The Outback by David Clarkson Page A

We should at least give the guy a chance.’
    ‘I wasn’t accusing
anyone of anything,’ said Colin. ‘I was only making an observation, that’s
all.’
    ‘Maybe your man Paul
knows something about this guy,’ suggested Niall. ‘We could ask him.’
    The young Aboriginal was
still stoking the most recent bonfire when he was called over to shed some
light on the mystery man.
    ‘Do you know anything
about the new gaffer over there?’ asked Niall.
    Paul did not give an
immediate response. He instead looked to his father for guidance. The struts of
the tractor cab obscured the older man’s face, so the group could not see what
gesture he made to his son. Paul nodded his understanding before speaking to
the backpackers.
    ‘He’s the new boss man.
That’s all you need to know.’
    Nobody was convinced.
    ‘Come on, Paul,’ urged
Rose. ‘You obviously know something. We’re all friends here, so there’s no harm
in sharing whatever it is that you know with us.’
    ‘There’s nothing to
tell,’ he insisted.
    Before anybody could
badger the Aboriginal further Joe signalled that the break was over and for
everyone to return to their positions around the tractor.
    The next few hours
passed quickly and they had all worked up large appetites by lunchtime.
However, the final section after lunch would prove to be the toughest part of
the day. With the sun at its highest point in the sky there was to be no escape
from its energy sapping rays.
    The ground had become
baked solid by the heat, but it still had to yield to the overpowering weight
of the tractor as it carved deep trenches into the soil with its relentless
progress along the field. This made walking a tricky affair, somewhat similar
to spending hours on a stepper in the gym. Matt had on more than one occasion
come perilously close to losing his footing, and as such became more and more
distracted by where he placed his feet. It was whilst his attention was thusly
diverted that he failed to see the foot long, three inch thick log that was
headed directly for the back of his head. He did feel it though. Boy, did he
feel it.

 
    Chapter 5
     
     
    The pain gnawed at the
inside of his head like a rat trying to tunnel its way out of a hollowed out
pumpkin. If he closed his eyes and allowed all thoughts to be discarded from
his mind, it helped. It did not help much, but it was the difference between
tolerance and giving in to the desire to try and beat the pain out of his head
on the dashboard.
    He was brought back to
reality by the sound of an engine pulling up alongside. Joe had finally arrived
with the backpackers. Half of them were fresh from the cities or whatever
tourist Hell-holes that these foreign kids were despoiling these days. This
meant that they were untested and would possibly not be able to take the strain
of doing the job. He hoped for their sake that if they were too weak that they
would quit after this first day. The pom would probably even offer to drive
them back to the city. They would get no such molly codling on his watch.
    ‘This is Rhett,’ said
Joe. ‘He will be managing things here for the next few months, as I have to
attend to business out of town.’
    ‘Managing,’ now that was
a word that he liked to hear; it was about time that people had cause to show
him some respect in this town. He watched them as they gathered around the
tractor. Straight away he could tell which were going to present the most
problems. The three that weren’t native English speakers were an obvious cause
for concern. If they could not understand the orders that were given how could
they be expected to follow them? At least the three girls provided some much
needed eye candy.
    Once the tractor was
underway, it was time for him to go over the plans for the coming weeks with
Joe. There were four fields that needed clearing and timing was imperative if
all were to be completed on time. If they weren’t, he would miss out on a
healthy bonus payment at the end