“But I should have thought of this.”
“There was Mary,” I reminded her.
“But you did not believe her.”
“Oh, Nora. My poor Nora. But it is over and it will never happen again. My father is determined on that.”
I shall never forget the scene in the wool shed. This was my first introduction to the law of the land. Justice had been done to Jagger.
That was the verdict. Any man finding his daughter in the position I was in had every right to kill her would-be ravisher.
The coffin stood on trestles at one end of the barn; at either end of it burned two candles. Lynx was standing beside it and the candle light caught the blue tire of his eyes.
When he saw me he held out his hand and I went and stood beside him.
Adelaide and Stirling remained at the door. The shed was full of men—some of whom I knew, others whom I had never seen.
Lynx took my hand and looking at the coffin said: “In this box lies what is left of Jacob Jagger. This is my daughter. If any man here lays a hand on her he will receive the same punishment as Jacob Jagger. It will be well for every man among you to remember this. I am, as you will know, a man who keeps his word.”
Then still keeping my hand in his he walked out of the shed with me; and Adelaide and Stirling fell in behind us.
Five
Nothing could be quite the same afterwards. I had become subdued. I seemed to have grown up suddenly. People looked at me a little furtively—the men of the estate as though they were afraid of me. I suppose every time they saw me they thought of Jacob Jagger.
Stirling managed the property until a new manager could be found in James Madder, who soon learned of the fate of his predecessor and scarcely looked my way. Adelaide tried to make everything normal by behaving as though nothing had happened; but you cannot be involved in sudden death and pretend it is an everyday occurrence.
For some days I had no desire to ride again. I stayed near Adelaide; there was something safe about her. She understood my feelings and was constantly inviting me to help in some task or other. Together we produced new curtains for some of the rooms; we made up materials for ourselves and altered old dresses. There was always some project afoot. Then, of course, there was the garden.
Sometimes I would wake in the night calling for help. I could not always remember the dreams, but they were concerned with that nightmare day.
“Stirling,” I said to him one day when we rode together, ‘you never speak of that day. Isn’t it better to talk of it? “
“Isn’t it best to forget?”
“Do you think that it is something one can ever forget?”
“You have to try. In time it will fade. You’ll see.”
“It was like something one dreams of, too bad for reality.”
“I should have been there. I should have guessed. Jagger was a swine.
I should have known. Did you have any idea? “
“I was always afraid of him.”
“You didn’t say so.”
“I didn’t think it was important until that moment when I was alone.”
“Don’t speak of it.”
“But we are speaking of it. And then your father came. He was there on his white horse and suddenly … there was blood. I thought ..”
“There, I told you not to speak of it. Listen, Nora, it’s over. My father was there. He came in time, and that is the end of Jagger. He can never attempt to harm you again.”
“He was killed. Your father killed a man because of me.”
“It was the right thing to do. It was the only thing to do.”
“He could have dismissed him. He could have sent him away. Why didn’t he do that?”
“My father did what was right. Life is different out here, Nora. Not long ago in England a man could be hanged for stealing a sheep. Out here any man has a right to kill another who attacks his womenfolk.”
“But it was murder.”
“It was justice.”
“But does no one question it?”
“There has been an enquiry. My father would not let you go because he thought it would be too upsetting for you. He would not have you questioned, he said. He told what had happened; he had killed Jagger, he said, and he would do the same to any man who acted as Jagger did towards his daughters. Jagger was notorious. It was well known what kind of man he was. The women of the community would have been in danger if my father’s action was not accepted as the right one, and the verdict was that justice had been administered. And that is the truth. You must stop thinking about it.”
They wanted me to live as I had before; to ride when I wished, to stop thinking of that terrible day.
My relationship with Lynx had undergone a subtle change. Even he was il! at ease. I went to him to play my usual game of chess but it was some weeks before I could bring myself to talk of the matter.
I said to him then: “What brought you to Kerry’s Creek on that day.”
He frowned in concentration.
“I’m not entirely sure. I seemed to sense that something was wrong. Do you remember when we talked of that trip you made to Melbourne when you camped on the way? We mentioned Jagger and something in your manner told me that you were afraid of the man.
I guessed for what reason . knowing Jagger. That morning I felt uneasy because I saw him riding in the direction of Kerry’s Creek. I wondered where he was going and I asked at the stables which direction you had taken that morning. No one was sure but they said that it would either be Martha’s Mound, Dog Hill or Kerry’s Creek. I decided to ride ‘out after Jagger. That was how it happened. “
“What good fortune for me! And it cost Jagger his life.”
Lynx’s eyes glittered.
“You don’t think I would have let him live.”
“He forced Mary,” I said.
“She told me so.”
He shrugged his shoulders.
“You can be indifferent to that?” I said.
“That is beside the point. Do you think I could ever be indifferent to anything that happened to you?”
There was silence in the library broken only by the ticking of the clock. It was a beautiful French clock which he had had sent out from London.
He said abruptly: “Let us have our game of chess.”
So we played the strangest game we had ever played. Hitherto he had always beaten me, but that night I turned the tables. I took his queen and a strange feeling of triumph ran through me as I seized her.
“There,” he said rather mockingly, ‘now you have me . provided you play with care. “
So we played on and an hour passed and every time I was ready to make the winning move he baulked me.
But finally I had him cornered.
“Checkmate!” I cried.
He sat back, his elbows on the table surveying the board as if in dismay, and I knew suddenly that he had allowed me to win, just as my father had.
“You let it happen,” I accused.
“Do you think I would?” he asked.
I looked into those extraordinary eyes and did not know the answer.
Yes, indeed our relationship had changed.
Jessica came into Adelaide’s sitting-room where I was sewing. She sat down, looking at me.
“Did you come to hear the book?” I asked.
“Adelaide is busy today so I am not reading.”
“Then we can talk,” said Jessica.
“You affect him deeply,” she went on.
I knew to whom she referred, of course, but I pretended not to.
“He changes when you’re there. I’ve never seen him like that with anyone else … except perhaps Stirling.”
“Stirling is his son,” I reminded her.
“And he looks upon me as his daughter.”
“Not for Adelaide,” she said with a look of triumph.