Book of Dreams

by Traci Harding

  I can arrange the audience you seek, Matong Bakkare. A voice emanated from the woman, but she did not move her mouth, open her eyes, or make any movement whatsoever; to all appearances she could have been dead. I am the origin of the story.

  This vision faded to another of a cave, where gold lined the walls and half the floor appeared liquid. Kyle sat before a fire, his eyes seeming lost in it, his mind whirling from the sound of clapping sticks keeping time with a didgeridoo. Heed the Bullroarer, the voice of Baiame! a male voice demanded, before the vision abruptly withdrew and Kyle found himself wavering in his stance, back on the dark land, staring at Turrammelin mountain in the distance crowned by a waxing moon.

  ‘Who is Baiame?’ he mumbled deliriously. His knees gave up the struggle and his weary form collapsed unconscious.

  ‘I thought you said it wouldn’t harm him?’ Zoe directed an angry rebuke at Tim as they rushed to Kyle’s side; she was relieved to find Kyle still breathing.

  ‘It didn’t hurt him.’ Tim whipped open Kyle’s shirt, and removed the bloody bandage from his side. ‘It healed him,’ he announced. Kyle’s wound had completely vanished.

  ‘Oh my …’ gasped Zoe, having seen the terrible state of the wound only hours ago. ‘That’s miraculous.’

  Tim eased the boomerang from Kyle’s grip to inspect it — Kimba took an interest in it too. ‘I recognise this workmanship,’ he commented, somewhat awed by the realisation.

  ‘That’s one of Uncle Rex’s,’ Kimba noted curiously.

  ‘It is and all,’ Tim agreed. ‘And if I recall correctly, this boomerang was fashioned as an offering for a very important ritual held here over twenty years ago … the night Kyle was born.’

  ‘So how did Kyle end up with it when he has been lost all these years?’ Kimba wondered.

  ‘A very good question,’ Tim replied. ‘I saw this weapon fed to the flame that night.’ He gazed around at those present, so that they might see how serious he was. ‘It was reduced to ash.’

  CHAPTER NINE

  MATONG BARGI AND THE TURRAMULLI

  When Kyle awoke he was staring at a ceiling, which was rather unexpected, and he sat upright to look around. He didn’t recognise the small bedroom, and what was more puzzling was that he felt no pain or cold. In fact, he was rather on the warm side.

  ‘I must have burned my debt.’ It was the only thing that could explain his fast recovery, and upon checking his side Kyle was gobsmacked to discover his wound had vanished altogether.

  I can arrange the audience you seek, Matong Bakkare. I am the origin of the story.

  ‘The old woman.’ When Kyle thought back over his encounter with the earthlights, she was the first thing he remembered. Who is she? And, more importantly, where is she?

  She’ll send for you.

  He turned around to find Kyron sitting in the corner. ‘Kyron!’ Kyle suppressed his shock to a whisper. ‘I can see you, buddy.’ He rushed to wrestle with the creature, but it was transparent and Kyle’s hands passed right through his guardian.

  I know you can, Kyron stated proudly. You’re really connected now, just like you used to be when you were little.

  Kyle noted that he only heard Kyron’s voice in his mind. ‘Connected?’

  Uh-huh. Burn-a-debt’s blessing extended the rainbow serpent in you fully … your line of communication with the Great One is open once more. Now all you need to do is persuade the men of the local clan to help you place a call to Baiame.

  ‘I need to have a ritual?’ Kyle felt very disillusioned by the task of convincing the local Indigenous men that this white boy deserved their help to get an audience with God. But then again, the second vision from his earthlight encounter had indicated this. Kyle looked back at Kyron, noticing that he did not appear stressed to be frequenting the physical world. ‘Doesn’t being here with me make you feel uncomfortable?’

  ‘Well, I’m not all here.’ Kyron referred to his transparent form. ‘I’ve always been with you in this capacity, but you haven’t been able to perceive me in a long time.’ But Kyron’s tone did not infer that Kyle was to blame for this. ‘And your courage of late gives me courage. I feel more comfortable about being here, especially now that we’re almost home.’

  ‘Almost home? Are you referring to Turrammelin mountain?’ Kyle was unsure. ‘We’ve already been there — yesterday.’

  ‘Only the exterior,’ he said sadly.

  Kyle opened his mouth to question this further, when Matt’s voice diverted his attention to the next room.

  ‘He’s not himself at all,’ Matt was saying. ‘He’s got very wise all of a sudden and he hasn’t asked for a drink or a smoke since his near death thingy and that is totally out of character for Kyle, believe me.’

  ‘So you think this Great Spirit might have possessed Kyle, Tim?’ Zoe queried and Kyle crept closer to make sure he overheard the response.

  ‘It’s just a possibility. I know that one does not just pick up a boomerang and wield it so precisely.’ Tim knew this from personal experience. ‘This particular boomerang was a gift to the Great Spirit, Baiame, and as Felix pointed out yesterday it is a bubbera returning boomerang not a maki hunting weapon; it shouldn’t fly straight, and yet it does. It was hoped that the offering would placate Baiame, so that he would allow the guardian of Turrammelin mountain to return to protect the sacred site.’

  ‘The bunyip?’ Zoe asked.

  ‘No.’ Tim corrected her misconception. ‘The bunyip is the guardian of the pool … the outer defence as it were. However, it does not possess the same glamorous powers as the true guardian spirit of the mountain, who was exiled during the bloodletting of Bargi Arika’s time.’

  ‘The bloodletting?’ Zoe questioned warily.

  ‘That is not for me to speak —’ Tim began to advise.

  ‘The guardian of the mountain was a yowie.’ Kyle stepped out from hiding to interrupt Tim’s explanation.

  Tim nodded to confirm Kyle’s words, only half surprised that Kyle knew about the legend. ‘In these parts it was known as the Turramulli.’

  ‘Turrammelin means “makes big noise”. It was named after the creature’s howl,’ Kyle added for everyone’s information.

  ‘How do you know so much about the guardian when you’ve never even been here before, and know next to nothing about our cultural heritage and history?’ Kimba had to know; her curiosity was driving her nuts.

  ‘The creature’s name is Kyron, or Ron for short,’ Kyle responded lightheartedly. ‘He’s the one who gave me the boomerang.’ He motioned to the item in Tim’s hand, and when everyone looked at him thunderstruck and disbelieving, Kyle added, ‘Ron’s the one who taught me how to use it too.’

  ‘Bullshit.’ Kimba coughed, she clearly didn’t believe him.

  She was a tough little nut this one, friendly but proud and self-righteous. Her dark hair was cut very short but it had already begun to direct itself into small ringlets. Her attire was all denim and black, which suited her rebellious nature and made her look similar to Kyle.

  Kyle shrugged off her scepticism. ‘You’re right … in reality, I just pulled the flaming boomerang from the ceremonial fire and fully restored it, all with nothing but the bare hands of my pre-natal form.’ He held his arms up to flex his muscles, as if proclaiming himself as some sort of super-being.

  Kimba shook her head, unfazed by his mockery. ‘I’ll figure out how you got it, don’t you worry.’

  ‘Good-oh,’ Kyle encouraged her. ‘And while you’re at it, you could explain where my wounds have gone and why fire spirits did a dance on my head last night.’ He realised he’d got a bit carried away with his teasing, because everyone was staring at him as if he had two heads.

  ‘What is going on with you?’ Matt ventured, sounding a little concerned for his friend. ‘Are you possessed?’

  ‘I’m not possessed,’ Kyle objected, with a laugh. ‘And I haven’t gone nuts either!’ Kyle glanced back as Kyron came to stand behind him in the doorway. ‘Ron’s r
ight here.’ He motioned to his ghostly guardian, expecting everyone before him to suddenly cower in fear.

  Only you can see or hear me, Kyron advised him, a little late to save Kyle the embarrassment.

  ‘But … only I can see him,’ Kyle added, wincing, as he knew what kind of a response he’d fetch.

  ‘Bullshit,’ Kimba and Felix said in accord and even Matt was smiling in disbelief.

  ‘I don’t know about that,’ Zoe defended. ‘Kyle has told me about his yowie before.’ She looked at Tim. ‘You have the sight. Can you see it?’

  ‘I cannot.’ Tim shrugged at Kyle in apology, as everyone else felt vindicated by his words. ‘But that doesn’t mean it isn’t there. The creature may choose not to present itself to me.’

  ‘Yeah, sure, whatever.’ Kimba waved off the possibility, having a chuckle with Matt and Felix.

  ‘Why speculate either way?’ Tim pointed out. ‘Bargi Arika will see the truth, sure enough, and no one will doubt her word.’

  ‘Who?’ Kyle queried.

  She is the old woman you seek, advised Kyron.

  ‘Oh, her.’ Kyle waved off an answer before anyone could give one. ‘Kyron said she was going to send for me.’

  Kimba folded her arms. ‘This could really get annoying. How long do you plan to keep up this charade?’

  ‘What charade?’ Kyle grinned broadly.

  ‘There’s nothing here,’ Kimba insisted, walking past Kyle and then backwards and forwards through Kyron, who began to laugh hysterically.

  Make her stop, it tickles!

  Kyle grabbed Kimba’s arm to prevent her passing through the creature again. ‘Ron wants you to stop it because moving through his space like that tickles him.’

  Was Kyle a brilliant actor, or did he really believe what he was telling her? ‘I think those earthlights blew a fuse in your brain.’ She took her arm back. ‘Matong Bargi will see through you to the truth.’

  ‘I sincerely hope so.’ Kyle smiled, infuriating his cousin all the more.

  Kimba would have pursued the argument but there was a knock at her front door. She moved to the window to peer through the blinds and see who the caller was. ‘It’s cool. It’s Uncle Rex,’ she announced, so that everyone could relax.

  ‘Bargi Arika said that Tim was here.’ Rex stepped inside as Kimba nodded, but before proceeding into the lounge he hugged Kimba.

  ‘You know about Dad then?’ She assumed as much by his comforting gesture.

  ‘Yes. I’m sorry.’ Rex hugged her close and then headed off to find Tim.

  The two men embraced each other and spoke quietly of Harry’s demise, before Tim handed Rex the boomerang. ‘But here’s the good news.’

  As Rex looked the weapon over his jaw nearly hit the floor. ‘This proves the claim. The lost one has returned.’

  Tim pointed to Kyle.

  ‘Bargi Arika has asked to see you,’ Rex informed the newcomer, who, despite his olive skin, was nearly as white-skinned as his father. Yet his mother’s ancestry was reflected in his dark eyes and his nearly black straight hair. ‘Bargi said you were expecting her summons.’

  ‘That I am,’ Kyle concurred, looking at Kimba who was obviously both flabbergasted and annoyed to be proven wrong. ‘But who is the Bargi Arika?’

  ‘That’s Matong Bargi Arika to you,’ Tim explained. ‘It means great-grandmother, the small blue water lily, and thus white people have always called Arika, Lily.’

  ‘She’s my great-grandmother!’ Kyle had always thought about his parents; he’d never got as far as thinking about aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, or great-grandparents.

  Tim smiled, delighted by Kyle’s reaction. ‘She’s ninety-seven years old and knows the history of Mount Turrammelin like the back of her hand.’

  ‘Then I would like to speak with her too,’ Zoe requested.

  ‘You must be the wife of Bargi’s Matong Bakkare.’ Rex clicked his fingers as he recalled: ‘Arika said you must come also.’

  Zoe was shocked and strangely delighted. ‘I’m not Kyle’s wife,’ although she did not say this with any dismay.

  ‘Oh, really.’ Rex chuckled, looking from Zoe to Kyle, but he made no further comment on the subject. ‘I’m to take you both to her resting place.’

  Kyle looked at Matt, who’d not been included in the summons.

  ‘He has other plans.’ Rex explained why he hadn’t extended the invitation to Matthew. ‘Arika said that she did not want to keep the film maker from his purpose.’

  ‘Matt?’ Kyle prompted a response from him, as Matthew looked at Rex, stunned by his knowledge.

  ‘Well, yeah … I do.’ Matt waved a finger in Felix’s direction. ‘Felix dabbles in amateur film making. He’s got a video editing suite set up on his computer at home, so I was going to head over there and check out what I shot last night … and the Nivok tapes.’

  ‘I can do audio too, so I might be able to enhance the sound quality a bit,’ Felix added. ‘Well, I guess this means we’ve got a date then.’

  Matt appeared to be happy about that. He was only just starting to investigate spiritual matters and, quite frankly, the phenomena that were manifesting around Kyle lately defied his sense of adventure. Kyle had Zoe and Tim to support him through whatever it was he was going through. Matt was happy to stick to chasing facts, evidence and avenues of inquiry that they might pursue to keep Nivok’s bulldozers away from Turrammelin mountain.

  Kyle and Zoe followed Rex’s car in their four-wheel drive. Tim and Kimba were in Rex’s car so that they could discuss a burial ceremony for Harry with him.

  ‘So how does it feel to have a wife?’ Zoe found the notion amusing and she wanted to test the shallow waters of their relationship.

  ‘Bloody marvellous!’ Kyle stated emphatically, which thrilled Zoe. ‘For me, that is.’ Kyle became more serious. ‘For her, I fear it sucks.’

  ‘You’re not so bad,’ said Zoe, affectionately. ‘I can think of worse people to be stuck with for life.’

  ‘But how could you know that I wasn’t just after your money?’ Kyle reasoned.

  Zoe laughed away his fears. ‘Well, you know, Kyle, you haven’t exactly been trying to romance my money out from underneath me, now have you?’

  Kyle cracked a smile; he was a bit slack in the romance department.

  ‘You took a bullet on my behalf, which I very much doubt you would have done if you were only in it for the money,’ Zoe continued, hoping to entice him into expressing his feelings. ‘And, if otherworldly creatures think you’re worth befriending … you can’t have a better recommendation than that in my book.’

  ‘Well,’ Kyle smiled, ‘that’s a relief.’ He knew she wanted him to say more, but he wasn’t too sure how to say it. ‘Kyron really likes you too,’ he thought to add, pointing to the back seat.

  ‘Does he now?’ Zoe was mildly surprised by this news. ‘Then why won’t he let me see him?’

  Kyle turned in his seat to appeal to his guide. ‘Please, buddy, you trust Zoe, I know you do. Just let her see you so she knows I’m not a complete psycho. Please.’

  The yowie thought hard on this and then nodded.

  ‘He’s says okay. You can see him,’ Kyle advised her.

  ‘Oh yeah.’ Zoe glanced in her rear-vision mirror to find it filled with the face of a huge, horned, fanged gorilla. The car started swerving all over the place. ‘Oh my God!’ She brought the four-wheel drive to a screaming halt on the side of the road and hit Kyle a few times. ‘Did you have to do that while I was driving?’ She jumped out of the car before turning to view the creature in her back seat. ‘There’s the ghost of a yeti in my car,’ she said, bewildered and excited. ‘And I can see it! He’s just like I imagined!’

  Kyle and Kyron just looked at each other in a blasé fashion, as Zoe screamed into her cupped hands to calm herself down.

  ‘Okay, I’m calm.’ She looked at the placid monster. ‘Hello, Kyron. I’m very pleased to meet you.’

  Always a pleasure, Kyron
replied.

  ‘And he’s telepathic!’ She hugged both hands to her heart, delighted. ‘This is so great,’ Zoe exclaimed, her whole body shaking with excitement.

  ‘Perhaps I should drive,’ Kyle climbed into the driver’s seat, ‘before we lose our guide.’ He motioned to the car disappearing down the long stretch of road.

  ‘Oh.’ Zoe ran around to the passenger door, climbed in and closed the door. ‘Thanks so much, guys.’ She looked from Kyron to Kyle. ‘This is the best gift I’ve ever been given.’ Zoe hugged Kyle and kissed his cheek. ‘I knew you weren’t lying.’

  ‘Who’d want to seem this weird on purpose?’ Kyle got the car moving.

  ‘I love it that you’re weird.’ Zoe rested her head on his shoulder, taking advantage of this short time alone — well, sort of alone.

  ‘That’s what I love most about you too,’ Kyle managed to say without his voice wavering under the stress; speaking of love was still shaky ground for him.

  Still, it was enough to make Zoe feel wonderfully secure about where she stood with Kyle. The misconception of the Matong Bargi — that Zoe was Kyle’s wife — was playing on her mind. This mysterious woman seemed to know so much, so was this more like a prophecy? Zoe was dying to know.

  They brought the cars to a stop at a thick patch of forest, not far from Turrammelin mountain. This forest did not appear to be a natural formation, because concentric rings of different trees had been planted in such a fashion as to make the interior impenetrable.

  ‘This is Matong Bargi’s place?’ Zoe walked around the perimeter with Kyle.

  ‘She grew every tree herself,’ Tim told them, rather proud of the old woman’s achievement.

  ‘And this is not Nivok land?’ Zoe noticed how close they were to the mountain.

  ‘It will be once Bargi passes on,’ Tim corrected her, a little mournfully. ‘This place was granted to Arika by the Nivoks for as long as she lives, then the land reverts to the original owner … well, you now,’ Tim realised.