by Maggie Groff
Obligingly, we laughed, and then everyone laughed. Didn’t we know he was just a regular guy? And we were just one big bunch of happy, laughing people.
Serene Cloud stepped onto the dais, clapped his hands and surveyed the audience. He smiled, making eye contact with me, and I presume with the others. And I hate to say this, but it was a wonderful smile.
I looked at his big square head, his long wispy white hair protruding from the white hat, the white beard, the fat tummy and beady eyes. In another place, in another colour, he’d have made a fabulous Santa Claus. I reminded myself that this was the man who degraded women, indoctrinated them for his own sexual gratification, and administered sadistic bites to those who questioned his rhetoric. But quite frankly, looking at him, it was hard to believe.
‘Welcome to the Infinite Pathways to Light retreat,’ he announced in an unmistakable Australian accent. ‘I am Serene Cloud, Mystic Master of Mars.’
‘Mystic Master, Mystic Master . . .’ chanted his followers, and the idolatry went on for a good minute until the chants tailed off, and we waited in silence for the exalted one to compose himself.
‘You have been brought together by your common desire for the one true revelation,’ he sang out. ‘I wish to put your minds at ease. Some of you may have heard that Bacchus Rising is a cult, or a religious sect of some kind. We are neither of these things. I am not a religious zealot. I’m no direct link to God, and I don’t claim to be a prophet, so don’t expect to have to throw money at me because that’s not what I’m about!’
The audience cheered and Serene Cloud rubbed his hands together and nodded confidently, the oratory no doubt part of his risk-management plan. It was, however, a bit of a bold statement considering that we’d already donated four thousand dollars and it wasn’t even lunchtime.
There was more chanting, ‘Mystic Master, Mystic Master . . .’ Solly and Laura had joined in the adulation and Dawn was sitting forward in her seat, hanging on Serene Cloud’s every word.
Serene Cloud held up his hand for silence and the crowd hushed. He dropped the smile and adopted the intense demeanour of someone about to reveal earth-shattering information.
‘What you will experience over the next two days is harmony with the earth, with others, through our shared sacred wisdom. You will learn how to merge in the universal self and unearth your inner witness to reveal the essence of your enlightenment.’
As if on cue, the crowd resumed their chant. ‘Mystic Master, Mystic Master . . .’
Again, Serene Cloud held up his hand to silence his devoted disciples. Once the audience was quiet there was a long pause, the purpose of which I assumed was to add weight to his next proclamation.
‘The world is in the midst of collapsing social order. Drugs and drunkenness are commonplace. Crime and war and hate are everywhere. This is not how the world should be. It’s not how our world is here amongst the trees and animals of this wondrous land. With our love and care you will see how easy it is to walk away from your old life and learn what it is to be cared for, loved by others, and find something worth living for.’
Dawn was nodding enthusiastically, so I nodded too. Serene Cloud clasped his hands together and looked up at the roof of the marquee. Then he breathed in and out deeply and smiled again.
‘Go now in peace and harmony, my friends,’ he said. ‘Later, we will experience the divine source together and I, Serene Cloud, will lead you from the darkness into the light.’
I jumped as two Roman candles exploded at the front, and Serene Cloud swept dramatically out of the marquee. Everyone rose to their feet and chanted, ‘Mystic Master, Mystic Master . . .’
In their euphoric, trancelike state, they probably didn’t register a lone disciple with an attitude problem repeating ‘Mixmaster, Mixmaster . . .’
Chapter 54
On the face of it, the majority of Bacchus Rising members I’d seen appeared to me to be healthy and content, radiating friendship and happiness. This, of course, was not what I wanted to see, and would not be what Marcia wanted to hear. In all, I’d already counted six pregnant women, including Cinnamon Toast. Marcia wouldn’t want to hear that either.
Tildy’s apparent happiness was a double-edged sword. On the one hand it was a relief to see her looking better, on the other it was devastating that amongst the cult she appeared to have found the answer to her troubles. Obviously she hadn’t been devastated by the news her son was missing. What had Tildy told the police? That Tommy wasn’t part of her family! It didn’t make sense to me as a mother, but then I hadn’t experienced postnatal depression.
It was surprising I hadn’t seen any children or older people apart from Serene Cloud, and I wondered if they were banished to a separate area, as they had been in America. Casually, I asked Pan where they were.
‘There aren’t any,’ Pan said flatly, and then as if to silence further questioning he happily added, ‘but Mystic Master is planting seeds for the children.’
Oh yuck schmuck! I hoped Pan didn’t see me shudder.
A group of women that included Cinnamon Toast and Tildy showed Dawn, Solly, Laura and myself to our sleeping quarters in one of the white fibro huts. Inside were eight bunk beds neatly made with blue sheets and a blue blanket folded at the base. From the female paraphernalia around the room I understood we would be sharing with other women.
‘This is my bed,’ Tildy said, looking at me and pointing to a bottom bunk. She came over and stroked my arm. ‘The top bunk is free if you’d like to sleep there.’
‘I’m not good at heights,’ I quipped, quickly moving to a bottom bunk near the door. ‘Is it okay if I take this one? I might need to use the bathroom at night and I don’t want to disturb anyone.’
Tildy smiled and nodded. Two of the other women, who introduced themselves as Friendship Flower and Midnight Pansy, came forward and fussed around me, touching my back, stroking my face, turning down my sheet and putting my bag on the bed. If they started unpacking for me I would have to intervene, but fortunately they didn’t.
Cinnamon Toast showed Dawn to a bunk at the far end of the hut. Solly and Laura took the bunks next to mine, and Friendship Flower helped them with a lot more touching than was necessary to lift two plastic bags onto two bunks. Intriguingly, I registered the goth girls were still wearing their jackets despite the warm weather.
Cinnamon Toast assured us we could safely leave our bags in the hut, but I wasn’t concerned as my diabetic kit was strapped around my waist. The medication would be fine as long as the temperature didn’t soar.
‘I was hoping to meet Titania Pearl,’ I told Cinnamon. ‘She sounded sweet on the phone.’
‘Titania’s preparing lunch,’ Cinnamon said. ‘You’ll meet her then. Symphony Starlight, Serene Cloud’s American wife, is helping her. The other two American wives are in Noosa for the weekend. I asked them if they remembered you from when you visited Saratoga, but they had no idea who you were.’
‘Oh well,’ I said with a giggle, ‘I guess I’m rather forgettable!’
Everyone laughed and Tildy stroked my arm again. ‘I don’t think you’re forgettable,’ she purred.
Whoa! I examined her face for ulterior meanings, and although I didn’t see any I was on full alert.
‘We have a lecture in the marquee,’ Cinnamon said, pushing Tildy out of the way and taking my hand. ‘Come along, Fantasia.’
An almost imperceptible glower crossed Tildy’s face, and it was firmly directed at Cinnamon Toast. This was the first sign of animosity I’d witnessed amongst the group, and it was rather pleasing that ownership of yours truly appeared to be the cause.
We filed out of the hut and once everyone was outside I exclaimed, ‘Oh, I need a tissue.’ Quickly I nipped back up the steps and returned to my bunk, pulled a thread from the hem of my skirt and placed it across the zipper of my backpack. Then I grabbed a tissue and went back outside to where they were waiting for me at the bottom of the steps.
Tildy took my hand this time
and, so help me, held it tightly all the way to the marquee. Cinnamon Toast had linked arms with both Solly and Laura. There was no doubt about it—we were being love-bombed.
The lecture, which lasted an hour, was a smorgasbord of gobbledygook on the whiteness and radiance of light. A short thin Ascendant Master with long blond hair and acne scars delivered the message. His name was Prince Photon and he spun off into frequent spasms of euphoria when he sensed a beam of light. Dawn, Solly and Laura were riveted. Prince Photon was taking them to a higher consciousness. And me to unconsciousness.
Friendship Flower, who was sitting next to me, put her hand on my leg. Tildy, who sat on the other side of me, was still holding my hand. I thought how odd it was that Rafe had only to touch me lightly for one thousand volts of lust to shoot through my body, yet this constant groping did nothing. It just showed that it’s the brain that’s in charge, not the nerves.
The flap door of the marquee opened and Pan skipped in, clapped his hands and called, ‘Lunch, everyone. Follow me!’
Excusing myself, I went to the ablutions block and tested my blood sugar level. I had to stand inside the eco-composting toilet cubicle to make sure I wasn’t seen—not very hygienic, but needs must. My level was fine and as I’d used long-acting insulin this morning, I wouldn’t require another shot until dinnertime.
Lunch was a school-camp affair. We lined up next to the marquee and collected prepared plastic plates of cold chicken and salad and a folded slice of buttered bread. The salad consisted of shredded lettuce, sliced tomato and sliced cucumber. Dessert was a plastic bowl of tinned fruit salad and, as always, there weren’t any cherries in mine.
Cinnamon Toast introduced me to Titania Pearl who greeted me with hugs and a kiss on the cheek. I liked Titania instantly. She reminded me of a young Noni Hazlehurst—pretty and effervescent.
‘I was hoping to meet Starlight Symphony,’ I said to Titania.
‘It’s Symphony Starlight,’ Titania corrected, giggling. ‘Pan never gets it right either.’
I shrugged and gestured apologetically. ‘Is she here? I understood she was helping you with lunch.’
‘She wasn’t well; she’s gone to lie down. Symphony is having a hard time at the moment. She’s homesick for America. Serene Cloud says that we’re to leave her be and she’ll come good.’
I mentally filed this information. If Symphony Starlight was Casey Steinman, maybe there was a chance I could help her. I already knew from Dan’s patient that Casey would have been devastated to leave her baby. Perhaps it wasn’t America she was missing but her son.
We sat on benches at trestle tables that were arranged in an amenable grouping outside, next to the marquee. Men and women milled around, rubbing up against diners, giving shoulder massages, stroking backs and laughing. Bauble came up behind me and put his arms around me, then rubbed my shoulders and played with my hair. There was a lot of touching and fondling. I’d never eaten tinned fruit salad whilst a young man rubbed my shoulders before. Dear Golden Circle . . .
Suddenly the chanting started again, ‘Mystic Master, Mystic Master . . .’
Serene Cloud swept into our midst, one hand on his hip, the other raised in the air like the Statue of Liberty.
‘If you’re quiet,’ he said, ‘you are about to experience a sound bath of cosmic harmony. It usually only happens at the full moon and we are very fortunate to have it occur now. Brothers and sisters, our guests have brought us luck.’
Just for a fleeting moment, the briefest smidgen of a millisecond, I felt a soupçon of pride that I’d participated in this good fortune. I pulled myself up sharp. Cripes, he was good!
Serene Cloud held both his arms in the air and closed his eyes. Everyone stopped eating and closed their eyes—except me and, more interestingly, Tildy. Through half-squinted eyes I watched Tildy remove two chicken pieces from a plate and put them in her pocket along with two slices of buttered bread. Hmmm? Was she, I wondered, taking food for somebody else?
We were silent for five minutes, and I didn’t hear anything apart from the natural song of the rainforest—the reverberating chorus of frogs, the musical call of feathered lovers and the occasional sharp whip-crack of a male whipbird.
‘It’s over!’ Serene Cloud suddenly announced, and everyone opened their eyes.
‘Thank you for bringing heaven to earth,’ Serene Cloud called towards the sky, and he dropped his arms and smiled as though we’d all just attained nirvana.
‘Wasn’t that something?’ he asked, shaking his head as if in disbelief.
Everyone was talking animatedly—words like ‘incredible’, ‘amazing’, ‘most profound experience’ were bandied around. I turned to Midnight Pansy next to me and said, ‘That was unbelievable. I’ve never felt anything like that before.’
She smiled at me, wonderment written all over her face.
I was definitely getting the hang of how this worked.
Chapter 55
Dawn was already well and truly sucked in. As we helped clear away lunch she whispered to me, ‘You know, Fantasia, these are some of the nicest people I’ve ever met.’
I nodded. The scary part was that Dawn was right. They were delightful, a little oddball perhaps, but if you were lonely and wanted friendship it wouldn’t be so hard to fall under their spell. Who cared if you had to pretend to believe a few strange notions to be part of it?
‘When Serene Cloud speaks,’ Dawn went on, ‘it’s as though he’s talking just to me and no one else is around. Is it like that for you?’
‘Oh, do you feel that too?’ I said, and before I realised what I was doing I gave Dawn a hug. Good grief, I was at it too. I looked at Dawn—she was radiant after only a few hours and already half in love with the Mystic Master. If I told her that underneath this veneer of joy there was a nest of spitting vipers, she wouldn’t believe me.
After lunch we regrouped in the marquee and listened to a lecture by Pan on the evils of television, books, radio, newspapers and the internet—absolute bunkum, as I knew they read the papers. I looked around for Tildy, but couldn’t see her anywhere.
We four potential recruits were again shown to seats in the front row. However, this time Serene Cloud sat down next to Dawn and rested his hand on her leg. If he’d done it to me I’d have elbowed him in the orchestras, but Dawn looked almost euphoric and adoringly touched his flamboyant rings. Serene Cloud whispered something in Dawn’s ear and she giggled loudly. Pan feigned annoyance at the interruption, and then smiled forgivingly at Dawn. They’d already realised she was a live one and were playing her like a violin.
Pan changed tack and commenced denouncing government, church groups and health services for incompetence and dishonesty. He spoke of politicians misappropriating funds for personal use, church leaders abusing children and the deaths of those turned away from emergency departments. Pan referred to public servants as soldiers of Satan whose purpose was to obstruct salvation.
Here we go with the first reference to doomsday, I thought.
Serene Cloud was now holding both of Dawn’s hands in his and apparently listening attentively to Pan, nodding approval. Yes, those civil authorities sure were a satanic lot. Occasionally, he leaned towards Dawn and whispered to her, and before long Dawn was continually nodding. This was frighteningly clever. Once Dawn was behaving the way they wanted, it was a short step to having her believing what they wanted. Now I knew exactly what Rafe meant when he’d said that indoctrination could occur within three days.
So far Solly and Laura’s responses were difficult to gauge. They were holding hands and listening attentively. With luck someone would denounce gays and lesbians and it would upset them enough to offer some level of protection against the drivel we were being fed. Dawn was already a lost cause but then, I reminded myself sternly, I wasn’t here to save anyone but Tildy, and possibly Casey. And gather information for a story that would keep me in clover, hopefully for some time.
Much of the afternoon was taken up with Thought Trans
ference, where we all sat around cross-legged on the grass and thought thoughts, and Light Therapy, where we all stood in the sunlight and thought thoughts. My thoughts embodied a stunning reenactment of Ronny’s declaration of love in Moonstruck, with Ronny bearing an uncanny resemblance to Rafe.
The last lecture of the day was delivered by Bauble, who read enthusiastically from the teachings of Serene Cloud. Bored witless, I glanced around the marquee and realised that Tildy, after disappearing with the food in her pockets, had still not made an appearance. Everyone else appeared totally riveted as Bauble explained the Mystic Master’s guide to cosmic enlightenment and fulfilment of pure desires, and thundered on about ancient wisdom and the universal self.
We were standing, swaying our arms in the air, chanting, ‘Mystic Master, Mystic Master,’ when I saw Tildy sneak into the marquee. She raised her arms and started to sway as if she’d been there all along.
Serene Cloud was standing on the far side of the marquee watching her and rubbing his chin. His expression slowly transformed from one of intrigue to one of pure malevolence. At that moment I knew what it was to have my blood run cold.
Chapter 56
It was just before dinnertime when I first saw Casey Steinman. I’d attended to my health needs and was walking back from the ablutions block when I noticed a young woman sitting on the steps of the hut adjacent to mine. She was huddled over, covering her face with her hands.
I wandered over and said, ‘Hello.’
She looked up and I stared into the ravaged face of a once beautiful all-American girl. Sadly, events had taken their toll on her classic cheerleader looks and her hair was now thin and lank and her skin covered in sores.
Wiping her eyes with her hands, she looked around to see if we were alone and muttered, ‘Hello.’