ECUADOR
It has been raining for weeks. Heavy, drumming, soaking rain that no one and nothing can escape. Rivers burst their banks, rush towards villages and engulf crops. The surface of the land is fluid. Nothing is dry. Nothing.
Everything and everyone has had to retreat and wait, patiently, for as long as it takes, for the waters to subside.
And when they do, they will find that the earth has changed shape and long-buried secrets will emerge into the light.
EVANDALE
Christmas had her textbooks open on the workbench, bunches of dried herbs and little blue bottles of pure essential oils nearby and a tank of chocolate beside her. She was working on a new range of chocolates, infused with medicinal levels of oils and herbs that had reputed pain-relieving properties. She’d recently found a course in France that taught aromatic medicine—ingesting essential oils for medicinal benefit—and the brochure was plastered to the stainless-steel fridge door, right next to Jackson Kent’s thank-you card for his DVD of The Sound of Music, which had arrived safely in Johannesburg.
Studying in France for a year was a mouth-watering prospect, not least because she’d reconnected with Mim and would love to spend more time with her, Hank and Margot. And Mim had sent her an email from America, saying that Margot had recently confided in her and told her about her first true love and true heartbreak—and that was what had been keeping Margot distracted and tight-lipped. Away from Paris, the boy in question and her circle of peers, Margot had let down her defences and Mim said she hadn’t felt this close to her daughter in a long time. Christmas wanted to hug them both, and she could do that, if she was back in France. She wasn’t yet sure how she could make a one-year course in France happen, but she was letting the idea sit for a while, to see if it might take root and grow into a real possibility.
Now that Cheyenne and Wilbur were settling in well together, Cheyenne might just be able to manage The Apothecary in Christmas’s absence. Christmas would have to work a bit harder at her French lessons, though, if she was going to be able to get by in France. She’d have to catch up with Lien, at least. Lien loved the fact that she was the star of their language cohort. And it made Christmas happy to see her succeeding and gaining confidence.
She leaned back on the stool and stretched her arms up high above her head, then let her left hand fall to the vintage brooch pinned to her shirt. It had been a gift from Elsa, from her very own collection.
‘It’s the bluebird of happiness,’ Elsa had said, placing it in Christmas’s palm and closing her fingers around it. ‘It’s brought me much luck over my life and now I want you to have it.’
‘It’s a great honour that you would give it to me,’ Christmas had said, looking to Lincoln quickly for approval. ‘Are you sure?’
Elsa sat back in her wheelchair, defiant. ‘No arguments.’ And then she reflected some more. ‘Besides, it’s as much for me as it is for you. Seeing you two happy together makes me happy too.’
‘Well, it’s beautiful, thank you. I’ll take great care of it.’ Christmas reached out her free hand to hold Lincoln’s, while his other hand rubbed methodically at Caesar’s ears on the bungalow floor beside him. Caesar was dressed in his Super-dog cape.
‘I always knew you two were supposed to be together,’ Elsa went on, while Christmas poured her some more tea.
‘Did you?’ she asked, genuinely surprised.
‘Oh yes. Rita tried to tell me it wouldn’t happen because we couldn’t see the light.’
Lincoln tilted his head to the side. ‘Light?’ And then he shot Christmas a furtive, panicked glance because Elsa was talking about seeing the light.
‘But I know now what happened,’ Elsa said. She looked at Christmas. ‘You were hiding your light, weren’t you? You didn’t want it to be seen.’ She smiled gleefully at this as though she’d cracked an agonising mystery.
Christmas replaced the teapot on the table and considered Elsa, impressed. ‘Yes,’ she replied. ‘I was afraid.’
Elsa clapped her hands and whooped. ‘Gosh, I wish Lulu could hear you say that. But Rita—we must tell Rita. Next time you come, can you tell her what you just told me?’
‘Sure,’ Christmas said uncertainly.
‘Excellent!’ Elsa reached for another of Christmas’s chocolate pralines. ‘I can’t wait to see her face.’
Now, sitting in the kitchen, Christmas smiled at the memory. Elsa was such a crafty old dear. And so sharp. She should take Rosemary and Gordon with her to visit Green Hills. Maybe they could put on a penny farthing display for the residents. And she was sure they’d get on with Elsa like a house on fire. Rosemary and Elsa were both so charismatic, and Gordon, she was discovering, had a cheeky sense of humour she knew Elsa would appreciate.
The grandfather clock—a recent addition to the store—chimed two o’clock, reminding Christmas to turn on the television. Emily, having originally gone to Melbourne as a researcher for the children’s show, had quickly been identified as genuine, raw, unaffected talent and dragged in front of the camera. Now she was presenting three days a week and loving it. She was a total natural too, Christmas thought. All those hours playing dress-up and making crafts with her nieces had paid off. It was lovely to see her star rising. And from what she’d hinted during their last phone call, the producer hadn’t just taken notice of her for her presenting talent. He liked her for a whole lot more than that.
Lincoln burst through the back door, startling her. A tower of biology assignments weighed him down. They were from his students; he was a lecturer now for an online university program, which meant he got to stay in Evandale and work from home. He hoisted the papers onto a bench, then pulled a beef bone out of a shopping bag and handed it to Caesar, telling him to stay outside in the garden. Then he turned back to face Christmas, a whirl of excitement, grabbed her by the arms and kissed her hard on the lips.
‘Wow!’ she said, coming up for air. ‘What was that for?’
‘I just got an email from the research station in Ecuador.’
‘And?’
He picked her up and spun her around before hoisting her up onto the bench and standing between her legs and kissing her again. ‘It’s the best news!’
‘What do you mean?’
‘They found a new species!’ He thumped the bench in triumph. ‘It’s incredible. And I think it’s going to help you too. This might just be the magic cacao tree you’ve been looking for!’
She held his face in her hands, laughing. ‘Slow down. What are you talking about?’
Pulling away in his excitement, he began to pace the room. ‘There’s been widespread flooding in the Amazon, and now that the waters are receding they’ve found all sorts of things—buried treasure, ancient sites, crypts. And a very old tomb that, evidently, a small fraction of sunlight had already penetrated, because there was a clay pot in there, with seeds in it, which were often placed in tombs, but one of those seeds germinated and has grown into a sapling, and now that the tomb has been exposed they’ve found it! They’ve found it! A whole new variety of Theobroma cacao! Do you know what this means?’
Hope exploded in her chest, though she was hesitant to embrace it. ‘It’s a new lead?’ she said.
‘Exactly!’ He snapped his fingers, then ran them through his hair and laughed out loud. ‘It could be the Holy Grail of chocolate.’ He took a breath and calmed himself. ‘Or, it could be nothing. But that’s the thrill. That’s the chase. It’s what scientists love, and they want me to fly over as soon as possible and see what I think.’
Christmas slid off the bench. ‘But for how long?’
‘Just two weeks.’
‘Oh! I thought for a minute you were going . . . like, leaving me.’
He wrapped his arms around her. ‘No! I didn’t mean to scare you. Quite the opposite. I want you to come too.’
‘To the jungle? With snakes and leeches and poison darts?’
He let go of her and grinned again, his blue eyes sparkling. ‘Yep.’
‘Can I think about it?’
‘Nope. We’ve got to go tomorrow.’
‘Tomorrow?! Why can these people never give you more notice?’
‘Because they can’t plan a revelation like this. This is nature at her best—wild, unpredictable, dramatic and exhilarating! Come on,’ he said, twirling her around the room once more. ‘Think what this will do for your chocolate creations. You’ll be going to the home of chocolate, the very source of everything.’
It was an incredible opportunity. And as Master Le Coutre had said, how could you make chocolate if you didn’t even know where it came from?
‘Will you keep me safe from the beasties?’ she said, wincing.
‘I promise.’
‘What about Elsa?’ she said.
‘She’s busy organising the inaugural Green Hills book fair,’ he said, with an expression that suggested he knew Christmas was just looking for an excuse to back out. ‘And Caesar will be welcome at Green Hills, so you don’t have to worry about him either. And think about it—we’re hunting for the Cacao Queen that Master Le Coutre told you about. We’ll be right there, on the ground to find it!’
Her head spun. Her first instinct was to call Val to get her opinion, but she already knew exactly what her sister would say. She’d tell her to go and not think twice about it.
‘But I have a cooking lesson with Nate in a couple of days,’ she said.
‘He’ll understand. He’ll be excited. What little boy wouldn’t love to think his aunt was off to the jungle?’
‘My fairy godmother projects?’
‘Postpone them. Or delegate. Maybe Val would like to help.’
‘No, she’s too busy; she volunteered to organise the end-of-year concert at the boys’ school and she’s running around with a clipboard and a pen behind her ear at all hours.’
‘Or maybe Lien’s aunt . . . what’s her name again?’
‘Tu.’
‘Yes! Didn’t you say you wanted an assistant? Tu would be great, wouldn’t she, having had firsthand experience of what you do?’
‘Yes, she would actually . . .’ But Christmas thought of another objection. ‘What about the shop?’ she squeaked. ‘Abigail’s busy at uni this term and Cheyenne’s flat out organising the wedding.’
‘Close it! Think how much more famous you’ll be once we get some media attention for your jungle trek. Think about the next book we can write together. People will come flocking here from all over.’
‘Close the shop,’ she echoed, resolution settling in her mind. She looked at her research notes on the bench. All of that could wait two weeks. Nobody would die if the shop was closed for a fortnight. She’d feel guilty about letting the rest of the Evandale business owners down, but that would only last a day until she got on the plane. Then she’d be free.
And she only had one rule now: there were no rules. She touched the bluebird brooch once more. Had Elsa’s gift already brought her and Lincoln luck? Really, there was no good reason not to go, snakes aside. It was too good a chance to miss.
‘Well, I guess if life hands you cacao beans you should make chocolate,’ she said, as calmly as she could. ‘So let’s do it. Let’s go find the Cacao Queen.’