by Steve Hawke
‘For you, you silly bugger! Would you like to live here on our block?’
A big grin slowly breaks over Tom’s face. He actually jumps in the air and clicks his heels together. Andy and the boys collapse with laughter.
One morning after Flick and Graham drop her off, Sal says that her parents want to talk to them all that night and, no, she hasn’t got any idea why, she’s hardly seen them the last couple of days.
Graham deposits an esky when they arrive at Jirroo Corner that evening.
‘What’s going on Dad?’ Sal asks.
‘Just wait my girl.’ Graham is clearly bursting with some piece of news.
Once the whole clan is gathered around the backyard table, he starts. ‘Ladies and gentlemen.’ Flick rolls her eyes. ‘Friends. This is certainly the most interesting holiday my little family has ever had and, after a slightly shaky start, absolutely the most enjoyable.
‘I am merely a banker as you know. Very lucrative, lots of travel. All that sort of stuff. However, I’ve always had a certain yen, you might call it, to do something for myself, rather than for the directors and the shareholders.’
Flick cuts across his speech. ‘Oh just get on with it will you.’
Graham grins hugely. ‘I’ve set up a syndicate with a couple of investor friends from Perth. Ladies and gentlemen, you are looking at the new owner of the Bay View Hotel. Well, one third owner to be precise. And chairman of the syndicate.’
Jaws drop around the table. Sal squeals and leaps into Graham’s arms.
Felicity delves into the esky and pulls out a stack of plastic glasses and two bottles of champagne, which she deposits on the table. ‘Bubbly anyone? There’s pizzas and fish and chips and God knows what else in the car. I think Graham went over the top. Tonight’s on us.’
The corks are popped and everyone takes a glass and drinks a toast, though Andy sticks to his lemonade. The evening rolls into the night, with Graham boasting shamelessly about his brilliant negotiating skills putting the deal together. ‘Big Al was muttering something about the Andaman Islands the last time I saw him,’ he laughs. ‘Apparently his cruiser weighed anchor at first light this morning, and was last seen heading north-west.’
Towards the end of the night, when the guitars have come out, Graham looks over at Ally. ‘I’ve had my eye on you this week Ally Jirroo. And your daughter here has told Flick and I all the stories about what an efficient manager you are for the Dreamers.
‘We’re flying up a stand-in manager for the Bay View. He’s arriving tomorrow. But we’re going to have to either advertise, or train someone up. Any chance you’d be interested in the position?’
Ally only takes about five seconds to recover from her shock. ‘You bet I would.’
‘Good. Consider yourself hired. We’re flying back to Perth in three days. I believe Janey’s on the same plane. Now I was thinking that the best way to let everybody in Broome know that the place is under new management would be to have a concert out there in the garden bar. You know, a few speeches and that sort of thing, but basically just a concert, so everyone can have a good time.
‘It would be really nice if we could do it before we fly out, which means it would have to be the day after tomorrow. I’ve got no idea where you could get bands at such short notice, but do you think you could organise something like that in two days? As your first job, so to speak?’
Ally grins at him. ‘I’ll do my best.’
UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT, reads the banner hanging over the Bay View’s entrance as the crowds pour in.
It is just as it used to be, except Ally has had to organise an extra touch at the last minute. She has got Gus to set up the big tarpaulin over the platform as a precaution. Out over Roebuck Bay lightning is flickering in the distance, and storm clouds are forming. No-one can remember rain coming this late in the year before, but everyone is hoping, whether it wrecks the concert or not.
Graham comes up and takes the microphone. No-one takes too much notice of his speech because they all know the news already, but they whistle and cheer anyway. They go wild though when he introduces the first act of the night. ‘Ladies and gentlemen … the Barefoot Kids!’
The five of them file on. Janey takes centre stage, Bella’s pendant glinting on her chest. She looks up at the balcony from which Big Al used to oversee proceedings. There, all in a row, leaning on the railing, are the four brothers in their Dreamers outfits, then Mary and Ally, Micky, Bella, Buster and Teoh Tom, and Sal and Flick, who puts an arm around Graham’s waist as he bounds up to join them.
Janey nods at Jimmy, and away they go.
There are some arguments afterwards about whether or not it was better than their performance at the town oval concert. Less passionate perhaps. More joyous certainly. They do Jimmy’s Jiir song as their finale. As they end the final verse there is a big flash of lightning and a crash of thunder.
Everyone has come down from the balcony. As the rest of the kids do their bows and the crowd cheers, Janey and Little Joe have a hurried conversation.
Janey returns to the microphone and holds her hands up for quiet. The tears are running down her face as she speaks. ‘Listen folks. We don’t know how much longer this is going to last — it’s a bit dicey playing in the rain. But I’d like to introduce the Dreamers.
‘You’ve all heard them before, but you haven’t heard this song. Neither have I — I only just found out about it now. My uncle, Little Joe Jirroo, wrote this after him and Buster were up at Garnet Bay for a while. He just asked me to say for any of you who don’t know, ngaba means water. Rain. Life.
‘Everybody, please welcome the Dreamers.’
Little Joe stills the crowd this time. The four brothers stand stock still.
Buster steps out from behind a stack of speakers. He is shirtless. His torso is painted and he holds a boomerang in each hand. Slowly he brings them together. Tuk. The boomerangs start to tap an insistent beat.
Little Joe plays a lilting melody in counterpoint to the boomerangs. He leans into the microphone and begins the song in his husky voice.
Hot weather’s here, it’s the time of the year when the heat waves are starting to dance.
Mercury rising, millibars falling, no time for a shaky romance
Sweat on the foreheads of babies, drifting in dreamland
While into the pindan those old men are dancing a raindance
The brothers join in to harmonise on the chorus, which is a soft, elongated, repeated chant of the single word.
Ngaba, ngaba, ngaba, ngaba …
The rhythm, bass and drums kick in as, to the accompaniment of another thunder clap, Little Joe begins the second verse.
Anticipation, ganada waving goodbye to hot hungry days
Pressure down in King Sound, drifting across Roebuck Bay
See the lightning bolt, hear the thunder roll, she’s acoming
While into the pindan those children are dancing a raindance
The first, heavy drops fall on the crowd as Little Joe waves the kids up onto the stage. Sal scurries up with them. Little Joe points at Graham and Flick, and they head up too. The brothers chant the chorus again, stronger, more insistent now.
Ngaba, ngaba
Ngaba, ngaba
Willy willy, going silly, only the rainman can see
That eastern horizon bringing that ngaba to me
Janey joins Little Joe at the central microphone and leans in to sing with him on the chorus.
Ngaba, ngaba
Saturation, ganada waving goodbye to hot hungry days
Old dogs and children dancing those heat blues away
Now the rain is pelting down, drenching the delirious audience. They are all up there, every one of the Jirroos and Pearsons, with Eddie’s rhythm guitar driving relentlessly. They are all shouting it out at the tops of their voices in a triumphant roar, and the audience is with them. Dancer and Buster are stomping away in a dance, laughing at each other.
Ngaba, ngaba
Little Joe starts calling, in between each repetition of the line, ‘We’re raindancing!’
Ngaba, ngaba
‘We’re raindancing!’
Ngaba, ngaba
Over and over, on and on it goes, with the rain pouring down and the thunder roaring, until at last Little Joe looks over at Buster. The repetitions grow softer. Buster weaves to the rhythm at the front of the stage. Behind him the kids line up, still singing, arm in arm. And behind them, the rest of the Jirroos and the Pearsons.
The instruments are silent now. It is just the voices, singing
Ngaba, ngaba
Buster brings his boomerangs together, and starts a rattle that gets slower and slower.
Tuk, tuk, tuk … tuk … tuk … tuk … tuk …… tuk.
There is one final tuk.
Then only the sound of the rain.
Glossary
The Aboriginal words used in the book come from a number of different languages, including Yawuru, which is the language of the people from the country around Broome, other languages of the Dampier Peninsula, and Bunuba, which is spoken by people in and around Fitzroy Crossing. These languages use different spelling systems. The spelling system used here is the one used for Yawuru, even though they are not all Yawuru words.
Pronunciation guide:
‘a’ like the ‘u’ in but
‘ai’ like ‘y’ in my
‘i’ like the ‘i’ in pit
‘iir’ like ‘irr’ in the first part of mirror
‘rr’ is rolled like the Scottish ‘r’
‘u’ like the ‘u’ in put, or the ‘oo’ in foot
bani
goanna
birrga birrga
small shellfish in cockle shells
caba caba
corroboree dance
ganada
small lizard also known as the ‘ta-ta lizard’; when it stops running one foreleg stays off the ground, circling in a waving motion
gardia
white people; a term used by Aboriginal people throughout the Kimberley
gilgai
waterhole
gunbun
a witch or female spirit that lives in the mangroves
jarramba
cherrabun; a large freshwater prawn of the northern rivers
jiir
sea eagle
magabala
bush tucker; a fruit that grows on vines
mimi
granny
manburr
ghost crab
ngaba
water
nimanburr
fruit bat
nyami
grandpa
purri purri
cursed
unggurr
spirit child; also the place a spirit child comes from
The Jirroos
The Music
Three of the songs in this book were written by members of the Pigram clan and their musical friends and associates:
The lyrics for ‘Bullfrog Hole’ were written by David and Colin Pigram.
The lyrics for ‘Dreaming In Broome’ were written by Alan, Alana and Lloyd Pigram, Candice and Phillip Sibisado, and Kaleb Bin Sali.
The lyrics for ‘Raindancing’ were written by Stephen Pigram.
The permission of the writers and Pigram Music to use these lyrics is gratefully acknowledged.
‘Bullfrog Hole’ and ‘Raindancing’ can be heard on the Pigram Brothers album Saltwater Country. ‘Dreaming In Broome’ is on the Little Piggies’ self titled album.
For more about the Pigrams’ music go to: www.pigrambrothers.com.au
Acknowledgements
Thanks above all to Alan and Stephen Pigram.
The Barefoot Kids story was originally imagined as a television series that I developed with the brothers Alan and Stephen Pigram, and another friend, Ken Kelso. They all played a huge role in helping me to create the ideas, the characters and the stories. In this form as a novel, the responsibility is all mine, but much of the original credit goes to them.
Barefoot Kids is not a novel about the Pigram family, but it is inspired by their music and their stories. I have known Alan and Stephen Pigram for many years, and have listened to their music since the 1970s.
Thanks also to Helene Jedwab and Janet Blagg for their input and assistance in different ways at different times. Susan Edgar and the Kimberley Interpreting Service kindly assisted with the glossary.
This is Steve Hawke’s first book for younger readers. He has previously written history, biography, plays and scripts. After growing up in Melbourne, he took off while still a teenager for the north of Australia, and finished up in the Kimberley. He lived there for almost fifteen years, falling in love with the country, the people and the stories.
First published 2007 by
FREMANTLE PRESS
25 Quarry Street, Fremantle WA 6160
(PO Box 158, North Fremantle WA 6159)
www.fremantlepress.com.au
Published as an ebook in 2018.
Copyright © Steve Hawke, 2007.
This book is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission.
Enquiries should be made to the publisher.
Consultant Editor Janet Blagg
Cover Designer Tracey Gibbs
Photograph of face on front cover courtesy of Frances Andrijich.
Barefoot Kids. ISBN 9781925591606 (epub).
Publication of this title was assisted by the Commonwealth Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body.
Fremantle Press is supported by the State Government through the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries.