Ghost Boy

by Felicity Pulman

  ‘Yeah, congratulations Dad.’ But try as he would, Froggy found it hard to sound enthusiastic. Were all his efforts going to be wasted?

  His mother put her arm around him and gave him a hug. She seemed to know how he felt. ‘Even so, we’ve got to follow this through, James,’ she said. ‘We’ll have to contact the lawyers again. This Bible should be all the proof they need. After all, it’s not only a matter of the Dearborne inheritance. Nan’s right. It’s a question of identity, isn’t it? The question of where you came from and where you belong.’

  ‘We’ve got the Dearborne feet!’ Froggy cheered up, remembering the stork’s horror when he took off his shoes and socks.

  ‘Eh? It didn’t say anything about that in the paper!’ Froggy’s father started to look interested.

  It occurred to Froggy that maybe his father still didn’t really believe him. ‘They’re keeping it a secret, but one of the lawyers made me take my shoes and socks off,’ Froggy explained.

  ‘No wonder the other side of the family look so different!’ Nan exclaimed. ‘Well done, Fred! You’ve really cleared up the mystery, haven’t you?’

  ‘And Cassie, too,’ insisted Froggy. ‘She always knew what to do next. I’d never have worked it out if she hadn’t helped me.’

  Cassie blushed and gave a self-conscious grin.

  ‘So, what are we going to do about all this then?’ Froggy’s mother brought them back to business.

  ‘My sister Sarah could go over, I suppose.’ Froggy’s dad was starting to get into the spirit of things now. ‘Her husband’s a lawyer. Our claim would be in good hands if she and Peter went over to sort it out.’

  ‘Could I go too?’ Froggy asked eagerly, and his mother laughed. She looked young and carefree again, just as she used to before the accident.

  ‘After all your hard work, I reckon you should,’ she said. She looked at her watch. ‘The lawyers’ office will be closed now, but I suggest we ring them first thing tomorrow.’

  ‘So we’re really Dearbornes, not Davidsons after all!’ Froggy’s father was shaking his head, still trying to get used to the idea. ‘We’re descended from a bunch of bloody high-class poms!’

  ‘They’re okay though! Tad’s really great.’ It was okay for Froggy to bad-mouth Tad, but he wouldn’t let his father get away with it.

  ‘It’s sad about Tad,’ his mother said softly. ‘Poor little boy, snatched from his mother and brought out to a new country, watching his father and Mary-Anne die and then trying to plan a future for his little brother. I wish I’d met him, Fred. He sounds like a very brave boy.’

  ‘Yeah, I guess he is.’ Froggy hadn’t thought of Tad in that way before. He desperately regretted his ‘chicken’ crack. He wished Tad had come back one last time, just to see the treasure.

  Froggy’s father snorted. It was clear he still didn’t want to believe in Tad.

  ‘Tad looks very like me,’ Froggy told his mother.

  ‘And Froggy’s just as brave,’ Cassie interjected, fingering the chain under her collar once more.

  Froggy’s mother smiled and took one of her son’s hands, examining it carefully. ‘I can see that,’ she said huskily. Then she put her hands to her neck, unfastening her locket. ‘Take this to Tad,’ she told him, curling the glittering chain into the palm of Froggy’s hand. ‘It belongs to him. And tell him … tell him …’ She stopped and looked away. ‘I’m going to get dinner ready,’ she said loudly, and hurried out of the room.

  Froggy looked up and saw Cassie watching him. ‘We’ll try one last time,’ he said, and Cassie nodded.

  Next day, after school, they climbed onto the bus together, along with Jake and his mates, who whistled when they saw Cassie. Their whistles turned to shocked surprise as she gave them all a filthy look and kept walking down the bus with Froggy. Three pairs of eyes swivelled to follow her progress. As Froggy sat down, with Cassie next to him, Jake grinned and gave him a thumbs-up in salute. It seemed that things were improving at last for Froggy.

  ‘I’m still wearing it,’ Cassie whispered, fingering the chain hidden under her uniform. ‘I haven’t told anyone.’

  Froggy guessed that. She had talked to him during lunch break. She had even dragged her friends into the conversation. For the first time since starting high school, Froggy had felt accepted by at least some of his school mates. He looked up at Jake, who was watching him enviously.

  They rode past Froggy’s stop, on to the border of the national park just as they’d done last time. Froggy frowned and shook his head, remembering how paranoid he’d been. If he hadn’t acted so scared and rushed off the way he did, Jake and his mates probably would have got off the bus and gone home. It all seemed like a hundred years ago now. So much had happened in between! He thought back to that day and realised something strange. Water no longer bothered him. And for the first time in ages, he’d slept through the night without a drowning dream!

  Froggy settled back into his seat and smiled contentedly. But as they came nearer to the bush, he became anxious. What would he do if Tad wasn’t there?

  The street came to a dead-end. Froggy led the way into the bush. He listened while Cassie kept up a bright and nervous chatter for a while, then she too fell silent as they followed the narrow, winding track down towards the sea.

  ‘Is he here?’ She broke the silence as they came at last to the rocky outcrop.

  ‘No.’ Froggy’s voice was flat with disappointment. He dropped his school bag at the base of the rocks and peered about, looking for a sign.

  ‘Why doesn’t he come any more?’ Cassie dropped her bag on top of Froggy’s and sat down on a rock.

  ‘I don’t know.’ Even though he and Tad had argued; even though he was never sure just how far he could trust Tad, Froggy felt now as though he had just lost his best friend.

  ‘We’ve found the treasure. Perhaps his task is finished now.’ He was trying to convince himself as well as Cassie. ‘I guess he thinks he’s not needed any more. He can go back to his family – at least, I hope he can.’ Froggy curled his fingers around the gold locket in his pocket, wondering if he’d have to take it back to his mother.

  ‘Tad!’ he shouted. The wind whipped his words away, making the seagulls cry. ‘Tad!’

  There was still no sign of Tad. Yet Froggy could sense his presence as strongly as if he could see him. ‘I’ve got something for you!’ he shouted.

  ‘Maybe he’s down on the rocks by the sea. Or over at the cave.’ Cassie suggested.

  Froggy considered the possibilities. Tad had been on his way back from the cave the last time he’d seen him. And he shuddered as he remembered Tad’s drowning eyes.

  ‘Let’s go down and see,’ Cassie suggested, jumping up.

  Froggy gave a final look around, then pulled out the locket, dangling it so that its light flashed like a beacon. He placed it carefully on the highest rock and, after a moment’s thought, put his penknife beside it. Then he set off down the path after Cassie.

  The sea held no fear for him now. He looked across the blue water to the dark mouth of the cave where the waves still churned endlessly and he felt nothing but relief. He’d done what he had to do. He need never go there again.

  ‘I’ve told my friends about some of what happened yesterday.’ Cassie gave him a playful punch as she continued: ‘They think you’re quite a hero!’ Then, as he made a sound in protest: ‘It’ll all come out in the papers, anyway, Froggy. Everyone’ll know soon enough.’

  Froggy grunted, feeling hot and sweaty at the prospect.

  ‘Is Tad down here?’ Amused by Froggy’s embarrassment, Cassie changed the subject as they jumped down onto the rocks at the water’s edge.

  ‘No,’ Froggy said sadly. ‘He’s gone for good, I think.’ He looked around one last time at the flat rocky platform and the dark mouth of the cave across the water, just in case he had missed something. Then, without speaking, he started the climb back up the rocks, past scrubby green bushes and clumps of yellowing grass. Cassie fo
llowed in silence, watching him as he walked towards the highest rock where he had left his mother’s locket. But there was no gold glittering in the sun. The rock was bare.

  Froggy raced forward, wondering if Tad had left a message. But the locket was gone, and so was Froggy’s pocket knife.

  ‘Has someone stolen your locket?’ Cassie panted, breathing hard down Froggy’s neck as she stared over his shoulder.

  ‘I don’t … know.’ Froggy searched the rocks and the bush beyond. Nothing.

  ‘Tad!’ he shouted, suddenly furious. ‘Come back here, damn you!’ But the empty air mocked him. Froggy turned, frowning disconsolately at the dazzling water that danced under the sun. He’d been looking forward to telling Tad all about the treasure.

  ‘Froggy, look!’ Cassie exclaimed, swooping down and picking up the roughly carved wooden rabbit from where it had fallen in the grass.

  Froggy took it from her and stroked it gently, turning it so she could see Tad’s initials on the bottom.

  ‘So, he remembered after all.’ He smiled at Cassie as he put the rabbit away, thrusting it deep into the safety of his pocket. He looked around at the familiar rocky outcrops, the path down towards the sea, trying to sense Tad’s presence. But there was only emptiness, a loneliness that would haunt him for a long time.

  Tad’s not here any more,’ he said softly. ‘He’s gone home.’

  ‘But we’re still here,’ said Cassie. ‘And we’ll always remember Tad, won’t we Froggy?’

  She bent down to pick up her school bag, kicking Froggy’s over to him with a friendly grin. ‘Come on,’ she said. ‘It’s time to go home.’

  The Quarantine Station at Spring Cove, near Manly in Sydney, is the setting for Ghost Boy. In 1995, when Ghost Boy was first published, the site was managed and run by the National Parks and Wildlife Service.

  The earliest occupants of Spring Cove were the Aboriginal people – the Kamergal clan. Spring Cove was first used for quarantine in 1828 after the arrival in Sydney of a ship carrying passengers with smallpox. But a cholera epidemic sweeping Europe in 1832 prompted the government to pass the Quarantine Act and in 1833 the land above Spring Cove was declared a quarantine area for such diseases as the bubonic plague, cholera, smallpox, typhoid, measles and scarlet fever.

  The smallpox epidemic of 1881 highlighted the appalling management of the Quarantine Station and its inadequate facilities. At that time, the outbreak supposedly started among the Chinese community, causing a great deal of anti-Chinese feeling. Inoculation against smallpox had been available for some time, but fear or apathy prevented most people from being inoculated. When threatened with an epidemic, people became frightened and reported anyone they suspected of having the disease, while doctors were often not prepared to go close enough to a patient to make an accurate diagnosis. People suspected of having smallpox were either locked in their homes to prevent the spread of the disease, or were forced on board the motor launch Pinafore and transported to the hospital area of the Quarantine Station, or onto the barque Faraway, which was moored nearby.

  Journals and records at the Quarantine Station contain fascinating accounts of the hysteria of the people, and of the dealings of the authorities at the time. One account tells of John Hughes, who after consulting a doctor, was woken by a police officer in the middle of the night, examined by him by the light of a match and pronounced to have smallpox. The next day this diagnosis was confirmed by a Dr Caffyn – from a distance of 150 yards! At five minutes notice, Hughes and his wife and family were taken to the Quarantine Station, and Hughes was placed on board the Faraway. The family were vaccinated with serum from a sick child, but one of his children subsequently died of smallpox.

  Hughes was desperate to see his family and requested permission to do so from Mr Carrol, the superintendent of the Quarantine Station. When his request was denied, Hughes jumped ship and swam ashore. He spent two days with his family ‘after a large onion had been placed between them to keep his breath away’. Hughes was captured, returned to the Faraway and placed in leg irons for five days. He performed cooking duties on board until his release. He spent twelve weeks amongst people with smallpox, but reports differ as to whether Hughes ever really contracted the disease.

  A Royal Commission report in 1882 revealed shocking accounts of conditions and procedures at the Quarantine Station. As a result, a substantial building and renovation program was undertaken. Further building was carried out between 1912 and 1917 after the station came under Federal administration, which meant that it was well equipped to deal with the killer influenza epidemic after the First World War.

  The Quarantine Station was still in use in the 1970s – to accommodate Vietnamese orphans, as well as refugees from Cyclone Tracy which hit Darwin in 1974. The last ship to be quarantined was the Sakaki Maru in 1973.

  The Quarantine Station now looks very different from the early days of its use, but some of the old buildings are still there, as well as Aboriginal sites and more than 2000 European and Asian rock carvings dating back to the early 1800s.

  In June 1984 the Federal Government handed over the Quarantine Station to the NSW State Government, and it became part of the Sydney Harbour National Park. In 2004 the Quarantine Station will be leased to the tourism company Mawland, to further conserve and increase opportunities for visitors to access and learn about the site. For more information about the Quarantine Station and how to visit it, go to www.q-station.com.au

  While the characters in Ghost Boy are imaginary, the smallpox epidemic and the setting are not. Many people have died at the Quarantine Station over the years, and their presence haunts us still. Tours of the site are popular, including the special Ghost Boy tour which is based on this novel. If you go there, you may not see Tad … but in your imagination you will know he is watching you!

  Felicity Pulman wrote the first chapter of Ghost Boy over twenty years ago. Many years later a visit to the Quarantine Station at Manly, and research into the smallpox epidemic in Sydney in 1881, gave Ghost Boy a new direction. Felicity’s love of the bushland around Dobroyd Head, which is close to where she lives, plus the stargazing she used to do with her father at night, the inheritance of some jewellery and the family’s ‘webbed feet’, were all sources of inspiration for the characters and setting of this novel. She says, ‘Froggie, Tad and Cassie became so real to me, I always expect to see them whenever I walk to Dobroyd Head.’

  Felicity is a member of Lateral Learning. She often talks to schools about researching and writing her books, and she also runs writing workshops for children and adults. It was a great thrill, she says, to go on the inaugural Ghost Boy tour of the old Quarantine Station, to follow the characters and watch her novel ‘come alive’.

  Felicity is the author of time slip fantasy trilogy Shalott, Return to Shalott and Shalott: The Final Journey. She has also written four books in the medieval mystery series The Janna Mysteries. To find out more about Felicity’s books, visit her website: http://www.felicitypulman.com.au