Sunlit Shadow Dance

by Graham Wilson

  She gave a spontaneous grin. “Well I am glad that is settled. Otherwise I would have had to find a way to move to Brisbane. That would have been tricky with my mother. In the meantime I was thinking of flying down to Brisbane for another weekend, just with you, only if you are free, of course. This time you can play the host.”

  Now he gave her a huge smile in return, “I would really like that.”

  Chapter 26 – The Returning

  Vic had got the warning to move from Anne, via Alan, and took it seriously.

  He had been shocked as he had looked at the record of Jane’s interview a few days later with Ross and the barrister. Jane’s upset manner on the day was bad, but she was over the worst when he saw her. Then after she had a distant and reserved manner, so unlike her normal sunshine self, which had persisted for a few days, as if for the first time in her remembered life she had lost trust in someone or something, though she had stayed affectionate to him. Fortunately this had faded and now she seemed back to normal. But it had reinforced his sense of her vulnerability.

  He had gone back to Brisbane the following week for a 2 hour meeting to decide on the contents of the video to be sent away. They had debated long and hard over what parts to leave in. Vic had insisted that all parts that referred to him or her living in the north Queensland aboriginal community be taken out, lest others who saw it trace her that way. He also wanted the bit showing her acute distress removed, not that it gave anything else away. But it was far too raw and pain filled to let others see, or so he had thought.

  Ross had argued forcefully, that despite his question being a mistake, her reaction was the thing that would work best in getting the government to understand just how fragile and damaged she was. The barrister supported Ross, saying this picture was far better than any words.

  But, even though he had finally agreed to it remaining, the awful sight of Jane’s terrified face had frightened him to his core. He had already been thinking about whether it was too dangerous for them to keep staying so close to Brisbane with the series of meetings he had been to there.

  It would not require Einstein to start checking the smaller regional towns nearby, particularly checking out the temporary places where people stayed like caravan parks. He considered renting a house in one of the towns around here. But that was fraught with its own problems, like the identity documents and references being needed for leases. He could try to find a farmhouse somewhere in return for farm work, but his contact network did not run deep in this place and the act of looking would bring him into public view.

  He hated the idea of randomly moving Jane and their children around, as much for the children’s sake as hers, they all needed stability and new roots, not an endless half fugitive existence.

  It was a devil’s choice between two evils, the evil of forever fractured existence, links broken over and over when only half formed, and the evil which lurked in a buried place in her mind, threatening to break out and overwhelm her. So he did not know what to do, each choice was not good.

  At least with the message about the threat of exposure came the message that there was agreement for a pardon. The other thing that Vic had thought about and talked over with Anne was the need for Jane to have new identity documents. They were needed for marriage, which she mentioned regularly and they were needed for travel, as well as the thousand other normal things a person did, health insurance, education, driver’s license – the list went on and on. Of course the primary identity of Susan MacDonald was an English one, so the changes had to begin there.

  So he had a half formed plan of her needing a new passport in the Jane Bennet name and that would need a legal name change in the UK. That part was not so hard to achieve if Jane could remember her former self and give a signed instruction for her name to be changed. But it needed to be done without public knowledge and it needed to be done on her behalf by someone else, which meant her parents.

  So he had talked it around with Anne and bounced the ideas around with Ross too. They formed a plan for Ross would provide a report confirming Jane’s loss of memory and new identity. Ross would say she needed to be given identity documents in this new name, as it was likely to be very harmful for her to be forced to confront her previous identity.

  At the same time Anne would use her legal connections in London to work out how this could be done both legally and in a non-disclosed way. Her idea was that Jane’s parents could sign forms authorizing a name change and then new identity documents could be issued in the Jane Bennet name.

  Now the wheels were in progress for a pardon Vic also thought he could seek agreement from the NT government for this course of action, Alan was pretty good in getting things like this sorted as he had already shown.

  So Vic was hopeful that within 4-6 weeks, shortly after the pardon was granted, Jane would have identity documents in her own name. Then using these they could get on with their lives together in some faraway place.

  But this did not solve the conundrum of where to go now. He knew they needed a new home, one not easy to get to, one where the people could be trusted not to let the cat out of the bag. It had to be a place where there was control of others who came and went and importantly one where he could do something useful while he waited. He tried to think of all the remote parts of Australia where he had not been, thinking first that if he was not known no one would guess to look for him in these places. But if he did not know the people, in a small place he would stand out like the proverbial dogs balls, not to mention Jane and their children. Their unknown status would make them subject of much idle gossip and curiosity and that brought danger.

  At last it came to him. He had to go back to where he was known and trusted, and with that came a trust in others. One of the stations at the outer edges of the Alice Springs district would be best. They were small family owned units, despite their immense size. Many of them had extra houses for workers or outstations and most stations had yet to take on workers for the cattle season. He could think of several such places, it would need a bit of careful inquiry to work out which served best, for both the place and him. In such a place the only person who would know he was there would be the station manager. Most were already good personal friends. People from outside could only get to these stations with the manager’s agreement.

  It seemed like a neat solution, at least for a couple months until the pardon and identity stuff was sorted. He remembered he had an uncle who worked out on a place to the far north-west of Alice. He lived alone now his wife had died and his kids had moved to town. He was head stockmen when there was a stock camp. The rest of the time he maintained the windmills, making sure stock had water. Vic had not seen him for several years but had visited him often as a boy. So that was an obvious place to go.

  He would ring his sister and ask her to try to get it arranged. At the same time he would tell Jane he wanted to make a trip to Alice Springs for her to meet his family. Jane had announced that she wanted to get married there, so it was also a step towards this idea which he liked as much as her.

  Jane and the children were really delighted when he told them and they decide to leave the day after tomorrow. They all really enjoyed the Christmas car trip to the farm and this promised another family adventure.

  He made Jane promise not to tell anyone where they were going, saying that once the arrangements for the wedding were made she could call and tell people then but for now he wanted to keep it a secret. He could see she was torn in wanting to tell Leah but she agreed and he knew she always stuck to what she said.

  A week later they found themselves crossing into the Northern Territory from Queensland after coming across from Boulia and crossing the multiple flood outs of the Georgina River. It had rained two months ago and the country was lush with fat cattle and myriad wildlife and water birds. They came onto the Plenty Highway as they entered the Territory and followed it was as it skirted around the northern margin of the Simpson Desert. Part way along they turned into the station h
omestead road they were heading for. After another hour they were there. Vic’s uncle was there to meet them along with his sister and mother who had driven the several hundred kilometers for a family visit. They were entertained royally in the station homestead on the first night. The next day they all climbed aboard a Toyota Landcruiser Station Wagon driven by Vic’s Uncle Jack.

  He brought them to the outstation where he lived and showed them to a 2 bedroom cottage next to his house. He said this was their new home for as long as needed.

  The house had a telephone so they could ring the world and a mail plane came to the main station each week delivering mail. The station cook also went to town once a fortnight to buy food and on the next day a delivery was made to his Uncle’s outstation. In return to for this place to stay he would do work on the station to help his Uncle fix roads, fences and machinery, check waters and help with stock work. He wanted no wages, just a place to stay for him and his family.

  Finally Vic felt safe knowing no one could find them or reach them here. The only people who knew were people he would trust his life to.

  Chapter 27 – Another Family

  Jane was surprised at the joy she felt in discovering a new family, Vic’s mother, sister and uncle. They were all affectionate and kind, wonderful with the children and full of the stories of the land. She found she could sit and listen to them for hours.

  She loved the fact that they shared Vic’s blood and some of his looks, their dark skin and dark eyes were just the same, though each had their own special bits, his sister had blond highlights to her hair which Vic assured Jane were natural for some desert people, his mother had beautiful glossy back skin and hair which shone when she brushed it. His uncle, Jack, had a tough wiry body so much like her Vic though his hair was now a grizzled grey.

  Vic’s mother and sister stayed for a week, living next door in the Uncle’s house though in truth they were as much in her house as his, and Jane loved it that way.

  On the third day Uncle Jack appeared with a quiet horse and led the children around the yard, the next day he came with two quiet horses for Jane and Vic. They followed him as he rode around the home paddock, first taking them to a little rocky hill where the heavy bodied kangaroos, which he called ‘big boy wallaroo’, grazed. From here they had a panoramic view and he showed them the lie of the land. They rode on checking the fences and Jack showed them his special places and the signs of the land, the sweet open grass flats where cows and calves played, the places of water along the creek, the places in hidden trees where the cattle camped, two more little rocky hills where more kangaroos grazed.

  He finished by saying, “Now you not get lost, but more better you stay inside fence unless you come with me. Don’t want picaninny belong you lost in outside bush, too hot, no water, big snakes, maybe devil devil man.”

  Vic grinned and punched his uncle on the arm. “Ah, go long with you Jack, devil devil man only children story, me blackfella too, not get lost. But still we best be careful with the children in the bush.”

  Jane nodded, she understood Jack’s and Vic’s warning that this could be a dangerous place.

  After a week Vic’s Mum, Rosa and his sister Jill went back to Alice, saying they had a wedding to organize, giving Jane and Vic a sly wink. Each week Jane rang her parents and Anne and David and little Annie had now learnt to take turns to say hello too and tell simple stories like “today the chooks laid three eggs,” or “yesterday we saw a big goanna”.

  Other times Vic rang others to check on the wedding arrangement, that is what he told Jane anyway, though she knew it was a bit more than that. But that was fine, Vic would tell her anything she needed to know and she trusted him just so.

  One day, when Vic was out fixing a grader which had broken down on the main station road, there was a knock on the door. It was Uncle Jack who had been out checking windmills and was now finished for the day.

  He said, “Today Vic not home till late, more better you come and have dinner with me.”

  She followed him to his house with the children and went to help him prepare dinner. He shook his head and showed her to a chair, giving her an album of photos to look at instead. He said, “I good cook, I fix the dinner. You marry family, you become family. So this family photo book from great grandfather to now. You look. That way you know your family.”

  So she sat there and began to turn the pages. First she was looking at old sepia photos, men with big hats and ladies with long heavy skirts, other men leading and driving camels, others again with black skin and few clothes with big spears and throwing sticks, one proud black man carrying a big kangaroo on his shoulder, then several men riding horses behind cattle, horse races, old cars and trucks with their proud owners driving along scrubby roads.

  As Jane worked her way towards the back she recognized the clothes were becoming modern and the cars were newer looking. She recognized a lady who was a young Rosa, with three children standing around her and a small baby in her arms. She looked carefully at each child around her, two boys, like Vic but different, then the girl, perhaps five or six, she realized that this was Jillie. Vic must be the baby in his mother’s arms. Rosa looked so proud with her children, particularly her little baby.

  It made Jane smile inside with pleasure. She knew that, but for change of skin color, it could have been her when she held her babies David and Annie, she knew and owned that look too. Next page there was a picture of a shiny new helicopter and a proud young man standing beside it, then a second picture of a tribe of black kids climbing all over it as the same man watched over them with huge pride.

  Uncle Jack walked over as she stared at her Vic in the flush of success. “Fine looking boy, heh. Not bad for a desert blackfella to own that thing. Good thing about our Vic is he never forgot his blackfella roots, he spent half that first day taking all the nieces and nephews and the rest of the town camp kids for rides in that machine. Only pity was that boy could have been a football star, so quick and balanced. Could have played for a top Melbourne AFL team, made lots of money, seen his name in lights. But his big sister, Jillie, she would have none of it.

  “She would tell him, “Sure you could make the big time boyo, but what then? What when you is 30 and is all smashed up?” So she made him stay at school, do his lessons, get a job and apprenticeship, learn to fly. The day he bought that machine I had to tell her she was right, but a part of me always wanted to see him running down the field, ball on a string, kicking it straight through the centre of the MCG goals, would have been a pretty sight.”

  Jane folded the book closed and walked over and hugged the Jack. “I suppose being married to Vic makes you my family too. I like being part of this family and having and uncle like you. You must tell me all the stories of Vic as a little boy along with your own children.”

  So they shared a meal and he told her story after story, most were funny but some sad. As he talked more and more she felt she belonged, this was her real family now and she was joined to them.

  When the meal was finished he went to a drawer and pulled out a package wrapped in a tattered piece of oil cloth. He placed it in her hands.

  She unwrapped it. It was an old book, bound in a leather cover with its edges frayed and marked, tied closed with a faded red ribbon. She carefully untied the ribbon and opened it. There was something old and precious in the feel of this manuscript, its weight, the heavy paper, the marks of all the hands which had held it. She turned the pages, seeing brightly colored ink drawings and delicately drawn lettering. She could not read the writing as characters and words were unfamiliar.

  Jane looked at Jack with inquiring eyes. “What is it?”

  He said, “I do not know, It belonged to my Grandfather Vikram, it has been passed to each generation for someone to mind. It should now go to Vic. As you have more education maybe you could find out the story it tells, does it tell from where he came, or is it a religious book, like a bible. Now there is a new generation in our family, it is a thing for you and
Vic to have. But before it passes from me I would like to know what it says, what is the story it tells. Could you find out for me, so I can know its story. I have held it in my hands many times. But its inside is a mystery to me. I do not have the learning to discover what it says. I would like if you can do that for me. Then, when I give it to Vic, I can give him proper instruction in its meaning. I think that is what I should do before I pass it on.”

  Jane nodded. “I am not sure quite where to begin. But I am sure I can find out. So yes, I will do it for you. It is best if you keep the book, to keep it safe. But I will take photos of its pages. That way I can find a person who can read these words and tell me what it says and then I can tell you in turn.”

  Next day she borrowed Vic’s mobile phone which had a camera and carefully worked her way through this old book, carefully turning each thick yellowed page, some smudged with dirt or fingermarks. There were about 150 pages with writing and a few blank pages towards the end. The writing was like nothing she knew but a few of the pictures seemed to have a familiar feel about them, one of a brightly colored parrot. She was sure she had seen similar flitting through this desert landscape. There were also a couple of images of men in long flowing garb leading and riding camels and a couple landscape type pictures, carefully drawn using a range of ink colors which seemed to be Australian. There were also drawings of landscapes with jagged high snow covered mountains and lush valleys. They seemed from another land, perhaps around the high mountains of the Himalayan ranges.

  However the writing gave no clues, nothing was in a language she could understand. The script seemed different from any language she had seen, many letters or symbols with complex curves and curls. She decided she needed to talk to a university professor with knowledge of languages from the Indian subcontinent or Middle East to begin to decipher this story.