Stockman’s Stormcloud (Stockmen #3)

Nineteen

The trek from the caretaker’s cottage to the farmhouse stretched on forever. But Dex didn’t quit until he made it to the front steps, breathless, as if he’d run ten clicks. But he’d made it.

‘Dex?’ It was Ash, pouring himself a coffee by the shelves of office gear. ‘What are you doing out here?’

‘I’ll have a coffee, thanks.’ Dex dragged himself up to the large table that commanded the corner of the front verandah and collapsed into his chair. Its where they’d hold their morning meetings and nightly drinks, to then argue over whose turn it was to cook dinner—until Harper and Mia created a cooking roster.

Sarge, the big shepherd, came up for a pat.

‘G’day mate.’ The dog sniffed at the oxygen canister. Bree had done a fine job on the trolley, it handled any terrain while carrying his paperwork.

‘Here you go.’ Ash put down a beautifully glorious, steaming cup of black coffee in front of Dex.

‘Thank you.’ Dex inhaled as deeply as he could, revelling in the rich caffeine aroma that blended perfectly with the sweet outback air of sunrise. This was living.

‘Dex.’ Ryder, with his heavy boot steps, came down the side of the house to join them. ‘You took your sweet time to show up.’

Dex even copped a pat on the shoulder from the big brother before he sat at the head of the table.

‘Have you seen these geological soil maps before?’ There was a shuffle of cups and empty beer bottles to spread the map across the table. With Cap soon joining them, Dex explained what Lenny had shared earlier.

‘What can we do?’ Ash dropped hard into his seat at the table. ‘Harper’s doing what she can from the political side.’

‘Well, I was thinking…’ Dex unrolled the smaller bore runner’s map. ‘In my paddock, I’d like to rebuild the old turkey nests to contain the surface water. For two reasons.’

‘It’s a boggy mess that paddock of yours. Long grass for miles,’ said Cap.

‘I know. But, according to Charlie’s old bore runner’s map, it used to have a decent-sized reservoir where the runoff naturally filled that space. If I can rebuild that reservoir, it’ll stop any runoff flushing towards our neighbours.’

‘Nice.’ Ash grinned.

‘Remember, we copped a lot of flak from the government for rebuilding Starvation Dam.’ Cap the conservationist seemed unconvinced, while Ryder just sipped his coffee and listened.

‘The reservoir is the same as Starvation Dam, a natural watering hole they expanded on. This map proves it.’ Dex circled his paddock on the old map. ‘It’s just hidden under the long grass. It won’t take much to grade it back to make it a part of our water management plan, and to prepare ourselves in case those pricks tap into our water, or if we get a drought.’

‘Drought?’ Ash paused over his coffee cup.

‘Wait, I get where you’re going with this.’ Finally, Ryder showed some enthusiasm. ‘I’ve been thinking about using the possibility of a drought as part of our legal argument that if the mine took the underground water resources, it would destroy us because we need water for stock in times of drought.’

‘So, if we prepare for a drought, we’d what?’ Ash shrugged.

‘I get it now.’ Cap sat up, eagerly nodding. ‘It’ll show the government we’re doing what we can to preserve our water, to sustain our cattle even during periods of limited water availability. Which is in direct conflict with how the mine wants to waste our water.’

‘Harper showed me how water rights are worth billions,’ mumbled Ash from behind his coffee cup. ‘But won’t that give the mine an excuse to say, hey they’ve got plenty of water lying around ?’

‘No, in fact, it’ll be the opposite. Everyone in Australia is sympathetic to causes for preventative drought preparations that the lawyers can use to argue our case. Well done, Dex.’ Again, Ryder patted Dex on the shoulder. ‘Does anyone know of any droughts in this region?’

‘Charlie said there was a bad one in 1961-1962. The year his brother disappeared.’ Dex sipped on his coffee. ‘This is so good. I haven’t had a coffee in a week.’

‘Good to have you back, brother.’ Cap patted his shoulder.

‘Now that we’re all here,’ said Ryder, steepling his fingers. ‘I’d like to table the idea of selling carbon credits.’

‘No.’ Cap shook his head. ‘No way.’

‘Hear me out, Cap.’

‘Can you explain what it is first?’ Ash asked.

‘Sure.’ Ryder sat forward, resting his elbows on the table. ‘Carbon credits work like a reward system for helping the environment. Every time we do something good for the planet, like planting trees, we earn carbon credits. These credits represent the amount of carbon dioxide we’ve prevented from going into the air. Companies and individuals can then buy these credits to offset their own carbon footprint. It’s like saying, I know we’re emitting carbon, but we’re supporting projects that take carbon out of the air, to balance it out. ’ Ryder pointed to Cap. ‘With you and Mia planting those wildlife corridors and regenerating areas of the property, we can sell the carbon credits.’

‘But we’re a cattle station? Not a carbon farm.’ Ash scratched his head. Dex had to agree.

‘We have less than five thousand head of cattle, when this station used to support fifty thousand head. We all know it’ll take time to get those numbers again. And with Cap aiming for us to become sustainable, ethical producers of carbon-neutral beef, won’t us selling carbon credits help that claim?’ Ryder shuffled in his seat and tapped on the station’s map. ‘Look at it this way, we’ll be making money just on the land until our cattle numbers grow.’

‘So basically, we’ll be getting paid for Cap planting his trees, that’s being done to improve our land?’ To Dex it sounded too good to be true.

‘Yes.’

‘How much would that be worth?’

‘Millions.’

Dex and Ash raised their eyebrows at Ryder, then at each other. But it was Cap who wasn’t happy.

‘My problem is,’ said Cap, waving his coffee cup around, ‘who do we sell the carbon credits to? Would we be letting unethical companies duck their environmental obligations?’

‘We can vet that. But I don’t want you blocking those potential customers either,’ said Ryder, pointing at Cap. ‘This is only a temporary source of income, until we’re a fully functioning cattle station again.’

‘We were lucky Charlie and Bree hid that herd in Wombat Flats from Darcie’s son stripping the place of our beef. We’d be lucky to break a couple thousand head worth keeping,’ said Ash.

‘Face facts, boys, it’ll take a few years to have cattle grazing in certain areas again,’ said Ryder. ‘So while we have ex-grazing land being regenerated by Cap and Mia, it fits the carbon scheme perfectly and gives the market exactly what they’re looking for.’

Cap frowned. ‘You mean those big mining companies who ruin the environment, or big coal producers who spew smoke into the air—’

‘Who have the money to buy the carbon credits on dirt that we’ve got sitting out there?’ Ryder pointed to the dry fields .

‘Oi.’ Dex waved his hand in the air, cutting everyone off from the heated debate. He missed this, and the coffee. ‘Let’s vote. All those in favour of applying to sell carbon credits—’

‘For the short term, to revisit this option each year,’ butted in Cap.

‘Raise your hands.’

It was unanimous.

‘So, does that make us carbon farmers?’ Ash screwed his nose up.

‘For the moment.’ Ryder tapped away on his tablet.

‘What about the reservoir?’ Dex asked. ‘Anyone got any complaints with that?’

‘I think it’s a great idea,’ said Cap. ‘You’ll just be rebuilding the turkey nests?’

‘Yep. I’m looking at rebuilding them all, paddock by paddock. It’ll save us on the wear and tear for the use of the bores. And cleaning troughs.’

‘Now that’s music to my ears,’ said Ash.

‘Are you ready for that?’ Ryder pointed to Dex’s oxygen bottle.

‘Give me a few days.’ Less if Dex had his way.

‘Besides ticking off the neighbours, why do you suddenly want to work on your paddock?’ Ryder asked bluntly.

‘Besides baling that grass for fodder, I’d grow…’ Dex inhaled as much as he could, no longer wincing at the niggling rib. ‘Hemp.’

Ryder frowned at him.

Ash grinned. ‘We all know you don’t mind the wacky tobaccy.’

‘Wait.’ It was Cap’s turn to block the comebacks. ‘There are some brilliant uses for hemp.’

‘So I was told.’

‘By whom?’ Ryder asked over his coffee mug.

Dex said nothing.

Ryder said it for him. ‘Bree.’

‘This is good.’ Cap nodded with enthusiasm as he slurped on his coffee.

‘Says the greenie at the table,’ muttered Ash.

‘Why hemp?’ Ryder asked bluntly.

‘Not only is it used for oils and food, but hemp also makes bioplastics, insulation, and biofuel,’ explained Cap. ‘Hemp is being used as a substitute plastic for cars, trains, planes and aerospace projects.’

‘I’m asking Dex, why do you want to grow hemp in your paddock?’ Ryder asked.

‘Because it’s a quick-growing crop that is perfect for that soggy paddock. Do you agree, Cap?’

Cap nodded like his head was on a spring. ‘I can show you the data. Mia would know more, and she’d say it’ll be perfect. Our weather is perfect for it.’

‘Bree said the same.’

‘Bree would,’ muttered Ryder, with his frown deepening.

What was Ryder’s issue with Bree?

‘This isn’t a long-term thing, it’s just a short-term idea, like the carbon-credit scheme.’ Dex shuffled in his seat. ‘Because of the low availability, we can get more bang for our buck than any other crop, until we need that land for cattle grazing.’

‘How much?’

‘As a rough guide, if I can yield about one tonne of hemp seed per hectare in my paddock, and if I only use 300 hectares, which is this area behind that reservoir,’ he said pointing to his map, ‘I’d make a million plus from one quick crop, if done right.’ Bree was a genius.

It made his brothers sit still and listen hard.

‘We’re fencing the paddock as it is,’ he continued, ‘and I’ll use the reservoir to water it, and I’ll be able to modify the harvester we inherited with this place easily enough for harvesting.’

‘Aren’t there strict laws for growing hemp?’ Ash asked.

Dex shrugged. Laws never stopped him from doing what he wanted. ‘Bree knows another farmer in the area who is growing hemp and said we should check it out.’

‘You and Bree, huh? Getting chummy since crashing on her couch.’ Cap playfully punched his shoulder.

‘We haven’t killed each other yet.’ But they were, as Bree called it, trauma-bonded, especially after last night.

Bree was the type of friend you’d call if you needed to clean up a murder. And he was the type of mate to call if you needed to shift an illegal still in the middle of the night, no questions asked. If Bree were a bloke, no one would think anything of their friendship.

‘Which reminds me, did you know Bree’s been babysitting a herd of eleven hundred head in this area?’ Dex drew a circle on the map.

‘I spotted some in the chopper,’ said Ryder. ‘They’re stretched out everywhere.’

‘Well, Bree and Charlie took me through the Scary Forest—which you would love, Cap—when they gave me a tour on our way to drop off a crocodile cage.’

‘Oi. You’re staying there to rest. Not go on tours.’ Ryder’s frown darkened his features.

‘A crocodile is eating our beef.’

‘What beef?’

‘I’d tell you if you’d stop interrupting me.’ Dex scowled at his big brother.

‘All good, let’s hear Dex out.’ Cap was always the peacemaker.

Dex waited a beat in case there were any more interruptions. It was so good to be back to normal, arguing with Ryder on a daily basis. ‘According to Bree and Charlie, that mob of scattered cattle will start coming closer to the waterholes at the height of the dry. Charlie said it’ll be like throwing out a butterfly net when we’re ready to muster in a few weeks.’

‘Good.’ Ryder’s chair scraped across the floorboards. His boot steps were heavy as he crossed the verandah, where he scribbled a note on the large whiteboard, filled with their many tasks. It was the to-do list that never ended on this station. ‘I’ll check the area out next time I’m in the chopper and we can plan the next muster. What do they call that area?’

‘Emu Plains. It holds a few creeks, like Spear Grass Creek that fills these watering holes, Station Dog Cemetery, Bullock’s Bath, and I forget the name of the third one. Bree’s put the crocodile trap in One More No More Corner.’

‘Gotta love the names in this place.’ Ash grinned, leaning closer to the table.

‘And there’s a story behind each name. Including the station’s name…’ Dex quickly recounted Charlie’s story to his brothers, and also told them about the drive through Scary Forest.

‘How big is that saltie?’ Cap asked. ‘I know Bree’s keen to protect the freshwater crocodiles we have. They’re on the endangered list, you know.’

‘Really?’ Ash’s eyebrows rose again, while Ryder scowled over his coffee mug.

‘Carked-it is so big, I watched it drag a full-size beast underwater. The trap Bree and Charlie set wasn’t tiny either.’

‘Who checks the crocodile trap?’ Ryder asked.

‘Bree. She goes riding out the back there, checking her stash of cherabin pots in the mornings. She follows the track that runs through this paddock at the back of the cottage, that you have to see, brothers. I’ll show you later.’ Crashing at the caretaker’s, the place was like a separate farm.

Ryder shook his head. ‘I wish Charlie and Bree would tell us what they’re doing.’

‘I was with them. And they were setting that croc cage to save our stock, before the sun was fully up, because it had a go at Bree—’

‘It did what?’ Ryder slammed his fists so hard on the table, their coffee cups jumped.

‘Easy, brother.’ Cap held his hands out as if to tame a wild beast.

‘Is Bree okay?’ Ash asked.

‘Yeah, she’s fine. Don’t worry, I spat it too when she told me. It’s why they set that trap the same morning. ’

‘If you’d told me, I would’ve got rid of it straight away. Permanently. No need for a trap.’ Ryder’s voice was low and lethal, matching his cold eyes that clearly displayed his deadly intent. There was no way that crocodile would survive with Ryder on the hunt.

Dex scowled, leaning in to his older brother. ‘But I was with them when they set the trap, and they asked my permission to push the herd away from that area, to cut off its food supply.’

‘Did you go droving with them?’ Ash asked.

‘No. I wanted to.’ But Bree and Charlie took him back to the couch, for his appointment with the nurse.

‘Was that why they took off in their horse truck towards the Stoneys?’ Ryder asked.

Dex nodded.

‘Are you saying,’ Ash asked, ‘That Bree and Charlie drove our herd? Especially Bree, who doesn’t work for us, did this with no complaints?’

‘It was Bree who suggested it, when we set that crocodile trap. Hey, it was Bree who stashed that herd, too…’ He told them the story of how Bree hid the herd in the Scary Forest.’

‘What else happened while you were couch surfing, bro?’ Ash asked, while Ryder’s scowl remained steady.

‘Well, Porter showed up…’ Dex updated them on the murder room and Porter’s visit, but he never mentioned anything about last night’s escapade of shifting an illegal still off the station.

‘You did all that, when you’re meant to be resting on the couch?’ Ash asked.

‘I was. Bree just had all these cushions for the Razorback, creating an outdoor couch for me, in between setting alarms to do my breathing exercises and making me take my pills, the witch—’

‘Good.’ Ryder nodded, but the glare remained.

‘Yeah, well, before you complain,’ he said, narrowing his eyes at Ryder, ‘Charlie kept me updated as part of the management team of what they were doing. Which I am, aren’t I?’ The anger burned in his chest, which he took as a good sign of his recovery.

‘You sure are.’ Cap patted his back, defusing the anger.

Dex shuffled closer to the table, ready to swing on his chair as was his habit.

‘Don’t.’ Ryder held Dex’s chair on one side, with Cap doing the same on the other side.

‘Before you jump down our throat, brother,’ said Cap, ‘you’ve still got a bad rib. If you fall…’

Yeah, he got it. So, he plonked his elbows on the table. ‘Is the vet coming out today? I want to test out my new cradle and chute design.’

‘Harper told me Ryan’s coming out after lunch,’ replied Ash.

‘Good. I’ll be there.’

‘Are you sure?’ Cap tapped on Dex’s oxygen tank.

‘I can sit there. Or you can call up the nurse to babysit me.’ Dex wouldn’t mind seeing Nurse Kitty again, especially the way her eyes lit up and her smile was so free and bright. She’d enjoy watching the cattle from behind her camera.

Ryder narrowed his eyes at Dex. ‘I’m not paying for a dating service, mate.’

Dex shrugged. ‘You can stop it.’

Ryder just glowered over his coffee mug. Obviously not cutting off his medical visits. Even if he was a cranky prick, his big brother cared.

‘When I get rid of this thing,’ Dex said, tapping on the annoying oxygen tank, ‘you can take me for a spin in your chopper and we can look at potential reservoirs, the cattle around Emu Plains, and Cap can show us the best places for those carbon corridors.’

‘So, not wildlife corridors but carbon corridors?’ Cap asked.

‘It does both. We’ve just put a new label on it.’ Ryder sipped on his coffee.

‘Ash?’ Harper was at the front door, rubbing her sleepy eyes. ‘Your phone is making some strange alarm noises.’ She pushed open the screen door and held out the phone. ‘Hey, Dex, good to see you’re back.’

Dex nodded.

‘Have you seen your place yet? Bree did a good job.’

‘Bree won’t let me near it because of the fumes.’ But once Dex finished his coffee, he was planning to hike across the paddock to check it out.

‘Dammit.’ Ash scrolled through his phone’s screen. ‘It’s the app I created for the GPS trackers. The alarms are going off on the tags.’

‘Your new cattle tags?’ It was the hi-tech ear tags they’d been trialling.

Ash nodded as he scooped up a laptop from the nearby shelf and quickly tapped away on the keyboard.

‘Is a beast down?’ Cap asked.

‘No.’ Ash turned the screen around to show his brothers. ‘There’s six of them and they’ve just broken the boundary barriers we’ve set.’

‘Where?’ Ryder sat forward.

‘The steers in the bush block. It looks like someone is stealing our cattle.’