Among The Cloud Dwellers (Entrainment Series) (38 page)

I shook my head. “Absolutely not. Go on, please.”

“At each site, the legendary events can be recounted by just recognizing a physical feature representing both the activities of the ancestral being at the time of its formation, and the living presence of
Tjukurpa
within that physical feature today. Now, this is where the concept gets slippery. You see, for the Aboriginal people, that physical feature, whatever its form or appearance, animate or inanimate, is the
Tjukurpa
. It might be a rock, a sand hill, a grove of trees, a cave. For all these, the creative essence remains forever within the physical form or appearance.”

“That’s why they don’t need to write things down?” I asked. “Because they have it all mapped out in the landscape. And how do you know so much? Who told you all this?”
And all you’re not sharing with me,
I wanted to add, but didn’t.

He brought the car to a stop in front of the shop and looked at me, turning the key off in the ignition. “More of your questions, eh?”

“Those you’re so afraid of?”

“I’m not afraid, Porzia, just sworn to secrecy.”

“So I have to be satisfied with what you can share. Is that it?”

“I’d like to go out there with you. Show you the desert and give you a chance of knowing this ageless land from the beginning. Isn’t that how things start anyway? From the beginning?”

“I’d love to.”

“It’s a mind-blowing experience, luv, to let your thoughts melt by the heat of an outback campfire.” He shot me a long silent look, then leaned over and lightly kissed me. “And I wanna share it with ya.”

*

Gomi’s familiar face greeted us inside the shop. Garbed in an oversized midnight blue coverall, sporting a nametag with an embroidered white garbage bin instead of his name, he gave me one of his million-watt smiles and asked how I was going. Tess walked up to him and nudged his hand for petting.

“Pretty well, thanks. And you?”

“Going good. It’s nice to see you again. The boss here has been pretty pissy these last few days.” He winked at me, scratching Tess’s head.

“Gabe? Pissy?” I raised a questioning eyebrow.

“Just trying to get things done before you showed up, Porzia. As you can see, it didn’t really work out or we wouldn’t need to be here now,” he fired back at Gomi.

“No worries, mate. I’ve got it all under control,” Gomi said, flashing a smile.

“And what are you doing to the bloody Holden with that rear anti-roll bar, Gomi?” Gabe asked, walking away from us.

“Just making sure you’d have something to deal with, boss.” He winked at me again and followed Gabe. I wasn’t sure I wanted to get into it and made up my mind not to interfere when I heard them start discussing technical stuff like long-range fuel tanks, inlet geometry, and re-mapped engine management systems. I noticed a trophy display on the far wall and saw that it not only featured cups in various sizes and shapes but photos and plaques from regional races dating over fifteen years earlier, as well. On the second shelf there were photos of Gabe and Gomi almost unrecognizable.
Oh dear god! Was that a mullet on Gomi’s head?
I couldn’t quite believe my eyes, but it must have been him. The smile was just as dazzling. I shifted my gaze onto Gabe and took a long look at him. My nose brushed the glass case, fogging it up.

Daring and fearless.
Those two words came to mind first. He had an aura of invincibility that only youth, inexperience, and arrogance can give. He had changed a lot since. On the third shelf, at my eye level, I noticed the Paris–Dakar trophies and photos. In these Gabe looked more mature, but still younger. I frowned, observing him. He focused on something distant, as though he was in search of something. Answers?
Was this quest for trophies a way of quenching such thirst?
I shook my head. I was no Freud. Why was I even bothering with it? The Gabe I knew now had replaced the invincibility aura with experience and scars. Somehow, it made him the man I loved. I turned my head, searching for him and saw his head bent under the hood of the Holden, only steps away from me. I shifted my attention back to the trophy case. Photos of Gabe and a group of guys in front of a red race car caught my attention;
Miller’s Team, Duneblast
, someone had scribbled in black marker at the bottom of the photo. It must have been after the accident as Gabe was crouched next to a man in full driving gear. The man held a cup and was giving the thumbs up signal. Gabe sported a jacket covered in sponsors’ patches, jeans, and a crooked but yielding smile. Clark stood right behind him, a hand on his shoulder.

“Darwin Duneblast, seven years ago.” Clark’s reflection in the trophies’ glass case spoke.

I spun around, startled.

“
W
elcome back, Porzia,” he said, leaning over to give me a quick hug.

“Thanks.” My answer exhaled in veiled surprise. How long had he been standing behind me?

“It’s been a while,” he sighed, letting go of me.

Did he mean a while about the photos I was looking at? Or perhaps how long he’d been standing behind me? Or about last time we’d seen each other? And why did I feel like I had been caught snooping?

“I don’t know how to answer you, Clark,” I admitted candidly.

He raised an eyebrow and rocked on his heels, thumbs stuck in his jeans pockets. A slow grin spread across his face and I saw Gabe, years from now. His grin was so contagious, I found my own.

“When did you get in?”

“Yesterday.”

His bushy eyebrows shot up in disbelief. “And he has you down here already?” he chided, turning his head in Gabe’s direction.

“No big deal,” I shrugged. “Gomi called the house asking for help.”

“I thought everything was under control,” Clark remarked.

“What’s going on anyway?”

His eyes clouded just like Gabe’s before a storm. “Oz Endurance, Porzia, that’s what’s going on. Or to be more precise, will be going on here—in a couple of months.”

“Is it an important race?” I asked, having no idea what I was getting myself into.

“You could say that.”

“Maybe this visit wasn’t good timing,” I murmured softly, almost to myself.

Clark’s hand squeezed my shoulder. “My dear . . . you couldn’t have picked a better time,” he answered enigmatically.

Gabe chose that moment to walk up to us, dissolving my chance of asking Clark what he had meant.

“You don’t have anything better to do than come to work today?” Clark rebuked his son.

“Got called in, Clark, but we’re out of here.” Gabe took my hand, whistled at Tess, and gave his dad a mock military salute. Without waiting for an answer, he turned on his heels and stormed out the door, dragging me with him. I barely had time to wave good-bye. Once we were inside the car I asked him if everything had been alright in there.

He handed me his cell phone. “Keep this off, somewhere I can’t see it, luv. For the entire time you’re here.”

I took his cell phone. “Are you serious?”

“Yes. I promised myself I would stay away while you were here, and I will keep the promise.”

“OK,” I said and stuffed the phone in my bag. “But if you’re doing it for me, don’t worry. I don’t mind if you have to work here and there. I can find things to do.”

He turned on the engine and skillfully backed out of the parking spot. “I know. It’s not a matter of entertaining you. It’s a matter of them being able to keep up without me and me not thinking about work for a while. You’re what matters now.” He looked at me before merging into traffic. “
We’re
what matters now.”

I leaned over to squeeze his hand. “Thank you. Where are we off to?”

“Shopping,” he told me. “There’s a place I want to show you.”

We quickly drove a few blocks downtown and parked. Gabe pointed at a store across the street. “That’s it, luv.”

“A bookstore?”

“And more.” Gabe let Tess out and told me she was allowed in the store we were about to enter. We crossed the street, and Gabe gallantly opened the door for me. I walked in followed by Tess. A massive monolith-shaped marble fountain took center stage in the middle of a carpeted floor. It gurgled happily, echoing the soothing rhythm of the Indian melody uncoiling smoothly, like a spellbound fakir’s snake, from hidden speakers. A metaphysical bookstore like I had never seen before spread out in front of my enchanted eyes. Rows and rows and more rows of books lined the walls. Jewelry sparkled in a glass counter case; candles, incense, essential oils, and dried herbs made the place smell the way I imagined magic would smell in the fairy tales of my childhood. A sprinkle of new age customers, the kind of folks blessed with auras confidently walking with magic as a familiar companion, so much like Evalena, read or chatted quietly in comfy chairs upholstered in bright orange and green chenille scattered here and there. A buffet offered a scrumptious selection of organic coffee and herbal teas, scones, and cookies. Tess walked up to the jewelry counter where an older lady with a shiny bob of silver hair recognized her and offered her a dog biscuit. She waved at Gabe and cast me a sincere, welcoming smile.

“Where are we?” I asked Gabe, sweeping a hand around to encompass the place.

“Paths,” he answered, taking my hand. “Come and see, luv.”

“The name of the store is ‘Paths’?”

“Roight.” He walked up to a beautiful display of local art. Bright paintings, rudimental musical instruments in wood, strings, and leather I wouldn’t know where to begin to play, and tribal clothing came together in a unique collage of Aboriginal folklore.

“Incredible,” I murmured softly.

Gabe had walked up to the book section. With tickling nostrils I began to explore the scented candles and incense display. I grabbed a shopping basket.

“May I be of assistance?” the silver-haired woman asked me with a smile, startling me.

“This is an incredible place.”

“Thank you,” she said with a pleased smile and a slight bow of her head. Her hair was genuinely the color of liquid silver. “I’m Maureen, the owner. Delighted to meet you.”

I took her extended hand. “Porzia. My pleasure, Maureen. I’m afraid I don’t know where to begin.”

“You came in with a special intent?” she inquired in that typical Australian way of casting a question out of a statement.

I shook my head and pointed at Gabe. “No. He brought me. It was a surprise.”

“I see.”

“So I’m kind of lost.”

“Oh no, honey. You’re most definitely not lost.”

“Excuse me?”

“You’re not lost,” she stated simply.

I had no idea what she meant, but I believed her. “I’m afraid I’m not really following,” I frowned, perplexed.

“No worries. Just take a look around and rest assured whatever brought you here will find you. I promise.” She smiled and looked me straight in the eyes. “It always works.” She walked back to the counter where a few people were queuing, ready to make their purchases, and I almost gasped when I noticed that around her body a light energy field radiated subtly. I closed my eyes and shook my head. Incredulous, I opened one eye, then the other, and gave her another look. The aura had disappeared. Not trusting myself, I decided I had imagined it.

Yet the feeling lingered.

Thinking of how much Evalena and Benedetta would enjoy a place like this, I walked to Gabe who was still by the book section.

“What are you looking for?”

“A book.” His eyes scanned the shelf until he found a thin hardcover featuring a colorful mosaic on the front.

“What is it about?” I asked, curious.

“It’s a story.”

I looked closer, trying to make sense of the mosaic design and pulled back to refocus. Like Icarus flying too close to the sun, I almost got burned. Defensive chills flared up my spine.

Gabe turned the book in his hands so I could have a better look. “What do you see, luv?”

Wings.

Tiny white dots in what at first appeared to be a random pattern became wings against the black background. I looked at him and saw his eyes shone deepest blue, waiting for my answer.

“Wings, Gabe. I see wings.” I dropped my gaze to the book cover once again and read the title out loud, “
The Cloud Dweller
.”

“It’s a legend I’m very fond of,” he said quietly, handing me the book.

I took the book reverently and opened it, cautious. “How do you know it?”

“After the accident, I needed to make sense of what I had gone through, and one of the doctors told me about this place.”

Time stilled as I took a long look at him. “Did you?”

“I did, somewhat. Believe it or not, the book I just gave you makes more sense than anything else I read.” He returned my intense stare. “I’m not the man in your past life regression, Porzia. I’m a Cloud Dweller and being one eliminates the other. And roight now I’m wishing for supernatural powers so I could erase the sadness spilling off your eyes. But you’ve been gambling with two dice, and it’s time you make a decision.”

My head jerked upward. He had no idea I no longer held two. I had no idea what that meant.

Tears stung in my eyes, and I clenched the book tight. I lowered my head to hide my pain and stared at the swirling pattern on the book cover. I wished it would swallow me. Dot after dot, seed after seed, it manifested wings instead.

This was Gabe’s way of explaining to me some of the unspoken questions I had about his accident, and despite the surging tide of my own curiosity, I was grateful but not ready to face my own part of the bargain yet. I had too many unanswered questions.

I lifted my grief-stricken face to him. “Maybe I can read it with you in front of that outback campfire we talked about.”

“Deal.” His eyes shifted to a lighter blue.

Mine remained turbulent as I took time to browse through the books and the other mystical tools the store offered. At the counter, a heavy-bellied snake statue caught my eye.

“I see you’ve found Eingana.” Maureen interrupted my thoughts.

“Eingana?” I raised my eyes up to this woman’s sincere gaze and asked on a whim, “Maureen—what can you tell me about Cloud Dwellers?”

“Nothing. But I can show you Eingana.” She pulled out the powerful figurine and sat it on the counter. “The Cloud Dwellers call her Mother Eingana: the world creator, the birth mother, maker of land, animals, and kangaroos. This huge snake goddess still lives in the Dreamtime and occasionally stirs to create even more life. She’s also the death mother. They say Eingana holds a mystical link to each of her creatures, sort of an umbilical cord that has never been severed. That’s why she’s represented swallowing her own tail. When she lets go, that life stops. If she herself should die, they say life itself would cease to exist.

“I’m familiar with such ties,” Gabe whispered right behind me.

“I hope that answered your question, Porzia. Would you like to see more?” Maureen offered, after a silent moment.

I shook my head. I had suddenly remembered another snake swallowing its own tail in
Le Monde
, the tarot card Madame Framboise had pulled for me. Pieces were finally falling into place. Torn between relief and despair, I realized I had no right to question Gabe’s choices. I was surrounded, naked, stripped like the woman in the card. We paid for my purchases and thanked Maureen for all her help. Gabe whistled to Tess, and we left the store.

Outside, it was still daylight, and I was surprised to find out that the day had gone on, while inside time had stilled among legends, mystical beliefs, and choices.

*

Back at the house, I quickly changed into a comfortable set of lounging pants and tank top, excited to prepare dinner while Gabe started a fire in the living room.

And then we forgot entirely about eating.

I walked back into the living room and one look was enough. I sank in the depth of his eyes reflecting the orange flames of the blazing fire and surrendered against a power I wasn’t expecting to surge and challenge me so suddenly. I found myself in his arms, madly kissing him, oblivious to how I had crossed the distance. One second earlier I was standing on the threshold of the living room; the next, I was kneeling in front of a crackling fireplace, safe in his embrace, tasting liquid lust off his lips.

Clothes were impatiently cast aside while flames flickered in our direction, teasing our oversensitive skin.

I wrapped my legs around Gabe’s waist, held him tight, and we became one. The fireplace heated my arms and hands as I straddled him and began to move, slowly. Ecstasy skimmed, teased, and finally flared with each agonized thrust of my hips. My mouth locked onto his. My eyes shut to fully absorb his strength but still echoed the blazing flames dancing madly behind my sealed eyelids. The fire within met the heat of the fire crackling behind Gabe’s muscular back. I felt the building wave of climax lap at my shores. Pleasure rose, boundaries disappeared, lust thickened, and it all melted once his mouth reached the firm tips on my breasts. I dug my nails in his back, lost control, and surrendered to ecstasy.

One slow, overwhelming wave of pleasure at a time.

I couldn’t control the mad pounding of my heart ricocheting against his chest but managed to untangle my eyelashes just enough to look at his face and not get blinded by the bright fire behind him.

“I think we’re stuck,” I croaked hoarsely, my tongue sheathed with thick pleasure not yet swallowed.

“Not a bad thing to be with ya,” Gabe whispered, and magically he managed to lower our bodies onto the soft rug without sliding away. He swept my hair off my back and caressed my arched spine with his warm breath. His sensuous lips found an erogenous spot on my neck, and I choked on my own purring. I struggled to grip the short fibers under my nails, and gave up when I felt him penetrating me deeper.

“You’re hot and sleek.” He curled his arms around my shoulders and thrust in one last time. Deep inside me, his body shuddered with spilled pleasure and his teeth sank into my shoulder. His trapped voice escaped against my skin in a low, intense moan.

Ecstasy unleashed from earthly boundaries.

*

Spent, he rolled back on the soft rug, blinked, and cracked a grin. Words took flight once again.

“Look,” he said, pointing out the window.

“I don’t see anything . . .”

“The sky has darkened to a perfect level of intimacy, luv.” He got up and offered a hand. “Come on—time to eat.”

I opened a bottle of Umeracha Shiraz and set the table while Gabe tossed a salad of scrumptious veggies and cheeses. I warmed up a loaf of bread and dumped al dente fettuccine in a skillet with goat cheese, sautéed Portobello mushrooms, and a couple of secret ingredients.

We sat at the table while Tess slept in her bed by the fireplace. In the frenzied passion of our lovemaking, I hadn’t noticed her till now. My glass toasted Gabe’s above her loud snoring. Laughing, I wished him
buon appetito
.