Tears of the Moon - Di Morrissey [178]
‘I sometimes feel he is,’ said Tyndall with understanding. ‘But Maya will need a man’s hand in Georgie’s upbringing, that’s for sure.’
‘Gilbert and I have offered Maya a home, but I imagine you have other plans,’ said Olivia.
‘Yeah. I’m working up to asking her to stay here. Would you have any objection to her coming in to help with the business?’
‘Not at all, it makes sense. She’ll be able to take over my role soon enough.’
‘Oh no, Olivia! I don’t want you to leave Star of the Sea! We need you.’ Tyndall looked distressed. The business was his link with Olivia.
Olivia was relieved. In her heart she realised she didn’t want to sever the ties that linked them. But another voice in her head whispered that perhaps she should cut the mooring ropes. Tyndall now had a new life just as she did. But Olivia was uncomfortable with the thought and pushed it to one side.
The days slid by. Maya and Georgie moved in with Tyndall. Rosminah and Yusef had had another baby and Georgie spent hours playing with the baby girl. Olivia helped Maya settle in and together they decorated rooms for her and Georgie. They spent part of every morning in the office and in the evenings Tyndall continued to ensconce himself on Olivia’s verandah with a drink. She was intrigued with his stories of the time with Mikimoto and they discussed at length the feasibility of setting up a cultured pearl farm in or near Broome.
‘Why don’t we sail up the coast a bit and look for a site in remote river and creek inlets? You haven’t been sailing for a time and I know you love it.’
‘We’ll take Maya and Georgie too,’ added Olivia hastily. ‘Oh, yes, we’d all like that.’
On the morning they planned to sail, Yusef ran down to the little jetty where Tyndall was helping stow Olivia and the gear. Yusef had been delegated to get Maya and Georgie to the boat after breakfast but arrived with bad news.
‘Georgie little bit tummy sick and hot. They no go. Maya say she stay and look out for her. You go. She say to tell you that Georgie not big sick.’
Olivia wanted to return home and stay ashore, but once they had seen Maya and were reassured that Georgie was only mildly ill, Tyndall insisted they go ahead with the trip.
‘All this preparation. And you were so looking forward to it, Olivia. And it will be useful. If we find the right place, we could think about leasing land.’
She reluctantly agreed, concerned at being thrown together with Tyndall and knowing how confusing her emotions had been since she arrived in Broome.
But once they were clear of the bay and heading up the coast in the schooner, Mist, which Tyndall had bought to replace the shipwrecked Shamrock, all of her reservations fell away. She found the pleasure of being at sea overwhelming. It was as if she was sailing away from her troubles.
‘Where are your sailing pyjamas?’ asked Tyndall with a cheeky grin.
‘Threw them overboard years ago,’ she laughed. ‘Won’t this do?’ She indicated the new shorter length cotton skirt, the long loose top with a sailor collar, and plimsolls. A long braid of hair fell from under her hat over one shoulder and Tyndall thought she looked as youthful as the day he’d first met her.
‘I guess you pass muster,’ he said nonchalantly.
Two days later they found an inlet that opened into a small deepwater bay with a rocky shore and a flat scrubby area suitable for a work base.
Tyndall and Olivia rowed about the bay and wandered through the scrubland, finding a small freshwater creek that had meandered down from the hills that protected the bay.
‘It’s very remote and private. Could be a smugglers’ cove,’ said Olivia.
‘If we set up an experimental pearl farm up here, I doubt anyone would know,’ said Tyndall. ‘It’s certainly worth an experiment. Our golden-lip pearl shells are much bigger than the Japanese Akoya pearl shell. Our waters are warmer too, so I