Book of Dreams

by Traci Harding

  ‘That would be sweet,’ Matt smiled.

  ‘My pleasure.’ Zoe handed him a beer from her fridge. ‘Felix called today to say that “The Dark History, Part 2” is coming along well, and should be completed by the time we go to court.’

  ‘To the whole truth and nothing but.’ Matt clinked his can against Zoe’s wine glass.

  ‘Surprise, surprise!’ Kimba ripped a fax from the machine in the sunroom, now converted into a temporary office. This room was an extension of Zoe’s lounge room, which Kimba entered waving her fax about. ‘Nivok has made an even bigger offer. Boy, is he desperate to settle this dispute out of court. And Hackerman & Partners have finally found the personal note written by Barnett Nivok that was attached to your grandfather’s will and are sending us a copy. Although the document is not legally binding, we can present it as a cause of dispute between your uncle and your parents.’

  ‘Excellent.’ Zoe was pleased about that. ‘I wonder if my uncle’s desperation stems from noting Ivan Zevron’s name on our witness list?’ The heiress glanced over all the zeros attached to the numbers on the offer document, then screwed up the fax and tossed it in the bin. ‘No way is he escaping now.’

  ‘I wonder how Ivan is enjoying his stay at the Aboriginal settlement?’ Matt pondered the scenario with a smile.

  ‘I’m more worried about how Kyle is doing trying to keep up Ivan’s identity.’ Zoe had been worried sick since she’d passed him on her way out of the solicitors’ office.

  ‘Yeah, what if Kyle sneezes and looses his disguise unexpectedly?’ Matt pondered, knowing nothing of occult matters.

  ‘Kyle’s just the puppet,’ Kimba reminded them both. ‘It is his guardian who is the master shaman and the one pulling the strings. Turramulli has a lot to prove after his long time in exile, and he won’t leave his charge exposed. Besides, we have other things to worry about.’ Kimba handed over the letter and tried not to wince. ‘We finally have an initial offer from the Land Fund.’

  ‘One point five million.’ Zoe was disappointed. ‘That’s not going to maintain the area for very long. The Land Fund gets forty-five million every year, and this money is all funds they won’t have to pay out in future. This is a win-win situation for all of us and as this is all just figures on paper, let’s make it look competitive … I want to see three million at least.’

  Kimba couldn’t repress her glee. ‘I’ll see what I can do.’

  ‘Hey, baby, I’m home.’ Kyle breezed in through the door, still in the guise of Ivan. ‘How about a kiss.’ He chased Zoe into the kitchen.

  ‘Aw, Kyle, please.’ She held him off, thinking this was the stuff nightmares were made of.

  ‘I promise I’ll turn into a handsome prince,’ he suggested playfully.

  ‘Oh … all right.’ Zoe closed her eyes and gave him a very tightlipped kiss.

  ‘Tada!’ Kyle was in his own body as they parted.

  ‘Disappointing!’ Kimba, who witnessed the transformation with total awe, disparaged Kyle’s talent. ‘I’d be asking for a refund if I were you, Zoe.’

  ‘Don’t listen, honey.’ Zoe blocked Kyle’s ears. ‘You’re a prince in my eyes.’ She gave him a more welcoming kiss.

  ‘I’ll say he’s anything he wants if he learnt something useful today.’ Kimba folded her arms and waited.

  Kyle looked at Matt, who was leaning in the kitchen doorway, looking astonished and holding a beer. ‘It’s okay, Matt. I’m still me.’

  ‘Yep,’ Matt agreed, ‘and you get scarier every day.’

  ‘He’s still an amateur compared to Matong Bargi.’ Kimba continued to downplay Kyle’s skill.

  ‘But I’m learning.’ Kyle appeared in Kimba’s face suddenly, startling her. She finally gave him an amused smile. ‘Do you want to hear about my day?’

  ‘Yes, I do.’ She grinned at him defiantly, deliberately not stepping back to get Kyle out of her personal space. ‘I hope you weren’t slacking off.’

  ‘Slacking off!’ Kyle said with such animation that Kimba began to chuckle. ‘I’ll have you know I’ve thwarted a corrupt attempt to derail our Land Fund deal today, and apart from that I’ve endeavoured to get up Nivok’s nose as often as possible.’

  Matt and Zoe applauded, but Kimba was curious. ‘What sort of a corrupt attempt?’

  ‘Nivok planned to pull in a few favours from a friend of his in federal parliament who could affect the flow of funds to our bidders.’

  ‘And what did you do?’ Kimba persisted with the inquisition.

  ‘I willed that the person to whom James was speaking was deeply moved by our cause and paranoid about the public support we had already gained.’ Kyle smiled as if expecting praise.

  ‘But maybe the parliamentarian in question really was touched by our cause and was aware of the extent of interest we’ve stirred up already?’ Kimba posed.

  ‘Either way, we thwarted the threat.’ Kyle gave her a chummy hug.

  ‘What’s this we shit, white man?’ Kimba teased. ‘It looks like our campaign is working.’ She referred her congratulations to Zoe and Matt.

  Zoe knew Kimba was just teasing, as Kimba had already confessed her faith in the spiritual side of their campaign led by Kyle and his guardian — the girl was just jostling for her super-cousin’s attention and so Zoe said nothing.

  ‘You’d be right about that,’ Kyle agreed, jumping onto the lounge, his feet hitting the coffee table at the same time his bum hit the seat. ‘The phone lines at Nivok got so crammed that they had to shut them down. The staff couldn’t cope.’ Kyle was pleased to finally get his audience a bit excited.

  ‘I knew it.’ Kimba hugged Zoe and they bounced around in a circle together. ‘The time is right,’ she concluded as they came to a standstill.

  ‘Is my uncle really furious?’ Zoe asked.

  ‘Absolutely spewing.’ Kyle picked up that day’s paper to read about their venture. ‘And if you ask me, he’s shit scared.’

  ‘So he should be,’ Matt averred, with a firm nod.

  ‘I don’t think his motivation is money either. He wants power,’ Kyle disclosed.

  ‘Judging from some of the figures he’s been throwing at us today,’ Kimba observed, ‘I’d say money isn’t an issue with him.’

  ‘And if he craves power so badly,’ Kyle debated, ‘that leads me to understand that Nivok has at some time felt vulnerable and powerless … he must have, if he could need power more than the love of his own family.’ This was something Kyle found hard to fathom, having always craved a family.

  ‘I don’t think James and my grandfather, Halifax, got along very well.’ Zoe offered up the little she knew, as her grandfather had died before she was born. ‘After all, Halifax did leave Turrammelin to his younger son, David, and two-thirds of his company in my parent’s hands too, which leads me to believe that my father was the favoured son.’

  ‘Aw, boo-hoo, poor billionaire, playboy, jetsetting arsehole!’ Kimba wandered back to her office, having more important things to think about.

  Kyle had to admit that not too long ago he would have thought the same thing. But something inside him wanted a good outcome for everyone, including the emotion-starved, self-obsessed man he’d spent most of the day with. Kyle knew what it was to fear. On this level he could empathise with Nivok; they were not so different. But Kyle had never taken a life and James Nivok had to atone for all the lives his selfish actions had destroyed.

  Kyle followed Nivok around for the next few days and even scored a free flight to Queensland for the court hearing. He knew James was nervous about Ivan being put on the stand, but Kyle was sure he’d managed to lull the tycoon into a false sense of security by assuring James that he would lie to save them both from being thrown in prison.

  James, however, was not quite as gullible or had such a closed mind as everyone had assumed. Kyle didn’t know James well enough to know when he was acting oddly — in this case overindulging his friendship with his bodyguard to ensure Ivan kept close, where James could k
eep an eye on him.

  For James had bought the apartment for Zoe, his name was on the lease and he had spare keys. It was no problem whatsoever to have the place wired while Zoe was out of the city. James had had surveillance people record every conversation since Zoe had made her play at the solicitors’ office. And, as hard as it was to believe, James had come to realise that supernatural forces were working against him — right alongside him in fact. From what he’d learnt listening into the conversations in his niece’s apartment, and from her wonderful documentary, the lad wearing his bodyguard’s image was, incredibly, drawing his power from a yowie, known to the local people as the Turramulli. The documentary reported that the creature had been drawn and quartered by James’ grandfather, Parker, but obviously this was not the entire truth.

  Ivan wasn’t the only gun for hire James was acquainted with and he’d sent a crack team of hunters to deal with the monster before the trial. Zoe’s documentary had even enlightened him as to the best means to get to the monster — through its beloved trees.

  On the night before the hearing, Kyle managed to slip away from the tycoon. The real Ivan Zevron would assume his rightful place alongside Nivok for the court case the next day. Ivan would have all memory of where he’d been excised from his mind, and the only thing he would realise was that he was required to join his employer in court that morning. When asked to take the stand, Ivan would be compelled to tell the truth.

  Rex and Tim were flying down to the city from Mount Turrammelin with Ivan on a small jet that Zoe had hired. They were to arrive first thing in the morning, so that the real Ivan Zevron and Nivok didn’t have too much time to chat before the hearing. Kyle planned to meet his father at the airport to ensure Ivan was well under his control before they packed him off in a cab to the courthouse.

  Tim and Rex took the road past Turrammelin mountain on their way to the airport.

  Ivan’s hands were tied behind his back, and he sat quietly in the back of the car. The bonds were just a precaution since the thug had been as sweet as a kitten from the time Kyle had left him in their charge.

  The sun was just rising in the distance and a warm, reverent calm blanketed the land. Tim loved the sunrise here and cherished the precious few he’d watched with Alex; he was missing his wife more than usual today.

  It seemed like Rex had read Tim’s mind, because he pulled in at the Mount Turrammelin lookout.

  ‘A short smoke break won’t hurt,’ Rex insisted.

  ‘Short,’ Tim emphasised, knowing his Indigenous family normally had little regard for time schedules.

  ‘We’re heaps early.’ Rex waved off Tim’s concern and climbed out of the car.

  ‘Stay put,’ Tim instructed Ivan, who simply nodded to confirm that he understood.

  The men sat down on a log and Rex lit up a smoke while Tim took in the view and the happy memories. Not long now, my love. ‘The nightmare just might end today.’ Tim could hardly believe the hour of reckoning was finally upon them.

  ‘What do you mean, might?’ Rex slapped his friend’s shoulder. ‘We finally have the Great Spirit on side. What could possibly go wrong?’

  A loud grinding noise was heard in the distance, spurring Tim and Rex into leaping up — the sound emanated from the mountain’s direction.

  ‘That sounds like a chainsaw.’ Tim voiced his observation warily. Suddenly, on the distant mountain, he saw a large tree topple to the ground. ‘No! That’s what started this whole mess.’ Tim began to run towards the mountain, when a blood-curdling howl was heard and he paused to hear it echo across the land. A whistle from Rex urged Tim to turn back and witness Ivan stagger from the car.

  ‘Where the fuck am I?’ the hitman snarled, and tried to pry his hands out of their binding. ‘This is kidnapping!’ he yelled at Rex and Tim, and then attempted to do a runner down the road.

  ‘Oh, no,’ Tim muttered, his fear building. If Ivan had regained his sensibilities, then something had happened to either Kyle or Kyle’s guardian. ‘Catch him and get him to court.’ Although it was obvious that it would do them little good to get Ivan on the stand if they couldn’t still compel him to tell the truth. ‘Nivok, you insidious bastard.’ Tim resumed his sprint for the mountain.

  ‘Watch your back.’ Rex raced after Ivan and caught him with ease. ‘I’ll take care of our friend here.’ He headed Ivan back to the car and pushed him into the boot.

  Tim kept low as he ran across the dry, grassy flat land, heading towards the mountain forest as far away from the fallen tree as possible. He did this to avoid being seen by the trespasser — or trespassers. He didn’t seriously think the yowie was in trouble; it was far more likely to be Kyle and the yowie’s howl was a protest against this tree-felling incident. However, if the yowie again killed to protect the trees, the Great Spirit would definitely revoke his powers. Was that what had happened?

  When Tim reached the cover of the trees, he grabbed his mobile phone from his back pocket and, locating a signal, phoned Zoe’s mobile number, as she would have reached her accommodation in Brisbane by now.

  ‘Hello?’ Zoe sounded sleepy.

  ‘Zoe? Is Kyle there?’ Tim whispered.

  ‘Well, yes, but he’s dead to the world right now. Do you want me to wake him?’ She was obviously surprised to be hearing from Tim at 6.30 a.m.

  ‘No. If you’re sure he’s okay?’ This seemed to indicate that the yowie had either killed or been killed, but Tim didn’t want to panic everyone until he was certain as to what had happened. ‘How was Kyle before he went to sleep?’

  ‘Um … energetic. Cocky, amorous —’

  ‘Sounds pretty normal,’ Tim warranted.

  ‘Are you on the plane already?’ Zoe yawned the last part of the sentence.

  ‘No, I had a change of plans. Rex is bringing Ivan down. I’ll explain later —’

  ‘Why are you whispering? Are you okay?’

  ‘At present.’ Tim felt that that might not be the case for very long. ‘Talk soon.’ He hung up and moved to rise when several darts skimmed past him to lodge in a tree in a lovely straight line. They looked like tranquiliser darts as they were filled with liquid — they could also have contained poison. ‘Hunters.’ Tim grabbed the darts as he made quickly for thicker cover — their liquid had been wasted upon contact with the tree, but the tips looked like they were made for elephant hide and would serve him as a weapon.

  Tim moved with great pace and near silence further into the forest before he scaled a tree near the pool to await his pursuer. It wasn’t long before the hunter crept past Tim’s perch, and he was easily overcome by an attack from above. Unfortunately, the intruder managed to shout for help before Tim knocked him unconscious with a head butt, which indicated that the hunter had friends in the vicinity. Tim was about to disappear back up the tree when two more men with similar weapons came charging down the forest path that led to the far side of the pool — the track had been seldom used as an approach to the water. Tim snatched up two of the darts from his belt, one in each hand, and threw them into the legs of the man who led the charge. The wounded man hit the ground, losing his weapon in the fall. Spotting the gun of the unconscious man, Tim grabbed it up and took aim, only to find that, in the excitement of the chase, his pursuer had forgotten to reload the weapon.

  The remaining hunter laughed as he realised Tim’s predicament. ‘All out of luck, hey?’

  As the gunman took aim at Tim, the sound of bubbling water became audible. The hunter suddenly took more interest in a target that lay beyond Tim, and Tim figured the cavalry had just arrived.

  ‘Not quite,’ Tim replied.

  The familiar disgruntled snarl of the bunyip strengthened Tim’s faith in cosmic justice.

  The ringing phone was sweet relief to Zoe’s ears. She’d been so worried since Tim called, but hadn’t wanted to call him in case the sound of his phone exposed Tim to danger. ‘Thank God it’s you. Something has happened to Kyle. I can’t seem to get him to wake. He’s all groggy.’
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br />   ‘That could be because his guardian has been pumped with enough sedative to kill an elephant!’ Tim explained angrily, but then calmed down enough to deliver the bad news. ‘He’s going to be out of action for at least twelve hours.’

  Zoe gasped; the realisation that her uncle had outsmarted her yet again nearly stopped her heart. ‘No, no, no, he can’t win. How could he have known?’ In the documentary, they had made it clear that the yowie was deceased. ‘That bastard has got my apartment wired!’ She knew in her heart that it was entirely possible and easy to do, and therefore probable — what better way to keep tabs on her loyalty? ‘I’m so stupid. I should have rented an office in Sydney. Shit!’

  ‘It’ll be okay.’ Tim lied through his teeth to ease her fears. ‘As soon as I get your uncle’s thugs tied up and out of harm’s way, I’ll head across country to see Bargi and explain what’s happened. She’ll know what to do.’

  ‘I’ll get Matt to meet Rex at the airport, and we’ll await your word. If necessary, I’ll see if Kimba can get the trial postponed, or we’ll stall, or … something.’ Zoe forced a smile, knowing faith in divine order was all she had left.

  ‘Chin up,’ Tim advised gently and with more optimism. ‘Even if the very worst should happen today, we both know that karma will have her way in the end, should we live to see it or no.’

  ‘Thanks, Tim, for everything. I won’t forget what you’ve suffered for my family.’

  ‘Our people became one when Arika gave birth.’ Tim indicated that there was no need to thank him. ‘Our pain and dreams are entwined, and our hopes for tomorrow depend very much on each other.’

  ‘They certainly do,’ Zoe granted, stroking Kyle’s hair, ‘but I’m really glad you’re on my side, all the same.’

  ‘Ditto,’ said Tim. ‘Keep the faith. Speak soon.’ He hung up.

  Zoe placed the phone on the side table and looked at Tim’s son, still unconscious on the bed beside her. ‘I fear karmic justice has taken the day off.’