The Life of Riley

Chapter 8: Koori's Hut

It wasn't long before the boys made it to Koori's hut, three hundred head of cattle marched before them. The boys had been splattered with mud and stones and whipped by sticks and chilling winds, but not a thing could wipe the smile from Jack's lips. This was living, a real adrenaline rush. He could hardly imagine getting up every morning to drive the same route every day, in a huge truck that was difficult to manoeuvre with a bloke he could hardly stand. The back of a horse was where he could be free, he could wear his biggest belt buckle and his worn Ariat boots that had walked hundreds of roads and rode thousands of bulls. He could wear his sheep skin coat with a striped shirt and actually be the envy of his friends instead of the pansy from the cabin. He could wear his Akubra with pride, tell stories about the ear tags that line the strap and be questioned about his life purely because the person was interested, not because they needed to know about the drugs he'd taken and the alcohol he'd drunk. He'd only ended up in hospital once for excessive consumption of alcohol, when he was 17. He ruined his favourite shirt, the one with red stripes and the R.M Williams bull horns across the shoulders. They'd cut it off his body and ripped his jeans off, so they could keep him breathing and teach him a lesson. Drugs on the other hand had gotten him into all the trouble they could. The slammer wasn't his favourite place in the world, that night taught him more lessons than any other Hospital trip and mistake he'd ever made.

It was on that mountain, though, riding that horse, singing the same songs and whistling the same old tunes, he missed something or perhaps it was someone. He could hear her distant chatter and the chorus of her laughter. He could feel the smile on his lips as she stuck by him through even the toughest of rides. Lucy was his best friend, and he was hers. They were all each other had for a long time, when their father died their mother lost her mind. Their Dad kept her sane, he was the one that promised her heaven and he gave it to her even with the limited amount of money they had in the bank. When he died her heaven darkened, it grew mouldy and eventually all it was was a dark mass, with two dull lanterns hanging in the corners. She spent hours laying in bed, or moping around the kitchen, longing for a spark of life she could grasp.

The thrill of a rodeo never appealed to their mother. Lucy could barrel race faster than anyone else in South Australia but their mother was convinced that riding broncs would kill her beautiful daughter. The eight seconds Jack spent on the back of a bull, frightened her, but it wasn't as scary as the phone call, reporting an injury or a death. 

Their mother died before his final run. Very suddenly, but very expected. She never got the phone call, in fact the only phone call made was to emergency services and the RSPCA. The bull was killed. He was driven to hospital and that was that, but it wasn't all.
•••

"Are you with us Jack?" Lochie peered under his hat, up at the Man still mounted on his horse.

Regret flicked his head and stamped his foot, waking Jack from his daydream. Jack jolted, his hand scratching the two day stubble on his chin.

"Yeah sorry." He sighed, slipping from the horse.

The three of them trek up the slate path that lead to a wooden veranda. They removed their hats and Lochie knocked hard on the door.

"Koori, you in?" He bellowed.

The door swung open, "Lochie!" the old lady exclaimed, throwing her arms around his neck.

"G'day Koori," he chuckled, patting her back in a hug.

"Eddie." She moved on to Eddie who greeted her happily.

She turned her gaze on to Jack, he let out a silent breath before she pressed her thumb against his nose.

"Be calm." She told him. He lowered his hat from his chest to his hip and relaxed. The old woman cupped his face, her hands were cold but gentle.

"It's good to meet you Jack." She told him.

"And you Koori." He replied as she moved back inside.

Lochie and Eddie chuckled as they followed her in.

"Lochie, pour some tea, Eddie get the biscuits." Koori ordered.

They settled around a coffee table, a pot of tea brewed quietly as they spoke. Koori questioned them on the muster and Jack on his family.

"Tell me about that little girl of yours." Koori said, pouring him a cup.

"June, we'll she's quite the character. She's very much like her mum." Jack told her.

Koori furrowed her eyebrows, "I've never met the woman, how would I know what she is like."

"Lucy was excitable, she would grin at the magpie on the power line. She would smile at the stallion in the end pen. She was so kind and loving and just the type of person you want around." Jack explained.

"Was?" Koori inquired.

"She died in a car accident a few weeks ago, that's why I ended up with June," said Jack solemnly.

Koori's mood shifted, Jack noticed her face.
"Did she get a funeral?"

"No, she's being cremated, her ashes will be sent out here." Jack sighed, he regretted that the most, a send off was what she wanted but he couldn't say goodbye.

"This car accident." Koori inquired. "What happened?"

"She rolled the car, driving to see a horse she said goodbye to many years ago, skidded on the gravel and slammed into a tree, June got out without a scratch but Lucy had internal bleeding and a brain bleed before anyone found them." Jack shook his imaginations thoughts from his head.

"Have you spoken to June?" Eddie asked.

"No," Jack said. "I don't want to."

"If you want to know what that little girl is going through I'd talk to her Jack." Koori told him firmly.

She was right. June couldn't do this by herself. She was four years old, she had just witnessed the death of her mother and was living with a strange man, she'd only just met. It was the least Jack owed her.