The Plantation - Di Morrissey [184]
‘Thank you,’ said Caroline. ‘I would like to know, for better or worse, what happened.’
‘I’m glad that you feel like that, lass. I was there, as it happened, when the whole thing blew up. But it’s so late in the day now I know I’m not breaking any confidences by telling you about it.’
‘When this happened, was Bette married to Tony Tsang?’ asked Julie.
‘Yes, now that you mention it, I think she could have been, or the same year at any rate. Margaret told me that her sister had gone to Penang and had been seen with Tony. Roland and I thought that was wonderful, as Tony was a friend of ours, but Margaret didn’t approve.’
‘And was Philip there?’ asked Julie.
‘No, he’d gone to boarding school by that stage. He was a fine boy. I heard that when he finished school and university, he came back and worked with his father on the plantation. After Roland died I didn’t hear much about Utopia, but I did learn, via the grapevine, that Philip and his wife were killed in a car accident. That upset me, I can tell you.’
‘Philip’s sons Shane and Peter are running the plantation now. They are certainly committed to making it a modern operation. They’re doing a great job. But Bill, we are dying to find out why Gran brought Mum back to Australia,’ said Julie.
‘As I said before, I know what happened but I don’t suppose anyone else ever knew the story. Maybe it’s time, Caroline, for you and your family to know the truth.’
Utopia, 1950
Margaret was clearly pleased at the welcome distraction of Bill Dickson’s visit. ‘Bill, I’m delighted to see you. It’s always so dull around here these days – a friendly face is a cheery sight. I know that you and Roland want to spend time reminiscing about the war and your adventures, so I’ll leave you two here on the verandah with your whisky and water so that you can talk.’
Later that evening, while Roland was dressing for dinner, Margaret joined Bill and asked him his views on the present Emergency.
‘Roland doesn’t like to discuss it with me. But what are these communists doing? The war is over, the country should be grateful that the British are back in control. These Chinese are troublemakers,’ said Margaret. ‘All these murders, arson attacks and strikes. You know we were all nearly killed on the Fraser’s Hill road, don’t you?’
‘Roland told me about that. You lost your driver, didn’t you? The experience must have been very frightening.’
‘I never thought we’d see the day when people would try to push the British out of Malaya. What I can’t stand is the disloyalty from some of our workers, after all we’ve done for them,’ said Margaret. ‘Several of our staff have disappeared and haven’t come back. It’s shocking that there are still communists in this area. I worry about our safety.’
‘I wouldn’t worry. Utopia seems to be quite safe,’ Bill said soothingly.
‘And,’ continued Margaret, ‘that Ah Kit is one of those communists. He was our houseboy. I think I’ve seen him around the district, but Roland won’t talk about him.’
Bill seemed quite interested in Margaret’s claims. ‘You saw Ah Kit? Whereabouts?’
Margaret smiled at Bill. At last someone wanted to listen to something she had to say. ‘I was driving back from Slim River a couple of weeks ago. We have a new driver, of course, although he’s not as good as Hamid, and there was a young Malay police constable in the front seat with him. He’s been assigned to protect us. We passed a rice field where there were several farmers in large straw hats talking to a man with a bicycle. I know that the car was speeding past, but I’m sure that the man with the bicycle was Ah Kit. It shocked me.’
‘Are you sure that it was Ah Kit? You couldn’t have been mistaken?’
‘No, Bill, I’m convinced that it was Ah Kit!’ she exclaimed. ‘The new driver told me that he’s often around, talking to the villagers, asking them questions, helping them. Bill, those communists killed Hamid and they nearly killed me and my children. They’re getting very brazen,’ said Margaret.
Bill was shocked by how angry Margaret was about the communists, but he supposed that under the circumstances