The Bay (31 page)

She walked in the sunshine among the strolling shoppers and tourists. People were sitting at sidewalk tables relaxing after the lunch rush. Eating was a cultural experience in The Bay, and you could find almost everything – international cuisine, health foods, vegan to organic.

Kimberley went through the arcade and waved to Amber who was busy serving customers in the Beach Hut. She noticed that the clientele looked a lot more up-market than when Bonnie had first opened it.

Billy was standing outside The Teepee smoking. ‘How's it going?'

‘Great. Doing the rounds. Want me to treat you to a coffee?'

‘Love to but I have a tint about to come off. Have you talked to Amber?'

‘She was busy. I'll catch up with her soon.'

Billy stubbed out his cigarette. ‘You should, she was telling me about Bonnie. She had some news you should investigate.'

‘What's that?' Kimberley asked, feeling guilty she hadn't been around to visit Bonnie lately.

‘She is really into volunteer work at the Dolphin Centre. She says there are people there trying to claw their way back after being involved with the Shahvanas. You heard about the deaths of two women who'd been at the centre?'

‘I knew there'd been two deaths, I didn't know they were connected to that group. You sure they're linked?' she asked. ‘Not much you can do if people choose to follow some nutter.'

‘They gave all their worldly goods to the group, which hasn't pleased the families,' said Billy. ‘Be a shame if the weird doings of a couple of spiritual wankers give all the other retreats and healers a bad name.'

‘Doesn't come under council regulations,' said Kimberley. ‘We can't be thought police.'

She was walking back to her car when a cheery voice called her name and she looked around to see Eddie and Alice. ‘Hey you guys, what are you up to?'

‘Been shopping for groceries,' Alice said. ‘Not too exciting.'

‘She doesn't understand yet that it's an essential survival skill,' said Eddie, ruffling his daughter's hair.

‘
Daaad
,' she groaned and ran her fingers through her hair to restore order. She turned to Kimberley. ‘How's Matty?'

‘She's good. Are you settled into the farm?'

‘Yeah, it's great. I've got a new lamb and another horse.'

‘Why don't you bring Matty up to visit,' Eddie suggested and Alice jumped in eagerly.

‘Oh, yeah, let her come. We could go riding and stuff.'

Kimberley looked at her bright face and realised how much young girls looked up to older teens. ‘Matty isn't a very good rider. Maybe you could give her a few tips.'

‘When can she come?' asked Alice, and both adults laughed.

‘I'll get her to ring you. In fact, I was thinking of taking a bit of a tour round the hills,' Kimberley said to Eddie. ‘Doing research into some of the communities and odd bods who live up there.'

‘That's interesting. I'm off to meet with the Creative Community people for my film soon. Do you want to come along?'

‘You bet. Maybe I could drop Matty off at your place to spend time with Alice.'

‘Cool. Tomorrow? After school?' Alice did a little dance of delight.

‘Why not? Let's check in tonight. Talk to you then.'

‘Mum, I'm not very good, what if it bolts or bucks or something?' Matty was reluctant to go horse riding with Alice. ‘She's only a kid.'

‘Think back to when you were ten, Matts. How you loved hanging around older girls. Alice needs a bit of company that's not grown-ups,' said Kimberley gently. ‘She spent so much time with her mother's crowd. Help her enjoy being a girl with a pony and a pet lamb. And I bet you'll love it too.'

Matty knew what her mother meant. She had often seen Alice being dragged around restaurants and shops with Laura, and felt sorry that she had to hang out in town while cool Eddie lived up in the hills.

That night after Eddie rang to confirm the interview with the ‘Creatives', Alice came on the line and to Matty's surprise she enjoyed talking to her.

‘Wear loose clothes and I have a hat and boots that will fit you. Don't be nervous if you haven't ridden a lot,' Alice said. ‘Sampson is so calm. He's a great old thing. And we can go along a really pretty trail.'

‘Sounds good, so long as he's not going to take off.'

‘Na, you just have to show him who's boss, otherwise he'll eat all the time,' said Alice with authority.

‘Can I see your other animals?' Matty asked.

‘Oh yes. I'll show you the lambs and the hens and their little chickens and the ducks nesting on the dam.'

‘Sounds fun. I haven't been away from town for ages,' said Matty.

‘I suppose you miss Erica,' Alice said bluntly, a question many adults had wanted to ask but hadn't for fear of upsetting her.

‘I do. A lot. Have you got a best friend, Alice?'

‘Not really. There's a gang of us at school, we all hang out together. Sometimes I like one of them better than the others. But, then sometimes we fight a bit . . .'

Matty laughed. ‘I know how it is. Well we can be best friends tomorrow. See you then.'

She hung up and gave her mother a shrug and a bit of a grin. ‘She's not a bad kid,' she said, and disappeared into her room.

Kimberley and Eddie rattled over the dirt road as they wound their way up into the hills. The paddocks looked peaceful and productive, and Kimberley could see the attraction of having a farm there.

‘Must have been stunning up here in the old days before the timber men hacked into the Big Scrub,' she said.

‘According to old Sid the dairy men were just as bad as the cedar cutters. The Bay had the biggest butter factory on the coast,' said Eddie. ‘It also had a huge piggery.'

‘There are still a few pig and chicken farms around; the oldtimers are waiting to sell up for a fortune,' Kimberley said.

‘Can you imagine these hills covered in houses?'

‘Not for a long time, it's still a bit primitive out here,' she replied. ‘No town water or services, and this road would be cut in the wet season. Bit too rugged for me.'

‘I suppose these people see some value in living like this.'

‘No nosy neighbours, that's for sure,' said Kimberley.

‘I wouldn't be so sure. If you're part of a community in these hills, you have to be part of a group,' said Eddie seriously. ‘That can mean there's very little privacy. And some very odd crops tend to do well up here in the hills, and all sorts of people are nosing around. Now, we have to look out for a red milk can on a fence post.'

They spotted the milk can serving as a mailbox and turned onto a dirt track that took them to gates and a cattle grid, and suddenly the road improved. It was graded with fresh gravel and lined with palms. In neatly fenced paddocks fat cattle and a few horses grazed. Sheds were freshly painted and they passed a large area planted with vegetables. In the distance they saw an orchard and a substantial water tank.

When they reached the main house Kimberley and Eddie exchanged a surprised look. ‘Pretty impressive. A mini utopia.'

‘Sure it's not a movie set?' grinned Kimberley.

Nearby was a large hall with a children's playground, two smaller cabins and a cottage, surrounded by gardens and shrubbery.

A tall man in jeans and a T-shirt strolled over to greet them. ‘Welcome. I'm Tola. Come in and meet some of the families living here. They'll talk to you about their lifestyle, then we'll give you a look around.'

‘It's lovely, so peaceful,' said Kimberley.

‘Keeping connected to the earth is important. Living sustainably is the only way to go these days. Come on in.' They followed his lead and slipped off their shoes, then went into a family room off a large kitchen.

Eddie was immediately hit by a sense of yearning; yearning for something he wished he had in his own life. Kimberley was similarly struck, but a cynical vein in her nature asked, was this for real? There were smiling faces around a big wooden table, the smell of freshly brewed coffee and baking bread. Fresh apples in a bowl, a baby cooing in a cradle at a woman's feet – a scene of total domestic tranquillity.

With introductions over, coffee poured, and homemade biscuits passed around, Eddie began by asking who they were and what was the aim of their collective.

‘We are like-minded people who've come together to live with less stress, to be healthy, do with fewer material things but have a rich diversity of life physically, intellectually and spiritually,' one woman explained.

‘A big ask these days,' said Kimberley. ‘Are you devising your own New Age culture?'

‘We're not into tags like New Age and baby boomers,' said another. ‘We're practical people from the mainstream who believe it's absolutely necessary to change how we've been living on the planet.'

‘You're a bit out of the mainstream up here, how can you make any kind of difference?' Kimberley asked.

There was a reaction around the table, not hostile, not condescending, more calm patience, Eddie decided as he waited for a response to Kim's remark.

‘By taking steps to show we can live in a community that's socially supportive, ecological and spiritually motivated that integrates our lifestyle, our dreams, our businesses.'

A young mother holding a baby added quietly, ‘We're part of a grass roots movement around the world trying to solve global, social and environmental issues. People can make a change. We have knowledge and tools to change the world. It's about changing values and lifestyle. The big first step is for people to know they're not alone.'

Eddie leaned across the table. ‘I like what I hear, but how do you make it work?'

‘It's a gentle movement, where we have quality of lifestyle without taking more from the earth than we give back. An eco-village like this seems to be one answer.'

Kimberley flinched and glanced at Eddie.

‘You've gone one step further than the sea-change attitude,' he said. ‘Maybe I've been unfocused and I could look at my life in a new way.'

Kimberley turned to stare at him in surprise.

‘That's a very common response, where people recognise that a fundamental shift in their attitude is needed,' said Tola. ‘And it doesn't mean doing anything too radical. As a filmmaker you can help spread the awareness through people's stories. Hearing other people's experiences is very powerful.'

A middle-aged man spoke up. ‘The challenge for all of us is to preserve life on this planet and find a way through the emptiness of modern life. We need to help each other with solutions that enrich, that heal and sustain us. A community is supportive. Cities and towns can be very isolating.'

Amen, dear brothers and sisters, amen, thought Kimberley, as if she had been listening to a spiritual revivalist sermon.

The group leader then took them on a tour of the property, which included a bewildering mixture of experimental permaculture, traditional small-scale agriculture, and high-tech alternative methods of generating power and farming the land.

Eddie made notes on good visuals he might be able to use, and left them with a promise to talk again further down the production track. The visit was a successful recce, he told them.

The horses settled into a comfortable walk after cantering up a track to the top of a hill. Alice and Matty stopped to admire the view then slid down to the grass and let the horses nibble as they sat in the sun.

‘You're lucky to live here,' sighed Matty. ‘Our house is so cramped, so close to town. I love all this space. It's as if we're the last two people on the earth.'

‘But you're close to the beach.'

‘Mmm . . . And school, and Mum's work and all that other stuff. But this is really special, you know?' She scuffed her toe in the dirt, dislodging a stone and watched it topple down the hill. ‘Doesn't your mum miss this farm?'

Alice thought for a minute. ‘Mum was crazy about it when we moved here, but she gets bored real easy. With places and people.'

‘Did she get bored with Eddie?' Matty couldn't imagine Eddie ever being boring.

‘Sort of. But it wasn't Eddie's fault or anything. That's just how Mum is,' she said philosophically.

‘So what's your real dad like?' asked Matty.

Alice shrugged. ‘Dunno. He left when I was a baby.'

‘Where'd he go?'

‘Belgium.'

She had said it matter-of-factly, but Matty could see her pained expression before she turned her face away. She wondered if she should drop the subject, but was too interested to stop now. ‘Do you ever wonder about him?'

‘No. Why should I?' Alice stared out across the fields, her brow creasing slightly. ‘Maybe one day I'll write to him; maybe even see him. If he wants to see me, that is.'

‘I'm sure he does.' Matty's words rang hollow in her ears. How would she know what Alice's father did or didn't want?

‘Anyhow,' Alice continued, brightening up, ‘Mum says I can write to him whenever I want; whenever I feel ready. I don't think I'll ever be ready though.'

‘Why not?'

Alice grinned sheepishly, and Matty saw a slight colour rise in her cheeks. ‘It's kind of embarrassing, but when I was younger I used to dream about my real dad being this famous rock star or actor or something.' She lowered her eyes, regretting telling her. But Matty reached across and squeezed her hand reassuringly. ‘I just know I'm going to be disappointed, that's all,' Alice whispered.

‘You'll still have Eddie,' Matty offered.

‘Yeah, he's pretty cool.' She smiled. ‘Anyway, what about you? You don't see much of your dad.'

‘Oh, my dad's great.' She laughed as she thought about her father. ‘Mum says if he was around every day I wouldn't put him on such a pedestal, but I don't know. I can't be mad at him for anything. He thinks I'm perfect too. But Mum says that's because he doesn't see me every day either.'