Friday in Summer

‘Here’ didn’t look any different from other heres we had passed. ‘Why here?’ the Dodger asked, as if reading my mind. He sat on the fallen log next to me.

‘The trees will cover us. See the mark. That means they are McKenzie trees.’ I wondered what connection there could be between McKenzie and Aries. ‘Have a drink of water. That’ll revive you for the rest of the way.’ He walked towards me and offered the canteen that he swung from under his shirt. We kept eye-contact as he unscrewed the lid. I reached up to take the canteen from him, but the Dodger beat me to it. He gave Hamish a suspicious look and took a swig of the water. When he completely failed to fall over dead, he passed the canteen to me. I sat up and poured some water into my mouth.

Do you know, I have been accused of being very fussy when it comes to non-alcoholic beverages, but this drink was the best I had ever in the whole of my life tasted. It was sweet, but there was a taste of herbs as well. And it was cold, icy cold, even though it had obviously been next to Hamish’s skin. Hamish stopped me drinking way before I had had enough. He took a sip too, and put the cap back on. I eyed the canteen hungrily as he swung it back over his head and hid it under his shirt. He sat on the ground opposite me, and spoke: ‘Right. You can ask questions now.’

The Dodger was ready with the biggy: ‘Where are we?’

Hamish glanced at the Dodger, but then looked back at me to answer. ‘I said it before, in one sense we’re in the back yard of my house in Russell St. In another sense, we’re nowhere.’

Very satisfactory. I reminded him of a few pertinent points. ‘According to my senses, we are somewhere. And it is not in the Russell St where I live. How did we get here?’

‘Ok, so in that sense, we are in the Valley. It’s connected to the McKenzie Country, a land that my ancestor, James McKenzie, discovered in the 1800s.’ He glanced meaningfully at the Dodger, who ignored him, I noticed. ‘The Valley allows his descendants access. Other people can get in through those descendants. Jasper’s here because a lot of border collies have automatic access, and your connection to him must have got you in.’ He looked at me. ‘You are here because you belong to him, and Jonathan …’ The Dodger turned back, and Hamish looked him in the eye and fell silent. I looked from one to the other. Hamish continued, ‘Jon Douglass shouldn’t be here.’

The Dodger didn’t look as though he was going to ask, so I did. ‘Why not?’

‘Because he’s not real. He doesn’t exist in this story.’ I gasped at the cruelty of what he had said. The Dodger said nothing, but Hamish raised his voice, as he continued to speak to my friend. His voice held a tone I didn’t like. ‘It’s true, and you know it. Douglass was only a pseudonym. We have access because we are McKenzies. The gate closed when my grand-dad died, and it opened up here. Our place. You have no connection with the McKenzie Country. We had this out with your father last summer.’

‘Leave my father out of this.’ The Dodger spoke quietly.

‘Your father never came to the Valley. He raved on about saving the Land, but he never went in, because he had no right to be there. Here.’

‘I said, shut up about my father.’

‘You shouldn’t be here, you know. You got in through the dog.’ Jasper raised his head as if he were following the argument. He looked at the Dodger sitting beside him. ‘You came in to try to prove some point, but it doesn’t matter. You still don’t exist.’

I didn’t turn to look at the Dodger near me, but I could hear a note starting to inject itself as he began to speak. He was starting to get angry. ‘I didn’t ask to come. I tried to stop her. I was with her and the Gateway let me in. That’s what happened.’

Then all they did was glare at each other. Grey eyes blazing at blue. Interesting, I thought, but not vital to getting me back home. ‘How do we get home?’

Hamish was the first to recollect himself. He swivelled around to face me. The Dodger stood up and separated himself from us, leaning against a tree behind Hamish. ‘McKenzie Country has one entry and two exit gateways. The closest exit is at the tor. There’s a cairn. Once we are there, you have to focus on something in the Overland, where we normally live, that is not present here. Then walk past the left side of the rocks. That’s all. You won’t take anything from here with you.’

‘Where will we end up?’ I could just imagine myself butt-naked in the middle of town.

‘You’ll be back where you started. Your clothes’ll be there where you left them. And no time will have passed.’

‘But how is this possible? What’s the science?’

‘This isn’t science. It’s history.’

‘Oh good, time travel. No body back home is going to believe us. I was hoping it would turn out to be instantaneous interplanetary travel. It’s so much more believable.’ Sarcasm is my short suit.

Hamish lifted the corner of his mouth in amusement before continuing. ‘It’s history, but not our history. The way my father explained it, our genes, the McKenzie genes, resonate with another historical dimension. At some places in this McKenzie Country, the land opens to McKenzie ‘genes’. That’s how it starts. But then once you’ve been in, you can come back. The Valley recognises you, so you can come in.’

I thought about this strange idea, and a few problems arose. ‘Hold on, my dog has McKenzie genes?’

‘No, it’s not that scientific. It’s not actually genes. It’s a connection to the McKenzie story that has marked those who were linked with it. With the discovery of the McKenzie Country.’

Hamish was maintaining eye-contact with me, so he didn’t see the straight look the Dodger gave me. He didn’t seem about to say anything though. I understood then that there might be another interpretation of the way the mystery operated. I put the thought away as something I could ask him about later, but at the moment I was also silent. I had understood all the words Hamish had spoken, but there were just too many leaps of logic in what he had said.

‘It doesn’t really matter, Janice. I think you’re here by accident. The Valley allowed the dog in, and you just got pulled in after.’

Jasper whined. It was the first time he had made a noise since we had arrived here, so I was surprised when a strange voice spoke in my head. We have to get moving. Dark soon. Without any reflection I knew this was what Jasper’s whine meant.

‘Was that my dog?’

Hamish patted Jasper’s head and responded, ‘Yes, some of the more intelligent border collies can communicate here. I thought he’d do it.’ Without further ado, he led us off further into the trees.

‘What was that all about, Dodger? Did my dog just talk to us?’ My childhood friend did not look as surprised or as horrified as I hoped he would have.

‘There’s a lot more to it than Hamish says, Janice. My dad told me that the McKenzies had something he needed, but I thought my dad was …’ He stopped speaking. ‘I’ll have to think about it all, but I think the dog’s right. We should get moving. Oh and your robe is untied again.’

I snatched at the belt as we caught up with Hamish. The Dodger had seen more of me today than my mother had in years. I focussed on his misbehaviour, which successfully distracted me from the larger picture that included my dog talking in my head, my oldest friend keeping secrets, and unknown enemies in pursuit. My body helped with the distraction, whispering to me that there was soft leaf litter underfoot, and a sweet tree smell in the air.

None of us spoke as we walked through the dappled light of the forest. The lush smell was completely different to the dry oily smell of the Australian bush. It struck me that this could not possibly be Australia. This place had to be resonating with a land completely different to where I lived. Bringing up and eliminating other places kept me occupied until suddenly Jasper stopped. His ears twitched at something we could not hear. He whined. Others. Friend or foe?

Hamish motioned the Dodger and me off the faint track we had been following, into the vines behind a tree marked with the Aries sign. We could hear voices now too. How would we know if they were friends or foes, I wondered. Hamish and the dog continued on to meet the strangers.