Mystic Mountains

wagon. They 'd been on the road for eighteen days.
    "Not long now. Our journey over the mountains is over, Bella. Soon we 'll be on our land. Imagine it."
    He gave her one of those beguiling smiles that always managed to send her insides into a spin. But she refused to let him see how he affected her.
    "Your land. Mine is further on."
    "Our land," he repeated before he rode off.
    She shrugged. Let him pretend she would stay with him if he so wished, but her mind was made up. The land was Tim's now Dougal and Dougie were gone. She would work it if she died in the attempt, ensuring Tim's future.
    "Beautiful country, " she said scornfully to Johnny a short time later when they reached the foot of the incline into the valley and met a swamp they had to cross to reach a place where they could rest up. The bullocks struggled through the morass, and flying insects plagued the humans. As Isabella wiped sweat from her face she called Tiger Carstairs every horrible name she could summon for dragging them here.
    Then they went up and down so many hills their bones began to feel as if they would break with the jolting.
    But at last they came to country where the tree-covered hills sloped gently. They wen t over the plains named after Governor Macquarie, before crossing the Fish River and onto the Plains of Bathurst.
    It rained again and turned cold. Isabella shivered as she pulled her coat about her.
    "Soon be all over, missus, then we 'll laugh when we remember all the trouble we had," Johnny said, grinning, as they neared Bathurst.
    "Something tells me that our troubles have only just begun, Johnny," she argued. "At least we had a roof over our heads back in Sydney. We 'll be living in those blessed tents until a house is built. I'm sick to death of living like a shepherd."
    "Chin up, missus. It 's gonna be a good life once the boss gets it all sorted out, you'll see."
    Johnny had immeasurable faith in Tiger. Isabella pursed her lips. Yes, Tiger would sort it all out. Didn 't he solve all their problems?
    Sweet heavens, but didn 't he make more for her as well.
     
    * * *
     
    Disappointment filled Isabella. The township of Bathurst was nonexistent. The town site was inaugurated in 1815 but so far had not been surveyed.
    "So, we 'll be the only ones here, apart from the ten who were given grants back in 1818," she said when her first shock waned.
    "No, Bella, of course we won 't," Tiger insisted. "Cox got a grant for building the road, and there's Thomas and Elizabeth Hawkins who came over last year. He took charge of the commissariat. George Ranken, I heard, has just finished building his home on his two thousand acre grant. These folk will be our neighbors. Once we get settled in they'll be only too glad to have us visit them."
    "It sounds quite crowded. "
    Tiger grunted at her sarcasm. 
    While they made camp for the night he crossed the Macquarie River to report their arrival to the Commandant.
    His eagerness when he returned was palpable as he strode back and forth. A flame , far brighter than the fire, burned in his eyes. Long after Isabella went to her tent she heard him pacing about.
    At daybreak he urged the men to get the horses and bullocks into harness so they could be on their way.
     
    * * *
     
    "There, that 's my grant." Pride filled Tiger's voice when they stopped at the boundary of his land. Studying the map once again, he nodded, breathing in deeply as he looked about him. "Have you ever seen such fertile pasture?"
    Lush meadows stretched before them, a fresh and verdant carpet. Along the horizon behind them the mountains shimmered in their haze of blue. Isabella found it hard to b elieve they'd crossed their mighty heights. If not for this proud and stubborn man it would have been impossible.
    Tiger dismounted, reverently patting the smooth silvery trunk of a ghostly eucalyptus tree. He bent to run his fingers through the grass, seeming to savor its feel as if praising the Lord for the good fortune that brought him here.
    "We 'll build up yonder, away from the river flats," he declared, grinning up at her as he gestured to a plateau on a gently rising slope. "Then we need not fear that the river will flood us when it runs high. Right, we'll make camp there." He pointed to a rise. "It's not too far from the river to make hard work of carrying water. I'll dig you a well, Bella, as soon as we get settled."
    Her heart dropped; she would remind him later she had no intention of staying with him long enough for