The Road to Winter (17 page)

No one says anything when they reach me. The air is filled with Yogi's snorting and the sound of branches breaking underfoot as we press up the hill. When the paddock has dropped out of sight we stop and rest. Willow crawls into her mother's arms and Stella looks across at Kas and me. I can't tell whether it's sweat or tears running down her cheeks.

‘Thank you,' she says.

Kas brushes her off. She's looking up to the ridge. I know her one thought is to escape, to get as far away from the valley and Ramage as she can. I'm thinking the same thing, but I don't want to leave Stella and Willow.

‘We have to keep moving,' Kas says. ‘They won't waste any time in coming after us.'

‘Not us. Not Willow and me,' Stella says. ‘We can't leave. Everything we have is down in the valley.'

Kas is nodding, but I have to speak up.

‘You know what'll happen if they're still there, Ramage and his men?'

‘I know,' Stella says. ‘But Harry's there, and the others. We can't abandon them.'

There's anger in Kas's voice now. ‘Sorry, Stella, I was a prisoner down there. I don't owe them anything.'

‘That wasn't my doing, Kas. We tried to protect you and Finn at the meeting. I never agreed with the way Sileys were treated.'

‘Stella,' I say, ‘Kas and me are going back to the coast. We have to go now while we've got the chance. You and Willow can come with us or you can go back to the valley. It's your decision.'

Stella stands up then and holds Willow close to her chest. She whispers something in her ear. Then she turns to Kas and me.

‘Take Willow,' she says. ‘Please. I can look after myself, but if they took Wils, if they hurt her…' She leaves the sentence hanging.

‘No, Mum! No!' Tears are streaming down Willow's cheeks and she clings to her mother even tighter.

‘Please!' Stella's voice comes from somewhere deep inside her. Her whole body shakes.

There are no words now. I make my own decision, prising Willow away. She screams and kicks out, but Stella works with me. In the end I have to carry her over my shoulder. I don't look at Kas; I just start walking towards the ridge. I can hear Stella sobbing and Willow is still kicking me and
screaming to be put down, but I keep climbing.

‘I love you, Wils.' Stella's voice cracks and when I finally look around she's on her knees.

‘Look after her,' she mouths. ‘Keep her safe.'

‘I will. I promise.'

Stella stands up and straightens herself. She turns back towards the valley and begins to thread her way down through the scrub. She doesn't look back.

It takes a while for Willow to finally exhaust herself and become a dead weight over my shoulder. Kas is ahead of us, still leading Yogi by the reins. Without the burden of anyone on his back, he seems to be coping better with the climb.

We continue in silence for an hour or so. The rangy stringybarks give way to manna gums as we climb higher until the rocky crags of the ridge tower over us. The ground is steeper here and Kas pulls hard on Yogi's reins to drag him up.

‘Rest,' she says as we come up beside her. I ease Willow off my shoulders. All the defiance has left her little body, though every now and then she chokes back a sob.

Kas sits down and takes Willow in her arms.

‘It's okay,' she says. ‘We're going to be okay. We'll get you somewhere safe, away from those bad men, then we'll wait there for your mum and dad. But you've got to be strong for us, you understand?'

The day is wearing on and I know we're going to have a rough night. At least it doesn't look like rain, but the clear sky means the temperature will drop away fast. The rocky outcrops are directly above us now. I can't see a way for us to climb much higher, let alone drag Yogi with us.

Kas sees where I'm looking. ‘We won't get up there,' she says. ‘Not a chance.'

‘I know. I reckon our best bet is to go west. Stay at this level if we can and keep an eye out for anywhere we can climb. We'll rest here for a bit then make our way across. There might be an overhang where we can get some shelter for the night.'

We sit in an exhausted silence. Huddled together, I get the chance to look at Kas closely in the daylight. It's hard not to be drawn to the birthmark on her face. It spreads from her hairline, down across her forehead and cheek on the left side. The rest of her face is darkly tanned and her skin is clear. Her hair is thick and matted, jet black like Rose's. But her body is leaner, her arms all sinew and tendon lacing down to large hands. There are calluses across her palms and fingers. Her clothes are torn, with glimpses of her dark skin peeking through.

I find myself wondering where all her strength comes from.
There seems too little of her to ride the way she does, or to drag Yogi up this hill.

‘Come on,' Kas says. ‘We've got to go.'

It's harder moving across the hill than climbing it. The ground is flinty underfoot and we struggle to keep from falling. Willow is on Yogi's back, and while the horse keeps slipping he always seems to right himself without Willow falling.

We continue like this for a couple of hours or so. It seems impossible that the day has passed so quickly but the sky is beginning to darken and a chill is finding its way into the undergrowth.

‘Kas,' I say. ‘I'm going to climb higher up towards the cliffs and walk parallel to you. I'll keep you in sight. If I find shelter, I'll whistle.'

She nods and keeps walking. I begin clambering towards the cliffs. The ground flattens out at the base of the rock so it's easy to keep pace with Kas and Yogi.

It's almost dark by the time I find a small overhang where the ground has been trodden flat, probably by animals looking for shelter. I whistle and I hear Kas begin to urge Yogi up towards me. It takes her a good ten minutes to climb up. I have to lean down and help her drag Yogi the last few metres. Once he's on the flat I take Willow off his back and put her down on the dry ground under the overhang. She pushes back against the wall and hugs her knees to her chest. Kas wanders off to tether Yogi to a tree.

I drop into the bush and collect as much bracken as I can
hold. It won't be much, but it will help to keep the cold at bay.

We can't risk a fire—not with Ramage's men after us. I spread the bracken on the ground and sit down next to Willow. She crawls in closer for warmth. Kas eases herself down further along the wall.

‘I'm hungry,' a small voice says against my chest.

‘Sorry, Wils,' I say. ‘We might be able to catch something tomorrow.'

‘What about the bread?' she says.

‘What bread?'

‘In your pocket.'

With everything that's happened I'd totally forgotten about the bread I grabbed from the dresser before Willow and I escaped out the backdoor.

The bread has crumbled in my pockets, but there is enough for each of us to have a small piece.

‘Your mum makes good bread, Wils,' I say without thinking.

Her chin drops to her chest with the mention of her mother and even in the half-dark I can see her bottom lip start to quiver. Kas moves over and puts her arm around her, and we squeeze her between us. Eventually Willow lays her head down in Kas's lap and closes her eyes. Before long we can hear her steady breaths as she sleeps.

‘I'm going to have a last look about,' I whisper to Kas, ‘before it gets too dark.'

I retrace my steps for about a hundred metres, listening for any movement below us. Apart from a breeze moving through the
branches of the trees up on the ridge, the bush is quiet.

Back at the overhang I can just make out Kas and Willow. I sit down next to them.

‘Is Rose okay?' Kas asks.

I close my eyes and think of the last time I saw her, propped up in bed, sipping soup. ‘She wasn't great when I left her. Had a fever, but I think she was getting over it.'

‘And the baby?'

‘Okay, I think. It was kicking.'

‘That's a good sign.' She shifts her position and I feel her shoulder against mine. ‘How far is Angowrie?'

‘We can make it in a day if we can get up to the ridge and find the track.'

She takes time to think this over.

‘Why did you come looking for me?' she says. ‘You were safe down there. Or, at least, safer than anywhere else.'

‘Rose would have come on her own if I hadn't tried. I couldn't let her do that. And she says she might be further along than she looks. Six months, maybe.'

‘I reckon more. Her boobs are big.' She laughs. ‘She's always been flat as a pancake.'

She's quiet again until she says, ‘What do you think's happened back in the valley, after we went?'

‘Who knows? I only hope Harry and Stella are all right. They were good to me.'

‘Maybe Ramage'll be more worried about chasing us than hassling them. It's us he wants.'

I peer out into the dark. ‘I'm not sure that's so great. We've
got a head start on them, but they know the country better than we do.'

Kas lifts Willow off her lap and eases her between us. Then we lie down and snuggle in as close as we can.

‘Thanks,' Kas says.

‘For what?'

‘For helping Rose.'

As exhausted as I am, sleep is nearly impossible. The wind picks up and pushes harder through the treetops, its gusts filling the overhang with the sounds of the bush. I wake a dozen times throughout the night, each time taking a few seconds to work out where I am. It's freezing. Despite the bracken, the cold still pushes up through the earth underneath us. Willow snuggles in closer, burying her face in my jumper. Kas reaches her arm over and hold us both. I do the same and feel the skin of her shoulder. It's cold and smooth and soft.

It's not a great feeling, waking up in the morning cold and hungry. When I open my eyes, Kas's face is only inches away. Her lips are moving, like she's having a conversation in her sleep. Her eyes spring open and there's an awkward moment when we breathe each other's breath. Her eyes are deeper and darker than Rose's—if that's even possible.

We both roll away, leaving Willow to sleep. It's barely light, but the birds are filling the forest with their songs. Kas goes to check on Yogi while I head off in the other direction for a piss.

When I come back Kas laughs.

‘You're walking a little bow-legged there, cowboy,' she says.

The insides of my thighs are tender from riding Yogi, even if it was only for a few minutes.

‘I think it was the jumping,' I say. ‘You nearly lost me there, you know.'

‘I'm not used to jumping bareback, but Yogi knew what he was doing. He's had a cold night. He's a tough old bugger, though.'

‘We'd better get moving,' I say. ‘We've got to find a way up to the top. Get to that old logging track Harry told me about. It'll take us to Pinchgut Junction and from there we can make the coast in a few hours. We could be home by tonight.'

‘We're going to need food,' Kas says. ‘And water. For us and for Yogi.'

Willow is awake now and standing under the overhang. She looks at us warily. ‘Are we going home today, Finn?' she asks.

‘Not yet,' I reply. ‘But soon, okay?'

By the time we start moving, low cloud has rolled in and blanketed the cliffs above us. But once the sun comes up the bush begins to warm. Steam evaporates off the rock faces and the clouds lift from the cliff tops. The crags aren't as steep here; they taper more gently up to the ridge. Further along, the rocks give way to a gully filled with mountain ash and tree ferns.

The ground is softer too, and I can hear water trickling under the lower ferns. We climb down as best we can, slipping and sliding as we get closer to the water. Finally we reach a break in the ferns where the creek flows between moss-covered banks. The ground is boggy and Yogi's hooves sink under his weight,
but he steps out into the stream and stands in the water.