by Jack Davis
MARY starts to cry.
Come on, Mary, stop that. You know somethin’?
MARY: What?
JOE: I don’t like you.
She draws away.
I love you.
They embrace.
MARY: I have to go back, Matron will find out.
JOE: Stay a bit longer.
She kisses him.
MARY: I have to go now, or she won’t let me out again.
JOE: When will I see you again?
MARY: Tomorrow.
JOE: Same time?
MARY: Yeah.
JOE: Same log?
MARY: Yeah. Joe, I don’t like you either.
They laugh and embrace. MARY runs away. JOE watches after her.
SCENE FIVE
The Moore River Settlement, a hot morning. JIMMY ambles about outside the Superintendent’s office. MR NEAL approaches. He has a hangover.
NEAL: Hey, you, you’re with the Northam lot, aren’t you? What are you doing here?
JIMMY: What’s it look like I’m doing?
NEAL: You’re supposed to be up in the quarantine camp.
JIMMY: Quarantine camp, me arse.
NEAL: You’re out of bounds and you know it.
JIMMY: Come off it, you know that quarantine camp is a load of bullshit, so don’t try and tip it over me.
NEAL: I’ll attend to you later.
He heads for his office.
JIMMY: You know, if fertiliser was in short supply you’d make a bloody fortune.
He sniggers.
NEAL: [mumbling] Another bloody troublemaker.
He sits at his desk. MARY brings him tea on a tray. He leers at her body. MATRON enters, almost catching him.
MATRON: Where did you get to yesterday?
NEAL: You know very well I had to go to Moora to see about—
MATRON: [interrupting] To spend the day in the hotel drinking. Don’t imagine no one sees you come in, the condition you were in—fine example.
NEAL: I’ve got to get away from the place now and again.
MATRON: What about me? I was at the quarantine camp from dawn till dusk again yesterday.
NEAL: Done them all?
MATRON: Yes, eventually.
NEAL: How many have got it?
MATRON: Scabies? Mrs Mason and her three youngsters.
NEAL: Yes.
MATRON: That’s all, just the four of them. I’ve isolated them, put them on sulphur and regular bathing.
NEAL: Four of ’em, only cases of skin disease? Only four?
MATRON: Yes, Alf. I can recognise a case of scabies when I see one.
NEAL: And you’ve examined the lot of them?
MATRON: Yes, I haven’t been going up the Long Pool for a picnic.
NEAL: Are you telling me out of eighty-nine dumped on me, only four of them have got the bloody disease?
She puts the record book in front of him.
Good God, woman, what’s the bloody game? Eighty-nine natives in a bloody quarantine camp I’ve just busted me gut to get ready on time, and there’s nothing bloody well wrong with ’em?
MATRON: Alf, there’s no need to lose your temper and no need for bad language. They should be cleared up in a few days.
NEAL: The whole job’s a waste of time. They could have been treated in Northam.
MATRON: The only health hazard in the camp are the dogs.
NEAL: What dogs?
MATRON: There’s about fifty of them, and a good many in less than healthy condition.
NEAL: How did the dogs get here?
MATRON: With the road party, apparently.
NEAL: No one told me anything about dogs.
MATRON: One per family.
She exits.
NEAL: That’s one too many. [Calling] Billy! Billy!
He unlocks the armoury cupboard and gets a rifle and ammunition.
BILLY: [off] Yeah, comin’ boss.
NEAL counts out the ammunition. BILLY enters.
Yeah, Boss?
NEAL: Get the horses and a length of rope, Billy.
BILLY: Yeah, boss.
NEAL takes a rifle and ammunition. They exit.
SCENE SIX
A clearing in the pine plantation. Moore River Native Settlement, night. A camp fire burns. JIMMY and SAM are painted for a corroboree. JIMMY mixes wilgi in tobacco tin lids, while SAM separates inji sticks from clapsticks. JOE arrives with an armful of firewood and pokes at the fire.
JOE: They comin’ now.
BILLY: [off] Get no rain this place summertime.
BILLY and BLUEY enter and remove their shirts.
JIMMY: Eh? Where you fellas been?
BLUEY: Aw, we been pushing truck for Mr Neal.
BILLY: He goin’ Mogumber.
BLUEY: [miming taking a drink] Doin’ this fella.
JOE: He’ll be minditj tomorrow.
BLUEY and BILLY paint themselves with wilgi.
BILLY: My word you fellas pr-retty fellas.
BLUEY: Wee-ah, plenty wilgi.
BILLY: Eh? You know my country, must be walk two, three days for this much. Your country got plenty.
JIMMY strikes up a rhythm on the clapsticks. BLUEY joins him.
JIMMY: [singing]
Tjinnung nitjakoorliny?
Karra, karra, karra, karra,
Moyambat a-nyinaliny a-nyinaliny,
Baal nitja koorliny moyambat a-moyambat moyambat,
Moyambat nitja koorliny moyambat.
Kalkanna yirra nyinny kalkanna,
Yirra nyinniny, yirra nyinniny,
Moyambat a-kalkanna moyambat a-kilkanna
Yirra nyinniny, yirra nyinniny, yirra nyinniny,
Karra koorliny kalkanna karra karra koorliny kalkanna.
Karra koorliny, karra koorliny, karra koorliny,
Woolah!
BLUEY: Eh, what that one?
JIMMY: That’s my grandfather song. [Miming with his hands] He singin’ for the karra, you know, crabs, to come up the river and for the fish to jump up high so he can catch them in the fish traps.
SAM: [pointing to BILLY’s body paint] Eh! Eh! Old man, what’s that one?
BILLY: This one bungarra, an’ he lookin’ for berry bush. But he know that fella eagle watchin’ him and he know that fella is cunnin’ fella. He watchin’ and lookin’ for that eagle, that way, this way, that way, this way.
He rolls over a log, disappearing almost magically. BLUEY plays the didgeridoo and BILLY appears some distance away by turning quickly so the firelight reveals his painted body. He dances around, then seems to disappear suddenly. He rolls back over the log and drops down, seated by the fire.
BLUEY, SAM and JIMMY: Yokki! Moorditj! Woolah!
JIMMY: Eh? That one dance come from your country?
BILLY: Nah. That one come from that way, lo-o-ong way. Wanmulla country. Proper bad fellas.
SAM: Well, I won’t be goin’ there.
JOE: Me either!
JIMMY, JOE and SAM laugh. SAM jumps to his feet with the clapsticks.
SAM: This one yahllarah! Everybody! Yahllarah!
He starts a rhythm on the clapsticks. BLUEY plays didgeridoo. JIMMY, and then JOE, join him dancing.
Come on! Come on!
He picks up inji sticks. The Nyoongahs, SAM, JIMMY and JOE, dance with them. BILLY joins in. They dance with increasing speed and energy, stamping their feet, whirling in front of the fire, their bodies appearing and disappearing as the paint catches the firelight. The dance becomes faster and more frantic until finally SAM lets out a yell and they collapse, dropping back to their positions around the fire. JIMMY coughs and pants painfully.
[To JIMMY] Eh! Eh! [Indicating his heart] You wanta dubakieny, you know your koort minditj.
BILLY: This country got plenty good dance, eh?
BLUEY: Wee-ah!
JIMMY: Ah, yuart, not too many left now. Nearly all finish.
BILLY: No, no, no. You song man, you fella dance men. This still your country. [Flinging his arms wide] You, you, you, you listen
! Gudeeah make ’em fences, windmill, make ’em road for motor car, big house, cut ’em down trees. Still your country! Not like my country, finish… finish.
He sits in silence. They watch him intently. JOE puts wood on the fire. He speaks slowly.
BILLY: Kuliyah. [Miming pulling a trigger, grunting] Gudeeah bin kill ’em. Finish, kill ’em. Big mob, 1926, kill ’em big mob my country.
Long pause.
SAM: Nietjuk?
BILLY: I bin stop Liveringa station and my brother, he bin run from Oombulgarri. [Holding up four fingers] That many days. Night time too. He bin tell me ’bout them gudeeah. They bin two, three stockman gudeeah. Bin stop along that place, Juada Station, and this one gudeeah Midja George, he was ridin’ and he come to this river and he see these two old womans, koories, there in the water hole. He says, what you doin’ here? They say they gettin’ gugja.
He mimes pulling lily roots and eating.
Midja George say, where the mans? They over by that tree sleepin’, and Midja George, he get off his horse, and he bin belt that old man with the stockwhip. He bin flog ’em, flog ’em, till that gudeeah, he get tired. Then he break the bottle glass spear, and he break the chubel spear.
He grunts and mimes this.
And that old man, he was bleedin’, bleedin’ from the eyes, and he get up and he pick up that one chubel spear, and he spear that one Midja George.
He demonstrates violently.
And that gudeeah, he get on his horse, he go little bit way and he fall off… finish… dead.
JIMMY: Serve the bastard right.
BILLY: No, no, no bad for my mob. Real bad. That old man and his two koories, they do this next day.
He indicates running away.
Two gudeeah come looking for Midja George. They bin find him dead.
Silence.
[Holding up a hand] Must be that many day. Big mob gudeeah. Big mob politjmans, and big mob from stations, and shoot ’em everybody mens, koories, little yumbah.
He grunts and mimes pulling a trigger.
They chuck ’em on a big fire, chuck ’em in river.
They sit in silence, mesmerized and shocked by BILLY’s gruesome story.
JIMMY: Anybody left, your mob?
BILLY: Not many, gid away, hide. But no one stop that place now, they all go ’nother country.
JOE: Why?
BILLY: You go there, night time you hear ’em. I bin bring cattle that way for Wyndham Meat Works. I hear ’em. Mothers cryin’ and babies cryin’, screamin’. Waiwai! Wawai! Wawai!
They sit in silence staring at BILLY who stares into the fire. Suddenly a night hawk screeches.
SAM: Gawd, I’m getting out of here.
JIMMY: Me too!
BLUEY: Hm, hm, hm, hm, wee-ah, wee-ah!
They quickly pick up their things and leave. JOE remains alone.
SAM: You comin’?
JOE: Go on, I’ll catch you up. Go on!
JIMMY: You watch out.
He pinches his throat with thumb and forefinger.
JOE: I’ll be all right.
SAM: Don’t forget the kaal.
JOE: Okay.
They exit. JOE looks around, pokes the fire, stands and waits. The moon begins to rise. There is a low mopoke call. He replies with a similar call and gets a reply. MARY runs into the clearing. They embrace.
I didn’t think you were gunna get here.
MARY: I bin watchin’ youse for nearly half an hour.
JOE: Kienya!
MARY: I mean listenin’, not watchin’.
JOE: It’s all right, wasn’t man’s business. Did you have any trouble gettin’ away?
MARY: Nah. Topsy’s coverin’ up for me. I’ll just walk in the dinin’ room in the mornin’. They won’t miss me.
JOE: [nervously] Where you gunna sleep tonight?
They kiss. MARY withdraws from him and sits on the log. She begins to cry. He checks that they are alone and sits close beside her on the log.
JOE: Eh? What’s up? Come on, tell me what’s up. You been fightin’ with someone?
She shakes her head.
Come on! Tell me what’s the matter.
MARY: Mr Neal.
JOE: Yeah, what about him?
MARY: He’s tryin’ to make me go and work at the hospital.
JOE: Well, what’s wrong with that?
MARY: Everything.
JOE: You get better tucker.
MARY: It’s more than that, Joe.
JOE: What d’ya mean?
MARY: When Mr Neal sends a girl to work at the hospital, it usually means…
JOE: Means what?
MARY: That he want’s that girl… for himself.
JOE: What?
MARY: Everyone know, even the wetjalas.
JOE: Rotten, stinkin’, lowdown bastard. I’ll kill him!
MARY: Joe…
JOE: I’ll smash his head in with a doak!
MARY: Joe, listen!
JOE: Filthy pig. You not goin’ anywhere near that hospital!
MARY: If I don’t, he reckons he’ll send me back home.
JOE: Home? Where?
MARY: Wyndham. He reckons he send me up home ’coz I’m a give girl.
JOE: Like hell you are.
MARY: I don’t want to go up there to marry no old man.
JOE: You’re meant to be gettin’ married to me.
MARY: Mr Neal not gonna let us get married.
JOE: [exploding] Jesus! [Indicating running] We’re doin’ this tonight, right this fuckin’ minute.
MARY: Joe, you’ll get in big trouble!
JOE: I’ll get in bigger trouble if I have to chip that walrus-faced bastard. I’ll kill him.
MARY: Joe, listen! Where we gunna go?
JOE: Home, Northam.
MARY: What about your mum and dad?
JOE: We’ll tell ’em now, come on, come on.
MARY just stands there.
Come on. I’m gunna show you my country. Got a big river, swans, beautiful white swans.
JOE picks up his shirt and a billy of water, which he tips on the fire. He leads MARY off into the darkness.
SCENE SEVEN
Long Pool Camp, Moore River, night. Dogs bark. JOE and MARY appear as shapes in the darkness. JOE tries to quieten the dogs. He approaches the tent.
JOE: Mum, Dad? You wake?
He looks back at MARY, who stands alone.
Mum, Dad!
MILLY: Hmm, who is it?
JOE: It’s only me.
MILLY: It’s Joe.
The tent lights up as a match is struck and a hurricane lamp lit.
SAM: What’s he want?
He crawls out.
Where you bin? We been home for hours.
MILLY appears behind him.
JOE: Mary’s with me.
MILLY takes the lamp and goes to MARY.
MILLY: Mary! You should be in the compound.
JOE: She ain’t goin’ back there.
JIMMY appears, sleepy and dazed.
JIMMY: What’s goin’ on?
JOE: It’s only me, kongi!
MILLY: She can’t stay here, Joe, she’s a compound girl.
JOE: I know, Mum, we’re runnin’ away—tonight!
SAM: Now? What for?
JOE: ’Cause Neal’s givin’ Mary a bad time.
SAM: Can’t be all that bad.
JOE: Neal’s after her for himself. He’s tryin’ to make her work in the hospital and he keeps sayin’ he’s gonna send her back to her lot to marry some old man—and he won’t give no permission for us to get married.
MILLY: [comforting MARY] There’s gotta be some other way than clearin’ out.
JOE: Only other way’s to stiffen that bastard in the dark.
He goes to MARY.
MILLY: They’ll catch you sooner or later, son, and you’ll go to gaol.
JIMMY: That right, neph, you clear out. Gaol’s yuart, only a wetjala thing. Don’t worry about it.
MILLY: No, I’ll do the
worryin’.
SAM: Where’s Granny?
MILLY: She’s stoppin’ with Aunty Wooleen.
She picks up a camp oven and breaks damper and crams it into a billy.
There’s a bit of merrang, it’s all we got.
She gives it to MARY. SAM gives JOE a blanket. He begins to roll it.
Where will you go?
JOE: [smiling] Northam. I’m gonna show Mary the swans. Well, ’bye Dad, Uncle Jimmy! Say goodbye to Gran.
He moves towards the tent. His mother stops him.
MILLY: Don’t wake the kids. Less they know the better.
JOE: [kissing her] Bye, Mum.
MARY kisses MILLY, then she and JOE walk away swiftly. They look back and wave, then vanish into the darkness. MILLY cries quietly.
JIMMY: [calling after them] You can jump the rattler ’bout half a mile outside a’ Mogumber. Keep to the gravel country. Trackers won’t find your tracks.
SCENE EIGHT
The Superintendant’s Office, Moore River Native Settlement, day. MR NEAL is sitting at his desk reading the West Australian, 10 April 1933. The headlines read, ‘Government Routed’, ‘Three Ministers Defeated’, ‘Labor Majority of Ten’, ‘Premier Loses Northam Seat’, ‘Two To One For Secession’. MATRON enters.
MATRON: I’ve got some news for you.
NEAL: I know. I’ve read it, a bloody massacre.
MATRON is pleased, almost gloating.
Premier’s gone in Northam… Looks like a majority of about ten…
A bloody Labor Government.
MATRON: That’s the good news… Two natives appear to—
NEAL: [interrupting] The only good news is the referendum: two to one.
MATRON: Beg your pardon, but I thought you might—
NEAL: [interrupting] The bloody secession referendum. In favour, one hundred and sixty three thousand six hundred and fifty three, against seventy thousand seven hundred and six.
He stands and walks to the door, thrusting the paper at MATRON.
MATRON: Where are you going?
NEAL: Moora.
MATRON: What, holding a wake?
NEAL: I’m not staying here to listen to you gloat all bloody day.
MATRON: Well, before you go off to commiserate with your cronies in the hotel, you’d better do something about the runaways.
NEAL: What bloody runaways?
MATRON: [looking him in the eye] Mary Dargurru, and Joe Millimurra.
NEAL: Since when?
JIMMY: Mary wasn’t in the dormitory last night, or at breakfast this morning.
