Derain took his bush craft training duties for The Academy personnel very seriously indeed. Every member of The Academy, including Mark and Tanya, spent up to a week at a time in the bush with him and a colleague. They came away with some understanding of the wildlife and how to deal with them, to hunt them if needed, as well as the food that was available, in the form of berries and roots. Most importantly, they were shown how to navigate their way through the bush, which to the untrained eye looked very similar from one place to another.
After two years of induction, Derain said to the often impatient Mark, 'Now we can put them to the test, each pair can go out with one of my people who will leave them in a certain place. They must find way back here by self. First test will be only one day walk from here. If no one get lost, then we can try two days walk and then three days.'
'And if they become lost?'
'We check. If really lost we help.'
'What about doing this on horseback?' asked Mark.
'People must learn to look after self first. If that okay, then they can learn look after horse and self in bush. This not easy.'
The first exercise was completed without any major mishaps. Tanya was accompanied by her eighteen year old niece, Kim. Both Tanya and Kim were very competitive and were determined to be the first of the forty groups to return.
Their Aboriginal guide left them at dusk. Camp was set up carefully. Tanya cleared an area for the two man tent knowing snakes would avoid open spaces, 'We'll leave a log burning overnight to keep dingoes away,' volunteered Kim.
'Any spare food should be hung up in a tree,' said Tanya.
Having struck camp and making sure they had left no trace of their presence, with Kim leading, they walked steadily back towards The Settlement, heading for the western gate. They had both made mental notes of the various landmarks on the way—a rock here, a tall tree there, a small glade. At one point they were in doubt as to which way to go and Tanya took the lead.
After about an hour Tanya said, 'This is wrong, my mistake, we need to go back.'
Arriving at the spot where they went wrong, Tanya said, 'Kim, you lead now, but if we are still to be first we need to get a move on, I've wasted two hours.'
Just before dusk they arrived at the western gate, manned by one of the older settlers who said, 'Mark was first. They came through about twenty minutes ago, but you are second.'
'Damn, if we hadn't made that diversion we would have arrived first,' said Tanya. In her heart of hearts she was relieved as she didn't want to keep beating Mark at his own game. All except one group returned within two hours of Kim and Tanya. The last group was eventually escorted into The Settlement by their Aboriginal guide at midnight.
'They walk wrong way, did not look at sun,' Derain explained to Mark the next day.
Mark didn't skite, but she could sense the relief in him that she had not beaten him home.
Derain was a regular visitor and had established a strong relationship with David. He had managed to learn some English. Sometimes he stayed for weeks on end and then he and whoever was with him would inexplicably disappear, to reappear again weeks or months later. The people in The Settlement became quite used to his visits and talked to him about the local wildlife and the weather.
Within the community, there had been a few less than successful attempts at hunting kangaroos to supplement the meat supply. People often went out, but only bagged the occasional animal.
David mentioned this to Derain, who said, 'I fix.'
In time there were many in The Academy who became skilled kangaroo hunters, even in the thick forests of the Blue Mountains. The meat became a regular feature on many dining tables.
David had offered to build him a cottage, but Derain preferred his humpy, claiming, 'Big house make us all ill.'
One day, a woman came screaming out of her home yelling, 'Snake, snake.'
Derain calmly went into the house with a sturdy stick and emerged carrying the live snake on the stick. He released the terrified snake near the edge of the built-up area.
Her husband, Dave, made to kill it with a spade.
'No kill, no kill,' said Derain gently, restraining the man. 'Snake go away now, not return. 'I show you how to treat snakes.' He took Dave into the nearby bush for a day, picking up snakes on a stick, much as he had shown Chloe. Dave was soon able to lift the snakes quite competently. He became the snake expert, in Derain's absence, and removed any snakes that appeared.
On another visit Derain sought David out. 'Big fire, this year.'
'What do you mean by that?' asked David anxiously; he had noticed the surrounding bush drying out. While there had been occasional small fires, easily dealt with, since the early days, David knew that periodically the Australian bush caught fire in the most dramatic and spectacular fashion. After such an event, the bush naturally regenerated itself.
'Very dry, big fires this year.'
'Okay, is there anything we can do?'
'Yes, start burn now before big summer heat.'
'Where?'
'I show you, first inside. Afterwards, maybe outside.'
David understood that to mean they should arrange a controlled burn at the northern end of The Settlement, at least to start with.
David held a meeting in the community centre, persuading everyone they would burn the one thousand hectares of bush they had enclosed.
Derain kept his interpreter nearby during the burn. 'Only start the burn after midday, the wind strength and direction is usually more settled in the afternoon,' she translated. 'The fire should be started with the wind behind the burn and there should be people behind the fire making sure it only burns in one direction. Then we must back burn towards the main fire. This means the fire will burn itself out.'
They selected a small area first, to practise. With one hundred settlers assisting, they successfully burnt an area of about one hundred metres by one hundred metres. Each fire-fighter had a damp sack, with people detailed to maintain a water supply from the nearby settlement fire truck.
On the next attempt, they chose a two hundred metre front and the aim was to burn to a depth of about one kilometre. This was done very successfully and by late afternoon the main burn and the back burn had met. As Derain had told them, the fires automatically extinguished themselves. People were left on duty to make sure all fires were indeed out and that no embers could escape into the unburnt areas.
One of the more active members of the community, Gervais, approached David and said, 'We burnt about twenty hectares today; how many hectares in this section?'
'About a thousand.'
'So it will take us fifty days or so to complete the exercise. Don't we need to move more quickly than this? Our participation rate will drop off if it takes too long and then we might be in trouble.'
So the next day they burnt an area with a front of five hundred metres and a depth of two kilometres. The wind was gentle and although the fire escaped several times there was no difficulty in containing it.
'That's about one hundred hectares,' said Gervais. 'Much better. Maybe we could extend the area again tomorrow to finish the job quickly.'
'Must watch wind,' said Derain. 'Too much wind then everything will burn, whoosh,' he waved his arms upwards, 'maybe some house too. Must respect fire, he very powerful.'
'We seem to have coped very well up to now. Aren't we being too cautious?' remonstrated Gervais.
'Better than burning people or houses,' said David.
Gervais grunted dismissively. 'The bloody houses are three kilometres away!'
'Fire jump many big distance,' said Derain heatedly, 'even right over village.'
Gervais ignored him.
The following day all one hundred firefighters gathered ready for the fray. Many had developed an unwarranted confidence from the little experience they now had and felt they could cope with anything. By midday, there was a steady and strengthening westerly breeze.
Derain approached David. 'No burn today. Too much wind.'
Amid some grumbling the burn was abandoned for that day and then the next. On the third day they were about to abandon the burn when Gervais said, 'This is nonsense, we agreed to controlled burns and I think we should just get on with it.'
'No,' said David. 'The situation should be easier tomorrow, and rain is forecast in a few days. It will be safer then.'
David returned to his office for a spell, then looked for Gervais to see if he could convince him they were doing the right thing.
'He's not here,' said his wife when David knocked on the door of Gervais' cottage. 'He didn't return with the rest of the firefighters.'
David was about to deal with other matters when he noticed a thin plume of smoke coming from the bushland area. He hesitated for a minute and then called Joe and several others. It was on occasions like this that he missed Fred. 'The stupid buggers have gone ahead and started a burn and the wind is getting up. We need some people here manning the hosepipes and keeping every house damp. The rest of us will go to the bushland area. Those people will shortly be in real trouble. How many of them are there?'
'Less than a dozen.'
David just shook his head.
About eighty people accompanied David back to the bushland area. Others remained behind to look after the houses in the village. David asked the doctor, a nurse, and the ambulance to accompany them.
'Wind change,' Derain observed, pointing. 'Those people will burn, we hurry.'
When the party arrived they could see a large area was burning out of control. There was no sign of Gervais and the others. Derain had a quick word with David and then ran into the bush on his own.
'We'll try a back burn from the area we have already burnt,' David instructed. The group spread out and lit the bush adjoining the already burnt out area. The heat was intense and two people had to be given first aid by the medical staff. There was no sign of Derain or Gervais.
David could see they were making some progress in the area where they were established, but the fire had leapt to another area. He left forty people in the original back burn area and took another forty to start a further back burn to try and block the new threat.
After several hours, David's team were exhausted. There was smoke everywhere, so visibility was down to a few metres. They had no idea whether they were making any kind of progress.
Derain appeared through the smoke. 'Two die, two burn bad, others maybe okay,' he told David. Someone appeared with a water truck. 'All gone hospital,' Derain added. He then directed David to change the focus of their attack on the fire and the other forty people joined them. They spent the night there, upright and continuing to fight while people brought food from The Settlement.
'Three houses burnt,' David was told.
'Anyone hurt?'
'No, I don't think so.'
Towards morning Derain emerged out of the smoke, smiling. 'Rain come, one hour or two.'
Within an hour, a heavy shower drenched all the firefighters and helped to put out the fires.
Derain said to David, 'You go, leave ten people here.'
David was greeted by a lot of very tired and disgruntled settlers when the firefighters returned to the village.
They told him Derain had run into the bushland where Gervais and the others were being overwhelmed by the fire. He made them pick up the two dead bodies and led the group of ten out of the fire area.
'We were trying to get away in the opposite direction. If it wasn't for him we would all be dead,' said one of the survivors.
Three houses had been burnt by embers and one had completely burnt to the ground. David could see it was Gervais' own cottage.
Divine retribution, he thought.
Gervais was one of those being treated in the hospital. He had been burnt on his legs and hands, but would survive. One of the others died shortly after being admitted to the hospital. The rest would live, although one was badly disfigured and would need a wheelchair for the rest of his life.
David asked the whole community to attend a meeting at the community centre. He stood on the small stage and waited for silence. His clothing was ragged and covered in burn marks, hair dishevelled, and face black with soot, much the same as most in the community.
'The community has suffered a great shock over the past twenty-four hours. Some people have lost their lives, others have lost houses and other possessions, and we still have to complete the project to burn off the northern bush area. Our deepest sympathy goes out to all those who have suffered losses, particularly of loved ones. Please do not make assumptions about what happened. I have already asked one of the legal fraternity among us to conduct an enquiry which will be completed within a few days. We can then take action. Do not, I repeat, do not take any action individually. It will just make matters worse.'
'It was that silly bugger Ger—'
David interrupted sharply, 'Wait for the enquiry to be completed. We can then take action. The community will be kept informed.'
'Will there be a court case like Fred's?'
'It's conceivable, I don't know yet,' answered David patiently. He was determined not to prejudge the situation and not let anyone else make the same mistake.
The enquiry report was published three days later in The Settlement newspaper. It found that Gervais and several others had deliberately ignored instructions from David and had endangered the whole community with their actions. The enquiry named all the people involved, including those that had died as a result of their own foolishness. As a footnote, it praised the role Derain had played to mitigate the disaster. Gervais and two others were still in hospital and would remain there for some weeks. Gervais' family were staying with friends in the community.
David wondered what action should be taken. Tanya had been absent during the controlled burn, but said when consulted, 'This is almost as bad as the business with Fred. They did not mean deliberate harm, but there was considerable damage to the community through wilful disregard of instructions. If we take him to trial what sanctions can be imposed?'
'We could expel him, indeed all of them, the same as Fred. We could impose some sort of community service. That's about all.'
Many in the community expected Gervais and the others involved just to leave the community once they had been released from hospital. None of them did.
The Settlement's second trial drew another large crowd. Many in the community were angry with Gervais and his friends and wanted them expelled. Everyone was astonished when Tanya appeared as the advocate for the defence.
There were seven people in the dock. The prosecution opened by stating the offence and referring to the details of the enquiry. 'I will show that the actions of all the accused resulted in the deaths of three people plus considerable damage to the community. I am going to demand they be expelled from the community and forfeit all their assets in The Settlement.'
Tanya asked if she could read out a statement signed by all the accused.
The prosecution and defence were requested to approach the bench, where followed an animated, whispered conversation.
Tanya then read out the following statement. 'We,' she read out all the names of the people involved, 'collectively recognise that we deliberately ignored instructions, that we caused the death of three people, and unnecessary damage to the community. We unreservedly apologise to the community for our actions and we submit ourselves to the mercy of this court, whose jurisdiction we accept.'
The prosecution looked nonplussed. 'Is that a guilty plea?'
'Yes,' answered Tanya.
The six jurors were dismissed.
The prosecution went through his case briefly. 'This plea changes nothing. I still demand all the accused and their families be expelled from The Settlement and that they forfeit all their assets to the community.'
There were some worried looks among the accused.
Tanya then stood up and, one by one, she spent up to thirty minutes for each defendant detailing how they had contributed and what the community would lose if they were expelled. 'While the people in the dock are guilty as charged, I am telling the court that if we expel these people it will be us, the community, that will lose as well as the accused. We all know them. They are not evil and they have expressed contrition for their misguided actions.' She hesitated and the court was hushed. 'In mitigation, I ask that any sentences imposed be suspended for five years. If after that there has been no further infringement the sentences will be cancelled.'
The court then rose.
'Sentences will be passed tomorrow,' announced the judge.
Tanya had a brief conversation with Gervais and his fellow accused, who were very concerned. 'We have exercised the only real option available to us. I don't think the judge has any option but to accept your plea.'
'We just rolled over,' complained one.
'If you had fought the case more aggressively then you and your families would all be out on your ear within days, with absolutely no recourse,' said Tanya firmly.
The next day the court assembled to hear sentencing. 'All the accused have pleaded guilty and I have determined that their sentences will be expulsion from The Settlement, with their assets forfeited.' There was an astonished hum from the spectators. The judge banged his gavel.
'These are very serious crimes! But in the interests of the community I am persuaded some mitigation is in order.'
The courtroom was silent. Even Tanya was nervous, although she felt confident of the outcome.
'The sentences of the following people,' the judge read out six names, 'will be suspended for six years, if any further misdemeanours occur during that period then this court has the jurisdiction to carry out the sentences imposed.'
There was jubilation and disbelief on the faces of the six. The judge banged his gavel again.
'As for the sentence imposed on Gervais Jones. What you did was inexcusable. You recklessly disobeyed instructions, the consequences of which we are all aware. I have pondered long and hard over the proposal presented by your defence counsel. Frankly, I do not think you deserve any consideration whatsoever.'
Gervais hung his head.
'Having said that, and taking account of the needs of the community, your sentence will be suspended for twelve years. The same conditions apply as with the other sentences imposed today by this court.'
Pandemonium broke out in the court. Some were pleased; others thought that no suspensions should have been granted.
'What does all this mean?' a somewhat bewildered Gervais asked Tanya.
'It means you may go about your life as if nothing has changed. If you fuck up again, the court has the authority to expel you and confiscate all your assets here.'
'You mean it's like a yellow card, except it lasts twelve years.'
'Yes. Maybe in six years, it may pay to ask the court to have the time period reviewed. I will be able to help you with that. All you have to do is to behave. You could also consider contributing over and above your basic responsibilities to the community.'
'Like what?'
'Anything. You will find something. Derain is a good example. If it wasn't for him you would be dead and the rest of us may have been burnt to a cinder.'
Gervais looked utterly confused and ashamed, up until then he had barely regarded Derain as human. It had certainly not occurred to him to thank him for saving his life.
Tanya felt a deep sense of satisfaction at the outcome; and The Settlement was the winner once all was said and done. She also now had many more loyal allies within the community who had witnessed her even handedness.
David completed the controlled burn in the northern area within the following two weeks. They then helped the settlers at The Bandstand with their own burn off.
Afterwards Derain advised David. 'All this mountain, big burn this year,' he said pointing to the pristine forests surrounding The Settlement, 'danger not over. There will be lightning strike, many strike maybe within one month. Area very dry, will burn very hot. Need to have people ready to fight fires. Much training needed, must be ready.'
'Should we have a controlled burn out there?' asked David.
'No,' answered Derain, 'too big, too late.'
David, Mark, and Joe organised fire teams throughout The Settlement and they had twice-weekly drills. This time there were no dissenters and the whole community participated enthusiastically.
As Derain predicted, a month or so later, a massive electrical storm engulfed the mountains. While there was some rain it was insufficient to dampen the now tinder-dry bush. The fire started on the western slopes of the forest facing The Settlement. The community had been organised into shifts by Mark, still absent in Sydney, and Joe, so that there were three shifts of eight hours each. One shift on duty, manning all the equipment; one shift providing food to the duty shift, and trying to keep The Settlement functioning; and one shift hopefully sleeping.
At first the fires started slowly and didn't seem to pose a big threat, but within a few hours several fires had joined. David and many others in the community watched the growing spectacular firework show, flames leaping thirty metres and more into the air and showers of sparks flying high. To the community the fires were amazing, but looked distant and non-threatening. But the wind rose rapidly and the unearthly noise of the fire roaring across the tree canopy at high speed highlighted the danger they were facing. A few embers started to fall among the houses, which were quickly extinguished by the well-prepared firefighters. The cattlemen and helpers were keeping the herds calm and constantly spraying them with water.
'Be careful, snakes,' advised Derain. 'Wallaby, kangaroo, maybe dingo stopped by fence, but not snake or goanna.'
The first night the wind died down, but fires continued to burn hungrily, consuming thousands of hectares of forest. The community thought they had everything under control. Once the wind had died down there were no more ember attacks.
David frequently visited the teams of firefighters. 'The temperature has barely dropped tonight and tomorrow the forecast is for highs of over forty degrees. So the situation is going to become really ugly, much worse than today. Make sure everyone drinks plenty of water and sticks strictly to the routines. This crisis will likely last for some days. Keep all skin covered from ember strike.'
David always appeared calm, however he sometimes felt,
I came here to create a haven for the family and some others to survive. I really had no idea what I was taking on. He gave nothing away, however, and even managed to call Chloe, away in Sydney. 'Don't come back for a few days. We are in for a terrible time with the fires, it's not too bad right now, but I think the next few days will be really rough.' The fact that she was probably seeing her lover no longer bothered him; he had no wish to see her hurt in any way.
Chloe for her part briefly considered the man she had married. He's still considerate, she thought wistfully. She took full advantage though and arranged for Clark to stay with her in the flat for a few days. It's his dream, not mine, she thought.
Nothing could have prepared the crews for what was to follow. The next day the wind rose early and the well-established fires in the west started to spread. The roaring noise was insistent and suddenly there were fires in the bush to the north and then the east. Visibility was extremely poor as the smoke swirled about the tightly-packed cottages. David rushed about telling people to cover noses and mouths.
'Dear God, the fire has jumped almost ten kilometres from one side of The Settlement to the other. We should be thankful for our controlled burn; there is very little left to burn on here.'
A team of four with a small fire truck was despatched to the north to deal with any small fires that might erupt in their own territory.
At one stage during the height of the inferno, fires started in two houses simultaneously at each end of The Settlement. The firefighters were quickly on the scene and the fires extinguished.
'Make certain the fire is unable to spread to other buildings,' the leader of each group told their crews.
People with burns, respiratory problems, dehydration, and exhaustion inundated the hospital. After being treated, any who were able returned to firefighting duties. The inferno lasted for several days. Once the fire had burnt the bush in the immediate vicinity it continued on its destructive path beyond. There were many small fires in the bush surrounding The Settlement, so the pall of smoke hung over everything.
David knew that he could not expect any help from the Rural Fire Service, the area was just too rugged and remote.
Ten days after the fires started there was a sharp shower and then it rained steadily for a few days, extinguishing all but the most resilient fires in the bush.
When it was all over the exhausted fire crews, with dirty clothes and blackened faces, all stood and examined their new vista. Instead of the pristine green bush, waving in the breeze all that faced them was a blackened, lifeless disaster on all sides. An occasional wisp of smoke could be seen reaching for the now azure blue sky. There was no sign of any life whatsoever, except what existed within The Settlement, which was to all intents and purposes untouched. The Bandstand had also survived.
'Thank heaven you helped us,' Caroline said to David by phone. 'We would have been in trouble otherwise.'
David held a meeting. Once he had quiet he said, 'We have survived the biggest potential disaster that has ever faced us. It looks terrible now and our mountain looks as if it will never recover. However, nobody here has been badly hurt, the five houses that were damaged can all be repaired and the insurance will pay for that. All our services are still intact, we have water, food, and all our stock have survived. The same firestorm is unlikely to happen again for many years and the bush will recover. It is time to make a few repairs. This is one of the biggest challenges we have faced and we have come through it as a community because we faced it together. There will be bigger challenges in future, but this should be an inspiration to all of us. We should also all thank Derain and his people for the advice they have given us. They saved our community.'
David was about to close the meeting when Donald Weatherspoon approached. Patricia had seen him edging towards the stage and had quickly alerted all the other denominations represented in the community and, much to Donald's astonishment, they all followed him and stood with David. Donald went bright red and was about to sound off, but David had been alerted by Patricia.
'Thank you Donald for reminding us all of our individual faiths. Perhaps our Thai friend, the only Buddhist here, would lead us all in a brief prayer of thanks for our salvation.'
In broken English, the Thai doctor gave a short speech giving thanks for the salvation of the community.
David said. 'I'm sure all the faiths represented here will wish to make their own thanks. I suggest you all meet outside to arrange that.' He ushered them off the platform.
'I was going to give an Anglican prayer,' sputtered Donald.
'You can still do that,' said David. 'You could even book the centre unless someone else has booked it ahead of you.'
Patricia said to him quietly, 'At least you didn't give him a lecture on cattle breeding.'
'He still has a bit to learn.'
Based on the experience of the flood disaster, now a few years back, Mark, Tanya, and David braced themselves for a flurry of resignations from the less-committed settlers. After the controlled burn, but before the big fires, Joe, Patricia, and David had identified and visited ten vulnerable families. Patricia was successful in calming people's fears. Her down-to-earth approach reminded people of the reasons for establishing The Settlement and the fact that the catastrophe was now likely only three or four years away.
'Do you still believe in the science?' Patricia was asked by one family.
'Certainly, I have never had a moment's doubt since we moved here ten years ago. The current research is ever more compelling.'
'It's very hard, now with all this hot weather.'
'Yes, but that is Australia. Climate change has made the situation worse. You have invested a lot coming here. We are talking about survival, not merely an alternative lifestyle.'
A few people had a word with David, but there was no major upheaval as there had been after the floods and nobody left The Settlement.
'There are more people now than at the time of the flood. I think it helps,' observed Joe. 'I expect our visits calmed a few nerves.'