The Lost Man(43)

‘Pass me that small screwdriver, Bub,’ Nathan said, an hour later.

There was no reaction. Bub was standing with his back to the desert and his arms folded, staring out at their own land. Xander was in the car a short distance away, awaiting an instruction to try the radio.

‘Bub? That screwdriver there.’

‘Sorry.’ Bub handed it to him. ‘I was just thinking about some stuff.’

‘Oh yeah?’ Nathan grimaced as a gust of wind blew some grit into his mouth.

‘I should’ve gone down earlier.’

‘What’s that, mate?’ Nathan straightened up.

Bub picked up a small rock and fiddled with it before tossing it down the hill. It rolled for a long way. There was nothing in its path. Lehmann’s Hill was not particularly high but it was tall enough to offer a view. The paddocks glowed red and green from up there and Nathan could see distant shadows as the odd herd of cattle wandered along. They were tiny. The other way, to the west, all was still. The desert looked pristine and untouched, with perfect ripples in the sand. Nathan had seen the landscape so often and in so many ways, he was almost blind to it at times, but sometimes, in the right light, it was still breathtaking.

‘I shouldn’t have waited for Cam for so bloody long. I sat up here in the car for ages.’ Bub squinted out into the distance. Apart from the odd ripple of shadow, there was almost no movement. ‘I dunno why. You can see there’s no-one bloody coming.’

It was true, Nathan knew. A moving car was usually easy to spot.

‘This wasn’t your fault, mate,’ Nathan said finally. ‘He could have been parked somewhere. Or coming from a different direction.’

‘Yeah, maybe. But even when you can’t see it, you can kind of feel it sometimes, don’t you reckon?’ Bub said. ‘When there’s someone near?’

Nathan nodded. Sometimes. Kind of.

‘Yeah, well, I felt bugger all. If I’d left then, got to the track before dark, I might’ve been able to raise the alarm earlier. It might not have been too late then.’ Bub dropped his gaze. Xander was watching them, out of earshot, from the car.

‘I would’ve waited too,’ Nathan said finally.

‘Would you?’ Bub looked up at that.

‘Yep.’ It was true. ‘You arranged to meet him here, you waited here. Nothing wrong with that.’

Bub didn’t reply straight away. ‘I was pissed off with him. That’s why I left it so long.’ He didn’t meet Nathan’s eye. ‘I thought he’d got bogged or got a flat himself. Decided I’d let him sweat it out on his own for a while.’

‘Why?’

‘It’s stupid. It was over bloody nothing.’ He sighed. ‘I was half thinking about heading to Dulsterville next year. Become a roo shooter.’

‘Were you?’ Nathan was surprised. It had never occurred to him that Bub might want to leave the property one day.

‘Yeah, I thought, maybe. Why not?’ Bub sounded defensive.

No reason at all, really, Nathan thought. Kangaroo shooting probably wouldn’t be a bad option for him, and it was the main industry in Dulsterville so there’d be plenty of work. Nathan had driven through the small outback town a few times on his way east. He’d seen the modified utes parked and ready for the night’s work. With their spotlights and their rifle rests mounted on the doors so shots could be taken through the open windows. Large spiked cages on the back to hang the carcasses. The collection point at the edge of town where the tagged ones were turned into cash for the shooters and pet food and fur products for consumers. It was a living.

‘So you going to do it?’ Nathan said.

Bub shook his head. ‘Cam thought it was stupid. Said I should stay and focus on things here.’

‘So? You don’t need Cam’s permission.’

‘Need money though. Cash, I mean. Not all tied up in bloody long-term property investment stuff. I need to get the equipment, fix up the Land Cruiser. Find somewhere to live, that kind of thing.’ Bub squinted into the sun. It was hard to read his expression. ‘I wasn’t asking for anything that wasn’t mine. I just wanted to free up some of the money – my money – in this place.’

‘Cameron said no?’

‘Not straight out. But he wanted me to think about it. Talk to him again next year. Make sure I was doing the right thing.’

‘Sounds sensible.’

‘But what do you think of the idea?’ Bub seemed genuinely interested.

‘Me? I dunno, mate.’ Cameron’s and Bub’s interests may not have aligned exactly, but Cam was probably right to suggest Bub think things through. ‘It depends. You don’t want to be too hasty. I mean, I only sold out in part and I still ended up in the shit.’

‘Yeah, I suppose.’

Bub looked dejected and Nathan felt a bit bad. In all honesty, his brother would probably make a pretty decent roo shooter. ‘Look,’ he said. ‘It doesn’t sound like the worst plan.’

‘Yeah, well, tell that to Cam.’ There was an awkward moment, then Bub shrugged. ‘It’d be good, though. You ever thought of doing it? Money for nothing.’

‘No, not for me.’

‘Haven’t got the balls for it?’

‘Something like that.’ Nathan tried to keep his tone casual. ‘Haven’t got the licence for it anymore, either.’