The Plantation - Di Morrissey [161]
‘Are you all right? You, in the car, it’s all right.’
At the sound of the British soldiers, they all began to move. Margaret sat up and Philip lifted himself from Bette and glanced at his mother. Then he jumped from the car and ran to where the tank had stopped. One of the soldiers was standing over Hamid’s body. The other soldier lowered his machine gun and looked at the now deserted hillside.
‘They’ve gone,’ he said.
‘Is Hamid dead?’
‘If you mean your driver, yes, I’m afraid so, son. Is anyone else hurt?’
‘I don’t think so. My sister is covered in blood but I think it’s Hamid’s. He saved her life,’ said Philip tearfully.
‘You have to get out of here. Can anyone drive?’
‘I can,’ said Margaret, holding Caroline and clearly shaken and distressed.
‘So can I,’ said Bette. She looked at the bloodied body of Roland’s driver and shook her head. ‘Poor Hamid.’
At this Philip burst into tears, he was once again just a frightened boy. He reached for Bette who put her arms around him, and held him close. ‘It’s all right, Philip. It’s over. We’re all right.’
‘We’ll have to put the body of your driver in the boot, ma’am. If you’re all right to drive, follow us.’
Bette smoothed Philip’s hair. ‘Go and help your mother.’
Bette spoke briefly to the soldier and then returned to the car and got in behind the wheel. Philip sat beside her while Margaret, in the back, held Caroline who had stopped crying and was now asking where Hamid was.
No one answered her as Bette cautiously manoeuvred the big, bullet-riddled car around the tight bends, following the tank to the safety of the holiday township at Fraser’s Hill.
They were all deeply distressed. Margaret was quickly surrounded by her sympathetic friends and arrangements were made for them to return to Utopia straight away.
*
When they arrived home, Margaret was still extremely upset. Roland kissed his wife, embraced Bette, and hugged Philip and Caroline.
‘Thank you, Bette. That couldn’t have been an easy drive for you to manage from Fraser’s Hill,’ said Roland as the children went to find Ah Min. ‘I’ve broken the news to Hamid’s family. It’s been a terrible shock for them.’
‘It must be. Philip kept me company and wanted to talk about Hamid and all the memories he had of him.’ She looked at Margaret. ‘I’ll never forget the time he drove us to Singapore.’ Seeing her sister’s set and angry face, she said no more about Hamid. ‘I’m glad that Caroline’s all right.’
‘She’s still too little to articulate her feelings. Unlike Philip,’ snapped Margaret. ‘All those years you had with my son. All those years. Now it seems you are still trying to come between us.’
‘Now, dear,’ began Roland, looking distressed.
‘Don’t be naïve, Roland. Philip had a choice and he chose to save Bette rather than his mother,’ cried Margaret.
‘Margaret! What do you mean? Philip …’ Bette wanted to remind Margaret how brave Philip had been on the Fraser’s Hill road, but she realised that Margaret didn’t want to hear about that. ‘He’s a young man now. I was just closer to him …’
‘Than I was because I wasn’t there! That’s what you’re trying to say. It wasn’t my fault that you missed the damn boat!’
‘I didn’t mean that. I was just saying that on the mountain road, Philip was closer to me than he was to you, so that’s why he tried to protect me. Anyway, you were rushing to Caroline,’ Bette said, trying to calm Margaret who was now looking wild-eyed.
‘Bette, I’ve watched you ever since you came and you’ve done nothing but try to take my son away from me,’ screamed Margaret.
‘Margaret! That’s enough,’ bellowed Roland.
‘That’s not true! I was not trying to steal your son. I did all I could to look after him – for your sake!’ cried Bette, feeling wounded that Margaret could harbour such ill feeling and jealousy. But no accusations could alter the fact that Bette and Philip did share a special bond.
‘Margaret, Philip’s feelings towards me are different from how he feels about you. He loves you and needs you, too. He’s