The Birthmark

by Beth Montgomery

  And Jonah; where was he now? Drunk and running

  She saw someone climb onto the pillbox in front of her; for an instant she thought it was Jonah and her doubts about him faded. He had come back for her. Then she recognised the shape; it was Hector.

  Something inside her was relieved to see him. The knot of resentment vanished. Hector wouldn’t desert her. She knew he would help. She called out to him.

  ‘Are you sure this is the best thing to do?’ Lily whispered to Hector.

  Together they peered over the terrace wall. The security light wasn’t on. The house was completely blacked out. Lily could barely make out the wash house on the far side of the terrace.

  ‘No Tevuans will look for it here, and if Christina or her dad find it, they can take it back to Australia with them. No more ghosts, no more problems. Anyway, you’re the one who doesn’t want to let go of it. At least it’s safe here.’ He sprang onto the wall and helped Lily over.

  ‘Let go, I can manage myself,’ she growled, pushing him away.

  ‘Quick then!’ he urged as he crept over to the wash house.

  Lily ran along the terrace as lightly as she could, but her thongs click clacked on the pavings. She followed Hector through the door and pushed it shut. It was so dark inside that she fumbled about like a blind person, prodding Hector in the back.

  ‘Suh! Watch it.’

  ‘I can’t see!’

  He grabbed her free hand and guided it towards the bench. ‘Here, put the sword under here so it sits on the pipes. They won’t see it.’

  ‘I don’t want to leave it.’

  ‘You have to! Don’t you understand, it’s a weapon. If he’s hurt bad then the police will want it. You can’t keep it.’

  He didn’t add that she might have killed Eldon with it. He’d said that earlier, when he tried to convince her to throw it into the sea. She’d washed the blood off but she couldn’t part with it. She couldn’t even bear to let go of it. Hector then said they should take it to Riki, but she knew Lorelei would look for her there. Christina’s wash house was the compromise. She’d leave the sword here and they’d go and wake up Riki and ask his advice.

  That was the plan but Lily sensed that it wouldn’t work. The desire to keep the sword with her was overwhelming. Her stained hand clenched the hilt so tightly that all sensation had drained from her fist. Her arm was numb with cold, a ghostly cold that chilled her veins.

  She bent down to put the sword under the bench but a sudden noise and burst of light startled her. She turned to see the glare of a flashlight.

  ‘What the hell’s going on?’ said Christina.

  twenty-seven

  Anbwido

  5 July 1943

  Tepu heard the marines approaching. He sank low, his face inches from the forest floor. He expected to see a band of men marching, but what he saw shocked him. They had a girl with them. It was Edouwe.

  They pulled her along by her hair like a horse. Her hands were bound and one of the marines had a bayonet at her back. Her face was spattered with mud and one of her knees was grazed; a trickle of blood outlined her shin. What had they done to her?

  Tepu saw the leer in the marines’ eyes. He knew what they intended. Tepu’s chest tightened with horror. His girl would be spoilt before his eyes. He had to stop their attack, but they would beat or kill him if he tried. He forced himself not to move, though every muscle in his body was ready.

  Government Settlement

  Anbwido

  Saturday 3 July 2004

  Christina couldn’t sleep. The power had gone off for the third time during her stay and the overhead fan that normally clunked away was silent. The heat was so oppressive that she imagined being in a toaster. An overpowering smell of mould grew in the still air. Sweat pooled beneath her, the bed sheets clung to her skin. She turned from side to side in an effort to get comfortable but it was no use. Hot and irritable, she lurched out of bed to get a drink of water.

  She crept past her father’s room, feeling her way down the hall to the kitchen. He wouldn’t wake up no matter how hot it was. He was used to the tropical climate, and he’d drunk a few too many beers after dinner. They’d sat up and talked but the conversation turned to her mother and his tone grew bitter. Christina had gone to bed and left him to his drinking.

  Now it was after midnight and the moon cast a pale light on the terrace outside the kitchen window. Christina saw two figures scampering over to the laundry. She blinked hard. Was she dreaming? She couldn’t be certain but the second silhouette, a female, was thickset and ran just like Lily. But if it was Lily, what was she doing here, at this time of night? Unless there’d been trouble. Christina grabbed the torch off the top of the fridge and sneaked outside.

  She tiptoed across the terrace. She heard whispering inside the wash house. What if it were two people she didn’t know at all? She took a deep breath, pushed the door open and switched on the torch. Hector and Lily were crouched on the ground. It looked as if they were tampering with the plumbing.

  ‘What the hell’s going on?’

  ‘Ngaitirre! Put that torch away,’ Hector hissed.

  ‘No, I won’t! What are you doing?’

  Lily and Hector exchanged worried glances before Hector finally said: ‘We’re hiding something.’

  Christina saw the pain on Lily’s face and wondered if her friend was about to burst into tears. She clutched the same sword she had on the day they first met. There were small dark spots on her T-shirt. It looked like blood. ‘You can tell me…I can help,’ Christina said.

  Lily hurriedly related the night’s events. Hector interjected about his stolen bike and how Lily’s brother had sworn to ring the police. Now they both assumed that Rongo had mistaken the fleeing boy for Hector.

  ‘I think you need to tell the police the truth and give them the sword,’ Christina said.

  They both looked at her as if she’d turned into an octopus. ‘I can’t go to the police, they’ve been after me for months,’ Hector said.

  ‘And I can’t let go of the sword,’ Lily said flatly. ‘It’s stuck to my hand.’

  Christina didn’t believe her. ‘It’s probably just shock,’ she said. ‘Let me look.’ She clasped Lily’s arm and was surprised at how icy it felt. The cold seemed to spread to her own fingertips. ‘Eerr!’ she said, pulling back in fright.

  ‘See, it’s bewitched,’ Lily said. ‘It’s making my hand die.’

  ‘Riki would know what to do,’ Hector said.

  ‘But if the police go to the hut, they’ll catch us.’

  Christina calculated the odds: Lily’s family would only contact the police after they’d taken Eldon to the hospital, if at all. Eldon would probably be too ashamed to get the police involved. ‘We should go to Riki straight away and if the police are hanging around I can distract them,’ she said.

  ‘You…you don’t have to help,’ Lily said.

  Christina recalled the first time she’d helped them avoid the police. She was frightened of Lily then. When Decima told her about Lily’s home life she felt sorry for Lily. Fear and pity weren’t the most honourable reasons to help somebody, but now she wanted to help because they were friends. It was probably unwise to get caught up but she could at least help them get to the hut.

  ‘Come on,’ she said, ‘before my torch batteries run out.’

  They made their way along the Witch Track in silence. When they reached the turn-off that led to the hut Hector told Christina to switch off the torch.

  ‘I think there’s a car outside,’ he whispered.

  They staggered along in the dark, clinging to one another, edging closer to the hut.

  ‘I can hear voices,’ Lily whispered.

  They slipped behind a tomano tree and peered into the blackness. There were no lights on anywhere. The black-out must have affected all of Anbwido, Christina thought. Over on the porch she heard the old man cough. She could hear people speaking in Tevuan. One of them moved away and opened a car door. Moments
later the engine revved and headlights flashed, lighting up the forest where they were hiding.

  twenty-eight

  Anbwido

  5 July 1943

  Edouwe cried out and one of the marines slapped her.

  ‘Listen to the thief cry,’ one said.

  ‘She’ll cry some more now,’ said another, slapping her too. Then he forced her to the ground.

  Edouwe struggled wildly but she couldn’t fight off four men.

  Two marines held her arms, pinning them to the ground while the one who had pushed her fought to keep her thrashing legs still.

  Tepu had to help her, but he dared not move. If they found him during curfew hours he would be punished, but he couldn’t bear the torture before him.

  In a burst of fury he sprang out from the bushes just as Egirow shouted at his men from the other direction.

  Anbwido

  Saturday 2 July 2004

  Hector wrenched Christina sideways, pulling her to the ground beside him. Lily pressed herself against the tree. She held her breath, hoping they hadn’t been seen.

  The engine rumbled, then the car moved towards them, the glare of the headlights intensifying.

  ‘What do we do now?’ Christina whimpered.

  ‘Wait,’ Hector said, ‘they’re just turning around.’

  Lily heard the gears crunch. The headlights swung away. Hector was right. The car drove down the hill towards the Ring Road.

  Once it had gone they scurried over to the hut. A kerosene lamp glowed in the kitchen. Riki was lighting a small gas cooker when the three of them filed in through the door. He turned to them and shook his head. ‘What have you done, Hector?’ he murmured. ‘The police were here looking for you.’

  ‘What did you tell them?’

  ‘Nothing. I never tell police anything,’ he said.

  ‘Will they come back?’ Christina asked.

  Riki laughed. ‘They hate coming here, they won’t come back. They don’t want to work, they just play cards or sleep.’ He rubbed his brown belly and tightened his lava lava. ‘Now why are you here late? What did you do?’ he said softly.

  ‘It’s the sword,’ Lily mumbled, holding it out towards him. ‘It’s made my hand dead.’

  Riki limped forward, his bowed legs creaking. He reached out, caressed the blade and, lifting it close to his face, sniffed deeply. ‘It cuts again,’ he pronounced under his breath.

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘There is fresh blood.’

  Lily cringed and turned to Hector for support, but he looked away as if he knew nothing.

  They’d washed it together in the sea. They were sure it was clean. How did the old man know? She looked at Riki and shook her head.

  The old man stared at her. ‘What did you do?’ he whispered.

  She shivered. Although she didn’t want to look at him, she felt her eyes being drawn to his. She was certain he could read her soul.

  ‘An accident,’ she muttered. She could feel herself shaking and her lip quivered as though tears would come, but she fought them back, determined not to cry in front of Hector or the old man. ‘He tried to get in my room... I hate him.’

  A long silence filled the kitchen until the old man said, ‘I hated once too, hated enough to hurt a man.’

  ‘Who?’ Hector asked.

  Riki ignored him. ‘The man, he is alive—or you kill him?’

  She took a deep breath. Her chest grew tight until the pressure was too much and the words raced out of her mouth, ‘He’s OK, I think.’

  ‘Good,’ the old man said. He leant back against the wall and nodded as if he knew the whole story even though she’d said so little.

  ‘We’ve got to get rid of the sword. The police will look for it,’ Christina said.

  ‘The police?’ Riki smiled and began to chuckle. ‘I don’t think so. We must take the sword to the real owner. He’ll tell us what to do.’

  ‘Do you mean the ghost?’ Hector said.

  ‘Mmm.’ The old man raised his eyebrows and gazed at them with a peaceful expression, but Lily noticed that he held his breath. It was almost a minute before he spoke again. ‘Where did you find the sword?’

  ‘Up in the bush here, just off the Witch Track,’ Lily pointed.

  The old man stiffened and shut his eyes.

  ‘But Ibu, that’s not all,’ Hector’s words tumbled out. ‘I found a body there too.’

  Christina gasped.

  Lily was stunned. Why hadn’t Hector told her? She glared at him, willing him to explain, but Riki had begun to tremble. He sat with his eyes closed. It looked as if his eyelids were stretched thin and his long rubbery face frightened her. When he stopped shaking he spoke, his voice a whisper. ‘Tell me more,’ he said.

  ‘It’s just bones—a skull and things. It must be him, Ibu. The skull is only a few metres from where we found the sword.’

  Riki closed his eyes. ‘It must be our ghost. Tell me, Lily, what does he look like?’

  Lily sighed and shut he eyes. ‘He’s got a baseball cap with an anchor on it…he’s got long black boots… he shouts at me all the time but I can’t hear him... he looks like a Chinaman.’

  ‘Where did you see him? What did he do?’ Riki asked. The shadows from the lamp made his eyes seem hollow and his nose loomed bigger than ever.

  ‘At my house and at the pillbox. He held up his arm like this,’ she said, mimicking the raised fist.

  ‘It is a marine,’ Riki said. ‘He wants to raise his sword but it’s lost.’ He coughed. ‘What does he say?’

  ‘He never says anything,’ Lily said.

  Riki nodded, ‘It is good. It must be the same one.’ He sat quietly for a long time, scratching the stubble on his chin. Finally he said, ‘We must put him to rest.’ He reached up to the shelves above the sink and took down the bottle Hector had found. ‘He will speak this time.’ He nodded at Hector. ‘You show me. We’ll go now and give him the sword.’

  ‘How?’ Lily whined. ‘I can’t let go, I can’t get rid of it.’ ‘It is his spirit. It’s poisoning you, Lily. We must give it back.’

  ‘No,’ Lily heard herself say. ‘I don’t want to.’

  ‘But it’s evil, it’s a bad thing, this sword,’ Riki said softly.

  ‘No, I need it.’ Her words echoed about the room.

  The old man looked at her squarely. ‘You don’t need it anymore. Before it gave courage to you, now all it gives you is pain and death. I know what they do. They are evil these swords. The marines killed many islanders. Chop, chop. They cut the necks of every one. Good people died because the marines were cruel. Already this sword has made you cruel.’

  She looked down at the floor.

  Riki laid his hand on her shoulder. ‘Many people are cruel and hurt others,’ he said. ‘We must not be afraid of the memories—even when they hurt so much. The stories are important—they teach us something.’ Then he turned to Hector. ‘Get some torches. I’ll get a bucket. Our marine must rest tonight.’

  twenty-nine

  Anbwido

  5 July 1943

  ‘Leper!’ Tepu screamed at them.

  They all turned at once and faced him with blank faces.

  ‘Leper, she’s a leper!’ he yelled, gesturing at his fingers and toes. They didn’t understand and the nearest marine moved forward to grab him.

  But now Egirow was snapping at them in their own language. ‘Rai-byo no onna,’ he barked and instantly they recoiled from Edouwe.

  The marines shouted, howled and cursed each other. They wiped their hands on the nearest leaves in a furious dance of disgust and shame.

  In that moment of confusion Edouwe vanished into the forest. Tepu turned to run too, but Egirow caught him round the head with his rifle butt. Tepu spun and fell to the ground. He struggled to regain his footing but Egirow was quicker, kicking the wind out of his lungs. Tepu gasped for air. The last thing he remembered that morning was the thrust of Egirow’s boot in his face.

  The Witch Track<
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  Anbwido

  Saturday 3 July 2004

  Hector led the way along the Witch Track. Even though he had company he felt his breath rattle with every step. He swung the torch about so the beam wouldn’t reveal his shaking hand.

  ‘It’s up here,’ he said, his voice fast and squeaky. Coughing to clear his throat, he pushed past overgrown bushes. The clearing opened before them and Hector pointed the torch beam up the hill to his right, illuminating a stand of thin trees.

  ‘This is where we found the sword. The bones are in there…behind the trees,’ he said.

  Riki hung his head and muttered something into his chest.

  ‘I wonder how he died?’ Lily said.

  No one answered her. Hector fought off an urge to run home, but he couldn’t run because he had to show how brave he was. Lily and Christina inched closer to him. He sensed their trembling. But the old man was not afraid. He stepped towards the trees, put down his bucket and beckoned for the light to come closer.

  Hector hesitated. The air about him chilled. He didn’t want to disturb any evil ghosts but he wanted to see what would happen.

  ‘Bring the sword, girl,’ the old man called.

  Lily twitched and clutched at Hector’s T-shirt. Her eyes were staring. ‘My arm’s so cold,’ she croaked.