The Burial Read Online Free PDF Page B

horses tonight.
    They’ll need to go into the holding yard , said Jessie.
    And they need rebranding quick smart , said one of the men.
    I’ll get to them in the morning , said Jessie.
    You might want to get to ’em sooner.
    They stolen? she asked.
    I’m just saying, ma’am. You might want to rebrand ’em tonight, before dawn.
    By the time Fitz arrived back at the homestead the next day, Jessie had rebranded the stolen horses and she had chosen one for herself, the dappled grey Waler she named Houdini. She was riding him in the paddock when she heard a gunshot. The horse reared up but she was able to calm him. She turned to see Fitz riding out of the forest. Even from far off she could tell he was drunk by the way he was swaying back and forth in his saddle.
    He was riding towards her and he was aiming his gun. She dismounted from Houdini and stood in front of him.
    You aiming that gun at me?
    You’ve got an imagination, he said, dropping the gun to his side.
    I see you’ve been busy.
    I’ve been branding your horses.
    Well done , he said . Come up to the house. I’ve a present for you.
    At the house, Fitz pushed a brown package across the table and Jessie unwrapped it. Inside was a long white cotton dress with a hem of embroidered roses.
    Why would I want a dress? she asked. I’m perfectly at home in my trousers.
    Go and put it on , Fitz said.
    She did not. Instead, she busied herself lighting the fire.
    Fitz sat down and put his feet up on the table. You’re looking at a year for each horse.
    I haven’t stolen any horses , said Jessie.
    Unless there’s something wrong with my eyes, half a dozen horses have appeared in the holding yard.
    The horses were delivered for you.
    But it was you who took delivery of them . And I suspect I could track down the owners.
    She knew what was coming. All of these months he had been biding his time, unable to accept ‘no’as an answer.
    Jessie, you have two options that I can see.
    And what are they?
    I can take you back to the same gaol I collected you from.
    Or?
    You can marry me.
    My mother chose but it was a false choice. On the same day that Fitz had swayed out from the forest he doubled her back into it. He was dressed in a blue suit and his hair was slicked back and she wore the long white dress. They rode fast beneath low-hanging branches and when Fitz yelled, Duck! she did and then she did not. She held up her arms and the branch hooked her but only for a second before she fell to the ground and when she stood up he slapped her.
    That afternoon, the justice of the peace—the postmaster—who married them made a note in his book that the bell sleeves on the bride were ripped in places and speckled with blood. No family or friends were present. The bride appeared unsettled but in the end the postmaster took the groom’s money and a photo and he did not ask any questions other than Do you take this man? and Do you take this woman? And they both said, Yes , and then they both signed.

BESIDE THE RIVER my mother blacked out again. The old man rolled a cigarette while the old woman dropped to her knees and began unwrapping the blanket to determine the source of my mother’s bleeding.
    The old woman was muttering, I will save you, I will save you , which irritated the old man exceedingly.
    Woman! he screamed finally. She’s too far gone. And if she lives she’ll surely be trouble.
    I will not leave her , said the old woman, and she was calm and defiant and she kept about what she was doing.
    She’s just another mouth for me to feed , said the old man. He sat down on the sand and his dog sat down beside him.
    The old woman stood up and raised a crooked finger to the old man. All of these years in this miserable place I have prayed for the company of someone other than you and here she is. I am taking her.
    The old woman shuffled over to the river to wet her handkerchief to clean up my