by Leo Nix
Riley nodded. “So you did training, like Roo and Nulla, with your mother's people?”
“Yes, I did my woman's initiations like for my 'coming of age' at puberty. I had to do special things to marry Wiram too. That's all secret women's business,” she said.
Nulla shifted his body to ease the growing ache in his shoulders and back. He was sure he'd pulled a muscle in his shoulder earlier that day and it ached along with his old football injuries. Fortunately his eyes were fine and his vision had cleared since the fight in the sand dunes.
“Roo,” Nulla said quietly to his friend, “I'm getting a feeling from Wiram, he's trying to mind-talk us. Are you getting that too?”
Roo nodded affirmative. Donna said, “Me too Nulla, he's restless and angry, they're running. I'm not sure but it must be terrorists.”
“Yes, it's enemy. They killed Matilda and Hiram. Wiram's sad about that,” said Roo.
“Thanks, I needed confirmation. When we head out in the morning we need to scout out for the enemy as well. I'd say the Talons or the Ravens Claws were on their way to get around the back of Longreach when they ran into Wiram and McFly.”
“McFly's good,” said Roo. “He's got spirit work to do.”
Three sets of eyes turned quizzically to stare at Roo.
“I know he spent time with Billy in the desert. I wonder if that has anything to do with it?” said Nulla.
Roo nodded. “Billy's with him now.”
Chapter 20 - McFly's Initiation
On their all-night desert trek McFly hallucinated of water, drinking as much as he could but he was never quite satisfied. Then it was a peanut butter sandwich. It had a crunchy crust all over that made him salivate in his sleep-walking state. He ate that sandwich over and over like a video clip stuck in a loop. Next it was succulent white meat, juicy, sweet and refreshing… but then something happened and he felt strangely calm and relaxed.
McFly found himself floating above his body looking down to watch Wiram's huge frame with his arm under a smaller person, it was himself. Wiram was virtually carry him along through the sparse scrub of the desert plain.
McFly saw himself, asleep. He was upright and walking but his eyes were closed. Wiram's eyes were orbs of phosphorescent light glowing inside his head. But he knew that Wiram wasn't there, he was in a trance, a walking being with eyes like headlights.
There was someone else there, holding his other arm. As he focused his attention he saw it was Billy. Billy was at his other arm supporting him. McFly accepted this calmly, 'this is how things should be - we care for those we love', came a voice somewhere inside his mind, it was Billy's voice.
He now lifted higher and higher until he was touched by the beams of sunlight from the far eastern horizon and he felt alive. It was an ecstasy as though he had been plugged into the power point at his home in Sydney. The power surge sent him flying high above the wanderers below. He felt drawn to a strange glow not far from the struggling figures among the sand dunes. There he saw a spider web of light energy disguising a rocky outcrop. It made his stomach tighten as a fresh surge of energy rippled into his belly and chest.
McFly found himself standing in a cave inside the hillock. Before him were the spirit father and mother. This time they were not frightening, he remained in awe but not afraid. Automatically he extended his hands and felt the warmth of the spirit father's hands grasping his. Sunlight flooded his being as he absorbed the father's power. A force then filled his body, he felt as strong as any warrior in the land.
The spirit mother then took his hands in hers to gently flow her energy into his body. It felt like a spring breeze with the scent of flowers and the silky feel of moonlight.
The father spoke. “You are welcome here.”
“You're now safe, so is your friend. He is a man of power and respect, his reward is coming,” spoke the spirit mother.
As McFly slowly came back to consciousness he heard her say, “But your trial has just begun.”
McFly woke to the smell of wood smoke, the crackle of a camp fire and the movement of his mate Wiram. He sat up and looked around.
“Where are we?” he asked.
“Good morning squire, decided to join me for breakfast did you?” came Wiram's weary voice. “I've got a delicious rock python on the barbecue and the last of our water for refreshments.”
“Didn't we have snake yesterday?” said McFly feeling strangely buoyant and energised.
“No, the snake almost had us, I believe.”
“We must be at that rocky hill you saw.” McFly stared into the dancing flames for a moment. “I had the weirdest dream, Wirrie. I saw Billy and the spirit father and mother again and I've got a trial or something. I've got to find a cave but you can't come with me…”
“Hey, McFly, slow down. I know, I've got to stay away from the cave. This is a place of spirit, sacred land for the local tribesmen only. I'm not of this land, this isn't my blood country. I tread here with the spirit's permission. If I betray their trust I'll be killed. If not by the local warriors then by the land itself.”
McFly looked at Wiram curiously. “That's what the spirit father said. How'd you know all that?”
“Ha! That's my question to you, how'd you know all that? I'm nangarri, I live and breathe my tribal spirits but you're white. You're not of this land and yet they not only let you freely walk here, they give you something others will never experience. I'm a warrior of high degree in my tribe. I've earned the secrets of my people since time birthed us and yet I have to tread carefully even here. You don't. Why is that I wonder?” he mused as he turned the snake on it's stick to cook evenly.
“I saw you walking Wirrie, you were almost carrying me. I saw Billy on my other side holding me up.”
Wiram look up at McFly curiously. “You slept through the trek of a lifetime my friend and yet you saw? You amaze me. Yes, I had no choice but to carry you but I didn't know who was on the other side. I thought maybe Shamus, but Billy, yes that makes sense. You and he were close weren't you.”
“Yeah, we were, I loved that old man. So how did you do it, walk all this way without resting?” asked McFly. “You basically carried me all night and there's no way anyone can do that without a break. I saw your eyes were open but you were some place else. How did you do that?”
“Ah, that's part of my nangarri training, it's a secret technique we sometimes use. I imagine Nulla and Roo might know it, they're full initiates too…” Wiram thought for a moment as he disappeared inside his special place. When he came back he said, “OK, I'll tell you a little bit since this has now become your land and the spirits like you. When we train for our initiations we have a teacher, a mentor, usually an uncle, rarely is it our father unless everyone else is gone.” He pushed the log further into the fire to ensure it didn't smoke and give their position away.
“My two uncles were nangarri, sorcerers, they taught me to walk. It's an energy walk which is why I can stay awake all night on patrol and these desert walks I seem to find myself doing. It involves special breathing, I guess you'd call it and moving energy along lines like acupuncture. I had to practice it until I could walk all day and all night. It took a long time. I can only do it now because my uncles never let up on me. They pushed me hard because I was so lazy.”
He stopped talking to pull the snake off its stick and then broke it into pieces with his fingers. Half went to himself and the other half to McFly. They sat in the silence of early morning eating the succulent white flesh. When they were finished McFly searched around in his back pack taken from the Talon soldier. He pulled out a paper bag and inside was a stale peanut butter sandwich. He shared half with Wiram. It crunched like fresh crusty bread, he ate in a state of sheer ecstasy.
Wiram broke the silence. “I'm going to have a nap, wake me at midday or if you see or hear any sign of the terrorists. After that I think you have a cave to find.” He pulled his hat over his eyes and fell into a deep sleep.
McFly found he was charged with ene
rgy. He busied himself checking and cleaning their weapons. They both had AK47's, M9 Beretta pistols from Simon's personal collection; commando knives taken from the Deaths Head commandos at Marree; the Talon's fold-away knives; a rifle, a Blaser which Wiram took as a souvenir from the Stosstruppen and a scoped .303 Lee Enfield kangaroo rifle McFly fell in love with from one of the abandoned farms near Birdsville.
His 303 was in excellent condition. Lovingly looked after with a cushioned stock which didn't hurt as much as the one he used in Marree and the mines battles which bruised his shoulder. He'd asked Roo to carve a trout on one side and a river bass on the other. Joining both sides ran a fishing line and a series of small flies and bugs that Roo created for him. They danced on his stock as though they were alive. In return McFly took him fishing in the lagoon and tried to teach him fly fishing. Roo liked to just sit and watch him flick his line to land on the water surface like an insect.
As he was daydreaming he saw movement several sand dunes away, it was approaching from the east. He put his binoculars to his eyes and confirmed that it was those same Talons they'd been running from.
“Wirrie, wake up, we've got company.”
Wiram came awake immediately. He sat up and looked through the binoculars.
“Looks like three of their four wheel drives. They're not following our tracks at all, they're lazy and sticking to some old tracks. If they continue they'll miss us by a long shot. The spirit father has disguised the hill, they might not even see it.” He lay back down and pulled his hat over his eyes. “There may be more vehicles so just keep an eye out. If they head this way wake me.”
The vehicles were loaded with men but they weren't too interested in what they were doing. It looked like they were on a holiday or heading to a party. They stayed on the top of the sand dune. Music blared from their vehicles and they lit a fire for their meal, an early lunch. After a few hours they headed back the way they'd come. McFly didn't wake Wiram, he deserved to sleep a bit longer, he decided.
By now the sun was overhead and a bored McFly went off to explore. The hill was a jumble of rocks and crevasses that appeared then closed up again, it was more a rocky labyrinth. When he went to investigate one such crevasse he got stuck and had to climb higher to find a way around it.
That was when he found the cave. Actually, that's when the giant carpet snake found him. McFly freaked and climbed where no white man had climbed before. With a loud shriek he fell through the crack in the rock wall and onto soft sand.
Wiram woke up soon after McFly left to go exploring. He stood up to find the mikiri not far from where their camp was. It was a stone well, hand carved to allow a person to enter and pass up bark containers of water, to those above. The local tribesmen had left a large flat stone covering it to keep the birds and animals from falling in and fouling the water. He filled his belly first then their empty water bottles. He made his way back to the camp fire and went back to sleep.
There was enough light coming through the crack for McFly to see the paintings on the cave walls. Strange clay painting of hands and figures of animals and people. He recalled his anthropology studies and recognised some of the figures but the others were alien. In fact they could have been painted by real aliens, he thought.
The cave was small and womb-like so he quickly scanned for dingo and snake droppings, but the sand was clean. It was almost shrine-like, becoming shallower after only a few metres in. Every face of the cave and the ceiling was covered in paintings.
Now he felt frightened. He was in a sacred cave, forbidden to all but initiated warriors, and those of specific totems - and he wasn't even of their blood. In this fearful state he abruptly stood up, hitting his head on the low ceiling. Reeling backwards he tripped on something and crashed to the floor cracking his head on the stone wall on his way down. With his head spinning he dropped into a strange state of awareness, much like what happened when he was smoked by Billy.
There was someone standing before him, a powerfully built, naked warrior, a spear in one hand and a boomerang in the other. He had fierce eyes and glared intently at McFly. Mesmerised like a mouse under the glare of a snake, McFly entered a deeper state of trance.
“Son, welcome,” came a now familiar voice. He was standing on the top of the hillock watching the sun rising and setting. Before him stood the spirit father, the fierce warrior and Billy.
“Don't do anything, just watch. This will explain why you chose to help my people,” said Billy.
He saw an aboriginal family, a proud man with his beautiful wife and happy children. They were sitting with their meal, beside a camp fire in the desert, he recognised the region around Birdsville. The rains had cleared and the flowers were abundant, it was quiet and peaceful. The kangaroos and marsupial mammals grew fat on the harvest of the late monsoon rains.
Theirs was a good life. His son was readying for his manhood ceremonies and he looked forward to escorting him to the men's secret initiations. His wife was still attractive to him and her ability to provide food for the family made him the envy of his tribe.
McFly was fascinated, this answered so many questions as to why he was so interested in the Australian aborigines, their way of life and why he went out of his way to help where he could. It also answered why he studied anthropology and had travelled to the red centre of Australia so many times. It was why he just loved the dry heat and the wide open plains. He was in love with this place, and now he saw the beauty of the desert through different eyes. Eyes that saw the history of his people in every tree, sand dune and water hole.
Out of the corner of his eye he noticed a line of pack horses, leading them were three unkempt white men on horseback. These rough men entered the clearing where the family were cooking their midday meal. In shock no one moved. These strangers arrived without warning and appeared to be ghosts. They were even the colour of ghosts, and the sticks they pointed smoked like ghosts.
The man and his family were shot dead where they sat, mouths open, paralysed by fear and dread of the unknown. McFly felt tears coursing down his cheeks and his enormous grief brought up painful sobs of despair. This was his family. The scene cleared to be replaced by another.
This time he was white, working as a farm hand mustering sheep. He loved his job and his small family felt accepted and part of the local farming community. He watched as the young man went out into the deep desert to shoot dingoes who were killing their sheep. The young man carried a rifle and led a pack horse as well as his own horse. McFly could clearly see this man was smart, sharp and knew his business, he was no fool. If he went into the desert ranges to hunt dingoes, then he would succeed at his task. In some ways McFly saw he was much like Roo, skilled, quiet and supremely competent, a crack marksman.
He watched as the young man walked his horses along a dry creek bed. He knew he'd soon find the permanent water hole used by the local aborigines. As he rounded a bend, he saw the bodies. Five of them, a small family group, lying beside their camp fire near the poisoned waterhole. As he got closer he saw the mess of their dying, and his grief exploded inside him. He roared in impotent rage at the wanton waste of these precious lives.
As he watched he saw the man's life fade into nothingness. Sadly the once competent young man turned to alcohol to cope. The horror took control of him, he never came to terms with what he saw that day. In each small black body he saw his own children and the woman could as easily have been his wife. How could a man live knowing that others could so easily snatch life from another like that? Again, Matty McFly saw himself in the man before him.
“Watch, Matjuri, watch again,” came the voice of the spirit father.
As he watched he saw himself meeting with Shadow, and many others he didn't know. Some were black and some were white. He was an ambassador, doing important work to bring peace to the wasted lives of the land.
“Matjuri, none of this was wasted, none of this was accidental. You sacrificed your joy and happiness, over many lifetimes, to bring you to this pl
ace in time and space. We need you to live to fulfil your promise to humanity from those lives.” He explained that McFly had chosen this path, every one. His was a very long association with the Australian aborigines. He'd spent many lives being one with them and the earth. McFly had chosen to experience life as white, yellow, black and brown. His was a plan that was a thousand years in the making.
“So the apocalypse was also a plan of a thousand years?” he asked.
“It was planned at the dawning of time itself. There are many like you who have prepared for it with experiences just as painful as your own. We respect your sacrifice, we honour you for your time has finally come,” said Billy. “Today we are here to show you why you chose this path, and to give you gifts that you'll need on your journey.”
“I don't need gifts, Billy. I need wisdom, skill and courage.”
The spirit father spoke again. “Matjuri, McFly, you have those already, in abundance. You need to undergo certain initiations to gain access to them when you need them – to awaken your wisdom and power.”
The fierce man then stepped forward. He drew back his powerful spear arm and threw his shovel-nose war spear. It pierced McFly's chest flinging him into another dimension.
Chapter 21 - Dreaming
The small band of searchers were up before dawn. They started following Wiram and McFly's camel tracks as soon as the sun was up. Donna was keen to get moving, when they lost the tracks she would often range a hundred metres ahead to pick them up again.
Roo became nervous when she did that and tried to talk to her, but the words wouldn't come out right for him. He found that when he was under stress he couldn't speak properly. He hadn't thought in words for twenty years and putting pictures and sensations into words in a hurry was difficult. Riley picked up on his cousin's restlessness. Roo even struggled to explain to Riley why he didn't want Donna going so far forward.