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Tom Lloyd slipped me the note when I handed him his drink and I knew it would be from Joe. The coppers had been keeping a keener eye on The Commercial of late, coming in and pretending to be just visitors in town with no clue that everyone knew exactly who they were. It would have been funny if it hadn’t meant that Joe wasn’t able to come in quite as often as I would have liked. On the pretence of getting more whiskey, I hastened to the storeroom to read Joe’s note in private. 

      Kate,

Will you come and see me tomorrow? I shall be waiting by the Woolshed road around ten tomorrow morning.

      Joe

 

Time alone with Joe – I could feel my cheeks burning as I went back into the bar and nodded to Tom Lloyd in answer to his questioning look. He smiled and winked and I was quite embarrassed. Old O’Brien, at his usual spot by the bar, noticed my flustered state and chuckled.  

“Secret tryst after closing time, huh lass? If I was thirty years younger, I wouldn’t mind tryin’ me luck too!”  

Tom countered with “I don’t think Mrs. O’Brien would be very happy to hear you say that!” and everyone around the bar laughed. It was a well-know fact that Mrs. O’Brien regarded her husband as quite the prize catch still and had been known to give many a bemused young woman a lashing of her tongue when she suspected them of giving him the eye.  

“Well I meant if I were unspoken for of course…” Old O’Brien suddenly remembered that he was expected elsewhere, emptying his glass hastily and taking his leave. A few others followed suit and Tom hung around long enough to help me drag out the last couple that needed to be helped onto their horses.  

I was up bright and early the next morning; I always went to Mass on Sundays, not because I was worried for my soul but because my life was easier when I was seen to do ‘the right thing’. It was a small price to pay to have a bit of freedom, so I smiled and nodded my way through the crowd outside the church, thinking to myself that I would soon be with Joe and not even blushing at the thought of what I hoped we would be doing. 

I set out on my walk after a bit of breakfast, it was quite early still but I was too restless to settle down to anything. The sky was a brilliant blue with a promise of heat already in the air despite the early hour and I hummed to myself as I walked along the quiet road. I stepped aside when I heard a horse approaching and was slightly taken aback when I heard the rider slowing down.  

“Good morning, Kate,” a cheerful voice called out and I cringed inwardly. Constable Dan Kennedy was a recent arrival in Beechworth and seemed to have taken an interest in me, despite all my efforts at discouraging him.  

“Morning Constable,” I replied with a polite smile.  

“Please call me Dan, Kate. Where are you off to?”  

For a brief moment I was tempted to say: “I’m meeting an outlaw for him to have his wicked way with me” just to see the look on his face but of course I didn’t. Instead I said the first thing that came to my head. “I’m meeting up with my brother, to visit with some relatives.”  

He smiled and got down from his horse. “I’ll walk with you then, make sure you’re safe and all.” I could have cried with frustration. A police escort was the last thing I needed. 

On we walked in the beautiful morning sunshine and I tried to think of excuses to get rid of my unwelcome companion before we came upon Joe but nothing came to me. Constable Kennedy seemed in a good mood and didn’t notice anything amiss, keeping up a steady chatter that I tried my best to keep up with without sounding too rude. And then we rounded a bend and there was Joe, sitting on a rock by the road, smoking, his horse grazing next to him. My heart stopped. 

“There’s your brother!” Constable Kennedy exclaimed, obviously delighted at having the chance to make a good impression on my supposed male relative. Mesmerized I watched Joe get up with a smile on his face.  

“There you are, Kate! I was starting to worry you weren’t coming! And accompanied by the police – you haven’t gone and gotten yourself in trouble, have you?” For the life of me I couldn’t get a word out and stood by and watched in fascinated horror as the two men took care of the talking.  

“No, of course she’s not in trouble,” Constable Kennedy said to Joe, smiling and obviously not having the faintest idea who he was speaking to, “I met up with her on the road and thought I’d escort her; it’s not really safe around here with the Kelly Gang on the loose and everything.”  

Joe shook his hand, all grave. “Well I really appreciate that, Constable. You never know who you might come across on the road these days.”   

Constable Kennedy beamed at me and got back on his horse. “Well, I’ll be off then now that you’re safely in the hands of your brother Kate. Goodbye!” 

Joe and I stood quiet for a moment, watching Constable Kennedy’s horse disappear round the next bend in the road.  

“I’m surprised at you Kate, lying to the Law like that,” Joe said as his hands were touching me in anything but a brotherly way.  

“I never said you were my brother, he just thought you were after I’d told him I was meeting my brother… Honestly Joe, what if he’d recognised you?” I lost my concentration for a moment as his lips moved down my neck.  

Joe chuckled. “Well I knew he’d never seen me before and people usually believe what they expect to see and he wasn’t expecting to see Joe Byrne. And I think we had better move off this road now lass because if we don’t, I’ll give your Constable friend more than enough reason to lock me up, whether he knows who I am or not!” 

Not much later we found ourselves by a little billabong in the bush.  

“What do you say we go for a swim,” Joe said and if I had been feeling hot before it was nothing compared to the way I felt when he started undressing me. I was half expecting steam to rise from the water when Joe carried me in, I was sure my skin was hot enough.  

“I can’t swim, Joe,” I said slightly alarmed when he kept going further in.  

“Trust me lass, I won’t let you drown,” he said softly and I wound my legs around him. He stopped and smiled and then he kissed me till I was completely breathless.  

“My beautiful girl,” he murmured and let his hands glide all over me. Joe’s hands were hardened by leather like any horseman’s yet they were incredibly soft and gentle when he touched me. It was the most sensual thing I had ever experienced, the water enfolding us both in its soft coolness and Joe’s hands, gently exploring and making my skin tingle. I let my hands wander too, making Joe gasp when I touched him and brought him to me. The water moved with us as we rocked against each other, Joe’s hands on my hips and my fingers tangled in his hair and the whole of Victoria Police could have descended on us at that moment and we wouldn’t even have noticed. 

Afterwards we lay on the warm grass and smiled into each other’s eyes.  

“Same time next week then Joe?” I said dreamily and he winked.  

“Aye lass but you better tell me who I’m supposed to be, just in case someone else decides to join you on the road and you’re making up stories again.” My laughter echoed around the trees and startled a flock of parrots that rose into the sky screeching indignantly. I rolled on top of him.  

“I think I prefer you as Joe Byrne, the dashing outlaw with a way with the ladies. Can you show me again how you got that reputation?” He pulled me into a dizzying kiss and proceeded to do just that and I would have been hard put to find a better way to spend my Sunday morning.