The Plantation - Di Morrissey [157]
‘Bet-Bet.’
She laughed and hugged him. ‘I haven’t been called that in a long time. You look wonderful. I can’t believe how tall you are.’
‘Goodness, Bette, remember how we hated people saying that to us when we were young?’ Margaret leaned towards Philip, offering her cheek to be kissed. ‘Where’s Caroline?’
‘Asleep,’ said Philip taking Bette’s arm. ‘Can I show Bette to her room?’
‘Good idea, take Bette’s small bag. Ho and Hamid can bring in the rest,’ said Roland.
‘Ho is still here! That’s wonderful, he must be very old,’ said Bette. ‘And Ah Kit? That was the name of your houseboy when you were in the other house, wasn’t it?’
‘He no longer works for me,’ said Roland.
Philip took Bette’s small carry bag. She wanted to say that she was travelling with more luggage than the last time the two of them had travelled together, but she wasn’t sure how a flippant remark about the past would be received.
‘I’ll go and check on Caroline,’ said Margaret.
‘I can’t wait to see her,’ said Bette, following Philip up the stairs.
‘She’s a bundle of energy. A bit of a tomboy. Mother put you in this room. It has a nice view.’ He put her bag down.
‘I’m so pleased to see you looking … so well,’ said Bette.
‘You look different too. I think you’re very pretty,’ said Philip shyly. He paused awkwardly. ‘Thank you for the letters, the books and pictures.’
‘I’m glad you liked them.’
‘Yes. I wrote to you,’ he said.
‘Thank you. I enjoyed receiving your notes. I’m hoping to do some more drawings while I’m here,’ said Bette. As they left the bedroom, Bette asked, ‘Are you looking forward to boarding school?’
‘Yes, lots. All my friends have been going for years. I can’t wait to play cricket and rugby with them. I’m starting next term.’
Bette didn’t pursue the subject. She had thought that perhaps Philip would not want to go to school so far away from home but clearly he was eager to. ‘So what do you do with yourself here, when you’re not studying?’
‘I’m learning the plantation business. I like to watch the tappers working, but it’s most fun to mess around where the latex is drying. Those sheets remind me of spooky ghosts.’ He grinned. ‘And we’ve got a fast boat down at the river so I drive that.’
‘You’ll have to take me out in it,’ said Bette.
Margaret appeared in the hallway. ‘He’s not supposed to take that boat out alone.’
‘Is the pagar still there? Maybe we could go on a picnic,’ suggested Bette.
‘Father says it might not be safe there,’ said Philip.
‘Really?’ asked Bette. ‘Why not?’
‘The communists,’ said Margaret.
‘They’re guerillas in the jungle,’ said Philip.
‘We seem to be quite safe at Utopia. But just the same Roland says we mustn’t go anywhere unsupervised. And that definitely means you, young man. Now please go and tell Ho to bring the tea outside onto the verandah, and ask Ah Min to bring Caroline out when she wakes up.’
‘Tea sounds lovely,’ said Bette. ‘It’s wonderful some of the staff are still here – Ho, Ah Min, Philip’s old amah, Hamid. What happened to Ah Kit?’
‘According to Roland, he fought with the communists during the war. Hard to believe that he would do something like that, after living here at Utopia and everything we did for him,’ snapped Margaret. ‘Talk about ingratitude!’
With that the subject was dismissed, and at that moment their attention was diverted to a small blonde rocket propelling herself across the verandah to stand next to her mother. The little girl chewed her finger and looked at Bette.
‘Caroline, this is your Aunt Bette. Now what do you do? Take that finger out of your mouth. Come on, curtsy.’ Caroline bent one of her knees, giving a brief bob.‘Where’s your skirt, hold out your skirt,’ directed Margaret.
‘Oh, that’s all right, you did very well,’ said Bette. ‘What a clever little girl you are.’
‘Yes, butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth, but she can be an imp. She has to be watched all the time,’ said