chest.
“Tell me something about yourself that I don’t know,” I said quietly.
He was unusually serious and took a moment to answer. “There is something that I need to tell you, but I’ll do it when we’re more awake.”
He kissed my head, held me in his arms, and fell asleep. I lay awake for a long time wondering what it was.
Chapter 20
FEBRUARY 7
The next morning, I awoke to the sound of Martin’s voice. He was somewhere outside the tent talking on his cell phone.
“I’ll tell you, Bud, he tried to force himself on her… . Yeah, he was friggin’ lying on top of her when I got there. He’s lucky I didn’t kill him…. You know how crazy he’s been…. Yeah. You can imagine…. Well, when I saw his car at the house, I knew something was wrong…. Yeah…. Oh, shit…. What’d he do that for? He’s completely lost his marbles…. I’m done with him…. If she wants to take him back, it’s their business.”
I stepped out of the tent and went to use the bathroom and wash up . I returned several minutes later when Martin was rearranging his backpack.
“Good m orning,” he said. “I hope I didn’t wake you.”
“No . I don’t think so.” Remembering his end of the conversation, I asked, “Is everything okay?”
“Mike’s gone of f and gotten himself thrown in jail. He’s begging his wife to take him back and telling her he’ll stop drinking.”
“Do you want to go see him?”
He shook his head. “Not unless he straightens up. I’m done with him. If he doesn’t like how things are, he’s going to have to fix them himself or get help from somebody else.”
*****
We had a beautiful day at the Jenolan Caves. In the morning, we did the self-guided tour of Nettle Cave. The tour was available in several languages, including Klingon, which had the two of us laughing the entire time. Afterward, we joined a tour group that visited other caves and saw beautiful rock formations and underground rivers. We had considered going on a ghost tour through the caves but decided to eat lunch at the Bistro and walk around the grounds, instead, before returning to our campsite and having an evening together by the fire.
That afternoon went by quickly as we decided to do one more hike on the way back to our campsite. At Martin’s urging, we stopped at the area near Wentworth Falls. We hiked into the lush area below the falls and snapped some photos. Then, he took my hand, and we made our way into a rock shelter behind the falls. We could feel the spray on our skin, and it cooled us off quickly.
“Wow . It’s gorgeous here,” I said. After a few minutes, we were covered with a fine mist from the waterfall and were beginning to feel cold. We hiked out of the shelter and returned to the campsite.
As evening arrived, we prepared a light supper . Once we’d eaten dinner, we washed up and returned to sit together by the campfire. Martin told me about some of the history in the region as well as some of the local lore that he had learned when he was growing up.
“ You can’t visit Australia without knowing about Dreamtime,” he told me.
“What’s Dreamtime?” I asked.
“Dreamtime was the time when the spirits created the world. The Aborigines believe that the spirit lives forever. That it comes into the mother’s body from the place where she is when she first feels her baby move. When a child is born, it’s taught songs and stories about the specific place where it entered the womb. There are lots of stories about the Dreaming, the period when the world was created. Stories about how birds got their colors and so on.”
“It sounds beautiful.”
“It is.” He thought for a moment and smiled, glancing over at me.
“What?”
“There’s also something else you should know about. Since we’re camping – especially here in the Blue Mountains.”
“What’s that?”
“You need to know about the Yowie,” he smiled.
“What’s a Yowie?” I was curious.
“You have
“Tell me something about yourself that I don’t know,” I said quietly.
He was unusually serious and took a moment to answer. “There is something that I need to tell you, but I’ll do it when we’re more awake.”
He kissed my head, held me in his arms, and fell asleep. I lay awake for a long time wondering what it was.
Chapter 20
FEBRUARY 7
The next morning, I awoke to the sound of Martin’s voice. He was somewhere outside the tent talking on his cell phone.
“I’ll tell you, Bud, he tried to force himself on her… . Yeah, he was friggin’ lying on top of her when I got there. He’s lucky I didn’t kill him…. You know how crazy he’s been…. Yeah. You can imagine…. Well, when I saw his car at the house, I knew something was wrong…. Yeah…. Oh, shit…. What’d he do that for? He’s completely lost his marbles…. I’m done with him…. If she wants to take him back, it’s their business.”
I stepped out of the tent and went to use the bathroom and wash up . I returned several minutes later when Martin was rearranging his backpack.
“Good m orning,” he said. “I hope I didn’t wake you.”
“No . I don’t think so.” Remembering his end of the conversation, I asked, “Is everything okay?”
“Mike’s gone of f and gotten himself thrown in jail. He’s begging his wife to take him back and telling her he’ll stop drinking.”
“Do you want to go see him?”
He shook his head. “Not unless he straightens up. I’m done with him. If he doesn’t like how things are, he’s going to have to fix them himself or get help from somebody else.”
*****
We had a beautiful day at the Jenolan Caves. In the morning, we did the self-guided tour of Nettle Cave. The tour was available in several languages, including Klingon, which had the two of us laughing the entire time. Afterward, we joined a tour group that visited other caves and saw beautiful rock formations and underground rivers. We had considered going on a ghost tour through the caves but decided to eat lunch at the Bistro and walk around the grounds, instead, before returning to our campsite and having an evening together by the fire.
That afternoon went by quickly as we decided to do one more hike on the way back to our campsite. At Martin’s urging, we stopped at the area near Wentworth Falls. We hiked into the lush area below the falls and snapped some photos. Then, he took my hand, and we made our way into a rock shelter behind the falls. We could feel the spray on our skin, and it cooled us off quickly.
“Wow . It’s gorgeous here,” I said. After a few minutes, we were covered with a fine mist from the waterfall and were beginning to feel cold. We hiked out of the shelter and returned to the campsite.
As evening arrived, we prepared a light supper . Once we’d eaten dinner, we washed up and returned to sit together by the campfire. Martin told me about some of the history in the region as well as some of the local lore that he had learned when he was growing up.
“ You can’t visit Australia without knowing about Dreamtime,” he told me.
“What’s Dreamtime?” I asked.
“Dreamtime was the time when the spirits created the world. The Aborigines believe that the spirit lives forever. That it comes into the mother’s body from the place where she is when she first feels her baby move. When a child is born, it’s taught songs and stories about the specific place where it entered the womb. There are lots of stories about the Dreaming, the period when the world was created. Stories about how birds got their colors and so on.”
“It sounds beautiful.”
“It is.” He thought for a moment and smiled, glancing over at me.
“What?”
“There’s also something else you should know about. Since we’re camping – especially here in the Blue Mountains.”
“What’s that?”
“You need to know about the Yowie,” he smiled.
“What’s a Yowie?” I was curious.
“You have
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