Next morning they had breakfast in the room – bacon and egg and fried tomato. The toast was a little damp ‘Impossible to keep it fresh when you have to carry it over on a tray from the kitchen,’ said Megan. The rest of it’s amazing, though. Look at those yolks!’

‘I’m going to try spreading this black stuff on the toast. I’ve heard of it – supposed to be the national delicacy. Vegemite, I think?’

A few minutes later, Brad had washed the taste out of his mouth and the toast was in the trash can. ‘That was terrible! How can anybody eat that stuff?’

He brought it up with Sharon later that day. ‘Oh, she said. How thickly did you spread it? It has to be really, really thin. Otherwise it’s far too strong. Next morning try it. You might be surprised.’

They went out again into the forest that day, and saw their kangaroos. ‘They’re not doing much,’ said Megan. ‘Just lying around.’

‘Yeah. They sleep during the day. They come out to feed in the early morning and evening – twilight. We were lucky to see them. By the way, would you like kangaroo steaks for dinner tonight?’

‘What? You mean you eat them?’

‘Oh, yes, sometimes. Tastes a lot like venison. But a lot of people don’t like eating Skippy, so it’s okay if you don’t want to.’

‘No, I think we’ll give that a miss.’

‘No worries. Plenty of other things to eat.’

That evening in the motel room Megan said ‘This is a beautiful place, isn’t it?’

‘Yes, it is.’

‘We’re only here for four weeks, aren’t we?’

‘Minus the travel time, yes.’

‘I really like it here.’

‘You’re thinking. I’m not sure I trust you when you’re like this. What have you got on your mind?’

‘Bev wants to sell the roadhouse.’

‘Oh. Are you thinking what I think you’re thinking?’

‘Well, why not? We could afford to buy it! We could!’

‘Don’t you think this is rather sudden? We’ve only been here a few days. We hardly know anything about the place.’

‘Do you think I don’t know that? But I’m feeling all these crazy ideas bubbling up. We’ve already done something crazy, coming here. I don’t know, but I’m starting to wonder why we’re living in New York, doing what we’re doing. Yes, there’s the business, there’s the friends we have in New York – but how often do we see them? We’ve got world-class opera, museums, art galleries – but when do we ever get to go to them? What have we got to go back to? The same old thing, working our guts out? Never getting to talk to each other because we’re so busy and so tired?’

‘Okay, I hear what you’re saying. But I don’t want us to make any kind of decision like that until we’ve been here a lot longer. Preferably the whole holiday. And I’m not saying I agree. But I’m prepared to think about it. Does that satisfy you for the moment?’

‘Yes, of course it does. I know it all sounds sudden and pretty out-there. I’m sorry, I know this is a lot to ask. Thanks for at least being prepared to look at the idea. I’m prepared to wait. And I know, maybe it’ll turn out to be a really bad idea. But do think about it.’

Two weeks later, they were still arguing, but Brad was starting to come around towards Megan’s position, not because she was trying to persuade him, but because of the way he had been feeling since they had arrived. Finally he said ‘Okay, let’s do it. I know, it’s crazy. But coming here was crazy too. But what about the business?’

‘Sell it.’

‘Sell it? Just like that?’

‘Yes. What does it mean to us, really? We built it up – we’ll always have that. Find a buyer who’ll keep the staff on and won’t just strip it for its assets. It’s a very successful business with plenty of goodwill. I know several companies that would jump at it.’

‘Okay. My crazy wife.’

Bev was happy. She promised she’d teach Brad and Megan the business, though she said it almost ran itself. ‘The food’s the important thing. Simple, plain, delicious and lots of it. Get that right and you’re home and hosed. I’ll stay on and teach you how, until you’re ready to take over by yourselves.’ Brad and Megan were happy, Sharon and Bruce were happy. ‘I had a feeling you’d like it here,’ said Sharon.

‘One more thing to do,’ said Megan. ‘Show me where this magic stone is.’

‘I’ll have to ask Johnno to do that,’ replied Sharon. ‘He knows where it is.’

‘So this is the magic stone?’ asked Megan. It stood there, tall, magnificent, lonely, in the centre of a forest clearing. It seemed to exude an aura of mystery. ‘I suppose it’s really ancient. Are there are a lot of legends about it among your people?’

‘Nah,’ replied Johnno. ‘It’s whitefella bullshit. Nothing to do with us at all. My mum told me about it. Back in the 1970’s a bunch of hippies came here and started a commune in the bush. They were there for maybe two years. They brought this stone in the back of a truck and plonked it there in the clearing. It came from a quarry. They used to sit around it and smoke stuff and commune with the Infinite. Magic powers? Don’t make me laugh. But don’t tell Bruce and Shazza. They think it’s something deep and significant and I don’t have the heart to tell them different.’

Megan smiled. ‘Your secret’s safe with me.’

And she took out her phone and punched in a number. A voice came through on the other end of the line.

‘Hello! Megan Parsons, of Parsons Productions, speaking. How can I help you?’

‘It’s me,’ said Megan. ‘I’m calling from Australia. You need to come here!’

 

END