A Prayer for Blue Delaney

by Kirsty Murray

  ‘Don’t you worry too much about old Billy Dare. He’ll pull through. That man, he’s led a charmed life. No ornery old boar can finish him. Did you know me and Billy have been mates for more than fifty years? He’s my lucky touchstone. As long as Bill’s fighting his fights, I know I can go on battling.’

  ‘Was grandad ever a boxer?’ asked Colm, remembering what Rosie had once told him.

  ‘Bill? No, but my first husband was a famous boxer, best middleweight boxer in the country. Married him when I was only sixteen. My grandfather wanted to kill him. So did Billy, for that matter. But Stan brought me north. Then he upped and died on me. That’s when I met George Jackson. Gem of a man, he was. Cracked the mining industry wide open. I always wished my grandfather could have known him, but Gramps had passed away by then.’

  Colm puzzled over Mrs Mahoney’s story, trying to put all the complicated pieces together. Lily’s ancestor worship seemed much easier than this mass of strangers.

  ‘If anything happened to Grandad . . . I don’t know what I’d do. He’s all I’ve got.’

  ‘Then we’ll just have to make sure your “Grandad” pulls through, won’t we?’

  Colm smiled. For the first time, he understood what Bill liked about this bossy old woman.

  It took hours for the lights of Darwin to appear on the horizon. Colm felt trembly and his head ached with tiredness. The hospital was on stilts, high off the ground. Inside, the lights seemed bright and harsh after the darkness of the desert.

  At the front desk, Mrs Mahoney announced that she and Colm were there to see Bill.

  ‘I’m sorry Mrs Mahoney, but the boy can’t come into the hospital. Children aren’t allowed.’

  ‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ said Mrs Mahoney. ‘The boy’s with me and he’s here to see his grandfather.’

  ‘You’ll have to speak with the doctor, ma’am. Children are definitely not allowed.’

  A nurse guided Colm out onto the verandah and he watched through the flywire door as Mrs Mahoney stood by the front desk, one hand on the counter and her face flushed with anger. She argued with everyone until two doctors and a nurse assembled in an effort to placate her. Colm couldn’t quite make out what they were saying, but Mrs Mahoney was definitely winning. Finally, the same nurse that had seen him out gestured for him to come back into the hospital foyer.

  ‘I’ll cover whatever it costs,’ said Mrs Mahoney briskly. ‘And if you can’t fix him up, find someone who can.’

  ‘Mrs Mahoney, we’re doing our best but you have to appreciate that his injuries are serious. He’s lucky to be alive and he may never walk again.’

  Colm’s heart sank but the old woman dived straight back into the argument.

  ‘A minute ago, you told me you weren’t game to operate. If you’re not, there are doctors in the South who are.’

  Colm could see this really got the doctors riled. They left muttering crossly, and Mrs Mahoney slapped her hands together as if she were dusting them off after a job well done.

  ‘Can I see Grandad now?’ asked Colm.

  ‘Sure,’ said Mrs Mahoney. She looped Colm’s arm through her own and led him down the corridors. ‘They wouldn’t let you on the men’s ward, so I had him moved. Damn stupid rules and regulations they have here.’

  All the nurses and medical attendants pretended not to see them as they turned into a small private room where a nurse was closing the louvred windows against the night. Bill was swathed in bandages. There was even one around his head and he seemed to be asleep.

  Gently, Colm touched the tips of Bill’s fingers with his own. If he concentrated, he could feel his prayers moving between the two of them.

  ‘We’re still a team, Grandad,’ he whispered.

  Bill’s eyelids flickered and slowly, painfully, he opened his eyes. Mrs Mahoney stepped forward and touched his cheek.

  ‘Billy, I’ve told them they have to set you right,’ she said.

  Bill tried to smile but Colm could see it was an effort. His face looked strangely sunken. He shut his eyes and drifted off to sleep again. Mrs Mahoney gestured to Colm that they should leave. Reluctantly, Colm withdrew his hand.

  ‘I’ll be back, Grandad. I’ll be back soon,’ promised Colm. Mrs Mahoney guided him to the door. They were nearly out of the room when they heard Bill speak. ‘Blue, need Blue. Me and the tacker . . . talk to her.’

  Mrs Mahoney strode back to his bedside. ‘Billy, don’t try to talk. You have to rest.’

  ‘No, Annie. My Blue, my little Bridie. If I could . . . the chance . . . redeem all sorrows . . .’ He trailed off, his voice thin and broken.

  Colm and Mrs Mahoney stood frozen, waiting to see if Bill would speak again, but now he really did seem to have lapsed into unconsciousness.

  ‘She wrote him a letter. Blue Delaney. She wrote to him when we were in Alice Springs,’ said Colm, as they walked down the hospital corridor.

  ‘So she should. She is his daughter.’

  Colm stopped in his tracks. ‘His daughter?’

  Mrs Mahoney turned to Colm and smiled at his astonishment.

  ‘But he was really upset,’ said Colm.

  ‘Oh, they’ve always fought like cats and dogs. She’s got some silly ideas, that girl. I told her years ago, I told her “Mister Menzies will be the saving of this country, mark my words,” and of course I’ve been proved right. But she’s stubborn as a mule. Bill may have been a fierce Labor man but he was never a pinko.’

  Colm couldn’t understand what Mrs Mahoney was talking about but he knew that whatever had been in the letter had changed everything. And now Bill had asked for Blue, and Colm knew that it was important. Too important to brush aside.

  ‘But he burnt her photo! He threw it on the camp fire! His own daughter!’

  ‘Burnt her photo?’ she echoed, frowning.

  Mrs Mahoney drove to a hotel in the heart of Darwin. Neither of them spoke. They both had too much to think about. The ceiling fans whirred in the still night air and Colm tossed and turned beneath the mosquito netting. Being apart from Bill was like walking through a dark abyss that had to be crossed through acts of faith. Colm prayed more fiercely than he ever had in his life, until the morning light cut through the louvres of the hotel room window.

  At the breakfast table, Mrs Mahoney looked as though she hadn’t had any sleep either. Colm could tell she’d put on extra face powder to cover the dark rings under her eyes. Later in the morning they went to visit Bill, but he was in a deep sleep and Mrs Mahoney had to have another argument with the nurse about bringing Colm into the hospital again.

  ‘I’m sending you back to Tara Downs,’ she announced, as they walked down the hospital stairs.

  ‘No, I have to be near Grandad!’

  ‘Don’t tell me my business, young man,’ said Mrs Mahoney imperiously. ‘He’s not on death’s door, so he doesn’t need you badgering him. I’ll stay here in Darwin and keep an eye on him but I don’t want you underfoot.’

  A truck taking cattle south picked Colm up later that morning and dropped him back at Tara Downs.

  Rusty lay in a basket on the back verandah of the white house. A section of her fur had been shaved off and bandaged. Colm knelt down beside the basket and rested one hand gently on her head. Rusty’s tail began to wag and she let out a small excited yip. When Colm stroked her muzzle, she licked his hand. Gently, he wrapped his arms around the dog and pressed his face against her collar.

  ‘They should have put her down,’ said Jessie the housekeeper. ‘But that Lily, she’s been up here fussing over that animal. Kept the mutt alive, for sure.’

  The next morning, Colm went down to Lily’s house, ducking under the spreading branches of the mango trees. Lily was squatting beside a patch of newly turned earth, planting something, when Colm called out to her

  ‘Thanks for taking care of Rusty. I should have done that.’

  She looked up and waved away his thanks. ‘No, you had to be with your grandad. It must have been scary. I’ve been w
aiting for you to come back so I can give you this,’ she said, shyly thrusting a small stone at him.

  Colm held the stone up to the light. It was small and pale green, almost translucent, with a tiny dragon carved on one side.

  ‘What is it?’

  ‘It’s for good luck. For your grandad.’ Lily leant closer to him and pointed out the details. ‘See, it’s got a dragon carved on it because the dragon is good luck and for longevity, so your grandad will get better and live a long time. It’s got a Chinese symbol on the other side which means long life. Granny says that it gives a boy courage too, so we both thought you should have it. When you hold it tight, you can tell it works.’

  Colm closed his hand over the pale green stone. Lily was right. The cool jade quickly grew warm in his grasp. He slipped it into his pocket.

  ‘Thanks, Lily,’ he said. ‘You want to go for a walk or something?’

  Lily put away her garden tools and they headed out into the scrub. Colm told Lily all about the accident and what had happened in Darwin.

  ‘I hate not being able to do anything. I hate being a kid. If I was older, they’d let me stay with him. If I was a man, Mrs Mahoney couldn’t boss me around and leave me out of everything.’

  ‘Don’t you believe it!’ said Lily, laughing. ‘She wouldn’t care if you were a man. She bosses everyone! The only person she can’t boss is my granny.’

  Colm laughed. ‘Maybe I should get Granny Hum Lee to tell her I have to be with Grandad in Darwin.’

  ‘Who cares what Mrs Mahoney thinks anyway? She’s not the boss of you.’

  ‘I know. And I know Grandad needs me. I can feel it in my bones. I’m going to go back to Darwin and I don’t care what Mrs Mahoney thinks.’

  ‘Boy,’ said Lily. ‘That lucky charm works just like my Granny said it would!’

  26

  Flying south

  Lily decided to come with Colm as far as Pine Creek. She often went into the town to visit her cousins, so it was easy to make an excuse for getting a lift in and pretend he was keeping her company.

  A scattering of buildings stood on either side of the highway that ran through Pine Creek. It was early on Saturday evening, but already there was a line of cars parked outside the pub. Half a dozen horses stood tethered beneath a frangipani tree. Colm stood on the latticed verandah, peering in at the crowded bar.

  ‘What are you going to do?’ asked Lily.

  ‘I’m going to hitchhike back to Darwin with one of those blokes. Sooner or later someone is going to come out of the pub and drive north, and I’ll make sure I’m in their car.’

  Lily tilted her head to one side and scrunched up her face. ‘I think this plan is sounding kind of bodgie. What if they’re really drunk and horrible?’

  ‘I don’t care,’ said Colm. ‘Go and visit your cousin. Don’t start thinking up reasons why I shouldn’t do what I have to. I thought you were on my side.’

  ‘I am on your side but . . .’

  Lily didn’t get a chance to finish her sentence. An argument had erupted in the bar and a man came flying through the pub door, landing in a tangle of sprawling limbs in front of them. Colm and Lily ran into the street at the sound of stools and glasses crashing against the unlined walls of the pub. The publican and his helpers forced the brawling men out onto the verandah and they spilled into the street, throwing punches wildly. A burly buffalo shooter staggered backwards and fell against Lily. She tried to push him away but he was twice her size and suddenly she was lying in the dirt, pinned beneath his unconscious body. Colm took hold of the big man’s ankles and hauled him off as the fight swirled around them. Then he grabbed Lily and dragged her behind a truck for shelter.

  ‘Are you sure you want to drive to Darwin with one of these blokes?’ she asked tartly as she dusted herself off.

  Colm’s answer was drowned out by the blaring of a car horn. Mrs Mahoney’s big Bentley, coated in dust from the long drive from Darwin, hurtled straight towards the brawling men. As soon as they saw who was behind the wheel, the men jumped up onto the verandah of the pub, subdued and shamefaced. Some of them had bleeding noses and others had fists that were red with blood. A pair of bearded men picked up the buffalo shooter and started hosing him down.

  Mrs Mahoney stepped out of the Bentley and put her hands on her hips.

  ‘McGuire, Flinty and Smith,’ she roared. ‘Don’t think I didn’t see you ratbags. You know the rule. Three strikes you’re out. If I find you scrapping again in one of my pubs . . .’

  She was striding through the dust, still shouting, when she caught sight of Lily and Colm huddled behind the truck.

  ‘What the hell are you doing here?’ she said to Lily and Colm.

  The two children looked at each other, hoping one of them would come up with a fast answer. Mrs Mahoney snorted impatiently.

  Lily and Colm sat side by side in the back seat of the Bentley. Mrs Mahoney got behind the wheel and revved the engine. In the darkness, Lily took hold of Colm’s hand and squeezed it tight. They knew they were in big trouble.

  ‘You have a lot to answer for, Lily Yen Lin,’ said Mrs Mahoney. ‘How dare you drag this boy into your mischief! What were the pair of you doing outside the Pine Creek Hotel on a Saturday night?’

  ‘It’s not her fault,’ said Colm. ‘It was me. I have to go to Darwin.’

  ‘Of course you do. Why do you think I drove all the way back except to collect you? You can pack up your things, and whatever you think Bill will want out of that old wreck of a car of his. You two have a plane to catch.’

  Lily looked at Colm and raised her eyebrows.

  ‘Your grandad is pretty crook and I don’t have time to nurse him myself,’ said Mrs Mahoney crossly. ‘Besides, he won’t heal up fast in this climate, so I’m sending him south. If it’s the old boy’s best chance of getting back on his feet, he’ll have it. I’ve booked a nurse to go with you and a good place to take him in Melbourne and whatever else the quacks reckon he needs. The pair of you are catching the milk run to Adelaide tomorrow and then you’ll fly from Adelaide to Melbourne.’

  ‘But I don’t understand,’ said Colm. ‘Grandad wanted me to stay with you.’

  ‘Codswallop! You think he was mooching around Tara Downs just to dance with me? I’ve never been able to hold that man’s interest for long. Billy Dare may have been a great actor once but I can see straight through the old buzzard. It wasn’t me that held him here. You may not be his blood kin, but he’s fixed it in his mind - you belong to him.’

  Colm felt a warm glow in his chest. The jade charm in his pocket seemed to be glowing too. He couldn’t believe his good luck. ‘But where will I live? They won’t let me stay at the hospital, will they?’

  ‘I’ve sorted that out too. Wired Melbourne this afternoon. Bill came to for a while this morning and told me a few home truths. That letter that made him so wild, the one you told me about, it had news that his wife, Violet, died a couple of months back. And here I was fooling myself that the only reason we couldn’t get hitched is that he was still married!’

  Lily covered her mouth to stifle a giggle. The Bentley bumped over a cattle grid and turned into the drive of Tara Downs.

  ‘First thing tomorrow morning, young man, you’re flying south. South to Blue Delaney.’

  Bill was heavily sedated when they loaded him onto the plane. Colm stood beside Mrs Mahoney in the dawn light, holding the small suitcase of things that he’d packed for the journey south, including everything from the glovebox of Tin Annie. Mrs Mahoney had bought him new clothes for the trip and he had made sure his hair was combed and his face clean so he would look his best.

  Suddenly, everything seemed to be happening too quickly.

  ‘What about Rusty?’ he asked, turning to Mrs Mahoney.

  ‘Don’t you worry. Lily has been fussing over the mongrel as if she was a prize pooch. You’ve got enough to worry about, what with taking care of Bill and making sure that Blue Delaney behaves herself.’

  ‘B
ehaves herself?’ asked Colm.

  ‘Blue’s a real firecracker - but don’t let that put you off. She’s a good girl, even if she is full of ratbaggy ideas. This will turn her around, having to make peace with her father.’

  ‘Is that why she changed her name? Because they fought?’

  Mrs Mahoney smiled. ‘No, Bill’s real name was Patrick Delaney. His wife, Violet, never took to calling herself Dare. Uppity, she was. Wanted a different stage name so she took Delaney and gave it to Blue as well.’

  Colm couldn’t believe they were talking about Blue Delaney so casually. He felt a shiver of pleasure every time he heard her name spoken. At last, he knew Blue Delaney was a real person. A living person. And he was going to meet her. Mrs Mahoney had sent another telegram and written a long letter as well, which Colm was carrying in his jacket pocket.

  ‘You take care of that old coot,’ said Mrs Mahoney. ‘I know he means a lot to you but he means just as much to me.’

  Colm shook hands with her and climbed onto the plane. It took off, circling high over the red landscape. Colm had never been in an aeroplane before and he sat in his seat feeling as though he’d left his stomach on the Darwin runway. The roar of the engine filled his head with a buzzing that wouldn’t stop.

  All through the long dark journey into night, Colm’s mind churned with thoughts of what lay ahead. What if the real Blue Delaney was nothing like the woman in the photo? What if he didn’t recognise her? Maybe she was married now and had lots of kids - the last thing she’d want was another boy on her hands. Colm wanted to cry just thinking about it.

  When the plane finally touched down in Melbourne, the nurse and flight attendants were too busy attending to Bill to worry about Colm. He hesitated at the top of the steps, scanning the observation deck where a crowd of people stood watching the arriving and departing aeroplanes. There was a flash of red hair as a woman strode across the observation deck and disappeared into the airport terminal. He took a deep breath and stepped onto the tarmac.