Chapter 4 

It was the longest week of my life, every day more news came and even wilder rumours, it was hard to know what had actually happened and who had done what. The only thing that didn’t change was that four policemen had gone in to the Wombat Ranges to arrest Ned and Dan Kelly for the attempted murder of Constable Fitzpatrick and now three of those policemen were dead. I heard they started a general subscription in Mansfield to build them a memorial in the main street; they were hailed as heroes while the Kelly Gang were the Devil incarnate. The papers reported that Sergeant Kennedy’s ear had been cut off and that his body had been fired into several times, the gang members supposedly sharing the bloodguilt so that it wouldn’t matter who had actually fired the fatal shots. I didn’t want to believe any of it but it was becoming harder not to as the days wore on. I tried not to lose hope but when the following Saturday came and there was still no sign of Joe, I thought he really had left Victoria for good like Aaron said. 

It was with heavy steps that I made my way home from The Vine, oblivious to everything around me. When I finally reached my door I was startled by Joe who suddenly stood in front of me.  

“Am I still welcome here?” he asked in a quiet voice and for a moment I just stared at him. His face was pale and his eyes had a haunted look to them but it was still him, and with a cry I threw myself into his arms.  

“I thought I’d never see you again,” I whispered against his jacket as his arms went around me. He picked me up and carried me inside, never once letting go of me as he sat us down on my bed.  

“Oh Eileen,” he whispered against my hair and for a long moment we just sat there, holding each other tight. 

“They meant to kill us Eileen,” Joe said and once he started talking it seemed he couldn’t stop. “They had enough ammunition for a small army and they had no intention of taking prisoners. They had everything set up for taking dead bodies back, I saw the straps myself.” He shuddered. “Now the newspapers are making them into heroes and where does that leave us? Are we no better than animals that must be shot when they become a nuisance? I tell you Eileen, we didn’t go looking for them, they came looking for us. Ned called on them to surrender; all we wanted was their guns. Christ, Steve and I weren’t even armed! If only they had surrendered...” Distraught, he raked his fingers through his hair.  

“Oh Joe, you know they won’t leave you be now, not after this. What will you do, where will you go?” I think a part of me was hoping he would say we would leave together, go to New South Wales or Queensland, America even – I would have followed him to the ends of the earth if he had only asked me. But of course he didn’t. That wasn’t what Joe Byrne was about.  

So instead he said: “I’m not going anywhere lass. You know I can’t leave. I started on this road and I will see it through, no matter where it leads. I can’t abandon Ned and the boys, you understand that don’t you?” There was so much more in his eyes than just that simple question which really was not simple at all and all I could say was “yes Joe, I do understand” when I just wanted to beg him to leave Victoria and take me with him. He smiled then and I threaded my fingers in his hair. “Let’s not speak about it anymore then. I’ve missed you Eileen…” His mouth sought mine and we shared a long, tender kiss. His fingers were working on taking my dress off and when his lips moved down my throat, I could feel the familiar heat rising from the pit of my belly. I went to unbutton his trousers but his hands stayed me. “Not yet lass… let me love you first,” he whispered and laid me down. “You are so beautiful…” He was kneeling next to the bed, his hands stroking up and down my body and when his mouth closed on my breast, gently sucking, I was lost.  

“Joe…” I could hardly get a coherent word out. He briefly lifted his head to look at me.  

“Please Eileen, I need to love you, will you let me?”  

It would not even have occurred to me to say no, whatever it was that he was proposing to do I knew Joe would never hurt me and there was such need in his voice that I just nodded and closed my eyes. 

And love me he did. When his mouth first touched me I was shocked, I didn’t know that men did such things to women and my eyes flew open. When I looked down at him the look on his face made my heart stop, it was so full of love and reverence I had never seen anything like it and I think I understood why he needed to do it. And then the pleasure took over and I was laughing and crying at the same time. When I was finally still again, Joe took me in his arms and we came together with such tenderness I had tears streaming down my face. He kissed them away and held on to me like we were both drowning and our only hope was each other and that’s how we drifted off to sleep as the first light of day was starting to creep in through my little window. 

Later I realized he had already started saying goodbye to me then. 

When Joe was leaving I looked him in the eye and asked: “When will I see you again?” It was the first time I had ever asked him that but he didn’t seem surprised.  

He hugged me to him and said: “As soon as I can manage it lass. You know the coppers are after us, I’ll have to be even more careful now.” He pulled away a bit to look at me. “Do you know Tom Lloyd?”  

I nodded. “I’ve seen him at The Vine.”  

Joe took hold of my hand. “If ever you need to get a message to me, talk to Tom. He’s Ned’s cousin and he knows where to find me. I’d trust him with my life.” I was relieved that he didn’t tell me to speak to Aaron because I really didn’t like him, especially after the way he had talked to me the last time I saw him. Even so, I saw no reason to tell Joe about it, I guess I figured he had enough things to worry about already. 

Things got really hard in the following weeks. The Parliament passed an Act of Outlawry on Friday, 15 November, declaring the whole Kelly gang outlaws who could be shot on sight by anyone, no questions asked. Only Ned and Dan Kelly were mentioned by name as the police didn’t know yet that the other two were Joe and Steve Hart. They also increased the price on their heads and I cried when I saw the posters stuck on the walls all around Beechworth. Mr. Vandenberg refused to put any of them on his walls and I really loved him for it. I think he worried about me and was trying to make life easier for me any way he could. I kept reading the papers even though I hated what I read but I just had to know what they were saying. My beautiful Joe was now an outlaw and I just couldn’t understand how it had all happened. 

Later that week Tom Lloyd came into The Vine. He was a polite mild-mannered man and I had always found him most pleasant.  

“Hello Eileen,” he said as if we had known each other for all our lives.  

“Hello Tom,” I answered back and gave him a smile, “all well?”  

He glanced around before replying “aye lass” and motioned for me to move to the other end of the bar where it was less crowded. He looked me straight in the eye and asked: “Have you seen Aaron Sherritt around? I have heard rumours that he’s getting very friendly with the coppers of late.”  

I felt a cold hand squeeze my heart. “He hasn’t been in for a couple of days.”  

Tom gave me a long look. “Keep an eye on him, lass.”  I knew what he was saying. It was all different now, Joe was an outlaw and if I could help him in any way, I would. Tom emptied his glass. “Saturday, lass.” He lowered his voice. “He’ll try and get to see you then.” I felt like I could have hugged him and I guess he saw the look on my face because he said “lucky Joe,” smiled and walked out. 

I became even more suspicious of Aaron after that, I knew Joe considered him a friend but I thought there would be no harm in keeping my eyes open like Tom had asked. I also kept my ears open, listening to the talk around the bar, and I was relieved to hear that there was a lot of sympathy for the Kelly Gang. People saw them as standing up for the rights of the common man and a lot of them had similar experiences with being harassed by the coppers and so could easily understand Ned’s grievances. Throwing Ned’s mother in jail with a baby at her breast on the evidence of Constable Fitzpatrick who was a known drunkard and a liar had made people even more distrustful of the police. 

Saturday night at The Vine was always busy and Mary often came to help at the bar. We had a friendship of sorts; we never saw each other elsewhere but got along well while working and would have a bit of a chat and a laugh whenever we could spare a moment. 

 “You’re looking very happy tonight Eileen – expecting company later, are you?” She winked at me. We were getting more beer from the cellar and I was pleased about the semi-darkness as I could feel myself blush. But Mary had sharp eyes. “You are! I knew it – come on tell me, who is it?” I was wondering if I should tell her or not when her eyes suddenly widened. “It’s Joe Byrne, isn’t it?! That’s why you were asking me about him before!” I didn’t see any point in denying it so I nodded and couldn’t help a little smile. “You lucky girl!” She gave me a hug and then her face went all serious. “Though it must be hard for you now, I’m sorry.” And then her face lit up in a mischievous smile. “Now I understand why he hasn’t been around the other bars lately… I hear Kate at The Hibernian is quite cross.” She giggled and I must have had the widest smile on my face. Joe was coming to see me tonight, not Kate or anybody else, me. 

It was a warm clear night and I walked home with light steps, thinking about Joe waiting for me, and my blood quickened. When I heard the horse behind me I stopped, thinking he had become impatient waiting and had come to meet me, and I turned around with a smile on my face. But it wasn’t Joe. There, reining in his horse, was Aaron.