Page 101 of The Pearl Sister
‘Hi, darl’. Good ta see you.’ Chrissie greeted me with a bright smile and dropped her rucksack on the other twin bed.
‘You’re cool bunking in with me, right? Keith said there weren’t any other rooms available.’
‘No problem, I’ve shared a room with my sister my whole life.’
‘Lucky you. I had to share with my two brothers.’ Chrissie laughed then wrinkled her nose. ‘It always stank of “boy”, y’know?’
‘I have five sisters, remember? Our corridor stank of perfume.’
‘That’s almost as bad,’ she said with a grin. ‘Here, I brought some snacks as well.’
She handed me a plastic box and I opened it to find square-shaped chocolate-covered cakes doused in coconut sprinkles. They smelt heavenly.
‘Go on,’ she urged. ‘They’re lamingtons, I made them myself. Have one for brekky, then we can go out and explore.’
With my mouth full of delicious cake, which tasted like a Victoria sponge with bells on, we went outside, where the late afternoon sun was overpowering, beating fire down onto the top of my head. From the map, it looked as if Alice Springs was easy to navigate, being so small. We walked down Todd Street, lined with one-storey art galleries, nail salons and cafés with chairs set out under the palm trees. We stopped for a drink and a bite to eat at one of them, and I noticed a huge dot painting hanging in the window of the gallery opposite.
‘Wow, look, Chrissie! It’s the Seven Sisters!’
‘They’re big around here,’ she said with a grin. ‘Better not mention you’re named after one of them, or you’ll get the locals coming to build a shrine around you!’
After reassurance from Chrissie, I tried my first plate of kangaroo meat, thinking that Tiggy would never forgive me if she ever found out. She’d had a real thing about ‘Baby Roo’ in theWinnie the Poohstories Pa used to read us, and it had been around that time she’d decided to become a vegetarian.
‘What do ya think of the ’roo?’ Chrissie nudged me.
‘It’s good, a bit like venison. Aren’t they an endangered species?’
‘Strewth, no, there’s thousands of ’em bouncing all over Australia.’
‘I’ve never seen one.’
‘You’re sure to see ’em around here, there’s loads in the Outback. So, have you had a chance to find out more about Albert Namatjira yet?’ Chrissie looked at me, her bright eyes expectant.
‘No, I only got here yesterday, remember. And I don’t really know where to start.’
‘Well, I’d reckon it’s a trip out to the Hermannsburg mission tomorrow. It’s some miles out of town, though, so we’ll have to drive.’
‘I don’t drive,’ I admitted.
‘I do, as long as it’s an automatic. If you have the dollars to hire the transport, I’ll be your chauffeur. Deal?’
‘Deal. Thanks, Chrissie,’ I said gratefully.
‘Y’know, if you are really related to Namatjira, they’lldefobe making a shrine to you round here, and I’ll help them! I can’t wait to see your stuff, Cee. You oughtta get yourself some canvas and brushes, have a go at painting the scenery round here, like Namatjira did.’
‘Maybe, but my artwork has been crap for the past six months.’
‘Get over yourself, Cee. No one gets into one of the top art colleges in London painting crap,’ retorted Chrissie, forking up the last of her kangaroo.
‘Well, the paintings I did at college were. The lecturers mucked with my head somehow. Now I’m not sure what I should be painting,’ I admitted.
‘I get it.’ Chrissie put a warm hand on mine. ‘Maybe you need ta know who you are before you find out what you want to paint.’
After our meal, Chrissie waved a tourist leaflet in my face.
‘How about we go up to Anzac Hill?’ she suggested. ‘It’s just a short hike, and it’s meant to have the best view of Alice Springs and the sunset.’
I didn’t tell her that I’d already had my fill of sunsets on this trip, but her energy was infectious, so we trooped out into the heat and began to scale the hill at an easy pace.
