Hammond Innes - Campbell's Kingdom

I got slowly to my feet wondering why he should have bothered to come all the way up with it. But as soon as I’d read it I knew why. It was from my lawyers. Henry Fergus instituting proceedings against you in civil courts for fraudulently gaining possession mineral rights Campbell’s Kingdom mortgaged to Roger Fergus. Essential you return Calgary soonest. Willing to act for you provided assured your financial position. Please advise us immediately. Grange and Letour, solicitors. I looked up at Trevedian. ‘You know the contents, of course?’

He hesitated, but there was no point in his denying it. ‘Yes,’ he said. ‘If you care to let me have your reply I’ll see that it’s sent off.’ There was a note of satisfaction in his voice, though he tried to conceal it. I wondered which of the boys kept him informed about what was happening on the rig. The timing was too good for it to be coincidence.

‘What is it?’ Jean asked.

I handed her the wire. It was passed from hand to hand. And as I watched them reading it I knew that this was the end of any hope I might have had of getting them to drill deeper. With the mineral rights themselves in doubt the ground was cut away from under my feet. And yet… I was thinking of Sarah Garret and what she had said there in my room that night.

‘So they’re starting to work on you,’ Garry said.

‘I’ve ample proof of what happened,’ I said.

‘Sure, you have — that is till you see what the witnesses themselves are willing to say in the box. I’m sorry, Bruce,’ he added. ‘But looks like they’re going to put you through the mincer now.’

‘Fergus told me to give you a message,’ Trevedian said. ‘Settle the whole business out of court, sell the Kingdom and he’ll give you the $50,000 he originally offered.’

I didn’t say anything. I was still thinking about Sarah Garret. Had she meant it? But I knew she had. She’d not only meant it, but she wanted to help. I went over to the desk and scribbled a reply.

As I finished it Garry’s voice suddenly broke the tense silence of the room: ‘Two thousand dollars a vehicle! You must be crazy.’

I turned and saw that he’d taken Trevedian on one side. Trevedian was smiling. ‘If you want to get your trucks down, that’s what it’s going to cost you.’

Garry stared at him. The muscles of his arms tightened. ‘You know damn well I couldn’t pay it. I’m broke. We’re all of us broke.’ He took a step towards Trevedian. ‘Now then, suppose you quote me a proper price for the use of the hoist.’

Trevedian was back at the open door now. Through the window I saw he hadn’t come alone. Three of his men were waiting for him out there.

Garry had seen them too and his voice was under control as he said, ‘For God’s sake be reasonable, Trevedian.’

‘Reasonable! By God I’m only getting back what it cost us to repair the road after you’d been through.’

‘I didn’t have anything to do with that,’ Garry said.

‘No?’ Trevedian laughed. ‘It was just coincidence that your trucks were in the Kingdom by the time we’d cleared the rubble of that fall. Okay. You didn’t use the hoist. You had nothing to do with blocking the road.’ He leaned slightly forward, his round head sunk between his shoulders, his voice hard. ‘I suppose you’ll tell me you packed the whole damned outfit up the pony trail. Well, pack ‘em down the same way if you don’t like my terms. See which costs you most in the end.’ He turned to me. ‘What will I tell Fergus?’ he asked.

I hesitated, glancing round the room. They were all watching me, all except Jean who had turned her face away and Garry who was so angry that I was afraid for the moment that he would rush Trevedian.

‘Well?’

I turned to Trevedian. ‘Tell him,’ I said, ‘that I’m going to seek an injunction to restrain him from flooding the Kingdom. And let him know that if he doesn’t want to lose any more money he’d better stop work on the dam and the power station until he knows what the courts decide. And you might have this wire sent off for me.’ I handed him the slip of paper.

He took it automatically. I think he was too astonished to speak. Then he glanced down at the message and read it. ‘You’re crazy,’ he said. ‘You haven’t the dough to start an action like this.’

‘I think I have.’

‘Well, whether you have or not is immaterial,’ he said harshly. ‘No Canadian court is going to grant you an injunction against the damming up of a useless bit of territory like this. You don’t seem to realise what you’re up against. This dam is going to open up a big mining industry, feed a whole new area with’-’

‘I know quite well what I’m up against,’ I said, suddenly losing control of myself. ‘I’m up against a bunch of crooks who don’t stop at falsifying surveys, setting fire to fuel tankers, trespassing on other people’s property, shooting and attempting to expropriate land that doesn’t belong to them. It hadn’t occurred to me to start legal proceedings. But if Fergus wants it that way, he can have it. Tell him I’m fighting him every inch of the ground. Tell him that what we’ve proved already by drilling, together with Win-nick’s evidence, will be enough to satisfy any Canadian court. And by the time he’s got his dam finished I’ll have brought in a well up here. Now get out.’

Trevedian hesitated, a bewildered expression on his face. ‘Then why does Keogh want to get his trucks down?’

‘Because we’re just about through here,’ I said quickly. ‘Now get the hell out of here and tell your boss, Henry Fergus, that the gloves are off.’

He stood there, his mouth half open as though he was about to say something further. ‘You heard what Wetheral said.’ Garry was moving towards him, his hands low at his side, the fingers crooked, expressive of his urgent desire to throw Trevedian through the doorway. The boys were closing in on him, too. He turned suddenly and ducked through the doorway.

For a moment we all stood there without moving. Then Garry came over and grasped my hand. ‘By God, I got to hand it to you,’ he said.

I pushed my hand wearily across my face. ‘It was all bluff,’ I said.

He peered down at me. ‘How do you mean? Aren’t you going to fight ‘em?’

‘Yes, of course I’m going to fight them.’ I suddenly felt very tired. I think it was the knowledge that I’d got to go back to Calgary.

‘Did you really mean you’d got a backer?’ Clif asked.

‘Yes.’ I looked across at Jean. ‘Would you make me up a parcel of food?’

She nodded slowly. ‘You’re going to Calgary?’

‘Yes.’ I turned back to Garry. ‘You’re willing to go on drilling?’

He looked round at his crew. ‘And why not, eh, boys? We go on drilling till we have to swim for it? That right?’ They were suddenly all grinning and shouting agreement. ‘We’re right with you, Bruce.’ There was a gleam in his eyes and he added, ‘I’d sure like to get even with that bastard.’ And then the gleam died away. There’s one or two things though. We’ve only got fuel for four more days of drilling. We’re getting short of food up here, too. There’s a whole lot of things we need.’

‘I know,’ I said. ‘Make out a list of your requirements for another month. Get hold of Boy, tell him to hire the pack animals Johnnie and I had before. He’s to have them corralled at Wessels Farm the other side of Beaver Dam Lake in three days’ time — that’s the 8th August. I’ll meet him there. Tell him to have all the supplies laid on ready. I’ll wire him the money at Keithley.’

‘I’ll do that.’ His big hand gripped my shoulder. ‘You look like you aren’t strong enough to hold your own against a puff of wind. But by God you’re tougher than I am.’ He turned towards the door. ‘C’m on, boys. We’ll get the rig started up again.’ He waved his hand to me. ‘Good luck!’ he said. ‘And just keep your fingers crossed in case this sill goes deep.’