Malcolm had never ventured anywhere near this far north before. The sparse, open landscape and rocky outcrops were like an alien world to him. It was vaguely reminiscent of the land surrounding the Two Brothers Mine, but the bright red soil was something altogether different. As they approached the northern end of Marble Bar Road, where they would leave the highway behind, there stood a huge rocky monolith that Malcolm thought resembled a crab’s claw.
‘That’s a local landmark,’ Wally explained when Mal commented on it. ‘Yeah, it does look kinda like a crab claw, I guess. Some say a cockatoo. Once you see that, you know you’re nearly at the turnoff.’
Once they turned south, crossed the De Grey River, and eventually left the bitumen behind, Malcolm quickly realised Wally hadn’t exaggerated about the road conditions. The trip to the mine took almost three-and-a-half hours, and it was nearly sunset by the time they arrived. Wally dropped Malcolm at his donga to freshen up and they arranged to meet in the newly-commissioned mess.
‘I’ve gotta say, Malcolm, I’m loving the tucker here these days,’ Wally said later, as they filled their plates. ‘Way better than what I’ve been feeding myself on for the last year or two.’ ‘Well you can’t expect employees to eat rubbish,’ Malcolm replied. ‘We may only have a half-dozen guys here, but we gotta feed them properly.’
‘Yeah, I guess,’ Wally said. ‘I only had myself to worry about. Now and then I’d pay a couple of blacks from the settlement to help me out, but they never stuck around for long. ‘Anyway,’ he said, ‘they organised their own tucker.’ He stuffed a huge gob of steak and potato into his mouth and chewed vigorously, before adding ‘I’ll drive you over there tomorrow. It’ll be worth a look. I’m not too popular with them, thanks to the tailings issue, but George, one of the chief elders, is a decent bloke. He said he wants to meet you.’
‘Do we have to?’ Malcolm said. ‘I don’t really …’
‘Might be a good PR move,’ Wally mumbled through a mouthful of food. ‘They’ve agreed to hold back on their legal action for now. Still, though, we need to keep them happy.’
Malcolm reluctantly agreed, and the two resolved to make the drive over to the settlement the following morning.
This was Malcolm’s first visit since the takeover, and he didn’t plan on spending a day longer than necessary at the mine. The construction team were close to having the infrastructure in place to get the mine up and running. They also had the old tailings dam shored up and had started on a new one, away from the creek.
They’d be sticking with Wally’s tunnelling methods for the time being, but Malcolm was already negotiating with a mining contractor to turn Skull Creek into an open-cut operation along the lines of the Two Brothers Mine. In the meantime, he figured that with a small, experienced crew they would at least have some production. Some production meant some income—and some income was infinitely better than no income.
Rising to his feet, he bade Wally good night and decamped to his room. There was no wet mess at the camp yet, but he had a bottle of single malt in his bag. Perks of management—he told himself.
The Settlement
They left the mine site just before ten the following morning.
The Aboriginal settlement consisted of around thirty pre-fab housing units arranged in a semi-circle, with a larger communal area at the centre. From appearances, it seemed that most of their cooking and socialising occurred in and around this central building. Several people sat in the shade beneath a spreading eucalypt and on a verandah, watching as the two men alighted from their vehicle.
Malcolm estimated there were probably two hundred or so residents in total, about a third of whom were children of various ages. The billabong that served as their main water source was some 300 metres away.
A small group of youngsters was splashing about at the far end of the waterhole. A rope, tied to a sturdy River Gum and complete with a heavy truck tyre, served as a swing from which they were taking turns launching themselves out across the water. Their delighted cries echoed around the area.
‘George lives over there,’ Wally said, gesturing to one of the smaller buildings. ‘Best if we introduce ourselves before we start nosing around.’ Malcolm said nothing. If we have to go through with this charade—he thought to himself—let’s get it over with. He followed his companion as he led the way across the compound, mounted the verandah, and tapped on the door.
The man who appeared was tall and wiry. His skin was dark, and he had a broad, flat nose framed by a bushy shock of greying hair and a beard. His smile—a smile that didn’t quite extend to his eyes—exposed two missing teeth. His age was probably somewhere around sixty, Malcolm estimated.
‘G’day Wally, haven’t seen you in a bit.’ ‘George, this is Malcolm Kincaid. He’s the head of Kincaid Mining. Remember? I told you about them taking over the mine?’ George extended his hand and Malcolm accepted the handshake, reminding himself to wash as soon as possible.
‘George Mitchell,’ the old man rasped. ‘Wally ‘ere said you’d be droppin’ by.’ ‘Just a courtesy call,’ Malcolm said. ‘We’re officially taking over the operation. We’ve already started work repairing the tailings dam, so you shouldn’t have any further problems in that area.’
George Mitchell gripped Malcolm’s hand firmly, gazing intently into his eyes for several seconds. When he finally released his grip and averted his gaze, Malcolm felt a wave of relief wash over him. It was as though a weight had been lifted from his chest. What the Hell was that? he thought.
Turning his attention back to Bright, George said, ‘You still gonna be involved?’ ‘I’m going to be managing the mine,’ Wally said. ‘If there’s anything you need to know, come and see me, any time.’ ‘I’ll keep that in mind, Wally,’ George said. ‘Let’s hope we don’t have any need to come see you, hey?’
After several more minutes of uncomfortable small talk, they took their leave. ‘Let’s get the fuck out of here,’ Malcolm said in a low voice as they moved away. ‘We could catch anything from this lot. And that George character gave me the creeps.’
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