Within days, Tanya led a new group of twenty out on the exploratory expedition. This time there were ten men, as well as the ever supportive Derain, and ten women. They were completely re-equipped and had fresh horses. Tanya was excited; she'd found it restrictive, always cooped up in The Settlement.
One night was spent at The Bandstand while Derain scouted around searching for possible trails. 'Hard,' he told Tanya, 'trail much old.' He smiled. 'But Derain will find, Derain always find.'
Derain stayed a few hundred metres ahead of everyone, so if he had to backtrack the trail wouldn't be ridden over by the remainder of the group. A day and a half later, Derain galloped his horse back to them. 'Body, there is body here on side of track. Tanya, you come.'
'Maybe Fred,' he pointed dramatically. Fred had left The Settlement before Derain had become part of their lives.
There was a decomposing and partly-eaten body lying beside the track, with what appeared to be a bullet wound in the back of the head. Tanya carefully turned it over and it was indeed Fred. She called the rest of the group.
'Obviously an execution,' said Roger. 'We'd better bury him properly.'
The group dismounted and, within half an hour, a grave had been dug and Fred's body was eased into it. Roger muttered a few words of prayer as the body was covered in earth and branches.
By mid-morning the next day, they arrived in a small village with less than a dozen houses. As they arrived, half a dozen dogs rushed out barking and several people dropped everything and ran into the bush in a blind panic.
Rachel chased after one woman and caught her, 'It's okay, we are here to help. There is no need to run,' she said to the frantically struggling woman.
After a few minutes, the woman started to cry and her struggles ceased. 'Do what you will, but please leave the others alone.'
Rachel brought her to rest of the group, already dismounted and unsaddling. The horses were released into a small paddock nearby. The woman looked around uncertainly.
'We are not here to harm you in any way,' Tanya said to her quietly, 'but to help if we can.' The woman looked distrustful. 'What happened to all your stock?' asked Tanya. 'There are plenty of hoof marks here, but no animals?'
'Men came and took all the animals, mainly cattle.'
'They did you no harm?' asked Tanya.
'A man came about an hour before the others and told us all to run into the bush or else we'd be killed. He was very convincing, so most of us did as we were told. We now think it was a trick. Other men came with a herd of cattle and just opened the gates and took everything. They seemed to be in a dreadful hurry.'
'Did the first man say who he was? Can you describe him?'
'He didn't give us a name,' she said, but described Fred in some detail.
'It wasn't a trick,' said Tanya. 'We know the man you describe. He was found dead, executed, about a day's ride from here. His name was Fred Costas.'
Gradually, when they realised the visiting party posed no threat, more people emerged from the bush. 'I overheard one man, maybe the leader, yelling at the men to get a move on and forget the people.'
'He said something about "getting Fred",' interjected another unkempt man.
'What did he look like?' asked Tanya.
'He was a big, well-built man with a Mediterranean complexion. He was quite harsh and the others seemed scared of him.'
'With good reason,' answered Tanya. 'The man was Demetriou Smith and he is dead now.'
'Dead? What do you mean?'
'I killed him.' She waved her automatic rifle about.
'We have a non-violent approach to the world here,' said the man quietly.
'Maybe I should tell you what Demetriou's group did to the people at The Bandstand, a settlement a few days' ride to the west of here.'
'We've heard of them and had contact in the past, but they cut us off when they felled all those trees.'
Tanya told them in graphic detail of what had happened at The Bandstand.
'God obviously protected us by sending Fred,' said the man.
'Fred died trying to warn you. He wasn't able to warn the people at The Bandstand.'
'God's will, he works in mysterious ways.'
Tanya looked exasperated and glanced around her group, all of whom imperceptibly shook their heads. 'We must get away soon,' said Tanya. 'If it's not against your non-violent principles, we potentially recovered your cattle. They are at our settlement.'
'We no longer have any horses.'
'Perhaps God will provide you with them then,' said Tanya acidly.
Tanya's group had a quick meal, watered the horses, and went on their way. One of the women from the village spoke to Tanya as they left. 'This group was founded on non-violent principles, but the new world seems to make that difficult to maintain.'
'Fred put himself at risk by coming here to warn you and your fatuous response was to say his death was God's will. If he hadn't come, all the men would be dead and you women would've been raped and enslaved. Now you are relying on others like us to return all your cattle, having risked our lives to do that. God or no God, you need to wake up.' She turned away furiously and the woman scuttled off.
Two days' ride away, Derain still managing to follow the faint trail, they found another little settlement, no more than a scattering of unprepossessing-looking huts. As they had now come to expect, a few dogs of uncertain ancestry rushed out barking, just keeping out of reach. A shot was fired over their heads as the group entered the small clearing.
Tanya and her group didn't react. Instead, she stood up in her saddle, with both hands held high. 'We come as friends, nothing else,' she shouted.
The response was another shot, hitting a branch not ten feet above the horsemen.
'If you want your cattle back, you'd better stop that. We come as friends,' Tanya repeated.
A man holding a battered, old Second World War mark IV .303 rifle, emerged from the scrub. 'There are ten guns all aimed at you,' he said aggressively. 'What do you want?'
'Some information,' said Tanya evenly. 'There was a raid here, we think, a few weeks back. They stole all your cattle and maybe some horses, but somehow you had a warning of the raid and ran off into the bush. Right so far?'
The man lowered his weapon. 'How d'ya know all that?'
Tanya ignored him and continued, 'The man's name was Fred.' She gave a clear description. 'He made off west to warn the next settlement along the way.'
'You mean the God Botherers,' said the man, now listening carefully. A few people came out from various hiding places and stood around.
'Yes, said Tanya, 'they lost all their cattle as well.'
'So you haven't come here to raid us again?'
'No, as I keep saying, we come as friends.'
Weapons were lowered by the bedraggled-looking settlers. By now, twenty adults and several children had emerged.
'If we may dismount,' said Tanya 'then we can explain ourselves.'
Nothing was said so the group dismounted and loosened horses' girths.
Tanya continued her dialogue, 'Fred warned the other settlement, but they lost all their cattle as well. Unfortunately, they found Fred out and executed him. He was by then on his way to The Bandstand. You may know them?'
'Yes, snooty bastards, we had some dealing with a man called Bill there a few years ago now.'
'He was one of the raiders, but that's not the point.' She described what had happened to the people there. 'That would've been your fate if Fred hadn't warned you.'
There was silence from the settlers; then one of the women said, 'We're sorry about Fred. He seemed a nice man.'
'We were warned by a survivor at our settlement and were able to surprise the raiders and recover all the cattle. All the raiders are dead now,' said Tanya.
The group shared their rations with the settlers, who seemed on the verge of starvation.
'Those cattle were our lifeblood,' said one of the women. 'Since they were taken we've been in a bad way.'
'Well, I see you have some horses,' said Rachel. 'Fetch your cattle any time.'
'The horses were taken by the raiders, but they reappeared one night.'
'When the cattle stampeded the horses just took off,' Tanya told them.
Later, Tanya asked, 'Are there any other settlements, to the east of here?'
'There were several,' said the woman, 'but they were overrun by people leaving Newcastle after the floods.'
'What are you going to do now, assuming you fetch your cattle and remain here?'
'Don't know. We've all been a bit shell shocked since the raid. Having our cattle back should put us back on our feet. But we'll need better security.'
'We may have something to suggest,' Tanya said, watching for a reaction.
'We don't really know who you are, but you look well set up.'
'We are from The Settlement, two days' ride west of The Bandstand. There are now more than four hundred people settled there.'
Eyebrows were raised, but the tall bearded man Tanya now identified as leader calmly responded, 'There were some rumours around about a very big settlement somewhere in the Blue Mountains, but since the flood we've heard nothing more.'
'How many head do you think you lost?' asked Tanya.
'About fifty.'
'Unbranded?'
'We don't brand our cattle.'
'There are something like one hundred unbranded animals among the group we rescued. I suppose the rest belong to the people you refer to as the God Botherers. If you wish, two of you can return home with us to collect your animals. You still have several horses, but the God Botherers weren't so lucky. So if you're happy to help them, I suggest you bring two spare horses and they can fetch their cattle at the same time.'
The bearded man pulled a face but said, 'Okay, I can see we all need to pull together.' He hesitated a fraction and continued, 'My name is Joseph by the way.'
A flurry of introductions followed.
'What do you call this place?' asked Rachel.
'"Banksia"; many of them grow in this area,' answered Joseph.
'It's unusual for a woman to be a leader of such a group,' observed Joseph in general conversation.
'There is no discrimination in our community; women and girls are encouraged to participate in all activities,' Tanya replied. 'We even have a military academy, where volunteers are trained as soldiers—women and men.'
There was an immediate spark of interest among the women in Joseph's group.
Tanya said, 'If it's alright we will spend the night here and leave with you early in the morning. It may take a week to get back home. And we have our own rations, so don't worry about that.'
There were looks of relief from the Banksia folk.
The group clattered off at first light. Tanya had persuaded Joseph and his wife Cath to accompany them. They had two spare horses for the God Botherers, who were initially suspicious, but soon persuaded it was in their best interests. Two men from the God Botherers accompanied the party, but they tried to keep to themselves during the journey.
Tanya had become aware that Tom, one of the young men in her group, had started to take more than a passing interest in her personally. Stupid little shit. This is all I need.
The night before the party was due to arrive at The Bandstand, camp was established in a place they had used on their outward journey. As was her now well-established habit, Tanya checked on the horses during the night and took the opportunity to relieve herself, hidden from the camp, behind some nearby bushes. As she returned, Tom unexpectedly appeared on the path. 'Hello Tom,' she said quietly as she tried to ease past him. He blocked the way. 'Tom, get out of the way, please, or you will get a lot more than you bargained for.'
Tom made a pass at her, and said, 'I love you, I want to make love to you.'
'Love, you stupid little bugger! Lust, more like. You are a good member of The Academy, but I have no other interest in you. I will count to three. If you don't let go of my arm you … '
When Tom tightened his grip, he found himself upended, his head smashed hard into the ground.
Momentarily stunned, Tom found Tanya's foot on his throat. 'Get up you silly little idiot and go back to bed. If I hear one more word of this nonsense you will be put on a formal charge.'
Tom stumbled off. Being tall and good looking, Tanya supposed he wasn't used to being turned down.
During the rest of the journey, Tanya gave Tom all the horrid little jobs that needed doing around the camp, such as collecting and burying rubbish and burying the fire. The women in the group somehow understood without a word being said and cooperated. Tom made no protest and tried to keep out of Tanya's way.
Rachel said to her quietly, when they were alone, 'It looks as if you sorted Tom out. He has been making all sorts of inappropriate comments about you for weeks now. Some of the other girls have had similar problems.'
The group arrived back at their home in the mountains a week after they had left Banksia, having spent a night at The Bandstand on the way through. Their guests were impressed by The Bandstand, even in its depleted state, but were completely overwhelmed by The Settlement. All were encouraged to stay a few days. The God Botherers soon found soul mates in Donald Weatherspoon and his church group, now an enthusiastic exponent of multi-faith activities, almost as if he had thought it up himself. Joseph and Cath spent their time at one of the dairies and with Graham and his furniture manufacture.
When Tanya had recovered and caught up with Mark and the family, she met with David and gave him a detailed update.
'Well, Caroline and I have now come to an agreement. The proposal is to formally merge The Settlement and The Bandstand. Caroline will have a seven and a half percent share of the merged company. The arrangement needs ratification by both our board and their management committee, but she doesn't see a problem as she is the owner there anyway. I will be moving to The Bandstand with hopefully fifty volunteers from here.'
'Okay, that is reasonable. But we also need to think about these two new groups. They are both extremely vulnerable, making us vulnerable too. Banksia is only a week's ride from here. At least another fifty people from here need somewhere to go, plus the fifty we hope will move to The Bandstand. Maybe the arrangement with Caroline will give us a basis for coming to some sort of agreement with both the other groups.' She hesitated before adding, 'If possible, only the strongest people should move, otherwise they will fail and we'll be in a worse position.'
'No need to rush. Absorbing The Bandstand is a big deal. Let's see how it goes and understand all the pitfalls first. If we encourage these other groups to visit, maybe they will come up with something we can work with, even if it's security related first.'
'When are you actually moving?'
'Soon, but I will be back at least monthly and I hope you will reciprocate. But, you wanted time to think … Are you comfortable with everything?'
'I'm quite comfortable,' said Tanya, without expressing any of her doubts regarding Mark. 'Mark thinks his role should focus on the wider security issues, bearing in mind the absorption of The Bandstand and these other new groups. And Jonathan has told him we should try to secure the Port of Newcastle sooner rather than later.'
'Newcastle's years away,' said David, waving his hand dismissively.
'I think things will be much the same, with you and me providing the impetus like always,' Tanya continued, more calmly than she felt. 'We do need to think of the succession down the track. How long can you continue at your current energy levels?'
'Dunno, that's why it's really important who accompanies me to The Bandstand.'
David was focussed on moving to his new life and wasn't yet prepared to have a wider discussion about the future. So Tanya tried to engage Mark in a philosophical conversation about the geographic expansion of The Settlement, the capacity, and the reasons for actually doing it.
'In order to secure ourselves, we need to somehow control the area from here to the coast,' she told him. 'Absorbing The Bandstand is a first step, but it needs to go beyond that.'
While Mark could see the sense in it, he was still getting used to the idea that Tanya would now formally take over. He hadn't considered that initiative and wondered if she was merely trying to exert further control.
Mark said, 'We need to make sense of the changes with The Bandstand, and possibly future associations with Banksia and the God Botherers. I think any kind of discussion beyond that is getting way ahead of ourselves.'
'Doesn't it make sense to have some sort of plan?' she argued.
'Too early,' he said.
Tanya thought, I will find someone else to bounce ideas off.
David openly discussed his plans to move to The Bandstand. He had recruited most of the settlers and was liked and well respected. Tanya, on the other hand, while well respected was seen as quite ruthless. They respected the times she had saved the community, but people still wished she could have handled things more gently. Many were still horrified by the death of the raiders.
Tanya tried to avoid the talk, but if confronted she responded promptly. 'You weren't there. Would you have preferred to see our people hurt or killed? Join the rescue party next time. And I can assure you there'll be a next time.'
Normally people scuttled off at that point, but many in the village wondered what life would be like without David's moderating influence. He had no difficulty in persuading twenty families, including some of the medical staff, to accompany him and move to The Bandstand permanently.