It took Callum three days to reach the middle harbour where the Gaias had their base. Festie had explained that the Sons of Gaia lived in a tower of dead wood, an aerie built on the side of a precipice. In places, the bush was so thick that Callum had to carry Mr Pinkwhistle in the string bag, for fear he would lose him in the thorny blackberries. Without co-ordinates, he could only rely on instinct.
He spotted the aerie long before he reached it. Remembering Festie’s instructions, he unfurled the white banner with the black flower and secured it to a stick. Then he crawled along rocky waterways and scrambled through dense undergrowth until the banner looked limp and ragged and his knees were bloody with gashes. As he drew closer, he saw guards scattered through the bush. A hundred Sons of Gaia watched silently from beneath wide-brimmed bark hats as Callum made his way to the base of the aerie. No one spoke, no one questioned his mission.
A tall, skinny man in khaki shorts stepped forward as Callum approached. His legs were like the knotty roots of an old tree and his eyes were sunken in his leathery face.
‘You are not the leader of the Festers. State your name and business.’
‘Callum Caravaggio. Roc is dead. I am the new leader of the Festers.’
Callum thought his voice sounded odd, too childlike. They’d never believe him. Festie had made him recite the announcement but when it came out of his mouth here, at the base of the Gaias’ stronghold, it sounded tinny and unbelievable.
The man gestured for Callum to climb the ladder. Callum followed him up a winding flight of stairs. At the top was a tiny room looking out over the harbour. It was full of bird droppings and pigeons roosted on the windowsills. As Callum stepped over the threshold, he thought of Bo, of how terrifying this would be for her. Suddenly, he realised he too was afraid.
Another Son of Gaia stood by the window. Like the man with ropy legs, he was dressed in a khaki-coloured shirt and very short shorts. His head was smooth and shiny, though his chin was covered with a bushy beard.
‘Welcome, Callum Caravaggio. I am Quoll and this is Quokka,’ he said, gesturing to the man who had led Callum up the ladders. ‘We are the eldest Children of Gaia in this aerie.’
‘I want to talk to Gaia. He’s your leader, isn’t he?’
The men laughed and indicated for him to sit down but Callum chose to stand.
‘She. Gaia is our mother.’
Callum was bewildered. ‘I don’t get it,’ he said.
Quokka and Quoll looked at one another and shook their heads. ‘Gaia is your mother also. She is the mother of all the sons of men. Gaia isn’t a woman. She is the planet Earth. And as you know, she has been ill. She is trying to heal herself and we, as her loyal sons, are helping her.’
‘Helping her?’
‘By assisting her to rid herself of the most noxious creatures on the planet, the creatures she has been trying to divest herself of for generations.’ Quokka leaned forward. ‘The sons of men. We have a mission to eradicate every last human. When we are gone, the Earth’s balance will be restored.’
It took a moment for Callum to make sense of what Quokka had said. ‘You’re the ones that bait the Festers.’ In his mind’s eye, he could see Bo walking across a courtyard with Blister’s body in her arms.
‘We do not intend to poison all the Festers. Not while they are of use to us. Only the strays. If some of the Festers fall victim to the baits, this is because Gaia wills it. The Festers only exist because Gaia wishes them to assist in her endgame.’
‘Roc said you could help us,’ said Callum. His head was throbbing. The more he heard, the less he understood.
‘We work in mysterious ways,’ said Quoll, smiling at Callum’s confusion. ‘The Festers are nimble and reckless. Their hatred of the Colony served us well. But we heard news of the Festers’ destruction. Without your tribe, what can you offer?’
‘It’s true. There aren’t many of us left. Right now, there’s only me. But I know that you’re digging under the South Wall and I want to help. I’m good in small places. I can wriggle in anywhere. And I have this.’
He lifted Mr Pinkwhistle out of Bo’s string bag and set him on the floor of the attic.
Quoll and Quokka stepped back warily. ‘This is the technology of the Colony. Merely a toy from the before times.’
‘No, he’s better than any toy. He has all sorts of sensors that can help you underground,’ said Callum. ‘GPSs don’t work down there, do they? But Mr P has a muon detector and I know how to work it. Me and Mr P could be useful to you.’
The men put their heads together and whispered while Callum waited. The aerie swayed slightly as another man climbed up the ladder and into the tiny attic.
Quokka looked up. ‘Koala, you have finished?’
‘I have fulfilled the promise. Nekhbet Tower is destroyed,’ he said. He pushed past Callum and set a tray of food and tiny cups of steaming liquid on the floor. Like the other men, he had a shiny bald head but his beard was thick and reddish. When he turned around, Callum felt an electric shock of recognition.
‘Rusty! Dad!’ cried Callum, flinging his arms around his father.
‘Callum?’
No one spoke. Gently, Rusty pushed Callum away and bent down to look into his face. ‘I thought you were dead, kiddo.’
‘You know this Fester?’ asked Quoll, his voice tinged with disapproval.
Rusty took a step back from Callum. ‘A Fester? Callum, a Fester?’ He fell to his knees in front of Callum and grabbed him by both arms. ‘You haven’t eaten any fruit from the trees on the way here, have you?’
Callum stepped away in horror. ‘You’re the one that lays the baits?’ He stumbled across the aerie and picked up Mr Pinkwhistle, clinging to him. Sensing Callum’s distress, Mr Pinkwhistle mewled and his eyes glowed a soft pink. ‘Where’s Ruff?’ asked Callum, dreading the answer. ‘Where’s my other dad?’
Rusty turned to Quoll and Quokka.
‘In my former life, this child was my son,’ he said.
‘We do not propagate ourselves. We are the last ones, Koala.’
‘I chose him before I understood Gaia. I need to speak with him alone. To explain the faith.’
Callum’s fists were clenched as Quoll and Quokka deliberated. Finally, Quoll spoke.
‘There is only one path. There is only one solution. This boy has been sent to help the Mother. He is no longer your son. He is the brother of Roc and the last of the Festers. You may educate him in the ways of the faith but he is not to leave the aerie.’
Quoll and Quokka climbed down the rickety ladder, leaving him alone with Rusty. Night was falling, a silky darkness descending over the bush.
Rusty stretched his arms out to Callum. For a split second, Callum hesitated. Then all his resistance crumbled and he fell into his father’s open arms. The tears came thick and fast. He cried so hard his voice grew hoarse with sobbing. And all the while, Rusty stroked his head gently and said his name, over and over again. They sat beneath the roosting birds and Rusty cradled Callum in his arms, as if he was small again. Finally, when Callum’s tears had subsided and he lay limp and exhausted against his father’s chest, Rusty spoke. ‘I never thought I’d see you again.’
‘I always knew I’d find you,’ said Callum. ‘Even if it took forever.’
‘You got that from Ruff,’ said Rusty. ‘Stubborn and loyal to the end. He didn’t want to leave the West. He was convinced we’d find you. We searched everywhere and circled back to the site of the Refuge time and again. We left a message on Peggy for you and buried her in a box.’
‘I know,’ said Callum. ‘I found it.’
Rusty shook his head in disbelief and hugged Callum tighter. ‘I’m sorry, Callum. I’m so sorry. I thought you were dead. I thought leaving the iPenguin would help Ruff let go. But he insisted we stay another week. We’d already fought off one band of Outstationers and I knew more would come. The next day, they did.’
Rusty’s eyes grew misty. ‘The mongrels murdered Ruff. It was all I could do to get away.’
For a long moment, Rusty and Callum were silent, grief consuming them both.
‘Ruff would be so proud of you, Callum. How on earth did you cross the entire country all by yourself?’
Callum sniffed deeply. ‘I wasn’t alone.’ The whole story came out, from his time in the circus to meeting Bo and their journey across the continent. Rusty listened patiently, the way he’d always listened to Callum, taking in every word and letting Callum talk until there was nothing left unsaid.
‘So you’re not really a Fester, then?’
‘I don’t know. Are you really a Son of Gaia?’
‘Absolutely.’
‘Then, if you’re a Son of Gaia,’ Callum said slowly, ‘that means I’m a Grandson of Gaia, doesn’t it?’
‘It doesn’t work like that. When you disappeared and Outstationers killed Ruff, I realised we’d made a mistake.’
‘I was a mistake?’
‘Not you. Not Ruff. But everything else – the Colony, the world of men, the endless struggle. I realised there’s only one path. One solution.’
Callum felt his head was going to explode.
‘Like what those crazy old men said? You think everyone is bad? What about the girls? Roc said there are other girls like Bo. If we tell them about the girls, they’ll have to think differently. They’ll want to save them, won’t they?’
‘We know about the girls. The girls are part of the problem, not the solution. That’s why the Colony has to be destroyed. What they’re doing is wrong, Callum. The earth doesn’t need girls. Gaia needs liberation from mankind.’
Callum sat up and held Rusty’s face in his hands. He had to make him see things differently. ‘Maybe the girls are coming back ’cause Gaia wants them back. I mean, if you think Gaia is a girl, then they can’t be all bad.’
‘I know it is difficult for you to accept, Callum, but I believe in this. I believe the Sons of Gaia have found the true path. I’m not your father any more, but you and I can work together, like brothers, to make the dream of Gaia a reality.’
‘You want me to lay bombs? You want me to kill people? Like a Fester?’
‘No, like a true Son of Gaia. Not for your own ends, not out of rage but out of love. I took the name of Koala since the koala has been lost to Gaia because of the pestilence of men. Each of us takes a name to symbolise Gaia’s grief. It’s an act of love. Everything we do is for love.’
Callum looked away. Rusty took his hand and held it tightly and Callum could feel his father’s earnest longing. He shut his eyes, trying to block out the sensation.
‘You understand, don’t you?’ asked Rusty.
Callum stood up and crossed over to the window. All along the cliff face, the Sons of Gaia were gathered around small campfires. Beyond, the middle harbour glistened as the moon rose up above the ragged bush. He had travelled so far to be here, to be in this strange, lonely aerie with the last of his fathers.
‘I understand,’ he said.