Page 24 of Stockman's Showdown

The torchlight swept across the cave’s uneven floor, illuminating a large wooden crate where two skeletons, clad in tattered clothing, were huddled together, their yellowed bones eerily well-preserved in the cool, still air.

Beside them stood two old suitcases with the leather remarkably intact, although their metal clasps were tarnished. Beside them sat a smaller wooden box, with the wordsCharlie Splintetched in the weathered grain.

Bree took a step closer towards the skeletons. They were holding each other like lovers. One wore a dress, the other wore pants and a shirt that was rolled up at the cuffs, with an old stockman’s hat pushed back against his head. Beside his skeletal fingers a chisel lay in the dirt, below the wall, where the wordsTOGETHER FOREVERwere scratched in the stone.

The message hit Bree like a sledgehammer, leaving her nauseated. When Charlie had re-launched the search for Harry, she’d always feared it would end in heartache. But nothing couldhave prepared her for this. She struggled to breathe, to speak, her voice trembling, barely above a whisper: ‘I think that’s Pop’s brother, Harry, and the woman he ran away with.’

Eleven

It wasn’t Ryder’s first body. As the others took a step back, Ryder patted down the trouser pockets on the male skeleton, wearing an old-style Akubra.

He found a wallet and flicked it open.

‘What’s the name?’ Bree was pale.

It made his stomach churn to see her like that, so he hesitated.

‘Don’t you dare.’ She went to grab the wallet.

‘It’s your great-uncle. It’s Harry Splint.’

Dex wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. He’d turned the torch into a lamp, its beam highlighting his wide-eyes as he stared at the skeletons. ‘So, that’d be her. Penelope Price.’

Dust particles drifted through the beams of sunlight streaming from the mouth of the cave, never quite reaching the skeletons huddled together in the shadows.

Bree unsheathed her hand-forged bushman’s knife, as she kneeled down to the box bearing the label:Charlie Splint. ‘Do you have your satphone on you?’

‘No.’ Ryder wished he did. But he’d agreed with Charlie to have a phone-free muster. ‘Hey, that could be evidence.’

‘It’s got my grandfather’s name on it.’ Using the blade, she jimmied open the lid of the wooden box to reveal a pile of rocks and an envelope.

Dex peered over her shoulder, holding the lamp higher so they could all see. ‘It that gold?’

‘Raw gold ore. I’ve seen enough of Charlie’s paydays to recognise it.’ Bree passed out some stones.

Surprisingly, the gold wasn’t what had captured her interest, it was the envelope hidden inside. ‘Pop knew it. He always said his brother would leave him a note.’ She held up the envelope that said:To my baby brother, Charlie ‘Splinter’ Splint.

Dex ran his fingers through the rock pile, shifting its weight. ‘That’s a lot of gold.’

‘It’s raw,’ Ryder said, tossing the rock he was holding back into the box. ‘It’ll need to be smelted down.’

‘Yeah, but it’s still a lot, right?’

Ryder nodded, knowing his brother was already calculating the fortune hidden in those rough chunks. ‘Bree, are you okay?’ She didn’t look okay.

Pulling her hat free, she used the sleeve of her shirt to wipe away the dust covering her forehead that was now shiny with sweat, as she glanced back at the skeletons.

‘Did you know him, Bree?’

She screwed her nose up at Dex. ‘My mother wasn’t even born when Harry went missing. Oh, Charlie.’ She sighed, with her hand covering her heart. ‘I owe that old man the biggest apology.’ Slapping on her hat, she headed for the entrance.

‘Where are you going?’ Ryder followed.

‘To get Charlie. He’ll want to see this.’

‘Bree, no.’

‘You can’t hide this from Charlie. For sixty years, he’s been wondering what happened to his brother.’ She stopped and faced him. ‘Once I’ve returned with Charlie, I’ll lead the herd to the yards.’

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