Aaron turned the car into a quiet tree-lined street, tidy gardens on one side, and well-kept parklands taking up half of the other side. He pulled up outside the Gordon’s house. Aaron told the crew that his parent’s house was across the road—he would drop in and see Mum before he left. Mum’s lawn needed mowing. He wondered how she was coping without Dad.

Aaron stared at the familiar woven wire gate. It brought back fond memories of the past. He held the gate open and ushered them all through, closed the gate, and then led them up to the front door. Mackenzie had already opened the door and came bounding towards them. She jumped up and gave Aaron a hug, nearly knocking him of his feet. Aaron freed his head from Mackenzie’s headlock and looked at the smiling face of Churchie.

What a welcome, she’s just so glad to see us all. Aaron was touched by the welcome, but thought of Paul and felt guilty.

Mackenzie led them inside, through the house and into the backyard where they were greeted by a barking Jethro. Aaron took in the floodlit scene: Mackenzie’s dad manning the barbeque, her mum down the back of the garden inspecting her favourite shrubs with a man Aaron assumed was Joshua, flashes of Jethro as he sprinted along the fence line.

They all turned when Aaron and the motley crew made their entrance. Kathy and Joshua made their way up from the back of the yard. Aaron walked down the steps, over to Kathy, gave her a hug and turned to the man with her.

“You must be Joshua.” Aaron held out his hand. “I’m Aaron.” They shook hands. “Thanks for watching over Mackenzie for us.”

“No, you’ve got that wrong. She looked after me.”

Aaron’s eyes moved to the black botch under Joshua’s right eye. Not wanting to stare, he fixed his gaze elsewhere.

“Nope, that’s not true either,” Mackenzie said as she came up beside Joshua. “It was a team effort, helped along by things unseen.”

They headed back up the steps. Aaron smiled. “Let me introduce you to what I refer to as the motley crew.” Where was Mel? “I think you all know Churchie. Maybe you don’t, Joshua.”

Churchie walked over and shook Joshua’s hand.

“I hear you have a gift of seeing the unseen world?” said Joshua.

“A gift . . . maybe you’re right there, Joshua. It’s just taken me a while to realise that.”

“And this is Wally. He’s a quiet man but is a loyal friend to Churchie and Mel.” Wally gave everyone a wave and a smile. Aaron looked around—still no Mel. “Now, I need to find the last member of the motley crew.”

Aaron quickly ran up the steps and went inside. Mel stood beside a partially open lace-curtained window, staring into the backyard.

“Wotcha doing, Mel? You haven’t gone shy on me, have you?”

“No, Aaron.” He turned to Aaron, his eyes watery. “That’s my brother down there.”

“What do you mean, Mel . . . your brother?”

Mel let go of the lace curtain, which swayed gently with the breeze before settling back in place. “Aaron. My name isn’t Mel, it’s Scott Jones. Joshua and I got separated years ago and went our separate ways. I saw his picture in one of the articles covering the recent events. I wasn’t 100 per cent sure it was him but I thought it could be, and it is.”

Aaron walked over and put his hand on Mel’s shoulder. “Mel . . . Scott . . . what should I call you?” He said that with a smile. “Maybe we should get you two reacquainted.”

“Call me Mel. That’s who you know me as.”

Outdoor sounds filtered inside as Mackenzie parted the coloured plastic strips hanging on the back door.

“Everything okay?”

Aaron turned and looked at Mackenzie. “I think we’re just in for another surprise on this journey. I’m seeing quite clearly now that there’s no such thing as a coincidence.”

Mackenzie gave Aaron a puzzled look.

“You know Mel.”

“Of course I do.” She walked up and gave him a big hug. 

“Well, his name’s really Scott. And . . . your friend Joshua is his brother.”

Mackenzie gave Mel another squeeze. “Wow!”

The breeze had picked up and was now dispersing the smell of sizzling sausages. 

Aaron and Mel walked out together and found Joshua assisting James on the barbeque. Aaron tapped Joshua on the shoulder. He turned.

“I believe you know this man.” Aaron moved Mel forward.

Joshua stood there, speechless. He paused, moved his head slightly. “It’s not . . . it can’t be . . . Scott?”

They embraced.

Aaron sensed Joshua was overcome by the situation, so grabbed a chair and placed it near him. Joshua sat down and shook his head. He waved Mackenzie over and took her hand. “Mackenzie, this God of yours is amazing.”

“He’s your God too, Joshua.”

Aaron looked around and noticed everyone staring at the unfolding scene. “Sorry, everyone. I was going to introduce Mel to those that didn’t know him . . . but as it turns out, his name's not really Mel. It’s Scott, and this here is his long-lost brother, Joshua.”

Mackenzie’s mum placed her hand to her mouth. Wally and Churchie looked at each other. James, with a sausage in a set of tongs, said, “Let’s eat and celebrate this great surprise.”

On the patio, everyone sat on canvas director chairs. Aaron had already spilt some sauce from his sausage sandwich on his hooded sweater. Mackenzie stared at him with her eyebrows raised, and threw him a paper napkin. Aaron wiped the sauce and looked at the reunited brothers.

“So, Joshua, is Scott the reason you came to Brisbane?’ Aaron asked.

“Yep. Our mum is dying and she wanted to see Scott again. And I needed to get away because I’d been a naughty boy, not paying fines and things like that. But it’s all turned out good. We’ll head back to Melbourne as soon as we can.’

Mackenzie came over with a wet napkin and gave it to Aaron. He needed to do a better job on the sauce spill. Mackenzie looked over at the brothers.

“Joshua and Mel, if there is anything we can do to help, let us know. We can check out some flights for you later. We mean it; we want to help you both,” Mackenzie said.

After dessert, Mackenzie located some discounted airfares and had them on a flight back to Melbourne on Saturday morning. She also helped find the winery with a funny name.

<°)))><

A simple Google search located the winery, at least what they believed to be the one with the funny name. Sirromet Winery was located in the Mount Cotton area about forty minutes from the city, midway between Brisbane and the Gold Coast.

So the next day they hastened together a posse and went looking for the Rev. Aaron believed it might set off some triggers if they took Wally, Joshua and Mackenzie for a drive around the area. Mel and Churchie joined them. James lent them his Prado, as it gave them the required seating.

In twenty minutes they were out of city traffic and the suburban blocks were being replaced by large properties, some well hidden, their existence given away by long driveways. With the large properties came paddocks with horses and bags of horse manure for sale.

Aaron saw a white cross on the side of the road as he took the Prado around a slight bend. He thought of the cross at the business park, of the parents of the boys that lost their lives in the fire. He hadn’t forgotten his promise to himself that he would seek justice for the parents if it wasn’t an accident.

Aaron noticed Mackenzie turned to look back at the cross. “Aaron, could you pull over here? There’s something familiar about this place.” Mackenzie turned to Joshua. “Does this ring any bells with you, Joshua?”