The Lost Man(9)

‘Me,’ Bub said, counting on his fingers. ‘Mum, Ilse – that’s Cam’s missus – and their two girls, Uncle Harry –’

‘Harry Bledsoe,’ Nathan cut in. ‘He’s not actually our uncle, he’s a family friend. He’s worked on the property since before we were all born.’

‘So technically an employee?’ Ludlow asked.

‘Technically, but no-one thinks of him like that,’ Nathan said.

Bub nodded. ‘We’ve got a couple of backpackers at the moment too.’

‘Doing what?’ Ludlow said.

‘Usual. Labouring, work around the house. Whatever. Cam hired them a few months ago.’

‘Would he hire in people often?’

‘Whenever he needed,’ Nathan said. ‘There’d be contractors and labourers coming and going during the year, depending on what’s going on. Glenn – Sergeant McKenna – he knows all this.’

Ludlow just wrote something in his notebook.

Steve stood up and dusted his knees. ‘All right. I’d like to get him into the ambulance now. The sergeant and I can manage the stretcher unless either of you particularly wants to help?’

Nathan and Bub both shook their heads. Nathan was relieved. He suspected he would have felt the weight of that bundle for the rest of his life.

Steve crouched down again. ‘I’m going to completely remove the tarp now, if you want to look somewhere else.’

Nathan started to say something to Xander but the kid was already turning away. City softness, he thought, but was glad. Bub’s eyes were fixed on the horizon.

Nathan debated too long and the decision was made for him. The tarp slipped loose as Cameron’s limp form was lifted onto the stretcher. Bub had been right. Their brother didn’t look injured, at least not in the traditional sense. But heat and thirst did terrible things to a person. He had started to remove his clothes as logic had deserted him, and his skin was cracked. Whatever had been going through Cameron’s mind when he was alive, he didn’t look peaceful in death.

Nathan was still staring at the stretcher long after it had been placed in the ambulance. Sergeant Ludlow turned back to the grave, unconsciously dusting his hands on the side of his trousers. He suddenly stopped mid-motion, then took a step forward, studying the space where Cameron had lain. The exposed earth was sandy and studded with poor tufts of grass. The sergeant bent closer.

‘What is this?’

Nathan felt Bub come up behind him on one side and Xander on the other. They all looked to where Ludlow was pointing.

Near the base of the headstone, where Cameron’s back had pressed against the ground, was a shallow hole.





Chapter 4



The hole was about the size of three fists, and it was empty.

Ludlow took a string of photos, then Nathan watched as he put a single gloved finger into the gap. The side immediately began to collapse as the soft ground trickled in. The land behaved like a living thing and Nathan knew that in a day or two, the area would have repaired itself seamlessly. Ludlow scrabbled deeper into the space and Nathan wondered vaguely how far down the stockman had actually been buried.

‘I can’t see anything in there.’ Ludlow wiped his palms on his trousers and frowned up at Steve. ‘Have you checked his hands?’

Steve disappeared around the back of the ambulance, re-emerging a minute later. ‘Nails are broken and there’s some sand and grit clogged underneath. He could have dug it by hand, if that’s what you’re asking.’

‘Why would he waste energy doing that?’

‘Because his bloody brain was fried, wasn’t it?’

They all turned at Bub’s voice. He was watching with his shoulders hunched and his arms folded across his chest.

‘What?’ He gave a shrug. ‘It’s obvious, isn’t it? It was forty-five degrees yesterday. I dunno why Cam left his car, but the minute he did that, he was fucked. End of story.’

Ludlow looked at Steve, who gave a tight nod. ‘Look, he’s not wrong. Dehydration leads to confusion very quickly.’

They all stared into the scrabbled hole for a long time. Ludlow was the first to look up.

‘I’d like to see his car now.’

Nathan offered to drive the sergeant and Bub didn’t argue. He looked relieved to be staying behind with Steve, who wanted to draw samples and get them in the coolbox before they were completely worthless.

Nathan climbed through the fence with Ludlow and Xander and they got into his Land Cruiser. It felt better for once, being back on his own side of the fence. The unnatural sight of Cameron laid out on the land he loved had upset the balance of the place somehow, as though there was a pollutant in the air.

Nathan’s hands were not quite steady on the steering wheel as he tried to remember that last time he had seen Cam, back in June or whenever. Cam had probably been smiling, because he usually was. Nathan flexed his hands one at a time. He could only picture the face under the tarp. He was already wishing he’d looked away. As he started the car and pulled away from the grave, he realised Ludlow was saying something.

‘Sorry?’

‘I was asking if you and your brother deliberately bought land next to each other?’

‘Oh. No. Burley Downs Station was our dad’s, so me, Cam and Bub grew up there. Then I got given some land on this side of the fence when I – ah – when I was married –’ In the rear-view mirror he could see Xander was looking out of the window, pretending not to listen. ‘That was about twenty years ago. Our dad died around then and eventually Cam took over Burley Downs.’