CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Jack Stark never left Jarrah. Despite the fire and the loss of Ho Lim, the brickyard flourished. And as soon as the amiable and competent contractor had rebuilt the buildings destroyed in the fire, Ben had him start on an expansion of the yard which never seemed to end.

As the land and building boom continued, so did the demand for bricks. But somehow the yard managed to keep up with the steadily increasing flow of orders, and Ben even pressed Jack Stark's barge into service to help deliver bricks to waiting customers all up and down the river.

Ben came to rely so much on the workmanlike and utterly dependable Jack Stark, that he urged him to live up contracting and become his yard overseer. At first Jack declined the offer, but Ben persisted, and eventually the stocky white-haired bachelor agreed to accept the position.

With Jack's acceptance came the requirement for yet another building—a comfortable home for the new overseer. Still always nagged by the recurring worry of another attack on the yard, Ben directed Jack's house be built in a position which provided a clear view in each direction of the comings and goings on the river.

By now the yard employed over sixty workers. Most were British immigrants, all well experienced in the trade and willing to work hard. They were supported by a number of Chinese laborers who diligently performed the more menial tasks including the loading and unloading of bricks from Jack Stark's barge.

Each morning as the brickyard came alive, Ben would walk down from the house and have a word with Jack, then continue on to make his rounds of the yard. More often than not he would be accompanied by Sky, who was now almost three years old. Sky would strut along a few paces behind Ben, and to the amusement of everyone, would try to imitate Ben's every move and mannerism.

Sky was blessed with the irrepressible cheerful disposition of all South-Sea Islanders and a gleeful, mischievous smile was never more than a fraction of a second away.His skin was like his mother's, golden brown but more than just a shade lighter, and he also shared her striking good looks. But startling grey-blue eyes, a strong jaw, and a reddish tinge to his full head of brown hair left no doubt of the presence of European blood.

*
Jack Stark awoke to a clear crisp Sunday morning. Like every Sunday, he fixed himself a hasty breakfast, grabbed his fishing pole and walked down from his house to fish in the river.

And as always, no sooner had he started to dig for worms, when he saw Sky wave to him from up at the big house. A few minutes later Ben and Sky headed down to the river to join him. Soon they were all sitting side by side on the jetty with fishing lines hanging down into the water.

An hour later there was real warmth in the winter sun and seven good sized flathead in the bucket. It was just as they were preparing to reel in the lines for the last time when they saw a small paddle-wheeler round the bend in the river, travelling upstream from Brisbane.

Soon the little boat turned her bow toward the jetty and a boatman appeared on the foredeck. Ben held the fishing poles while Jack prepared to receive a mooring line. When the paddle-wheeler was alongside, the crewman on the bow inquired about any possible hazards to navigation the vessel may encounter if she were to continue further upstream.

Sky clung to Ben's leg as Jack shared his considerable knowledge of the river with the visitor. As they spoke, an attractive well-dressed young woman appeared on the deck. She seemed to be the only passenger aboard and she walked briskly down the side of the boat towards them.

She had long red hair and wore a wide-brimmed sun-hat. Soon she was so close to them that Ben could smell the poignant fragrance of her perfume. Then she stopped, and for a moment her pale green eyes anxiously appraised Sky. Then almost immediately she turned away, ashen faced, and hurried back along the deck to the cabin door and disappeared inside without a backward glance.

A minute later they all stood and watched the paddle-wheeler pull away from the jetty under a cloud of thick black smoke which belched from her tiny funnel. Ben lifted Sky up onto his shoulders to carry him back up to the house.

Ben was half way up the paddock and Sky was already fast asleep in his arms when he noticed the paddle- wheeler turn back in the direction of Brisbane. Evidently her skipper had decided against continuing upstream.

No-one really knew how Silas Moser persuaded Catherine to sign the documents which allowed his expansion plans for Stonehouse's to go ahead. Everyone was just glad that somehow he had been able to.

Moser telegraphed the company's agent in London without delay, with instructions to exercise the options held on the two refrigerated vessels being built on the Clyde. He also advised that Mr Charles Worthington-Jones would be in Scotland early in the northern spring to take formal delivery of the new ships on behalf of Stonehouse's.

Charles buried himself in his work, diligently preparing detailed schedules of projected income and expenditure covering the early voyages the new vessels would undertake. This was the period when he knew costs would be at their highest and income at its lowest, as Stonehouse's sought to acquire a share of the market. In addition he prepared rigid budgets which he insisted would have to be strictly adhered to, if the venture was to be the financial success he was sure it would be.

At home in the big house at Hamilton the tension gradually eased, although Charles could tell there was something lingering on Catherine's mind which constantly preoccupied her thoughts day and night. But with the passage of time, that too seemed to ease and eventually she returned to his bed in the apartment in the tower.

The night she came back they made love with the same fire and urgency they had as newly-weds. But when it was over Charles didn't hold her. For the first time since they were married he found the warmth in his heart was gone.

Silas Moser concentrated as always on the making of immediate profits. The coastal steamers were showing good returns, and the labor ships were showing astronomical profits as the demand for cheap black labor soared to a fever pitch ahead of the proposed banning of the Kanaka labor trade in 1890. But Moser also spent a great deal of time to ensuring the cavernous refrigerated holds of his new ships would never stand empty, awaiting a cargo alongside the South Brisbane wharf.

Shamus McClintock was already standing at the bar in the members lounge of the Colonial Club when Silas Moser arrived for their pre-arranged luncheon meeting. Moser looked reproachfully at the large whiskey the grazier nursed in his huge hand and doubted it was his first of the day.

`Good day Silas. What will it be?' McClintock's voice boomed out loudly across the room, causing some of the members seated about the lounge to look up disapprovingly from their newspapers.

'Perhaps a very small sherry Shamus. I'm afraid I have little time, and I'd appreciate it if we could get on with the business at hand.'
McClintock signaled the bartender and ordered a sherry for Moser and another large whiskey for himself. `You will be pleased to hear that I've been able to recruit three more sheep producers and two more cattlemen to our meat exporter's syndicate,' McClintock said, his voice now little more than a whisper.
Moser's face showed a brief trace of elation.
`Excellent Shamus. I take it their entry fees have been paid and they have committed themselves on paper to their share of the financing of the second refrigerated warehouse on the wharf.'
`My oath, they have Silas.'
`And they are aware of the stipulation in the agreement stating they must agree to allow the syndicate's agent in London to effect all meat sales directly off the British wharfs at the most favorable price he can obtain at the time of arrival of each shipment.'
McClintock took a long swallow of whiskey. `But of course. That's what make's the proposition so appealing, it's the chance of a lifetime. The dream of every man on the land. To cut out the middle-man and get in on the ground floor of a new and unlimited market all at the same time.' McClintock grinned widely. `And how are things going at your end Silas?'
`Everything is running very smoothly.' Moser took a sip of his sherry. `Although there have been some obstacles to overcome. You can appreciate things are a little more complex than they were when Alexander was alive. I now have the whims of Miss Catherine to contend with.'
`Oh yes, that reminds me Silas. I was at Madam Jane's last night. She asked me to tell you that Catherine had called on her some time ago, asking questions about Alexander and the Kanaka girl.'
Moser emptied his sherry. `And?'
`Madam Jane said to tell you that she told Catherine exactly what you told her to say.' *
Kiri's loveliness seemed to grow with the security and contentment that living at Jarrah brought her. She was still only nineteen, but motherhood and a new life in happy surroundings had gradually given her an inner warmth and understanding well beyond her years, and a peace of mind she had not known since she lived on the island of Kiriwina.
Her love for Ben had only intensified during the two years which had passed since he brought her and Sky home to Jarrah on the day of the storm. From that day on they lived together as man and wife, living for each other—heart and mind, body and soul.
There had never been a formal ceremony with a public declaration of love and promises of honor and servitude; and there were no ink marks scratched in a dusty church register to record their personal commitment and legal obligations to each other. There was no need. They knew what they had would last forever.
Kiri knew if there was one thing that could bring them more happiness it would be the arrival of another child. For as much as she loved Sky and loved Ben for taking her son to his heart as if he were his own, she desperately wanted Ben's child—their own child.
Every day she hoped and waited for a sign. She had almost given up when the sign came in December of 1887. When she was certain, she told Ben, on Christmas morning.
ﾁIt was the best gift either of them had ever received.
*
There were a good number of local tradesmen ready and willing to regularly supply and deliver whatever goods and services were required at Jarrah.Most of the small local merchants shared in one way or another in the considerable sum spent in the running and operation of the yard, and also to a lesser extent in the household budget. But there were always lots of things that could only be bought by travelling into Brisbane.
Every second Friday, Kiri, Sky and Mrs Llewellyn would make a trip to town in the carriage. The foray provided an opportunity to shop in the ever increasing number of large well-stocked stores which had popped up during the building boom. It was also their only regular outing off the property and something they all looked forward to.
The first trip in the new year was at mid-January and their driver brought the carriage to the front door soon after breakfast. On this visit to Brisbane the shopping list was especially long after the Christmas and the New Year festive season.
It was mid-morning when they arrived in the town centre and the streets were alive with people. As always their driver pulled up at the wooden kerb outside the entrance to one of the larger and more fashionable stores. They all got out and Mrs Llewellyn asked the driver to return for them at three o'clock in the afternoon. He touched his cap and took up the reins to start on his own long list of brickyard errands.
As the carriage pulled away, its place in front of the store was taken up by an enclosed tradesman's cart drawn by a big grey mare. A door opened on the kerb side of the cart and two burly men stepped out onto the street. One man was dressed in a dark suit of clothes which was one or two sizes too small for his frame, and the other wore seaman's clothes—light baggy trousers with the customary navy blue jacket and cap.
The man in the ill-fitting suit moved quickly and entered the store directly behind Mrs Llewellyn, Kiri and Sky. The man in the seaman's clothes patted the grey mare for a few moments, then stood at the kerb and talked with the driver who remained at the reins.
Mrs Llewellyn and Kiri spent nearly an hour browsing about in the large store. They made a number of purchases and asked the manager to hold the packages until their carriage returned for them later in the day. Then as usual they made their way through the town's shopping district, popping in and out of most of the larger shops.
As they walked from store to store with Sky in tow, the man in the ill-fitting suit was always nearby, unobtrusively keeping them within his sight. Early in the afternoon, they left the main shopping district and went to a tiny haberdashery in a quiet back-street. Mrs Llewellyn insisted on entering the little shop alone, not wanting Kiri to see the material she was going to buy for making clothes for the new baby.
While Mrs Llewellyn was in the haberdashery, Kiri waited outside a sweet shop next door, while Sky, hands and face pressed to the glass, tried to make a selection from the multitude of delights on display in the window.
The man in the dark suit was standing barely thirty yards away on the corner of the sidestreet and a small lane. Finally, with Kiri and Sky at last alone he made his move. He signaled quickly to the cart which was standing at the kerb just around the corner. The big grey leapt to the sting of the whip. The cart swung around the corner into the street and lurched wildly down toward the sweet shop.
By the time Kiri realized what was happening it was too late. She spun around just in time to see the huge fist a split second before it slammed into her jaw.She felt strong arms catch her as she fell. A moment later, her head swimming, she was shoved roughly into the cart and down onto the floor. Just before she passed out she saw the man in sailor's clothes hurl Sky bodily through the air into the carriage on top of her.
Minutes later when Mrs Llewellyn emerged from the shop with her arms full of parcels the street was empty
*
Isaiah Cockburn paced the deck impatiently. The Faithful lay just inside the mouth of the Brisbane River, ready to sail at a moments notice. Timbers in the old brigantine creaked lazily as she swung slowly around on her anchor rode to lay bow-on to the outgoing tide.
Cockburn looked for the tenth time in as many minutes toward a small sandy beach on the river bank. A ship's-boat was pulled up on the sand. Two sailors sat idly on her gunwales. Thirty yards from them a horse and carriage stood absolutely still in a clearing in the scrub beside the beach.
Inside the coach, Silas Moser sat on one side facing a stony-faced Catherine WorthingtonJones on the other. Neither had spoken for almost an hour. They heard the sound of hooves and turned their heads. A tradesman's cart pulled by a big grey swung into the clearing.
The cart came to rest just yards away and the doors flew open immediately. Two big men jumped out and dragged a woman and a little boy out behind them. Both the boy and the woman wore blindfolds and had their hands tied behind their backs.
Moser and Catherine peered out at the captives through slits in the window blinds of the carriage. The prisoners were so close that even in the twilight they could see the terror on their dark faces.
`Are you satisfied Miss Catherine?' Moser asked. `Now you've seen the Kanaka and her son being taken away with your own eyes.'
Catherine's fingers held open the window blind. She looked on intently as Kiri and Sky were bundled roughly into the boat, and she continued to watch as the small craft skimmed over the smooth water towards the Faithful.
`Yes I suppose I'm as satisfied as I can be under the circumstances Silas. You've kept your end of our bargain. You're going to get your new ships and my father's niggers are going back where they belong. Perhaps now I can get on with my life without any nasty little surprises.'