Purgatory by Rosetta Allan

Author:Rosetta Allan [Allan, Rosetta]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781743486092
Publisher: Penguin Random House New Zealand
Published: 2013-03-04T00:00:00+00:00

The Bible

Rangiriri

November 1863

Mid-afternoon James made for his battle position. All was still except the scuffle of bodies crawling across mud and the rain that roared its own battle charge. Then, as quick as it came, the rain stopped, retreated for reload, readying itself for the next attack.

It had been a long month without Abel, and by the time James’s regiment was shipped down to Rangiriri, he was ready for some action. Pre-battle nerves that had once been quelled by the quips of his leprechaun friend caused his back to tense, his neck to ache. It was his first battle alone and the signs weren’t good: already he’d been assigned to ladder duty.

Muddied to the waist from crawling through ditches, James dragged his ladder into the dip right in front of the battlefield. It was the worst position to be in. Why he’d been chosen for the first charge, he wasn’t sure. Nor was he sure about the new Lieutenant Warren or his young ensign, who looked more like a boy than a soldier. Captain Swift would never have put him on ladder duty – he knew how to respect a man – but he was killed back in Cameron Town.

There must have been a thousand soldiers there, if he included the Navy. A few hundred had already left the gunboats to crawl through the thick swamp, heading around the back of the Maori fortress. The rest were up behind him in the scrub, hidden from view, where he’d rather be. James watched Lieutenant Warren as they waited. He could excuse fear – they all had nerves – but that stiffness, the way he twitched his chin to the side and lifted it like he was the bravest man alive: it was a lie, and James didn’t trust a man who lied on the battlefield.

Out front there wasn’t much to see, only a large mound of dirt that formed a parapet, with rifle ditches dug into the ground. James had seen the ditches from the ridge, but at ground level they vanished; he’d have to run right down the middle to avoid them. It was tricky, though; Rangiriri was the narrowest stretch of land they’d fought on, with a lake on one side and the river on the other. Nothing much to look at, but it was the gateway to the Waikato and its fertile, flat land. That’s what it was all about, and James wanted some of that land just as bad as every other man.

‘Not long now,’ Lieutenant Warren said. ‘God be with us.’

James crossed himself and prayed for Mother Mary’s protection, then shifted the ladder so it would be easy to grab when the call came. Instinctively, his right hand thrust into his trouser pocket and felt Aileen’s collar. He squeezed it in his palm, then released it, tucking it down into the depth of its tomb.

The rain beat down, then stopped, beat down, then stopped. It wasn’t cold, but James shook. Someone walked over your grave, his mother would have said.

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