Pearlie's Ghost Read online

  ‘Leaving?’ Pearlie wasn’t ready to leave so soon. She wanted to see Old Man Lizard to make sure Rusty, Goliath and Santa were all right. And what about Grey Ears? What would she do with Grey Ears?

  ‘Have you heard anything about Thomas Hardy? You know, Old Man Lizard? Do you know if he’s safe?’

  ‘Nobody’s been out there to check on him,’ Policeman Sandy said. ‘But I’m sure he’s fine. He knows how to take care of himself. Hurry, Pearlie. There’s no time to waste. I have to get you on that train.’

  She hesitated. ‘What about Rosco? Can he come too?’

  ‘I’m not leaving Darwin,’ Rosco grinned. I’m going bush, remember? I’ll look after Grey Ears for ya if ya want.’

  Pearlie looked at Grey Ears. She couldn’t have felt more relieved. Rosco was the perfect person to take care of her donkey.

  She put a hand on Grey Ears’ nose. ‘Be a good girl for Rosco,’ she said.

  ‘Go on, now,’ Rosco said, pushing Pearlie away gently. ‘You don’t wanna miss that train, eh.’

  There was a truck waiting outside the police station to take evacuees to the railway yards.

  ‘How long will it take to get to Perth?’ Pearlie asked Policeman Sandy.

  ‘Perth? No, Pearlie, the train’s going south to Adelaide,’ Policeman Sandy replied. ‘It’s the only way out. There are no more ships. There’s a place out of Adelaide called Balaklava where you can stay.’

  Pearlie was shocked. ‘But if I leave Darwin how will my mum and dad know where I am?’

  ‘Don’t worry. Hazel is going too. She’ll look after you. And we’ll make sure to tell your parents where you are,’ Policeman Sandy reassured her.

  ‘Hazel?’ Pearlie said with relief.

  Policeman Sandy nodded.

  Pearlie sat quietly for the short ride to the Parap railway yards. There were a few other small children with their mothers who had also somehow missed the last ship.

  Suddenly Pearlie remembered. Nao is in Adelaide! When I get there I can visit her! She felt the letter at the bottom of Tinto’s pouch just to make sure it was still there. What a surprise Nao will get, she thought, and hoped that Tinto had heard her thoughts. But he was fast asleep in the pouch, just the top of his fluffy head visible.

  When Pearlie arrived at the railway yards just a few miles out of town, Hazel was already there.

  She looked tired but her face opened up into a big grin when she saw Pearlie jumping down from the truck. ‘My little Pearlie,’ she said, kissing the top of her head. ‘We’ll be refugees together. Come on, I’ve saved us a good place with some shade.’

  Pearlie looked at the train in shock. It was not a passenger train but a goods train. There were no seats or even a roof!

  ‘It’s going to be hot,’ she said.

  ‘I found us a place close to the sides where there’ll be a bit of shade,’ Hazel said, climbing onto the wagon. She sat down with her back against the wooden side and patted the floor beside her.

  There were carriages stretching down the track and more and more people were getting on board. Two old Chinese men were helped onto their carriage by soldiers. They stood there bewildered until Pearlie said to Hazel, ‘Can we let them have our spot? They won’t be able to stand the sun. They might faint.’

  ‘You have a good heart, Pearlie,’ she said.

  Pearlie couldn’t speak much Chinese and the old men didn’t speak English, but she pointed and smiled and they understood.

  ‘Mh’goi,’ they said.

  ‘Mh’sai haak hei,’ Pearlie replied. She only knew a few words in Chinese and luckily ‘you’re welcome’ was among them.

  Pearlie looked around at the other passengers. They were almost all women, except for some old men and just a few children and babies. In the carriage behind them was a group of Aboriginal children and some nuns who were taking care of them. Pearlie guessed they were from one of the missions out of Darwin.

  Hazel nudged Pearlie. ‘We’re like sitting ducks out here,’ she said, pointing to the very last carriage which had an anti-aircraft gun manned by soldiers. ‘At least those blokes will protect us if a Jap plane decides to dive-bomb us.’

  Pearlie wished Hazel hadn’t told her that, especially with no roof over their heads. She sat down on the carriage floor and kept a sharp eye on the empty blue sky.

  Not far from town the train stopped. Everyone craned their necks to see what was going on.

  ‘Don’t worry. Track’s been damaged up ahead. Gotta wait for it to be repaired,’ one of the railway guards called out.

  The old Chinese men on Pearlie’s carriage looked worried. They stood up.

  ‘Everything is all right,’ she told them. ‘Track is broken. We’ll be going soon.’ They seemed to understand by her facial expression and hand movements and sat back down again.

  The train travelled through the night to Adelaide River. The locomotive didn’t have its headlight on in case Japanese planes spotted them, so they travelled in pitch black. More people got on at Adelaide River. Pearlie and Hazel had to squeeze closer and closer together until they were almost on top of each other. It was hot and sticky.

  ‘Where are we going to get food?’ Pearlie asked Hazel, feeling her stomach rumble. She hadn’t seen anyone bring food onto the train.

  ‘It was all so rushed. I don’t think any of that was planned. Maybe at the next stop?’ Hazel sounded doubtful.

  Babies began to cry from hunger and thirst and their mothers began to cry because their babies were upset. Pearlie thought about her little brother. She was glad Mum and Dad and Joey were already safe in Perth. Joey would have hated being on this train.

  Tinto wanted to get out of his pouch and run around, so Pearlie sat him on her lap and prayed the other passengers wouldn’t make a fuss or be scared or think monkeys were dirty. Luckily she had brought a length of thin rope with her, which she tied to his collar.

  Pearlie fell asleep for a little while, her head resting against Hazel’s shoulder. The hard floor was uncomfortable and people were always moving about, which would wake her up. She was also scared that Tinto would be crushed.

  When Hazel finally woke her from a fitful sleep they had arrived in a place called Katherine. Someone handed around some packets of biscuits. Pearlie’s throat was so dry she found them hard to swallow at first. But then water was passed from carriage to carriage.

  That night they camped by the side of the track while some of the other passengers went to a hotel to have a shower.

  ‘Why don’t you go with them?’ Pearlie asked Hazel.

  ‘I’d rather stay with you,’ Hazel said, stroking Pearlie’s hair. ‘You and Tinto are all I have at the moment.’ She smiled and lay down. ‘Oh, how good it feels to stretch out.’

  Pearlie curled up next to Hazel. ‘How long do you think it will take to get to Adelaide?’

  ‘Don’t know, hon. Depends where we stop, how many stops we have . . . maybe a week or two . . .’

  Pearlie didn’t like the sound of that. Two more weeks on this train, in the open, under the hot sun. Then she thought of the old people on board and the babies and the sick and stopped complaining to herself.

  The colours of the landscape had turned from yellow to orange, then to red. Pearlie liked the countryside. It was so different from what she was used to – the brown and yellow colours of Darwin with splashes of blue water.

  Everyone’s clothes and hair were covered in a fine red dust. Tinto’s fur looked like it had been dyed orange. By this time he was the centre of attention. The few children on board their carriage loved holding and patting him. Pearlie taught them how to be gentle.

  The further south they went, the more relaxed the adults became. There was less chance the Japanese bombers would come this far.

  ‘We’re in the middle of Australia, just think of that,’ Hazel said as she looked out to some large reddish rocks piled on top of each other like giant marbles.

  ‘This is the furthest away from the sea I’ve ever been
,’ said Pearlie. She had grown up beside water and didn’t know if she could live so far away from it. Already she missed the smell of the sea.

  The nights on the train in the desert were freezing. Everyone only had the clothes they were wearing when they’d left. Nobody had been allowed to bring anything extra – there was just no room. In Darwin the nights never got as cold as this, Pearlie thought. She and Hazel cuddled up together to stay warm.

  The days and nights were endless. It seemed to take forever to get to the next stop. Everyone would get off, stretch their legs, and go to the toilet. Then they would all pile back in and the locomotive would huff and puff and they would be off again.

  Sometimes Hazel would cry for no reason and Pearlie would hold her hand. Or she would put Tinto on Hazel’s lap. That always seemed to cheer her up. Once Pearlie asked why she was crying and Hazel said it was because she was thinking of Ron. ‘I can’t believe I fell for all his lies. I feel so betrayed.’

  Four days later, they arrived in Alice Springs. They passed a big field with about a hundred tents lined up in rows. Everyone sat up and looked. ‘Must be the army base,’ Hazel said. Behind the tents Pearlie could see the town peeking through.

  Everyone got off the train at Alice Springs and they were taken to the schoolhouse. When they walked into the hall, Pearlie grinned. She couldn’t believe what the Red Cross ladies had prepared for them.

  There were long trestle tables groaning under the weight of scones, sandwiches, cakes, cordial and tea. Soon the exhaustion of the long trip was forgotten as people ate and drank, and Pearlie even heard laughter.

  ‘This is the best cuppa I’ve ever tasted,’ Hazel said, lifting her head and closing her eyes as she drank it down in one gulp.

  Pearlie kept Tinto hidden inside his pouch and fed him little tidbits, making sure the Red Cross ladies didn’t see. She didn’t want him to be taken away.

  After about an hour, one of the Red Cross ladies clapped her hands. ‘If I could have your attention, please,’ she said.

  Everyone fell silent and all Pearlie could hear was the clinking of china.

  ‘We thought you would like to take a bath so we have organised it with the people of Alice.’

  ‘Oh, what heaven,’ Hazel whispered.

  Everyone broke into cheers and chatter as the Red Cross ladies moved around the hall, giving instructions.

  Pearlie and Hazel were introduced to Mrs Wilkins. She was a tall lady who walked with a limp. She was very pretty, Pearlie thought, and reminded her of her teacher, Miss Lyon. Her house was only a few blocks away from the school.

  As they walked through the town, Pearlie noticed how many soldiers there were. Two children met them at the door to Mrs Wilkins’ house. When Pearlie brought Tinto out of his pouch, the children squealed with delight.

  It was a small house with a lovely warm kitchen. A tub filled with hot water had been placed in the middle of the room and two clean towels hung over the backs of the chairs.

  ‘Take your time,’ Mrs Wilkins said.

  ‘Can Henry and me play with Tinto?’ one of the children asked Pearlie.

  Pearlie hesitated, but then she saw Tinto already hiding behind the little girl’s plait. ‘I think he would like that,’ she smiled. ‘But be gentle with him and keep him on the rope.’

  ‘Oh goody! Come on, Henry.’ The children went into the next room and Pearlie could hear them laughing and asking their mum lots of questions about monkeys.

  ‘You go first, hon,’ said Hazel, pointing to the tub.

  Pearlie undressed and lowered herself into the steaming water.

  ‘Want me to scrub your back and wash your hair?’ Hazel asked.

  ‘Yes, please, Hazel,’ Pearlie replied.

  The bath was so delicious she didn’t want to get out. But she didn’t want the water to get cold for Hazel. After drying herself and putting on her dirty dress, Pearlie scrubbed Hazel’s back.

  When they returned to the schoolhouse, mattresses had been laid out on the floor.

  Hazel’s eyes lit up. ‘This is going to be the best night’s sleep ever.’

  Pearlie lay on her side with Tinto curled up against her legs. She smiled, thinking about Nao. At least she had that to look forward to.

  The next morning, everyone boarded another train heading for Adelaide. Even though she hadn’t imagined it possible, this trip was even worse than the journey from Darwin to Alice Springs. The dust, flies and heat were terrible. And because there was only one track, they had to stop many times to let northbound trains full of soldiers through. Pearlie felt sorry for the babies and young children. Many were sick with diarrhoea and eye infections.

  Hazel and Pearlie helped out as much as they could by passing food from carriage to carriage. Hazel sometimes carried a sick baby to give the mum a rest. And Pearlie entertained the children by having Tinto do his tricks. He would somersault and jump backwards off her shoulder or sit perched on her head. The loudest squeals came when Tinto hid in Pearlie’s hair and peeked out like an actor on the stage looking through the curtain. Another game they played was hiding a large brown seed she had picked up off the ground in Alice Springs. One of the children would put it behind their back. Then Pearlie would send Tinto off to look for it. This game always ended in giggles and passed the time. And their mothers looked at Pearlie with grateful eyes.

  It was at night under the stars that Pearlie missed her mum and dad the most. She wondered if Policeman Sandy had written to them in Perth and told them she was safe. She knew they’d be worried. But as each mile of track heading south passed underneath them, Pearlie’s spirits slowly lifted. She was getting closer to Naoko.

  Finally, ten days after they had left Alice Springs, the train chugged into Adelaide station. It was midnight and the whole city was blacked out in case of attack from Japanese planes. Everyone was exhausted and it was freezing.

  Pearlie shivered in her thin dress, and her bare feet felt like ice-cold lumps of wood. Hazel wrapped her arms around Pearlie. ‘There, is that better?’ she said. But Hazel was shivering too.

  They stood on the platform, dazed, as men in uniforms told them what to do and divided them into groups.

  ‘You,’ said one man, looking down his nose at Pearlie. ‘Over there.’ He pointed to the other end of the platform where the children from the missions and the old Chinese men were standing.

  She slipped her hand into Hazel’s. They can’t separate us! she thought, panicked. How will I find my way to Nao without her? How will I get to Mum and Dad? Her heart began to pound with fear.

  Hazel put a protective arm around Pearlie. ‘No!’ she said to the man. ‘We’re together!’

  ‘Sorry, Miss, but you’ve been billeted to stay with a family. They don’t take half-castes.’

  Tears filled Pearlie’s eyes. What a cruel thing to say. She was about to pull Tinto out and lift him up to her cheek for comfort, when she stopped herself. What if they took him away from her too?

  ‘But I’m looking after the kid. She’s . . . she’s my relative, my niece. Yes, she’s my niece,’ Hazel lied.

  The man looked at her doubtfully. ‘We don’t have time for this –’

  ‘Where are you taking her?’ Hazel said, making herself as tall as she could.

  ‘They’ll be put on another train for Balaklava.’

  ‘Where’s that?’

  ‘About sixty miles from here.’

  ‘Then I’m going to Balaklava too.’ Hazel took hold of Pearlie’s hand and began to walk towards the other group.

  The man stepped in front of her, blocking her way. ‘You’re being a real nuisance now. If you cause any more trouble, we’ll have to call the police.’ He turned to another man and spoke quietly to him. The other man nodded and walked away.

  Pearlie looked up at Hazel and saw tears in her eyes. She couldn’t let Hazel be arrested. Even if it meant that she would be all alone in this strange city, she just couldn’t. But she couldn’t go to Balaklava either.

  �
�It’s all right,’ Pearlie said bravely, squeezing Hazel’s hand.

  Hazel wrapped her arms around Pearlie and Pearlie felt her warm tears on her cheeks.

  ‘Don’t say goodbye, Hazel. Promise?’ Pearlie whispered. She had said goodbye too many times before. She couldn’t bear to say it again.

  ‘Promise, hon,’ Hazel said, understanding.

  Pearlie let go her hand and slowly walked across the platform to stand with the others. She watched Hazel being led into the station building until she disappeared.

  ‘Come along now,’ she heard the man say roughly.

  The train to Balaklava was waiting at another platform. To get there they had to cross a wide expanse of railway tracks.

  Pearlie placed a hand on Tinto, who was sleeping quietly in his pouch. Then she slowed her pace so that the others in her group passed her. When she was at the back, she stopped, pretending to wipe something off her foot. Nobody was behind her, not even one of the men in uniform.

  Now’s my chance! she thought.

  Like a shadow, Pearlie slipped silently away, hiding behind a goods wagon until the group was out of sight.

  It was no use leaving the station until morning, so she looked for an empty carriage to spend the night in.

  The seats were cold and her teeth chattered uncontrollably. But Tinto’s warmth cheered her. Tomorrow, she would find Nao.

  The next day, as soon as it was light, Pearlie found a bucket of fairly clean water and washed the dirt and dust off her arms and legs. Now it was only her hair and dress that were filthy. She wished she could find something else to wear. In a city like Adelaide she was sure to look a sight and she didn’t want anyone noticing her and alerting the police.

  The station was already filling with people. Pearlie walked quickly through the large building and out onto the street.

  At school Pearlie had seen photographs in books of some of the big cities like Sydney and Melbourne. But standing in the middle of one was completely different to looking at a photograph.