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T he next two weeks flew past. If anyone asked Lucy to name her favorite day, she wouldn’t have been able to. Yuendumuhad a thriving community of artists, and Sebastian jokingly told everyone he and Jack would have to build a new wing on the house just to hold all the artworks Lucy bought.

Lucy thought she was spoiled rotten.

Grandfather treated her like a daughter.

The mob held a special ceremony where she was officially given her skin name of Nangala .

Much to her relief, no one mentioned getting her nose pierced or having her chest scarred.

The sisters and aunties painted her face and body and decorated her with shells and feathers for the ceremony.

Each day was filled with new wonders. She got Sebastian to take photographs of everyone and everything, and it was with a heavy heart that they finally drove to Alice Springs.

Lucy had cried when they left. She’d enjoyed meeting everyone and had grown close to a couple of Sebastian’s ‘sisters’ and it had been hard to wrench herself away from them.

Sebastian promised her they would return soon, and the sisters could come and stay with them anytime they wished.

The three newly-weds flew to Ulu?u-Kata Tju?a and spent four amazing days there. Lucy thought she was prepared for her first sight of Ulu?u, but she was so wrong. Nothing could have prepared her for the enormous size of it rising majestically over the flat red landscape.

It literally took her breath away.

Her voice held awe as she gasped softly, “This ... it’s... Oh, hell I can’t find the words to say what I feel.”

Sebastian smiled down at his wife and Jack touched her softly on the arm.

“If it helps, it did the same to me when I first saw it. It’s breathtaking, awe-inspiring. Makes you feel insignificant. Still makes me feel that way.”

“Yes, that’s it! On top of that, I feel like I’m in the presence of something so old, so pure. It’s ... it’s sacred.”

“Ulu?u was made during the Dreamtime,” Sebastian explained. “You can see the caves and shapes around, and in it, that represent our ancestral spirits. The local people hold ceremonies here to honor them.”

Lucy was happy to stand staring at the Rock, but Sebastian suggested they go with a guide to walk around it. She readily agreed and the three went off in search of someone to show them around.

It seemed as if Sebastian had relatives everywhere.

When he asked one of the local guides what his skin name was, it turned out that they were cousins.

The guide had move to the area with his family years ago.

From that moment on, the whole four days took on a magical quality.

Lucy felt she was in the middle of a dream.

“I can’t explain it, but this is so amazing!”

Lucy’s voice held wonder as she looked around.

In front of her, Ulu?u rose majestically.

Their guide, David, took them walking around the base of the Rock and told them Ulu?u was built up during the creation period by two boys who played in the mud after rain.

When they had finished their game, they traveled south to Wiputa.

“Are there areas around Ulu?u that hold a special significance to the locals, David?”

“Yes, Lucy. The traditional owners, the A?angu , who are often referred to as Pitjantjatjara, have sections that relate to traditional Tjurkurpa beliefs.”

“What’re they? The Tjurkurpa beliefs?”

“It’s the force that unites the A?angu with the land and themselves from the creation time.”

Lucy felt privileged to be there, and when David took them to see some aboriginal rock paintings, Lucy thought she’d cry at their beauty.

“These have been here for tens of thousands of years. The ancestors painted their stories here, as they still do. I guess you could say they are our blackboard, our lessons of knowledge.”

“Thank you so much for showing us. I ... it’s overwhelming. I feel so honored.”

David led them on the Minymaku , Women’s Walk, showing things like how women process bush foods, children’s games.

David took them to meet his family. Lucy and Jack were treated as if they, too, belonged. Sebastian explained that, because of the skin names, in a way, they were all related.

“I can’t believe the warmth of everyone, Seb.

It’s so wonderful. Being here is fantastic, but I think the welcome I’ve had is beyond anything I could ever imagine.

” Lucy knew she would never be able to explain the experience, but at the same time she knew it was something that would live with her forever.

Their final five days of the honeymoon were spent in Kakadu National Park where she demanded Sebastian take even more photographs.

Jack laughed at their ‘bossy little wife’ as she directed Sebastian, telling him what to take and where to stand.

Sebastian later told Jack that he loved the way she’d opened up to them and now felt confident enough to direct him outside the bedroom. Jack related this to Lucy who blushed but was secretly pleased.

Inside the bedroom, Lucy now opened up and no longer felt embarrassed or afraid to speak up. She was open to experimenting and not afraid to tell Sebastian and Jack when she liked something.

When they returned to Darwin for an overnight stay before flying home, Lucy was so sad.

Sebastian and Jack reassured her they’d return often.

Jack added, “Anyway, we’ll have to, Lucy, because Seb’s relations will have painted some new pieces for you to buy.”

She thumped him.

Much as she loved her time away, it was when they finally returned home that Lucy realized she was married and her men would never leave her, and she would always have her grandchildren in their lives.

They settled down to married life exactly the same as prior to the wedding.

Sebastian was just as dominant and Jack was still laughing as much as ever.