The Plantation - Di Morrissey [127]
‘Coconut water?’
‘You might call it coconut milk, but it’s called coconut water here.’
‘I’d love one of those, whatever it’s called.’
Bobbing in the pool, she told Christopher about Marjorie’s experience in the camp as a prisoner during the war.
‘It’s amazing that she knew your aunt, but it’s not so surprising that they lost touch. You’d want to put all those awful experiences behind you. So where to now?’ he asked. ‘What are your plans? When are you going back to Brissie?’
‘I have another few days. Work seems a forgotten country. I feel I’ve been away for months when I’ll have been gone barely two weeks.’
‘I know the feeling,’ said Christopher. ‘Holidays take a bit of adjustment. Sometimes I miss the routine of my job. Don’t know what to do with a lot of free time, I get bored.’
‘Really? Are you bored here?’
He laughed. ‘Absolutely not! These few days have been a lot of fun. And I’m enjoying sharing it with someone from home.’
‘It’s been nice for me, too,’ said Julie thinking to herself how comfortable they were with each other, how unlike it was travelling with David Cooper. As Christopher began playing with one of the cats that had come to the edge of the swimming pool, she decided he was just one of those unpretentious people who made you feel at ease. ‘I’m heading back to Utopia for a couple of days and then I’ll do a bit more sightseeing before I go home,’ she said finally.
‘I have to go back to Butterworth. But you should see Penang. It’s a great place. Just about my favourite place in the whole country. If you get there, I’d like to buy you dinner.’
‘That’d be lovely. Will you be flying around in your jet, or whatever it is?’
‘Not at all. Mostly what I do involves a lot of paperwork and discussions with the Malaysian Air Force.’
‘Is that the sort of thing that you want to do for the rest of your career?’ asked Julie.
‘I’m happy in the Air Force, it’s a great life and the work can be very interesting and varied, but I might think about being a commercial pilot eventually. It seems the logical career path, though I have a few ideas of other things I might do one day.’ He stepped out of the pool. Julie studied his lean, tanned body and he caught her looking at him. She smiled. He smiled back as they both acknowledged the moment. ‘Would you like some satay? I can smell them cooking from here.’
They all flew from Langkawi to Penang airport and there were rushed farewells as everyone found their luggage. Ramdin, the Utopia driver, swept them away in minutes in the Jaguar. Once they were in the car, Peter and Shane began to talk business. Martine offered Julie some magazines to look at, but she shook her head, preferring to gaze at the passing scenery.
As the car purred along the highway, Julie looked at the endless hills covered with palm oil plantations. The immaculate, serried ranks of plump fronds marched in straight lines as far as she could see. It all looked so silent, so ordered, so militaristic. She longed for the tangle of jungle, the disorder of human habitation, the sight and sounds of birds and wild animals. Every few miles a neat billboard announced the name of the company that owned that particular plantation.
‘Shane, Peter, would you mind if I asked you how you feel about the spread of the palm oil plantations?’ she asked. ‘I know you must think palm oil is important, because you now grow so much of it, but palm oil is a contentious issue.’
Peter turned and smiled at her. ‘Ah, this is a discussion that can fill in a few hours.’
Shane drew a long breath and said, ‘It’s true, palm oil is a part of the Malaysian economy and yes, there are problems because the jungle is being cut down to create these oil plantations, but at Utopia we are trying to be as ethical as possible. My father made the decision to plant palm oil after Grandfather Roland died. Grandfather was such a rubber man and although he had experimented with palm oil before the war, he couldn’t bring himself to change the whole plantation over to it. But Dad decided that