Mackenzie heard a car and turned to see a car drive past the Fitzpatrick’s house. She turned to Mum. “Have you seen any sign of Aaron?”

“Saw him briefly yesterday. He dropped in and said a quick hello. He’s attending a training course or something, and every break he gets he’s off fishing . . . probably doing the same today.”

“Did he ask about me?” Mackenzie was annoyed with herself. She should have kept that question to herself. Now Mum was going to worry about her and Aaron getting hitched and God being left out of the equation. Not that Mum didn’t like Aaron. It was just the unequally yoked thing. But Mum needn’t fear. She knew Mackenzie loved Paul. They had discussed it many times and Mackenzie was in agreement about the unequally yoked thing—she wanted her partner to be pulling in the same direction and not a worldly direction. Everybody was praying for Aaron. He was practically part of the family. But he was still lost.

“Of course he asked about you . . . why wouldn’t he? You’re his best mate.”

They reached the kitchen. Mackenzie stared at the size of the cheesecake. “You’re wicked, Mum. But good timing . . . I haven’t been for my morning run. So I can eat and run it off later.”

Mum smiled. “You’re looking well. That man of yours must be looking after you.” They’d been going out for over six months, and friends and family had been teasing them about weddings bells in the future.

“He is,” replied Mackenzie.

Mackenzie watched Mum put the kettle on, then walked out to the lounge room which looked on to the street. She stood there staring out on to the street.

Mackenzie sensed her mum’s presence.

“Deep in thought, love?”

“Always, Mum.”

They both stood looking out at the Fitzpatrick's front yard. Mackenzie saw the biker man walking past again. She didn’t say anything to Mum, but tried to convince herself that he was on his way back from the shops. The man crossed the road and headed towards the white car.

“What’s with the government car, Mum? Is Jill okay?”

“Jill’s doing fine, love. That’s just one of her friends from church. He’s a government minister.”

They headed back to the kitchen. Mackenzie sat down on one of the kitchen stools.

“You mentioned on the phone that you’re tired from work. Are they working you too hard?” Mum asked as she poured water into the cups.

“No, work’s fine, Mum. It’s just the atmosphere. One of the girls died in an accident, so it’s a bit grim. She wasn’t a Christian. There are so many people who don’t believe. Most of us at work went to the funeral. You know, Mum, I still get a bit confused about things.”

“You will ’til the day you die, love.” Mum pushed Mackenzie’s cup towards her.

“That’s depressing, but I know what you mean.”

Her mum sat down on a stool next to Mackenzie. “Some people believe there are different paths to God. And, as you know, there are some who don’t believe at all. We’ve been blessed with both you and your sister, for when God’s spirit stirred in your hearts, you both responded.”

Mackenzie nodded.

“I suppose, love, the environment has a lot to do with it. It gives you an advantage in your choice. If you’re exposed to God’s love, you lean towards him. If you’re exposed to the way of the world, you lean towards the world.”

Mackenzie always believed her mum was a wise person, so she listened.

“I do think being baptised as a child, as the Catholics and some Christian denominations do, may present a problem in that you may grow up thinking you’re a ‘Catholic’ or ‘Christian’ but you have no relationship at all with God. You know he’s there, but at a distance. I think many Catholics, and Christians too, think good people go to heaven and truly evil people don’t. But what’s a good person?”

“That’s the tricky question . . . ‘for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God’.”

Kathy smiled.

Jethro barked a few times.

“Sounds like Jethro would like some company. Let’s go sit outside,” Mum said.

Mackenzie listened to Jethro and thought about the invisible things dogs see. At least, she hoped it was something invisible. As Mum searched the cupboards for a serving tray, Mackenzie walked out to the lounge room and looked out the window. Jethro must have been barking at the man walking out of Jill’s house. He definitely looked like a politician. He got in the car.

The driver’s seat window came down. Biker man looked over at Mackenzie. There was something in that look, like there was unfinished business. Did she know this man?

<°)))><

The backyard had timber fences on all three sides, with a laneway behind the fence at the end of the yard. A number of native plants, all attractive to the local bird life, screened the end timber fence. Daylight filtered through gaps in the fence palings. Mackenzie didn’t like the end of the yard. When she was young, she didn’t like being in the backyard by herself. She would often think there was someone watching, that they could see her but she couldn’t see them.

Mackenzie and Mum went into the backyard and sat down at the small table hidden in a shaded pocket of the yard. The cheesecake sat on a serving tray with their cups of tea. Mackenzie wrapped her hands around her cup and took a sip. She could hear Jethro running up and down his side of the fence, puffing, pausing and peering through the small gaps. Mum nodded towards the fence on the other side of the yard. A family of Blue Wrens were hopping along the top of the fence—they’d been doing that for years. Mackenzie could remember them from her childhood.

“Jill now has a dog, a gift from her church friends,” Mum said. “It’s a Golden Retriever. She told me they’re the most sociable and least aggressive dogs. She loves it and takes it for regular walks.”

“Aaron will be excited with the new family member.” Mackenzie smiled as she continued to watch the wrens. “It’s funny, Mum, how Aaron’s so much into nature, yet he can’t see God. He gets so excited if he sees a dolphin pass by while fishing or an eagle flying above. He would always tell me about these things.”

“It is, love. A veil covers their eyes, the heavens declare the glory of God, the skies proclaim the work of his hands. We’ll keep praying that one day the veil will be lifted.” Kathy paused. They both watched as the wrens decided it was bath time and took turns diving into the birdbath. She turned to look at Mackenzie.

“How did the funeral go?”

Mackenzie thought about the girl from work. Mackenzie hadn’t been close to Judy and had only ever had a few conversations with her. She sensed the girl was always on edge and seemed to want to impress everyone she met. Her language was colourful—she was always cursing the Lord and using other profanities, and not just to express intense emotions. It felt like Judy was looking for something and Mackenzie knew that His hand was outstretched, but like so many, Judy had pushed it away.

“So different to Aaron’s dad’s funeral . . . I found this funeral a bit flat.” 

“Was she a believer?” Mum asked as she placed a piece of cheesecake in front of Mackenzie.

“Don’t think so. She knew I went to church, but like most of the people I work with, she had no interest in what they refer to as ‘religious’ things. I had a conversation with her recently and she told me she was seeing a clairvoyant. I asked her why and she said she wanted to know what the future held for her. She said the clairvoyant told her some amazing things, so she had no doubt the clairvoyant was genuine.”

Her mum shook her head. “Frightening stuff, hey? Probably a number of demons, masquerading as angels of light, working with the clairvoyant—faking the voice or image of a dead person. I wonder if they told her she was going to die soon?”

Mackenzie continued. “It’s so hard . . . you want to help these people. They either believe in heaven or nothing and that includes no belief in hell. Then they think we’re crazy because we believe in hell.” Mackenzie grabbed a fork and dug it into the cheesecake. “I sat in the funeral service thinking about it. I watched people that I work with who I know haven’t got the slightest interest or belief in God or church, yet they stand up there and read God’s word.”

A hmmm came out of Mum. “Funerals are funny things. The funeral’s more for the comfort of the family than the deceased.”

“It must be hard for pastors to conduct a funeral for an unbeliever.”

A fly had decided to inspect the food. Mum shooed it away. “How do we know if a person’s an unbeliever, love? You just don’t know the kind of plea for mercy that girl may have prayed out in the nanosecond before her death.”

“That’s true.”

“I was reading an article recently. It impressed me so much, I cut it out of the paper.”

Mackenzie watched as Mum pulled something out of her mobile phone wallet. She unfolded a sheet of paper and put on her glasses.

“The article said what I often thought about funerals but haven’t been able to put into words. It’s from a retiring Anglican Archbishop. It speaks about the cost of individualism, and the shift to self-love, and the consequences this had for the quality of our community, family life and how we treat death. He mentions a famous song called I Did It My Way. Have you ever heard that song?”