Chapter 8

Outside of Gurriwirriny's house Dave held both my arms and looked at me very seriously.

"I'm sorry Sookie, I should have told you the truth. We are indigenous Australians but the Kurrama are not like other people. What you have stumbled upon is not Gurriwirriny or should I say it is not the mind of Gurriwirriny." He explained.

Dave's hands were holding me tightly and my mouth was feeling dry. I looked around at their homes, none of the houses had gardens but the sides of the homes were decorated with colourful murals.

"Who is it? How is it that she is painting my home in Bon Temps?"

"Sookie, all I know at this time is that Gurriwirriny has made contact with our totemic ancestors. The dreaming allows us to have a strong connection with our uncreated creation spirits. Gurriwirriny has been very worried about Algy missing. We have received threats from the Bio Hinto Piliton to stop preventing them from mining our ancestral lands. It appears as though this morning Gurriwirriny has called upon the spirits to help her locate Algy. We should leave her in peace to complete the painting and when she is finished, we may understand more behind this mystery. I have been asked by some of the Kurrama women if you could join them this morning as they go and collect food for breakfast."

"It is very nice of Gurriwirriny to let me stay with her. I am very confused about how and why I am even here."

As I stood outside Gurriwirriny's house speaking to Dave, a group of Kurrama women had gathered holding long sticks, laughing and chatting with each other in their language, which seems as though they spoke very quickly. Jack came from across the street holding a wide-brimmed hat and a bottle of water.

At the same time as Jack passed me the water and hat, a young indigenous child grabbed hold of the bottom of my dress and gently pulled on it. Her face was lit up by a brilliant smile and it was clear that she was excited about the prospect of me joining them to gather food.

"It looks as though I am needed elsewhere" I said to Dave and gave the cute little girl a smile.

I held the girls hand and she took me over to the group of women. One of the women handed me a long stick, which I guessed they wanted me to use wherever we were going. The women seemed friendly and laughed amongst each other. I wasn't sure if they were talking about me or if they were just having a friendly conversation whatever the case may be they seemed genuinely pleased that I was joining them. The little girl held my hand tightly as we walked and she skipped along the dusty tracks.

Underneath the shade of a tree one the women sat on the ground. The women had gathered around an older woman who had started digging. As they were digging the women chatted and tried to show me what they were doing. I noticed a woven basket was placed beside the hole in the ground which now was getting down to dirt that was not so dry and dusty but moist. It must rain at some point in these parts. The women got excited when they found a bulbous root of a plant and pointed at it. Then the older woman held the plant root in her hand and poked at it with the long stick. When the stick was pulled out of the root a white and yellow grub came out with the stick. The grub was about the size of my thumb and I could only hope that this was not going to be breakfast.