The Plantation - Di Morrissey [126]
‘You must have enjoyed having him around in much easier circumstances,’ said Julie.
‘Yes. And then years later Philip persuaded me to return to Malaysia, and I’ve just kept coming. The memories of the war have faded and you can’t blame this country for what happened during those years. And Malaysia really is a lovely place.’
‘I can see why Shane and Peter are so attached to you,’ said Julie.
‘Yes, and I’m very fond of them. I’m sorry that I can’t tell you much more about your aunt. Looking back now, it’s a shame that she dropped out of our lives. But perhaps from what I’ve been able to tell you, you can get a sense of how strong she was. She was also very creative. She told me that when she was in solitary confinement that time, she drew in her head as a way of staying sane. And of course there was the card she gave me for my birthday.’
‘Do you know what happened to the diary that was kept in the camp?’
‘I didn’t know about the diary at all until after we were liberated, but I found out later that one of the women rewrote it and it was published.’
‘My aunt wrote a book about the Iban, but I don’t know if she continued her art. She obviously loved to draw,’ mused Julie. ‘Marjorie, I can’t thank you enough for sharing your story. It’s certainly given me an insight into my Great Aunt Bette. It’s amazing what she did for Philip. You would think that when Bette returned him to his mother, she would have been grateful to have her son back alive. I find it very hard to understand why Margaret ended up hating Bette.’
They sat and chatted a while longer, then Julie hugged Marjorie goodbye, and walked from the villa along the beach, past the coconut palms and freshly raked sand. She continued along the beach to the point, deep in thought. A shout caused her to look up and she saw Aidi jumping from his boat.
‘Hi, where are you off to?’ she called.
‘I’m collecting a couple of guests for the mangrove tour. What’re you doing?’
‘I’ve been visiting a friend here, a lovely lady, who knew my aunt when they were in a prison camp together near Kuching.’
‘They were hard times. What are you doing now?’
‘Just walking.’
‘Be careful of broken glass and rubbish,’ said Aidi, pointing to where the clean sweep of beach in front of the resort was bordered by piles of rubbish on both sides. ‘This junk swills back and forth on the tide between us and Thailand over there. It’s toxic.’
Julie could see that the naturalist was affronted by the garbage washed from the sea and now lying on the beach beyond the hotel grounds. ‘I’ve noticed that away from the tourist places, the locals don’t seem to care about pollution and rubbish.’
Aidi sighed. ‘Yes, it’s a big job to educate people not to treat the beaches and the sea as a sewer and a dumping place.’
‘I’ve been told the east coast has wonderful beaches but the pollution is getting out of hand over there, too,’ said Julie.
‘That’s true. The east coast of Malaysia is different from this side of the peninsula. It is the poorest and most culturally conservative part of Malaysia. In some places the supermarket queues are separated for men and women and the people all dress very modestly,’ said Aidi. ‘But on the island resorts, all regulations about dress codes and alcohol seem to get ignored. But pollution is a problem everywhere in Malaysia.’ He glanced at his watch. ‘I’d better not be late. Catch you before you leave. Say hi to everyone,’ he added.
‘Will do. Lovely to see you.’ Julie went back through the hotel gardens to reception where she caught a taxi back to her resort.
Christopher was waiting for her.
‘So, how did it go?’ he took her hand. ‘You look a little dazed.’
Julie laughed. ‘Well, I could do with a long cold drink.’
‘How about a swim and a cold beer?’
‘Actually, I’d love one of those green coconuts if you can open one.’
‘That’s easy,