PART SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTY-FIVE
A big blue luxury car pulled up in the driveway of the Willowbranch B&B , and a tall, slim, boyish-looking man stepped out. He walked up and knocked on the front door.
Rose opened the door and stood back as Davie entered the living room.
"Why, Davie , what in the world are you doing here?" I thought you had left us for good!" she said enthusiastically. She noticed his clean-cut appearance in a suit and tie.
"Actually, I came to see Shannon . Is she around?" Davie said, looking toward the kitchen. "Have you seen the Melbourne paper this morning?" He handed his copy to Fred, who had come up behind Rose when he heard her excited voice.
"I saw Shannon and Jo just now pulling up to the back," Fred said.
"Come on in. You're just in time to have a ‘cuppa'," Rose said. She led the way to the kitchen, with Davie and Fred following. Fred had already opened the paper and was reading the front page as he walked.
Shannon and Jo were as surprised as Rose was when they came in the back door and saw Davie standing there in the kitchen. Shannon had assumed it was Jeff Bannister, as the car out front belonged to him. Why was Davie driving it?
" Davie !" Shannon exclaimed. "What are you doing here? I thought you went back to Melbourne to stay with your aunt." She looked at him questioningly.
"I'm actually here at the request of Mr. Bannister."
"What do you mean?" Shannon asked, more curious than ever now.
"Have you seen the Melbourne paper?" he said. Fred passed it to her, and her eyes widened as she read the front page.
OWNER OF PHOTOGRAPHY STUDIO ENCOUNTERS
GRIZZLY BEAR
Mr. Jeff Bannister, owner and CEO of Scenic Vision Photography Studio in Melbourne , was found unconscious in The Grampians National Park . His vehicle had slid off the road, apparently due to faulty brakes. Mr. Bannister was taken by heli to a local hospital, where he is said to be recovering nicely.
Mr. Bannister said he needed to warn people about venturing up into The Grampian without adequate protection. He appeared slightly delirious as he related how his car was attacked by a giant grizzly bear. His support team said they were also attacked by a pack of wild dingoes as they tried to go for help and then were swooped down on by a giant eagle.
Thus far, no bear tracks or wild dingo prints have been discovered at the scene. However, if substantiated, it would be the first sighting of dingoes this far south. And since grizzlies are not indigenous to Australia , it is believed the grizzly bear Mr. Bannister may have encountered might have escaped from a zoo.
All further attempts to engage Mr. Bannister in conversation about his harrowing experience have been met with silence. The American entrepreneur has refused to comment at this time on the reason he was in The Grampians National Park at that time. His photography studio has also maintained ignorance of his experience.
Jo was reading over her shoulder and nudged Shannon , then whispered, "Kim really did take care of him, didn't she?"
"Well, Davie , I'm sorry to hear what happened to Mr. Bannister," Shannon said, looking up from the paper. "It probably means he won't be coming here for a while, so I guess the photo shoot is off, then?"
"Mr. Bannister wanted me to come to see you personally, rather than sending someone else, because you know me. So he called me at my aunt's house and said he really needed me." Davie 's eyes starting filling with tears. "You know, Shannon , that's the first time he's ever said he really needed me, and he sounded like he meant it. He was really broken up that I had quit on him just when he needed me."
Sure, I can imagine just how upset he was , Shannon thought with a touch of irony. She didn't think that man had an ounce of sympathy in his whole body!
"Does that mean you're going back to work for him, Davie ?" Shannon asked.
"No, I'm not going to do that . I need to get into another line of work. But I said I'd do this job for him. He's always treated me right, you know," Davie replied.
"What job? Why are you here, Davie ? You're not going to be taking over this photo shoot, are you? I don't understand why Mr. Bannister didn't call me at the Willowbranch. I certainly would have understood."
Davie shook his head. "He just wanted me to talk to you in person, Shannon. But I honestly don't know what Mr. Bannister is talking about. I overheard some of the guys in the studio saying that a multi-million-dollar deal with a movie studio in the States had fallen through and there was not going to be a movie now about some woman shaman named Kim who lived with the Aborigines. And he asked me to come and see you about that. There won't be any photo shoot now. But do you know what he's talking about—about this shaman?"
"I'm not sure," Shannon said carefully. "Did he say what, specifically , he wanted to know?"
"Well, yes, but I haven't the foggiest what he's referring to. He's not been quite himself after the accident. D'you know what I mean? He said that he saw Kim for himself, just before he saw the grizzly bear. And since the movie deal is off now, could you tell him where she's been hiding out?" Davie looked bewildered, as if Shannon could piece the puzzle together for him. Right now he had no answer.
"Oh, really?" Shannon said. She put her hand on the side of her head, like she was seriously trying to remember something.
"Oh!" she exclaimed. "I think I know what he's talking about now. But actually who he's been looking for doesn't exist. I know that for a fact. That is, I've heard she is a myth, and her short stay with the Aborigines wasn't all it turned out to be, but the myth just keeps perpetuating, till it's almost a legend now."
" Shannon , Mr. Bannister didn't sound very coherent to me, babbling on about some white woman shaman that you used to know and such, and how you were all lesbians and what a great movie it would have made. To tell you the truth, I think he's flipped his cork!"
Shannon and Jo were both thinking, Truth really is stranger than fiction. But Davie didn't need to be let in on the truth. He was so naïve and innocent. He was a long ways from understanding that he was actually right in the middle of feminine-energy lesbian country!
"Tell you what, Davie . I think I could show you proof that this white woman shaman doesn't exist. Would Mr. Bannister take your word for it, do you think?"
"I think whatever I told him wouldn't make that much difference. To my way of thinking, that is," Davie replied. "And after what happened to him, I don't think anyone would believe anything he said."
She looked at Jo, who nodded her head. Shannon continued, after taking a deep breath. " Davie , would you be willing to come with us over to Daylesford? And put this matter to rest? We heard some interesting stories when we were there the other day."
"Sure, I can do that," Davie said. "Mr. Bannister would want me to do everything I could."
Rose and Fred were listening in on the conversation now, and thought what a delicious piece of news it was about an unscrupulous man like Mr. Bannister seeing apparitions of a white woman shaman. They had never heard of anything like that. They had no idea what was going on. And as for Mr. Bannister going bonkers... seeing a grizzly bear and his men seeing dingoes and such? Well, he got what was coming to him, trying to take advantage of Shannon . I never did like that man , Rose thought. But the story certainly would make good conversation around the table with their next guests! I'll have to get a copy of the Melbourne paper to keep on hand, she mused . Maybe Davie would let me keep his copy.
"Let's go then,” Shannon said. “You can ride with us, Davie . Rose, we'll have a ‘cuppa' when we get back. Okay?"
CHAPTER SIXTY-SIX
They arrived in Daylesford and pulled up to The Ice Cream Parlor . "Maybe they can give us the information we need in here," Shannon said to Davie , as the three of them assembled in front of the store. They walked in, and Tammi Sue said in her most pleasant and friendly southern voice, "Can I help y'all?"
"I hope so. But not for ice cream," Shannon said. "I was wondering if you know how to get to—" she hesitated, pulling a slip of paper out of her jeans pocket on which she had written something. " Belleview Gardens ," she said, completing her sentence as she looked at the paper.
"Hey, Jules," Tammie Sue hollered over to a table in the corner where two women were sitting. "These here folks want to know how to get o Belleview Gardens . Can you give them directions?"
'Jules' got up from the table, adjusting her baseball cap over her dark brown, gray-streaked pony tail and walked over to them. The logo on the front of her cap said Belleview Gardens .
What an ugly looking woman, Davie thought, with that scar running down the side of her face. I wouldn't want to run into her in a dark alley.
"I work over there, mowing the grass and taking care of the grounds. I just had a lunch break with my friend," 'Jules' said, gesturing to a petite, attractive, half-Aborigine woman, "and I need to go back to work. I can lead you over there, if you like."
"That would be very nice of you," Shannon said, smiling.
"No worries," the scar-faced woman said. She winked at Tammi Sue and Joyce as they left, and waved at Rita.
They drove quite a ways out of town and through a wide iron gate that had been opened all the way to allow traffic in and out in both directions. They parked in the bitumen parking area close to the gate. Before them was a huge expanse of deep green grass, mowed neatly in rows. It was a golf course—albeit only nine holes—and was shaded with eucalyptus trees at intervals. 'Jules' was the caretaker of the greens there.
'Jules' parked Rita's car and climbed out, saying, "See you around" to the trio getting out of the little red sports car. She climbed on the riding mower near the entrance to the golf course and took off, waving at them.
"What is this?" Davie asked, as they stood and looked at the golf course. "Why have we come to a golf course?"
"Well, Davie , this is what I want you to take back to Mr. Bannister," Shannon said. "And to anyone else that might inquire." She thought briefly of the man Nancy told her about who showed up at her studio. Maybe the word will get around to him, too . "They have an area set aside here that is dedicated to special Aborigines and other people who were very important in their giving to the community . It's just right over here."
She walked over to a small area near the entrance that was enclosed by three-foot-high, wrought-iron fencing. She went through the small gate with Jo and Davie following.
"There," Shannon said pointing, "is your proof that the person Mr. Bannister is looking for doesn't exist. Maybe she did at one time—who knows? Now she's just a legend."
They were standing in a small cemetery, with about a dozen graves surrounding a six-foot-tall, two-foot-square block of marble that had inscriptions of dedication chiseled into it.
Directly in front of the marble block was a tombstone which appeared to be carved out of sandstone and glazed with a coating so that it would never deteriorate from the weather. This central tombstone bore the simple inscription of Kim's full name and the dates of her birth and death. The date of her death was several years previous to today. Then printed were the words: Kimboola—the feminine spirit lives forever.
"Do you think this will satisfy Mr. Bannister, Davie ? I'm sure this is the 'Kim' he's been looking for."
Davie looked at the tombstone for a long time. Shannon and Jo gazed at it, too.
"Well, there's nothing more certain than death, is there?" He turned and walked back to the car to wait for them.
Of course, Davie had no way of knowing that the tombstone he had just viewed had been placed there early that morning, and would be removed as soon as Kim knew for sure that Davie had gone back to Melbourne . The heavy cardboard from which it had been constructed and coated with sandstone and glazing materials would be broken up into small pieces and discarded in the golf course's main dumpster.
Shannon and Jo turned around and watched Davie leave the area and then smiled and waved to Kim, who had stopped her riding lawnmower not far from them and was standing next to it talking to a couple of women golfers. Kim waved back, smiling.
Shannon turned back around and pulled out from inside her tote bag a memory card that she had taken out of her digital camera. She dug a small hole next to the central square block of marble with her fingernail file and buried it. It was filled with the pictures she had taken since she'd been in Australia this time. She'd already erased the images on her laptop. She wanted no more memories of this place. She had plenty to last her the rest of her life. Jo was enough for her now.
Jo was thinking, as Shannon buried the memory card, What a story for a writer! But I can't write about this. It's too close to home....Maybe I'll write the story later...maybe not.... Shannon is enough for me now. And that's not fantasy!
* * * * * *
Shannon and Jo were packed up and ready to climb into their little sports car by three that afternoon. Davie had left about an hour earlier in the big fancy car, which he said Mr. Bannister had loaned to him. He declined the offer to stay for tea when they got back from Daylesford.
"Mr. Bannister said for you to keep all the money he gave you," he told Shannon before he left, "even though you never completed the assignment."
"I guess we better get going, Rose—and Fred. And thank you so much for your hospitality and understanding that Jo won't be staying, either." Shannon glanced at Jo, who was grinning, then continued. "You've both given us so much support and help since we've been here. We'll find a plane out of Melbourne in a couple of days, and then spend a little time in Sydney . We've had an exciting time here, I can tell you!"
"Well, we certainly enjoyed having you here," Rose said. "It's too bad you couldn't have stayed over to Christmas Day. You could have met the rest of our family."
Shannon started to get in the car and then turned back around, having an afterthought. "Before we go, can I get a picture of you two? I just put a new memory card in my camera, and I haven't even taken a picture of you. Jo would like to have a photo of her pen pal. She lost her camera, somewhere between her and there and wherever we were."
Shannon took her camera from around her neck and snapped a picture of Fred and Rose, then another of Jo standing between them. After she and Jo gave them each a final hug, they got in the car and drove up the driveway for the last time. Rose and Fred waved good-bye.
What a beautiful couple they make, Rose was thinking as the dust settled. I hope Jo will continue to write to me, but I wouldn't blame her if she didn't—she has Shannon now. I thought Carly and Paige looked good together, but Shannon and Jo absolutely glow! What a wonderful country, this Australia . I'm so glad I live here!
Those two remind me of me girlfriend Patsy down in Melbourne . I need to arrange a trip down there and visit one of these days. I haven't seen her for at least two weeks. Maybe I can go after Christmas.
A wave of desire engulfed her. She watched Fred walk back toward the chook pen. Patsy is so hot in bed! Maybe I should give her a jingle right now.
THE END