Tears of the Moon - Di Morrissey [138]
The memories of her mother had faded from the forefront of her mind these past two years, but impressions and senses and feelings of her were pressed into Maya’s essential being … on her skin, in her heart and in that special part of her soul.
She walked out of the water and sat on the sand, watching the very little children play close by while the women began setting up camp and searching for food. Maya examined her feet, now protected by a thick tough pad. So much walking. The clan had travelled over vast distances, following the seasons and traditional food gathering patterns that hadn’t changed for centuries. They camped while food and water were plentiful, moving on to the next site of robust growth, where the cycle was repeated.
Maya had developed a walking sense as she’d grown. Previously she’d playfully pattered along with the women until she felt weary and then sat on the ground until someone scooped her up and carried her. Now she was older, walking was a life experience. The elders showed her things, the women pointed out animal tracks and edible plants. Other times in her head Maya imagined she was a bird or an emu or even a big fish and she swayed and danced along as she walked, imitating the animal’s movements. Sometimes strange images and memories came to her and she let them drift through and out of her mind without curiosity or fear.
The women watched her with pride. She had grown into a beautiful girl, her svelte frame strong and healthy, and her skin, fairer than the rest of them, had tanned to a deep gold. Her long dark hair fell straight down her back with streaks of auburn gold glinting through it.
Maya loved and accepted this tribal family life, but sometimes she felt different to the others. She let a handful of sand dribble through her fingers. Opening her hand she closely studied the remaining grains clinging to her fingertips. Each one was different. Not quite the same size or shape. She blew on them gently and they fell back on to the beach to be indistinguishable from all the other grains of sand. Maya tilted her head. This meant something she thought, but couldn’t decide what. She jumped up and ran to play with the little ones who were digging a hole with large shells.
Soon after camp was made on a creek behind the dunes, a group of women and children, including Maya, set out to get ‘white fella tucker’. It had become their custom over the years to visit the nearby mission where the friendly Brother gave them sugar and flour. There was a ritual attached to these visits. They had to sit and listen to him talk about ‘God’ before getting the rations. In their eyes he was an unusual and likeable man, quite different from most of the pearlers, stockmen and policemen who crossed their paths. Brother Frederick had learned the rudiments of their language, enough to make his stories about ‘God’ understood. He helped heal their ailments and gave the elders advice, when they sought it, on dealing with the law of the white man, which they found violent and confusing.
The women and children trailed into the sprawling mission, shouting greetings to resident Aborigines, some of whom were relatives who spoke the white man’s language, even sang songs in the language and went to a sacred place, the big white building where the Brother talked to ‘God’.
There was a lot of talk and laughter as the visitors and mission blacks settled in the shade of spreading mango trees to exchange gossip. Soon Brother Frederick appeared in the doorway of the white church. Waving both arms in exuberant welcome, he strode briskly across the sward of grass shouting more greetings in their language and reaching out for the hands of a swarm of children who ran to him, giggling and jostling.
He sat among them in the shade and methodically acknowledged each woman in the group, needing little help in remembering names and family connections. When he came to Maya, he paused and thought for a few seconds. ‘Now who have we here?’ he asked. After Maya was introduced to him, he asked for her mother and looked