Pearls

by Colin Falconer

  'Yes, it is. Thank you, Mister Tanaka. Consider all debts repaid.

  ***

  Eight years since Cameron had worn the uniform of a lieutenant in the Royal Navy. It reeked of mothballs and there were small holes at the back of the collar and on one sleeve where the insects had ravaged it. The gold braid on the cuffs was dirty and ragged.

  Cameron slipped on the jacket and drew the lapels together. He buttoned it, and studied his reflection in the cracked dresser mirror.

  He felt more than a little smug to discover that it still fitted him. In fact, he looked rather good in it, he thought. He grinned, then saw Rosie watching him from the bedroom doorway. 'Nae bad, eh, Rosie?'

  'You're going to sea? You said you would wait until the baby was born.'

  'This cannae wait. I'll be out and back before you know it.'

  ''You promised me, Cam.'

  'If I dinnae do it, I'll lose the Roebuck.'

  'Do what?';

  'My friend Mister Tanaka has given me the chance to make myself some easy money and maybe get myself out of the hole. I have to do this.'

  Rose nodded and went back to the kitchen. She knew it was pointless to argue. She was so afraid. Elvie had been such a difficult birth; they said the second was always easier. She hoped they were right.

  Chapter 53

  It was dawn, and a greasy light seeped into the bedroom through the cane window shades, leaving half the room in shadow. Rose, already awake, watched Cameron slip into his clothes, buttoning his flannel shirt and fastening the broad, brown leather belt with the money pouch, then tying the silk handkerchief at his throat.

  'Rosie,' Cameron whispered. 'Are you awake, lass?'

  'I'm awake.'

  'I have to be going if we're to catch the morning tide.'

  Rose pulled him towards her. He had not shaved and his chin scratched her cheek. She didn't care, she pulled his head to her breast, breathed in the warm, familiar scent of his hair and body. She was suddenly afraid.

  'I have to go,' he said.

  'I know, Cam.'

  'Doctor Halloran's only half a mile away. And Elvie's here. You'll be all right.'

  'I know.'

  'We've nae money. I have to do this. I'll be back before you know it.'

  'Don't forget to say goodbye to Elvie.'

  He crept into Elvie's room, the boards creaking under his boots, he whispered a goodbye, heard Elvie's sleepy, murmured reply. He put his head around the door a final time. Cameron came back into the room. 'Rosie? Are you all right?'

  'Hold me, Cam.'

  He sat on the edge of the bed and she buried her face in his neck. She did not want to let him go, but she had to, or she would cry and make a fool of herself. She pushed him away.

  'It's okay,' she whispered. 'Go now.'

  'I love you, Rosie.'

  'Just go.'

  He picked up his canvas kit bag. She heard his boots crunch on the grit path and then he was gone.

  Elvie appeared in the doorway, still mostly asleep. Rose held out her arms and she crawled into bed beside her. Rose wrapped her arms around her, grateful for another warm body close to hers.

  ***

  They came up on the big Malay prahu on Scott's Reef, just before sunset. The Malay skipper hoisted sail but by the time he was under way Cameron was just a hundred yards off his stern. He abandoned his attempt to escape. There was only a light breeze and he must have realised that the Roebuck, with its auxiliary motor, could easily overhaul them.

  Wes rolled his eyes when he saw a kris knife flash in the sun on the deck of the prahu.' Mebbe this ain't such a good idea, skip,' he said.

  'Easy, Mister Redonda,' Cameron murmured. He took out his heavy Navy revolver and clambered over the side into the whaleboat. Wes and two of the Malay crewmen, Assan and Mahomet, took the oars.

  A few minutes later they boarded the Malay poacher. The captain was a sullen yellow-eyed salt with brown tombstone teeth and a pearl-handled knife tucked into his sarong. His crew huddled behind him, kris knives tucked into their sarongs.

  A huge pile of shell littered the deck. They must have been fishing here for a week, he thought, perhaps more. The shell was good size and quality. Worth risking a kris knife, especially with the Roebuck at stake.

  Cameron turned to Assan. 'Tell the captain I am an officer in the Royal Australian Navy. Tell him he is fishing illegally in Australian waters.'

  Assan relayed this information to the captain who shrugged his shoulders as if the matter could not be of less interest. He barked something back in Malay.

  'What did he say?'

  'He say he is sorry. He think he still in Malaya.'

  Cameron pointed to the coast a mile away to the east, at the long white beach and the scrubby flat bush beyond. 'Does that look like jungle to him?'

  The captain smirked and shrugged his shoulders again.

  Cameron turned back to Hassan. 'Tell him we are confiscating his shell. Tell him he must throw it all over the side and leave Australian waters immediately.'

  Assan repeated this in Malay and a ripple of angry whispers passed among the crew. In response Cameron took the revolver from its holster and took off the safety.

  'Mebbe you have to use that pretty soon,' Wes whispered.

  'I'd like tae, Wes, but I dinnae have any ammunition.'

  'Jay-sus!'

  The captain started shouting and gesticulating wildly.

  'What's he saying?'

  'Boss, he say he not let you take all his shell. He say you cannot make him throw it away.'

  'Is that what he believes?' Cameron turned to the other two men. 'Wes, Mahomet, throw that shell in the water!'

  They hesitated.

  'Do it!'

  Wes picked up an armful of shell, went to the port side and dumped it into the sea.

  Immediately the captain raced made for him, drawing his kris. But Cameron was ready for him. He brought his revolver down on the man's wrist. The man's wrist snapped with a loud crack. He man screamed, high-pitched, and dropped the kris on the deck. Mahomet snatched it up, relieved to finally have a weapon.

  The crew hesitated. One of them put his hand on the knife at his waist but took it away again when Cameron pointed the revolver at his head. Please God, don't call my bluff, Cameron thought.

  For a moment no one moved. A swell passed under the hull. The only sound was the squealing of the Malay captain as he writhed on the deck clutching his arm.

  Wes broke the stalemate. He was a fearsome sight, Cameron supposed, especially now his two front teeth were gone. He grabbed two Malays standing between him and the shell, one under each arm, and threw them in the sea. This seemed to make up everyone's mind. The rest of the Malays backed off.

  'Thank you Mister Redonda,' Cameron said. He turned to Assan. 'Tell them all to throw their weapons on the deck, in the name of His Majesty the King.'

  Assan translated this and half a dozen knives clattered onto the deck. Cameron turned to Wes and Mahomet. 'Carry on,' he said.

  Half an hour later all the shell had disappeared over the side of the boat into the ocean. As a precaution Cameron had Wes throw the kris knives over the side as well.

  He allowed Mahomet to make a splint for the captain's arm before climbing back into the whaleboat. 'Tell him if he wishes to make a complaint about his treatment, he should write to King George the Fifth in London. As for now, I shall let him off with a warning.'

  As the sun set golden over the ocean, Cameron stood on the bow of the Roebuck and watched the prahu disappear over the northern horizon. 'Put down a lead line and marker, Wes,' he said. 'I have a feeling that in the morning we'll find the best bed of shell in the history of the nor'-west just about here!'

  ***

  Elvie was standing on a beer crate in the kitchen, washing the dishes, when she heard the scream.

  She ran into the back yard. Rose had crawled to the back steps. A pail of chicken feed was on its side in the dirt, the chickens squabbling and fussing aroun
d it. Rose's eyes were wide in pain.

  Elvie stood there, frozen with fear.

  'Help me,' Rose said. There was a dark stain on her skirts, and her right hand was covered in blood.

  What was she supposed to do? She grabbed her mother's arm, thinking to try and pull her to her feet, but Rose pushed her away. 'Go and get Doc Halloran!' she shouted. 'Quick!'

  ***

  Cameron knew what had happened even while he was still on the whaleboat. He saw Elvie standing with Doctor Halloran and Sergeant Clarke on the shore and that could only mean one thing. Wes put a hand on his shoulder. He thought he was going to retch.

  He stumbled through the shallows. Elvie was already running and he crashed to his knees in the water and held her as she cried. For a long time no one said anything. There was no need.

  'The baby as well?' he managed finally.

  'Sorry, Cameron,' Halloran said. 'There was nothing I could do.'

  He didn't blame Halloran. He shouldn't have gone, he should have stayed with her just as she asked him to. He picked up his daughter and walked up the beach. He kept thinking of the saying that Tanaka had taught him once: to live with ambition is to sleep with a rock beneath the pillow; to live with regret is never to sleep again.

  Chapter 54

  Kate stood beside the Buick on Cable Beach, deciding what to do. He was alone now, she had heard, and distraught with grief. Should I go to him?

  Is this what I want? she thought. Was it a sin to still love him so much?

  Two months now since his wife had died and not a day had passed that she had not wanted to over there, sit with him, hold him, comfort him, be near him again. His loss was compounded with guilt; he had been telling everyone who would listen that it was his fault, he shouldn't have left her.

  Well, he was probably right. But how many women die birthing? Halloran had been just down the road. Perhaps it would have helped if he had been sober.

  They said Dalziel thought he was going to kill him when he went into the bank to pay off the loan. Held him against the wall by his throat and told him Rose would still be alive if it wasn't for him. Apparently Dalziel had been so frightened he had wet his trousers. I would have liked to have seen that, she thought with a grim smile.

  So what should she do? It wasn't right this, being someone's wife and spending so much time thinking about another man. Wasn't fair to Cameron either, or to his daughter.

  'I miss you Cam, she murmured to the night wind.

  She turned to Kendo sitting behind the wheel.

  'Take me to the McKenzie house,' she said.

  Wavelets beat the shore. The breathless night closed in.

  ***

  A single yellow light shone from inside. She heard the screen door creak as he came out onto the veranda and watched her come up the path. 'Hello, Cam,' she said. 'I was sorry to hear about Rose. A terrible thing.'

  'Yes, it was. Thank you for coming.'

  She stood there waiting.

  'You should go home. You're a married woman.'

  'I can't,' she said.

  She put her arms around him and he seemed to sag against her. 'I should nae be doing this,' he said.

  'Neither should I.'

  'But you'll stay awhile?'

  'If you want me to,' she said.

  'Come here and sit on the veranda,' he said. 'Like the old times.'

  He lit a cigarette and talked. She leaned on his shoulder. It was like she had never

  Chapter 55

  BROOME, 1931

  Jamie Niland had grown into a tall and handsome young man with thick, curly black hair and dark eyes. He was seventeen and there was a swagger about him now; he was getting more and more like his father, Kate thought.

  She waved as he came down the gangway, but he did not wave back. He left his bags on the jetty for Kendo and slid into the back seat of the motor car. 'Where's the Buick?' he said.

  'Your father sold it,' she said. She leaned forward and kissed him lightly on the cheek. He seemed not to notice.

  'What is this?'

  'It's an Essex.'

  'It's not like the Buick.'

  'Times are hard. Everyone has had to make these economies. Don't you read the papers?'

  He was already trying to needle her. He had changed in the last year, every time he came home for holidays he seemed sulky and unattractive, his eyes clouded with resentment. Over what? She thought. Haven't we given him everything?

  Kendo put the luggage in the boot of the motor car, slammed it shut and climbed back behind the wheel.

  As they drove back along Dampier Terrace, she tried to make conversation. 'How was school?' she said.

  'All right.'

  'When will you get your examination results?'

  He shrugged. 'After Christmas, I suppose. It's all right, I passed.'

  So damned arrogant. She felt herself hoping that life would beat him down a little one day soon. That's not very maternal, she thought. Still, it's what he needs.

  'How's father?' he said.

  'Fine. He's looking forward to seeing you again.'

  'And the business?'

  'These are not easy times. They've found a new shell bed near the Torres Strait, and it's caused a glut. Shell prices are already falling and the world's going to hell already. You've probably read about in the newspapers.'

  'We're not going broke, are we?'

  'Niland and Company has been around for many years. I suspect it will be around for a good many more.'

  'I expect father would like some help.'

  'During the holidays, yes.'

  'Perhaps I could defer university.'

  Kate sighed. Already! Barely off the boat and he had started his campaign again. 'We've gone through this a hundred times. After you have your degree, we'll talk about all of that.'

  'If I'm going into the business why can't I do it now? What difference is a degree going to make?'

  'You've been stewing on this all the way from Perth, haven't you?'

  'You didn't answer my question.'

  'You need something to fall back on if ...'

  'If what?'

  'The pearling industry isn't the only business in the world.'

  'I don't want to go to university.'

  'I'm not discussing it now.'

  He turned and stared out of the window. They drove past Cameron's new bungalow and up Broome Terrace. 'Let's see what father says.'

  Let's see what father says. He always knew precisely what to say to wound her. Another trait passed down from father to son. Both of them.

  ***

  When George arrived home from the office that evening he greeted Jamie formally, then flopped into a cane chair on the back veranda and called for Kendo to bring him a gin and tonic.

  'Well,' he said. 'How are you, Jamie?'

  'Fine thank you, father.'

  'How are your studies?'

  Jamie gave him a sour look. 'All right.'

  'You had a good trip up from Perth?'

  'Yes, thank you.'

  His avenues of enquiry exhausted, George turned to his wife. 'The Drummonds are coming for dinner tonight. And Enwright, from the office.'

  Kate slammed down her glass in exasperation. 'I do wish you'd told me sooner. Liddy is going to throw a fit.'

  'Liddy will have to cope. That's what we pay her for, isn't it?'

  'You're impossible,' she said and went inside to break the news to her housekeeper.

  'Was it a good season?' Jamie asked.

  'It's a difficult time for everyone in the industry. Only those running a tight ship will survive, I'm afraid. Of course Niland and Company will be all right. And when the price of shell picks up, we can think about expansion again.'

  'I wondered if I could help out during the break.'

  'Yes, I don't see why not. Excellent idea. In fact, I wonder if it might not be a good idea for you to come into the business on a more permanent basis.'

  Jamie leaned forward eagerly. 'You mean that? I mean
, I was thinking I could defer.'

  'Well, for a year at least. It was your mother's idea for you to go to university, but quite frankly, I don't see the point. Everything you need to know about business, I can teach you.'

  'That's what I tried to tell her!'

  'I'll speak with her.'

  The screen door swung open. 'Speak with me about what?' Kate said.

  'About not going to university next year,' Jamie said quickly. 'Father thinks I should stay here and start work.'

  'What?'

  'Well, he's going to take over the reins one day,' George said. 'He might as well start learning now.'

  'But we agreed-'

  'It was your suggestion and at the time I did not demur. But things have changed. With the financial constraints we are experiencing I'm not sure we could not use the money for other things. No, it's decided. Jamie stays here and comes to work at Niland and Company.'

  'But George-'

  'He can go to university later.'

  Kate looked at her husband, and then at Jamie. 'This is a mistake.'

  'I want to learn everything,' Jamie was saying. 'About packing, about shell opening, perhaps even diving ...'

  'Good God! You must be joking!' George said, laughing. 'That's for natives and Japs.'

  'But I want to know everything!'

  'Everything you need to know, I'll teach you. Anyone can get shell! Turning shell into sustainable profit is the real work.' Kendo brought George's drink. George took it with a nod.

  'This is a mistake,' Kate repeated.

  'No, it's settled,' George repeated. 'Jamie starts work tomorrow.'

  Chapter 56

  The lagoon on the western shore of King Sound had been christened the Graveyard. The tide sometimes rose fifteen fathoms in just two hours, boiling through two underwater ravines known as Hell's Gates and Whirlpool Pass, the current running as fast as six knots. It had claimed the lives of many divers over the years.