'Yeah, looks like they aren't bad off, alright. Just look at the size of the house!' Simpson agreed, looking across the lawn to the huge old house.

'S'pose the blokes will have their own ideas about this latest fire,' Bennett remarked. 'Wanna bet money on it that Karl Mason'll want us to haul those smart a.r.s.e brats in for questioning?'

Simpson gave a low chuckle. 'He's h.e.l.l bent on blamin' them, isn't he? s.h.i.t, they're proper little b.a.s.t.a.r.ds though. Did ya hear the c.o.c.ky way that eldest one spoke to us when we went 'round there last time?'

'Yeah, I'd love five minutes alone with that little p.r.i.c.k!' Bennett said, knocking on the front door.

Hazel told them the men were out the back of the property going through the remains of the fire. She directed them and, thanking her, they made their way around the house and down to where Karl and the others were scouring the area for any clues.

Sam, Des and Eric were there along with Arthur and Robert.

'So, let me guess,' Bennett said after greeting them. 'There's no clue as to who lit this fire either!'

'Nope!' was Karl's response.

'Listen, mate.' Digger came straight to the point; he didn't like the detective's arrogant att.i.tude. 'You blokes have to talk to those kids again. We understand that you'se can't go bargin' 'round to their house and accuse 'em outright. But right now we all think they're the ones most likely to do this. We can't afford to turn a blind eye to it. Look around you for f.u.c.k's sake, the whole valley's ripe! We don't need any stupid a.r.s.ehole lightin' f.u.c.kin' fires! If it is the kids, they aren't thinkin' of the repercussions of doin this, they'd only be thinking of the prank side of it and how funny they think it is. Ya gotta put the fear o' G.o.d in 'em at least!'

The others all chimed in, each having a say.

'Yeah!' Sam's voice was the loudest. 'At the very least scare the tripe out of 'em. Like Dig said, we got no proof, but if it's them they have ta be stopped. Listen mate, we can't let this go. The longer they get away with it, the gamer they're gonna get and then who knows what they'll do. Strewth, the last thing we need is a b.l.o.o.d.y bushfire!'

Simpson raised his hand to call a stop. 'Okay, okay, we understand and we'll be talking to them again,' he replied in a placating tone. 'But let me ask you this... What if you're wrong? What if it's someone else? Have you considered that?'

Karl moved forward to stand in front of Simpson. He looked the detective straight in his eyes. 'Yeah, we talked about that. Let me tell you this... If we get our hands on the b.a.s.t.a.r.d, whoever he is, he won't light another b.l.o.o.d.y fire!' Karl raised his eyebrows to seal his point.

Simpson and Karl stood eye to eye. Digger, standing behind Karl, put his hand on Karl's shoulder and gripped hard, a warning for Karl to back off. They didn't need Karl to be arrested for a.s.saulting a cop.

'Well, you blokes better let us know if you come across anything suspicious. Don't take matters into your own hands.' Bennett had stepped back, watching to see how far Karl Mason would go. 'Our advice is to keep a very close eye on things and report to us! There's nothing we can do until we have something to go on. At this stage all we can do is make a report. We'll go now and look in on the youngsters. Let you know if we get anywhere with them.'

'f.u.c.kin' b.a.s.t.a.r.ds! They don't give a s.h.i.t! What good are they? What good did they do comin' here this mornin'? Tell me that! All they did was stand and look around,' ranted Karl.

'Thought you were gonna knock that Simpson's block off there for a minute, mate.' Sam said 'Yeah, good thing Dig was behind ya,' Arthur added. 'Last thing we want is to have ta bail ya outta gaol for a.s.saultin' a cop!'

'Friggin' fool he is. A bloke shoulda belted him one; it'd be worth a night in gaol just to have the satisfaction!' snarled Karl.

'Well, try to keep your head when ya around 'em, mate. None of us have much time for 'em but it's no use getting' on their wrong side. It won't help matters,' Sam said. 'Now, seein' as this is the third fire and the biggest, we better be on watch. We don't want another one. We need a strategy. Me, Des and Eric are doin' a walk 'round the place, checkin' everythin' before we go to bed every night. We're keepin' a real close watch on things. You'se blokes do the same. No one'll come on the property if they get wind that we're all out and about, surely.'

'Yeah, and if they do then we'll have 'em!' added Des.

They came to the decision to do rounds of their properties every night and check all the sheds before going to bed. If word got around they were doing these patrols, then the culprit or culprits would hopefully stop the arson attacks in fear of being seen or caught in the act.

Ellie had been to the pictures with a friend. Rock a Bye Baby, a comedy, starring funnyman Jerry Lewis, was showing at the Regent Theatre. It was hilarious and Ellie had thoroughly enjoyed it.

She pulled into a service station for petrol on her way home. A car pulled in behind her and kept its lights on. After paying for her petrol, she pulled out to go home. So did the car behind her. She didn't take any notice until she was approaching the Centaur Road turn off. It was then that she realised the car was actually following her.

It came up close behind her Volkswagon then dropped back again. Ellie kept glancing in the rear vision mirror but couldn't make out the type of car. The headlights were so bright that they blinded her. 'Turn your b.l.o.o.d.y high beam off, you idiot!' she cursed.

As she turned off Urana Road into Centaur Road, the car following her pulled to the side of the road near the bridge that crossed over Bungambrawatha creek and stopped, still keeping its headlights on high.

Ellie put her foot down, thankful she was close to home. She sped the short distance up Centaur Road to Kia-Ora, not slowing down to turn into the driveway. The little volksie slid as the wheels. .h.i.t the gravel. Ellie didn't care, she was thankful to finally be home. She quickly grabbed her handbag and bolted inside. Up in her room she pulled the blind down before turning on the light.

Her reflection in the dressing table mirror showed a pale and frightened face. 'Who the h.e.l.l was that?' she wondered. Quickly, she undressed and got into bed.

A few minutes later, she heard a car come slowly along the road. She stiffened. Fear crept through her. The car stopped out the front of Kia-Ora; its motor idled loudly.

It seemed to Ellie that it was there for ages, but in all, it would have only been seconds, then just as slowly, it drove away.

'What the h.e.l.l is going on here in the Valley? ' she whispered, staring into the darkness of her room.

Next morning, she told Win about the previous night's event.

'I was frightened, Win. I couldn't get a look at the make of the car, but it was bigger than the volksie and noisy.'

'This isn't good Ellie, you must ring the police.'

'Yes, I will. Don't you think this is strange? I mean, three unexplained fires, Kath's fright in the orchard and now this?'

'Yes, it's too coincidental and think of this, Ellie, those d.a.m.n kids don't drive!'

Ellie stared at her sister for a second, then what she just said hit her. 'I didn't think of that Win, maybe though it's some relative or friend of theirs trying to scare me because it's common knowledge the men have been blaming them for the fires.'

'That's a thought. But we don't know, so go and ring the police and when the men come in later we can tell them.'

'You didn't notice anyone watchin' you?' Digger asked after Ellie finished telling them about her fright.

'No, Fay and I went to the Riverina Cafe for a cuppa afterwards. I didn't pay attention to anyone else. Being a week night, it was really very quiet.'

'This isn't good, Dig. First Kath, now Ellie, what b.l.o.o.d.y next?' Karl said.

'What'd the cops say when you reported it?' Digger asked.

'Not much. I asked to speak to Detective Bennett, but he was out, so a constable took my statement and said he would pa.s.s it on to Bennett. Do you think it could be a.s.sociated with the three fires?'

'Maybe. The thing is, we don't know... We just don' know!' Karl dragged on his cigarette and then ground it out savagely in the ashtray. 'Strewth, this's all we b.l.o.o.d.y need right on Christmas! Don't mention it to Dad, will you?'

They had to keep Dave calm for fear of further asthma attacks. The fires had distressed him enough without this on top of it.

CHAPTER FIVE.

It was Friday evening. The remainder of the week had pa.s.sed without further incidence and, after dinner, Karl and Digger sat talking about the fruit picking with Dave.

Win was glued to the television; her favorite comedy, I Love Lucy, was on. Emmie was showing Ellie how to master a crochet st.i.tch, and Tammi, Kathy and Francis were chatting about the coming Christmas dance.

They enjoyed a pleasant evening. Then Karl and Digger went out to do their final check on everything before heading off to bed. Digger had to be up at daybreak. He was going out to Henty a small country town that was about a forty-five minute drive from Albury along the Olympic Highway to do some brickwork for the publican who was doing extensions to his pub.

Karl and Dave had plans to go into town to get some supplies from Farmers and Graziers. Win, however, decided to sit outside in the cool air for a little bit longer as it was still only nine o'clock.

'Night, Win.' Ellie poked her head around the corner.

'G'night, Ellie. I'm just going to sit a bit longer.'

The house grew silent.

'It really is lovely here,' Win thought. Evening was the perfect time to relax and gather your thoughts. The stars were out and she let her thoughts drift to her plans for Christmas. She didn't like to think about it, but nevertheless she couldn't help thinking that this could well be the last Christmas with her father. His health was certainly deteriorating.

Towser came bounding up to her. He flopped himself beside her, snorted once, and went to sleep. She sat there thinking about the past weeks and everything that had happened.

Suddenly, Towser lifted his head. His nose twitched as he sniffed the air. Abruptly, he sat up.

'What is it, fella?' Win whispered. Towser edged his way forward, a low growl rumbling in his throat. Winnie nervously leant forward in her chair.

'What's wrong, fella? What can you see? Is it a possum?'

Towser didn't move from his spot at the edge of the veranda, but he remained alert and watchful, every now and then wagging his tail. A p.r.i.c.kle of fear ran down Win's spine Win stared out into the inky blackness of the yard, concentrating her gaze. She strongly sensed that someone was out there.

'Good boy, Towser,' she whispered, patting him on his head. Instinct told her to get Dig and Karl fast. Her heart raced. She left Towser where he was and quietly hurried inside. If she could get the men up quickly, they might catch whoever it was. She was certain someone was out there!

Karl and Digger raced outside. They checked around the area near the house and sheds, but there was not a sign of anyone. All the sheds were shut and, after checking inside each one, they found nothing disturbed. Shining the torches around, they couldn't see anything out of the ordinary.

'Well, coulda been a possum,' Digger said.

'Yeah, everythin' looks alright to me,' Karl replied. 'C'mon, better get back to bed. We've both got early starts.'

They went back to the house and rea.s.sured a worried Win that everything was fine.

'I felt sure someone was out there. I suppose Towser would've barked if it was a person,' she said. 'I sensed something though, I know I did.'

'It's alright, love.' Digger put an arm around her. 'We took a good look around and no-one's there. C'mon, we better hit the hay. A man's gotta get some b.l.o.o.d.y shut eye!'

Meryl Nixon was on her way home after finishing her shift as a barmaid at the local pub. She drove up Centaur Road and, when she came over the small hill just before Kia-Ora, what confronted her almost caused her to run her car off the road. There was a huge fire at Kia-Ora! As she pulled off the road and sped up the long driveway, she could see it was one of the sheds.

Skidding to a halt, she jumped out, leaving the car door swinging open. She ran to the front door. Banging her fists onto the front door, she shouted, desperate to make as much racket as she could!

It took only a few minutes, but to her it seemed like an eternity until a bleary eyed Karl opened the door.

She could barely get the words out. 'Fire Karl! Fire... Your shed...' she shouted.

Karl couldn't believe what he was hearing. Not wasting time changing out of his pyjamas, he raced to the back of the house, pointing to the phone as he went, yelling at her to ring the fire brigade.

The commotion had woken everyone else, and Digger, also in his pyjamas, was close on Karl's tail as he raced outside to try and save the shed.

It was pointless. The shed was well and truly alight, burning fiercely end to end. The heat radiating from it was intense. There was absolutely no hope of saving anything in it.

It was a wall of fire!

'The rotary hoe... h.e.l.l, the b.l.o.o.d.y thing'll be burnt.' Karl shot over to the burning shed, disregarding the heat from the inferno and grabbing the rotary hoe which was beside the shed, trying desperately to drag it away from the fire. Digger rushed after him, and, between the two of them, they struggled to move the red-hot heavy machine. Pain seared through their hands, burning their skin. They ripped off their pyjama shirts, wrapped them around the handles of the machine and heaved and tugged until they finally managed to get the rotary hoe to a safe distance from the inferno.

'No hope of savin' anythin'. It's just end to end. The b.a.s.t.a.r.ds really made a job of this one!'

Karl watched the shed collapsing in front of him. He stood helplessly listening to the sound of tin falling and gla.s.s popping.

Sam, Eric and Des arrived, breathless from running.

'b.l.o.o.d.y h.e.l.l... We thought the house was on fire!' Sam squatted down on his haunches to get his breath back and to slow the rapid pace of his heart. He'd been woken by Des, shouting that there was a huge fire down at Kia-Ora. He thought it was the house.

Fearing for the family, Sam had also shouted to Eric to wake up, and rushed off down the road.

'Thank G.o.d it isn't the house!' Eric sat on a log of wood to get his breath back.

'What can we do? Garden hoses won't put that out.'

'There's nothin' we can do!' Des looked on helplessly.

'We've gotta keep the gra.s.s around here wet so it doesn't spread, and keep a hose ready near the house too, just in case a spark gets into somethin. Betta start soakin' the roof, just to be sure. The brigade should be here any minute.' Digger felt helpless but there wasn't anything they could do to save the shed, let alone save anything in it.

'Yeah, get over there and soak down the roof of the cottage and the other sheds too!' Karl said urgently to Des and Eric.

The shrill wail of sirens could be heard gradually growing louder. Frank Smith arrived in the fire truck. The smaller water tanker followed.

Jumping from the truck and grabbing the hoses, he shouted orders to his crew. 'We'll need the big Albury tanker here. Get on the radio and tell 'em we need 'em! Tell 'em to hurry! Get that water pumpin' on this, quick as ya can!' He turned to Digger. 'What'd you have in there, mate?'

'h.e.l.l, a lot of stuff : bits of furniture, buildin' materials, tools, a few bits and pieces Em, Win and Ellie were keepin'.' Digger replied.

'Well, ya still thinkin' this was done by them kids? Coz if ya ask me I reckon ya just might be barkin' up the wrong tree. This ain't done by kids, it's been done by some b.a.s.t.a.r.d that knows what they're doin and doesn't seem to like people 'round here, 'specially you Masons!' said Frank.

'Well, Win was sittin' on the veranda up there tonight when she got a feelin' somethin' wasn't right. She came and woke us. Towser sensed somethin' but he didn't bark or take off down here. We took a look 'round but couldn't see anythin' out of the ordinary!' Dig rubbed his hand over his face in frustration. 'We thought it must've been a possum. Some b.l.o.o.d.y possum. For f.u.c.ks sake, what's a bloke gotta do to stop this b.a.s.t.a.r.d?'

'You're right, it's gone way too b.l.o.o.d.y far. This ain't done by them kids, no way. We got ourselves a mad man runnin' 'round the valley!' Sam said.

Woken by the sirens and realizing there was a fire at Kia-Ora, Arthur rushed straight up through the paddocks. He was climbing over the wire fence further over near the wood heap. The glow from the fire didn't cast enough light in this direction for any person to be properly distinguished.

'f.u.c.k me!' Nat Willis shouted. Who, with his brother and several other farmers, had also rushed to Kia-Ora to help. 'There's the a.r.s.ehole... get him!' He thundered across the yard and crash-tackled Arthur, knocking him flat on his back. Nat landed on top of him, pinning him to the ground.

The other blokes dashed after him.