Tears of the Moon - Di Morrissey [203]
‘I’ve got an assignment … going bush for a bit. Going to train a band of warriors.’
‘Whatever do you mean, warriors!’ Olivia couldn’t keep the amusement out of her voice.
‘Sergeant MacIntyre and a bloke from “native affairs” as he calls it have come up with a scheme to save us should the Japs land on this strip of coast.’
‘Go on.’ Olivia was non-committal.
‘Well, it’s a plan to train the natives in coastal surveillance and dealing with the enemy.’
He began undressing as Olivia sat up in bed. ‘Do they seriously believe we might be invaded?’
‘The Government thinks a Jap invasion is possible. They aren’t that far to the north of us, Olivia. And just how are we going to protect all our uninhabited coastline? They can’t patrol it adequately. So some smart bureaucrat has suggested we train the Aborigines. Just the top warriors. They’ve got two dozen hand-picked from round this area. I’m to help train them in how to handle a gun, hand-to-hand combat, that sort of thing. Though they know that better than us. Basically, we’re to spread the word among the tribal people so if by chance the Japanese came ashore they’d be tracked and attacked.’
‘Are the Aborigines willing to do this?’
‘Well, the mob from Blue Mud Bay in Arnhem Land are already at it up the top end. The brass think the nor’-west coast should set up the same thing.’ Tyndall lay back on the pillows and folded his arms under his head. ‘They have bush knowledge, skill with spears, can appear out of the night like a shadow and you’d never hear them. With proper weapons they’ll be ace soldiers.’
Olivia felt everything closing in on her. Why did men find such stimulation in the call of war? Hadn’t they learned from the last deadly fiasco?
She turned on her side and Tyndall, sensing her melancholy, took her in Jus arms. ‘Don’t worry, it probably won’t happen. We just have to be prepared, that’s all.’
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Tyndall and Olivia stood in the narrow hallway outside their respective offices. ‘Two small rooms upstairs in town and a bunch of ramshackle sheds down the foreshore. All that remains of Star of the Sea. Not much to show for what was a pretty hot enterprise in its day, eh?’ remarked Tyndall. There was a tinge of bitterness in his voice.
‘John, we have a lot to show for it and you know it. Think of the friends, the adventures, the money we’ve made—and lost. Admit it, you wouldn’t change it’
‘Some things I’d change,’ he said sadly, taking Olivia’s hand.
‘We can’t bring them back, darling.’ Olivia squeezed beside him as they went down the tiny staircase. ‘Maybe it’s time we turned our backs on it all. Went back to my place in Perth.’
‘I’m not a gardener,’ he snapped.
‘Well, you could plot out your next move for after the war. Look at cultured pearls again.’ They stepped out into the street where Ahmed waited. The three of them gazed up at the window where the sign STAR OF THE SEA PEARL CO., so faded now, could barely be read.
‘I feel like putting a match to the whole place,’ said Tyndall.
‘No luggers, just the schooner; no work, no luck. What we do now, tuan?’
‘Let’s go home and have a Star of the Sea wake,’ said Olivia. ‘Mollie’s granddaughter cooks up a great curry. Let’s round up Mabel and Toby.’
Ahmed looked pleased at the idea and Tyndall somewhat mollified.
They drove to the Mettas’ house and as they got to the verandah Mabel came bustling out looking distressed. ‘Oh, my dears, isn’t it dreadful. What is going to happen to us all … ’
‘Mabel, what’s wrong?’
She dabbed at her face with the edge of her sari. ‘Haven’t you heard, it’s on the wireless … Darwin … it’s been bombed!’
‘My God! How bad is it?’ gasped Olivia.
Tyndall tensed. ‘Olivia, forget lunch. I’d better go see what’s afoot. We could be next.’
‘Broome too far for Jap planes, tuan,’ said Ahmed, looking worried nonetheless.
‘Come inside, Olivia. John, Toby has gone to the Conti.’
Ahmed trotted through the garden beside Tyndall, who called over his shoulder, ‘I’ll be at the Residence, then the Conti.’
Later, settled in the Lugger Bar, the conversation humming