PROLOGUE
The Dreamtime--that gap between what is and what was--is a space where "being" is an eternal, all-at-once state. In the Dreamtime, the past is the future and the future, past. All of what is, what has been and will be meets here. It is where souls reside before becoming and it is the place to which souls return upon ceasing. It is the space to which the spirit is called when dreaming and the essence flows during ritual. There is neither "life" nor "death" in the time before time; there is only the ever-lasting.
In the nexus of being the old ones sat, guarding the well of the Others.
"Hmm... the Old Ones... they call to me, Old Man," creaked Old Woman.
He nodded his head sagely, his mane of white hair spilling across his wizened shoulders. "Yes, I have heard them too, Old Woman. The Gods have finally chosen."
Old Woman tossed herbs onto the surface of the water, watching the bits of flotsam settle into intricate patterns—the meaning of which only she knew. "This one, she will not take the transition easily."
Old Man's eyebrows crept skyward. "She?"
"Mmmm, yes. We have not seen the likes of this one in many generations." She smiled.
Old Man's mouth quirked up on the edges, "Not since the world began."
Old Woman cackled, "The God's must be crazy!"
CHAPTER ONE
Old Man sat peacefully, legs crossed beneath him, deep in the shade of a tree on the Deep Well Station. The People walked around and about him, paying him little mind. In this time and in this place he was a storyteller--no more and no less. It was a guise that had served him well in the past and one that was more than suitable in the present.
Old Man had come to the Station everyday for more than a week. Each day he sat, watching, waiting, and peaceably sharing stories of the Dreamtime with the young ones who had come to visit the red desert. Today, his audience was small, but Old Man sensed deep within his soul that it would grow. The Wind and the Skies, the Earth and the Trees, they all whispered the Chosen One was coming. Yes, it would be just as the Old Woman had foretold.
"In the time before time," his tale began, "when all that is was still yet to be, the Gods stepped forth to make the Earth. As man and animal they roamed the land, helping the First People become." Old Man paused, lettings his eyes roam, searching for the Chosen One. He tipped his head, shaking his shaggy white hair free of his face, all the better to see the world.
He blinked slowly. There! There she was, standing alone at the very edge of the story circle. 'Ah!' he breathed. Her body was tall and lithe, her limbs long and supple. Guardians, he knew from long experience, must be fit to survive. Why, it was obvious even to him that the Gods had chosen well with this one. Tsk! Old Woman must not have read the leaves quite right.
A lanky boy sitting nearby nudged his neighbor, giggling. Old Man stared directly at the youth until silence reigned once more. The Chosen One stepped closer and he motioned for the boys to make room for her within the story circle. "As the People grew in number, they split into tribes to better cover the earth, each tribe taking with them the essence--the Tjurunga--of the Others who mentored them."
Alanna smiled nervously, wondering why the old storyteller was staring at her so intently. She smoothed her red-gold hair and straightened the collar of her shirt. Yes, she had traveled all night to get here; but surely she did not look
that
bad?
The elderly storyteller drew breath and continued onwards. "From the South Lands came the Tjilpa, the largest of all the tribes, carrying with them the Tjurunga of the great wild cat."
"Pfft! What a crazy story! My teacher says there's no such thing as big cats in Australia." One of the children remarked snidely. "It's just a myth!"
Oh, the arrogance of modern youth! In his day, no child would have dared speak to an elder in such a manner. Old Man raised a bushy eyebrow in warning and the child settled back meekly. "The Tjurunga was powerful, bringing strength and greatness to the Tjilpa. But nothing is given without cost."
His listeners leaned forward expectantly.
"In exchange for these gifts, the Gods expected the Tjilpa to care for the Tjurunga. Those responsible for the essence of the wild cat absorbed it into their souls, becoming living vessels for the beast."
"So, what? They became cat-people?!?" exclaimed one of the older children. "You must be joking!"
This time the Old Man completely ignored the outburst. Instead, he turned his eyes once again to the Chosen One, watching carefully for her reaction. "The Tjurunga's essence remains within its human vessels until they die. Then its essence is returned to the Dreamtime." His dark eyes took on a glowing light. "Where it rests until a new vessel is born."
Old Man fell silent. Waiting.
Alanna stood abruptly. "Well. That was... interesting." She shook her head, letting her bangs fall down over her green eyes. She was not sure why she had come to the Alice Springs District, why she had come to Deep Well Station. But she knew she was not here to sit and listen to some crazy old man ramble on about cat-people.
A tall shadow crossed in front of her, a hand wrapped tightly around her arm. "Do not leave without your totem, Missy." Old Man held out a small chunk of stone on a leather thong.
The short hairs at the nape of Alanna's neck bristled. She tried, with little success, to pull away. The crazy old man obviously was not going to let go. So she stepped back as much as he would allow. "I don't..."
Old Man pulled her back, quickly reaching up to slip the thong over her head. "Everyone gets a totem--a piece of the Tjurunga for luck."
The stone slipped down to rest between her full breasts. Alanna suddenly felt dizzy, disoriented, as if the world had shifted on its axis. Her fair skin paled to a milky white and a light sheen of sweat broke over her brow. She blinked rapidly. "Wha...?"
There. That was the reaction Old Man was looking for. The Tjurunga had indeed chosen as Old Woman had predicted. "Are you alright, Missy? Perhaps you should sit down?" He asked solicitously.
"No, I..." Alanna shook her head. The sun. It must be the sun. Or maybe she needed to eat. Her stomach heaved at the thought of food. Okay. So food was probably a bad idea. "I think I'll just go inside for a bit and lay down."
Old Man nodded, watching carefully as the Chosen One made her way shakily to the guest house.
And so it began...
CHAPTER TWO
Alanna tossed restlessly in her small bed. The room was too hot. Her skin felt tight and painful. Rivulets of sweat rolled across her body. "It's the flu. It must be the flu," she groaned softly. God, she'd give anything for some aspirin and water!
She jumped, pressing back into the soft mattress as images flashed back and forth at the edges of her vision. She could no longer distinguish between reality and the visions flickering before her.
Time stopped and the world shifted yet again. Alanna felt weightless, ethereal, no longer bound by the parameters of physical space.
She lifted her head. The fever was gone and she was no longer in any discomfort. "Have I died?" Red-gold sand stretched around her for miles. Overhead, a crescent moon shone down. She looked around, confused. "How did I get outside? Where am I?"
How wondrous! The transition had only just taken place, yet already the child had found her way to the Dreamtime. "Be calm, young one," a silky voice intoned from the darkness. "You are most certainly not dead. For there is no death here. You are Dreaming."
'Ooookay.' Alanna thought. Dreaming. Right. Fever or not, she must still be ill.
Alanna watched, eyes wide, as an old woman dressed in flowing amber robes approached. She took stock of the woman's wrinkled, sun baked skin and waist length white hair. Alanna frowned thoughtfully. The old woman looked amazingly like one of the characters from the
Ten Commandments
.
She had seen that movie recently. Maybe that was why...
Old Woman walked towards her. "Why do you frown so, child? You are not ill, not at all. You have been chosen. Your body is simply adjusting to its new existence. And I am not certain exactly what a 'movie' is, but I can tell you whatever it is, this is not it. As I said, you are Dreaming." She stretched out a wrinkled palm. "You have sought me out in the Dreamtime in order to begin your journey."
Visual and auditory hallucinations. Definitely. She blinked up at the woman. "Ummm, chosen? Chosen for what? And what's this about a 'journey'?"
Old Woman smiled, again offering her hand. "Come, child. Walk with me awhile."
Go walk-about at night. In the great Red Desert. With an hallucination as her guide? Oh sure, that was a good idea. Not! Alanna shook her head. "Nuh-uh. Nope. I'm sick--feverish and totally out of my head. I'm not going anywhere with anyone, but especially not some 60s era, hippie, tour guide wannabe. I'd probably disappear into the darkness forever, never to be seen or heard from again."
A thoughtful look crossed Old Woman's weathered face. Had the People completely lost their ancestral memories? "You do not believe me?" She stared into space a moment, as if she could see the past, present and future hovering before her in the great void. "Ah, I see. That which was is no longer; and that which will be is not yet realized." She clicked her tongue. Old Man would have a much harder time with this one than she had predicted. "No matter." She placed her hand on Alanna's shoulder, causing a river of heat to flow through the young woman. "You will soon come to know the things you should know." Old Woman turned and started walking back into void.
"Wait!" Alanna called. "Please!" She struggled to rise and follow the old woman, but her body felt thick--as if it were being sucked down into quicksand.
A faint voice echoed back through the void. "Be calm, child. You will find the Dreamtime again when you decide you have need of me."
Alanna woke abruptly, heart thundering in her chest. She was drenched in sweat and ached in every bone in her body. "It was a dream," she whispered to herself. "Just a dream. It wasn't real."
****
Hours later Alanna emerged shakily from the guest house, bags in hand. She felt like crap. Some vacation this had turned out to be!
"I'll take your bags, Miss Shepherd. You just climb on up into the Rover. We'll have you down to the airport and on your way home in no time."
