Pearlie's Ghost

by Lucia Masciullo

  Some buildings were several storeys high and looked as if they’d been carved from one gigantic yellow rock. She had never seen so many motorcars before or people walking around. The streets were so wide, and they weren’t made of dirt, like in Darwin, but were paved and smooth.

  She stood on the corner, overwhelmed. How on earth was she going to find Naoko?

  She was just wondering if she should ask somebody directions when a low, gravelly voice said, ‘Over here, lovey.’

  Pearlie’s first instinct was to run. But when she turned, she saw a woman sitting on the ground on a pile of rags. Her clothes were filthy. A tattered shawl covered her head so Pearlie could only see a nose and mouth.

  ‘Come sit down with Mavis,’ the woman said. A wrinkled hand extended out from inside her frayed sleeve.

  Pearlie recoiled and jumped back out of reach.

  Mavis said, ‘I won’t hurt ya. I just want to give you something. You look cold. Lookee here . . .’ She turned around and with great difficult y dragged for ward a large bundle. She untied the knot that held the bundle together and rifled through what looked like rags. Pearlie realised they were her clothes. In fact, they were probably her life’s belongings. Pearlie suddenly felt sorry for the old woman. How terrible to sleep on the street. Didn’t she have anywhere to go?

  ‘Here it is.’ Mavis pulled out a piece of clothing and held it out to her.

  It was a child’s jumper in surprisingly good condition. And it was clean.

  ‘Use to belong to me daughter,’ Mavis said. ‘These too.’ She placed a pair of shoes at Pearlie’s feet. They were made of black leather with a strap and a silver buckle. Except for a little scuffing at the toe, they looked almost brand-new.

  Pearlie stared at them, surprised. Where was her daughter now? ‘Um . . .’

  ‘So, you can speak,’ Mavis said, pushing back the shawl covering her head. Grey hair fell over her face and she pushed it away. She smiled and her face was transformed. Suddenly she looked younger, though still sad. Pearlie stared at Mavis’s eyes. They were so green they reminded her of the sea in Darwin harbour. She felt a lump of homesickness rise in her throat.

  ‘Go on, take it.’ Mavis was still holding the jumper out to her. ‘Put it on before you catch your death of cold.’

  ‘Thank you,’ Pearlie said and took the jumper gratefully.

  ‘Knitted it meself,’ Mavis said. She gave a little sigh and then patted the ground beside her. ‘Try the shoes. They look the right size for ya.’

  Pearlie sat down next to Mavis and tried on the shoes. They were a perfect fit.

  ‘Abby never got to wear them much,’ she said. ‘But the jumper she did.’

  ‘Is that your daughter?’ Pearlie asked, doing up the buckles.

  Mavis nodded sadly. ‘Was a long time ago.’

  Just then Pearlie heard someone say, ‘Look, Mummy, beggars.’ Then she heard a coin being dropped into a tin.

  ‘Thank you,’ Mavis said without looking up at the passers-by.

  But Pearlie did. Right into the eyes of a girl about her own age. She wore a beautiful blue coat and her hair was tied in two pigtails with thick white bows. She was so clean and sparkly. Pearlie looked down, ashamed.

  ‘You get used to it,’ Mavis said, watching her. ‘When you’re homeless like me –’

  ‘But everyone has a home,’ Pearlie said, shocked.

  Mavis shook her head. ‘This is me home.’

  ‘The station?’

  Mavis smiled. ‘Grand, isn’t it? What about you? Where’s your home, lovey?’

  Pearlie didn’t know how to answer that. She suddenly realised she didn’t have a home either. The thought made her feel faint. ‘I’m going to stay with my best friend. She lives in Medindee,’ said Pearlie.

  Old Mavis made a long whistling sound through her teeth. ‘That’s some posh suburb your friend lives in. Must be rich.’

  ‘Oh no. My friend is their . . . um . . . maid,’ Pearlie said. It sounded funny calling Naoko a maid. ‘Can you tell me how I can get there from here? Is it very far?’

  ‘You can walk. Take you’ bout an hour.’ She pointed down the street. ‘Head that way to King William Road and cross the river –’ Mavis stopped mid-sentence, looking alarmed.

  ‘What?’ Pearlie said.

  ‘Sorry, lovey. Must get a move on. Police are coming. Good luck.’ Mavis tied the bundle together, gathered her pile of dirty rags, and shuffled off down the street.

  Pearlie leapt to her feet and stepped into the station, just inside the door, as the policeman passed. When he had gone, she quickly crossed the road and headed towards the river.

  Pearlie stood looking down the driveway in awe at the enormous house where Naoko and her mum lived. Her heart should have been leaping with joy but instead her throat felt dry and her palms sweaty. What if Naoko isn’t here? she thought. What will I do then?

  She felt a wriggling at her hip and lifted her jumper.

  Tinto leapt out of his pouch and immediately pounced on a grasshopper. As soon as he had gobbled it down he greedily went on the hunt for another.

  ‘Oh peanuts,’ Pearlie said. ‘There’s only one way to find out if Nao’s there.’

  Tinto seemed to have read her thoughts and took off up the driveway. Pearlie followed.

  There was what looked like a large lawn . . . Wait, that’s not a lawn, Pearlie realised as she drew closer and saw the net. That’s a tennis court! They have their own tennis court?

  A dog barked from the garden beside the tennis court. It was a mournful bark, like the cry of something lost. Pearlie looked into the shadows but she couldn’t see it. The bushes moved, then were still again. Feeling a shiver go down her spine, she called Tinto to her side and scooped him up.

  On either side of the grand front door were panels of beautiful coloured glass painted with scenes: a tree filled with white cockatoos, a eucalypt forest, blue mountains shaped like a dragon’s back.

  Pearlie stepped up and peered through the glass. A portrait of a woman hung on the wall inside and a wide staircase with a lion’s head banister curved up to the second floor. Next to the portrait was a mirror, which reflected the room opposite.

  In the mirror, Pearlie could see a piano, armchairs and two sofas, more portraits . . .

  Then she saw Naoko.

  She was kneeling on the floor cleaning the fireplace with her back to Pearlie. She looked smaller than Pearlie remembered.

  Unable to contain her excitement, Pearlie tapped on the glass with her knuckles. Then she saw a brass button on the wall beside the door and pressed it.

  A bell sounded inside the house.

  Pearlie held her breath as Naoko lifted her head and pushed herself up. She put down the small brush and dustpan she was holding and walked into the hall.

  Tears had already filled Pearlie’s eyes by the time Naoko answered the door.

  Naoko’s mouth opened, but no words came out. Her eyes were like saucers as she stared at Pearlie.

  ‘I got your letter, Nao, and here I am,’ Pearlie grinned.

  ‘I can’t believe it!’ Naoko threw her arms around Pearlie and they hugged and squeezed and cried.

  Tinto, who had been in the crook of Pearlie’s arm the whole time, wriggled up between them and leapt onto Naoko’s shoulder.

  ‘Little Tinto, you’re here too!’ Naoko said, rubbing her cheek against him. ‘Oh, Pearlie, thank you for looking after him. I’ve been dreaming of this day when we’d all be together.’ She took Tinto down and sat him on her hand, looking at him lovingly. ‘You are my dear one. You are both my dear ones. This is the happiest moment of my life.’

  Pearlie could see a change in Naoko but she couldn’t figure out what it was. She was quieter, more subdued. They had both changed, she thought. Life changes you without you wanting it to.

  ‘Let’s sit down. I want to hear everything. Oh, I’m so excited!’ Naoko said.

  The two girls sat cross-legged on a cane sofa on the verandah, their knees to
uching. There was so much to talk about; so much had happened since they last saw each other.

  They both started at the same time and laughed. ‘You go first, Nao,’ Pearlie said. ‘I want to know everything since that horrible last day at school.’

  The image of Nao being handcuffed and led away was as clear to Pearlie as the day it had happened.

  So Naoko told Pearlie about the dreadful journey on the ship called the Zealandia, how they were jammed in like sardines for ten days with wounded troops and evacuees all on top of each other. ‘The Japanese internees were kept in the hold. We were only allowed up on deck to exercise once a day,’ she said. ‘We called it the Hell Ship. Everyone was sick and you could barely breathe because of the stench.’ Naoko shuddered. ‘The ship landed in Sydney, but then Dad was sent to Loveday Internment Camp, which is near Adelaide, so that’s why Mum and I came here. We write to him every week but we haven’t seen him.’

  ‘Is it like a jail?’ Pearlie asked.

  ‘It sort of is. Nobody’s allowed to leave but they’re allowed to work. Dad helps grow vegetables – tomatoes and potatoes and things. He’s there with men from other countries that Australia is at war with, so there are Germans and Italians too. He said it’s not too bad because he likes watching plants grow. Remember his bonsais?’

  Pearlie nodded, thinking of the last time she’d seen Mr Ito’s precious bonsai trees – strewn over the floor of the living room, turned upside-down with their roots sticking up in the air. She didn’t have the heart to tell Naoko though.

  Tinto was sitting contentedly on Naoko’s lap as she tickled the little monkey under the chin. ‘Now, Pearlie, your turn! We heard Darwin was bombed but the newspapers haven’t said much about it. They said a few people died.’

  Pearlie was silent. It was still too raw in her mind.

  ‘Are you all right?’ Naoko asked.

  Pearlie turned away to look out at the garden.

  ‘What’s the matter?’

  ‘I can’t talk about it now.’

  ‘All right,’ Naoko said, reaching across and taking her hand. Then she smiled. ‘So, where are you staying? Is it far from here? How are your mum and dad and little Joey?’

  ‘They’re in Perth,’ Pearlie replied.

  ‘Perth!’

  ‘I missed the evacuation ship.’ Pearlie sniffed and wiped her eyes as tears threatened. ‘It was all Beake’s fault.’

  ‘Oh, Pearlie. I wanted to stay to protect you from him.’

  ‘It’s all right, Nao. In a way, when you and Reddy left it was kind of a good thing cos I had to learn to take care of myself.’

  Then Pearlie told Naoko the whole story, starting with the time when she and Reddy had the photographs they took of Beake at Diamond Cave developed and how they were overexposed, to finding Grey Ears, and the trap she laid for Beake. Naoko’s face was full of surprise and she clapped her hands when she heard the part about the jellyfish.

  She shook her head slowly when Pearlie had finished, staring at her in awe. ‘You are the bravest person I know, Pearlie Chan.’

  ‘It was Tinto who saved me. If it wasn’t for him I’d be –’

  ‘Shhh, don’t say it,’ Naoko said. She pulled Pearlie off the couch. ‘Come inside and we’ll ask Mrs Makepeace if you can stay. I’ve got a spare bed in my room so you can sleep there.’ She grimaced. ‘And you can meet the ghost.’ She picked up Tinto and put him inside her jumper.

  As Pearlie went into the house, it was like stepping into another world, a world that was safe and clean and warm, one where she didn’t have to survive by herself.

  The ceilings were high, decorated around the edges in gold and blue paint. Huge lights with sparkling crystals of glass hung from the centre of all the main rooms, and covering the walls were portraits. The eyes seemed to follow Pearlie around, which was a bit spooky.

  ‘Don’t you get lost in a house this big?’ she said, marvelling at everything around her.

  ‘I used to, but not any more,’ Naoko laughed. ‘There are twenty rooms in this house.’

  ‘Twenty! And you have to clean them all?’

  ‘Gosh no, otherwise I’d be like Cinderella working night and day. Some of them are locked up.’

  Mrs Ito was coming down the stairs. When she saw Pearlie she stopped on the landing and put her hands to her mouth. ‘Am I dreaming?’ she said. ‘Is that you, Shinju?’

  ‘No, you’re not dreaming, Mum,’ Naoko smiled.

  ‘Hello, Mrs Ito,’ Pearlie said. Mrs Ito also looked different. She was thinner and paler.

  ‘I hardly recognise you, Shinju,’ Mrs Ito said. ‘Your clothes . . .’

  ‘It’s because her mum and dad were sent to Perth and Pearlie missed the ship,’ Naoko said.

  At this, Pearlie burst into tears. And then it came spilling out like a pipe that had been blocked, all the things she hadn’t been able to tell Nao. ‘Darwin . . . it’s all gone,’ she stammered. ‘The Japanese planes . . . hundreds of them, all over the sky. We thought they belonged to the Americans but then they began to drop bombs . . . on the ships, on the wharf, on the post office . . .’ She took a ragged breath. ‘They all died . . . Mr and Mrs Bald and their daughters. They hid in the trench but they still died,’ Pearlie sobbed. ‘There were dead men floating in the sea and wounded men everywhere . . . everything is gone . . . my home, Chinatown, everything . . .’

  Mrs Ito and Naoko stood so still they looked like statues. Their faces were ash grey. Then they too began to cry.

  ‘It’s all right, Shinju,’ Mrs Ito said, sobbing.

  ‘No it’s not, Mum!’ Naoko shouted. ‘I’m ashamed of what Japan has done to Darwin. Why do they have to be so greedy and make war on everyone?’

  ‘Hush . . . Naoko,’ said her mother, wiping her eyes. ‘Please don’t talk like that.’

  A door down the hall opened and a man stepped out. He was tall with a bald patch on the top of his head and two puffs of grey hair on each side of his face. ‘What is all the commotion?’

  He looked at Nao and Mrs Ito’s tear- streaked faces, and then he looked at Pearlie. ‘Who are you, child?’

  ‘She’s Pearlie, my best friend from Darwin,’ Naoko said.

  ‘I am very sorry for the disturbance, Reverend Makepeace,’ said Mrs Ito, drying her eyes and straightening her apron. ‘Pearlie has been separated from her parents. They’re in Perth and she was sent here after Darwin was bombed. We were wondering if she might stay until we find them.’

  ‘Poor child. How terrible. Of course she can stay, but keep the noise down. I’m trying to write Sunday’s sermon. Find my wife and he will organise it all.’ He waved his hand distractedly and returned to his study.

  Just then, a woman appeared in the hallway. She carried a basket full of roses over her arm. She was soft and warm and round and Pearlie liked her immediately.

  ‘Mrs Makepeace,’ said Naoko. ‘This is my best friend, Pearlie, the one I was telling you about. Reverend Makepeace said she could stay until we find her mum and dad.’

  ‘But of course.’ Mrs Makepeace’s voice was as soft as her face, thought Pearlie. ‘Has she lost them?’

  ‘It’s just that they got separated. They’re in Perth.’

  ‘Oh dear! Why don’t you take Pearlie upstairs so she can have a bath.’ Mrs Makepeace turned to Pearlie and smiled. ‘Naoko has several dresses you can borrow. You’ll feel better once you’re cleaned up. Then Mrs Ito can give you some of her delicious vegetable soup.’

  How safe Pearlie felt with Nao and Mrs Ito and this kind family.

  ‘Now off you go. You don’t have to do any more work today, Naoko.’

  ‘Yes, Mrs Makepeace. Thank you.’ Naoko grinned at Pearlie. Their friendship was like an elastic band that had been stretched while they were away from each other. Now it had snapped back into place as if they had never been apart.

  Mrs Makepeace turned to go and Pearlie nudged Naoko. ‘Tinto. What about Tinto?’ she whispered.

  ‘What is it dear?’ Mrs Makepea
ce said.

  ‘I brought a pet with me . . . Well, he really belongs to Nao but I’ve been looking after him for her.’

  Mrs Ito stepped forward. ‘You have Tinto?’

  Naoko smiled and lifted up her jumper. There was Tinto, clinging bright-eyed to the front of Naoko’s dress.

  Mrs Makepeace gave a little start.

  Oh no, thought Pearlie. I should have warned her that Tinto was a monkey.

  ‘He’s a pygmy marmoset,’ said Naoko. ‘Dad found him in the ocean floating on a palm frond. He’s been my pet ever since.’ She put out her arm and Tinto walked along it. He sat there, cocking his head from side to side and looking very cute.

  Mrs Makepeace’s head was doing the same as she peered at Tinto. Then the monkey leapt onto her shoulder. The Reverend’s wife gave a little squeal, hunching her shoulders and squeezing up her face while Tinto snuggled into her curls as if he had found a lovely nest.

  To Pearlie’s surprise, Mrs Makepeace began to giggle. ‘You are very sweet,’ she said, stroking him.

  ‘And well behaved too,’ Naoko added.

  Please, please, be good right now, Tinto, earlie thought.

  Tinto chirruped and lifted his chin for Mrs Makepeace to tickle it. ‘All right, girls,’ Mrs Makepeace said, won over. ‘Tinto can stay, too, as long as you keep him under control.’

  ‘We will,’ Naoko and Pearlie said in unison.

  Mrs Ito went to the kitchen and Mrs Makepeace returned to the garden, leaving Pearlie and Naoko alone. Pearlie looked at Nao. She felt like squealing and jumping with happiness, but she held herself in until they ere in Naoko’s bedroom.

  As soon as Naoko closed the door, Naoko kicked off her shoes and jumped onto one of the beds. The springs groaned. Pearlie did the same. It was so soft it was like lying on fairyfloss, she thought. They lay on their backs with their shoulders touching, smiling up at the high ceiling.

  It was the loveliest bedroom Pearlie had ever seen, with its floral curtains and matching bedspreads and small bedside tables. It even had a dressing table in the corner with an oval mirror.

  Naoko showed Pearlie her wardrobe full of dresses, coats and shoes. It was like a clothes shop. Pearlie chose a green dress with long sleeves but she kept the shoes Mavis had given her.