Ironbark (61 page)

Daniel nodded. ‘Yes. You
have
been isolated.'

He pointed out that tomorrow being 23 May, the whole of Berrima would be celebrating the Queen's birthday, the traditional excuse for everyone, masters and assigned servants, to make merry. This meant that whichever magistrate was sitting on the bench today would no doubt want to clear the court early.

Daniel's tone was reassuring. ‘Wait here for me. I'll find out when Jake is scheduled to appear.' Keziah pressed a shoelace in his hand. ‘Please, please ask a guard to see Jake gets this. It's a Romani symbol of good luck.'

Daniel nodded and bounded off in search of a court official.

Alone in front of the courthouse, Keziah felt dwarfed by the four massive columns supporting the triangular pediment – a façade with giant brass doors but no windows. The wind was so bitter she sheltered the children under the wings of her blue cloak. Their eyes were fixed on
Jake's prison, their small faces pinched with silent misery. Keziah buried her own fears.

‘Yes, Papa is in there. We won't be able to talk to him, but you'll see him soon when he appears in court. And he'll see you! That will make him very happy.'

When Daniel returned it was clear he was making a valiant attempt to be positive.

‘We arrived just in time. Jake's trial is scheduled today. It seems luck is on his side. He'll be going before Alfred Hamberton, a brand-new magistrate just arrived in the colony – today's his first day on the bench. The strange thing is I know the man.'

‘How is that?'

‘I began painting his wife's portrait in Sydney and I'm to go to Goulburn to finish it. My dealings with him were limited, so I don't know how fair he'll be. He
has
to be better than some of the corrupt magistrates openly biased in favour of their local gentry cronies.'

‘Is Jake's lawyer a good one?'

Daniel frowned. ‘I'm afraid he doesn't have a lawyer.'

‘What? We'll see about that!' Flushed with rage, Keziah was ready to rush inside and challenge the law until she saw Dr Leslie Ross approaching.

She called out a heartfelt Romani greeting. ‘God bless your legs for bringing you here! Doctor, do you know what they've done to Jake? He has no one to defend him!'

‘Aye, lassie. I was here on duty to witness a hanging when I heard the news. I've been remonstrating with the officials all morning. They gallop through these trials with godless speed. They claim there's no time to find a defence lawyer. I tried to make them postpone his case but they would nay have a bar of it!'

‘That's British justice?' Keziah asked with contempt.

‘Aye, common enough for what's considered misdemeanours of this nature.'

Misdemeanours.
To Keziah the word seemed better suited to naughty schoolchildren's behaviour rather than crimes that could have a man transported to Norfolk Island.

The moment the doors of the courthouse were opened Keziah pushed her way to the front of the spectators' section at the rear of the courtroom. There were no seats so she was sustained by Daniel's arm around her waist, the children pressed against her skirt nervously.

Daniel whispered a warning. ‘Keep your emotions in check. Remember we are here purely as Jake's
friends
.'

On the wall above the magistrate's bench was the British coat of arms, supported down through the centuries by its guardians – lion on the left, unicorn on the right. Keziah had first seen this as a child at her father's trial. Again when Gem was sentenced, and now these animals stood guard at Jake's trial. Written on the scroll beneath them was the royal motto,
‘Dieu et mon droit'
.

‘French for “God and my right”,' Daniel translated.

‘What good is that to us?' Keziah said. ‘In the eyes of the law I'm a pagan and Jake's an atheist. What rights does Jake have under a system designed for the benefit of the Quality? He isn't even allowed his own damned lawyer!'

Her outburst drew attention to her. The women seated in the double-tiered lady spectators' box facing the jury all turned to stare at her. One middle-aged woman in black gave her a timid smile of encouragement behind a gloved hand. Keziah felt she looked familiar but could not place her.

Daniel didn't know her either. ‘But Hamberton's wife is seated there in the back row, wearing a bonnet that hides her face. No doubt she's come to show support for her husband's baptism as a magistrate.' Daniel was about to point out the woman in blue but Keziah was distracted by the surprising sight of friends in court.

Polly Doyle slipped away from George Hobson's side to give Keziah a reassuring hug.

‘How did you hear about Jake's arrest, Polly? There was so little time.'

Polly jerked her head in the direction of Gilbert Evans who stood apart from the crowd.

‘
Him
, who else? He boasted to Mr Hobson it was God's will when a bushranger's sympathiser got his comeuppance. Don't worry, Hobson and all of us in Ironbark know Jake's a decent bloke.'

When Polly scuttled back to Hobson's side Keziah looked around her, feeling cynical about the presence of voyeurs like Bolthole Valley's storekeeper, Matthew Feagan. She could hardly bear to look at Gilbert Evans.

From the moment Jake entered the court from the prisoners' holding cell, Keziah had eyes for no one else. A guard escorted him between the parallel railings that separated the legal section from the spectators – a fence so low any self-respecting sheepdog could have vaulted it. When Keziah instinctively reached out as if to touch him, Daniel caught her hand and kissed it to allay any suspicion that she was linked to Jake.

‘Remember, you are
my
wife today,' he whispered.

Keziah held her breath as Jake stepped into the prisoner's box and gave her a reassuring nod. Her eyes traced every gaunt, bruised line of his beloved face. His shirt collar, angled askew, made him look like a small boy.

‘That decent jacket isn't Jake's. He doesn't own one. Mac Mackie must have loaned it to him.'

Daniel gave a faint smile. ‘I know. Mac loaned that jacket to me on
our
wedding day, remember?'

Keziah felt proud that Jake's level-eyed demeanour marked him as a respectable citizen, albeit an obvious Currency Lad. She tried to catch his eye. As if feeling the intensity of her gaze, Jake turned and pointed to his long hair. It was tied back with a shoelace.

‘Look, Daniel, he got my message of good luck!'

Keziah felt happy for one brief moment. Then Jake gave his undivided attention to the proceedings. He looked more serious than she'd ever seen him, clearly determined not to antagonise the magistrate.

She tugged Daniel's sleeve. ‘Surely any fool, including this magistrate, can see he's an honest man.'

Daniel drew her closer and whispered quickly, ‘Be careful what you say. Evans may not be the only informer around us.'

Keziah bent down and whispered to Gabriel and Pearl, ‘Smile at your papa when he looks our way. It will give him heart.' She was touched to see both children trying to fix permanent smiles on their faces.

Keziah swayed against Daniel as the confusing list of charges was read out.

Jake stood accused under the Bushranging Act of seven misdemeanours. Giving aid and succour to two bushrangers, ‘the deceased Gypsy Gem Smith and William Martens, also known as Jabber Jabber, currently held at His Excellency the Governor's pleasure in Van Diemen's Land'.

Keziah looked at Daniel in horror. Seven charges!

‘I'll bet this is all
his
dirty work,' she hissed. She stared fiercely across at Gilbert Evans who was smoothing his moustache as if ready for a direct summons from his god. ‘If Will Martens was here he'd certainly tell the truth about Jake!'

‘Yes,' Daniel said, ‘but who'd believe a bushranger's evidence, apart from you and me?'

They were both jolted by the stark words: ‘What say you? Does the accused plead Guilty or Not Guilty?'

‘Not Guilty
and
Guilty, Your Honour.' Jake sounded as if he was in Feagan's General Store ordering half a dozen brown eggs, half a dozen white.

The buzz of consternation caused Magistrate Hamberton to hammer his gavel for silence. ‘No such ambiguous plea is allowable under British law.'

‘Then with respect I reckon it ought to be, Your Honour.'

The magistrate looked at Jake sharply. Keziah knew that look. Obviously he was the type who considered Currency Lads, Gypsies and convicts to be the lowest form of life in the colony.

The magistrate glanced at the rows of seated women then switched to a languid tone. ‘Is your plea Guilty or Not Guilty?'

‘All right. Not Guilty,' Jake said. He spoke quite affably to the magistrate, but Keziah would have happily seen the man hung, drawn and quartered.

She struggled to understand the intricate proceedings as the heat in the packed courthouse brought her close to fainting. Her anger revitalised her when a hated uniform crossed her line of vision.

She turned to Daniel and hissed, ‘That's the trap who arrested Jake and had him dragged behind their horses!'

Sergeant Still's ruddy English complexion was flushed with the heat and Keziah realised for the first time he looked no older than Jake and twice as nervous. She fully expected him to lie under oath or attempt to colour his testimony. This trooper could so easily expose her – worse, condemn Jake.

When he was asked to describe the arrest, the sergeant glanced nervously at Keziah. She was surprised that his report avoided all mention of Jake's shouted reference to ‘my woman and kids'.

‘Did the prisoner offer resistance at the time of arrest, Sergeant?'

‘Had our hands jolly well full. Andersen was adamant he was innocent. A young family stood nearby. The woman looked to be a lady. Very distressed she was, Your Honour.'

When asked if he had prior reports of the prisoner's association with bushrangers, the sergeant's reply was firm. ‘Never. Understood Andersen to be a man of good repute.'

Keziah turned to Daniel in surprise. ‘So he isn't the villain of the piece. Who was?'

Daniel sighed. ‘No doubt we'll soon find out.'

‘Why doesn't Jake look at me?' Keziah asked wistfully. ‘To protect you, m'dear. He's careful not to involve
my wife
in this business.'

She exchanged a look of relief with Daniel when the next witness to be called was Dr Leslie Ross. Keziah felt grateful for his firm testimonial of Jake's good character.

‘On
at least
three of the dates listed, Jakob Andersen was, in fact, receiving medical treatment at my hands.' He glared at the prosecutor, ‘For the record I was given no prior advice of these dates but my medical diary will verify them if the court will accept the evidence.'

Magistrate Hamberton gave an airy wave of dismissal. ‘Not necessary, Dr Ross. Your word under oath is good enough for this court.'

Leslie's praise was unswerving. ‘Jakob Andersen is a law-abiding citizen of exemplary character. He's honest to a fault and a man of rare compassion.'

The prosecutor was quick to seize on this. ‘Is it not possible this rare compassion might well have extended to his giving aid to bushrangers?'

Angered by the trap, Dr Ross snapped back, ‘Any sensible man would with a pistol at his head!'

‘Point taken, Doctor –
if
firearms were indeed a method of persuasion, but these two bushrangers were Andersen's
friends
, were they not? One further question. Is it true you consider the accused to be a personal friend of
yours
?'

‘That's common knowledge, but on my honour, I would ne'er commit perjury!'

‘No, Doctor?' His pause was a silent insult. ‘No further questions.'

Keziah saw Magistrate Hamberton's growing irritation as a procession of witnesses claimed they had been pressured to sign false statements that incriminated Jake. Wearily shuffling papers, Hamberton asked, ‘I wonder if there is
anyone
present willing to identify Jakob Andersen?'

The whole court was startled by Pearl's shrill voice. ‘I will! He's my father!'

Gabriel began to add, ‘Mine too!' but Daniel quickly cupped his hand over the boy's mouth to prevent ammunition for gossips.

The sound of Magistrate Hamberton's gavel broke through the spectators' laughter.

‘Am obliged to you, young lady. The court shall duly record this identification of Jakob Andersen by
a respectable young citizen
.'

The tipstaff nodded sagely and a clerk scratched away with his quill.

Jake gave the children a broad smile. Keziah saw how proud he was that his children were publicly standing by him, but her anxiety grew when the hawk-eyed prosecutor fired a barrage of questions at him.

‘You concede you were a close friend of the late, infamous bushranger Gypsy Gem Smith? That you have in your possession this bushranger's horse Sarishan, the same racehorse you trained to win Terence Ogden's silver cup in 1839, some
four years
ago? That The Gypsy later gave you Sarishan in payment for services you rendered him when you supplied him with arms and food?'

Keziah looked at Daniel in horror.
How will Jake get out of all this?

Hamberton waved his hand in Jake's direction. ‘One answer in turn will be sufficient.'

Jake wasted no time. ‘First off, I don't deny I first met Gem Smith some six years ago.'

The prosecutor's response was immediate. ‘Transported in chains, was he not?'

‘Like many of the best of us.' Jake tried to cover his hasty choice of words. ‘I'm friend to any man, bond or free, who's done me no harm. We shared an interest in horses.'