Chapter 41

William is summoned to see Uncle John and chats with a concerned Ruth. He defends the Uncle for sending him out to the waterhole saying that he wasn’t supposed to get lost. Ruth has been researching the property and has found links to some Indigenous elders in Cherbourg that have ties to the land. She also outlines the history of Daniel McIvor’s police hat that he wore when he was a ruthless Aborigine killer in the late nineteenth century. His behaviour even disturbed the white settlers, an explanation as to why locals had never liked him.

Chapter 41 Quotes

She waved a hand. ‘I don’t blame you. I blame my father for sending you out there in the first place. And your mother for letting him.’
‘She had to’, William broke in. ‘She has to do what he says.’ (Ruth to William) Chapter 41

‘We dispersed this tribe, we dispersed that tribe. It could mean hundreds of dead, it could mean thousands. But the Native Police operated all up and down Queensland, and they went on “dispersing” for over thirty years. It got so awful that it disturbed white people, even back then.’ Chapter 41

Ruth’s voice was flat. ‘My grandfather was one of them. He slaughtered blacks for a living, and wore his hat while he was doing it.’ Chapter 41

Chapter 42

John McIvor is fighting a fever. He is humiliated by his weakened state, wishing he could cast out the three women. He argues in his mind about the significance of the hat, saying that whites had been killed too, then settles back and reflects on the will he has just typed and which Dr Moffat will witness. He gets to banish the women, symbolic of their place throughout the text at the beck and call of men. John finds peace in knowing that the station will pass to William. John feels he has sacrificed all to get it and passes it on with the burning man dreams and the responsibility.

Chapter 42 Quotes

He was so weak. How he hated the indignity he had suffered these last months, having to be fed and nursed like an infant. Chapter 42

And there was no mention of Ruth, nor of the other two women. Let them guess and wonder and plot to usurp him. And let them perish with frustration in the end. Chapter 42

‘I have the boy now’, he told the room, grinning hotly at the memories. Chapter 42

… John had stopped pondering the question years ago. But ever since the day of Oliver’s death, John had known that there was a price he must pay to achieve his ends. Friends, family, wife and daughter – he had surrendered them all. Chapter 42

But now it had vanished, and John knew why. It had moved on to William. All unknowing, the boy had assumed the burden, and John was free of it at last. Chapter 42

Chapter 43

Ruth and William visit the uncle on his death bed. Ruth declares she has been in contact with Elizabeth White and she was keen to tell Ruth the property was leased and vague in its legal standing, leaving it open to possible challenges under Mabo. She talks about how Malcolm White had kept a journal that also added proof. The journal outlines a time when Daniel shot and burned the bodies of Aborigines who had come back for ceremony after being dispersed. These are the first of many that were burned in the area, then Oliver, William’s father and eventually John himself will burn. John feels all these revelations catching up with him and he feels like the ground is falling away. He remembers the event as a child in his mother’s arms.

Chapter 43 Quotes

A grin flared, skull-like. ‘And does she known who owns her house now?’
‘She didn’t. But I told her.’
‘Good!’
‘She doesn’t care. She never did.’ Chapter 43

And again, William felt the ardent touch of his uncle’s mind, the madness in it, and he knew how easy it would be for his own control to slip loose, teetering as it already was.
‘You saw what you needed to see?’
‘Yes’, he said, not knowing if it was a lie or the truth. Chapter 43

‘It’s what I said. The blood is in you.’ (John McIvor) Chapter 43

‘They died trying to keep alive their traditions,’ she said. (Ruth explains what happened to men burned by Dan McIvor) Chapter 43

Chapter 44

William puts the pieces together, he knows why they came back, the rockpool area was sacred. John defies that native title can be proved, that there aren’t any men on the property. The fact that they were killed for coming there stopped their connection to land under the law.

Dr Moffat notarises the will and the deed is complete. He sends Dr Moffat out and shows William the will. John remembers seeing white glimmers when he swam there on the day he had relations with Harriet, which led to Ruth.

Chapter 44 Quotes

‘But where’s the proof? You show me the bodies. You show me the bones of those people. You can’t, can you? I know this land better than anyone. And there’s nothing out there.’ Chapter 44

A desperate sadness engulfed William. ‘You said there had to be proof. Proof that it was all true. The thing that happened out there. You said there had to be bones …’
‘The water hole’, the old man breathed. Chapter 44

Chapter 45

William and the uncle go to find the bones in the water hole to destroy the evidence. They wait until William’s mother goes to bed. She is in great spirits all of a sudden, even hugging William. They collect the bones and return to the house to burn the bones. Ruth comes in but the bones are on the fire and it is too late. Uncle John topples into the fire after Ruth enters but she quickly pulls him out. The fire spreads. William goes to get a blanket, and when returning he sees the burning man, his uncle. He falls at William’s feet.

They run from the house but William’s mother returns to the house to get the will? The house swallows her in flames. William collapses.

Chapter 45 Quotes

All evening she has floated around her little flat in a bright bath of joy, putting up Christmas decorations. She’d been transformed by the news of the will, hugging William so tightly that she lifted him from the floor. Chapter 45

‘No one must ever know. You understand, don’t you? They must never have the proof they need. They must never take this land from me.’
William looked up at the old man’s face and saw an immeasurable misery etched there, hollow and wretched and beyond hope. Chapter 45

All she had ever wanted, for herself, for her son, was contained in that one piece of paper. Chapter 45

Epilogue

Ruth waits beside the bed, burnt and singed by the fire but still alright. She cares for William and goes with him whenever specialists are needed and when he is moved to a hospital in Brisbane. She laughs at the idea that her dad had died ‘intestate’ that is with his own place but with no will. That the legacy had finally come to a halt was like a curse being broken. She knows people will fight for it her, William, Mrs Griffith, the Indigenous ladies at Cherbourg. It was valuable so it would be a fight. She finishes her thoughts and sits looking after William.

Epilogue Quotes

She lifted her body carefully, still in considerable pain. Both her hands were heavily bandaged, and her face, bright red and peeling, was slathered in ointment. But worse than the pain was the smell of smoke. She couldn’t rid herself of it – it was in her hair, embedded in her skin, and her throat was layered with soot … Epilogue

Again, Ruth went along, for who else was there to go with him? Epilogue

It was fifteen thousand acres of prime grazing country. In this world, something like that wasn’t just given back. It had to be fought for. (Ruth’s thoughts) Epilogue