Flight of the Eagle

Peter Watt has spent time as a soldier, articled clerk, prawn trawler deckhand, builder's labourer, pipe layer, real estate salesman, private investigator, police sergeant, and adviser to the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary. He has lived and worked with Aborigines, Islanders, Vietnamese and Papua New Guineans.

Good friends, fine food, fishing and the vast open spaces of outback Queensland are his main interests in life.

Peter Watt can be contacted at
www.peterwatt.com

Also by Peter Watt

Cry of the Curlew
Shadow of the Osprey
Flight of the Eagle
To Chase the Storm
Papua
Eden
The Silent Frontier
The Stone Dragon
The Frozen Circle
To Touch the Clouds
To Ride the Wind

Although inspired by real events, this novel is a work of fiction. All central characters are creations of the author's imagination and in no way reflect on any persons living or dead. Racist language in the text does not reflect the author's own views, but is intended to reflect the attitudes and expressions of a particular time in Australian history.

First published 2001 in Macmillan by Pan Macmillan Australia Pty Limited
This Pan edition published 2002 by Pan Macmillan Australia Pty Limited
1 Market Street, Sydney

Reprinted 2003 (twice), 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011

Copyright © Peter Watt 2001

The moral right of the author has been asserted.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted by any person or entity (including Google, Amazon or similar organisations), in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, scanning or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.

National Library of Australia
cataloguing-in-publication data:

Watt, Peter, 1949-.
Flight of the eagle.

ISBN 978 0 330 36364 8 (pbk.).

1. Frontier and pioneer life – Queensland – Fiction.
2. Australia – History – 1851–1891 – Fiction. I. Title.

A823.3

Map of Queensland by Mike Gorman
The photograph of Flinders Street, Townsville, c. 1888 (neg no. 24410) is printed with kind permission of John Oxley Library, Brisbane
Typeset in Bembo by Post Pre-press Group
Printed in Australia by McPherson's Printing Group

Papers used by Pan Macmillan Australia Pty Ltd are natural, recyclable products made from wood grown in sustainable forests. The manufacturing processes conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin.

These electronic editions published in 2011 by Pan Macmillan Australia Pty Ltd
1 Market Street, Sydney 2000

Copyright © Peter Watt 2011

The moral right of the author has been asserted.

All rights reserved. This publication (or any part of it) may not be reproduced or transmitted, copied, stored, distributed or otherwise made available by any person or entity (including Google, Amazon or similar organisations), in any form (electronic, digital, optical, mechanical) or by any means (photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise) without prior written permission from the publisher.

This ebook may not include illustrations and/or photographs that may have been in the print edition.

Flight of the Eagle

Peter Watt

Adobe eReader format   978-1-74262-921-6
                 EPub format  978-1-74262-922-3
              Online format   978-1-74262-920-9

Macmillan Digital Australia
www.macmillandigital.com.au

Visit
www.panmacmillan.com.au
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For my mother, Elinor Therese. With all my love.

Contents

Acknowledgements

Prologue

The Storm Rising 1884

One

Two

Three

Four

Five

Six

Seven

Eight

Nine

Ten

Eleven

Twelve

Thirteen

Fourteen

Fifteen

Sixteen

Thunder and Lightning 1885

Seventeen

Eighteen

Nineteen

Twenty

Twenty-one

Twenty-two

Twenty-three

Twenty-four

Twenty-five

Twenty-six

Twenty-seven

Twenty-eight

Twenty-nine

Thirty

Thirty-one

Thirty-two

Thirty-three

Thirty-four

Thirty-five

Thirty-six

Thirty-seven

Thirty-eight

Thirty-nine

Forty

Forty-one

Forty-two

Forty-three

Forty-four

Forty-five

Forty-six

Forty-seven

The Storm 1886

Forty-eight

Forty-nine

Fifty

Fifty-one

Fifty-two

Fifty-three

Fifty-four

Fifty-five

Fifty-six

Fifty-seven

Fifty-eight

Fifty-nine

Sixty

Sixty-one

Sixty-two

Sixty-three

Sixty-four

Sixty-five

Sixty-six

Sixty-seven

Sixty-eight

Sixty-nine

Seventy

Epilogue

Author's Note

A
CKNOWLEDGEMENTS

A very special thank you to my wonderful mother and equally wonderful aunts, Joan Payne and Marjorie Leigh. Without their initial support this project would never have existed.

In the world of publishing special thanks go to James Fraser at Pan Macmillan.

As always my thanks go to Cate Paterson whose editing adds gloss to the story, although sadly a bit of ‘bloke stuff’ gets scrapped in the process. Besides the author, I think the only person who truly experiences the doubts of whether a novel is ready to release is the publisher. I must cause Cate a few sleepless nights. And thank you to Elspeth Menzies who also pored over the manuscript.

For Jane Novak, my publicist – who must also lose a bit of sleep when my books are released.

For my agent Tony Williams, and all who work for him, their friendships are valued as much as their professional services.

A special thank you to Brian Cook whose initial appraisal of the manuscript for
Cry of the Curlew
was the catalyst for publication. You are not forgotten and your professional services for manuscript appraisal are highly recommended to would-be authors.

As always my love goes to Naomi Howard-Smith who puts up with the insecurities of a writer and manages to bring stability to what was my dysfunctional life.

Finally, my special thanks go to the greatest writer of his genre, Wilbur Smith, for showing the way.

Uloola, behold him! The thunder that breaks
On the tops of the rocks with the rain
,
And the wind which drives up with the salt of the lakes
,
Have made him a hunter again:
A hunter and fisher again.

   ‘The Last of His Tribe’, Henry Kendall