‘For some, maybe.’ Kyle stumbled out of the car, nursing his wound.
‘Oh, you poor chook.’ Zoe galloped over to see if she could make him feel better, but Kyle held up a hand to defend himself.
‘I’ll be fine until you mellow,’ he reassured her. His eyes came to settle on her breasts. ‘Feel free to continue jumping about though.’
‘Yep, off you go,’ Matt encouraged, coming to stand beside Kyle with his camera rolling, at which point Zoe acted coy.
‘Dammit, can’t a girl have any fun without being perved at?’ As both lads shook their heads, Zoe rolled her eyes and strolled off to take in the scenery. ‘Typical.’
Tim followed her towards the waterhole. ‘You want to see why Nivok wants this place so badly?’ He glanced back to see Kyle and Matt both nod in the affirmative. ‘Then follow.’
‘He’s rather intense, isn’t he?’ Kyle whispered to Matt, interested to hear his impression of Tim.
‘A bit like someone else I know,’ commented Matt, as he obediently fell in behind his travelling companion.
Matt’s comparison was heartwarming to Kyle. He was like his father.
At the pool, Tim stripped to his trousers and dived straight in.
Zoe squealed as she was suddenly sprayed with cold water. Still, it brought cool relief from the humid heat of the day and she was tempted to dive in herself.
Kyle looked about at the trees … infinitely smaller and less abundant than what he recalled from seeing this same place on the mental realm of awareness. I’m afraid the Nivoks destroyed much of this place a long time ago. He could certainly now understand what his mother had meant by this, but the falls were awe-inspiring nonetheless. The otherworldly guardians of nature were much harder for Kyle to spot in the physical realm. Yet, when he concentrated hard enough, focusing on his third-eye area, the entities could be vaguely made out as a shadow on a branch, a movement of a rock, a dance of light on the water, or the soaring force behind a sudden burst of wind.
‘Do you think Tim meant we were to follow him in?’ Matt queried, filming the spot where Tim had submerged.
‘God, I hope not.’ Kyle sat himself down on a warm rock.
‘He’s certainly taking his time.’ Zoe was starting to worry. ‘Do you think there’re crocs in there?’ She took a step back from the edge.
Matt lowered his camera, starting to entertain the idea that he might have to dive in after Tim. ‘He couldn’t possibly have held his breath for this long.’
Kyle stood up. Surely creation was not so cruel as to take his father from him now. Were a few hours all they would have together?
‘Bubbles.’ Zoe pointed to the still water beyond the falls, where Tim finally surfaced and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
‘That must be some sort of record,’ Matt shouted out as Tim swam closer, clutching something in his fist.
‘Are there crocs in there?’ Zoe wanted to know.
‘Nope.’ Tim replied.
‘It’s freshwater. Are you sure?’
‘Very sure.’
‘How could you be sure?’
‘I’m not dead, am I?’ Tim climbed out of the water and planted a large rock in her hand.
It was pretty clear what the rock was composed of. ‘This is a solid gold nugget,’ Zoe decided as she tried to break off bits with her fingers, but the rock proved too tough.
‘This is literally a mountain of gold,’ Tim informed her. ‘The locals have always known this and your uncle strongly suspects that he’s on to a gold mine here.’
‘That would seem to explain the big fence to keep the locals out,’ Kyle supposed, ‘but I don’t understand why Nivok didn’t mine it sooner.’
‘Well, he couldn’t,’ Tim said. ‘When Zoe’s parents died they left all their worldly possessions to Zoe, along with this piece of land. The courts decreed that although James Nivok was Zoe’s trustee, he could not mine the land on her behalf — even though the government of Queensland had granted him a mineral development licence in the hope that a full scale mining lease would follow, along with much revenue. The judge decided that your uncle had the option to keep renewing his licence until such time as Zoe came into her inheritance and sold him the land, or gave him permission to proceed with his investigation.’
‘Permission which he requested a few days ago,’ Zoe summed up. ‘Did my parents know about this? I mean, how did my uncle manage to get a mineral development licence on a piece of land my parents inherited?’
‘From what I understand, after Halifax died and left that piece of land to your father, James tricked his brother into getting an exploration permit. When his plan was discovered, James lied to your father, saying he planned to surprise him if they had had any positive results from the survey. Your father did not take legal action against his brother, but he probably should have. I was the geologist who worked on that exploration survey and when I reported my findings, James and your father, David, had a distinct disagreement about what should happen next.’ Tim wrung out his trousers, as best he could with them still on his body. ‘You see, once your father learnt James was carrying out a mineral survey, your father hired a botanist to do an environmental impact study at the same time. She had actually been applying for permission to do an environmental report on the area for years, and David figured it was an apt time to give her the go-ahead.’
‘Wasn’t she the woman you eventually married?’ Matt asked Tim, having read something about that in Tim’s file.
Tim nodded. ‘The same month I met her.’ He forced a smile but said no more.
‘Do you mind me asking what her interest in this land was?’ Zoe requested cautiously.
‘Her interest was ancestral,’ Tim replied. ‘For her grandmother’s people, this mountain, and the waterhole, were sacred male ground and all the descendants of her family group are bound to protect and honour it.’
‘There’s no native title claim against this land, is there?’ Zoe wondered if this was something else her uncle had failed to tell her.
Tim shook his head. ‘Those rights were destroyed over a century ago, when this land was sold by the government to the Nivoks as a freehold estate. However, no mortal law can release the Indigenous people of this land from their obligation to the spirits of the Dreamtime, who created this earth for them.’
‘Oh.’ Zoe drew back, concerned, and folded her arms, thinking female rights were being threatened. ‘And why, may I ask, is it considered sacred male ground?’
Tim smiled, knowing the reason would seem incredible to western ears. ‘Because this waterhole hosts a bunyip who likes to eat women and children.’
Zoe fixed him with a look of scepticism. ‘You don’t believe that, do you?’
‘That’s why I can trust that there are no crocs in here,’ Tim replied. ‘Bunyips don’t tolerate other predators in their waterholes.’
‘Cool.’ Kyle confirmed his belief in Tim’s story, as the man moved past him to fetch dry clothes. ‘Have you seen it?’
‘Seen it?’ Tim echoed. ‘It guides my destiny.’
Kyle’s smile broadened. He thought of telling Tim about his yowie, which led him to wonder how Tim knew the bunyip was his guardian … Kyle decided it was not the time to pursue this line of inquiry.
‘I was under the impression that bunyips were mythological creatures.’ Zoe risked voicing her limited understanding.
‘Such a creature has an ability to shift dimensions,’ Tim explained. ‘It’s an understandable misconception.’
‘So you can see otherworldly creatures, Tim?’ Zoe ventured to say on Kyle’s behalf, knowing he would be excited to learn of someone else with his talent.
‘I don’t want to strike you as a loon or anything,’ Tim observed, ‘but yes, I have been known to see them.’
Zoe looked at Kyle, thrilled for him, and was surprised when Kyle changed the subject.
‘Well, how about we break out some of the groceries we have in the car and make ourselves something t
o eat?’ he suggested.
Everyone seemed very keen on the idea.
By the time their hunger had been appeased, the afternoon shadows grew long across the landscape.
Matt had wandered back over to the waterhole. He had it in his head to experiment with the night vision function on his camera, in the hope of capturing a bunyip on film.
‘Can I help?’ Kyle offered as he joined Matt by the water.
Matt was peering through the camera, which he’d mounted on a tripod, and was adjusting the focus. ‘Um … I suppose.’ He considered the offer with an air of distant ill will.
Matt had been suppressing his feelings ever since they’d met up again, and they hadn’t had the chance to speak alone until now. Zoe had gone to lie down in the back of the car, and Tim was relaxing by the fire. Kyle wanted to talk to Tim, but clearing the air with his best friend was a more pressing concern.
‘You can stand on that rock by the water there.’ Matt directed Kyle to his point of focus and as Kyle made a move to comply, Matt added. ‘And try to be taken by a mythological beast while you’re at it.’
Kyle looked back to Matt, feeling he was not joking about his desire. Matt wore his jester’s grin, but it was not as sincere as normal. ‘I know I’ve really stretched the friendship lately.’
Matt looked away, wanting to avoid the subject.
Kyle had never thought to see Matt so hurt, or that he would be the cause. ‘It seems you were right about me pissing people off so they won’t get too close. I knew you liked Zoe, and yet I pursued her anyway.’
‘What did you do?’ Matt looked back to Kyle. ‘I mean, one minute she hates you and the next …’
‘I don’t know what happened,’ Kyle defended, and when Matt appeared disappointed by the response, Kyle endeavoured to explain. ‘Zoe and I connect on another level.’ Kyle fumbled for the words that would save his friendship, but Matt was clearly not impressed.
‘Which is supposed to mean, what?’ Matt raised both brows, eager to learn.
In his frustration Kyle suddenly realised the confession he was avoiding. ‘There’s something about me that I’ve never told you Matt —’
‘Spare me.’ Matt held up a hand, feeling that Kyle had confessed all his horrors in one drunken stupor or another.
‘I see things,’ Kyle blurted out and began to tremble at the thought of confessing that which had always caused him grief. ‘Creatures, visions, prophetic dreams … Zoe tells me it’s clairvoyance.’
Matt was stunned a second, bombarded by suspicion, doubt, then anger. ‘Bullshit!’ Matt left the camera to charge at Kyle.
‘It’s true, that’s how I knew you’d be in Nivok’s office that night,’ Kyle blurted out and winced as Matt grabbed hold of his shirt, of a mind to punch his lights out. Kyle was fearful for his injury and had no desire to make it worse, what’s more he was already freezing and feared ending up in the drink. Matt, hesitating to digest the information, gave Kyle the chance to add, ‘In the vision Nivok shot you.’
Matt backed down. ‘So it was my life you saved that night.’ With the revelation, Matt let Kyle go.
Kyle shrugged off his heroic gesture, as he didn’t feel it justified betraying his best friend. ‘So, I saved your life … what was stealing your girlfriend? Payment?’
Matt figured Kyle was being a little hard on himself and he hesitated, reluctant to admit: ‘Zoe was never my girlfriend. She’s a good friend though,’ he granted, cracking a smile. ‘As she is such a dear friend, you had better start treating her better than you have in the past.’ Matt threatened to belt Kyle over the skull, but avoided contact and released his frustration with a growl. ‘Now get over there and stand on that bloody rock!’ Matt shoved Kyle along, the ill will dispersed, and their friendship resumed its merry course.
‘Thanks for getting me to a doctor and finding Tim.’ Kyle started remembering all the instances he’d yet to thank his friend for.
Matt waved off the sentiment as he returned to his tripod. ‘You saved my life, let’s call it even.’ Matt resumed his focusing. ‘Still, I don’t understand why you are thanking me for hunting down Tim Burke.’
Kyle took a deep breath; he wasn’t prepared to admit what he so strongly suspected, until he’d had it from the horse’s mouth. ‘I’ll get back to you on that.’ He left his mark to go resolve the issue.
‘I’m not finished with you yet,’ Matt protested.
‘Sorry,’ Kyle appealed. ‘There’s something else I really need to do. But, I’ll be back.’
Tim had thrown down his jacket and was lying not far from the fire with his head resting on a log. His eyes were closed, but Kyle knew he wasn’t asleep.
Kyle took a seat by the fire and stared into the flames to psych himself into asking Tim something that had been playing on his mind for hours. ‘How do you know the bunyip is your guardian, Tim?’
Tim decided to humour Kyle, although he suspected the kid was taking the piss out of him. ‘I read it in a book long ago.’ Tim thought his answer was rather clever.
‘The Book of Dreams.’ Kyle was astounded by the revelation. He knew he’d guessed correctly from the astonished look on Tim’s face.
‘I’ve never mentioned that to anyone,’ Tim uttered, as he sat up. ‘How could you know?’
Kyle was distracted by his own deductions, however. ‘I assumed I inherited this sight from my mother’s side of the family, but it was yours … you have it.’ Kyle abruptly ceased his verbal theorising when he realised he’d let the cat out of the bag.
‘You know who I am, Kyle?’ Tim seemed mildly relieved by the possibility.
Kyle nodded.
‘How?’ Tim was amazed, and a little perplexed. How should he handle this development?
‘I read it in a book recently.’ His smug confession triggered so many emotions in Kyle that he found himself struggling to hold back tears. The relief of finally finding and confronting his father conflicted with the sorrow he felt at misplacing Book before he’d finished his own story.
Tim was intrigued and inspired by Kyle’s admission. ‘My time under Book’s tutelage was so long ago that it was starting to seem nothing more than a dream.’ Tim crawled over to take a seat nearer Kyle, but not too close; he didn’t want to make this situation any more awkward than it already was. ‘But everything I foresaw at that time is now coming to pass. And there can be no doubt that you are my son,’ he concluded in earnest.
‘Were you in doubt?’
‘Well,’ Tim shrugged, ‘they moved you around a lot as a child. It became harder and harder to keep track of you. The last time I saw you, you were about nine years old.’ Although Kyle was silent, he seemed open to hearing more, so Tim continued. ‘You were riding a skateboard on one of those park ramps and you took a bad fall. I ventured over to see if you were okay and —’ He shrugged, trying not to laugh at the memory. ‘You told me to piss off or you’d shove your skateboard up my arse.’
The story made Kyle laugh. ‘I don’t remember, but that sounds like me at nine.’
‘I’m hoping you’ve changed a bit since then,’ Tim commented, leaning away from Kyle. ‘I understand that your life has been anything but a bed of roses and that you might not be very well disposed towards me. In fact, I’m surprised you’re even talking to me.’
Kyle shook his head and offered Tim his hand to shake; he wasn’t ready for the fatherly hug yet. It was still a bit strange having family. ‘If there’s one thing Book has taught me, it’s that I choose my own path and I alone am responsible for walking it.’
Tim took Kyle’s hand and clenched it in both of his own. His son’s offer of friendship after all these years of worry, guilt and remorse was a true gift from the gods.
Tim’s parental guilt was still evident in his face; Kyle’s forgiveness was a comfort to him, but he obviously thought that it did not absolve him for the neglect.
‘I know why you never came for me and although it has taken me a while to get over it, I want you to know
that I really respect what you did and what you are still trying to do.’
‘I never should have left Alex that night,’ Tim muttered under his breath. This piece of knowledge had plagued him for twenty years.
‘I know you had no choice and that the choice you made was under extreme duress,’ Kyle said, and for the first time he accepted that this was the simple truth of the matter. ‘Whoever killed Zoe’s parents is to blame for our past sorrows. What happens between us from here on in, that’s our own responsibility.’
‘True. And James Nivok was the catalyst of whom you speak,’ Tim informed him plainly. ‘He had my best friend, your mother’s youngest brother, killed the same way only yesterday.’
‘That was the other little accident that Nivok wanted arranged the night he shot me,’ Kyle realised. ‘You were the target but Nivok’s hired killer missed.’
‘And my parents were the previous little accident that my uncle referred to that day.’ Zoe stood alongside the car, the malice she felt visible on her face as she now approached the men. ‘He killed my parents so that he could brainwash me into selling him this land as soon as I was old enough.’
Kyle didn’t have a whole lot of energy left, but what he had he used to get to Zoe and give her a hug.
‘Son-of-a-bitch must pay,’ she sobbed into Kyle’s shoulder. Her resolution firm, she eased away from Kyle to look at Tim. ‘Can we do it? Can we bring him to justice?’
‘I have dreamed of little else for twenty years. I want my life back,’ Tim answered, ‘but before today I seriously doubted my chances. United, we stand a better chance of exposing Nivok. Still, even if we can prove our case against him, preventing this land from being mined is a completely different kettle of fish.’
‘Well, it’s my land and there’s no way I’m going to sell it now,’ Zoe reassured him, ‘so you need hold no fear of that ever happening.’
‘Your uncle is in very tight with the Queensland government and they can still enforce their mining rights if the right company has enough money to pour into the area,’ Tim said.