The Thousand Smiles of Nicholas Goring (5 page)

Dave scoffed a gentle laugh. "It's no worse than those narrow twisty lanes you call roads in England. In fact, it's better, cos at least you're not running along blindly between two great hedgerows."

"But – what if something goes wrong? Like another landslide," he added, gesturing behind him at the long-ago tumble of rocks. "How will we get out?"

"Robin," Dave said, "nothing's changed in here in the last seven years. Nothing but the trees slowly growing, and the butterflies emerging twice a year. I can't remember seeing even one fresh rock added to that fall over there."

"Yeah?"

"In fact,
that's
what used to not sit right with me. How everything stays the same. There aren't even any animals around to disturb things …" An edgy silence made Dave realise he'd better shut up sooner rather than later. "But that's good, right?" he tried. "What you see is what you get, no more and no less."

"Huh," said Robin.

"Well, anyway," Dave blundered on, given that neither Nicholas nor Charlie were gonna help him out, "if we're not back in Brisbane in a few days, Denise will call out the troops."

Robin squinted at him suspiciously. "I thought you were the only person who can find this place."

Dave assumed a lofty pose and told a white lie. "I left her detailed instructions, just in case."

At which Charlie snorted a chuckle, and Nicholas shook his head, ducking to hide a wry smile – so Robin was convinced. In fact, with what had to be youthful enthusiasm, he seemed to have a complete change of heart. "So, can I come with you, then? I wanna see how you get round that turn!"

Dave snorted, too. "Sure. Come on, then." And he escorted Robin back up the track, with the young fella chattering on as if he didn't have a care in the world.

They set up their campsite, Dave and Nicholas working with an efficiency based on years of shared habits, and Robin helping where he could. Nicholas helped Robin set up his own tent, which made Dave smile, remembering the first time Nicholas had helped Dave set up an earlier example of the same model. That was when Dave had first realised that Nicholas was stronger than he appeared; yet another small step on the long road to falling in love, had he but known it at the time.

Soon Nicholas and Robin had set up a second tent nearby. "So, this is for you two?" Robin asked.

"Well, no," Nicholas replied. "Dave and I like to sleep on a mattress on top of the Cruiser."

Robin's mouth twisted in distaste as he picked up on Nicholas's hint of self-consciousness. "What, out in the open? Where either of us could see you two … getting it on?"

"Don't worry. I should think we can manage to restrain ourselves for a few days."

"You'd better!" Robin insisted. "I'm not hiding in my tent the whole time, and I didn't sign up for the full scenic tour!"

Nicholas manfully tried not to laugh, but then he glimpsed Dave's amusement and ended up spluttering in mirth. "I can assure you, Robin, that our tour guide comes highly recommended!"

"Uncle Nicholas …" Robin said forebodingly.

"No, you're right. We'll promise to behave."

Robin shrugged his acquiescence. Then, after a moment, he indicated the second tent. "What's this for, then? In case it rains?"

"It probably won't rain. This is Charlie's tent."

Robin turned to find Charlie, where he was building a campfire for that evening. "You're sleeping
inside
?" He sounded scandalised.

"Yeah, and on that camp bed, too," Charlie replied, gesturing at where the bed waited to be unpacked and set up. "What, you think we black fellas all just lie down in the dirt to sleep?"

"Oh. No." Robin had gone red with shame. "Sorry."

"Ah, I'm messin' with ya," Charlie said with a chuckle, coming over to nudge warily at the bed with a toe. "Let's see if we can figure out how to put this together, eh? So my poor old bones can rest comfy tonight."

Robin offered him a tentative grin, which became a real one in response to Charlie's smile, and the two of them got to work.

On the day that Dave and Charlie would perform the Dreaming songs, Dave drove the Cruiser up out of the waterhole so that Nicholas and Robin could use it as their base. Robin slowly followed them on foot, exaggerating his reluctance for tragic effect.

Dave snorted, watching him, and turned to say quietly to Nicholas, "If he's going to be difficult, why don't you drive him out to where you can get a signal on his phone? That should cheer him up, to check in with his mates."

Nicholas looked a bit panicked. "
Me
drive him?"

"You know you can."

"You'd trust me with the Cruiser? What if I – ?"

"Of course I trust you with the Cruiser. You'll be fine. Remember what I said after our last driving lesson?"

"You'd trust me with your life."

"Exactly." That's what it had been about, after all. Dave liked to have backup plans for his backup plans, and he couldn't bear the thought of Nicholas stuck out there miles from anywhere if anything happened to Dave.

"But I've never – not without you in the passenger seat."

"You don't have to if you don't want to," Dave equably assured him. "It was just an idea. But I reckon you'd be fine. And won't Frank be proud to hear about it, from you or Robin?"

The corner of Nicholas's mouth betrayed him by twitching into a smile. "You know just where all my buttons are, don't you, David?"

"And exactly how to push them!" Dave grinned. "I figured that's why you married me."

They were alerted to Robin's presence by a groan. "Oh my God, don't you two ever give it a rest?"

"No, we don't," Nicholas tartly responded. "But don't worry. You can return the favour by being just as insufferable when you find your … special someone."

"Yeah right," Robin said with a scowl, before climbing into the back seat of the Cruiser with an enormous sigh.

Dave and Nicholas exchanged rueful looks, and Dave muttered, "We're not having any of our own, are we?"

Nicholas chuckled. "Don't worry. Only the sort we can give back."

"Have fun, then!" Dave said in brighter tones that would carry. "I'll come back up when we're done. We'll only be an hour or so."

"It's cool. We'll be fine. Enjoy yourself." And Nicholas kissed him, before heading over to the Cruiser.

When Dave turned for a last glimpse of him before descending into the waterhole, he was pleased to see Nicholas in the driver's seat, his hands and his gaze reacquainting themselves with the controls.

Dave knew the songs and dances by heart now. Within moments he had settled into a comfortable rhythm in tandem with Charlie, as they progressed down towards the pool, and then sang the story of the Ancestor that slept there.

Most of the Ancestors had emerged in human form during the Dreamtime, and the Barcoo grunter was no different. He had been woken to life when another Ancestor fell from the sky – Dave still wasn't too sure whether she was supposed to be a star or a bird or some other living creature, but obviously his pedantic white-fella mind linked her with the meteor which he thought had created the waterhole. The two Ancestors had loved each other and loved the land, wandering the area and singing the trees and shrubs into being. They bathed in the pool and mucked about together, splashing the water around so that the run-off formed the old creek beds that Dave could still trace today. Theirs was a barren love, until at last the fallen Ancestor had to return to her home in the sky. Old man grunter transformed into a fish, so that if he must be alone then he would sleep in the pool forever and remember the joy he'd felt there. But before he sank he cried a lament for his lost love, and his tears became the blue butterflies that still lived there even now.

That was Dave's favourite song: the lament and the beautiful things it created. It wrung his heart. Not that he ever told Charlie that, but no doubt Charlie could hear it in his voice.

There were another couple of songs that led them away from the waterhole again, and then they were done.

Dave had been conscious in the midst of the songs of a head cautiously peeking over the cliff edge high above and peering down at them. He thought it was Robin; a short while later he was proved correct when Nicholas appeared beside him. Nicholas indulged himself by watching for a moment or two – with infinite fondness and respect – but then he turned away and took Robin with him. Dave continued on, undisturbed, and if Charlie had noticed he pretended not to.

Dave always felt a sense of peace after performing the songs and dances. There was a sense of satisfaction, even a feeling of reverence. He couldn't explain it to himself, because he knew well enough that he didn't believe in the literal truth of the Dreaming. Imagining himself as a small part of the ongoing story told by Aboriginal culture, however, was a gift and a comfort.

Charlie was quiet for a while after they'd finished as well. Dave had developed a habit of leaving him and wandering off to kneel by a particular rock near the waterhole. When the first of the blue butterflies they'd discovered had died, Dave had buried it under this flat stone. He'd never confessed as much to Nicholas, let alone to Charlie, but he'd never forgotten either.

He wandered back to sit cross-legged by Charlie, and then when he thought the time was right, Dave finally broke the silence. "The first few songs … they're about finding the waterhole, aren't they?"

"Yeah." Charlie pondered on this for a short while. "That's what you call the songlines … The paths from one sacred site to another."

"Yeah."

"Didn't help me, though. When I was looking for the place before you found it? Couldn't make head nor tail of it."

"I was thinking that – there's a ridge of rocks sticking out of the dirt that we drive beside, that pretty much points the way here. And there's the song about the lizard that goes to sleep and is buried, only there's a curve of its body still above ground. So, are those two things related? Like, are the rocks what remain of the lizard … ?"

Charlie was grinning at him fondly, proudly, which was answer enough, and then he muttered once more, "Old man grunter chose well when he chose you, Davey."

While he couldn't really believe that, Dave appreciated the thought more than he could say, so he nodded in acceptance. "I'll show you the place when we're driving out."

When he climbed up out of the waterhole, it was to discover that Nicholas had been brave enough to drive the Cruiser out to the edge of the shallow crater after all. Dave watched as they slowly returned, Nicholas carefully finding a way through the scrub and between the rocks; being far more careful with the Cruiser's paintwork than even Dave ever was. Soon Dave could make out the frown of concentration on Nicholas's face – which turned into a full-beam smile as Nicholas finally pulled up near Dave.

"Told you you're wonderful," Dave said, reaching through the open window to give Nicholas's shoulder a gentle shake.

"I suppose that every now and then I can …
rise
to the occasion."

Robin groaned from the back seat. "Oh my God, save me."

Dave ignored him, and asked Nicholas, "Are you gonna drive her down into the waterhole, then?"

"Oh hell no," Nicholas brightly replied. And he clambered over onto the passenger seat, while Dave laughed and climbed up inside.

They left the waterhole a few days later – and they saw the Land Rover Discovery again, soon after they found their way back onto a sealed road. It was parked as before, although this time Ted Walinski was sitting perched on the bull bar, again with his thermos. He lifted a hand in casual greeting as they neared.

Dave slowed to a stop and lowered the window. "You right, mate?"

"Yeah, sure. You always catch me on a tea break."

"All right, then." Dave nodded a farewell. "See ya round."

"Thanks for stopping." Walinski offered them all a smile as Dave pulled the Cruiser away. "See ya!"

"What's he doing?" Dave asked Charlie a few moments later, as Charlie had turned to keep an eye on him.

Charlie said, "Maybe he's looking for our dust trail … He's not watching us, that's for sure."

Robin was all agog. "Could he, like, follow our tyre tracks back to the waterhole?"

"Maybe …" Charlie said.

"If he can find where I turned onto the road, then good luck to him. It was too stony to have left an impression."

"I know fellas who could find it."

"Yeah, and I know
you
could," Dave fondly agreed.

"David," said Nicholas in worried tones, "do you really think he could find his way there?"

"Well, honestly, if he does then he's accomplished something a lot of people have failed at."

"David –"

"It's not like we own the place," Dave argued. "And I can pretty much guarantee your butterflies will be safe. Blokes out here, they respect what they find. Life can be a battle out here, and people respect that. You know?"

Charlie rumbled a thoughtful agreement. Nicholas subsided, though he looked unsettled. Robin was gaping at the potential for drama.

They remained silent almost right through to Charleville.

Back in Brisbane, they did the usual tourist things with Robin. They drove down to the Gold Coast beaches a few times, they wandered through the South Bank gardens, window-shopped in the city, browsed the markets, visited the Koala Sanctuary. Denise, Vittorio and the girls joined them for lunch on the paddle steamer that ran down the river, before heading into town to indulge in the most extravagant ice cream sundaes known to humanity.

Dave encouraged Robin to try abseiling at Kangaroo Point Cliffs, but he suspected he was on a losing wicket there, even after Nicholas gamely said he'd try it, too. "We owe it to David," Nicholas pointed out. "After all, we made him take us to the art gallery."

At which Robin just snorted.

"Don't tell your Uncle Nicholas," Dave stage-whispered, "but I actually kind of enjoyed that." Which was true, if only because Nicholas had made for an interesting and surprisingly knowledgeable guide, who knew more about the history of Australian art than Dave had even guessed at.