Chapter 22: Time to Start

Federation Fatalities

Australia Day Long Weekend, January, 1984

On the afternoon of January 25th the special train for the Murder Mystery weekend was scheduled to leave Central for Robertson and points further south. Mary Beth and Chris were also taking the train but they weren’t involved in the Murder weekend, rather, they were taking the associated train tour of some of the rarely used branch lines in the south and south west of the state. Just as before, the ‘Victorian Appreciation Society’ had teamed up with the NSW Railway History Society to run a special train, pulled by two restored steam locomotives and using old corridor passenger coaches to take us via the South Coast line and up the Illawarra escarpment to Robertson.

The five of us participating in the Murder weekend were all in costume; I was reprising my role from several years ago of Major Sir Cyril Passlow, Lisa was my American-born wife, Amelia. Tracy was the activist Louisa Lawson, she would be pushing her pet policy of women’s suffrage. Merry was playing the role of Rose Scott, a woman’s rights activist, who was also pushing for women’s suffrage, who founded the ‘Woman’s Literary Society’ which became the ‘Womenhood Suffrage League’. Ange was playing an Aboriginal activist, Mary Jane Cain, known as ‘Queenie’ Cain, as she was the leader of her community around Coonabarabran.

Ian had prepared plenty of background material for those attending the weekend to read; he had certainly researched the subject of Australian Federation extensively. I was amazed at the depth of his research; the number of ‘factions’, each with their own agenda for how a federated country would be structured was far more than I had initially thought. I knew there was a dispute between those colonies pushing for tariff barriers between each of the states, and those pushing for ‘free trade’ between them. Various groups – including the nascent trade union movement – wanted to restrict immigration, particularly from China, and bring in what they called a ‘White Australia Policy’. There were disputes about centralization of government powers; various colonies not wanting to cede anything to a central government. Personally, I felt that if a colonial government couldn’t see a central – Federal – government taking over some of their powers, then why were they talking about federation in the first place?

There were groups I hadn’t even heard of; the ‘Australian Natives Association’ was a group which had originated in Victoria and consisted of white men born in Australia, who were strong proponents of federation. Add to that the different models of ‘federalism’; the Canadian model had been considered and discarded, as it was felt that under that model the central government had ‘too much’ power. Despite looking at the Swiss Federal Constitution, framers had looked to the Constitution of the United States; where only a few powers were delegated to the federal government. The individual colonial governments liked how it left the majority of powers within control of each state. A draft constitution had been written by Andrew Inglis Clark, the Attorney-General of Tasmania; the actor Henri Szeps was playing that character.

I could see plenty of scope for conflict; Ian had given me plenty of opportunities to play to the strengths of my character. In my role, while I was still a disreputable ‘bounder’, I had been engaged by the ‘Foreign and Colonial Office’ in London to monitor negotiations on their behalf. I had to make sure that the newly federated Australia remained substantially ‘British’; each state and the Federal Government would have as their ‘head of state’ a governor or governor-general appointed by the Monarch, who would have the power to appoint or dismiss governments, give bills ‘Royal Assent’, and to make sure that the new country didn’t run off on some strange independent tangent. Most importantly, the country had to retain its predominantly ‘British’ character, immigration would be restricted to English (and Irish), and not to make the mistake that they believe the United States of America had made in allowing unfettered migration from Western and Central Europe. That had ‘corrupted’ the US, in their view; made them less ‘British’ and more ‘European’; whatever that meant.

Once our cases had been stowed in the luggage van at the front of the train, we made our way to the compartment that had been reserved for us. Our compartment had eight seats, four on each side facing each other. I sat between Lisa and Tracy, while Ange and Merry sat opposite us.

“I love the character you’ve created for me, Will,” Merry said. “This Rose Scott sounds very interesting. Pushing for Women’s Rights, working conditions for girls, all that’s really interesting. I’m not sure about raising the age of consent to sixteen; what was it before that?”

“Fourteen, I believe,” Ange said. “But that didn’t become law until 1900, before then, there was pretty much no such thing as ‘age of consent’ in the colony.”

“Personally, I think fourteen is a better age for girls; I know I was almost raped with I was thirteen, but that didn’t turn me off sex,” Merry said. “I lost my virginity at fourteen – willingly – and have been pretty active, sexually, ever since then.”

“Wow! Almost raped when you were thirteen, that must have been pretty traumatic,” Lisa said.

“Well ... I knew all about sex, and I knew that I wanted it – just not with that creep that tried to have it on with me. The first time I did it, the guy was sixteen, and we were both a bit clueless, but ... it was still damn good!”

“The same with me,” Ange said. “It was two or three months after my fourteenth birthday. The boy was fourteen, too; we both did it heaps of times, until I was worried I could get pregnant. But there was a clinic near where I lived, and I got on the pill pretty bloody quick! Then we did it every chance we got.”

“I was seventeen,” Lisa said. “And it was a disaster!” But I wanted to have sex before I finished high school.”

“I was older than all of you,” Tracy said. “My first time was when I was almost twenty.”

“But you’ve made up for it since then,” I said.

“Absolutely!” she replied. “Now, we are about to pull out of the station, so we all have to get into our respective roles, and stay in them all weekend.”

“Now, just a word of warning, everyone,” I said. “In my role, I’m probably going to say things to each of you that are unkind, or downright insulting ... just remember, that’s not me actually saying those things, it’s not what I believe or feel about you, I’m only playing a role.”

Having read through the information Ian had provided about my character, I was meant to be a trouble-maker, saying things to upset or insult others. Whether my role was to be a catalyst for further dissent, or would I be a victim, the truth would be revealed as the weekend unfolded.

“That’s the same for all of us,” Tracy said. “The success of an event like this all depends on everyone playing their role properly. Okay, it’s now January, 1895, and we are making our way to the second Australian Constitutional Convention. Let’s have fun!”

There were two long blasts from the steam whistle on the locomotive; there was a lurch as the brakes were released and the train slowly pulled away from the platform. I looked out of the window to see the maze of tracks comprising Sydney Yard slip past us, the train passed through Redfern, then the buildings of Eveleigh yard, before taking the Illawarra line, through Erskineville. I wondered how the new terraces that the Ramos brothers had built in Flora Street, where I had lived for three years, had turned out. My thoughts were interrupted as Ian and Shane knocked and entered our compartment.

“Here are your instructions for the remainder of today,” he said, handing out some character instruction cards. “I’ll be back after I’ve finished handing these out, if anyone has questions.”

I read through my instructions for the remainder of the day; much as the overall character description stated, I was to cause dissent.

I’m not sure whether my brother was setting me up to be one of the victims, but it should be fun. The opportunity for me to start my ‘troublemaking’ came a few minutes later, when Bill Hunter – who was playing the statesman Sir Henry Parkes – came into our compartment.

“Good afternoon, everyone,” he said. “May I impose on your company for a few minutes, I was hoping to speak with the charming Mrs. Lawson here?”

“Of course, Sir Henry,” Tracy / Louisa said. “Does everyone know Sir Henry?”

I guess, in theory I would have met him in my career in the colonial Public Works Department, but Tracy introduced him to all of us anyway. He looked rather statesmanlike; he had a long white beard, and his hair had been dyed white to match. I guess as a professional actor, he had access to all sorts of make-up materials and costume devices.

“Passlow? Great to see you here, and I assume this charming woman is your wife? Enchanted to meet you Mrs Passlow ... Amelia? May I call you that?” he said, putting on all of his charm.

“Please, Sir Henry, after all, that’s my name, and I don’t have a title, and the term ‘ma’am’ ... that’s just not me!”

“Well, I’m charmed to make your acquaintance, Amelia,” he replied. “Now, Mrs Lawson, I assume you wanted to talk to me about ensuring women have the right to vote in any federal elections?”

“Of course, Sir Henry. Women have just been given the right to vote in New Zealand, and also in South Australia. We should extend that to all Australian colonies, and to the Federal parliament, too,” Tracy / Louisa said.

“What a preposterous idea!” I exclaimed. “There’s no need for women to have the vote, I mean, how would you expect them to understand how to run a country, or a state?”

“It seems to be appropriate for South Australia,” Louisa / Tracy said, her voice remaining calm.

“Well, that’s because that colony has been overrun by German immigrants,” I replied. “They are too European, they have lost the understanding of what it means to be British! Now, if it was suitable for women to vote, don’t you think they would have already allowed that in England?”

“And why should what England does or does not do have any bearing on how we structure our own country here?” Rose / Merry asked.

“Well, it should be obvious,” I said. “Assuming the colonies combine, federate, the resulting country, let’s assume it’s Australia, will still be part of the British Empire, the Queen will still be our head of state, and should always remain fundamentally English.”

“I don’t think there’s any question of Australia remaining part of the Empire,” Sir Henry / Bill said. “Now, Miss Cain, what was traditionally the situation in your culture regarding the role of women in running the tribe?”

“Well, in my tribe, the elders consist of the senior men AND women; together they run the tribe; there is some knowledge that is only for women, and some that is only for men. So, it would be stupid – and very inadvisable – for any of the male elders to ignore the advice and counsel of the elder women. It’s not that only the men make decisions, or only the women; we all work together for the good of everyone in the tribe,” Ange / Mary said. “I can’t understand why you white people can’t see that you need both men and women running things. I mean, you can’t make a baby without both a father and a mother, you cannot raise them to adulthood without training from both men and women; so it follows that to run a tribe, or a country properly, you need to rely on the knowledge, experience and wisdom of both men and women.”

“That makes sense,” Lisa / Amelia said. “There are things that Cyril has no idea about; like how to run a household, managing the staff, if he was left to his own devices, we would have a constant turnover of the housekeeper, cook, butler. He might know how to manage the building of bridges or railways; but managing domestic staff – that’s not his area.”

I had to admit, she was right ... but I couldn’t let Mary’s comments pass.

“Well, that may work in a primitive society,” I said, “but it doesn’t apply when we are talking about running a country, a modern country. Surely, if it was felt that women should have a role in government, in electing our representatives, then England would have allowed it already. The fact that they haven’t, means that it’s not an idea worthy of consideration.”

“So, Sir Cyril, you believe that England is the perfect example of how a country should be run?” Louisa / Tracy asked me.

“Of course! There’s no question about that, not just us, but the World owes so much to England, the society that she has created, the rules, the legal system, democracy ... everything English is the benchmark, the gold standard for all other countries.”

“You really need to talk to Ian Morris, from the Australian Natives Association,” Sir Henry said to me. “He might find some disagreement with you, Sir Cyril. Anyway, I must be going, other people to see. I’ll talk further with you ladies later.”

He stood up, bowed his head to us, and left our compartment. As he was closing the door, Ian opened it, and asked if he could sit with us.

“I have a question for you, Sir Cyril,” he asked me. “I understand the British Colonial Office requested your attendance at this conference. Is that the case?”

“It certainly is, my good man. They are very interested in developments here in the colonies, and want to be informed on how the negotiations towards Federation are progressing, and just what direction the country is likely to move towards.”

“They are probably concerned by some of the remarks we at the ANA have made, saying it’s now time for a new Australia to stand on her own feet, and have the country run by Australians for Australians.”

“Be that as it may, there is a legitimate concern that the country may not remain fundamentally ‘British’; there will always be a role for Great Britain in the running and administration of whatever arrangement we set for the future,” I countered. “The last thing we want is for Australia to spurn her origins, and take some new path, like the Americans did.”

“I think the American experience has a lot to offer us,” he replied. “For example, doing away with the ridiculous class system, hereditary titles, and the privilege that goes with ‘nobility’. We certainly don’t need a ‘bunyip aristocracy’ here in Australia!”

“But surely, you can understand the need to ensure the right people are in positions of control; those with the right breeding, education, family background. Otherwise, who knows what’s likely to happen? You’ll end up with any common person trying to run the country!”

“So, you think that someone, irrespective of their education or experience, provided they’ve come from ‘the right family’, would make a far better choice for, say, the head of the police force than someone who has many years of experience and service as a police officer and detective?” Ian challenged me.

“But breeding will always win out,” I replied.

“Inbreeding, more likely,” Louisa / Tracy muttered under her breath.

“I guess we will just have to agree to disagree,” Ian said, before leaving our compartment.

Eventually, our train arrived at the Raneleigh House platform; the luggage was unloaded first onto a wagon, and we alighted, and walked the short distance to the large house. We were given our assigned room numbers; Amelia / Lisa and I obviously had a room together, while Louisa / Tracy, Rose / Merry and Mary / Ange had a larger room with three beds in it. We had an hour to get settled in and dressed for dinner, which would be in the main dining room.

“I think you really enjoy playing your role,” Lisa said once we were in our room. “You love being a scoundrel!”

“I do, Cyril Passlow is so different from how I normally behave,” I replied. “I can get away with being a real prick, acting like a complete bastard, and causing trouble wherever I go.”

“I bet Ian deliberately set you up with those tasks,” she added. “I guess he knew you could pull that off, without having someone punch you in the face! Now, we have time before dinner, how about you ‘service your wife’? I think I need a solid and vigorous fucking right now!”

“Maybe you can pull that dress up, and I’ll pull your underwear down...”

“Underwear? What underwear?” she replied.

“Hussy! Now bend over the side of the bed, and pull that dress up!”

I unbuttoned the front of my trousers, removed my jacket, and pushed my underwear down, letting my erect prick spring out. Lisa was certainly wet and receptive; I pushed her face first down on the bed, and guided my prick into her wet, open cunt. She grunted as I slide home, and pushed back against me as I thrust in and out. She came quite quickly; I guess a combination of her position on the side of the bed, and being already very aroused. She pushed one of the pillows to her face in an attempt to muffle her groans, but I was sure people in the adjacent rooms would have heard her sounds of pleasure.

I kept on thrusting in and out; she came a second time, even noisier than the first, before I emptied my balls inside her.

“Oh, God, I needed that!” Lisa exclaimed, once we had calmed down. “I wasn’t too loud, was I?”

“No, I think there were some people, maybe at the far end of the building who may not have heard you,” I said.

“Oh, I tried to keep quiet. Tough, if they heard us, so what, maybe they’ll be jealous! Now I need to have a shower before we go down to dinner, unless I want to stink of sex! At least we’ve got a shower and toilet attached to our room.”

We had a quick shower, and dressed for dinner. Just as we were about to go down the stairs, Tracy, Merry and Ange came out from their room.

“I think we know what you two were up to,” Merry teased us. “It sounded good!”

“Yeah, well, you’re just jealous that it wasn’t you!” Lisa replied.

“I guess if I am to remain in character, I can’t really sleep with your husband, Amelia!” Merry said, and poked out her tongue at Lisa.

“You never know what instructions we might be given,” I said. “Anyway, time for dinner, and to see what will be happening next.”

We found our way downstairs; we shared a table with Ian and Shane, and Henri Szeps, who was actually Andrew Inglis Clarke sat with us.

“Passlow, isn’t it?” he asked. “I don’t think I’ve given you a copy of the current draft of the proposed constitution; we’ll be discussing it tomorrow, so I’ll get you a copy after dinner, so you can look through it.”

“Thank you, I would be interested in reading though it,” I replied. “Sometime this weekend, I would like to talk to you about the proposed division of powers between the States and Commonwealth, and maybe a way to alleviate concerns from the smaller colonies about their fear of domination from New South Wales and Victoria.”

“Yes, that would be most interesting; it’s an unfortunate historical fact that we are stuck with a small number of colonies of quite disparate size. Funny how the fledgling colonies of Port Philip and Moreton Bay agitated strongly for independence from New South Wales, only to be subject to control from England, which was much further afield.”

We paused our discussion, as the food was served; I guess something that would have been typical for the time; a mutton stew with vegetables. Not something I would have chosen, but I guess it helped us stay ‘in character’. Near the end of the meal Gary Kemp stood up to welcome us all to the weekend; he then called upon Bill Hunter – as Sir Henry Parkes – to address everyone, and to outline what was planned for the weekend. Meanwhile, Ian, Alice Catts and Kerry Broadhurst were distributing the instruction cards for the evening’s activities.

Talk about ‘poking the bear’! This should be a fun evening. As instructed, after the meal, I sought out the three individuals, and put forward my suggestions. Griffiths was particularly enraged by my suggestion, saying that ‘Queensland would never accept such a betrayal’; however the other two were more accepting, although they both said there was no chance that such a radical change to the structure of the country would be considered. I wasn’t that surprised by the reactions; many of the participants were members of the various colonial governments, and would rely on the continued existence of these governments to maintain their power base. Eventually, it was time for bed; we were about to get undressed, when Merry knocked on our door; she wanted to know if she could swap beds with Lisa for the night.

“I guess we’ll have to return to our proper rooms before other people are up and notice us,” Lisa said. “That might cause some concern among the amateur detectives, and suggest something that isn’t in Ian’s script!”

“If you got spotted sneaking out of my bedroom, and I ended up as one of the murder victims, people might blame Lisa for killing me in a fit of revenge!” I said.

“You know I would never do that, kill you for sleeping with someone else!” Lisa said. “Okay, Merry, you sleep with Will tonight, I’ll sleep with Ange and Tracy. That was the schedule the four of us had agreed to; Merry tonight, Ange tomorrow, then Tracy, and finally me.”

“I’ll return to my room around 5:00 a.m.,” Merry said. “Thanks, Lisa, I owe you.”

Lisa left my bedroom, and Merry started to get undressed.

“I guess we really should have asked you first,” Merry said “I assume you’re happy with those arrangements?”

“So, what have you thought about the weekend so far?” I asked Merry, once we were in bed.

“It’s fun; I can see you really enjoy playing your character, and Tracy ... well, she’s a professional actor, so I guess it comes naturally to her. I just wish I knew how to get into my character better, like how you and some of the others do.”

“I’m certainly no expert,” I said. “But what I have done for this, is I picture a person I know who seems to match the character I’m playing. For Sir Cyril Passlow, I’ve based him on an uncle of mine; he’s so similar in character it’s not funny! So, what we need to do is look at the character you are playing, what she’s like, and for you to try to identify someone you know who is like that. Then it’s simple – or simpler – just model your behaviour, your actions, your speech on that person.

“Now, the person you’re playing, Rose Scott; from memory, she was well educated, independently wealthy, and holds a ‘salon’ in her house, where some of the ‘movers and shakers’ of the colony would meet and talk. Does that sound like anyone you know?”

“Well, the closest I can think of is my aunt, who I stayed with at Kincoppel, she seems as if she had been around a hundred years ago, she would be just like the woman I’m playing. Mind you, if I was to be completely like her, then I wouldn’t be in bed with you, I would have stayed with Ange and Tracy...”

“So, that’s where you think you first got your lesbian / bi-sexual tendencies from?”

“I guess so. Not that she ever did anything with any of the students who were at the school, doing that would have meant instant dismissal. But she had several relationships with some of them once they had left the school. All very discrete, of course; it took me a while before I twigged to what was going on. Anyway, I decided to ask her about it; why did she keep seeing all of the young women, and she never went out with a man. She told me how she had a strong preference for sex with other women; I guess that was the opening of my mind to other relationships. But it wasn’t until last year, with Ange and Lisa, and then Tracy, I discovered for myself what she was on about. But unlike my Aunt, I’m into guys as well ... to be truthful, I like guys being in me!”

“I know I like being in you!” I replied, reaching down between her legs.

“Now, this probably sounds silly, me asking you this, but ... I guess you’ve worked out that Ange and I are, well, pretty much deeply in love with each other. So if I am in love with her, why do I feel the need to sleep with other women, or other men? Not just you, but there have been other guys I’ve had sex with...”

“Why would it be silly, asking me?”

“Well, you have Lisa, and the two of you are perfect for each other, but here you are, in bed with me. And you’ll be in bed with Tracy, and Ange, too. How do you, I don’t know, keep things under control?”

“Well, since you put it that way, I guess I’m probably in a good position to give you some advice,” I said.

“You would be in a better position if you were inside me!” she said, laughing.

“One thing at a time, little Miss Horny! Now, I’ll preface what I’m going to say with the fact that Lisa and I are very much in love with each other, we both know that we are meant to be each other’s life partner, for want of a better description. And everything we do, sexually, with other people is with each other’s complete knowledge and approval. To us, ‘being unfaithful’ is deceiving each other – a talk I believe we had a while ago in my office at Uni, when we would have coffee and lunch together.”

“More than just coffee!”

“True. And you know that I told Lisa everything we did, even back then.”

She nodded.

“There was that time when Lisa freaked me out, she called me at work after we first kissed,” Merry said. “I was worried she was going to be really angry with me, and you, because of what we did. Of course, that was when I realized your relationship was quite different from anything I had heard of before.”

“So, you should know I have certain rules; I just don’t sleep with any woman who might be interested in me. At one stage, my philosophy was I would sleep with a woman, have sex with her, provided there was no reason not to. Some of the reasons were if she was in a committed relationship with someone else, or it was someone I worked with...”

“Or a student,” Merry added.

“Yes, or a student. Particularly a student! But assuming all those tests were passed, then I would sleep with the person. But now, I’ve turned the logic around; I won’t sleep with someone, unless I feel there is a really good reason for it. I’ve never really been into casual sex, fucking just for the sake of fucking someone, which I’m sure you know. There are only the three of you, not including Lisa, who I am sleeping with at the moment.

“I guess the bottom line is, I’m not the sort of person who would be satisfied with having just one partner for the rest of my life. I freely admit that, I’m just not wired that way. But each partner brings something a little different to the relationship. Now, that’s how it works for me; it may not be quite the same for you. You need to make sure that each person you are involved with understands completely how they fit into your life.”

“So, you don’t think the fact that I want to have sex with Tracy, Lisa, and you means I don’t really love Ange as much as I think I do? Sometimes I worry that I’m fooling myself, and I’m not really ready to commit to her.”

“Only you can truly answer that one; I don’t know what you’re feeling inside, or how Ange feels about things. Of course, she’s sleeping with Lisa, Tracy and me as well, so...”

“I know; and the fact that she’s in her bed, having sex with the other two; that doesn’t cause me any problems. Maybe we have learned all about relationships from you and Lisa; we can share with others, and it doesn’t affect how we feel about the other main person in our lives.”

“Is that how you think of each other? That you are going to be the main person in each other’s lives?”

“Yes, it is; we’ve been talking about it most nights this month. We haven’t actually come out and said it, but if there was a way for the two of us to get married, we probably would. I guess though, if we did that, then your rule about not having sex with people in a committed relationship would come into play.”

“Maybe it would, maybe it wouldn’t,” I said. “The reason why I have that rule is that the other person in a relationship needs to know what their partner is doing, and why, and to be completely happy about her sleeping with me. Now, if both you and Ange continued to sleep with Lisa and me, then, there’s no question about it. But, anyway, go on...”