Kimberley Sun

by Di Morrissey

  ‘Is everything all right?’ asked Dave, sensing tension in her voice.

  ‘I’ve had a bit of bad news. Pauline, you know the jeweller in Broome, has been attacked. Very nasty.’ Now it was Lily’s turn to pass on the news and all the details. ‘That’s what they know so far. When she’s conscious we’ll no doubt find out more. I’ll give the hospital a call now.’

  The ward nurse told her Pauline was sleeping comfortably. She’d pass on Lily’s message. Next Lily tried Sami’s phone but couldn’t get through, so then she rang Rosie at the gallery.

  ‘Yes, yes, we know,’ exclaimed Rosie. ‘It’s dreadful. I’ve been to see her and she’ll be fine, although I’m sure it’s traumatised her. The doc thinks she should go down to Perth, get away from here for a bit.’

  ‘That’s probably a good idea. What are her injuries?’

  ‘A large whack on the head. It’s all a bit of a mystery, though. She says she was working at her desk and was grabbed from behind. Then she must have been hit on the head. The guy had a mask and gloves on and a knife. He didn’t speak at all. Your friends Ross and Palmer are here chewing it over.’

  ‘Can I speak to Ross please, Rosie? And any news of Sami?’

  ‘Yes, she couldn’t get through to you. She rang to see how Rakka is. That was before we knew about Pauline. Sami is fine, she was at a station on the edge of the Sandy Desert, staying with some friends of Farouz. Everything was fine. She sounded quite excited about it all, actually.’

  ‘Thank God for that.’

  ‘Take care, Lily. I’ll put Ross on now,’ Rosie said.

  ‘Hey, Lily, I’m back – for good. I was going to give you a bell.’

  ‘That’s wonderful news, Ross. I’m sure you won’t regret it. Now what do you make of this awful business? Professionally, that is.’

  ‘It’s not my place to butt into the local coppers’ investigation, but I’ve been talking it over with Palmer and he has a few thoughts.’

  ‘So what does Professor Clever think about it?’

  ‘I’ll put him on in a tick. Lily, I’m coming up your way, going to chat with Sister Angelica. Palmer has some idea for me. Mind if I drop in and see you?’

  ‘I’d love that!’ said Lily. ‘There’s great fishing up here.’

  ‘Terrific. Let me know if you want me to bring anything. Now here’s Palmer.’

  She didn’t especially want to trade banter with Palmer, but if he had any clues about Pauline’s attacker, she’d better listen. But she was surprised by his gentle and concerned tone. ‘It’s a terrible business, but I hope you’ve taken a deep breath.’

  ‘Well yes, but it’s very upsetting. I don’t understand. Why pick on Pauline’s shop when there are others in the same street that also have a lot of valuable stock? I suppose because she was in there, working late.’

  ‘I don’t think so, Lily.’

  ‘Oh. Why do you say that?’

  ‘Nothing was taken – that we know of. Someone was looking for something specific, according to Ross, and I agree. It seemed to us there were parallels with the break-in at Bobby Ching’s.’

  ‘In what way?’

  ‘There too nothing was taken. Someone in Broome is looking for something.’

  ‘Like what?’ Lily was puzzled. It didn’t make any sense.

  ‘Do you remember Bobby finding his passenger’s stuff was pilfered at the races at Bradley? But he found that sun emblem, brought it back to Broome and then his father’s home and office were ransacked.’

  ‘Looking for the sun thing?’ asked Lily.

  ‘Which Bobby had left with Pauline.’

  ‘Oh my God. How would anyone know that?’

  ‘She designed a few samples around the sun design. There’s a photo spread in the city paper and there’s been some mention in the local rag. It’s a big red flag.’

  ‘But what’s so special about that thing?’

  ‘I’m looking into it. As I told you in Perth, I’m doing a little digging. I’m driving up north. May I pop in and see the farm?’

  Lily couldn’t resist a small laugh. ‘You make it sound like coming for tea and cucumber sandwiches. It’s very casual up here. There are spare beds in the crew’s quarters. Don’t expect any special treatment. We’re getting a bit busy.’

  ‘Understood. The three of us might travel together.’

  ‘Three of you?’

  ‘Ross, me and the bagpipes.’

  ‘Oh gawd.’ She laughed.

  Lily’s next call was to Dale.

  ‘Bloody dreadful. Have you got a lock on your door up there?’

  ‘I don’t need it here.’

  ‘It’s pretty remote. Anyone could walk out of the scrub onto the farm.’

  ‘There’s nothing to rob up here. Well, not at the moment. We’re still a way off harvesting. And there are a lot of people up here. Is there any news about who might have done this to Pauline?’ Lily didn’t mention Palmer’s theory.

  ‘Well, everyone has their two cents worth to say. You know what this town is like – a lot of talk around the bar at the Mangrove at lunch time.’

  ‘Saying what?’

  ‘Ah, Abo kids, someone on drugs, though the fact they didn’t take the cash is odd. Someone paid to do a job for someone for whatever reason. The usual rumours. When are you coming back? Do you miss me? Maybe I’ll come up this weekend.’

  ‘Dale, I just got here, but I might come back to Broome and see Pauline.’

  ‘Why, in God’s name? She’s not your daughter, though you act like it.’

  ‘She doesn’t have a mother and we’ve been pals. Even before I met you. I hope to talk to her late today or tomorrow.’

  ‘Well, you let me know what you’re doing. And I’ll arrange my life accordingly.’ He sounded disgruntled as he was now having to fit into Lily’s schedule. The thought rather pleased her.

  ‘I’ll keep you posted. And if you hear anything, anything at all, please ring me, okay?’

  ‘You’ve got enough to do without playing detective. Let it go, Lily, it was a oncer. A wake-up call for everyone. See ya, babe.’

  ‘Bye, Dale.’

  Lily felt they should make a short formal announcement to all the staff about the changed corporate structure, at the same time giving assurances about future job opportunities. It was a chance to set the right tone for enhancing staff commitment. An end-of-shift gathering, perhaps with some drinks, would be ideal, and she sought out her partners for approval of the get together. She found them sitting under a coconut tree. Tim beckoned her over.

  ‘We need a meeting,’ he said and pulled up a plastic crate as an extra seat.

  ‘You both look worried.’

  ‘We are. Dave . . .’

  ‘There’s a problem in one section of the shells. The boys picked it up a few weeks back, we were hoping things’d come good.’ He shook his head.

  ‘What sort of problem?’ asked Lily steadily.

  ‘Oysters in section three aren’t happy.’

  ‘Aren’t happy?’

  ‘Not growing,’ explained Tim.

  ‘Why not?’

  Dave took a deep breath and gave his chin a good rub as if preparing it for a major workout with words. ‘It’s like this. We’re in the business of animal husbandry but it takes an experienced farmer to know if the oysters are happy. Tim took a dive and checked them out this morning, and their valves aren’t open properly so they’re not getting the nutrients they need. It’s only one section but something has to be done quickly. They’re sensitive little creatures. If they starve they don’t grow and if they are growing pearls the lustre could suffer.’ He paused, as if waiting for a signal from Lily that she was getting the full picture, and was given a little nod, so he went on.

  ‘The current seems to have changed. I reckon that last big blow has altered the topography of the bottom where we’ve put those long lines. A quick temporary fix is to move the long lines further into the bay. I’ve been looking at this whole situation here
and if we plan to expand we need approval to operate another lease – to collect wild shell as well as grow the oysters.’

  ‘But what about the existing shell? It’s getting close to harvest, isn’t it?’ Lily asked.

  ‘Yes. Hopefully the bulk of it will be okay. But we need to start looking ahead,’ Tim replied.

  ‘So what are we looking at exactly, or looking for, Dave?’ said Lily with some firmness, trying hard to deal calmly with her first major management crisis.

  ‘There are a few places we could consider. We need access to shelter, a decent depth and wild shell.’ He rubbed his chin again. ‘We could look out around the Lacepedes, or up in King Sound –’

  ‘Lacepedes?’ exclaimed Tim. ‘Odd, that place has been mentioned twice all of a sudden. Would you believe that funny little bloke who was around the place a few days ago mentioned the Lacepedes?’

  ‘He talks bullshit, excuse me, Lily. What would he know?’ declared Dave.

  ‘There was something odd about him . . . really, he had no reason to mention the place.’

  ‘Odd is the right word,’ said Dave.

  ‘Will someone please put me in the picture?’ asked Lily, looking from one to the other.

  Tim obliged while Dave concentrated on rolling a cigarette. ‘An Aboriginal fellow, strange looking, just turned up expecting hospitality. Yet, he wasn’t so much asking for a handout as wanting to pass on a message, giving us important information. At least that’s what it felt like to me.’

  ‘Is he still hanging around? I thought we sent him packing,’ said Dave bluntly.

  ‘I just had this feeling we should be nice to him. Or else,’ said Tim to Lily. ‘I know it sounds silly.’

  ‘Was he threatening?’

  ‘Not at all. But Dave mentioned he had a bit of bad luck after he last saw this bloke. I suppose that stuck in my head. I didn’t want to take any chances.’

  ‘Bollocks.’

  ‘C’mon, Dave. It can’t do any harm to give a bloke a feed. Anyway, he mentioned the Lacepedes. Said it was good water, a good place.’

  ‘That is a coincidence,’ said Lily, a little puzzled by the strange direction the discussion had taken. ‘An omen maybe.’

  ‘Ah, don’t you two start going Aboriginal on me,’ exclaimed Dave with some derision, then changed his tone. ‘But we should check it out. It’s a long way to go. It would be all right to fish for shell and maybe farm it later.’

  ‘So we get the boys to move those lines. I might take another dive tomorrow and look at the bottom, see what’s going on. Then when we can get away, we’ll take a trip up the Sound. A recce.’

  ‘There are a few things to do round here first,’ said Lily. ‘I have a list a mile long. A couple of the staff who’ve only been here a few months, told me today that they want out in two weeks to head back south. The engineer needs parts for one of the boats, and the gas oven is playing up. And I think we’d better get cracking on some new roofing on most of the buildings well before the Wet.’

  ‘Well, bless me,’ exclaimed Dave with a big grin. ‘You are going to be hands on! This could take over your life.’

  ‘Perhaps it will,’ agreed Lily. ‘But I see no point in being part of the farm if I’m not helping things run well. I know there’s more to this than sitting back and counting pearls once a year. And that reminds me, I think we need a staff meeting about five this afternoon to brief them on the new set-up, who is who and who is doing what.’

  ‘Yeah, good idea. Dining room or down by the barbie?’ said Tim.

  ‘The dining room is okay. But eventually we ought to consider putting together a recreation room of some kind. A place with a video, somewhere to read, write, relax. An alternative to hanging around outdoors with the mossies and knocking back beers.’

  ‘Like a club? I say, a bit radical.’ But Dave spoke cheerfully and seemed to like the idea.

  ‘There’s a big storage shed that’s not being used. I figured we could add a verandah and an outside bar maybe. Drinks and hours to be limited, of course. Anyway, let’s get everyone together before dinner.’ Lily glanced at her watch. ‘I think I’ll try phoning Pauline. See you later.’

  The two men watched her head back to the office. ‘Think she’ll last the distance?’ wondered Dave.

  ‘I reckon she’ll stick around as long as we do,’ answered Tim. ‘You’d better get used to seeing a lot of her. By the way, with that robbery in Broome, have you had any security problems up here in recent times?’

  Dave thought for a moment. ‘Nope. Not since the attempt a few years back. Inside job that went wrong.’

  ‘Disgruntled employees?’

  ‘Greedy ex-staff. That’s one of the problems of dealing with transients all the time.’

  ‘Part of the charm of Broome, eh? Work on a pearl farm for a few weeks.’

  ‘They come for the bucks, not the romance,’ said Dave.

  ‘Not the romance of pearling perhaps but plenty of other quick romances.’

  ‘When they’re not too tired. There’re long hard days up here. They usually let their hair down in Broome.’

  ‘But Lily’s right, we need to let everyone know that things are going to change a bit, some new people, new routines and new visions. At least we have a core of good people here, everything depends on teamwork.’

  ‘You can say that again.’

  It was a theme Lily took up as she stood in front of the assembled staff of a dozen plus Don and Serena. She was nervous, but Tim smiled encouragingly from the back of the room. She tried to speak from the heart and convey her passion and commitment to pearling. Although she was a novice in the industry she wanted to make Star Two even more successful and an exciting, friendly place to work.

  ‘After all, it’s teamwork that is the key to everything here. We work and live together in an isolated place twenty-four hours a day. We have to depend on each other, just as we have to nurture and watch over our oysters. I believe in responsibility, not titles, so please feel free to talk to me about anything, at any time. First up, I’d like to say thank you to David George, who had a dream to carry on the tradition started at this farm by my great-grandfather. Thank you to the staff here who’ve been so understanding, helpful and welcoming. I’m looking forward to getting to know you all, and learning a lot more about your jobs. Thank you.’

  There was a burst of polite applause then Tim stepped up. He echoed Lily’s sentiments and talked about introducing slight changes to the way they’d been working to make schedules and the spread of workloads more efficient. ‘We’re going to be a very hands-on management team. In broad terms, Lily is going to fill the role of chief executive, Dave will be manager of production, and I’ll be development manager. Don will be the head of day-to-day operations. And where would we be without Serena? We want a lot to happen fairly quickly, and we really look forward to you all working with us to achieve our targets. Now, as you’ve heard, we’ve got some Japanese investment backing us, and before long the money men will be dropping in, so we’d like your help to get the whole place a little more shipshape, a bit smarter looking.’ He paused and looked over to Dave. ‘You going to make a speech, partner?’

  Dave demurred. ‘Nah, they’ve heard enough from me. Waste of good drinking time.’ That earned a big burst of applause and everyone relaxed.

  Lily moved among the group as much as possible, asking the staff about their past work experience and how they viewed the future. She was surprised at how many of their young workers, some of them graduates, looked on it as a means to finance more travel. It was simply a pleasant temporary lifestyle that helped the bank balance. It made her student days and early career years seem very boring.

  Farouz wiped his face with the scarf looped around his neck. He was enjoying the journey, and the further away from Broome they travelled, deeper into desert country, the more effusive he became. His dark eyes sparkled, a dry humour occasionally flashed and he became quite poetic as he talked of his children and extended family,
his Aboriginal family as well as his treasured Afghan heritage.

  ‘I come from a family who were nomads, who travelled the desert, whose home was around a fire. My wife’s family were also desert people originally. Yet we have raised children who call a city home. But in their hearts they know their family stories. And they tell their children, and when they come to see their grandfather they know they have a link with ancestors, so we are all part of a chain.’ He glanced at Sami. ‘Sometimes it is quite a search, quite a journey, to find the link that joins us. But it is important, yes?’

  She nodded in agreement, but words were too hard to find. His remarks had needled a sensitive subject. She’d always been self-assured and definite in her views. Since coming west and crossing the state borders, she knew she had also crossed some emotional border and was in unchartered territory. She thought it was safer to change the subject. ‘Are we getting near the outstation?’

  ‘We’ll be there within half an hour. There’ll be a track on your side.’

  ‘A track! Isn’t this road a track?’ Sami had to concentrate while driving through the sandy ruts barely marked in the barren desert landscape. ‘Why are they so far off the beaten path?’

  ‘The main community has the usual problems. The women pushed for this place, a safe and dry community.’

  Then over yet another sandy ridge they saw a fence, and beyond it what almost passed as an oasis in Sami’s eyes. A scatter of trees – casuarina, mulga, bloodwood, acacia – stretched along what looked like the remains of a creek. The Wet had been a good one and this little part of the desert was still showing its effects. Finally, they saw several small buildings of corrugated iron, a pile of rocks heaped into a small cairn and flying from a rope strung over a branch was a handpainted flag. It fluttered briefly, but it was long enough for Sami to gasp in some surprise at seeing a gold sun painted on a blue background. She looked questioningly at Farouz, but he replied with nothing more than a smile.

  Then he pointed to another area. ‘See, another piece of art.’

  This time there was an Aboriginal flag, handpainted, the yellow circle of the sun set against the red band, earth, and the black band, the people. It flew from a makeshift flagpole where children were playing in the dust and, set back in the trees were more corrugated-iron houses, all alike with concrete verandahs on the ground screened in by floor-to-ceiling metal louvres. They seemed to have few rooms but lots of moulded plastic chairs stood outside. There was one larger building, a shed with verandahs, that was clearly a community centre of some kind. On the roof of one house was an apparently discarded rusting pink bicycle with a dolly’s basket on the handlebars. A small child was playing nearby in an up-ended plastic chair.