JESSICA EVENTUALLY had swallowed her tears. She stood and turned her back on the place where Lightening Dawn entered the bush. Navigating her way back to the horses, she knew anything developing between her and Lightening was over. Forcing a half-hearted smile, she told herself a nice man would come into her life in the not too distant future, winning her heart.
A noise deep in the scrub saw her squat behind a narrow tree. Her eyes bulged in their sockets at thinking the bushrangers might have discovered her. The argument between her and Lightening Dawn took precedence over the fact the outlaws could have been close enough to listen in.
Jessica’s gun belt dangled off the side of her saddle under the tree where she left it. To reach the tree, she’d have to walk across cleared ground. Jessica could feel her tears welling up again. She wanted to kick herself for being unprepared. Alone in the middle of the bush is not exactly what she thought might be a prosperous future.
A dried twig snapped. Jessica cocked her head to the left.
“Get a grip,” Jessica heard herself whisper. “The only one who will help turn the table on this bad situation is going to be me. The chances of the bushrangers were even in cooee of the water hole would be remote at best.”
Jessica studied the tall, spindly tree she chose to crouch behind. She looked to her right and behind her. The closest tree which could hold her weight seemed in reach. She checked the area noting no sign of life. Holding her breath, she remained dead quiet. A butterfly floated past her eyes. She knew she needed to be quiet as the butterfly. Dry leaves carpeted the hard ground between her spindly tree and the one she could climb for refuge. Only ten feet of open ground separated her from the tree. If the bushrangers did make the noise, she hoped they’d look through the scrub and not up. If they did, she hoped the leaves on the branches could provide at least some camouflage. For the second part of her plan, she needed to find three large rocks the size of her hand. When she found them she could climb the tree. High above their heads, she’d wait for the bushrangers to be directly underneath before dropping a rock on each of their heads. At the base of the tree, Jessica decided to climb she spied two of the three rocks.
Jessica rechecked the area for a sign of life, getting ready for her stealth move. Glancing about the bush, she slid into the open. Slowly she walked across the leaf covered ground careful not to make a noise. The moment her fingers touched the bark of the tree Jessica slipped behind the three foot round trunk, christening it her own. She squatted, swiped up two palm sized rocks from off the ground then searched for a third. When she picked up the rock, she commenced to climb.
Her feet barely left the ground when a strong arm slithered about her waist. The man easily pulled her away from the tree. Jessica opened her mouth to scream. Her lips was instantly clamped shut by a large hand. Her wide round eyes stared into the face of her warden. The three rocks she held landed at her feet.
“I caught you by surprise,” whispered the man in her ear.
His words bit into Jessica’s spirit. “Is it a good or bad thing?” she managed to mumble.
The man who successfully emerged from the bush undetected easily surprised her. Jessica needed to improve her detection skills if she wanted to one day more proficient than him.
The man’s strong arms lifted her off the ground. Jessica remained suspended in mid-air looking directly into the man’s eyes.
“I guess I’ll have to surrender.”
Lightening Dawn looked directly at Jessica.
“I want to apologize for leaving you. The moment I vanished into the bush to go walk-a-bout I realized I didn’t want to go. My place is here, standing next to you. Where you go, I will be. When I said before it’s a great honor to be known as your husband and you are my, what you call, ‘wife,’ I meant every word. I will protect you all the days of my life.”
Lightening placed Jessica gently back onto terra firma.
“Do you know what you’re up against?”
Lightening caressed the side of Jessica’s cheek a few times, pushing the hair from her face.
“Yes, I’ve been thinking of what people might say behind our backs. Their haughtiness and cruel constant ridicule will be endless. White man’s words have never concerned me in the past, why start now?”
“What about your plans to go walk-a-bout?”
“I’m still going.”
Jessica pouted. Before she could strain against his strong arms Lightening kissed her. The moment she came up for air, he continued.
“I’ve decided when I go walk-a-bout I will ask you to come. We go walk-a-bout together. If Gip and her brothers are still living under our roof, they can come too.”
“I love the idea,” squealed Jessica.
To her Lightening Dawn spoke the exact words she longed to hear. She could no longer fight the love pangs growing out of control in the pit of her stomach. Jessica stared directly into Lightening’s eyes. Wrapping her arms around his shoulders, she kissed him. Their embrace tightened, reaching an intensity which could only be toppled by surrendering herself to the man.
Lightening Dawn felt her muscles relax. She felt like putty in his arms. He only needed to lay her on the ground. There’d be no struggle, no fight. She had already surrendered.
Jessica could feel his masculinity taking over. She needed to act quickly if she wanted to stay in control of the situation. She fought the surrender feeling. Jessica wanted above anything to say. ‘Lightening Dawn, take me, I’m yours. Lay me down so you can have your way.’
Jessica managed to push him to arm’s length.
The man backed off, looking beyond hurt.
Jessica whispered lovingly. “Please understand from my point of view what I desire. When a man and a woman get, ‘what we white people say, married,’ there is a wedding ceremony. In the ceremony, they pledge their love for one another. After the dinner, there is the wedding night. To me, this part is an important memory. I must ask you to wait.”
“I know about the ceremony. I love you enough to understand it is a deep, meaningful thing you desire.”
Jessica sobbed uncontrollably, snuggling into Lightening Dawn’s deep chest. “Thank you for being the man I thought you’d be. The words you’ve spoken have shown me you are a decent, kind, lovable human being.”
“I promise this wedding night you deserve will be memorable. I expect you to be able to look back on your night in decades to come and be able to say your night was perfect. The man you said yes to, definitely lived up to your expectations.”
Jessica’s spirit leapt. She could hardly wait to find out how he planned to make their night unforgettable. Nothing mattered anymore except being next to Lightening Dawn. She looked sideways at the man.
“I don’t care what people might say; I want you in my life.”
Lightening and Jessica mounted their horses. They were so close their legs were touching. Jessica felt a tingling sensation roaming through her entire body. The butterflies fluttering in the pit of her stomach were rampant. She looked sideways at Lightening which instantly made the feeling stronger, warming her spirit. It resembled the warmth from a lantern on a cold winter’s night. Jessica smiled seductively at the man. She didn’t set out to find love. She certainly didn’t expect to find it in the middle of the bush or with a man who has the skin the colour of the midnight hour. How she longed to feel him inside her. The more she thought about what might lay ahead, the more intense the sensation grew. Her thoughts started to change. They were subtle at first but quickly escalated.
The union between a black man and a white woman will be nothing less than scandalous. Lightening Dawn and Jessica Hayes; their names will be on everyone’s lips if their secret was ever discovered. They would be shunned, or at the very least frowned at. She didn’t even know how their relationship might work. The law, the church, even the people in the town would see to it they’d never be married.
At that exact moment, Jessica decided whatever the controversy, she didn’t care. She never wanted t
o lose sight of Lightening Dawn.
Lightening happened to be thinking along the same lines. The warm fuzzy feeling he felt on the inside strengthened as he chewed over the problem for the umpteenth time. He looked at Jessica.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” replied Jessica.
His deep masculine voice took Jessica by surprise. She never heard him use the serious tone before. The pitch gave away how he felt about her. She knew he loved her too. He already showed how much he cared about the ‘white woman’ as he put it. Her dead husband rarely cared about anything or anyone except himself. He was only interested in making money. He always complained he didn’t have enough. Lightening Dawn is a man of deep feelings. He already admitted he’s one with the Australian bush. Now he was looking into her eyes.
Lightening stopped both horses in the middle of a small clearing. Looking directly at Jessica he said seriously.
“If the law is ever changed or stays the same, I don’t care. If I have to come across as a common worker on the sheep station in front of anyone who stops for a meal or for a chat; it’s good enough for me. I want to be next to you for the rest of our lives. I want nothing more than to shower my love on you.”
“Thank you for the kind words. I feel at long last a breath of fresh air has settled over me.”
“You were the one thing missing from my life. I am now complete,” confessed Lightening Dawn.
“How did you know I happened to be thinking along the same lines?” queried Jessica.
“I feel as though I’ve known you my entire life. I believe we fit perfectly together. There’s a bush saying which has been passed down in the Mullum-Mullum tribe from one generation to the next. ‘How does a mother bird know to come back to the same place to feed her young after flying off in search of food?”
Jessica’s eyebrows angled to a point trying to unravel the bush meaning.
“She knows. It’s instinct. She does all she can to protect her babies from any danger. I will do the same.”
“I love that fact,” whispered Jessica on her vanishing breath. “You help me to feel we do belong together. The feeling seems to double every few minutes. I can’t see it ever waning.”
Lightening Dawn leaned sideways to pat her on the leg. “I too have the feeling. When we unite as one, I know the elders in my tribe could easily reject me. I say to you I don’t care.”
Jessica felt shattered at his words. Aborigines never wanted to be disowned by their tribe. Staring at Lightening Dawn, she realized how she felt could never be. She looked away. She didn’t want him to see her tears. Lifting her trembling hand, she made a move to angrily swipe her tears from her eyes. They kept coming. She knew she must let the man go.
Lightening dismounted and walked over to Jessica’s horse. He raised his hands so he could hook his fingers under her belt. A mighty lift saw Jessica slip off her horse. In seconds, she was coiled tighter than a spring in his arms.
“Leave me alone,” she growled.
“You don’t mean what you said.”
“I sure do Mister.”
Lightening bent his head forward. When he whispered in her ear, his breath felt warm. Jessica fought hard not to listen. When he kissed her square on the lips for such a long time her hardened heart melted. She pushed her arms about his neck to give him a hug.
“I never say anything I don’t mean,” whispered Lightening.
“What if you aren’t welcome back into the tribe?”
“If I can’t talk my tribe around to my side of the rabbit fence; I have already made my decision to be by your side forever. Many summers have gone since the day I went walk-a-bout. I have never been back. I probably never will.”
“It’s a sad thought,” whispered Jessica, almost breathless.
Lightening placed Jessica on her feet. He shook his head.
“I made my bed; I will lay in it. I will never change my decision in wanting to leave my tribe, nor will I ever think I have made the wrong choice in taking you for my wife.”
“I still think never seeing your friends or family again is a sad thing.”
“You’ll never see your family again.”
“It’s different. My entire family is dead.”
Lightening Dawn placed his arm over her shoulder. The gap between them vanished.
“Yes, you’re right. I have everything I want here in the Australian outback. You, Jessica Hayes, are my family.”
Jessica’s face flushed red at his courteous words. She watched him search the surrounding bush. The moment he downed his left knee he looked up into her blue eyes.
“What are you up to?” Jessica stood shocked at asking the question she already knew the answer. Her mind went into a tumbling dive. She tried to slow her breathing to help in beating her excitement into submission. She failed miserably. Her heart pounded hard against her chest. The palms of her hands turned into a sticky mess. Tears filled her eyes. Before she could blink, water covered her cheeks.
Lightening held both of Jessica’s hands so she couldn’t wipe her eyes dry. Come what may she needed to take what he was about to dish out head on.
He cleared his throat.
‘Evidently, he must be a nervous wreck; the same as me,’ thought Jessica.
Somewhere in a nearby tree, a kookaburra laughed. The noise painted a nervous smile on Jessica’s face.
“I believe I have to officially ask you, Jessica Hayes, to please consider the possibility of being my wife?”
Lightening’s voice sounded serious. The look on his face hammered the seriousness of the moment home. Jessica’s stomach churned into such a tight knot it strangled her lungs. Any slight hesitation might see the man walk out of her life forever. Before she could utter a reply, her head started to nod.
“Yes,” she whispered. “A thousand times, yes.”
Lightening Dawn stood to full height. He elevated Jessica off the ground. He couldn’t wait to kiss his fiancé. The kookaburras and the kangaroos were the only witnesses to their passion. Jessica made up her mind the bond between them will surpass any trial and stand strong against the sands of time.
They walked over and sat on a dead tree, quietly contemplating what they vowed. Neither wanted to be the first to make a noise that might spoil the scene. Jessica’s heart started to pound against her rib cage for the second time from nerves. Although she never wanted a man in her life again, here she sat next to a man she’d fallen in love with. They were engaged. She pondered the ramifications of the last three words for a long time.
Lightening leaned sideways. “Thank you for agreeing to marry me. If at some point in the future you change your mind I will understand.”
“I’ll never change my mind. I don’t care what other people might say behind our backs God brought us together for a reason. I’m going to make sure we stay together.”
Lightening glanced behind him. Reaching down he picked the wild yellow flower growing near the dead tree and pushed it into Jessica’s hair. It sat in full bloom behind her left ear.
Jessica touched the flower, anchoring it further into her hair. She boasted a proud look.
“I have some news,” Lightening whispered. “We are in walking distance to the camp of the bushrangers.”
“How can you tell?” questioned Jessica trying to look through the bush.
“I can smell the smoke from their campfire. The bushrangers are in the valley on the other side of the hill.”
Right at that precise moment, Jessica didn’t care about the bushrangers or her belongings. The only thing she wanted was to sit next to Lightening Dawn to think of the future they were walking into.
“Let’s forget about my belongings. I want to get back to the Rosedale.”
“We came this far; we’ll retrieve what is yours so we can start a new life together.”
The idea of letting the bushrangers think they won by letting them to leave the state, never to be seen or heard of again, echoed throughout Jessica’s mind. At the end of th
e day, she didn’t need the guns or the blue diamond ring to be happy. She only wanted to be held in Lightening’s arms. The idea of her stolen possessions seemed to have taken a back seat. Jessica gave Lightening Dawn a reassuring smile. She wanted the action to relay a message he is the most important thing in her life.
“I don’t think it’s such a good idea going for what the bushrangers stole from me.”
“Why not?” asked Lightening.
“I don’t want you to get shot. I’d rather lose my possessions than see you shot.”
“I don’t want to see you shot either. I understand the way you’re thinking. I believe if we don’t take back what belongs to you, the retreat might be a stumbling block between us in future years.” Lightening Dawn placed his arm around Jessica’s waist. “Everything will be fine. I want you to stay here. I shouldn’t be more than ten minutes.”
Lightening Dawn’s genuine sincerity for her safety was the final hurdle Jessica searched for in a man. His words and actions had more than won over her heart.
Jessica pushed him to arm’s length. A determined expression replaced her soft feminine look. “We don’t want to lose each other, so we’ll do this together. We’ll sneak in, grab the stuff then sneak out. If luck is on our side, they’ll never know we were there. The quicker we are, the sooner we can look upon our secure future. I don’t want to be the one to create a stumbling block.”
“If we did retreat to the safety of the Rosedale, what great story could we pass on to our children or our grandchildren?”
Both Jessica and Lightening pulled their guns out of their holster. Crawling through the dense scrub, they snaked their way up the hill. On the crest, they stopped to view the valley below. The camp fire Lightening could smell looked small. Through the fading light, Jessica could see two figures. Both were sitting on opposite sides staring at the flames.
“It’s late afternoon,” reported Jessica studying the sky. “If we wait for the rain to start the noise will mask our arrival.”
“I love how you think. The rain is definitely on the way,” Lightening informed pointing to the shrinking blue horizon. “Thunder might come too.”
“The two bushrangers seem to be settling down for the night,” whispered Jessica. “Once we grab our belongings there’s no way they’ll follow us in the dark.”
Lightening Dawn pointed to a thick tall tree a short distance from the fire.
“The bushrangers’ saddles have been placed on the ground and are covered by large tree branches.”
“I commend them on their care,” jeered Jessica sarcastically.
“Maybe they don’t want a wet arse,” Lightening chuckled.
Jessica beckoned Lightening to follow her back to their horses.
They snaked their way down the slope undetected. By the time they came off the hill, the billowing black clouds were almost upon them.
“You were right about the rain,” said Jessica seeing the first drop of water land about her feet. She pulled a small watch from her pocket to check the time. “It’s exactly 300pm. One of these days you’ll have to teach me the secret on how to predict the weather.”
“It will be a pleasure. There’s only one thing still troubling me,” Lightening added.
“What?”
“I thought you told me three bushrangers held up the train?”
“There were three, yes. One rode a grey mare; the other two rode black stallions.”
“I counted only two figures sitting at the fire and three horses,” said Lightening.
Jessica’s eyes bulged. She pulled Lightening Dawn down behind a dead tree. She studied their surrounds and discovered no clues to afirm if they were being watched by the third bushranger. Lightening studied the scrub too. He wanted to be positive the missing man wasn’t about to shoot Jessica. His keen eyesight focused in on the many trees. The branches in easy reach of the ground was scrutinized and every leaf and weed was studied. Jessica looked back up the side of the low hill. Their tracks were the only evidence of any disturbance.
“There’s nothing to suggest the third bushranger is anywhere near us,” whispered Jessica.
“I too can’t find a single broken twig. He’s not in the trees or hiding on top of the hill. We have to keep a sharp eye out for the third man. There’s no way of knowing when he might sneak up on us.”
“I think we should take another look at the two figures,” suggested Jessica. “They might give us a tell-tale sign if they are waiting for him to arrive.”
Lightening Dawn led the way up the hill. Instead of leaping over a fallen tree trunk which lay across their path he helped Jessica to crawl around it. On their return trip, he’d rake the leaves to mask their retreat.
Reaching the crest of the hill Jessica and Lightening looked down on the campsite from behind a small bush. For a long time, they observed the two men eating a small meal oblivious to the fact two people were watching their every move.
“I reckon there is only two men,” whispered Lightening Dawn. He turned his attention away to study the bush on the other side of the hill.
“If those two are waiting for the third to arrive they don’t show any signs,” whispered Jessica.
“If the third bushranger is close I can’t see him.”
“When it’s dark we’ll sneak into their camp. Once we have the two men tied up, I’ll persuade them to tell us where the third man is. Hopefully, we won’t have to use force before they tell us. After we have the info, we’ll grab our possessions and leave.”
Lightening Dawn nodded, gave the camp one last look and followed Jessica back to their horses.
CHAPTER ELEVEN