Chapter 17
Chief barked, then snarled, his lips curling, showing his teeth.
‘Steady there, mate. I’m friendly,’ Tim heard a man’s voice say. He gave a mirthless grunt. Wouldn’t matter what you said to Chief, he wouldn’t back down. Swinging around, he put a foot on the ladder and started up to the surface, wondering who was wanting him and how they knew he was down this shaft.
He looked out and saw a well-dressed man offering Chief a piece of meat and the dog staring at the man without taking his gift. Tim didn’t like that. How did this bloke know he had a dog? Had he been here before? He squinted, trying to see whether he recognised the man. He didn’t think so.
Before climbing the final steps, he checked his gun and wiped his brow.
‘My dog is trained not to take food from strangers,’ he said by way of a greeting.
‘Just trying to be nice and not get bitten, mate. It’s not like I’m going to poison him.’
Tim jerked his head at Chief. ‘He doesn’t know that and neither do I. What can I do for you?’ he asked, his tone hard. He stood with his arms crossed and stared at the man.
‘Are you Tim Tucker?’
‘Who’s asking?’
He brandished a small business card and tried to offer it to him, but Chief barked again and jumped up on his back legs, snapping at the man’s arm.
‘Fuck! Call your dog, off, will you?’
‘He only does that to people he doesn’t like,’ Tim said calmly. ‘I don’t reckon he likes you. And if he doesn’t, I won’t either.’ He snapped his fingers. Immediately, Chief came to sit next to his owner, still growling. Tim didn’t say anything more, he just crossed his arms and waited.
The breeze cooled the sweat on his back a little. Didn’t matter how cool it was underground, he always sweated and it was always musty. It was nice to get to the surface at the end of every day and breathe in the sweet air. He seemed to be sweating so much more than usual and he wondered if he should make an appointment with the doctor. No. The last time he’d been, he hadn’t liked what the doctor had told him, so he wouldn’t go back.
The man took a cautious step towards Tim and held out his card again. ‘I’m Ross Pollard from HMA Mining.’
‘And?’
‘I’ve come to make an offer on your land.’
Tim stood still. He’d heard that one of the bigger mining companies had been trying to buy up some of the smaller leases, but it had always been on the other side of Barrabine. Not out this way. Why were they offering money for land out here?
There was only one answer to that question; they must believe there was still a lot of gold in the ground.
‘What makes you think I’d want to sell?’ He coughed a little, his throat dry.
‘We’re offering much more money than you’d ever make from what you’ve got here.’ He named a figure and Tim had to admit he was impressed. It made him even more certain there was gold around.
‘Thanks for the offer,’ he said, turning away. ‘But no thanks.’
‘You haven’t even heard me out!’ the man protested.
‘I don’t need to. Not interested.’ He leaned down and picked up the rope that was attached to a large piece of tin and pulled it over the shaft mouth. The clattering drowned out the man’s next words.
After his children had died, Tim had taken to covering the mine shafts, but lately he’d become lax about it. Since he’d found the man’s body, he’d made sure to start again. He wasn’t going to be responsible for anyone else’s death.
Killjoy had brought up a very good point in the pub the other week too. These days it was just as likely the dead man’s family would sue him for not having the shaft covered, even though he’d been trespassing on Tim’s land. It would be Tim who got into trouble, not the idiot who’d fallen in. Times were certainly changing—back when he’d first started out, people had taken responsibility for their own actions instead of trying to blame someone else.
Chief walked close to Tim, his eyes still on the man, as Tim gathered his tools and esky and placed them in the back of his ute.
‘We’ve had others in this area sell their leases to us and we’d really like to put a nice package of land together,’ Ross blustered on. ‘It’ll make your life very easy.’
‘What makes you think my life isn’t easy now? Or that I’d want to change it?’
‘Ah, well, you know, you’re, um, getting on a bit…’
Tim turned to face the man. ‘How did you know where I was?’ he stared at him, his eyes hard. ‘See, from where I’m standing, you’re trespassing on my land and must’ve driven over a fair bit of it looking for me.’ The man began trying to explain but he talked over the top of him. ‘Trespassing on land out here, mister, it’s not a good thing to do. More than likely get a gun in your face for your trouble. So get in your car and get off my land. Now.’ He didn’t give the bloke any further chance to talk to him. He climbed into his ute, started it and whistled to Chief. The dog jumped in the back in a flash and Tim put the ute into gear and drove off.
‘Damn intruders,’ he muttered, checking his rear-view mirror to make sure his unwanted visitor was leaving. He reckoned the man would have followed his tracks from this morning and found him that way. These buggers would never give up. Nothing was sacred out here anymore.
Tim rested his hand on the side mirror as he drove, then reached around to pat Chief, who was smiling with his tongue hanging out, enjoying the breeze in his face. ‘Pleased
