by Annie Seaton
It was just a bloody shame he’d left home the way he had.
Enough.
Roger put a hand on Jack’s shoulder. ‘Come on, boys. Let’s go find this spring. We’re not going to impress the local ladies covered in dust. And the odd bit of cow shit.’ He brushed at his shirt. ‘I was leaning against a bag of it.’ He turned to the third man who’d got off the truck. ‘You’re as quiet as Jack here.’
‘Checking out the talent,’ Charlie said. ‘But you know what? I think we’ve wasted the trip. We’ve come a long way for nothing.’
‘Nothing? Look at that beaut view,’ Jack said. ‘Beats looking at the dry and dusty airfield.’ He’d been sent down from Port Moresby to assist with the development of the Flying Boat Maintenance Unit. The base at Moresby was becoming untenable and the plan was to relocate the maintenance unit to Bowen, out of range of the Japanese bombers. Jack had jumped at the chance to come down to Cannon Valley for a break before he went back to Port Moresby. Roger and Charlie had invited him to spend his leave with them on the promise of a trip out to the Whitsunday Islands.
‘The talk on the unit is that a squadron might be based here eventually. Word is that you’re getting a lot of attention from the Japs up there now.’
‘Yeah. We lost a Catalina a couple of weeks ago. We’ve had to leave the barracks a couple of times to avoid the air raids. I’d be happy to come back to the mainland.’ Jack nodded and stared out over the water. It was a relief to be away from the constant tension of Port Moresby.
‘I noticed some bullet holes in your Cat,’ Roger commented.
‘Yeah, they didn’t tell us we’d be plugging bullet holes on the way back home when they trained us at Rathmines.’ Jack’s laugh held no mirth. He stepped away from them and perused the crowd as the park filled up. ‘We’ll have to find out if we can get a boat across to one of the islands this afternoon.’ An assortment of trucks and cars were lined up at the edge of the grass, and there seemed to be more children spilling out of them than adults.
His eyes lingered as he spotted a tall girl walking towards the rocks with a couple of small boys, and another girl tagging behind them. She was slim and her shoulders were held straight. Long, lithe tanned legs were exposed by her thigh-length shorts and the sun glinted off her reddish-gold hair.
‘Come on, let’s find this spring and get cleaned up.’ He grabbed his bag and hitched it to his shoulder.
The spring was at the end of the first bank of mangroves and, to their surprise, it had been piped to a tap. They waited as a couple of men in front of them filled kerosene tins before carting them along the beach to where the picnic was being set up. Jack cupped his hand beneath the cold crystal-clear water and drank before ducking his head beneath the tap. He ran his hands through his hair and pulled a small comb from his back pocket and flicked his hair back. As he waited for the other two to clean up, he stood and looked out at the water. It was so blue and bright, it almost hurt his eyes. In the distance, islands dotted the horizon. As he looked out at the view, he smiled. The tall girl with the children walked around the shore, peering into the rock pools. And she was as pretty as he’d hoped.
CHAPTER
9
December 26, 1941
Cannon Valley Beach
As the tide ebbed and the afternoon faded away, coral fangs of reef appeared. At Cannon Valley Beach, great masses of oysters clung to the salt-streaked rocks exposed by the low tide. Several men stood in a circle around the small bay, shucking them as soon as they were prised from the rocks. A constant stream of children ran the shucked oysters back to the large table in the middle of the grassy area beside the beach.
Lily wandered around the rock pools in the lagoon with Katarina, Tatiana and the twins. Mama was busy over at the food tent and Dad was stoking the fires in the huge drums that would cook the chickens and vegetables for the baked dinner later. The pools were fascinating, and she bent over and pointed out the fish to the children as the small creatures darted among the coral flowers. They reflected the sunlight, some silver and golden, some of the tiny ones, myriad colours.
‘Oh, Lil, look at the little blue oneth.’ Katarina’s lisp was pronounced when she was excited, and Lily grabbed for her as the small girl leaned too far and flailed her arms. A whoosh of air brushed her arm as someone shot past her and grabbed the back of Katarina’s shorts before she overbalanced into the water.
‘Gotcha!’ The voice was deep, and the man chuckled as he pulled Katarina to safety. ‘That was close.’
Lily took her sister’s hand.
‘Thank you.’ She smiled at the unfamiliar young man as he balanced on the large flat rock at the edge of the pool.
‘No problem.’
‘I can thwim,’ Katarina protested.
‘I know you can,’ Lily replied. ‘But Uncle Joe and his boys haven’t got the dinghies out there yet.’
‘Do they act as lifeguards?’ the man asked curiously as Lily stared at him. ‘I’m sorry. I’m Jack Rickard.’
His dark brown eyes were friendly and full of warmth as he smiled at her. Lily held out her hand.
‘Welcome, Jack. I’m Liliana Ellis and these are my sisters and brothers, Tatiana, Katarina, and that’s Billy and Robbie.’
Robbie looked up at him earnestly and Billy scowled at his big sister.
‘If you want to talk to Billy, you know you have to call him “Goat” or he won’t answer,’ Robbie said. ‘You know that, Lil.’
‘Got it,’ said Jack. ‘It’s a nickname, is it? Hello, Goat. Nice to meet you. How old are you?’ He held out a hand to Billy who shook it earnestly.
‘We’re twins and we’re seven and a half.’ Billy scampered away to the next rock pool, followed by Robbie and Katarina, soon losing interest in a new grown-up.
Tatiana stayed by Lily’s side. ‘Look, Lil, there go the dinghies now. We can go for a swim soon.’
Four long wooden boats, each with a man rowing in the centre, pushed out from the shore. A teenage boy was perched at the front end of each boat, each boy holding a long-handled net. As they watched, there was a whoop and one of the boys dipped his net into the water and scooped something into the boat.
‘What are they doing? Fishing?’ Jack addressed his question to Lily, and her sister rolled her eyes and jumped over the small rock pools to follow her brothers and sister.
‘Clearing the bay so we can swim. We had to wait for the bottom of the tide.’
‘Clearing it?’ Jack watched as the net was lifted triumphantly for a second time.
‘Box jellyfish. Once they’ve cleared the bay at the bottom of the tide, the boys sit out there in their boats and scoop in the ones that come in with the flood tide.’
‘Do they sting?’ Jack asked.
‘Yes, they do.’ Lily waited for his reaction as she spoke slowly. ‘You’ll actually die if you get stung. Or you probably will. No one’s ever survived a sting that I’ve heard of.’
‘Really? They can kill you? I didn’t know that.’ Jack shook his head. ‘And the adults let the kids get in the water?’
‘You’re not from around here then?’
‘No, I’m in the air force, but I’m from New South Wales. Down in the Hunter Valley.’ His eyes were wide and Lily smiled at him again.
‘Ah, so you’re not even a Queenslander? No wonder you didn’t know.’ She beckoned him to follow her as she spied the children heading back to the beach. ‘Have a look at the jellyfish when the boats come in. The rowers change over every hour or so, but between them, the local fishermen will keep a watch out until the tide changes. But don’t touch them. Even the tentacles are deadly.’
‘Incredible.’ Jack shook his head. ‘Have you lived here long? You seem to know a lot about the place.’
‘I do. I’ve lived here all my life. Apart from going away to school, that is. Come for a walk and chat to me. I promised Mama I’d keep an eye on the kids when they were on the rocks. Once they get back to the grass near the beach, they’ll be fin
e. The twins— especially Billy—’
‘Goat,’ Jack said with a smile.
‘Yes, especially Goat, will disappear on a search for buried treasure or some adventure if I don’t watch them. Kat! Goat and Robbie. Come on, over here.’ Liliana pointed to the grassed area behind the strip of sand as she called them. Jack followed them over and waited until they were all on the grass. Tatiana followed them back. The children scampered off to their friends where a game of Red Rover was in full swing.
‘Wait here.’ Jack left them for a moment and came back with a blanket. He shook it and spread it in the shade beneath the huge Poinciana tree. ‘A seat for you, my lady.’
Lily laughed and sat down.
Tatiana put her hands on her hips and cleared her throat.
Jack looked away from Lily with a smile. ‘My apologies, a seat for you, my ladies.’
He sat down across from them and leaned back against the tree. ‘So tell me, where do you—both—live?’ He shot a smile at Tat, and Lily smiled when her sister blushed.
He really was thoughtful, and good-looking.
‘We live on a farm on Whitsunday Island,’ Tatiana butted in before Lily could reply.
‘What sort of farm? And which island is Whitsunday Island? Tell me all about it.’
As Tat chattered on, telling Jack all about the sawmill, the pineapple plantation, and the goats, he kept his eyes on Lily. After a while, she began to feel self-conscious and turned away from his steady gaze to watch the children playing.
Tatiana kept the best for last. ‘And now we have our own resort.’
‘Resort?’ he asked with a smile.
Lily turned back to him. ‘Our parents built some palm huts along the bay a couple of years back after Hayman and South Molle islands started up their resorts. Mama cooks the meals, and Dad takes the tourists out fishing in between looking after everything else.’
‘It must be busy over there,’ he said.
‘It is. But we all have our own jobs.’ Lily picked at the fringe of the picnic rug. They were probably boring him with the mundane details of their lives.
‘Are you a tourist too?’ Tat asked.
‘Tat, don’t be rude,’ Lily reprimanded. ‘Jack is in the air force.’
‘How was I supposed to know that? He hasn’t got a uniform on.’ Tat pulled a face as she turned to face Jack. ‘I just was going to ask where you were staying. You could come to our island.’
At fourteen, Tat was obviously smitten. Liliana very much felt the grown-up, wise older sister. ‘Perhaps.’
‘That would be great. I haven’t got anywhere to stay yet. We were going to ask around here today,’ Jack said. ‘And also, do you know if we can get back to Bowen by boat?’
‘Yes. You can.’ Tatiana was almost jumping with excitement and Lily frowned at her. ‘The morning steamer comes by our jetty to drop off the mail and picks up guests before it goes back to Bowen.’
‘Great, we’ll look into that.’ Jack was well-spoken and Lily wondered how old he was.
‘Who’s we?’ she asked.
‘I’m with two other men from the airfield.’
‘The one at Bowen? Why are you there?’ Lily sat up straight. She hadn’t seen a newspaper since her trip home, and the ever-present worry rose to her throat. ‘Have the Japs landed in the north already?’ Her voice shook as she pointed to the children heading towards the water. ‘Tat, go and look after them. Don’t let them go in past their knees.’
‘Yes, ma’am.’ Tat scowled at her and walked off slowly towards the water. Once her sister had reached the children, Lily clasped her hands together and turned to Jack. ‘Tell me honestly. Is there fighting on land already? Is that why the air force is up in Bowen? I have seen more planes go over in the last week or two.’
‘No, I’m based in New Guinea. I’m just here for some engineering work. The action is way north of the Coral Sea.’ His smile was gentle. ‘Don’t worry. There’s nothing for you to be worried about. The Japs are nowhere near the Australian coast.’
Lily’s shoulders sagged with relief. ‘We’re so isolated here, and it’s hard to get decent radio reception out on the island. The news comes to us very late.’
He looked around and gestured to the Passage. ‘This looks pretty idyllic to me. Living up here would be worth the isolation, I reckon.’
The memory of Peg calling her island home an idyllic life made Liliana’s response a little waspish. ‘It’s far from idyllic, trust me.’
‘I’d love to see your island. It’s so different up here to where I come from. On our farm, we don’t get very good radio reception either. Too many hills.’ Jack leaned back on his hands as he looked out over the water. ‘This is amazing. I’ve never seen anything so beautiful.’
‘I think we do have a couple of empty palm huts at the moment.’ Lily began to thaw and tried to make amends for snapping at him. ‘We’re not as busy in the wet season.’
He lifted his gaze from the water to the clear blue sky and his white teeth flashed in a smile. ‘This is the wet season?’
‘It is.’ Lily frowned. His calm voice gave her a warm feeling in the pit of her tummy, a feeling she’d never experienced before. ‘How about I take you to meet Dad and see what he says. Maybe he could take you and your friends out on a fishing trip too if you stayed with us. Then you can tell me all about where you come from.’ She jumped up and headed for the cooking area with Jack close behind her.
‘Dad.’ Lily tapped on her father’s shoulder as he leaned over the fire drum. He was a tall man, but lean, his muscles honed by years of manual work.
‘Dad, this is Jack—’ She paused and looked at Jack. ‘Sorry, I forgot your last name.’
‘Rickard, sir,’ Jack finished for her and held out his hand to her father.
Admiration filled Lily. Jack’s quietly spoken confidence and unassuming demeanour was very different to the drunken soldiers she had seen last week in Brisbane. As well as being interested in what she had to say, he was polite and obviously came from a good family. And he was a real air force man, about to go on a mission. She watched as the two men sized each other up.
‘Jack and his friends have come down for a break from the airfield at Bowen. They’re looking for somewhere to stay,’ she said.
‘Pleased to meet you, Mr …’
‘Ellis, but please call me Boyd.’ Her father shook Jack’s hand. ‘So, you’re at Bowen. I heard there was something going on up there.’
Jack shook his head. ‘I’m an LAC with number 20 squadron in Port Moresby. On the Catalinas. I’ve been seconded down to Bowen for a couple of weeks. Roger and Charlie are construction crew. We’re down here on a few days’ leave.’
‘We’d be happy to have you stay on the island. We have plenty of room at the moment,’ Boyd said. Lily smiled as her father added, ‘And how about a fishing trip out to the Passage?’
‘That would be great, sir—I mean Boyd—although you’ll have to show me the ropes, I’m just a farm boy. I’ve never been fishing in the sea.’
‘Well, we’ll have to remedy that, won’t we?’ Dad’s grin widened as he threw an arm around Jack’s shoulder. ‘Stay and have a yarn with me, Jack. Lil, you go and help your mother with the other women.’
‘Thanks for bringing me over to meet your father. The boys’ll be pleased we have somewhere to bunk tonight.’ Jack’s eyes crinkled as he smiled at her and that funny light feeling went down her legs again.
‘See you later then.’ Lily made her way over to the long narrow tents that had been set up to keep the hot sun off the cold food, a bit piqued that Dad had taken away her new friend. As she walked away, Jack was asking Dad about the steam launch that would take them back to Bowen.
She’d wanted to hear more about the war. Not the specifics, just what he was allowed to talk about. Whether she should be as scared as reading the paper made her feel. Jack seemed like a nice young man, and she’d enjoyed listening to his voice. She guessed he wasn’t much older than she
was. He was a little more genteel than the local fishermen who visited the island. But now she’d been dismissed to the food tent to be with the women. Honestly, Dad was so old-fashioned.
Mama was what Dad always laughingly called ‘chief cook and bottle washer’, and she was in full chief mode when Lily wandered into the tent. No matter how much she fought it, Mama was chief everything in their lives. To those looking in on the lives of the Ellis family on Whitsunday Island, the family appeared happy. Boyd had come home from the First World War with a Russian wife, the daughter of a white émigré who had lost his own wife— Alexandra rarely spoke of that—and fled to Paris with his daughter and son in 1917 just before the revolution. Nor did Alexandra speak of those days to her children. Instead, she told them stories about where she lived when she was a small child, a huge house, a beautiful garden and the forest.
‘Oh, how I loved the forest,’ Mama would say as Lily and Tatiana sat at her feet by the lamplight in the cool of the winter. ‘It was just like our island but bigger. We would pick mushrooms and berries, so many berries—strawberries, blueberries, cranberries and raspberries.’
‘Who’s we, Mama?’ Lily would ask. ‘Was it your mama?’
Mama would wave her hand. ‘Oh, it was just me. I would wander by myself.’ The story would finish at that point and Mama would go into the kitchen and cook until well into the night. Liliana soon learned not to ask questions.
One night, Tatiana shook her awake. ‘I can hear Mama crying.’
Together, they crept to the door of their parents’ bedroom. The deep soothing tones of her father’s voice covered her mother’s sobs. ‘I do not want to remember anymore,’ the girls heard her say.
Fragments of her mother’s unexplained sadness lodged in Lily’s soul, but the nights Mama cried became less frequent as twin brothers were born, followed by another sister a couple of years later. But when talk of war began, Lily saw the shadows deepen beneath her mother’s eyes again and she became more protective of the children. Lily had to beg to be allowed to go back to school in 1939 when war was actually declared. Tatiana took advantage of Mama’s fear and insisted on staying home and doing her lessons by correspondence. But despite the shadows she carried, Alexandra had taken to island life as though she had been born to it and, after almost twenty years as Boyd’s wife and living on the island, she was respected and admired by the local community. The children soon learned there were times when they had to be on their best behaviour and treat Mama gently.