The Plantation - Di Morrissey [55]
‘Thank my mother. She’s pulled all this together,’ said Julie. In fact she’d been amazed at how Caroline had taken on all the work with her small committee. Julie had helped with the promotion of the fete, but had been too busy at work to do as much as she’d have liked. Caroline had run things marvellously.
‘This place is so beautiful. It makes you realise how much work and history are in the old gardens in this neighbourhood,’ added the woman.
‘Exactly. My great grandmother Winifred helped plant this. She was a keen gardener like her mother. But both my grandmother and Mum have worked hard to maintain it,’ answered Julie.
David Cooper turned from the hoopla stall and smiled as Julie approached. ‘I’ve just donated some money to the cause. I didn’t win a thing.’
‘It’s going well, isn’t it? Mum and her mates have done a brilliant job.’
‘You certainly got the word out there,’ said David.
‘There’s still a long way to go,’ said Julie. ‘We need to raise a heap more money to make our voice heard and get support from other parts of the city, not just locally. People must realise that these beautiful old homes and gardens are worth preserving.’
‘True. You don’t want to come across just as “Not in my Backyarders.” I’ve been looking at the ramifications of this bypass and if it’s established it could set a precedent for other parts of Brisbane,’ said David.
‘That’s the message we have to get across,’ said Julie firmly.
As they walked through the crowded garden, David was thoughtful. ‘It’s interesting that the council has gone very quiet on the matter. They say they are consulting.’
‘Consulting with whom? Not with any of us,’ said Julie.
‘Want to try one of those home-made fruit punch drinks? Looks very delicious,’ said David, stopping by a stall that was selling freshly squeezed juices made from mangoes and other tropical fruit piled in baskets. As they sipped their smoothies and watched groups of people chatting and enjoying themselves with their friends and families, Julie said, ‘If what you say is right, and the council has gone quiet, maybe putting the bypass on the back burner until things quieten down, perhaps I could leave town for a short break.’
‘I suppose so,’ said David. ‘I’ll have to leave Brisbane, too. Work calls, but I don’t think anyone will consider us deserters. Where’re you going?’
‘Malaysia.’
‘What? Really!’ David looked elated. ‘My stamping ground. Have I piqued your interest?’
‘In a way, yes. Actually, I suppose I thought of this trip because of you,’ began Julie.
‘You won’t regret it!’ broke in David, now quite excited. ‘You must let me show you around …’
‘Hang about,’ laughed Julie. ‘I’ve been asked to stay with my cousins at Utopia plantation.’
‘Shane and Peter Elliott?’
‘That’s right. After you met them and asked them about Bette’s book, they wrote to us, inviting us to go and visit. My parents don’t want to go right now, but my mother has been telling me stories about my grand mother’s time in Malaya when she went there as a bride. Gran told Mum that they were the happiest years of her life.’
‘Then do you have any idea why your Aunt Bette would write a book on the Iban?’
‘No, none at all, because by then my grandmother wasn’t speaking to her.’
‘So it’s a mystery?’ asked David.
‘Yes, Gran wouldn’t tell Mum about anything after the war broke out in Malaya. The story just kind of stops. So now I’m curious about the family plantation and I’m also rather intrigued by Bette, though I doubt I’ll find out much more about her.’
‘Knowing what she wrote, she must have been quite adventurous. An interesting woman. It’s a shame you didn’t know her. What was your grandmother like?’
‘Ever since I can remember, my grandmother lived in this house. She was a strong, forthright kind of person, not sentimental or soft. I don’t know anything about her sister. Gran rarely mentioned her, except to be critical, and to murmur darkly that she’d gone off and married a Chinaman. But I really want to go and see the place where my mother