dust of the land by j.h. fletcher - chapter sampler

7/22/2019 Dust Of The Land by J.H. Fletcher - Chapter Sampler

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First Published 2014First Australian Paperback Edition 2014ISBN 978 174356542 1

DUS OF HE LAND 2014 by John Fletcher

Australian Copyright 2014New Zealand Copyright 2014

Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilisation of this work in wholeor in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now knownor hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in

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Tis book is sold subject to the condition that shall not, by way of trade or other-wise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the prior consentof the publisher in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it ispublished and without a similar condition including this condition being imposedon the subsequent purchaser.

All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in anyform.

Tis is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either theproduct of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance toactual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirelycoincidental.

Published by

Harlequin MiraAn imprint of Harlequin Enterprises (Australia) Pty Ltd.Level 4, 132 Arthur StreetNORH SYDNEY NSW 2060

AUSRALIA

and M are trademarks of Harlequin Enterprises Limited or its corporate affili-ates. rademarks indicated with are registered in Australia, New Zealand and inother countries.

Printed and bound in Australia by Griffin Press


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Bella ucker woke at four-thirty, as she did every morning. As dis-ciplined in mind as body, she never needed an alarm: this had beenher time for getting up for as long as she could remember.

Tat it was a Sunday and her sixty-fifth birthday made no dif-ference to her routine. She was one day older than yesterday, notone year, and the fuss made about such things always amazed

her. Most women retired from work before they were sixty butBella felt as young and vital as always. She had no plans to handover the day-to-day management of the business any time soon;should she ever decide to do so, there was still a world beyondmining and iron ore. New challenges had always supplied theoxygen her spirit demanded and there were many projects out

there to excite her. Retirement? Death? Tere was no room in herplans for either.

She got out of bed, feet sinking into the luxurious carpet, andheaded for the bathroom. wenty minutes later, after her custom-ary workout, her mind already grappling with the challenges of thecoming day, she went barefoot into the jarrah-panelled study next

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2 J . H . F L E C H E R

Unlike the downstairs office where Bella met staff and advisers,this was the place where she kept her personal mementos: photo-graphs of her husband Garth and their two children, Peace andRichard; a snap of her mother taken forty-seven years earlier; anda more recent one of Maisie, the Aboriginal friend who had taughther so much about the bush and who had helped keep her saneduring the bad times. On a side wall hung an oil painting of hergrandfather, the earl, sitting on the terrace at Ripon Grange, hisfavourite gun dog at his feet.

Tis room was the thinking place where Bella planned her busi-ness strategies and the future. Apart from a leather-bound blot-ting pad and gold pen and pencil set, the desk was bare. She satdown, opened a drawer and took out a file containing the text ofthe speech she would be making that morning. en minutes latershe put it to one side, satisfied she knew what she wanted to say and

how to say it, and turned to the documents that Martin Dexter, herfinancial director, had sent over the night before. Sixty-fifth birth-day or not, there was still work to be done.

For the next two hours she studied cash-flow projections, antici-pated ore tonnages, details of the delivery of the last freight wagons,safety reports from the mine Occasionally she jotted a note to

remind her of a point that needed clarification, but in the maineverything seemed in order.

At seven oclock, half an hour after the first light had started steal-ing through the curtains, Bella locked the papers away and went intothe bedroom to put on her riding gear. She pulled on her freshly pol-ished boots, ran down the sweeping staircase to the marble-floored

hallway and headed for the stables at the rear of the house.She was wearing breeches, woollen shirt and heavy sweater: it

was August, after all. She rode every morning she could manage;with two hundred and fifty acres of grounds, she had plenty ofspace. She saddled up, slapped on her hard hat and rode out as thesun rose in a festival of birdsong. She saw no one. Te staff knew to

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Riding brought Bella closest to her husband and the days whenthey had mustered cattle together across the unfenced miles of thenorth. Dear Garth, who had given her so much. His death, twenty-one years earlier, was an enduring wound.

Riding also reminded her of her adolescence in Yorkshire, whereshe had first learnt about horses and the saddle. Te memoriesreturned every morning: childhood in the cottage with her unmar-ried mother; Ripon Grange and her wicked witch of a stepmother;her lost love; marriage to Garth ucker; and the one-and-a-half-

million-acre Miranda Downs in Australias far northShe welcomed them because they reminded her not only of

how far she had come but how far she still had to go. It wasthe future that mattered and the future was glorious. omorrowshe would sign the ten-year lease of a rail link owned by rivalcompany BradMin. Tis would enable her to go on delivering

ore to the Baoshan blast furnaces at Shanghai long and profitablyenough to build her own railway and escape from reliance on arival she did not trust. After all the years of struggle, the future ofthe company she had built from nothing and of her family wouldbe secure.

It was a thought to bring music to her day.

She reached the gallop shed had opened at the edge of the wood-land so that both horse and rider could get the workout they craved.She leant forward to murmur in Caliphs ear. Lets go!

She thumped her heels firmly against the geldings flanks. Atonce they were flying, the cold air bringing tears to her eyes, thereins taut in her gloved hands. All too soon they reached the end

of the ride and drew up, both panting. Bella patted Caliphs flank.Well done, boy.

At one time shed joined the breakfast gallops at Ascot, with itsthousand-metre straight, but the media had got on to that and shehad found she couldnt go out without some journo shouting inanequestions at her.

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4 J . H . F L E C H E R

She walked Caliph more quietly, remembering how she had pre-sented the draft agreement to the previous weeks board meeting.Martin Dexter apart, these were family gatherings her childrenPeace and Richard, daughter-in-law Su-Ying and herself but Bellainsisted that meetings of the board be conducted formally, with herin the chair.

Of course we must sign, said instant-action Peace. A top miningengineer, she was as fiery as Vesuvius when the mood was on her.

We can hardly carry the ore on our backs and pack mules went outa century ago.

Richard was an accountant, shrewd but cautious. Certainly weneed an agreement, he said. But not this one.

Why not? Bella said, to test him.I dont like the clause that says we cant build our own rail link

for five years after signing the agreement. It puts us too much intheir hands. Tey can close us down any time

ypical accountant, Peace interrupted. A problem for everysolution. Why should they do that? Teyll be making good moneyout of us. And in five years well have enough stashed away to fundour own railway.

BradMin is not in the business of helping us deliver, Richardsaid. What they really want is our ore and our contracts. A typicalaccountant can see that, even if a mining engineer cant.

Ive convened this meeting to review our options, Bella saidtartly. I am not interested in your childish bickering.

She studied her two children.

Peace, face like flame, was in no doubt, but Peace was never indoubt about anything. Tirty-nine years old and unmarried, she

was an honours graduate of the University of Western Australiaand the Camborne School of Mines, with an extraordinary nosefor land and minerals. Physically she resembled no one in thefamily. She was five feet seven inches tall and broad-shouldered,

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Bella knew Peace would have dominated her, too, given half achance: not that there was any likelihood of that.

Richard was a different proposition. Two years younger thanhis sister, just under six feet and slender, with Bellas dark goodlooks, he was a stiletto to Peaces battleaxe. Studious and reservedby nature, he was a financial whiz who was not only married to aChinese woman but spoke fluent Mandarin, qualities that wouldbe increasingly valuable to the group, with iron ore deliveries toChina set to increase rapidly.

Brother and sister stood shoulder to shoulder against the out-side world, yet in the privacy of the boardroom they were alwayspicking on each other: Peace thought Richard not confrontationalenough; he returned the compliment because she lacked subtlety.

Bella didnt let it worry her too much; it might present a problemdown the track but for the moment she never let their conflicts get

out of hand and their complementary skills were of huge value tothe company.

Martin Dexter had been in favour of the deal. Bella had expectednothing else, because Martin had ambitions of his own. Not onlydid he want to remain financial director of the group; for years hehad been sending her signals that he would like a personal rela-

tionship with her. In some ways she would have liked that, too.Sixty-five or not, she was by no means too old for a frolic if theopportunity arose. From time to time she indulged herself by imag-ining what such an affair would be like Martin was almost thesame age as she was but still a bundle of sexual promise, with goodshoulders and a backside to die for but she knew she would never

allow it to happen. A woman in her position was often the targetof ambitious men hoping to talk her into mixing business withpleasure but Bella was too much in control of her life to fall for thatone, however charming the men might be.

She would go ahead, she told herself as she rode up the slope behind

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commissioned locomotives drawing its load of two hundred wag-ons, eighty thousand dollars worth of ore in each. Sixteen milliondollars per trainload: it was a mind-boggling thought.

She reached the summit and reined in, looking down at thehouse she had named Desire. Te grand building, white-painted,stood on a bluff overlooking Perths Swan River. Tere was a five-acre garden around the house; the rest was scrub and eucalyptusbush with riding trails cut through it.

Garth had complained that the building, with its Corinthian

pillars and portico, was ostentatious. He had been right. It waswhy Bella had bought the land in the first place. It was in the dayswhen only a handful of people had known about the discoveries sheand her husband had made in the far north, and she had intendedthe house to show the world that the uckers had arrived. At vastexpense she had retained a world-famous architect to design the

building in accordance with her wishes and a former curator of theBotanical Gardens to advise on the layout of the grounds. Evennow it was a show place, demonstrating how far she and Garth,before his death had come from Miranda Downs, the propertyshe still owned in the far north, home to snakes, dingoes, kan-garoos, countless birds and approximately forty thousand head of

cattle: no one knew exactly how many. Now she could foresee thetime when ucker Mining would be one of the wealthiest and mostpowerful operations in the country, because development of theiropen-cut mine in the Pilbara was only a beginning. With fundsfrom the mine she would expand the companys operations to fiftytimes their present size. Tey would prospect for new ore deposits.

Tey would diversify. Tey were already developing an open-cutcoalmine in New South Wales. Tey were exporting live cattle toIndonesia, the construction company was doing good business andthe engineering works was flat out satisfying the growing needs ofthe mining industry. Later there would be real estate, financial ser-vices and transportation. Tere was talk overseas of permanently

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said to be an authority; she would get her London agent to contacthim, confidentially. What about water? Australia was perenniallyshort of water. Maybe they could resolve that, too, in time and

with sufficient resources. Make the desert rejoice: wasnt that whatthe Bible said? Tey would fund hospitals, adventure schools, insti-tutes of higher learning, medical research Excitement swarmedthrough her as she rode. So many marvellous challenges lay ahead.

And she would be equal to them. At that moment she was twentyagain, the world at her feet. Tere was nothing she could not do.

Once the lease was signed.Back at the house she dismounted, casting her eye around the

sky. It was cloudless just as well, with two hundred guests forlunch. Bella handed Caliphs reins to a waiting groom and walkedto the western side of the house where a large marquee had beenerected on the lawn below the terrace. eams of men were setting

out tables and chairs; an electrician was running cables for thelights, microphones and band. Te dais and lectern were in placeand a bar had been set up along one of the canvas walls.

Deborah Smith, Bellas thirty-year-old assistant, was keeping aneye on things. She had been a member of the team for eleven yearsand Bella trusted her completely. Sunday or not, Bella expected

her staff to work when required, although she always compen-sated them with extra pay and time off later. She walked overto her.

Caterers?Coming at eleven, Deborah said. Teyll bring their own cook-

ers and portable barbecues but I told them they could also use our

kitchens if they wanted.Let me see the menu. She studied it for a minute, pleased that

her instructions had been carried out to the letter, then handed itback without comment. Flowers?

Within the hour.Te bar?

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premier wont be able to complain, will he? Not with us a wine-growing state.

Two hundred and forty bottles, Bella said. Over one a head.Will they really drink that much?

Some will, Deborah said. Especially the journos.Bella supposed she was right. She walked into the house and

went upstairs to her bedroom. She stripped off and went intothe bathroom, where Annie had prepared her bath. For much ofher life such indulgence had been out of the question; mustering

cattle in her Miranda Downs days even a simple sluice-down hadoften been impossible. She thought perhaps that was why shevalued it so highly now. Whatever the reason, she regarded herdaily bath as one of her most important rituals. It was not simplya question of cleansing her body: she had always believed thatit cleansed her mind, too, leaving it free to concentrate on the

problems and challenges of the day ahead. It had other benefits aswell. Being rich and powerful had its dangers and she had knownmany who had let that sort of thing go to their heads. She wasdetermined it would not happen to her. I may be an autocrat,she thought, because I know no other way to run my life, but Ihave always despised self-importance. Having her daily wallow

was, absurdly, the best way she knew of keeping her feet on theground.

She lay in the giant circular tub, letting her body soak in thescented water, while she considered the responsibility that she car-ried for the continuing success of the company. Upon that dependednot only her legacy, what she had been able to achieve by a lifetime

of struggle, but also the long-term well-being of the family. It was aglorious burden and she did not regret it for a moment. She was asfit as a flea, thank God, but her sixty-fifth birthday was an appro-priate time to remind herself that the future would eventually liein the hands of the next generation Peace, Richard, Su-Ying andtheir children and it was her duty to ensure they were ready to

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she must find a way. If she failed they could be looking not attriumph but disaster.

Pray God it will not come to that, she thought. If it does, all mylife will have been in vain.

She allowed herself her usual ten minutes in the bath thenclimbed out, towelled herself dry and dressed in the same style ofsober business suit that she wore every day of her working life. Asshe began putting on her make-up she rang the bell. Tree minuteslater Annie brought breakfast on a tray: a croissant with a miserly

portion of imported cherry jam on the side, a thimble-sized helpingof natural yoghurt and a pot of green tea, which Annie poured; this,too, was part of Bellas morning ritual.

Breakfast is ready, Mrs ucker.Annie left the room. Bella sat in the Hepplewhite chair, glancing

at the morning paper as she ate and drank. Australia had beaten

England in some football match. Tere was an article about the actorRichard Burton who had died a week ago in Geneva. Seven yearsyounger than I am, Bella thought. And James Mason last month.

At least hed been in his seventies. It made you think, all the same.Tere was a feature about Bella ucker and her sixty-fifth

birthday party. HE NEW ALCHEMIS, the headline read. Te

woman who is turning iron into gold.Te significance of the China connection had clearly sunk in.

She put the paper aside, swallowed the last of her tea, collected herpapers and headed downstairs to the office where nowadays thebulk of her business was conducted. Tis room was larger and morebusiness-like than the study upstairs, with an adjoining boardroom

where bigger meetings were held. Te colours of the furnishingswere vibrant, reds and yellows predominant. A lot of stainless steeland glass. Te desk and chairs were Swedish, their design newerthan tomorrow. elephones provided direct lines to the mine,Miranda Downs and Martin Dexter.

She looked at the clock; there were three hours before she must

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It was all so different from her old life. At Miranda Downs get-ting down to business had meant hours in the saddle, rounding upcattle and transporting them to the meatworks at Wyndham. It hadmeant dust, heat and the vastness of the unfenced bush. Tere weretimes when she missed the physical challenges of those days but it

was impossible to go back; the future was now, and tomorrow, andthe rest of her life.

By a quarter to twelve the sun was shining brightly. Te day had

warmed up and the guests were strolling around the grounds, suitsand party hats much in evidence. Tere wasnt much to see in theflowerbeds, although here and there drifts of early-flowering nar-cissi were beginning to show their faces.

Bella watched from an upstairs window while Deborah chivviedthe guests to their seats inside the marquee. Te premier and his

wife were there: good. Pete Bathurst, BradMins belligerent CEOand Bellas long-time enemy, had brought Melanie, the young

woman he called his executive assistant but whose duties extendedbeyond normal office routines. Or so said Bellas spy in BradMinsoffices. Big-breasted Melanie looked thirty years younger than Peteand Bella wondered if she was worth it; shed heard his last bimbo

had cost him a packet.Te Australian representative of Chinas Baoshan smelting works

had come alone, as had Mr Hong, the Chinese consul. Both worewell-cut lounge suits only ten years back it would have been Maojackets. But ten years back trade with China had been an impos-sible dream; only with Maos death in 1976 had China begun to

emerge into the light.At last Deborah signalled that the guests were seated, the band

ready to strike up. Bella walked downstairs. She paused at the topof the terrace steps. Te guests could see her now and there was amurmur of applause but still she waited; she had always known thevalue of making an entrance.

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collar and cuffs; black silky pants and high-heeled ankle boots toshow off her still-elegant legs. She was wearing the sapphire dropearrings that Garth had given her for their twentieth weddinganniversary and a sapphire and diamond sunburst brooch on her

jacket. Her hair dark, with barely a thread of grey was glossyand impeccably fashioned, her perfume as fresh as summer roses,as expensive as her wardrobe. She had always believed that smellinggood was as important as looking good and that both had to besuited to the occasion and her audience. oday she was looking for

style, discreet glamour and an air of competence, and she thoughtshe had pulled it off. Smiling, she walked down the steps to join herapplauding guests.

An hour and a half later people had once again begun to circu-late. Insofar as she ever was, Bella was content, knowing the occa-sion had been a success. Her eyes had been everywhere and she

had made sure that her guests had eaten and drunk their fill. Telobsters had taken a caning, and the champagne. Te tot who hadbeen detailed to present orchids to the premiers wife had neitherdropped them nor thrown up; Bellas speech, promising an era ofincreasing prosperity for the state and the nation, had been raptur-ously received. Te premier had presented her with a plaque nam-

ing her the states most prominent businesswoman. Everyone hadjoined in singing Happy Birthday.

Pete Bathurst strolled past, Melanie hanging from his musculararm. Bella gave him a big smile; she and Pete might detest eachother, but this was not the place to show it. Glad you could makeit, she said.

Hey, Bella, howre you goin? And continued without waitingfor an answer. Great party. I mean it. Tat lobster Wow! Heleered at Melanie. Bit of extra pep just where its needed aint thatright, sugar?

Conversation with Pete Bathurst gave new meaning to the wordgross, while Melanie eyed Bella curiously, no doubt wondering how

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Petes expression became serious. He leant close, suddenly con-fidential. I dont want to spoil your party, but you might as wellknow. We got problems with the agreement, Bella.

How sorrowful he looked! Yet Bella thought she detected a glim-mer of triumph in the dark eyes. It has all been settled, she saidcoldly.

He shook his head ruefully. You know these lawyers I tell youfrankly, Bella, I wonder sometimes why we have them.

With a cheery wave he strolled on, leaving Bellas mind in turmoil.

Deborah, face drawn, was suddenly at her shoulder. Bella felt aflicker of concern. First Bathurst, and now?

Whats the problem?A letter from the bank came an hour ago. Hand delivered. I had

to sign for it.A letter from the bank? On a Sunday? Bellas concern deepened.

What does it say?I dont know. It was marked urgent and confidential so I didnt

open it.Why didnt you call me at once?I didnt want to distract you. It was just before you started your

speech.

When a bank letter has urgent and confidential on the envelopeyou let me know even if Im in bed with my lover.

Not, sadly, that she had one of those.Bella opened the envelope, took out the letter and read it. She

felt her lips go numb. Somehow she managed a smile.Everything all right, Ms ucker?

Everythings fine. Why shouldnt it be?She returned to the party. Te momentary wave of weakness had

passed. Now was the time to circulate and she did so, smiling, gra-cious, while inside her head

Dear God!In phrases so convoluted as to be barely comprehensible, the let-

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rationalise. As though there was anything rational about whatfollowed.

Te bank therefore advises that failure, within seven days of this let-ter, to return all balances to the agreed operating limits will necessitatecalling in the entirety of the groups outstanding loans. Any inconve-nience is regretted.

Inconvenience?Ruin, more like.It made no sense. Halliburton, the banks regional boss, had

known they were way over their limit but had gone along because

he had also known the situation would be rectified as soon as themoney from the China contracts began to flow in. Now this.

Still Bella smiled, while congratulations and compliments buzzedabout her like bees and questions blazed in her tortured brain.

Why today, of all days? When they were scheduled to sign therail agreement tomorrow? All of a sudden both Pete Bathurst and

the bank were on her case. It could not be coincidence. What wasgoing on? If the agreement fell through, if the bank foreclosed

She was ruined, and the family with her.Bella checked her watch: half-past two; seven-thirty in the morn-

ing in London. She beckoned Deborah to her side.Find out whether there will be anything about the group in

tomorrows overseas papers. Check Te Wall Street Journal, Finan-cial imes, Les Echos in Paris, Capital in Hamburg, Te Rand Daily

Mail in Johannesburg. Be discreet, but I have to know what theyresaying. Get on to it immediately. Okay?

Deborah locked herself away in her office. Her phone ran hot.Within the hour she was back, her face a map of concern. She

started to speak but Bella hushed her and took her to one side.When they were safe from eavesdroppers she stopped.

Well?Te Wall Street Journal will be reporting a leading New York

broking firm as cautioning its clients about our shares.A selling signal? Bella snapped.

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Te other papers all have items questioning the groups viability.Are we all right, Ms ucker? Is there anything I can do to help?

Deborah was less than half Bellas age yet there were times whentheir roles seemed to be reversed, with Deborah anxious as alwaysto protect and comfort her.

Bella laughed out loud for the benefit of the guests and gaveDeborah her most radiant smile. Everythings fine.

Why lie about it? Bella asked herself as Deborah walked away.Because it made sense to lie. Te longer she could put off admitting

anything the better, because the news was as bad as could be. Onlyrumours, admittedly, but rumours could kill. When the marketsopened in Europe and the US, there would be a wave of selling.Te predators would descend, scenting a victim. Tank goodnessthe family had a controlling interest.

Whoever had laid this ambush had done it well. o strike today,

when she was surrounded by admirers who would run a mile if theyknew what she knew now, when the future had seemed secure It

was a devastating blow that she would revenge when she could, butwhat mattered now was not so much who had done it but how tocontrol the fallout. Delay would be fatal.

Owen Freeth, the groups long-time legal adviser, was talking to

another guest. Smiling graciously this way and that, she made herway through the crush towards him.

A word with you, Owen.He lifted a fastidious eyebrow. Now?Her smile did not falter. When the party winds up.


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