Tears of the Moon - Di Morrissey [177]
‘Georgiana, this is your grandfather,’ said Maya softly.
Georgie said nothing but there was a flicker of a grin and those big eyes went on sizing him up.
‘Hello,’ he said at last. ‘I’m very pleased to meet you. I hope you’ll like the present I’ve brought. Would you like me to help you open it?’ He reached out a hand and with a big smile she leaned forward in her mother’s arms towards her grandfather. As he swept her up he gave Maya a big wink over Georgiana’s shoulder. Together they unwrapped the gift and Maya’s hand flew to her mouth as she recognised the toy lugger she had played with as a little girl.
The dinner was a huge success. Olivia helped with the serving and deliberately let Maya and Tyndall set the flow of conversation, joining in occasionally with stories of Shaw House or memories of the early days of the pearling venture, a subject Maya found absorbing.
Olivia was pleased when Tyndall offered to take Maya and Georgie for a sail in one of the luggers, but no sooner had she expressed her delight than a sudden surge of guilt made her stiffen. Memories of those distant days at sea with Tyndall and acknowledgement of Gilbert waiting in Fremantle clashed with the violence of a tropical cyclone. It was a struggle to keep her turbulent emotions under control and as soon as the tea was served she picked up her cup and rose from the table. ‘I think the three of you should have a little time together before Georgie falls asleep, which I don’t think is very far off. I have to write to Gilbert and tell him all about the day and I want to catch the mail before the steamer goes. I’ll see you before you go, John.’ She kept up a facade of forced calmness until she closed the door of her room, then leaned against it, shut her eyes and began to weep quietly.
Maya looked after her and back to Tyndall. ‘Will you get around to telling me about you and Olivia? I sense there is a lot I don’t know about you both.’
Georgie was almost asleep on Tyndall’s lap and he pushed back his chair and hoisted her to his shoulder where she nestled her head and toyed with his pearl earring. ‘Yes, I will, Maya. It’s right you know everything. And I think it will make me feel better too. It’s hard keeping things inside you that you can’t share with other people. Now, lead on to the sleeping quarters for the small wretch here.’
The news of Tyndall being reunited with his daughter and that he also had a granddaughter gave the town something cheerful to discuss other than the gloom of falling business due to the drop in pearl shell prices. Taki decided to return to Japan when his contract was up and there was a farewell party for him at the Japanese Club where several other divers and tenders announced they were also going back to their villages. Yoshi had made one more trip back to Japan over the years to bury his father-in-law. Now he hoped to eventually retire and run a small business, perhaps a little noodle restaurant, with his wife Sachiko and his son.
There was the inevitable gossip in the white community about Olivia’s return and speculation about her relationship with Tyndall. As always, they chose to ignore this and kept to themselves. They did not appear in public together but he resumed his habit of calling by each evening for sundowners and to play with Georgie.
Maya spent almost every day with him and Tyndall had taken great delight in seeing how she enjoyed Ahmed and Yoshi and asked them to teach her about the practical side of diving and the luggers.
‘She has a good grasp of figures and bookwork. The nuns taught her well, though she says she hated the schooling at the time,’ observed Olivia.
‘Poor kid, going from a good home here to barefoot in the bush and then having to knuckle down alone under the nuns. The Barstows should take more pride in her, she’s turned out well. But I feel bloody dreadful about the whole thing.’
‘John, there wasn’t a thing you could do about it. I’ve told her how you tried to find them after Niah went bush. But there’s nothing life can