Chapter 35

Sam didn’t accompany Osprey to Wyndham. But he did phone Henry about visiting for a week in the future. Zeke made several trips to the lumberyard and he and his crew built a few ‘enclosures’ quite quickly. Two were occupied by couples from Molly Spring within a few days; a third accommodated two ‘aunties’ who wanted to plant veggies. Several more were begun. Ten days later he received a (relayed) message that a plane from Darwin with cargo for him would arrive in the afternoon the next day. That night, Sam had a visitor.

“Things come together. Actions bear fruit. In the next weeks two of yours will be born here and two in the Territory. At least one will be a son of importance. Lily will bear a girl, who will be a brown catsnake [Boiga irregularis], a fitting descendant of a Python and a white snake. Beware the Tiwi maidens, they desire your seed.”

In the morning Sam related the message to Tessa and Lily. Tessa pointed out that he needed to arrange at least two more vehicles to convey the Tiwi from the airport. She suggested that Joel and Mike could drive and that the six females be distributed between them. “You can fit four men in our 4x4.”

It worked out quite well. Several of the girls/women were handsome, but he was certain others would want to hook up with them. The men seem pleasant. All twelve appeared to be in their twenties. No one had much in the way of baggage.

“Are there rules?” one bloke asked.

“Behave yourselves,” Joel responded.

When they were near the vehicles, Sam stopped and raised his hand. “I’m Sam. Known as Bunjil. That means wedge-tailed eagle. I don’t know what it is in Tiwi. Anyway, I’m sure everything will seem strange for a while. We’ll be driving through Kununurra, which is a town of close to 5,000. We won’t stop here today. We’ll go straight to Gabbaitch. There are some shelters you can sleep in and you can think and talk about how and where you’d like things to be arranged. There are a few important things. There’s no alcohol, not even beer. And no drugs, either. And you blokes. If a gin says ‘no’, it means ‘no’. We don’t want the town police nor the Aboriginal Legal Service of Western Australia coming around. OK. Four of you blokes in here.”

About 45 minutes later, they were at Gabbaitch.

Jos welcomed the Tiwi and showed them the new shelters. Sam noted that a number of residents had set up a ‘welcoming’ committee, notably about a dozen men and slightly fewer women. All were eyeing the newcomers. Despite the warning, Sam felt no fear from Tiwi maidens, local men would occupy them.

Sam’s ‘activities’ began to bear fruit. Only a day later, Rita bore a girl, Nora, so some attention was redirected from the dozen Tiwi to the newborn. And a week thereafter, Nancy bore her ‘bilby,’ named Wayne. Then, Annie in Timber Creek bore a girl, whom she (appropriately) named Mary. And, after a hiatus, Susan bore her ‘keelback,’ a large boy of just over four kilo whom she named Joel, after the older son of the biblical Samuel.

“What do I do?” he asked Tessa.

“Nothing. If Rita, Nancy, Annie or Susan come to you, then you should do as they ask. But I don’t think you’ll need to do much. You were asked to spread your genes more widely. Those four and Lily are responses to that request. It will be over a decade before a boy comes of age or a girl is given in marriage.”