The Australians 02 - The Settlers by William Stuart Long

Author:William Stuart Long
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9780868240206
Publisher: Doubleday
Published: 1980-06-14T14:00:00+00:00

Help arrived with the dawn. The dead were buried, and with half a dozen of the Toongabbe settlers Timothy set off to round up his horses. A party of soldiers commanded by Lieutenant Brace crossed the river in a boat owned by the onetime Sirius sailor Robert Webb, with orders to exact retribution from the Bediagal Indians, place their chief, Pimelwi, under arrest, and bring him back to Parramatta for punishment.

The military party returned twenty-four hours later, and it was from a shocked Robert Webb that Jenny heard the story of what they had done.

“It was a bloody massacre,” he told her grimly. “I don’t hold with the Indians stealin’ and killin’ and settin’ our crops and our buildings on fire, the Lord knows . . . but Brace never gave ‘em a chance. True, they flung a few spears at us when we caught up with ‘em, but spears are no defence against musket-balls and never will be. Brace got his redcoats into cover and then ordered them to open fire.”

“But surely he parleyed with them, Rob?” Jenny was as shocked as he was. “The people who attacked and murdered Tim’s men were from the other side of the river, and Davie said he saw Pimelwi with them. But that doesn’t prove that the Indians Mr. Brace fired on were of Pimelwi’s tribe. Did you not have an interpreter with you?”

“Aye, we had Wurgun,” the onetime Sirius seaman confirmed. “He said the Indians claimed that the raid on this place was in retaliation for an unprovoked attack made on them ten days ago by some white men south of here. But Brace wouldn’t pay any heed. He reckoned they’d admitted their guilt and that was that. Mind you, Pimelwi was with them, and they’ve taken him to Parramatta with six or seven musket-balls in his black hide. About a dozen others were wounded and five killed outright. A victory for the gallant Rum Corps, Jenny!” He shrugged his disgust. “Did Tim Dawson get all his stock back?”

“Yes,” Jenny said flatly. “He got them back.”

But at how great a cost, she wondered uneasily as Rob took his leave. The raid had been in retaliation for wrongs done them by the settlers; now with their chief seized and almost a score of others killed or wounded, the Bediagal would be out for revenge, and the whole terrible cycle would be given fresh impetus.

A feeling of great sadness swept over her, and tears were aching in her throat as she glanced across at the three newly dug graves where Jackie Scrope and his companions in misfortune lay at rest.

What heritage was this for Justin and the sons Tim and she would beget?

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