The Thousand Smiles of Nicholas Goring (11 page)

As the others wandered off to do some more browsing in other shops, Dave stayed behind to thank Ned, who hadn't charged them for cutting open the Yowah nuts. "No worries," was the reply. Then Ned lifted his chin in a westerly direction. "Beauty of a sunset this evening, I reckon."

"Thanks," said Dave, nodding an acknowledgement. At least sunsets were freely available to all who cared for them.

The sunsets at Yowah were generally known for their magnificence. Dave wasn't sure if there was a reason for that, or if it was just one of those things, but he made sure to never miss an opportunity to enjoy one.

That evening as the sun was westering, he and the Cruiser led Mike and the rental out to the Bluff, an abrupt cliff face a few clicks east of town. They were in plenty of time, so they drove to the further edge, where there was a view out across a seemingly infinite plain containing nothing but mulga. Around the lookout area were tall cairns made of piled stones, none of them fixed by anything other than judicious choices. They – except for Monica, who seemed to have reverted to being too cool – marvelled at these and at the view for a while, before heading back to the western edge of the Bluff, to look out over the town of Yowah to the far horizon.

For a while the sun hid behind a thick band of cloud – but then at the last possible moment, the light broke through, and the vista turned from gold to red to purple above them, lit by the sun and shaped by the clouds, as beautiful as any opal. They were all gobsmacked – even Monica.

It lasted for several minutes, in a hush that felt eternal, until eventually it began to fade, and then the sun slipped below the edge of the Earth, and the sky became a deepening purple.

They all remained quiet and still, except that Dave turned to Nicholas where he sat perched beside him on the Cruiser's roo bar. Dave turned to Nicholas, as gorgeous as any sunset, and took his face in both hands and kissed him, a real full-blooded kiss. When they broke apart, Nicholas grinned at him, lopsided with joy as if he hardly knew whether to laugh or weep – and then the two of them belatedly realised that everyone else was watching, but all of them fondly.

Nicholas announced, "Don't get me wrong, I love a good sunset, but David is by far the most beautiful thing in my life."

Dave found that he was a bit pink-cheeked at the compliment, but otherwise he was perfectly fine and bold and happy. It finally dawned on him that he hadn't felt embarrassed or self-conscious about loving another man for
ages
now. Which seemed like good cause to kiss Nicholas again, so he did, dragging him close with both arms wrapped around his waist – and the others cheered or laughed as was their wont.

They returned to the caravan park during the long dusk, and to everyone's surprise found Charlie sitting outside the cabins, tending a wood-burning barbecue with potatoes already baking in the embers.

"Charlie!" Dave was pleased enough to give the man a hug. While they were close he took the chance to quietly ask, "Anything wrong?"

"Nothing urgent." Charlie drew back to look him in the eye. "Nothing that can't wait."

Dave nodded, tried to wrestle his curiosity into submission, and turned to beckon the Baldry family forward from where they'd paused at a tactful distance. "Let me introduce you to a good mate of mine …"

Charlie announced that barbecuing was blokes' business, and delegated the work accordingly. Robin was sent to fetch folding chairs for the three women, and once they were settled comfortably he was to take care of their drinks and any other requirements. Dave and Nicholas were to chop vegetables and get them marinating in olive oil and lemon juice. Meanwhile Mike and Charlie took care of the sausages and steak – and then, in the last few minutes, they chargrilled the veg. Nicholas and Dave cut a cross into each potato, and pushed in a knob of butter and cracked pepper.

The results were plentiful, fresh and tasty. "I think I've died and gone to Heaven!" declared Suzanne as she finally sat back, replete.

"Awesome …" Chloe managed faintly.

"I'm taking you along on all my trips now," Dave said to Charlie.

"Like you could afford me," Charlie scoffed, which made everyone laugh while hanging onto their full bellies.

Charlie had put a large billy of water on to boil for bush tea, with a few gum leaves in it for flavour. Once that was ready, they all sat in comfortable silence for a while with the steam from their mugs of tea rising to the stars. The frogs sang to each other, while the cicadas provided a percussion track.

Eventually Robin said, "Charlie …"

"Yeah, mate?"

"Can you tell us a Dreamtime story about opals?"

Charlie rumbled in thought for a long moment before saying, "Reckon I can."

"Oh! Thank you."

Another long moment passed before Charlie began, but everyone was suitably patient and expectant. "There are different stories about opals in the different regions of Australia," Charlie said, "and I got to thinking that is probably right, because the opals are different, too.

"The story about opals in this country starts with an Ancestor in the form of a pelican. Old man pelican would travel and travel a long ways, from country to country and further. He'd carry his own food and drink in his dillybag: the pouch beneath his beak would always be full of water and fresh fish.

"One day, though, he died, on a hill north of here."

Robin asked in a hushed voice, "How did he die, Charlie?"

"Reckon I can't tell you that bit of the story."

"That's all right. I didn't know that Ancestors could die, though. I thought they just went back to sleep."

Charlie tilted his head in consideration. "Some do, some don't. You're right, though; most are sleeping." Then he continued, "When old man pelican died, the water in his pouch flowed out and made Cooper Creek – and the Barcoo River," Charlie added, with a nod to Dave – "and filled them full of fish. And it was his blood, seeping into the earth, that made the gold and the opal."

"Cool …"

"Some while after, the people living south of here, maybe in what we call New South Wales now, they wanted to know what was up here. So they sent another pelican to explore, and to tell them what he'd learned when he returned. He carried his water and his fish in his dillybag, because it was a long journey, and he'd been told not to stop.

"Pelican became tired, though, and he flew down to rest on top of a hill. This was the same hill where the Ancestor had died, and when Pelican looked about, he was filled with wonder at all the beautiful colours in the ground. No one had ever seen opal before, so he was very curious, and he started tapping at the stone with his beak. Soon he was chipping away at it, and sparks were flying, pretty in the sunlight. But the dry grasses nearby caught fire, and the flames rose high, and then they spread … The fire spread all the way back to Pelican's people where they were camped. That was the first time those people used fire for cooking their meat, just as we've done tonight. And that fire came from the opals, and the opals came from the blood of the pelican Ancestor."

"Oh!" cried Suzanne, who'd been absolutely spellbound – she burst into applause, before guiltily looking around to see if that was improper or not. But of course it was fine, and everyone had already joined in, while Nicholas expressed thanks for them all.

There was a comfortable lull while people contemplated the story and what it might mean, and then began thinking about what might happen next. The evening wasn't quite over yet.

"Okay," said Monica, her tone indicating a determination to be brave. She stood up, then stilled again – when one of her hands started marking time, Dave realised she'd been listening for a rhythm from the frogs and cicadas. Monica looked at Chloe, nodding with the beat now, and Chloe picked it up with handclaps and a shift of her shoulders. They'd obviously done this many times before, though their parents were watching in startled wonder. "Y'all ready for this?" Monica asked – and she started rapping.

"We're off on a trip with a bloke named Dave

Still waters run deep, he's a bit of a rave.

Nick is his man till death do us part,

They got two bodies, one soul, they got one heart.

"Robin's their guy, but he is his own man,

He loves Tony and Pepper, he's a bit of a fan.

And God made Charlie from the rock and the clay,

Skin dark as night, and eyes bright as day.

"So we're off on a trip through this wide brown land,

And thanks due to Dave, we got it all to hand.

We got frogs, we got opals, we got purple skies,

And when we got baked potatoes, we don't need no fries.

"Yo," she concluded, and struck a pose.

The whole party – and half the occupants of the caravan park who'd gathered round – burst into delighted laughter and hearty applause. It was only now that Monica remembered to be embarrassed. She dropped her face into her hands with a groan. But Suzanne went to wrap her up in a great warm hug, and told her how magnificent she was – and the applause continued, while Robin declared, "That was wicked!" and Charlie agreed, "It was deadly, all right. The deadliest!"

"Nicholas," Monica said once things had quietened down a bit, "I'm sorry about ‘Nick', but I'm not good enough to cope with three syllables."

"No need to apologise at all," he stoutly replied. "Nick is my rap name, don't you know."

It had been a really great evening, one of the best, but Dave was still relieved to finally get the chance to talk with Charlie. They sat at the kitchen table while Nicholas made a last round of tea, and Robin pottered about for a bit before saying goodnight and heading for his bedroom.

"So, did you have some news?" Dave eventually asked.

"Nothing urgent, mate, or I wouldn't have made you wait. Just talk about a mine meaning they'd put the railway through, and what that's gonna bring."

"People are still thinking about the jobs, then."

"Yeah. Can't really blame them."

"I know. But there are other things to think about, too."

Nicholas brought the tea over and sat down. "Cunnamulla is already on a railway line, isn't it?" he asked.

"It's the last stop on the line," Dave explained, "so they'd be extending it further west."

"Which means landowners along the way will be looking for recompense."

"And the two on the far side of the waterhole will be keen on a quicker way of getting their cattle to market." Dave sighed. "It'd mean massive infrastructure costs, though, even if they don't take it out as far as the floodplains."

"Mining's always high investment, isn't it?" Charlie observed with a shrug. "And if they reckon they're looking at natural ore, it's gonna pay its way."

"Yeah …"

Charlie left a long pause while they all gloomily contemplated the possibilities, tried to weigh the probabilities. Then he said, "You'll come with me to the reserve again, before you head home?"

"Yeah, I guess," said Dave, knowing he sounded reluctant.

Charlie cocked a curious brow at him, and Nicholas's expression was all sympathetic worry or maybe worried sympathy or whatever.

Dave confessed, "I'm just … letting them down, you know?"

"What, cos you're not black?"

"Well, yeah, basically. The Native Title thing was just a daydream, wasn't it? I was such an idiot to even –" Dave cut himself off, and changed track. "Thursday and his mob might be able to get the reserve extended. Nicholas and Lisa might be able to protect the butterflies and the wattle. Where does that leave me? There's nothing I can do, and that place, that beautiful place –"

"You sing the songs, mate. You tell the stories."

Dave stared at Charlie for a long moment, but eventually he had to ask. "And that's enough, is it?"

"It's the only thing," said Charlie. "It's what really matters."

Nicholas nodded. "That's right at the heart of it."

"That place would have died already, without you."

"I'm not – I'm not –" He almost groaned with frustration. "I'm not doing more harm than good?"

"No, mate," said Charlie. "Old man grunter chose you for a reason."

Nicholas took Dave's hand in his, and said, "None of us could have even
found
the waterhole without you."

"You're a good man, Davey."

"Hear, hear," Nicholas agreed, squeezing Dave's hand and smiling at him, Nicholas's lips curled with such exquisite fondness and his eyes shining with such affection that Dave couldn't fail to be moved.

"We've got one heart," Nicholas murmured late that night in the darkness of their bedroom, his palm pressed just to the left of Dave's sternum.

"Mmm …" Dave contentedly agreed. "I like that we've got two bodies, though." And he proceeded to demonstrate why.

On their last full day in Yowah, Dave and Nicholas got up just as the eastern sky was lightening, and walked down to the fossicking fields. They were already more than familiar with the area in which Robin and Chloe had been diligently working; it was straightforward enough to tuck a couple of uncut Yowah nuts into the pile of dirt and rock they had yet to sort through, and a fragment of matrix opal as well. Then they headed towards the area where Suzanne had been noodling the previous day, amiably arguing as they did so about which direction she might head in next.

As they turned a corner round an outcrop of stone, they were startled to find that Monica had beaten them to it. She was crouched on the ground with her back to them, gently trailing a few fragments of matrix opal through the powdery dirt, before gathering them up again and scattering them in a long arc off to her right. When she stood and dusted off her hands, she looked around – and almost jumped out of her skin to see them looming behind her. "What are you two doing here?"

"Same as you, from the look of things," Nicholas replied with a grin. "That's good of you."

She shrugged. "You, too, then."

Dave said, "I guess we'd be overdoing it, if we left something here for your mum as well."