The Boys from Binjiwunyawunya by Robert G. Barrett Read Free Book Online Page A

agree.’
    â€˜Yeah,’ agreed Yarrawulla. ‘Your brother’s a good bloke and all that. But when it comes to parting with a bit of gilt, Les wouldn’t give you frostbite if he owned Antarctica.’
    â€˜I’ve got to agree with you there,’ laughed Murray, ‘but he said whatever you want. Thirty, forty grand.’ Murray gave his shoulders a bit of a shrug. ‘Whatever.’
    â€˜Forty grand. Shit!’ Tjalkalieri smiled at the others. ‘This Price Galese must want this Kilby bloke out of the way badly.’
    â€˜He does. But like I said, if you’re interested you’ve got to be ready to go on Thursday.’ Murray drained his bottle of Fourex. ‘Anyway, why don’t you talk it over amongst yourselves. I’ll go and get another beer.’
    Murray went to the double fridge in the kitchen, got himself a Fourex and sat back down while Tjalkalieri, Mumbi and Yarrawulla rattled away between them in their native tongue. Murray could speak quite a few native dialects but he knew absolutely nothing about this one. So he sat there sipping his beer in silence while the others earnestly discussed his offer. After a few minutes the discussion ceased and once more the three pairs of piercing blue eyes were studying him closely.
    â€˜Well. What do you reckon?’ asked Murray, returning their stares.
    Tjalkalieri nodded his head slowly for a moment before answering. ‘Yeah, we’ve thought it over. We’ll do it. Mind you, it sounds like this one could be quite a bit of mucking around — and we’re not real keen on having to go all the way down to Sydney. But we’ll do it. Fifty grand though, Murray. We feel this Price Galese fellow can afford it.’
    â€˜Fair enough. Fifty grand it is.’
    Tjalkalieri raised his bottle and the others did the same. ‘Well. Here’s to Sydney,’ he said.
    â€˜Yeah. And Percy Kilby,’ said Murray, raising his Fourex also.
    â€˜It’ll be the late Percy Kilby around this time next week,’ added Mumbi, with a bit of a sinister smile. Murray smiled back and they finished their beers.
    As if on cue, the girls reappeared and resumed whatever they were doing amongst the pots and pans. Koodja took away the empties on the coffee table and replaced them with four fresh beers, giving Murray an odd but sweet smile as she put his Fourex down in front of him.
    â€˜Brascoe still in the same place?’ asked Murray, getting to his feet a couple of seconds after she went back into the kitchen.
    â€˜Yeah. Down the corridor, second on your left,’ replied Yarrawulla.
    Murray clomped down the corridor, used the toilet, then sat back down in the lounge room and continued drinking.
    â€˜So what’s Les got in mind about us getting down to Sydney?’ asked Tjalkalieri. ‘I suppose we’ll have to drive up to Mt Isa and catch a plane.’
    â€˜No. He mentioned something about that old airstrip the Yanks built out near Boulia. I think he’s going to charter a plane and fly out there and pick you up.’
    â€˜Jesus. This is very Frederick Forsyth, isn’t it?’ said Mumbi.
    â€˜Who?’
    â€˜Don’t worry about it, Muzz.’
    â€˜Do you want to ring Les now and tell him we’ve agreed?’ Tjalkalieri nodded towards the phone on an old desk out in the corridor.
    Murray took a quick glance at his watch. ‘No, it’s a bit early yet. He’s probably down having a few beers. I’ll wait till after tea.’
    â€˜Yeah. It should be ready soon. Hey Numidi. How long before tea’s ready?’
    â€˜About fifteen minutes,’ came a voice from the kitchen.
    â€˜Lovely,’ smiled Tjalkalieri. ‘Time for another one.’
    They finished another beer and Numidi called them into the kitchen where they spread themselves around the old cedar table, with Murray in the guest spot at the end facing