Rain May and Captain Daniel

by Catherine Bateson

  We didn’t see anything except water rats. I liked the water rats. They swam really well and didn’t look rat-like at all, more like little otters from the zoo. They had white tips on their tails and that’s what you looked for to make sure that they weren’t platypuses, that and their little ears, close to the head but ears nonetheless, whereas you can’t see a platypus’s ears. Once you saw them on a bank or a log you could easily tell they were rats by the way they loped along, just like otters.

  While they were in the water, though, they swam around just like a platypus. You’d be sitting, me trying not to scratch, and suddenly you’d see a moving arrow of water, mostly quite near the bank. You’d hold your breath, waiting, and then the tail would appear with that little white tip and we’d all breathe out at once and pass the thermos around again.

  Then, on the fifth afternoon, when I think even Daniel’s dad was getting a little impatient, we definitely saw a platypus. It came right under where we were. We’d changed where we sat, gone downstream a bit to a kind of fishing platform that old Mr Beatty had built on the river bank. And there was the arrow of water from where we had been sitting and it moved along the river bank while we held our breaths. The platform we were standing on was right near some bullrushes and we watched the ripples and bubbles and then it came in really close to the shallow water right near where we were. I know I squeaked, because Daniel elbowed me gently. We all peered down and we could just see the flat tail. No white tip. And then it moved into a patch of late sunshine and we saw it more clearly nosing around and then it must have heard something and with a little flip completely disappeared into deeper, shadowed water.

  ‘Well,’ Daniel’s dad said after a long silence, ‘we’ve seen it, kids.’

  ‘Are you sure it was really a platypus?’ Daniel asked. ‘If only we’d had a really good look.’

  ‘It was a platypus,’ Daniel’s dad said firmly. ‘Definitely a platypus. No white tip. No ears. And shy. A rat would have just come up for a second look at us.’

  ‘Wow, we’ve seen it, Daniel, we’ve seen it!’

  ‘I can’t believe it,’ Daniel said. ‘I just can’t believe it. It all happened too fast.’

  ‘I know what you mean,’ his father said, putting an arm around him, ‘but the more time you spend watching wild things, the more practised you get at seeing them, so eventually your eye adapts to their speed. But it was, it was truly a platypus. You’ve joined an exclusive club, kids. Not many people these days have seen a platypus in the wild. Let’s go up and tell Mr Beatty, shall we?’

  While the Doctor had a drink with Mr Beatty, Daniel and I went over how we’d seen it.

  ‘We could go on safaris,’ I said. ‘Not the shooting ones, of course — but to see other animals. I’d like to see an echidna, Daniel. You said you’d seen one.’

  ‘Dad and I did. And it saw us and dug down really quickly. But before it could disappear, Dad grabbed it and flipped it over. They’ve got these great claws, Rain — they’re pretty amazing.’

  Mr Beatty made us tomato soup from the can, which tasted delicious, and we dunked thick white bread into it. Then he let us toast marshmallows in his fireplace and we took it in turns to hold the toasting fork. The marshmallows were best when the tops went quite brown and the whole thing threatened to wobble off the fork and fall straight into the fire so you had to open your mouth quickly and almost burn it to catch the marshmallow. Then Mr Beatty and Daniel played a game of chess while the Doctor beat me at dominoes.

  Mr Beatty had this ancient fluffy cat who sat on my lap the whole time purring. He didn’t even move when I leaned forward to toast the marshmallows. And the house, which was tiny, smelt faintly of old toast and woodsmoke and there were photos on the wall of Mrs Beatty who had died years before. When Mr Beatty saw me looking at them he brought out a photo album with all sorts of old photos in it, old cars and ladies in big hats and little boys in sailor suits.

  When we left, Mr Beatty gave me a little china statue of a girl. He said she reminded him of me, even though she was wearing a dress and her hair was all neat curls. He gave Daniel a book on astronomy.

  ‘Got to start off-loading stuff,’ he said. ‘I’ll be eighty-eight next year. Even the Doc here doesn’t think I’ll last forever.’

  ‘You’ve still a good few years left in you,’ Daniel’s dad said as they shook hands at the door.

  ‘Ah, it’s that spring water. Best thing for a man, eh?’ And Mr Beatty winked at us.

  ‘This has been one of the best nights of my life,’ I whispered to Daniel as we drove back home. ‘I’ll remember it forever, won’t you?’ I had the china statue in my lap. The girl’s hair felt smooth under my fingers, and even though it was dark I knew her dress was pale blue, a blue Mr Beatty called duck-egg.

  ‘Yes,’ Daniel said, ‘I will. First the platypus and it’s the first time I’ve ever come close to beating Mr Beatty at chess.’

  ‘See,’ I said, ‘you’ve got friends. You’ve got heaps of friends, if you think about it. They just aren’t the kind of friends most kids have.’

  And that was true. Daniel got emails from kids around the world who, like him, were Trekkies. Every two months he went down to Melbourne to meet with other Trekkies at some club. He got stuff in the ordinary mail practically every day — newsletters and magazines that he brought to school and read during free time. He even wrote for some of them.

  But none of that made him any friends at school. And sometimes I wondered whether he even wanted ordinary friends. He wouldn’t come along to Scouts. He wouldn’t come and learn tennis with me. He just didn’t try.

  ‘It’s no use,’ he said when I asked why he didn’t, ‘it’s just no use, Rain. You don’t understand. You’re new here.’ And he got this really stubborn look which meant the conversation was closed, just like that.

  Still, it was hard for me. Becky and I were good friends at Scouts and she started to talk to me at school. We liked some of the same things. She was reading some of the same books I was reading, books Daniel claimed were too girly. We both liked basketball. We liked the same music and we both liked to dress up and dance as though we were pop stars, but not so serious.

  ‘Isn’t there anyone you used to play with before I came to the school?’ I asked Daniel one lunchtime. The girls were playing basketball and I was itching to join them.

  ‘No,’ Daniel said, ‘but that doesn’t mean you have to sit with me if you don’t want to. I can read.’

  ‘No, it’s fine.’ I said.

  I watched Tina miss three easy baskets in a row. I could practically feel the ball between my hands and the easy lift of it through the air.

  ‘How are you going, D1 and D2?’ Tom, Becky’s twin, asked as he went past. It didn’t sound unfriendly.

  ‘Pretty good,’ I said.

  Daniel ignored him.

  ‘How’s it going, Dan my man?’ Tom asked, standing right in front of Daniel.

  ‘I’m Daniel,’ Daniel said, ‘and I’m not your man under any circumstances.’

  And he stalked off.

  ‘I was only saying hello,’ Tom said. ‘What’s got into your boyfriend?’

  ‘He’s not my boyfriend,’ I said. ‘But I suppose it’s hard to tell when someone’s being friendly when they’ve called you names, taken your hat and generally made your life a misery.’

  ‘Come on, we’re just kidding. Anyway, why is he so full of himself? Everyone’s got a nickname. You don’t mind.’

  ‘I don’t like it,’ I said.

  ‘He doesn’t want friends,’ Tom said, ‘otherwise he’d make more of an effort. He’s a snob.’

  ‘He’s not, that’s not true at all.’

  ‘Oh yeah? Well, how come I can’t understand half of what he says?’

  ‘He’s different,’ I said. ‘Look, he doesn’t mean to talk so you can’t understand him. He just uses big words. He reads all the time. It rubs off on him.’

  ‘And if you do something he wants to do — like play c
hess — it’s not like a normal game. He tells you all this stuff.’

  ‘Just like you do when you’re playing soccer or something. There’s no difference. You tell kids what they should have done, don’t you?’

  ‘That’s called coaching.’

  ‘Well, Daniel’s coaching you at chess. I don’t see the difference.’

  ‘I just don’t get why you hang out with him. You’re pretty cool, Rain, for a city girl.’

  ‘See — there you go again. Always picking on differences.’

  ‘Hey, I just said you were cool.’

  ‘Well, anyway, Daniel’s my friend. And he’s cool, too.’

  ‘If you say so,’ Tom said. ‘So you’ll be going to the disco with him?’

  Fourth-term disco was the highlight of the school year. There were door prizes, best-costume prizes, a smoke machine and a limbo dance.

  ‘I’m not sure I’m going,’ I said. ‘It could be my dad’s weekend.’

  ‘That’s right, you’re parents are divorced, aren’t they? Our cousin from America is coming over here while her parents fight it out. She’ll be at the disco.’

  ‘My parents are separated,’ I said, ‘not really divorced.’

  ‘Right,’ Tom said. ‘Well, hope they never get divorced. From what Madison says in her emails it’s really ugly.’

  I found Daniel over near the old play equipment. He looked all pale and blotchy, but when I asked he just said he wasn’t feeling well, and halfway through individual project time he stood up and said in a shaky voice that he felt sick.

  And I didn’t see him for the rest of the week.

  ‘Gastro,’ Diana said, when I rang to find out how he was.

  And then the next day she said something about a virus.

  I played basketball every lunchtime, and every snack time I talked about the disco with the girls. But even though I loved the magic feeling when the ball sails perfectly through the hoop or when you bounce it away from the other team, and even though I wanted to go to the disco more than anything else in the world, I still missed Daniel. It was as though there was a piece of the school day that was missing and nothing felt quite right.

  Rain’s Basketball Poem

  fly from my hand

  like magic

  a breeze

  and sail

  up & over

  bounce down

  hard

  such splen did

  joy.

  Maggie’s Yoga Poem

  breath

  in

  out

  belly soft

  learn slow

  I am only

  me

  peace.

  Then go & eat

  cake

  more delicious than ever!

  The Captain’s Log, Stardate 271001

  Sick of being sick. Gastro, the Counsellor said. Dry crackers and lemonade prescribed. Then I felt fine and so she let me eat. Then I threw up — but I didn’t feel sick, not like gastro. I just felt — I don’t know — tired.

  Too tired to do much at all. Don’t even want to be writing this but I know I should.

  Too tired to play chess so the Doctor and I play backgammon instead. I’m current world champion but I don’t really care. It’s mainly luck.

  Diana measured me yesterday and I’ve really grown since last time.

  She looked worried.

  ‘I’m supposed to grow,’ I said but she ignored me.

  Interesting fact: Rain has called every night.

  Interesting fact number two: my ankles seem bigger. Do your ankles grow thicker? That’s pretty strange. But they do, they seem bigger. Not that I pay much attention to my ankles. It was just that there was a scab I had to pick.

  Hearts and Hurts

  Every morning I waited for Daniel to arrive at the front door to pick me up on his way to school. And every morning, Diana came out and shook her head.

  ‘Not really well yet,’ she’d call out to me, ‘but getting better. If you could pick up any work he’s missing, I’d be grateful, Rain.’

  Daniel wasn’t missing any work. He was so far ahead of the rest of us it was a laugh. What he was missing was all the talk of the disco and of Tom and Becky’s American cousin who had arrived but was still suffering from jet lag.

  ‘She’s got so many clothes,’ Becky told us. ‘And they’re so, I don’t know — American.’

  ‘What do you mean, American?’

  ‘Well, like she’s got this t-shirt with the American flag on it. And the jeans, they don’t look like our jeans. They’re American jeans. And the way she talks, too — she really drawls. And everything’s like wow and cute. And if they’re not, they’re like so yesterday. And she has these opinions about everything.’

  ‘What do you mean? Everyone has opinions.’

  ‘It’s like she knows exactly what she wants. And likes. And doesn’t like. She’s really definite about it. Like someone’s mother.’

  ‘She’s pretty cool,’ Tom said, sauntering up bouncing a basketball. ‘She’s got like these really American teeth, each one perfect. She wants to meet you, Rain, because you have something in common — with your folks, you know, being separated and everything.’

  ‘Can’t wait,’ I muttered and walked away, wishing Daniel was there.

  I did miss Daniel at school — and I didn’t. I mean I did, mostly all the time, but I also liked talking to Becky, playing basketball, just fooling around with the other kids. They still called me D2, but it was in a friendly way. If Daniel had been there and part of it, it would have been great. But it wouldn’t have been so great if he’d been there but sulking or miserable.

  And I knew the disco would be the same. Even though Daniel had said he was going, I couldn’t imagine him going and having fun. I couldn’t see Daniel dancing. I couldn’t even imagine what he’d wear. And half of me, the mean, nasty half of me, didn’t want him to go because I didn’t want to have to sit in a corner with him, watching. I wanted to be out there, dancing my socks off and having fun.

  It was a problem, all right. It was bigger than me, for sure. I’d have to consult Maggie, but when I got home she started talking before I was even properly in the front door.

  ‘Diana’s taken Daniel down to the Royal Children’s,’ she said. ‘I think you should know that he’s got cardiac problems, heart problems.’

  ‘What?’ I dumped my bag on the floor. ‘What are you talking about?’

  ‘Daniel’s sick. He’s going to need an operation.’

  ‘What heart problems? Like Gran had? Is he going to die?’

  ‘No, sweetheart. Not like Gran. There are problems you can be born with when your heart doesn’t function properly. Daniel’s heart is like that.’

  ‘He never told me.’

  ‘No. He probably didn’t want you to feel sorry for him. Or maybe he was embarrassed.’

  ‘Is he going to die?’

  ‘No, no, of course not. Diana said he’s under the best care. They’ve known this would happen eventually.’

  ‘Poor Daniel,’ I said. ‘Oh Mum, that’s awful. He should have told me. I was kind of mean to him today.’

  ‘How could you have been, he wasn’t even at school.’

  ‘Well, I thought mean thoughts, about the school disco. Oh Mum, I shouldn’t have. I wished he’d stay away until it was over. It’s all my fault.’

  ‘Rain, don’t be so melodramatic. I’ve just told you, they’ve all known that this surgery would be necessary one day. It was a case of when, that’s all. Daniel’s latest growth spurt has put some extra strain on his heart. They’re going to correct that. It’s got nothing to do with you.’

  Maggie was good to cry on. She smelled of bread and incense.

  ‘Rain,’ Maggie said gently, ‘it’s okay. It’ll be okay. And you are a good friend. Do stop crying now. There’s a girl.’

  ‘Is that why Diana’s so over-protective?’ I asked at last, all cried out. ‘And do you think that’s why Daniel doesn’t run ar
ound much?’

  ‘Yes, yes, I think so.’

  ‘Mum, did you know?’

  ‘Well, yes, Rain, yes I did.’

  ‘Did Diana tell you?’

  ‘No. Daniel told me.’

  ‘Daniel told you. He told you and not me?’

  ‘When you were away that first weekend.’

  I didn’t get it. Why would your best friend tell your mother something that they couldn’t tell you?

  ‘He didn’t know you very well then,’ Maggie said, putting her arm around me. ‘He didn’t know you at all, really. You weren’t friends then like you are now.’

  ‘Well, he could have told me now,’ I said, ‘and it would have made sense.’

  ‘That’s not what is important now,’ Maggie said. ‘What’s important is that we help Daniel and his family.’

  ‘I don’t know what to do.’

  ‘Well, it sounds like he might be in hospital for some time. Could you ask Dad to take you in for a visit next weekend?’

  ‘Would that be all right? To visit him?’

  ‘We’ll check with Diana, but hospitals usually welcome visitors. Anything that cheers the patients up.’

  ‘I have to go and see a friend in hospital,’ I told Dad, ‘this weekend. In the Royal Children’s Hospital. Daniel — you know, the boy next door?’

  ‘He’s in hospital?’

  ‘Heart stuff. He was born with it.’

  ‘Well, we’ll ring up the hospital and find out the visiting hours, but I can’t guarantee to be able to take you myself. This weekend there’s work stuff happening. Now, don’t you start, Rain. I’ve had Julia on my back about it all week. I’m sure she’ll take you in, if it’s not possible for me.’

  ‘I’ve work stuff, too,’ Julia said. ‘I told them I’d be available all weekend. Honestly Brian, you’re not the only one working here.’