Bushranger's Gold

By Raymond Boyd Dunn

The Sequel to “Millie and the Bushranger”...
Millie recovers from the wound received during the shootout which killed her lover, Dandy Jack, and joins the surviving members of the gang to search for the cache hidden by Jack before he was killed.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Raymond Boyd Dunn
• Release date: May 9, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301409488

Raymond Boyd Dunn

Raymond Boyd Dunn is a "born and bred" third generation Australian. After his retirement Raymond Boyd became a grey nomad, and, with his wife, spent some time touring this vast country of Australia. He was born in the small Burnett Valley town of Monto, Queensland, and for his entire life has answered to the name of 'Boyd'. Apart from his travels he has lived all of his life in Queensland, and after satisfying his thirst for seeing first hand this wonderful country we live in, settled on the Sunshine Coast to spend his remaining years in the sunshine near the beach.He commenced his working life as a Bank Officer and resigned after thirteen years to become self-employed. At various stages he has owned a Corner Store, a small Supermarket Chain, a Butchery, a Milk Run, a Printery and a Cattle and Grain Farm. He has been involved, in various capacities, in Cricket and Tennis Clubs; Jaycees, Lions and Rotary Clubs and Aero Clubs. He was a Cricketer, played tennis, tried to play golf, and was a keen long distance runner.Upon taking a well-earned retirement he wrote his unpublished autobiography, which was for distribution among his family of six children and numerous grand-children. A visit to Cooktown, where he learnt of the Palmer River Gold Rush, was the incentive to keep writing and produce his first novel 'Palmer Gold' He then settled down to write novels, producing two more books to complete a Trilogy...'An Australian Ranch' and "Carly and Sam...Will and Effie'. There followed numerous short stories, and other novels: 'Lord of the Manor in Australia', and 'The Vintage Years'. He continues to write whilst enjoying life in the sunshine on the beautiful Sunshine Coast in Queensland.

Book preview

Bushranger’s Gold

The Hidden Cache

by Raymond Boyd Dunn

Copyright 2013 Raymond Dunn

Smashwords Edition

Bushranger’s Gold

(The Sequel to Millie and the Bushranger.)

Because this book is classified as ‘Australiana’ genre, the author has checked all spelling with the Heinemann Australian Dictionary

Chapter 1

Six months had passed since Millie Hauser regained her senses after being shot and losing consciousness during the shootout that saw the end of the Dandy Jack Kennedy gang. (Millie and the Bushranger).

She had crouched beside Dandy Jack out on a rocky hill in the bush, as they tried to repulse the police attack, and the round which had caused the bushranger to throw caution to the wind when she collapsed, had passed right through her just below her navel without causing any fatal damage. It had entered her left side and exited on her right, to hit her lover in the leg. When he saw her collapse, Jack rose from his shelter in a rage to blast shots at the policeman responsible, thereby exposing himself to the attacking force below, and received a volley from which any three of his wounds would have been killed him.

Although not fatal, the wound she received became infected, and she spent several months in bed as the only doctor in the township nearest her father's isolated farm fought for her life. There was no serious internal damage from the bullet which passed right through her, but she was left with two terrible scars on her abdomen just below the level of the navel, especially where the round exited.

When she was declared well enough, she was allowed to go home if she so desired. She was never charged with aiding and abetting Dandy Jack. The compassionate Police Sergeant decided she had paid for her misdemeanour, and conveniently mislaid her file in amongst the other obsolete files. His compassion was fuelled by the reasoning that if she were to be charged, it would be revealed that one of the police had shot a woman. The police could do without that sort of adverse publicity. His superiors never asked to see the mislaid file for that very same reason, and the matter of her brief venture outside the law was conveniently forgotten.

Six months of lying in bed, firstly with a fever, followed by her convalescence, had caused her to lose weight and the fitness and strength that her previous years of toil on her father's farm had enabled her to build.

Once she was fit enough to go back to work, she obtained employment as a cook in the café. She could not be persuaded to return to the farm. It was discontent with her lot which had influenced her to join the bushrangers in the first place; that and her infatuation with the charismatic Dandy Jack, the personification of the handsome hero of the cheap romantic novels she read so avidly.

Slaving over a hot stove for long hours in the kitchen might not be considered a wonderful occupation for a young lady; but she much preferred it to the toil she had been required to undertake out on the farm, where her father treated her as if she were a son. As far as he was concerned she was the son he should have had, and he expected her to do the work of a man. He maintained that he would treat her like a daughter if she returned, but she did not trust him. It was he who betrayed the Kennedy gang by revealing their presence on the Hauser property. Therefore she blamed him for the death of her lover, Dandy Jack.

The reward money he received for the information leading to the death of two of the bushrangers enabled him to employ a man to take her place on the farm. It was blood money as far as Millie was concerned, and she wanted to have nothing more to do with her father, no matter how many times he asked for forgiveness. As far as she was concerned his pleading for her to return to the farm was just another ploy for her to provide him with free labour.

George Kennedy, the café owner in town, and the uncle of Dandy Jack, was a regular visitor to her bedside during her recovery, and she had come to think of him in more endearing terms than she had for her father. Her mother, for whom she had a great affection, now came to town with her husband on his monthly visits for supplies, mainly to see their daughter. Whilst her father kept entreating her to return with them, her mother secretly implored her to remain in town; she was sympathetic with her daughter and her plight when she was out on the farm.

Millie did not require any urging to stay in town; she vowed she would never return to the farm and the hard labour it entailed. She was not even keen to visit, because of the bad memories it would stir in her mind.

When she recovered sufficiently she accepted the job of cook, and widower George Kennedy offered her a spare room in the residence at the back of his café. He was conscious of the fact it was because he sent his nephew, Dandy Jack, out to the farm for shelter that had caused the sequence of events which ended so tragically. The free accommodation was part of the wage agreement.

She was a young woman who had spent her entire life isolated in the bush, away from people of her own age. Her time with Dandy Jack and the other bushrangers released her from the timid approach she had when dealing with strangers. Her experience with romance was derived from the novels she read so avidly, and the few days of practical experience she had with the handsome Dandy Jack, before he was so tragically killed.

When she was confined to bed with the fever, her weight and fitness fell away from her, but in the final weeks of recuperation, the flesh came back on to her bones, and her body filled out to its original shapeliness. She was a good-looking, full-breasted young woman with a luxuriant mop of auburn hair. It did not take the local young men long to notice her; however, despite their best efforts, none of them was successful in taking her out to a dance or a concert.

At first, Kennedy was perturbed by the number of young men now gathering at the rear of the café, but it soon became apparent that Millie’s presence in the kitchen was attracting new business. Young men who had never patronised his eating-house before were now taking their meals at his establishment. Despite the horseplay which sometimes occurred down at the kitchen end, the extra cash in the till every night more than made up for it.

With her wage providing her with a new-found independence, Millie was able to buy nice clothes, and she became used to dressing like a young lady, and not like a young man as she did out on the farm. She became friendly with Madge, a young waitress employed in the café, and, with the aid of make-up, Madge showed her how to enhance the latent beauty she possessed naturally.

On the occasion of the annual foot-race meeting, Kennedy closed the café for the afternoon because the hotel was doing the catering, and he gave the two young women the afternoon off. Millie and Madge decided to take advantage of the unexpected free time to attend the meeting. They attracted an entourage of young men as they walked together among the crowd, looking for a shady seat. Madge was an attractive girl herself, and had recently broken up with her boyfriend. They found a seat out of the sun, and the gallant young men were falling all over themselves to ensure they were comfortably seated.

…

Tommy Jones was a part-aborigine, and one of the two surviving members of the Dandy Jack gang. He was at the footrace meet, thinking there was little risk of detection because he thought most white people couldn't distinguish one of his colour from the next. Tommy was a half-caste, lighter in colour than a full-blood, but darker than most others with white blood in their veins. He and Dan O'Reilly, the other survivor, had heard Millie was up and about again after her ordeal, and they wanted to get in touch with her. They did not know where she was working, and thought it was likely that she would be at the sports meeting. Because there was less chance of him being recognised, Tommy was given the task of finding her, and delivering a note which Dan had written.

He eventually found her sitting with another young lady, but also in the company of several young men. He dallied amongst the crowd, but in position so he could see her. He had to wait a long time before the young women were left alone. He realised that the men could come back at any moment, so he hurried up and, without speaking, held out the note towards her. She hesitated to accept the piece of paper from a black man.

"Hey! What do you think you're up to? cried one young man, approaching with two glasses of lemonade, one in each hand. Get away from them!"

Tommy dropped the note on to her lap, and quickly disappeared into the crowd. It was at that moment she recognised him as the faithful partner of Dandy Jack ─ one of the two surviving members of the gang of bushrangers. Her hand covered the paper, and she crumpled it up so it could not be seen in her closed fist.

What did he want? said her rescuer. What did he give you?

It was nothing, said Millie. Don't worry about it.

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