‘But that’s highway robbery!’ Now Zoe was fuming, her determination dented.
‘That’s the law,’ Tim concluded flatly, not liking it any more than she did.
‘I do believe that saving Turrammelin mountain is my quest,’ Kyle announced, and then, noting how he shivered, he added, ‘or at least it was.’
‘Did Book tell you that?’ Tim asked.
‘Who is Book?’ Zoe wondered, as they bandied the word around like a nickname.
Kyle shook his head and smiled. He knew Tim would be interested in hearing what he had to say: ‘My mother told me.’
Both Zoe and Tim were shocked by this news. Tim broke the silence. ‘You’ve spoken to Alex?’ He was overcome by joy at the prospect.
Kyle nodded, looking around the moonlit clearing. ‘She still inhabits this place and will do so for as long as her soul-land remains under threat.’
Zoe was staring at Kyle, enchanted, and then her eyes drifted to Tim. ‘I take it that etheric sight runs in the family.’ She’d overheard part of their earlier conversation.
‘Book gave me the sight,’ Tim confirmed. ‘I did not bear the burden of having it my whole life.’ He looked at Kyle with sympathetic eyes.
‘Who is Book?’ Zoe appealed to them once more, and Kyle and Tim both cracked a smile, aware now that they were teasing her by avoiding the topic.
‘Hey, guys.’ Matt tried to yell in a whisper as he ran. ‘There’s something weird going on down at the pool … you should really come take a look at this!’
‘Define weird,’ Kyle requested, as they moved to meet Matt halfway.
‘Um …’ He was reluctant to spit it out, as it seemed so fantastic. ‘Well … a ball of fiery light rose out of the water and then split into many smaller balls, which are darting all over the place. I’ve got it all on film,’ he was quick to add, and was surprised when no one expressed disbelief.
‘Min min lights,’ Tim supposed, though when they reached the pool of water there was no sign of the mysterious phenomena.
‘I swear they were here,’ Matt said defensively, rewinding the cartridge in his camera to view the footage he’d captured.
‘We believe you, Matt,’ Zoe assured him, having glanced back to see numerous yellow-orange lights dancing around their campfire.
‘Shit!’ Matt fast-forwarded his tape again, not wanting to tape over the extraordinary footage he already had.
‘They look like fairies,’ Zoe observed with delight.
‘What are they?’ Kyle asked Tim, as he seemed to know more than anybody else did.
‘They are fairies of sorts … salamanders in western thought,’ Tim replied.
‘Aren’t salamanders some sort of lizard?’ Matt raised his camera to shoot.
‘No,’ Kyle quietly corrected him. ‘They’re fire spirits and they’re looking for me.’ Kyle looked back at Tim to explain. ‘I never finished with Book. I got interrupted — twice!’
‘So you’ve not discovered Book’s identity?’
‘No.’ Kyle frowned. ‘I never reached that chapter.’
Tim said nothing more about it, although the smile on his face was suggestive. ‘We’ll wait here,’ he decided. ‘You should go have your audience with Burn-a-debt.’
Tim’s naming of the entity confirmed for Kyle his father’s claim to have read the book. ‘Hopefully she wants to give me my body heat back. That would be nice.’ Arms crossed tight around his chest, Kyle wandered forth to the fateful meeting.
‘Have I missed something?’ Matt didn’t want to stay put. He sensed something was going on between Kyle and Tim, as their private banter was very perplexing.
‘So that is why he’s been so cold since his Near Death Experience,’ Zoe reasoned to herself, completely forgetting his father stood beside her.
‘Kyle nearly died?’ Tim was rocked to the core by the information.
‘But did not.’ Zoe, although slightly confused by all that was transpiring around Kyle, was thrilled for him to have finally found a loved one; more and more the coming together of this small band of people seemed fated. ‘Your son is the most extraordinary person I’ve ever known.’ Zoe and Tim looked at Kyle as he approached the mysterious anomaly that hovered around their campfire.
‘I had nothing to do with that, unfortunately,’ Tim replied.
‘And yet he is so much like you.’ Zoe expressed her opinion, wanting to help Tim and Kyle through their awkward adjustment. ‘You gave him your genes and that was obviously enough.’
‘He’s even more like his mother,’ said Tim, fondly, mildly comforted by Zoe’s perspective.
‘Oh,’ uttered Matt, now enlightened on the vital development that he’d missed. However, afraid of putting his foot in his mouth regarding the sensitive issue, he made no further comment and crept closer to the min min lights with his camera.
The lights, each about the size of a pingpong ball, ceased their whirling movements and became stationary as Kyle got within metres of them.
‘Bernadette?’ Kyle queried, halting as the lights ceased their movement; he counted eight of them.
All the lights rushed towards Kyle at once, darting about his body to tease him with their warmth. Burn-a-debt, no regret, a challenge met, a death forfeit.
The chant of eight or so young female voices built up in Kyle’s mind, and once their riddle had been repeated several times over he begged them to stop. ‘I think I get the deal … what’s the challenge?’
The eight balls of light merged into four; each doubled in size but the choir of voices was reduced to a quartet. Gift to fire, stop desire, to inspire, what’s admired. The four lights moved to circle above Kyle’s sports bag and as they ascended higher into the air the boomerang rose from its hiding place.
‘Ah, I don’t think I’m qualified to use that thing.’ Kyle hesitated to take it as the fire spirits brought the item to him. ‘When you said I had to stop desire, I thought you were speaking metaphorically.’
Warrior energy, comes with me, flows through thee, with courage, valour and loyalty.
‘All right, if you say so … but this was your idea.’ Kyle took the weapon in hand. ‘So where is this rogue emotion I have to bring to an end?’
The four lights merged into two, now the size of basketballs, and then sped off towards the damaged fence.
‘Oh, great, a trek. Just what the doctor ordered.’ Kyle meandered along behind them, and they circled back to encourage him.
Make haste, pick up pace, must win this race, to have a case.
‘All right, I’m moving.’ Kyle wasn’t much of a runner, especially with his current injury, but he did work out and so was fit enough to make a show of enthusiasm.
‘Where are they taking him?’ Zoe protested. ‘He can’t run far in his condition.’
‘Best find out.’ Tim gave chase, with Zoe and Matt in hot pursuit.
On the flat land between the road and Mount Turrammelin, a car was parked. Both the interior and exterior lights were ablaze, and loud drunken laughter emanated from the area.
Kyle took advantage of a small cluster of bushes not too far from the ruckus, where he crouched to assess the situation. The two balls of light had raced ahead to whirl around his target: three drunken youths who seemed oblivious to the anomaly that had taken an interest in their activities. I don’t get what it is I’m supposed to do here? It was no crime of passion to get drunk. Higher and higher into the sky the earthlights rose.
‘Okay, let’s do it,’ decreed the loudest of the three, as he placed a hood over his head and pulled a gun. His two mates also put on hoods, before they all moved around to open the boot of the car.
They pulled two people from the boot, their arms bound behind their backs, their mouths gagged. As the two young hostages were Indigenous Australians and the three hooded youths — in their late teens or early twenties — were not, Kyle had a pretty good idea of what was going down.
‘Tie him up over there.’ The youth in charge pointed to a large
log lying on its side. ‘He can watch.’ The lad struggled to free himself as he was dragged towards the stump by two of his abductors. ‘I wouldn’t if I were you.’ The ringleader held a gun to the temple of his female captive.
Kyle looked at the boomerang in his hand. This is going to be useless … give me a gun, and maybe. He feared he would fail Burn-a-debt’s test. He recalled the vision he’d had upon seeing the boomerang for the first time after its storage, and this seemed to suggest he’d once trained in the art of throwing the weapon. Would his subconscious remember what he did not?
Once the male captive was secured, the ringleader tossed his gun to one of his mates, and cast his female captive face down on to the bonnet of the car. ‘We can’t have a half-caste like you breeding with a blackfella. That would just make for more blacks,’ he told her, holding her down with one hand as he fumbled with the belt on his trousers, his friends cheering him on.
Kyle stood to take aim with the boomerang. He was surprised to feel very certain of how to hold the weapon; it felt comfortable in his grasp. He took aim at the fellow with the gun and was yanked to the ground by Tim.
‘Your aim is all wrong for this weapon,’ his father explained. ‘This is a returning boomerang, not a hunting weapon.’
‘I beg to differ,’ Kyle whispered back, ‘but this is the only boomerang I’ve ever thrown, and it flew straight the last time I hunted with it.’
Tim realised it didn’t matter whether Kyle was right or not, as the distraction would give them time to charge. ‘Have a go by all means,’ Tim granted. ‘The three of us will charge as you let fly.’
‘Four,’ Zoe protested, and Tim shook his head.
‘You stay put.’
Matt handed Zoe his camera, and although she was exasperated by the ruling she did not argue — there was no time.
Kyle stood and looked to the heavens, where the celestial lights could barely be seen. Guide my aim, burn my debt. His focus shifted to the gunman as he let the weapon fly. The boomerang sped straight into its target’s forehead and knocked him out cold.
Kyle and Matt charged the remaining observer, whilst Tim ripped the ringleader from his yet to be mounted victim. Tim slapped the lad around the head a few times and then dragged him to where they’d tied the male captive. As Matt and Kyle had wrestled their drunken target to the ground and Matt now held him in an armlock, Kyle moved to untie the captive male from the log so that they could make use of his rope and gag. Zoe headed to the girl’s aid, untying her hands. She was surprised that the girl wasn’t distraught; she was furious and pushed Zoe out of the way.
‘You fucking arseholes!’ She raced to retrieve the gun from the ground close by and aimed at the now unhooded, bound and gagged youths, one of whom was still unconscious. ‘You’re going to die!’
Kyle stood in front of their captives to prevent this girl making a grave error. ‘I didn’t prevent a rape to aid a murder. I’m sure you have a life that does not need to be ruined because of this mindless incident.’
‘Of course you’d defend them. You’re one of them!’ she protested, glancing around at his all-white company, when her gaze came to rest on Kyle’s father. ‘Tim?’ She peered through the darkness to be sure it was him.
‘Hello, Kimba.’ Tim approached the irate girl cautiously. ‘I’d like you to meet my son, Kyle, your cousin.’ When he motioned to the man she had her gun aimed at, Kimba was so shocked she handed Tim the weapon.
‘This is the lost one?’ She smiled now, approaching Kyle, and hugging him. ‘Welcome home. Thanks for coming to our rescue.’ Kimba retreated to hug her boyfriend in the wake of their ordeal. ‘This is Felix.’ She introduced him to everyone.
‘How did you do that?’ Felix asked Kyle and then laughed, amused. ‘Only a whitefella could throw a bubbera boomerang as straight as a maki.’
With the mention of his weapon Kyle moved to retrieve it. ‘I know I’m no expert, but I think you all have your facts screwed up.’ Boomerang in hand, Kyle returned to Kimba and Felix. ‘It flies straight,’ he insisted, taking aim at one of the ringleader’s legs. ‘Observe.’ He cast the weapon, which induced a muffled wail from the gagged target upon impact.
‘So it does.’ Felix smiled broadly at Kyle’s game. ‘Might I try?’
‘By all means.’ Kyle retrieved the weapon and handed it to Felix.
Kimba clapped her hands in delight, seemingly satisfied to settle for this less troublesome form of revenge. ‘Aim for his balls,’ she said, suggesting her preferred target, whereupon their conscious targets both rolled on their sides to take it in the hip.
Felix’s aim was a little high, however, and the boomerang cracked a rib of the ringleader.
‘Aw.’ Felix made it sound like a shame that he’d missed his actual target, as Kyle retrieved the boomerang once more.
‘Nice form though,’ Kyle said, as the target groaned. ‘I think you’ve winded him.’
‘Top points,’ Matt decreed as he applauded. ‘Legendary effort.’
‘Okay, enough.’ Tim hated to be the grownup; personally he would have liked to string the three offenders from the nearest tree.
‘Can’t I just try a hooked shot?’ Kyle appealed playfully, teasing their captives, who were now pleading for mercy through their gags.
‘What are we going to do with them?’ Tim said reasonably, feeling Kyle’s request didn’t warrant a response.
‘What I’d really like to do is strip them naked and leave them here to rot, but …’ Zoe screwed up her nose, ‘the stench would be awful and they might never be found by anyone who gives a shit. And besides, we don’t want such trash on this property.’
‘We could just strip them naked and send them packing,’ Kimba compromised and Zoe nodded in agreement. ‘The car belongs to Felix, so I’m afraid they’ll have to walk … and carry their mate.’
‘Excellent,’ Kyle rubbed his hands together, ‘more target practice.’
‘Uncle Tim …’ Kimba looked about the huge clearing. ‘Where’s Dad? He went to fetch you from prison. Didn’t you meet up?’ The look on everybody’s face set Kimba’s mental alarm bells ringing.
‘You haven’t heard the news?’ Tim knew his in-laws didn’t watch a lot of TV, and they wouldn’t have expected any incidents to occur on his release from prison.
Kimba shook her head. ‘What’s happened?’ She left Felix to pursue her uncle. Tim tossed Kyle the gun and led Kimba away to break the sad news in private.
Kyle got Matt to untie their captives whilst he covered them with the gun.
‘No way I’m taking my clothes off,’ the ringleader announced, once he’d removed his gag. ‘You can shoot me first, nigger lover!’
Kyle’s impulse was to pull the trigger. Thankfully, he thought better of it. He knew if he went to the trouble of humiliating these idiots, they’d cause him further grief and he didn’t need the attention. ‘Just bugger off,’ Kyle instructed, wanting them out of his sight. They made him sick. ‘And take your mate with you.’
They grabbed their unconscious friend and dragged him away as fast as they were able.
‘This is dangerous territory,’ Felix yelled after them. ‘In the wilds you would do well to remember that there’s a black man in every shadow.’
Kyle fired a couple of shots after them to speed their departure and then passed the gun to Matt. ‘Add this to our collection.’ Having fired the gun, Kyle decided he much preferred the feel, and skill, of wielding the boomerang; its silence was another advantage. He’d completely forgotten about Burn-a-debt until the two balls of light suddenly swooped to earth, startling Matt, Zoe and Felix most of all. The three backed up to distance themselves from the fiery balls of light.
‘Mooroop burra,’ Felix muttered aghast, as Kyle just stood there allowing the two free-floating anomalies to circle him.
‘Pardon?’ Matt queried the meaning of his words.
‘Spirit lights,’ Felix explained in a whisper. ‘I’ve never heard of them getting this close
to anyone before. Or rather, I’ve never heard of anyone allowing them to get this close … many believe they are evil.’
‘They led us to your rescue.’ Zoe surprised Felix with the news. ‘So it would seem that the opposite is true in this case.’
Tim and Kimba had been drawn back into their midst at the sight of the min min, and the dance of light that was taking place around Kyle brought a smile of wonder to Kimba’s tear-stained face. ‘He is the one the Matong Bargi Arika has been waiting for,’ she whispered under her breath.
Tim caught the comment, however, and suppressed a smile of pride — he suspected Kimba was right.
The two balls of light ended their frenzied dance when they collided with one another right in front of Kyle to become one large ball of light.
Most wise, your compromise, in my eyes, your debt dies. The fiery ball spoke in one young female voice and Kyle was the only one who perceived her dialogue.
‘Your blessing will be most welcome.’ Kyle could feel the cold again now that he was standing still. The warmth the entity was giving out was very welcoming; Kyle wanted to move into the light and immerse himself in it. And so he did — much to the dismay of most of those present.
‘No.’ Tim warned the others to stay back. ‘He’ll be fine … I’ve done this myself,’ he stated, to assure those who doubted his word. ‘It is a blessing. No harm will come of it, only good.’
Zoe stared at Kyle, unable to stop fretting at seeing a large fiery mass consume her boyfriend’s head.
Kyle was unaware of the outside world; his entire focus was centred around the warmth returning to his body — a sensation that was much like sinking into a hot bath at the end of a frosty winter.
Inner eyes, open wide, rise inside … this one survives, Burn-a-debt decreed.
In that instant his body began to vibrate and it felt as if all the molecules in his body were being sucked clean of wear and tear, and then pumped full of warm, refreshing vital energy. He had lost all physical sight as soon as he’d made contact with the fiery elemental, but his inner eye was perceiving a vision of a very old Indigenous woman seated at the base of an even older, gnarled tree.