Buckley's Chance by Garry Linnell

Author:Garry Linnell
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780143795759
Publisher: Penguin Random House Australia

23

THE BACK-ROOM BOYS

If John Batman never tells you about those dark days hunting Aboriginals, William, does he at least admit to you he is dying?

The man with the flattering tongue and the merry eye has been led astray once too often and now it is a race between the syphilis raging through his body and the amounts of mercury being used to treat it to see which will claim him first. All that energy – that ability to endure fatigue and privation – is already draining from him; in the next couple of years the bacterial infection festering inside will become apparent to all when it begins eating away at his nose.

What about the Port Phillip Association that Batman leads? They are little more than trespassers on Crown land – the area around Port Phillip has already been proclaimed the territory of New South Wales in complete disregard of its original inhabitants. But if the authorities in Sydney and London have made it clear they are not supportive of a colony being established by lawless squatters caught up in a frenzy of land seizures, it has hardly stemmed the flow of ships heading across Bass Strait.

Grab the land and deal with the consequences later – that’s what being a bold man on the frontier is all about. Besides, there are many who suspect that back in Hobart Town Lieutenant-Governor George Arthur is quietly supporting their move – and may even be a silent investor. And even Batman, competitive and driven though he may be, is welcoming the news that others like little Johnny Fawkner are making their way to the mainland. There will be comfort in numbers.

You probably know none of this. But what you are beginning to understand after just a few weeks of living at the depot at Indented Head is that, rather than being at the mercy of these settlers because of your convict background, your knowledge of the land and your reputation among the Wadawurrung is giving you influence you never dreamed possible.

Look at the way they lean in and listen when you talk in faltering English about the land and how it provides food for all; how they hang on every word when you describe some of the Aboriginal customs. This Todd, he’s a good listener, is he not? Conscientious. A diligent note-taker. But you won’t be seeing him for much longer because there’s something else about Batman you definitely don’t know. It’s as if the man is cursed, that if you grow too close to him fate’s black hand will ensure a miserable outcome. Todd will be one of many whose lives will end in tragedy. He will soon return to Van Diemen’s Land (there’s a suggestion he may fall out with John’s brother, Henry) and become an invalid. And then one day years later he will be admitted to hospital, singing to himself and ‘relating imaginary exploits’ before stuffing part of his shirt down his throat and choking himself to death.

It takes three

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