The Plantation - Di Morrissey [110]
‘For years I thought that one shouldn’t talk about what was past. Move on, get on with your life was my motto. But now, as I am getting older, I don’t want the actions of these women, or those of the Japanese, forgotten either. I think that their story should be told.’
Marjorie settled back into her chair and passed her coffee cup to Julie. ‘Top us both up, and I’ll start from when I first met Bette and Philip.’
9
Sarawak, 1942
MARJORIE AND HER MOTHER, Evelyn, were silent as they followed the other women who shuffled, single file, towards the camp, knowing their world was to shrink to this wire-enclosed hot and dusty prison.
‘Looks like a damned chicken coop. All that wire,’ commented one of the women in a low voice.
‘I just want to sit down, my feet are raw,’ said another.
‘It’s barbed wire! Look at the guards up there.’
The group of women suddenly saw the tower where an armed soldier stood watching them approaching the main gates, where other soldiers waited. The women fell silent again as their internment became a reality. What shocked some of them were the pained and sad faces of the women already inside the camp, who had come to the fence to watch them.
One of them pointed at the new arrivals. ‘Bags! They have suitcases. Belongings. Have you got any food?’ she called out.
‘And medicine?’ cried another.
‘Oh my Lord. What’s going to happen? I haven’t got enough to share around. My baby needs it,’ said one of the new arrivals fearfully, clutching her bag, which was weighed down by precious tins of powdered milk.
In the new group, Evelyn walked slowly, bent over with pain and fever. Behind her, Marjorie, gangly legs and arms, her hair in a long plait, dragged her mother’s suitcase as well as her own bag behind her. Across her chest was slung a cotton bag. She looked bewildered. Her mother had tried to explain what might happen to them, but Marjorie really couldn’t imagine what being locked away might be like.
‘But why, Mummy? What did we do wrong? Where’s Daddy going?’
‘We haven’t done anything wrong, Marjorie. Don’t you forget that. I’m sure your father will be all right. It’s hard when grownups fight each other, when people make war on others because they want their country, innocent people get in the way. I’m afraid that’s us. We’ve got in the way of Japanese ambition. But we won’t be forgotten. We will be rescued and then life will go on as it always has. You’ll just have to be brave until we get out of here,’ said her mother in a tired voice.
As she stood in front of the gates, Marjorie looked at the strange fenced-off area. It didn’t look like the prison she’d imagined. There were no big cement buildings or high solid walls. ‘How long will we have to wait?’ she asked as the line of women came to a stop.
Three armed soldiers came towards them. There were raised voices, but Marjorie’s attention was diverted. It was as though everything around her had dissipated into soft focus while a bright spotlight shone on the scene further along the fence. A young boy, about three, was at the wire on his knees, trying to retrieve a soft toy he’d poked through the fence. Marjorie put down her bag and went over to him. She picked up the toy, which was a small blue elephant, and pushed it back through the wire. The little boy grabbed it from her and clutched it, regarding Marjorie with solemn blue eyes.
‘How did your elephant get out here?’ she asked him.
‘Run away,’ he said and then turned away as a woman called to him.
‘Philip! Come over here, please.’
One of the Japanese soldiers ran towards Marjorie and shouted at her. Frightened by this violent reaction, she returned to the other women who were being pushed through the gates. Marjorie picked up the two bags. She could see that Evelyn was at the end of her tether.
In the central dusty yard the women, several babies and children of various ages, were being marshalled into straggling lines by the shouting Japanese soldiers. They had been told to put their bags to one side, but now a soldier had begun to tear them open, scattering their