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Leilah wondered if the body might float away before Hector rediscovered it. She followed her father around their vast empire, head hung in shame and dread. Many times, she almost blurted out the truth, only the stern set of Hector’s shoulders making her unwilling to speak. He sent her to let the dogs loose and they chased around her feet, barking and tripping her up. Between them, they traversed the kilometres of grassland and rounded up the sweating mares. Leilah noticed how they carried their tails high, tossing their heads and prancing. Hector glanced back at her with irritation burgeoning in his face and she pursed her lips. “Damn Leilah!” he hissed. “They’re in season, the whole bloody lot.” He shook his head and she cringed.
“I said I’m sorry.”
Not content with impregnating most of Hector’s stock, the randy stallion had cleared the fence into their neighbour’s. The luscious mares belonging to Horse huddled in the corner of the nearest paddock while he took them on one at a time. Hector climbed the fence, thwarting Leilah’s desire for him to use the gate and find the body. He cracked his bull whip and managed to separate the stallion from the females, but only after he’d finished his latest round of activity. “Get on with you!” Hector shouted at the muscular beast and shed him away from the group. Standing on the top rung of the post and rail, he called to Leilah. “Open that gate near the gully. I’ll drive him through.”
“I’ll just catch him.” Leilah felt exhaustion threading through her veins. The honest voice in her head urged her to come clean. Tell her father everything. The nightly meetings, her newfound sexuality and most of all, the dead body. She dangled the limp rope halter from tired fingers and put her foot on the bottom rung.
“No!” Hector yelled. “Do as you’re told, girl! He’ll run you over, the mood he’s in now. Open the damn gate.”
Leilah gritted her teeth and trudged down the hill. “Great!” she muttered under her breath. “So now I’ll find the body again.” She shivered, the shock of the first encounter chilling her bones. “It’s what you deserve,” she told herself, dreading the sight with every fibre of her being.
Hector drove the stallion downhill with occasional cracks of his whip. Tired, the horse offered little opposition bar the odd buck of rebellion at the head of the youngest dog. They arrived at the gate before Leilah and she hurried to catch up, slipping and sliding down the hill on the other side of the fence. The horse shifted from hoof to hoof, driven towards an exit which didn’t yet exist. Horny and exhausted, his head weaved on his neck as though examining the gate from every angle. Leilah unhitched the catch and tugged it open. She wasn’t quick enough.
In the darkness, Hector assumed she’d be where he sent her, with only torch light to offer confirmation. He jerked out another ear-splitting crack of the bull whip and the horse jumped forwards as Leilah opened the gate just a crack.
She felt the back of her head hit the loamy soil, its sun hardened surface offering no cushion. The gate hit her in the chest and a thousand pounds of horseflesh propelled her far enough away not to get trampled. She closed her eyes as heavy hooves stamped past her face. Hector swore and Leilah knew by his breathing he’d broken into a run on the other side of the fence. He left the gate open, a sure sign of panic and for a moment, Leilah allowed herself to feel more important than anything else in her father’s life. More than the risk of Horse’s wrath if his mares mingled with theirs. More than the farm and their perpetual poverty. More than Hector’s perplexing relationship with Mari. Just more.
“Baby, I’m sorry.” He lifted her head from the soil and cradled her to his chest. “I thought you’d opened it already.” His breaths came fast and Leilah felt his heart pound against her cheek. “Please don’t be hurt,” he begged an unseen creator. “Please don’t be hurt.”
The awful thought paraded through Leilah’s head that sickness and death involved finances they didn’t have for health care. She ran a mental check of her limbs and found them painful, but working. A dull taste in her mouth made her lips curl back in disgust. It reminded her of the time she licked the lid of the tuna can. Hector shone the torch in her face and she blinked.
“You’re bleeding, kōtiro.” His voice sounded flat and resigned.
“I’m okay,” she replied after the longest time. “My lip feels swollen. I bit it when the gate hit me.”
Hector swore as a mare whinnied in protest from the paddock nearest the house. “Bloody animal! He’s going after them again.”
“Race horses can only manage three times a day.” Leilah giggled and in the torchlight saw blood spatter across Hector’s shirt.
“Yeah, well he’s done his life’s work tonight, for sure. I’ll shoot the bugger tomorrow.” He sounded like he might do it and Leilah cringed.
“No, Dad. It’s just a stupid accident.” Not exactly. The words hovered on her swollen tongue. “Dad,” she began.
The dogs barked and bounced on the spot, the older one reluctant to leave Hector’s side but the younger one darting off into the darkness. “What the hell’s going on here?” demanded a husky voice. More torchlight blinded her and Leilah squeezed her eyes tight shut.
“What’s happened?” The other voice sounded more urgent and Leilah heard the owner of it drop to his knees next to her. “Lei? What’s wrong?”
The fourth member of their little band of misfits leaned over her, his warm breath fluttering across her cheek. Vaughan lifted his tee shirt and dabbed blood from her chin. “Lei, are you okay?” A doggie face pushed its way between them and Leilah spluttered.
“I’m fine.” She sat up and felt along her arms. “Nothing’s broken. I just banged my head and hurt my back.” She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “I bit my lip.”
Vaughan’s eyes raked over her face and body, their brown irises flickering like diamonds against the torch beam. “Are you sure you’re okay? Why are you out here?”
The knowledge of the floating body weighed heavily on her and she opened and closed her lips without making a sound. Hector covered her silence. “I’m sorry, Horse. It’s an accident.” He sounded cowed, not taking his usual aggressive stance around their neighbour. “Red somehow got out and Leilah heard him running. The gates got left open and he’s ripped right through my stock.”
Leilah glanced up at Horse’s sun crinkled face. His eyes resembled jewels in a mudslide. “Mine too?” he demanded, glancing back through the gate. “Did he get to mine?”
Hector sighed. “A couple. But it won’t take. He already did his worst with mine.”
“He’s still going.” Horse flashed the torchlight up the hill towards the sound of squealing. To Leilah’s surprise, he chuckled. “Randy bugger. You should rent him out more and let him get it out of his system.”
Leilah’s eyes narrowed in surprise at Horse’s joviality and Vaughan intercepted her glance. He gave the slightest shake of his head and she accepted the warning and stayed silent. Offering his hand, he pulled her to her feet, waiting while she got herself balanced. His fingers felt warm against her wrist and he didn’t let go. Hector stood and blinded Leilah with the torch again. “Let me look at ya,” he demanded, showing uncharacteristic fatherly concern.
“I’m okay.” Leilah pushed his hand away and turned her face into Vaughan’s warm body. “Leave me alone.”
“Who opened the gates?” Horse turned to the obvious farmer’s topic and Leilah shrugged.
“Dunno.” Hector spoke for her and jerked his head back towards the mountain. “But they went right through the property.” He turned and clicked his fingers at the dogs. “Patch, Moss! Lay down!” They obeyed, tongues lolling and maws wide in doggie smiles. The younger dog crawled forward on his chest, scrabbling in the grass like a commando.
“Might be the people wanting to buy up the mountain who did it,” Horse commented. “They keep visiting me. They say the property is worth a fortune. Made a good offer, they did.”
Hector’s eyes widened. “Don’t listen to them, man. They think the mine will open again, but it won’t. There’s nothing left. They’ll see you out on the street without a care. Generations of farming gone just like that on a rich man’s whim.” His clicked his fingers to make the point and glared at Horse as though he cared about his arch enemy’s fate.
“Aye. Mebbe.” Horse pushed his cowboy hat back on his head and scratched his grizzled beard. “It’s sure hard not to feel tempted though.”
“Not me.” Hector sounded steadfast. Despite their hand to mouth existence. Despite all that.
“Want me to help you home?” Vaughan put his hand on Leilah’s arm as another mare squealed from further up the hill. He jerked his head towards the adults. “Then I’ll help you round up the mares.”
Hector shrugged. “Too late for that. I’ll just shut this gate and leave the others open. They’ll wander home when he’s done with them.”
Horse snorted. “Like we used to, aye?”
Leilah’s eyes widened in horror and embarrassment as her father’s cheeks pinked in the torchlight. Vaughan smirked and nudged her to start walking.
“What’s going on?” The shout from the road side of the paddock made them turn and the dogs stood and barked. Moss let out a steely growl. A powerful torch beam bounced across the grass and sparkled against their brown irises.
“Who’s there?” Horse turned his flashlight on a white smudge which became the outline of a face. A tall, well-defined man leapt the fence and his torch beam lurched towards them. Shiny buttons from a police uniform glittered with reflected light. Vaughan tensed, the action instantaneous and Leilah reached for his hand. Horse snickered, not a pleasant sound. “And here comes our local constable,” he hissed, scorn in his tone. Hector signaled to the dogs to lie down again and Horse raised his voice. “Nothing to see here, officer. Just some stock got loose. I’m hoping Hector here just donated a five grand foal in exchange for tearing up my paddock.”
“What?” Tane’s father puffed towards them, the incline getting the better of him. “You’re not fighting again?”
Horse bellowed out a sharp laugh which echoed off the sides of the mountain. A pukeko screeched in the undergrowth near the stream which flowed along the boundary between the properties. The stream hugging a dead body. Dizziness flooded Leilah’s brain and she slumped to the ground. Any second now. Any second now. The words reverberated in her head, along with the sound of handcuffs clanking. Vaughan caught her wrists and let her settle on her bum before crouching next to her. “Lei?” he said, his tone scared.
“Just faint,” she whispered, drowning out the adult sounds above her. “I’ll sit here for a minute and then walk back up to the house.”
Male voices rumbled as Hector told the story. Horse interrupted him. “You should check your beef herd,” he advised. “A randy stallion’s one thing, but I don’t want your cattle stealing my grazing. There’s little enough to go round as it is.”
Leilah heard the tempo of his voice raise and relaxed under the comforting return to hostilities. Tane’s father intervened, his tone forbidding further discussion. “Don’t start!” he snapped. “I’m out looking for Tane. His mother says he didn’t come home.”
Leilah’s gaze shot to Vaughan and then up to the cop. “Where did he go?” She laced her voice with fake innocence, knowing very well where he intended to go and that his father wouldn’t like it.
“His mother thought he went to bed.” Behind the policeman’s tone, Leilah heard the cry of a father’s heart. “We don’t know where he is.”
She forced herself to her feet, gripping Vaughan’s strong fingers in a death grip. “We don’t know where he is either.” Panic exploded in her throat as a sob as she realised the implications. “Where is he?” Her voice rose as hysteria took hold. The body in the stream called to her, suggesting awful possibilities. “We need to find him.” She took a step forwards and stumbled. Hector put a steadying hand on her shoulder.
“Not tonight, Lei. You’ve had enough drama. I’ll take you up to the house and check out that lip.” He flashed the torch in her face and she winced and jammed her eyes closed. “It’s a bloody mess.”
“No. No.” Leilah shrugged them all off and stepped towards the open gate. “I need to make sure he’s okay.” Vaughan’s quick steps followed her through and he snatched at her wrist.
“Get a grip, Leilah!”
She turned and pushed his chest and he took a step back. Dismay crossed his handsome features and the moon appeared from behind a cloud and lit him with an ethereal, silver light. “You don’t understand,” she gasped.
The empty culvert stared back at her, the rounded river stones grey and cold. Water bounced over and around them, just as it had done for her lifetime and even before. The body had gone, a dreamlike entity stolen by wakefulness. Horse pushed past her and joined Vaughan. Together they watched Leilah’s confusion in the glare from the torchlight. “Youse not thinking straight,” Horse said, his voice cracked and harsh. A clap of overhead thunder punctuated his words. “Youse got banged on the head. Let ya father take ya home. I’m sure the boy will turn up soon enough.” He winked at Tane’s father. “He’ll be out impregnating some town girl and come home when he’s done.” Horse jerked his head towards the distant paddock where the strawberry hues of Hector’s prized stallion slept on his feet, his body slumped with sexual exhaustion. “Just like him.”
Leilah held her breath and couldn’t look Vaughan in the eye. She turned away from the empty stream and her heavy footsteps led her up the familiar hill. Hector’s hand against the small of her back hardly registered against the clamour of warning in her head. The rain hit the baked earth as her father slid the door closed behind them.