he was free of both depape and reynolds this morning - they had ridden out to hanging rock together , looking for latigo 's outriders , who must come soon , now - and jonas 's plan was simple : to have a glass of beer in the pavilion , and watch the preparations that were going on there : the digging of the roasting-pits , the laying of faggots for the bonfire , the arguments over how to set the mortars that would shoot off the fireworks , the ladies flowering the stage where this year 's lad and girl would be offered for the town 's adulation .