SEPTEMBER 1894

Thaiter stormed through the front door. "Lucan!" he yelled. "Lucan!"

Lucan had been cutting timber for the stove and was climbing up the back stairs with an armload of wood. "Yeah, Thaiter. I'm here, I'm here. What the fuck's so urgent?" He threw the firewood into the box and turned to face his uncle. "Jesus... are you alright? What's going on?"

Thaiter slumped heavily onto a chair, his face drained of colour. "It's Lanigan. He's... he's dead."

Sliding onto a chair, Lucan laid his hands on top of the table. "What's that you're sayin'?"

"Lanigan's dead. Shot. Jacky Norman went thieving again. He knocked Missus Langtry's verandah down with an axe. Constable McLaughlin from Watsonville and Lanigan chased him. McLaughlin drew his gun and he and Jacky scuffled. The gun went off. Lanigan got hit in the chest." Thaiter paused and hung his head in his hands. "Fuck, Lucan. Not Lanigan. He was a good bloke. Jesus..." Thaiter looked up with glazed eyes. "He was engaged to the Kelly girl from Coolgarra. They was getting married tomorrow."

*****

Lucan hadn't been inside a church since Kat's funeral. This one was packed with mourners. He sat with Thaiter, Covey and Riley toward the back and searched for Lillian. She was supposed to sit with them but for some reason changed her mind. She told him she needed to be closer to the front.

He had known her for over a year and it had been months since they had first kissed. Her moods were so up and down that he never knew what to expect from her each time he saw her. Some days she was carefree and happy and on others she corrected him constantly and spoke to him like a child. Only once had she been the slightest bit intimate with him.

Thaiter had stopped asking how things were going between them. He could tell by Lucan's mood if things had gone well. "She don't pay any attention to these lads. If she's going to be their mother, you'd think she'd want ta spend time with them." Thaiter scowled a week ago.

Lucan had to agree. He would take the lads with him next time and had thought because he hadn't done this before she might think he didn't want her to get to know them properly.

He tried to focus on what the Reverend was saying, something about God being merciful and taking Edward Lanigan quickly and without suffering. Lucan huffed. The word was Lanigan had bleed to death his head held in McLaughlin's lap asking McLaughlin to tell his girl that he loved her. Lucan thought about Kat's death and Father O'Donnell saying a similar thing. She had suffered. God wasn't merciful that day. He thought about his mother's death. Her sickness had dragged on for months according to Thaiter. How merciful was God then? Where was his swiftness? Lucan ran through his mind all the other deaths he had known. A small child on the ship coming to Australia. She had vomited nonstop for days. The mine collapse where Gordy Conway had his leg cut off and died two weeks later of infection. None of these deaths had been swift or merciful and this only confirmed his belief that there was no God because if there was why was there so much suffering in the world. The true believers would have him think it was the devil's work. If so, did this mean the devil was a stronger force than God?

He reflected again on Kat and her death. What purpose did her death have other than to make him and his sons' lives harder? What evil had his beautiful sweet Kat done to deserve a sentence of death?

Lucan thought about Lillian and her want for him to accompany her to church each week. His refusal had caused problems between them. She had asked him where his faith was. At the time he didn't have an answer but now, sitting at the back of the church as he looked around him at the people who called themselves Christians, he knew the answer. He was happy for them being willing believers but he also thought them a little foolish. Lucan figured if God had created man in his own image, then God must be a very diverse individual because not one person was exactly the same as another. If God was so diverse, would he really want a pack of followers, people who blindly believed what a preacher of any religion said. There were those who said sex was a sin but had families of ten or more children. There were those who preached the Ten Commandments and yet broke most of them. Then there were those who beat their wives and children. All of these people came to church every Sunday and asked God for forgiveness.

No, Lucan didn't accept these believers would be God's choice if there was a God.

His God would want people who had minds of their own. People who lived as best they could in harmony with everyone else. People who looked upon the earth and saw its beauty and helped their fellow man. Lucan believed if there was a God, he wouldn't accept the people's version that you had to go to church to be a good person. He believed this was a fabrication started by people to get others to comply, to be sheep, blind followers without minds of their own.

If Lillian asked him again where his faith was, he would tell her it was within himself. Because without faith in himself, Lucan could never make the choices that would affect his own life.

He waited outside the church holding onto Covey's hand and carrying Riley on his hip. Lillian glanced at him and the children but continued to walk past him with Mister Lewis from the school. His stomach tensed. He felt sure she didn't want to be seen with him.

Lucan followed the procession to the graveyard. As he went to stand by the grave, to watch the coffin being lowered he thought about Lillian's ups and downs. He wondered if she was good for him or would be kind to his sons. Lucan knew their class differences had a huge impact on their relationship. He felt they would be in a constant struggle. She wanted to better him and he wanted her to accept him as he was. He knew every time things didn't go well that he should end it but something dragged him back to her each week.

"You coming?" Thaiter called.

Waving Thaiter on, Lucan waited by the gate to see if Lillian would come and walk back into town with him and the lads. He knew she saw him watching her. She said good bye to Mister Lewis and pointed towards the back of the group as if telling him she was going to speak to someone else. She hung back and waited for most of the people to move on before she approached him. Lucan didn't smile or say anything when she stood near him. He hitched Riley higher on his hip and still holding Covey by the hand moved off.

"Are you angry with me?" Lillian whispered.

He looked back at her. "Yeah, I am."

She scurried after him. "Lucan why are you angry with me?"

Lucan stopped and turned to face her. "I don't think you want to be seen with me."

"That's not true. I'm always asking you to come to church with me."

"But I have to have faith, wear a suit and slick my hair down." Lucan laughed sarcastically.

"I just want you to look respectable."

"I think I'm wasting my time with you, Lillian." He sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "I think we're both wasting our time." He raised his hand in salute, took Covey's hand once more and headed off.

"Lucan...!"

He continued to walk. He had always forgiven her. Maybe that was the problem. He had been too forgiving and she knew she could twist him around her finger, well no more. He'd see if that worked any better.

Who agrees that it's about time Lucan spoke his mind where Lillian is concerned?

Biography/Story of Edward Lanigan - taken from the Queensland Police Website.

Constable Edward Lanigan was transferred to a small settlement in North Queensland called Montalbion, in the Herberton district. Lanigan became friends with Constable McLoughlin from the nearby station of Watsonville. On 6 September 1894, McLaughlin came to Montalbion to arrest an Aboriginal man called Jacky Norman, a persistent offender who was wanted for housebreaking and stealing in Watsonville.

The two officers went to arrest Norman but could not locate him. They then received information that he was at Montalbion Creek. McLaughlin rode alone to arrest Norman and Lanigan was to follow. When Norman saw the Constable he ran, causing McLaughlin to give chase on his horse. Norman spooked McLaughlin's horse as it got close and McLaughlin drew his revolver. Lanigan arrived and McLaughlin told him to remain on his horse until he caught hold of Norman. The two men fought and during the desperate struggle Norman got hold of McLaughlin's revolver. Norman aimed the gun at McLaughlin but since the Constable was holding his hands the shot was difficult.

Lanigan, still mounted, came to his friend's rescue by pointing his revolver at Norman and threatening him. Unfortunately, Norman got a shot away which hit Lanigan in the chest and spooked his horse that promptly tossed the officer onto the ground. Lanigan died some minutes later. The fight for the gun went on and when finally McLaughlin wrenched it free of Norman's grip, Norman ran away. The search for Norman continued on the 7th and he was sighted and caught after a short chase on the 8th. Norman came to trial on 17 September 1894 and was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Though it doesn't say here in this biography, it is true that Ed was getting married the next day. In my research I could only find out the girl's surname was Kelly.

Top photo copyright - Williams Funeral Home

Bottom - Queensland Police