A Greater World (32 page)

Kidd was thinner than the last time she'd seen him.

'How are they treating you?'

He grunted. 'No worse than I can take.'

'Have you seen the lawyer? Any news on the trial date?'

'He reckons it'll be a couple of weeks minimum. More like a month.'

Elizabeth gasped. 'That's terrible. We must do what we can to bring it forward. We should ask again for bail. Surely they can't possibly believe you're a danger to the public? For heaven's sake, you killed a man who was attacking your son and your wife.'

'Murder's murder. Round here they think a man who'd shoot his own son in the back is a good candidate for the gallows.'

Elizabeth shuddered. 'Don't talk like that, Jack Kidd! Once Will and I testify, no jury will ever convict you. You'll be out of here soon. I'm sure of it.'

'You won't be testifying.'

'What do you mean?'

'The law won't allow it. 'Spousal incompetence' they call it. Can't testify for or against, on the grounds that the law considers a husband and wife to be one and the same person.' He smiled.

'That's ridiculous.'

'Maybe, but you can't change the law.'

'What about Will then?'

'Lad's been through enough. I don't want him dragged into court.'

'Surely he'll be called as a witness?'

'Like as not the Prosecution will want him to testify.'

'Why not the Defence? He can tell them what Nat did. He stabbed him, for heaven's sake!'

'Yes he can tell them that. But it won't make any difference. He's alive and his brother's dead and nothing will take away the fact that I shot him.'

'If that's what the lawyer is saying, then we need to find a new lawyer.'

'There's nothing wrong with Cody. He's got as good a record as you'll find anywhere in New South Wales. I'll take my chance.'

'But if they find you guilty?'

'I am guilty.'

'But you aren't going to plead guilty?' The alarm in her voice was evident.

'I'm not that daft. I'm not signing my own death warrant.'

'My God. Don't say that.'

'Well that's what I'll get for sure if I plead Guilty. That's what the law says. It's no different here from in England.'

'So what does Mr Cody say?'

'Has it in his head to try to get me off on the grounds of temporary insanity.'

'And?'

'He spouted a lot of Latin stuff at me, but I think he reckons I was acting without thinking in killing Nat to stop him killing you and Will. Said something about provocation and something else. Hang on – I wrote it down – automatism.'

'What?'

'I know. It's a load of old gibberish to me.'

'I will go and talk to Mr Cody.'

'Keep out of it, woman. I mean it. I don't want you messing about with all that. Leave it to the lawyer. I'm paying the man enough. Now talk to me about something else in the few minutes we've got left.'

'We could talk about the mine.'

'What about it?'

'It's in trouble.'

'Says who?"

'I've been there and looked at the books and talked to that very supercilious accountant of yours, Mr Robinson.'

Kidd laughed. 'What the hell do you know about mining or about anything to do with business?'

'I know enough. My father used to talk about his business. My sister and I often spent time in the office with him. I picked up enough to know how to read a balance sheet.'

Kidd whistled. 'Well, well. You never cease to surprise me, girl. So what do you reckon?'

'That the mine isn't viable without significant investment. The seam you've been working is narrowing and it's becoming uneconomical to extract the coal.'

Kidd raised his eyebrows but she continued. 'On top of that, the market's becoming more competitive and you're being undercut by competitors that are more highly automated than you are. It looks to me that, without some significant investment to open up a new seam and buy more modern machinery, or developing an ancillary business such as iron smelting, or finding some local outlets for the coal you can produce who are willing to pay the prices you need, or finding a buyer who is prepared to do some or all of this, the mine's going to have shut before the year's out.' She was breathless by the time she finished.

Kidd whistled. 'I'm impressed. There's a lot going on under that pretty little hat of yours.'

'Please don't patronise me, Jack Kidd.'

'I wouldn't dream of doing that.' He laughed.

'So?'

'So what?'

'What do you think? Do you agree with me?'

'I think you've hit the nail on the head.'

'Good. I've called a meeting with Robinson and the Chief Engineer and the Surveyor chappie and I've asked them all to come prepared with some options. I can then review all the alternatives so we can make a decision on the future of the mine as soon as possible.'

'Have you now?' Kidd was frowning.

'You don't look very pleased. But we can't just let things ride. There are 120 men and their families depending on the Black Water Colliery to keep bread on their tables.'

'Do you think I don't know that?' Kidd's voice rose and she could see the anger in his eyes.

'I'm sorry. You know I wouldn't dream of interfering, but Will's still sick, Winterbourne's gone. You're in here. Someone has to keep things moving. Obviously I won't take any decisions without consulting you first.'

'You know Winterbourne's gone?' he looked up at her sharply.

She hesitated and then said quickly. 'Yes. When you were arrested, Verity and I made a trunk call to Sydney to tell Harriet. She told us they'd parted. I thought you knew.'

'Of course I knew. Winterbourne told me. We had an argument. I know the girl's a handful but I thought he was man enough to handle her. Seems I was wrong.'

'Do you know where he's gone? Since we don't know how long you'll be stuck in here maybe we should try to get him to come back – just till you're able to take control again? Has he been in contact with you since he left?' She struggled to keep the note of hope out of her voice.

'I'll not have him back after what's happened with Harriet and anyway I don't know where he's gone. Took the pay that was owed him and went on his way. Shame, as I actually liked the fella. Should have handled Hattie better though. For God's sake, she's his wife. And now she's running round Sydney like a bloody flapper girl. God knows what she's up to. If you'd put your time against convincing that girl to come back to the Falls instead of worrying about my mine...'

'She won't listen to reason. Verity's tried. She won't even speak to me. She's determined to stay in Sydney. Jack... I think you need to know... I'm afraid she's cut herself off from the family.'

Kidd looked down at the floor then lifted heavy eyes to look at her. 'Can't say that I'm surprised. Having a gaol bird for a father doesn't sit well with her society friends in Sydney, I suppose?'

Elizabeth was about to reply when there was a rap on the door and the guard, who had been chain-smoking in the corner of the room, jumped to attention and called to them. 'Time's up. You need to leave now, Missus.'

Kidd leaned across the table and took her hands between his. His eyes seemed to fill with tears, but afterwards Elizabeth convinced herself it was just the smoke in the room.

'I know I haven't been the best of husbands.'

She looked towards the door, eager to get out as quickly as she could now. She was unused to tenderness from him.

'Hurry up, lady,' the prison guard said.

'I'll see you again next week. Everything's going to be all right. I promise you, Jack.'

As she reached the door and looked back at him, he spoke again. 'Don't make promises you can't keep, Elizabeth.' Then the door of the interview room swung shut behind her and the heavy metal clank resonated hollowly through the empty corridor.

Over the following weeks, Elizabeth spent most of her days inside the scruffy office building at the Black Water mine, going over pages of numbers with Robinson and talking at length with the engineers and surveyors. She held meetings with the bosses of the McDonald Falls Electric Light Company, the iron foundry in the next town, and the bank manager.

It became clear to her that, as well as the uneconomic nature of the coal seams, the mine was subject to other negative forces. The whole country over the past five years had witnessed the return of men from the battlefields of the Great War, putting pressure on employment. Mining in particular was suffering, with flat demand for production causing employers to cut wages and their workforce. Elizabeth discovered that Kidd had not moved in line with most of the other pit owners. He had held wages, then reduced working hours to avoid making layoffs. As revenue declined, the payroll was becoming unsustainable. On top of that she was beginning to harbour the suspicion that Robinson had been creaming off money, probably for a number of years.

She asked Robinson about the wages bill, surprised that Kidd had not done as most of his peers had, and forced wages down and hours worked up, as unemployment in the region rose.

'Mr Kidd wouldn't budge on the wages. I told him we were out of line and he insisted that the men have families to feed. We've been paying nine pounds a week here. The minimum wage is about half that and most of the other mines are paying around six quid a week.'

'I see.'

'Mrs Kidd, we can't sustain this. The cash flow is negative and I can only meet the payroll for another month or so.'

She asked to see the wages book again and went through it once more to check that the numbers tallied with what Robinson had told her. She looked up from the pages and said, 'Don't the men have to sign for their wages?'

'No, ma'am. I make the packets up and they're given out at the end of the Friday shift.'

'I see. Who decides what each man is paid?'

'It's a fixed rate for the job. Nine pounds underground and five pounds ten to the surface workers. Hourly rate equivalent to five quid a week for the casuals.'

That evening she spoke to Will and asked him what were the pay rates.

'I got same as the other fellas. Eight quid a week. Michael obviously got more.'

'And the men who work on the surface?'

'A fiver a week. Why do you want to know?'

'I believe Robinson has been skimming a cut from the wage packets. According to the ledgers, it's a pound more for underground and ten shillings more for the surface. I think he was probably taking a cut from the casuals too.'

Will whistled. 'Slimy bugger. I never liked him. He had it in for Michael too. I think Michael suspected he was up to something. Are you going to tell Pa?'

'Not yet. I don't want him worrying about that too. I'm going to give Mr Robinson the sack.'

Will grinned at her, his moodiness after their recent conversation about his marriage intentions forgotten.

The following morning she arrived unannounced at the mine.

'Mrs Kidd, are you going to work a miracle on the fortunes of the Black Water Colliery, or are you now ready to acknowledge that what I've told you is correct and there's no long term future for the place.' He tilted his head on one side and gave her a smug look. There was a dusting of sugar grains stuck to his upper lip and she glanced at his desk where there was a plate with a half eaten doughnut.

'You're quite right there may be no long term future for the place, but what is absolutely clear is that there is no future whatsoever for you. You are dismissed. Clear your desk. Hand over the keys and get out of here. I don't want to see you again anywhere near this mine. And consider yourself lucky I've decided not to call the police.'

'I don't understand.'

'Oh I think you understand perfectly.' She held up an empty wage packet. 'I don't know how long you've been robbing my husband blind. But it's over now. Get out of here and don't come back.'

Even allowing for the cessation of Robinson's embezzlement, Elizabeth reached the reluctant conclusion that the only option was to close the mine down. Her talks with local businessmen and other mine owners secured jobs for about half the men; the rest were going to have to try their own luck outside the area. Times were hard and all the signs were they were going to get harder.

Elizabeth understood now that, despite the amount of time her husband had spent at the mine, he'd never really grasped its economics. It was not surprising really, she reflected: he was a smallholder who'd got lucky with his gambling habit. He was not a seasoned businessman and the mining business was alien to him. What did surprise her was that he'd shown a stubbornness and compassion to his employees, refusing to behave as the other employers did, instead holding on and hoping that things would improve. She felt a new affection for him, for his naivety and his stubbornness. He may have become for a while a wealthy man, but she realised his heart had always been that of a working man.