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Back The Orchardist's Daughter Save as PDF
Chapters (57)
  1. COVER PAGE
  2. PRAISE
  3. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  4. DEDICATION
  5. PROLOGUE
  6. PART I SEEDS
  7. 1
  8. 2
  9. 3
  10. 4
  11. 5
  12. 6
  13. 7
  14. 8
  15. PART II GERMINATION
  16. 9
  17. 10
  18. 11
  19. 12
  20. 13
  21. 14
  22. 15
  23. 16
  24. 17
  25. 18
  26. 19
  27. 20
  28. PART III GROWTH
  29. 21
  30. 22
  31. 23
  32. 24
  33. 25
  34. 26
  35. 27
  36. 28
  37. 29
  38. 30
  39. 31
  40. 32
  41. PART IV UNDERSTOREY
  42. 33
  43. 34
  44. 35
  45. 36
  46. 37
  47. 38
  48. 39
  49. 40
  50. 41
  51. 42
  52. 43
  53. 44
  54. 45
  55. 46
  56. EPILOGUE
  57. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

On his way along the track, he came across the dugover area again and decided to take a look. He went closer, elbowing through scrub. The diggings were strangely uniform with squared-off corners as if something had been buried there. Curious, he kneeled and started to scoop with his hands, pulling away clods of dirt. It was filthy work and soon he was coated in mud, so he found a fallen branch to poke and gouge. He struck something and squatted to shove his hand in the soil. He felt plastic but couldn’t pull it up—there was still too much soil—so he dug until he started to expose a transparent plastic bag with cream-coloured cloth bags inside. The cloth bags had an imprint on them. Were they bank bags? He tugged the plastic bag free, undid the loose knot in its neck and pulled out a cloth bag, opening the ties to reveal bundles of notes.

Something was skipping in his chest now: a feeling of dread. This could be quite a stash. He knew he should cover it up straight away and get out of here. Hand over to the police. The dope plantation probably belonged to some loggers who’d put it in after cutting the forest nearby. They would kill him they found him here. What the fuck was he doing?

As he replaced the bags and began to kick dirt over the hole, another possibility occurred to him, and his heart ratcheted. He remembered Miki saying that Kurt often came up here shooting while she stayed at the car. Leon’s mind was clicking over quickly now. Miki had mentioned unexplained money going into one of Kurt’s bank accounts.

Everything began to make sense. If it was Kurt’s marijuana plantation, no wonder he had business in Hobart: he had to sell off his crop. It would be hard to hide all the takings, and he wouldn’t be able to spend the money in town—too obvious—so maybe he had buried some of the proceeds here. He could also be laundering his drug money at the casino on his weekly visits to the city. It tied in with the cash deposits Miki had noticed. Leon was shocked by the logic of it all.

Thunder rolled as he hurriedly covered the hole. The drizzle was thickening, and any time now he would get drenched. Another crack of thunder sounded. Hopefully he would make it back to the car before the bottom fell out of the sky.

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