keep them all busy, he thought now with a sort of rueful humor.
A wallaby jumped out in front of his big stallion, The Brigadier, who executed a high-stepping dance. He reined the horse in, then pushed his akubra farther back on his head, looking up at the sky. It was pearlescent with smoke, the smell of burned bush land hot in his nostrils. Even the birds seemed disturbed, sending up spine-tingling shrieks as they flew home to the billabongs and swamps. The kurdaitcha manâs victims, transgressors of the tribal laws, were said to wander the lignum swamps at night. Many a stockman over the long years had claimed to see their spirits setting up camp near the water. He had never seen anything paranormal himself, and he didnât expect to. But even his so-called iron nerves had been tested now and again in the hill country, where the extensive network of caves served as immensely old galleries for images of love magic and sorcery.
Southern Cross, the Mountford desert stronghold since the 1860s, was also a mythical place for the Jurra Jurra tribe. So the legends had begun and were allowed to grow. This was his country and he loved it with a passion. No woman could ever hold him in the same way. At thirty, with half a dozen affairs behind him, he had reason to know. Heâd come close to marriage onceâit was expected that at some stage he would provide the historic Mountford station with an heirâbut heâd found himself unable to take the final step. No woman had ever fired his blood.
Dusk saw him riding through the main compound on his way to the huge complex of stables at the rear of the homestead. He dismounted in the circular courtyard, looking around. Where the hell was Manny? Probably whittling away at one of his little wooden sculptures; they were so good, he thought it was about time he encouraged the boy to do something with his skill. He summoned him with a loud whistle and Manny came running, his face split in a wide grin.
âOld Jumboona get yah again, Boss?â
Tired as he was, he couldnât help returning Mannyâs infectious grin. âThe worst thing, Manny, is that you seem to enjoy it.â
âNo, Boss.â Manny shook his curly head. âYouâll cut âim down to size and thatâs a fact. Iâm beginninâ to wonder if the old boy ainât losinâ his powers.â
His laugh rasped in his dry throat. âYou should have spent the day with me. And I wouldnât speak too loudly, either. The old boy might hear you.â
âWouldnât bother about the likes oâ me.â Manny took charge of The Brigadierâs saddle. âSaw Miss Annabel a while ago. She was all excited about her friend.â
Her friend! God, he didnât know whether to laugh or bang his head against the stone wall. Heâd clean forgotten about Annabelâs friend. She would be up at the homestead right now.
âEverything okay, Boss?â Manny asked anxiously.
âI just need an ice-cold beer, Manny. And a hot tub. In that order.â He didnât say the thought of having to make small talk with a strange woman intensified his feelings of tiredness and irritation. He swept off his akubra and ran an impatient hand through his hair, black and shiny as a magpieâs wing. It was too thick and too long at the back and, he supposed, that together with the marks of grime and smoke gave him the appearance of a wild man. Not exactly what Miss Roishinâwhat kind of name was that?âGrant would expect to see. He laughed out loud remembering how some womenâs magazine had voted him one of the sexiest men in the country. Eligible and rich. The