Pearlie the Spy Read online

  ‘I’m so sorry, Hazel,’ Pearlie said, embarrassed.

  Hazel’s shoulders began to shake and a giggle erupted, followed by another. Then she sat on the bed and began to laugh.

  Pearlie looked at Hazel. ‘You’re not angry?’ she said.

  ‘How could I be?’ Hazel replied, wiping her eyes where tears had formed. ‘I haven’t had a good laugh like that in months.’

  Pearlie smiled, relieved. ‘So we can still stay then?’ she asked, just to make sure.

  ‘I wouldn’t turn a kid out onto the streets. Of course you can stay.’

  A cool breeze blew through the window as night fell. Pearlie helped Hazel cook sausages and mashed potatoes for dinner. Then they sat at the wooden table and ate and talked as if they’d been friends for a very long time. Hazel was ten years older than Pearlie. She’s almost like my big sister, Pearlie thought with a smile.

  It didn’t take long before Pearlie felt her eyelids droop. It had been a tiring day. Was it only this morning that she’d been packing to leave Darwin?

  ‘You look beat,’ Hazel said. ‘Come on, my girl. It’s off to bed with you. I’ll do the dishes later.’

  Pearlie followed Hazel back to her room.

  Hazel pointed to the bed under the mosquito net. ‘We can top and tail. There’s more room that way.’ She opened a drawer and held a nightie up against Pearlie. ‘Put this on and climb into bed while I wash the dishes.’ She handed the nightie to Pearlie and headed out the door.

  ‘Hazel,’ Pearlie called after her.

  Hazel popped her head back around the doorframe.

  Pearlie hesitated. She didn’t know how to ask.

  ‘What is it, honey?’

  ‘Well . . . it’s just that Tinto . . . he always sleeps with me under the covers. He never fusses and –’

  Hazel smiled. ‘Go right ahead. If he’s a nuisance, I’ll boot him out, you can be sure of that.’

  HAZEL was snoring quietly when Pearlie woke the next morning.

  She lifted Tinto into her arms and took her clothes down the hall to the bathroom to wash and dress. She didn’t want to wake Hazel who had been so good to her.

  When Pearlie saw her face in the mirror she gasped. Blue-black bruises had come up on her neck.

  ‘I don’t want to be reminded of that horrible man,’ she said to Tinto and arranged her hair around her neck to hide the marks.

  She dressed quickly and was about to go to the kitchen to make breakfast when she heard voices coming from down the corridor.

  One of the voices belonged to Hazel. But she was speaking differently. She sounded soft and shy. The other voice belonged to a man and Hazel was giggling at what he was saying.

  Oh peanuts, Pearlie thought. That must be Hazel’s boyfriend.

  Tinto was on her shoulder but he began acting strangely. He bared his teeth and flattened his ears.

  ‘What’s the matter?’ Pearlie whispered, taking Tinto down and holding him. It was how he acted when he was angry. ‘We have to go. Hazel doesn’t want us around when her boyfriend comes to visit.’

  She lingered in the kitchen, waiting for Hazel to shut her bedroom door. But Pearlie was curious as well. She wanted to see what the boyfriend looked like.

  Very carefully she peeped around the corner.

  And froze.

  The man standing in the hall was Beake!

  Beake is Hazel’s boyfriend? Pearlie couldn’t believe it. She didn’t want to believe it. No wonder Tinto was bristling with anger. Hazel was the one person Pearlie thought she could turn to for help.

  ‘Oh, French perfume!’ Hazel was saying. ‘You are so wonderful to me, Ron. How do I deserve a man like you?’

  Pearlie almost stepped out of hiding. She wanted to protect Hazel, to warn her that Beake was a spy and dangerous. But Tinto hissed and wriggled and she stepped back into the kitchen. No, I can’t do that. He might hurt Hazel too.

  She stood with her back to the wall and held Tinto close, tickling him under the chin to keep him calm and quiet.

  A few minutes later she heard the door shut to Hazel’s room.

  Pearlie’s breath came out in a wheeze as she ran down Cavenagh Street towards home. She needed time to think and home was the best place, especially as she knew exactly where Beake was . . . for the time being, anyway.

  The shop was locked so Pearlie went around the back and climbed the fence. She let Tinto out of his pouch and watched him running around the yard. He was happy to be home, but Pearlie was still in a daze at seeing Beake with Hazel.

  She found the key her mum had hidden and unlocked the back door. She stood listening, almost expecting to hear the noises she used to take so much for granted – the whirr of Dad’s sewing machine, Mum talking softly to Joey, Joey screaming in protest. But the house was silent and empty.

  Pearlie made toast and a pot of strong tea. She put two teaspoons of sugar into the cup and sat down at the table. She felt utter despair. How am I going to find Mum and Dad when there are no more ships leaving Darwin? And how am I going to hide from Beake when I have nowhere to go? Hazel was my last hope.

  Tinto jumped onto her shoulder and snuggled into her.

  ‘If it wasn’t for you, my little one, I’d be the loneliest person in the world,’ she said, rubbing her cheek against him.

  Pearlie looked through the open door out to the yard. It had started raining again. The trees swayed in the wind.

  ‘We have to go bush,’ she said to Tinto. It came out as if it was the most natural thing to do. But Pearlie had never camped outside before, not even in her own backyard.

  Tinto screeched and leapt backwards.

  ‘I agree, we know nothing about surviving in the bush.’

  The little monkey screeched again.

  ‘What do you mean I’m scared of the dark? You’re the one who’s a scaredy cat . . . I mean scaredy marmoset. Anyway, it’s the only place where we’ll be safe from Beake. Please say yes . . .’

  Tinto jumped onto her shoulder and wrapped his tail around her arm.

  ‘Then we better get ready.’

  Now that Pearlie had a plan she felt much better. There were things to do. She began searching the kitchen, loading her satchel with carrots, oranges, cans of bully beef, peaches, spaghetti and a canteen of water. Then she packed a torch, a blanket, and of course Reddy’s lucky penknife. Oh, and a hatchet to build a bush shelter. She couldn’t forget that.

  An hour later the rain had stopped and Pearlie and Tinto were on their way.

  Pearlie felt as if she had walked for hours. She was far away from the town, heading in the direction of the air-force base. And then she found it.

  It was a small clearing between two trees with a ridge of rocks behind for protection from the wind and weather. ‘This is perfect for our camp,’ she said, letting Tinto out of his pouch. He shimmied up one of the trees and began jumping through the branches.

  Pearlie’s first job was to build a shelter. She found a tree with long, flexible branches and feathery leaves. At first she was clumsy with the hatchet. One time it slipped off the branch, the blade nicking her knee. It was only a little bit of blood but it gave her a fright. After that she took careful aim with each chop.

  When she had enough branches, Pearlie collected some strong vines. She used these to lace the branches together. She remembered how Dad darned his socks whenever they had a hole in them and she used the same crisscross pattern, filling in the gaps with finer twigs. It seemed to be working.

  The shelter took a few hours to build and Pearlie was sweaty and exhausted when she was done. But she was pleased with her handiwork. She thought about her great-grandmother who was Aboriginal. Maybe some of your spirit is with me now, Great Grandma, she thought. She looked up at the sky and smiled a thank you.

  The last thing to do was to collect soft leaves for a bed. The sun was setting as she finally pulled her satchel into the humpy and sat down, cross-legged.

  ‘This is not bad, eh, Tinto?’ she said, look
ing around. Tinto was sitting on her lap staring at a green tree ant running along a twig. ‘I don’t think even Reddy or Nao could do a better job.’

  For dinner she opened a can of bully beef and a can of peaches. She gave some to Tinto and then they shared an apple.

  That night, as Pearlie lay under the blanket in her humpy, she listened to the strange sounds of the bush. Insects chirruped softly around her. She poked her head out and stared at the glittering sky. There were so many stars. She began counting them. But the more she looked the more stars she saw, layer upon layer of them sinking into the darkness of space.

  She was happily drifting off to sleep when a sudden scream made her sit bolt upright. Tinto screeched and leapt into her arms.

  Pearlie quickly crawled inside her shelter, wishing she had a door to lock behind her.

  The cry sounded like a baby . . . or was it a ghost? She sat very still, staring into the dark. If it was a ghost, at least she knew how to lay one to rest. Once there was a ghost in Dad’s shop and he had to ask one of the old Chinese men what to do.

  ‘See what it wants,’ the old man had said.

  So Dad wrote a note to the ghost on a piece of paper and left it on the counter. The next morning there was an answer in scrawly writing. The ghost wanted Dad to dig under the chicken coop where a bag of coins was hidden. It wasn’t very much money and all the coins were Chinese so Dad couldn’t use them, but after that the ghost left.

  Pearlie lay and listened and hoped it wasn’t a ghost. Gradually the cry became more regular and she decided that it must be a bird, maybe one of the Bush Stone Curlews she’d read about in her bird book. Yes, that’s surely what it is, she thought with relief.

  Soon the cries stopped and Pearlie closed her eyes.

  The next time she woke up, it was still dark. She’d been dreaming that something was banging and crashing on the roof of the humpy. Then she realised with terror that there was something banging and crashing. The noise was coming from the other side of the ridge of rocks.

  Pearlie pulled the blanket up over her head, hoping the noise would go away. She held Tinto close. His little body was trembling.

  ‘It’ll be all right,’ she whispered.

  But the noise only grew more frantic. Whatever was making the racket sounded as if it was in trouble.

  ‘Oh peanuts,’ Pearlie said. ‘I’m not going to hide here all night.’ She sat up, took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. No more timid Pearlie. There wasn’t time for that. She put Tinto into his pouch and reached for the torch. She looked at the hatchet, pressed her lips together, and took that too.

  Then she slipped out of the shelter and into the night.

  PEARLIE peered over the ridge into the darkness. The clouds had cleared. The moon was now a luminous ball in the sky, making the bush turn silver.

  She switched on her torch. The noise suddenly stopped. Pearlie moved the beam of light backwards and forwards until she caught something glinting.

  A pair of large eyes stared up at her from a crevice.

  What kind of beast is this? She quickly crouched down behind a boulder and peered around the side, her hatchet ready.

  Then she aimed the torch straight at the creature, hoping to scare it. That did the job. It threw back its head with a squeal and started banging and crashing around again. When Pearlie looked more closely, she let out a laugh and stood up.

  It was just a poor little donkey that had gotten trapped.

  ‘There, there, I’ll get you out quick smart,’ she said as she carefully climbed into the crevice. The donkey was wearing a halter with a length of rope attached, so she knew it was tame. It stopped struggling and stood quietly, watching her.

  She reached out her hand and stroked its neck.

  ‘So you’re a jenny,’ she said, using her torch to check the donkey all over. She’d read in a book that boy donkeys were called ‘jacks’ and girl donkeys called ‘jennys’. ‘I’m going to call you Grey Ears because of your beautiful velvety ears.’

  Pearlie took the rope and led Grey Ears to the edge of the crevice where the sides weren’t so steep.

  But Grey Ears would not follow her.

  ‘Maybe you’re hungry. Would you like some food? I’ve got some tasty carrots.’ Tinto popped his head out of the pouch at the words ‘hungry’ and ‘food’. ‘Yes, you can have some too, Tinto,’ she laughed.

  Pearlie returned to the humpy, took a carrot and an apple from her satchel and went back to Grey Ears.

  ‘Look, some delicious food . . . yum, yum,’ she said, placing the carrot on the palm of her hand. Grey Ears sniffed it and then took it with her teeth. Her muzzle was so soft it tickled.

  ‘There’s more food once you get out. Come on, Grey Ears. There’s a good girl.’

  This time Pearlie was sure Grey Ears would go with her. She had fed her treats and they had made friends. But the stubborn little donkey just planted her hooves in the dirt and refused to follow.

  Pearlie tried pulling on her halter, then shoving the donkey from behind. Nothing worked.

  Mum had once said, ‘Pearlie, you’re as stubborn as a donkey.’ Now Pearlie understood just how stubborn that could be.

  Finally she gave up on the food and went in search of a plank or something Grey Ears could safely walk up and get out that way.

  By the time she returned to the crevice empty-handed, orange streaks of morning laced the sky. And there was Grey Ears, standing at the top of the crevice, looking at Pearlie as if to say, ‘Where have you been all this time?’

  ‘All right,’ Pearlie said and laughed. ‘I can see you’re a do-it-yourself kind of donkey.’

  Tinto climbed out of his pouch and onto her shoulder. He stared at Grey Ears, tilting his head from side to side. Then he hid in Pearlie’s hair. Grey Ears took no notice of the little monkey. And then Tinto did something unexpected. He jumped onto the donkey’s back.

  Without twitching a muscle, Grey Ears kept on eating the apple Pearlie was feeding her.

  Just then, a drop of rain fell on Pearlie’s face. She looked up at the sky. It had turned a metallic grey. ‘Quick, Tinto, it’s going to pour,’ she cried. Tinto leapt onto her shoulder and they ran for the humpy.

  PEARLIE woke up soaking wet. And so was Tinto. Usually the little monkey was a round fluffy ball, but now he looked more like a hairy lizard with a long skinny tail. The food in her satchel was sodden too. Luckily most of it was in cans. Only the biscuits in their brown paper bag had to be tossed away. She stuck her head out of the humpy and threw them into the bushes for the birds to eat.

  Grey Ears was standing by the entrance and lifted her head in greeting.

  ‘Hello,’ said Pearlie.

  At that moment Tinto scampered outside. He saw a beetle scurrying along the ground and caught it. With a few loud crunches it was gone.

  ‘Well, that’s your breakfast,’ Pearlie said.

  She put her hands on her hips and looked at the rain-damaged humpy and the large puddles around it. A wave of hopelessness came over her again. I don’t know how to live in the bush. I wish I was on the ship with Mum and Dad.

  Tinto climbed onto her shoulder and curled his tail around her neck, sensing her sadness.

  ‘At least I have you,’ she said.

  Grey Ears brayed loudly and Pearlie couldn’t help but laugh. ‘Yes, and you too, Grey Ears.’ She stood up and put her arm around the donkey’s neck. No matter how bad things are, animals can always cheer you up, she thought.

  Then another thought came to her.

  Why has Beake come back to Darwin? It wouldn’t be just to kill me. He must be doing more spying. She stroked the bruises on her neck and anger began to grow inside her. It coursed through her blood like fire.

  ‘I can’t go on hiding from that man forever! I won’t be scared any more!’ she said out loud. ‘Tinto, we have to catch him in the act. That’s the only way we can stop this. And after that I’ll find a way to get to Perth, to be with Mum and Dad and Joey.’

>   Pearlie sat on a rock, thinking up a plan. This time I must not fail. First I need to know Beake’s habits. Apart from seeing Hazel, where else does he go? Is there a pattern? I will be the good spy, spying on a bad spy. The thought made her smile. Beake was a dangerous man. He was also very cunning. He’d already tried to kill her. But now Pearlie was the one who was going to follow him. If she always knew where he was, she wouldn’t have to hide. She would be one step ahead.

  She leapt to her feet. ‘Come on, Tinto! We’re going to see Hazel.’

  Pearlie packed her things into her satchel but kept the hatchet out just in case she ran into Beake. She made a belt with the rope that used to be attached to Grey Ears’ halter. Then she stuck the hatchet into it, said goodbye to the donkey and set off for town.

  But she hadn’t gone very far when she heard the soft tread of hooves behind her.

  She turned to face Grey Ears. ‘How can I be a spy with a donkey trailing after me?’ she said.

  Grey Ears looked at her with big brown eyes as if to say, ‘Please don’t leave me behind.’

  ‘I’m sorry, you can’t come. Go on, shoo.’ She waved her arms at Grey Ears even though she felt mean.

  But the donkey wouldn’t listen. When Pearlie walked on, so did Grey Ears.

  Pearlie sighed. If she was going to catch Beake, she had to put the donkey somewhere. Old Man Lizard’s hut was too far away. The only place was Reddy’s.

  Grey Ears didn’t flinch when they left the bush. She trotted happily behind Pearlie, up and down the streets, nudging her shoulder every now and then with affection. Pearlie kept an eye out for Beake, and when they reached Reddy’s house she sighed in relief.

  She led the donkey around the back. Leonetta’s pig pen was small, but it would do for a short while. Pearlie pulled some straw from the shed and gave it to Grey Ears. Then she filled the trough with water from the well.

  When Pearlie said goodbye, Grey Ears brayed to be let out.

  Pearlie rubbed the donkey’s velvety muzzle. ‘We’ll be back tomorrow. Be a good girl.’