hamburgers and chips, and Rebecca rejuvenated with a frothy chocolate-dusted cappuccino, they ventured out again onto the now sweltering main street of Bendoorin. Bec was amazed to see on her new iPhone that it was almost two o’clock. She and Larissa had lost themselves talking and laughing about the sex-toy party and who had ordered what. The boys, happy with the toys in the corner and soothed by the air-conditioning, had enjoyed the comings and goings of their other little mates, who had also been dragged in for the half-yearly dental check.
Bec, who was often tetchy about getting back to the farm as there was always so much to do, surrendered to her hangover and the heat of the day. Surely she could let Charlie sweat it out in the yards with the fellas and she could have an hour or two off for lunch once-in-a-Saturday-while?
She found herself outside the brand-new ‘guru’ shop admiring a lovely display of potted herbs, vibrant and strong despite the heat. Heaven is Here! proclaimed the sign on the awning. Pretty prayer flags strung underneath it spoke clearly of peace, and silver and bamboo wind chimes adorned the shopfront with colourful sounds.
The boys and Bec hovered, looking at the display of what Charlie would undoubtedly term ‘hippy shit’. Then the boys, holding the strong work-worn hands of their mother, plunged inside.
The smell of sandalwood, gentle light from many candles and drifting piano music engulfed Bec’s senses. Peaceful smiling statues of Buddhas, fat and thin, sat or stood in various places all over the shop. Silk lotus flowers floated in small fountains that tinkled silver water. Crystals of all shapes and sizes reflected light and gleamed in glass cabinets.
‘Wow!’ said Ben while Archie let go of his mother’s hand and stood, his little head tipped back, blue eyes wide, gazing about the shop.
‘This place is boooootiful!’ he said in awe.
‘It sure is,’ Bec said, feeling too coarse and too undone by her mood and attitude for this place. ‘Don’t touch anything!’ she warned the boys. The serenity of the shop was shattered by an outburst of yapping.
‘Jesus Christ!’ a woman’s voice yelled. ‘For god’s sake, Jesus Christ! Put a sock in it!’
Next thing a little Jack Russell came scampering towards the boys, wagging its entire body and flicking its tongue madly like a monitor lizard.
Out from behind a curtain stepped a woman who had striking white hair, plaited like a Native American’s and tied with elastics sporting summer daisies.
‘Jesus! That’s his name,’ she added as explanation. ‘I’m so sorry about the dog.’
Despite her white hair, her face was tanned and youthful-looking, even though from the look of her slim strong hands she was definitely old. Her eyes were stunningly green and seemed to see right into Bec. But it was her serene and generous smile that told her all. This woman was utterly alive. How long has it been since I put flowers in my hair? Bec wondered. This woman, whoever she was, looked so energised and above all free from troubles, apart from a crazy dog.
‘Can I help you with anything?’ the woman asked, scooping up the dog.
‘Gosh, where to start?’ Bec laughed quietly. ‘No, I’m fine. Thanks. Candy from the store said I should come and have a look.’
‘Ah, bless her. What about your little ones? Can I help them with anything?’ The woman stepped forwards and stood before the boys. ‘Hello, I’m Evie,’ she said to Ben and Archie, ‘and that little cretin you are patting is Jesus Christ. Annoying little mutt.’
Archie tilted his head to the side and looked up at her, clearly fascinated.
‘Here, pick a crystal that you’d like to put in your pocket,’ she said to the boys.
‘Really?’ Bec asked. ‘Are you sure …?’
The boys hesitated, blocked by their mother’s discomfort.
‘Go on,’ Evie said.
Archie reached out, his small fingers hovering over the counter that had crystals sorted into boxes, then he plucked out a perfectly rounded reddish-brown polished stone with mysterious swirls embedded within.
‘Ahh, good choice, my son,’ Evie said. ‘The carnelian. This little crystal will help you connect with your inner self and give you courage!’ She looked directly at Rebecca with those green eyes that could be crystals themselves. ‘It also has a reputation for rekindling intimacy within marriage,’ she said above the heads of the boys.
Rebecca’s eyes slid away. Her cheeks coloured.
Ben, who was normally the more forward of the two boys, reluctantly reached out for a black speckled crystal with blue hues and a dusting of white, like the Milky Way was somehow captured within.
‘And you, young man, you’ve chosen the sodalite. “The longest distance you will ever travel is the journey from your head to your heart.” This stone will clear confusion and give inner peace. It can help clear rifts and arguments. Now I know you don’t fight with your brother, but this stone has called you. Maybe to help others around you who are arguing?’ This time both the boys and Evie looked at Rebecca.
Ben looked back to the palm of his hand where the round polished stone lay. ‘But how do they work?’ he asked, clearly awed both by the stones and the strangeness of the woman.
‘Rocks contain energy. You’re from a farm, right?’
Ben nodded, eyes wide with curiosity.
‘Well, all that land you walk on and the mountains around you has an intelligence, an energy. A universal intelligence and energy. The same as what is in your body, my body, your mummy’s body. You with me?’
Ben nodded. ‘It’s life,’ he said.
‘And death and everything in between,’ Evie said. ‘Science has proven that everything in the universe is in a constant state of vibration. You know vibration?’
‘Yes,’ said Ben. ‘Like when Mum drives on the corrugated road and the things on the dash vibrate off onto the floor.’
‘Yes! Good boy! Well, even you hold a vibration. And crystals are the same. If you look at them under an electron microscope, you can see them actually vibrating. Unlike us humans, who waver between good and bad moods, being happy and sad, these crystals are stable and their vibration is steady. Because of this they can help us heal our unsteady vibration.’
Ben closed his hand over the crystal.
‘And now for you, Mum? A store-opening gift for you?’ Evie asked.
‘No, please, really … You have a living to make.’
The woman smiled gently at her. ‘You must allow people to give you gifts,’ she said.
Just as Bec felt compelled to select a crystal, her phone buzzed.
It was Charlie.
‘Excuse me,’ she said, pulling the phone from her battered old leather handbag, the one her mother had given her for Ag College graduation years back. She flicked the text onto the screen: Too hot here to work. The crew has knocked off early. They’ve gone to pub. I’m fixing ute.
