Chapter 11

“He said ‘Baiami and Jehovah’ – I don’t get it.”

“Jos has become a pantheist. All the gods are real.”

“Oh.”

They found the relics of Yardungarl with ease. No spirits met them. They needed no guides. They each took two bottles of water, an energy bar and some chocolate and stowed their ‘supplies’ in their swags. After changing their clothes, they set out for the giants’ mouths.

The cave was still adorned with the figures, but the raven and eagle weren’t visible.

“It looks much as it did when we left,” said Tessa.

“Who would have come here? Locals would fear it; others wouldn’t find it.”

“Is it really ‘here’? I wonder. Perhaps we are elsewhere.”

“Not a problem. We are together. You wanted to come here and I am following your lead.”

“You’re not always so docile.”

“No. But this past week or so, eagle following raven has been noted by several people. You are my raven. I am your eagle. Come, spread out your swag. Let us rest here.”

They sat and Sam embraced Tessa. “I really do love you.”

“And I you.”

“It’s over two months.”

“I know. I thought of it just before we left Iga Warta, when I finished my second period since...”

“Don’t say it.”

“Doesn’t matter. Saying words is just that.” They sat quietly for a while. “You know, Rio Tinto must really love the Pilbara.”

“What?”

“Two things: Oscar Wilde wrote ‘Each man kills the thing he loves’ and Catullus wrote that the words of a woman to her lover are written with wind on running water. [Sed mulier cupido quod dicit amanti / in vento et rapida scribere oportet aqua.] You were full of contempt at the statements from Rio Tinto.”

“Sneaky. And what about when I say I love you?”

“I believe every syllable.”

They kissed and lay down.

Too soon it was dawn. Neither of them recalled the sunset. Each had been visited. Perhaps together. But when they spoke, it seemed simultaneous.

“It wasn’t a voice I’ve heard?”

“Nor I.”

“Might it have been the Python?”

“Or a more powerful one?”

“I was told that I should bear sons. One will be a sparrow hawk. There will be at least one raven.”

“We will need to prepare for that.” They did. Repeatedly.

The Australian raven is territorial, with pairs generally bonding for life. Breeding takes place between July and September, with almost no variation across its range. The nest is a bowl-shaped structure of sticks sited high in a tree, or occasionally in a man-made structure such as a windmill or other building. In general, a clutch is 4-7. The wedge-tail’s clutch is usually two.

In the afternoon, they returned to Gabbaitch.