Chapter 21
After two days of enthusiastic yet fruitless activity, I was starting to feel like our search for Dallmin was just a naive attempt to assuage my guilty conscience. We’d called hospitals, shelters, police stations, and even hang-gliding centres. We’d driven to all the nearby towns asking random people on the street whether they had seen a man with long dark hair and dark skin who may have been acting strangely. On Tuesday morning we even resorted to driving around some of the bush tracks, but even if he’d been hiding out there somewhere we wouldn’t have seen any signs of him. Tim got to know the area really well.
Our next plan was to follow up on a lead from the local paper. The crime watch section mentioned a man who’d been seen climbing on the roof of a gazebo in the botanic gardens in Horsham, offering to assist passing children to do the same. We were still arguing about whether Noah should go with Aunt Lily to see the business banker about our overdraft, or come with us to Horsham, when the phone rang. Tessa answered and waved for us to all shut up. Some sign language didn’t need to be taught.
‘It’s for you,’ she said, handing the phone over to Noah. ‘The youth centre.’
We all stayed quiet, and I watched Noah’s face.
‘Yes, that’s me,’ he said to the person on the other end of the line. ‘I’m sorry I couldn’t make it to the planning meeting the other day …’
He turned to me with a smile I knew well. Smug, and a bit relieved, like we’d just escaped getting in trouble for something. ‘We’re on our way.’
Tim had the keys to the hire car in his hand before Noah had even hung up. Bane followed him out while Noah gave Tess a quick kiss and started to follow, until I grabbed his wrist.
‘Planning meeting? You volunteer?’ I asked.
Noah wasn’t one to blush, but he did now. He opened his mouth to answer and then seemed to forget how to talk, so I turned to Tess instead.
‘At the youth centre in Horsham,’ she said. ‘Mentoring.’
Mentoring? I looked at Noah again.
‘Look, they call it mentoring,’ he said. ‘But really I just teach the local kids how to fix stuff and get to know them. You know, give them someone to talk to if they want.’
I sat down. He was someone’s mentor. For some reason the idea shocked me even more than when I’d found out he was a Cherub.
‘Get Bane back in here,’ Noah said with a grin. ‘She’s about to have a coronary.’
I searched through my hazy memories. ‘Noah, you used to chase me around with the gas knife we used for docking lamb tails. How can you be a mentor to someone? Didn’t anyone tell them who you are?’ I asked.
‘Of course not. We can’t tell anyone about any of my true heritage.’
It was a joking response, with a punch. Noah was a Cherub. He was also Harry’s son. He had profound and secret connections to both spirit and country. And I thought I had identity issues. Tessa slipped her hand into his, as if she was thinking the same thing.
Noah tucked a pale strand of his fringe back behind his ear. ‘You once told me that most of the local mob had moved out of the area—it’s not true. There are more people here than you think, and they’re deeply dedicated to this land and each other, and apparently my … father … did a lot more work in the community than we realised. He just did it all very quietly and without fuss, but he was needed.’
‘He still is,’ I grumbled. ‘Why did he have to go? I wanted him to stay.’
No one had an answer for me, and I felt uncomfortable thinking about Harry’s last days, so without another word I turned and headed out to the car to hunt down Dallmin.
The trip to Horsham was long enough that by the time we arrived, Dallmin had left. Apparently the youth centre staff weren’t able to convince him to wait around, and he’d gone out to ‘find some food to share’. Unfortunately they hadn’t taken any notice of which way he’d headed, so we decided to split up. Noah took Tim with him to search the shopping plaza while Bane and I went the opposite way toward the river. We were cutting through a playground when a police car passed us, heading in the same direction. Somehow Bane managed to send a text to Noah while we were running after it.
‘How do you know this has anything to do with Dallmin?’ I asked, gathering myself to leap over the playground fence. If I wasn’t so worried for my friend, it would have been fun—like one of the racing games I’d been playing just days ago in the Garden.
‘Why else would the police come through here? The meanest thing that happens in these streets …’ he paused to jump the fence, ‘is when the neighbours dob on you for watering your veggie patch after ten am.’
We found Dallmin climbing a power pole and being told off by an understandably nervous old lady for it. The police officer was also getting a serve from her for taking so long to arrive. He was trying to pacify her, using that firm professional tone that worked on drunk footballers, but apparently did nothing for the president of the Neighbourhood Watch committee. Dallmin was hanging upside-down below the first horizontal strut with his leg hooked around a climbing peg. It didn’t look very comfortable and yet he didn’t seem to be in any hurry to move.
‘Dallmin!’ I called as I ran to cross the road to where he was. Bane barely caught me in time as a ute swerved past, blaring its horn. I put my hands over my ears and bit my lower lip. Was this why Cherubim needed Guardians? Would I ever be able to function normally here again? I took his hand in silent apology and he led me across.
‘What are you doing up there?’
‘You know him?’ the officer asked me.
‘Lainie! You are here too, excellent. I’m looking for something to eat, to share with the new friends I met this morning. I can see a tree with red fruit just over the other side of that shelter. This place is really strange. Is this where you came from?’
‘Sort of. Why don’t you come down?’
‘The man in blue doesn’t want me to move any of my muscles. I think he’s set me a challenge to see how long I can stay still for.’
That made Bane laugh, and the old lady scowled at him.
‘Could you please ask him to come down now?’ I said to the policeman. ‘Tell him he did well.’
‘Well?’ the lady screeched. She was so animated that my Guardian stepped in front of me and grew about an inch.
The officer sighed. ‘A bit slow, is he?’
Slow? Not the term I would use for someone who could reverse engineer model gliders from all natural materials.
Dallmin did what the officer told him, swinging down with a graceful tuck-roll and handing the old lady a wild daisy he collected on the way. Then he rubbed his cheek against mine and hugged me.
I have been looking for you, I told him. Annie wants you to come home.
He smiled at me, looking kind, and patient, as if I was the one who was a bit slow on the uptake. I know. I will return to Eden once I have flown. Can you help me?
My shoulders slumped. I knew this would happen. How was I supposed to cross his will and still keep him innocent? He wouldn’t understand any form of disagreement. I had to avoid exposing him to conflict as much as possible, if it wasn’t already too late.
‘Does he have any idea how dangerous that was?’ the woman asked before I could decide how to answer him. She was so close I could smell her lavender soap and pumpkin soup breath.
‘No, he … I’ll keep him out of trouble,’ I promised, signing to Dallmin just in time to stop him from kissing the policeman. ‘I’m sorry, Officer. I’ll take him home now.’
The policeman took down my name and number and told me to keep an eye on him until he sobered up. By the time he left, there was a crowd of locals peering at us. At least three dogs had been hastily summoned for an extra walk as an excuse to see what the fuss was about.
‘Time to go,’ Bane suggested, turning back toward the playground. A few of the onlookers began to mumble between themselves. One of the women hissed and gave Dallmin such an icy stare that he stopped in confusion.
‘That’s him,’ said the middle-aged woman dressed in jeans with dress boots over the top. Her jumper had flowers on it. ‘He ate my nasturtiums. From my backyard. Then he walked straight into my house and said he was looking for money. I told you I would call the police if I ever saw you again, mate!’
A teenage girl spoke up too. ‘I think that’s the guy who was at the playground the other day. He peed against the drinking fountain. Right in front of all the kids. We can’t have men exposing themselves like that …’
‘Sorry,’ I called out. ‘It won’t happen again, I’ll—’
‘Someone tried to take my Corolla for a spin the other day,’ a man said. ‘Didn’t get very far, but left the engine running and the driver’s door open. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that?’
Somehow we had gathered a decent crowd. Where had they all come from? Weren’t they supposed to all be at work or something? Our path was somewhat blocked by them so Bane led us the other way. When we rounded the next corner we found ourselves on a street full of shops and offices, which explained things a bit because there were a lot more people.
A bald guy with a beard and high-vis shirt stepped out from his ute and planted himself right in front of us with his arms crossed. ‘I recognise you,’ he said to Dallmin. ‘See this?’ He pointed to a large dent in the roof of his cab. ‘This is what happens when you jump from the roof of Bunnings on to someone’s car. You’re not going anywhere, mate. Not until you pay for this.’
‘I have no money,’ Dallmin replied so smoothly that I got the impression it was a phrase he’d been using often.
‘Then I want your name, address and phone number so I can press charges.’
‘My name is Dallmin. I don’t have an address or phonummer.’
‘Then you and I are going straight to the police station right now—’
‘Officer Harrison just spoke to him,’ the flower-jumper woman interjected. ‘And let him go. I don’t think they can be bothered with his type.’
‘So where does that leave me? Who’s going to pay for—’
Another shout came from across the road. ‘Hey, mate, I thought I told you to stay away from here! You come near my little girl again and I swear I’ll tear off your—’
‘No!’ I shouted, desperate to prevent Dallmin from hearing words that would change his world view forever.
‘He’s been warned! Repeatedly. Is he too stupid to get the message? He’s a bloody addict who’s melted all his brain cells. He needs some sense knocked into him.’ The man was striding toward us, loosening his tie and pushing up the sleeves of his business shirt.
It was like I was watching it all happen to someone else. What weird game were these people playing? Real people didn’t actually get violent, did they? Only on TV. Or in the US. It was scary. My first instinct was to try to explain that with all Dallmin’s death-plunges, if he didn’t have sense knocked into him by now, he never would. Of course, the words tangled themselves in my throat and came out as a sort of gargled laugh, which didn’t work to our advantage. A swift movement flickered in the corner of my eye, and somehow Bane had the man’s arm twisted behind his back.
‘No! Please, Bane. Dallmin won’t understand this game.’
‘I know. That’s why I need to—’
‘That’s not what I mean. He can’t witness this!’
Bane’s shove sent the man stumbling so Dallmin moved to steady him, but I blocked his path, feeling protective and totally freaked out at the same time.
Are we dancing now? he asked me. It was the only interpretation of Bane’s actions that he had, although even he seemed to realise that it didn’t really fit the situation. ‘A dancing sort of game?’ He looked around at the crowd. ‘I have a song that you all might like,’ he announced when I couldn’t think of a way to reply.
The business man lunged for Dallmin again, and once again Bane shoved him back. Before the man could recover his footing, the bald tradie yelled and aimed a swing at Bane’s head. He was no match for Guardian reflexes. Bane ducked and then dodged to the side, but stayed close enough that both his opponents had to keep all their attention on him rather than come for Dallmin again.
‘I moved my family out of Sydney to get away from bludgers like you,’ the woman accused us. ‘Is it too much to ask to want to raise my kids in a neighbourhood where they can still run around in bare feet and not risk stepping on your infected needles?’
Bane dodged another hit, just as a new voice intruded.
‘Is it too much to expect people not to jump to conclusions about why someone might act differently to what you’re used to?’
It was a voice that always got people’s attention. The sort of voice that you didn’t even need to see who it belonged to before trusting it. Noah sounded drop-dead gorgeous. Or like a rock star, or royalty. Even his out of tune humming used to have the girls at school reflexively checking that they didn’t have anything stuck in their teeth. He signed a quick Eden greeting to Dallmin, who gave him a crushing hug and kissed him on the cheek.
I remember you, Dallmin signed to him. You spoke like a child, but now I know why.
The woman took a step back, looking sheepish. Dallmin’s sign language and affectionate behaviour seemed to have made her think twice. Even the angry bald man shuffled to an uncertain stop, possibly because Tim had also arrived and was standing shoulder to shoulder with Bane, the two of them looking fully prepared to stop an invading army.
Noah gave the small crowd of onlookers one of the apologetic smiles that had once made Mrs Carpenter cancel an entire week’s worth of detentions—not even just the day he was down for, but everyone who had been down for the whole week.
‘His behaviour can sometimes be a bit … confronting, but he doesn’t mean any harm, I promise you.’
‘Is he … autistic?’ the woman asked, looking him up and down as if that would help her diagnosis somehow.
Noah glanced at me but I was still too shaken up to be of any help. ‘Listen,’ he said to the crowd. ‘Not everyone who thinks on a different wavelength to the rest of us is necessarily autistic,’ he chided, ‘but he does need someone to keep an eye on him. I’m sorry for any trouble he’s caused. I won’t let it happen again.’
Now the other onlookers were all frowning at the woman and the two men. How quickly the tide could turn.
Dallmin opened his mouth to speak, but I signed to him to let Noah handle it. Then I glanced at Tim. How were we going to explain Dallmin’s behaviour to him?
Actually, Dallmin, I want you to just use sign language for a little while. No speaking out loud.
If that is what you want, I will do that.
The nice thing about Eden was that no one ever questioned anyone else’s motivations.
Time to get you home, I said, backing away while Noah continued to sweet-talk the locals. Dallmin smiled and didn’t move. Don’t you want to come home? This place is not like Eden, I tried.
No, it is not! They have no Living Fruit here. And yet they fly. What do they do when they don’t fly well?
He was not going to let this go. Perhaps I could satisfy his curiosity another way.
Come to the place where I shelter and I will show you some things about flying.
Copying me, he took hold of Bane’s other hand, which made me laugh, as we were led like toddlers back to the car.
‘I’m so sorry, Dallmin. I’ve never done this before,’ Noah apologised the next morning, reaching for the towel. He dabbed at the blood running down Dallmin’s chin. ‘Shaving someone else is a lot harder than shaving yourself. He’s going to have to manage on his own tomorrow. It’ll be safer,’ Noah said as he tried again, tongue sticking out in concentration.
I wasn’t so sure that was such a good idea. I had seen some of the things Dallmin could do to himself. He wasn’t afraid enough of pain to be trusted with a razor. In fact I was astounded that we had found him with only a few minor bruises given how many dangers he was oblivious to. It was also clear that someone had been feeding him more than just what he’d scavenged from people’s gardens. I would be eternally grateful to whoever that had been.
‘Why do you want to shave it off anyway?’ I enquired.
It’s itchy, Dallmin signed to me. Long chin hair for so many seasons, and now, after Annie helped me remove it, it returns itchy. And no one else in your shelter place has long chin hair so I will do what the people here do.
I looked at his reflection in the mirror. He did look good. Tessa had cut his curly hair and now with his clean chin he looked very young, even though I knew he was hundreds of years old. His reflection smiled back at me briefly before he remembered to keep still. He was still mesmerised by the mirror. He had only seen himself in pools of still water before, and since puberty he had always had a beard.
Bane’s head peered in through the door. ‘Lainie, can I talk to you for a minute?’
I followed him out to the backyard where he turned and drew me into his arms, drawing in a deep contented breath as our skin touched. My heart, as usual, began to beat faster.
‘I was thinking maybe I could take you and Dallmin into Nalong this afternoon to do some shopping. My clothes fit him okay but I didn’t bring a lot with me, and he can’t stay in that old T-shirt and those baggy jeans he arrived in. And if he sleeps on the couch again, it would be better if we at least bought him something to sleep in.’ His smile was wry. ‘Lily suggested you might want some new clothes too.’
I looked down at my tattered dress. I had rummaged through a box of my old clothes and most of them had looked way too constricting and uncomfortable. I’d only owned a couple of dresses and only one had been warm enough to wear. After two days of traipsing through the bush and around the towns it was looking a bit dirty. It seemed like such a ridiculous thing to pay any attention to, but apparently necessary if I was going to fit in again, so I nodded. Besides, he was right about Dallmin. Apparently he’d given Tessa a heck of a fright when she’d raided the fridge during the night.
As we headed to town after lunch, we passed a familiar car coming the other way toward the farm. I peered through the window to see who was driving. It was Liam, with Nicole in the passenger seat.
‘Bane, turn around. I want to see the Ashbrees.’ I couldn’t believe I hadn’t remembered to ask after them. I had been too focused on finding Dallmin. Bane kept driving, looking a little wary.
‘We’ll see them soon enough. I’d like to get to the shops before they close.’
Dallmin looked at me with an amused expression. Only very young children didn’t want what someone else wanted, so he probably thought Bane was playing a game of some sort.
‘If you choose to go into town now, then that’s good,’ I told Bane. It was true. I wasn’t submitting to his will, I was naturally aligning myself with it. It felt right. His hands relaxed on the steering wheel. Still, as more houses came into view I began to feel nervous. What if I had to talk to people I had known before? I felt normal, but I knew I was still making mistakes. I looked down. Yes, I had remembered to wear a bra. Check. Knickers, check. Shoes … never mind, they weren’t that important, were they? I began to hum under my breath.
Bane noticed and reached across to squeeze my hand. ‘You used to love shopping, don’t you remember?’
I did, and it seemed so weird now. I wanted to be playing, dancing, singing, climbing trees—not walking around looking at clothes. I peered sideways at Dallmin who was staring out the window, drinking in the sights. Hopefully we could get him in and out before he found any other things to become obsessed with.
It took less than an hour for me to decide I’d had enough. We had found some jeans, boots, shirts and a coat for Dallmin as well as a few other essential items. He shook his head when he tried on his boots and asked me how he was supposed to speak properly when his toes were hidden. When I relayed his comment to Bane his face looked like a bulb had suddenly switched on, which made me laugh, but then it took ages for him to be satisfied with the fit and I got bored again. Then we had to buy socks for Tim, who had been complaining a bit. By the time we got around to looking at things for me I was completely disinterested until Bane turned it into a game. He told me to find which dresses were the most fun to dance in so I played with that for a while—it was a good excuse to teach him some of what I had learnt. I could see people pointing at us but Bane ignored them, so I did too. At my suggestion Dallmin sang for us as we spun through the aisles. Eventually I chose a simple dress in bright colours, and a new Batman T-shirt—Aunt Lily had apparently ‘misplaced’ my old one with the holes in it. Once I worked out the right size, Bane went and selected a few other things for me as well. He even asked a sales lady to help me find some new underthings. I was grateful even though it felt a bit silly. Luckily she took her job very seriously and didn’t think it strange at all. Finally he agreed that we had finished, which was good because I was struggling to be patient. He used the word ‘want’ a lot. Then he bought us ice cream and I spent the whole trip home worrying that lemon gelati might end up being the reason Dallmin might never choose to go home.
There was no sign of the Ashbrees’ car when we pulled up to the house. They had gone home and it was time to start the evening chores.
‘We didn’t get as far as shoes,’ Bane told Aunt Lily as we brought in all the bags and dumped them on the kitchen table on top of Noah’s text books.
She looked me over, shaking her head. ‘She’ll freeze in that.’
‘I know, but she won’t wear anything else. I was lucky to get this much.’
Why was my aunt so bothered? I was sure she used to tell me off for buying too many clothes. Besides, if I got cold I could always snuggle up to Bane—I was certain he wouldn’t mind.
‘Where’s Tim? I got him his socks so he can stop whining now,’ Bane said as he rummaged around in the bags.
‘Tim managed to get himself an invite to the Ashbrees’ for dinner,’ Aunt Lily said.
He glanced up at her, questioning.
‘Apparently he’s always been interested in Border Leicester-Merino crosses. Nicole offered to show him around the farm.’
Bane laughed. ‘Nicole, huh? Good for him. Just don’t be surprised if he comes back tonight insisting on a crash course in sheep farming.’
‘You think Tim might be interested in Nicole?’ I asked. ‘Isn’t she a bit young for him?’
‘She’s seventeen now, Lainie,’ Noah said, reminding me how out of touch I was.
Dallmin came in and kissed Aunt Lily on the lips. She blushed.
Ask her first, I reminded him.
He asked. In sign. Which didn’t work.
‘Oh, sorry, Dallmin. I forgot. You can speak out loud if you want.’
Noah looked up from his study notes. ‘Maybe just not in front of Tim?’ he suggested.
‘So many rules!’ Dallmin said, looking frustrated as he grabbed a banana from the bowl on the table and sat down.
I sucked in a quick breath. How had he learnt that word? And since when did he get frustrated? We were running out of time. He was adapting too quickly to this place.
‘It’s fine, Dallmin, I don’t mind being kissed,’ Aunt Lily said, giving him a quick one-armed hug, but she was looking worried too. ‘Here, I want to show you something.’ She led him to the desk in the lounge and switched on the computer, and his dark eyes widened at the wonders on the screen. ‘I’ll show you some pictures of flying.’
She searched for some images of hang gliders, trying to avoid letting the screen linger too long on other forms of flight. The last thing we needed was for him to discover aeroplanes and hot air balloons … or sky diving.
He touched the screen longingly as she played a YouTube video for him.
‘More. I want to see more,’ he pleaded when the clip finished. She found a couple more and played them each a few times for him.
‘What happens when they fall and hit the ground too fast?’ he enquired, smacking his fist against the desk to demonstrate. Aunt Lily looked at me with bewildered blue eyes.
‘You can tell him. It won’t freak him out, he’s done it enough times himself,’ I advised.
She shuddered and then tucked her hair behind her ear and leant against the corner of the desk to face him. ‘Things don’t go wrong very often because people follow the rules. The rules are there to keep people safe. If things do go wrong, people get injured or even die.’
Dallmin looked thoughtful. ‘But what if they don’t want to die? How do they start again?’
I turned his shoulders to face me and looked him directly in the eye. I needed him to understand this. ‘There is no Living Fruit here. If you stop here, you do not start again, even if you choose to. If you fly here, and it goes wrong, you will not start again. None of us would be happy with that. Annie won’t be happy.’
There was a tangle of confusion in his eyes. ‘She wants me to fly, but not get dead,’ he said, tilting his head at me for confirmation.
I groaned at the ceiling. There were arguments galore I could use to convince him to go home, and yet using them would lead to disagreement, which was the one thing I needed to avoid him experiencing. With all the powers of the universe at my disposal, I still had nothing that I could use to convince him to return to Eden without impacting on his free will.
Everyone was waiting for me to come up with something clever, but I was stuck. ‘Book him in for a flight please, Noah,’ I called out to the kitchen. ‘The sooner the better,’ I capitulated.