Page 57 of Stockman's Stormcloud

‘Elsie Creek Station.’ Duh, that was obvious.

‘You didn’t finish it, old man.’

Charlie scowled at Lenny at the table. ‘Don’t spoil it.’

‘What am I missing?’ Dex swivelled between the two older men.

‘Tell him.’

‘Fine.’ Charlie rolled his eyes, like Bree did. ‘The thing is, it was later revealed that the publican had writtenElsie Creek Stationon every piece of paper tucked into those empty beer bottles.’

Dex chuckled, not expecting that at all. ‘And she got away with it, obviously.’

‘Like I said, the original Elsie was clever, and that overseer was sweet on her—’

‘And she gave half of her winnings to the overseer. Which concludes our history lesson for today.’ Lenny pushed himself up from his chair at the table. ‘My boss, the great granddaughter of the original Elsie, asked me to give a copy of this soil map to the new owners. We know Harper’s got that petition to fight the mine, so the publican thought this might help the cause.’ Lenny held out a rolled map to Dex.

‘Thanks.’ He nodded at the grumpy chef. ‘I’m still waiting on my map from you, Charlie?’

‘Here. Bree did a couple for you.’ Charlie shuffled some paperwork on the desk and dropped them on the table.

‘Thank you.’ Now he had a copy of the bore runner’s map, the map with the names and more. He couldn’t wait to show these to his brothers.

‘So, how do they mine for lithium?’ Charlie handed out glasses of shiny green juice that looked like engine coolant.

‘There are a few ways,’ replied Lenny. ‘They’ll either drill orblast for the hard rocks in a process that uses up a stack of water. Or they punch into the artesian basins to create these big dams that they then let evaporate under the sun, leaving behind the rocks they ship to China to extract the lithium.’

‘So they’d just waste all that water and not use it for anything? Like cattle, crops, or the wildlife?’ Dex now understood his younger brother Cap’s concern for the environment over having a new lithium mine next door.

‘According to the geologist who gave me this map, your neighbour is looking at doing the hard-rock-drilling method, which uses a stack of water.’ Lenny took a sip of his juice and nodded at the glass. ‘Nice mix.’

Charlie took a few deep mouthfuls of the green gunk. ‘Forgot my pills.’ He opened the fridge. ‘So basically, this lithium mine is a water-hungry monster?’

Lenny nodded. ‘And you guys are on the top of their hit list, because without your water supply, they have no water to work their mine.’

‘We know. That’s why Harper is getting everyone to sign the petition to stop any changes to the land zoning or the Water Act.’ Dex raked his fingers through his hair. The threat to the station still hung over their heads. ‘So, why do you have a copy of this soil map?’

‘Oh, well, Charlie wanted it. It shows caves and stuff.’

‘For what? Are you thinking of fossicking for lithium?’

‘Bree would disown me,’ scoffed Charlie. ‘We’re going to map out the Stoneys. The place is a maze. Drink your juice, lad.’ Charlie pushed the green juice across the kitchen bench.

‘Why now?’ Dex sniffed the juice. It smelled of apples and cucumbers, giving Dex flashbacks to a time when he never liked his veggies as a kid.

‘No one has ever mapped out the Stoneys.’

Dex arched an eyebrow at the old stockman, standing on the other side of the kitchen counter, counting out his pills like lollies. ‘You’re doing it because we found Pandora out there.’

‘Pandora?’ Lenny asked Charlie.

‘My brother’s car. Bree named it that.’ Charlie swallowed the stack of pills labelled for that day, then downed his juice, returning his pill container to the fridge. ‘Here lad, that’s your medicine.’

Now it was Dex’s turn to roll his eyes.

‘Take it with the juice, kills the flavour.’

Not that he wanted to, but he’d have Bree on his back if he didn’t.Dex gulped his pills, then washed it down with the juice. Surprisingly it was sweet, tasting of carrots, apples, and something else.

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