Chapter Ten

CHAPTER NINE

The Missing Boys 

It was now three o’clock and the boys were not the only ones running out of daylight that afternoon. Andrew had just one small section of fencing to complete before nightfall, but to his disappointment and frustration, the wire needed to finish his day’s work had inconveniently run out. A long trip back to the stable where the wire was stored was not something he eagerly anticipated. He had been working hard all day and was now totally exhausted. But with his father returning from Benalla in the morning, an unfinished job was simply out of the question.

Arriving at the stable, Andrew walked hurriedly past the stalls; the rolls of wire stacked in the far corner were his immediate and only concern. It wasn’t until he was leaving that he noticed Sally’s empty stall. Dropping the wire, he gazed in disbelief at the absence of his father’s old friend. He knew she was there at the morning feed, and he was positive -- well, almost positive -- he had locked the stall after he had fed her.

‘Maybe I didn’t lock it and she’s decided to go for a bit of a wander,’ he thought. ‘If she has, she certainly wouldn’t go very far.’

Andrew saddled his horse and rode off in the direction of the far eastern paddock. It was the only area on the farm that he could not get a clear view from the stable. It ran on the far side of a slight hill and fell sharply to the eastern fence line.  Ten minutes later he returned and rode directly to the house to inform his mother of Sally’s disappearance.

If Andrew was upset, it was nothing compared to poor Agnes. Her first thoughts were of what John would say when he returned in the morning.

Andrew tried to put her at ease. ‘Mother, I’m going to check the road and some of the neighbours. If there’s no sign of her, I’m going directly to the police station. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if some buggers lifted her. If they have and I find them, they’ll be in for merry hell at the end of a bunch of fives.’

After reporting the mare missing to the Wangaratta police, Andrew decided to drop in to the store to inform Catherine of the bad news, hoping also that Joseph and Daniel would be there to help him take another look for her. Unfortunately for Andrew the two boys had not yet returned from school, much to their mother’s concern;  it was now a quarter to four and their absence was starting to tell on Catherine’s fragile state of mind.

‘Where on earth could they be, Andrew?’ she asked. ‘Just wait ‘till I get my hands on them. When I say half past three, I mean it.’

She did not always get upset over such matters, but for some reason she had become more protective of her sons since their father has been away, and the death of her own father had made her become even more so.

‘Don’t worry, Catherine, the boys will turn up soon. They’re most probably with that young Fred McAllister and have forgotten about the time. You know what boys are like.’

Catherine looked at Andrew and nodded her head uncertainly. She was not totally convinced of what Andrew had just told her, but his words eased her mind for a few minutes more.

Andrew waited with her until four o’clock. ‘Catherine, I’m sorry, but I have to get going while there’s still some light left. I’ll take another look up at the farm in case she’s decided to wander back home. Tell the boys when you see them that I could do with a little help.’

But there was no way she was waiting any longer, either. Without too much hesitation Catherine decided to close the shop and take a walk up to the school, all the while trying hard to contain the anger that was now mounting with her every step. Upon entering the school grounds, she could see Sister Theresa in conversation with Sister Agatha, Joseph’s teacher.

Before Catherine could say a word, the sisters approached her and started offering their condolences. ‘Mrs. Delaney, we are so sorry to hear of your good father’s passing,’ Sister Theresa began. ‘We have been mentioning you and your sons in our prayers. Remember, he is now at peace and is resting in Our Lord’s care.’

Catherine tried to interrupt but was unsuccessful as the good sister would always have her say.

‘How are young Joseph and Daniel coping?’ Sister Theresa went on, her brow furrowed with sympathy. ‘I hope these few days from school have given them time to ease the suffering they must also be going through, and we hope to see them back on Monday. We will pray that --’

Catherine could not believe what she was hearing. ‘What do you mean, sister? The boys returned to school today.’

Sister Theresa exchanged glances with the other teacher. ‘Mrs. Delaney, I am sorry, but we have not seen your sons for the entire week.’

‘Are you certain, sister?’ asked Catherine in total shock.

‘We’re positive,’ Sister Agatha said. ‘That young friend of theirs, Fred McAllister, was also absent today, but that wouldn’t surprise me; he is hardly ever here most times.’

Catherine thanked the sisters and immediately headed for home, all the time convincing herself the boys would be nervously awaiting her arrival with well-prepared explanations of why they did not attend school.

The two-mile walk home normally took Catherine thirty minutes to complete, but in twenty minutes she was screaming for Agnes as she ran through the house, her heart pounding in her chest.

‘What has happened, child? cried Agnes, as she poked her head out from behind the pantry door. Why are you so upset?’

‘It’s the boys!’ cried Catherine frantically. ‘Have you seen them at all since I saw you last?’

‘No, I haven’t,’ replied Agnes. ‘Didn’t they stop at the store after school?’

Catherine shook her head, too upset even to reply. Now Agnes was finding herself in the same state as her daughter-in-law. ‘Have you checked at home, Catherine? They are probably waiting for you there.’

Catherine took a deep breath. ‘You’re right, Agnes. What am I thinking? Of course, they’re waiting for me right now.’

With a sigh of relief, she ran up the hill to her home to her home, just wanting to touch them, to hold them, to tell them not to ever scare her that way again. But after a thorough search of the house, she found her confidence along with her nerves well and truly shattered by their absence. The time was already past five o’clock and the evening sky was about to be on them.

Agnes appeared at the kitchen door. “Well?”

Catherine, her body trembling and with tears spilling down her flushed cheeks, told Agnes the news.

‘Calm down, Catherine, they’ll turn up shortly; you wait and see.’

‘But they’ve never been out this late without me knowing where they were, Agnes. It’s just not like them to do such things.’

‘Why don’t we wait, dear. Andrew will be back soon and if they’re not back by then, we’ll ride into town and inform the police.’

When Andrew returned, he was not alone but in the company of Fred McAllister’s father Tom. ‘Mother, Tom’s been looking for Fred all afternoon but he’s nowhere to be found. He was wondering if he’s with Joseph and Daniel.’

On hearing this, Catherine became even more frantic. ‘Mr. McAllister, I don’t even know where my sons are. They too have been missing all day.’

‘Then I think we can assume the three of them are all in this together,’ replied Tom. ‘I’m going out to look for them. They could be bloody anywhere.’

‘Hold on, Tom,’ cried Andrew, ‘I’m coming with you.’

Andrew asked the two women to wait until they returned. ‘If we can’t find them, we’ll inform the police and start gathering a search party as soon as possible. Don’t worry, Catherine, they can’t be far. We won’t stop looking until we find them.’

Andrew and Tom searched the surrounding bush, calling out in vain for more than two hours, but there was no sign of the three boys.

‘Okay, Tom, it looks like we’ll have to get some help from some of the townsfolk. Could you shake up Sergeant Rawlings and tell him what’s happened? I’ll knock up some of my mates and meet you back at the police station in an hour.’

Without a second thought, Tom McAllister spurred his horse on to Wangaratta and was soon banging on the Sergeant’s front door.

The Sergeant had just begun his long-awaited tea when he answered Tom’s relentless knocking.

‘Tom! What’s all the banging about?’

‘It’s my boy, Sarge; he’s gone missing and so have the Delaney boys. They’ve been missing all day. We’ve been looking everywhere and --’

‘Take it easy, Tom, and settle down.’ Tom took a breath and proceeded to explain to Albert Rawlings what had taken place. Listening to what Tom had to say, the sergeant scratched his head and very calmly told Tom he thought they were overreacting.

‘Overreacting!’ shouted Tom angrily. ‘I bet if it was your boy you wouldn’t be so bloody calm. If you won’t do anything, then me and Andrew Delaney will handle the search ourselves.’

‘Hang on Tom, I didn’t say I wouldn’t do anything, but with all due respect, mate, it’s not the first time young Fred has done a bunk.’ The sergeant had remembered another time Fred had run away after receiving a good walloping from his father for misbehaviour, and was eventually found camping in a shed behind the old flourmill.

Still, the sergeant had five children of his own and could understand what Tom and the Delaneys were going through. After careful consideration he gave Tom the nod. ‘Okay, Tom, give me time to round up my men. We’ll meet you back at the station in thirty minutes. I want you to ride back to your home and also check the Delaneys’ house, just in case the boys have returned.’

Andrew had found three mates who were prepared to join the search -- Dave Jenkins, Peter Barlow, and John Mortimer. Searching for three missing boys at night in the wild bushland was not a task his friends thought safe or feasible. The moon was blanketed by cloud and the terrain they would be riding was extremely rugged and very dangerous. The chance of finding anyone in the pitch dark was highly unlikely, but their mate needed help and they weren’t about to desert him in this hour of need.

The four horsemen met up with Tom McAllister who was just returning from the Delaneys’. With still no sign of the young trio, the men rode furiously back to the police station to report to Sgt. Rawlings.

When they had arrived at the station, Andrew could see the Sergeant and two of his constables leaning over and intently surveying a large map laid out across his desk. Looking up, he beckoned the men to join him.

‘I see you have found some help, Andrew. We’re going to need all the help we can find. As you can see, constable Duggan will not be joining us tonight. I’ve left him to organise a larger party to set out at daybreak if we have no luck tonight. I can’t have the whole force wandering around the countryside through thick scrub in the dark. My plan is to spread ourselves out and do a sweep of the bushland south of the town, but for only a couple of miles. Is that understood? There are only eight of us, and even though we have horses, most of our search can only be done on foot because of the thick terrain.’

Pointing to his map, the Sergeant proceeded to allocate each man an area to search, with no area being more than two hundred yards from the other.

‘If you find the boys, give out a Coo..eee so as the man searching next to you can pass it on. Once you’ve finished your sweep, I want you to wait at the Delaney farm until we’ve all returned. I’ll then move you to another area further south of the town to continue the search. Have I made myself clear to everyone?’ The men nodded in the affirmative and started for their mounts.

As Andrew was about to leave, Sgt. Rawlings pulled him aside.

‘Andrew, constable Duggan filled out paperwork this afternoon for a missing mare owned by your father which was reported by you. Doesn’t it seem a bit of a coincidence that the mare should go missing on the same day as the boys?’

Andrew had been so worried about his nephews he had totally forgotten about old Sally’s disappearance. ‘Crikey, Sergeant, you’re probably right. But what the blazes would they want with that old mare? She’s almost as old as my father.’

The sergeant shook his head and walked out with Andrew into the cold night, where a party of men was waiting and eager to start their search.