Barefoot and Lost (62 page)

     ‘Do you feel like you want to hug and kiss him call him Dad and never let him out of your sight?’

     ‘No, I don’t feel anything for him, when I first saw him I recognized him, even though he was a stranger, the hair on my neck stood up and I felt sick in my stomach, maybe because I thought I had seen a ghost, I don’t know it was weird.’

     ‘
Phillip
, don’t worry about feeling like that if push comes to shove I will fight tooth and nail to keep you.’

     ‘I don’t want to go with him.’

     ‘Maybe he doesn’t want you to, let us see what his intentions are
, here
carry this tray in, I’ll bring the rest.’ 

    
Frank
has, spread out in front of him, several official looking papers.

     ‘Do you both take milk and sugar?’

     ‘Black please,
Gloria
.’

     ‘What about you dear, what did you say your name was?’

     ‘Black, the same as
Frank
please. My name is Snow, call me Snow, my Malay name is too difficult to pronounce, it means
Snow
.’

     ‘Snow, that’s nice, but err unusual.’
Gloria
pours the tea, places a small plate beside each cup, she then goes to the kitchen and returns with one of her delicious
Victoria
sponges, oozing cream. She divides it into eight equal wedges and offers a piece to Snow and Frank, they both decline, putting a piece on my plate she says, ‘I know you won’t say no, you have hollow legs, Owen, what about you do you want a piece?’

     ‘Yes thanks Glorr.’ 

    
Gloria
’s action seems to have changed the mood of the meeting, I now feel relaxed; looking at everyone else, they appear to be like me, the only one showing any tension is
Snow
. 

     Through a mouth full of sponge cake
Owen
says ‘
Frank
has several papers here from the Immigration department and what is more, he has
Phil
’s birth certificate.’

      ‘Have you
Frank
that is more than we have ever seen? Can I ask you what are your intentions regarding
Phillip
?’
Frank
seems a little taken back by the direct question, putting him on the back foot.

     ‘
Gloria
, I have no predetermined plans for
Phillip
, I just want the best for him.’
Frank
hesitates for a moment, ‘I would like whatever
Phillip
wants of course, that is, within reason.’

     ‘Hang on; you are all talking about me as though I’m not here.’
Why do bloody adults do that?

     ‘Calm down
Phil
, let us discuss this in an orderly fashion, without getting heated or aggressive.’

     ‘Well I’m sorry, whatever you decide about me or what I should be doing, if it’s not what I want then I won’t do it.’

      ‘Can I just say something, I haven’t come as an aggressor, I haven’t come to spoil the status quo, or to drag you away kicking and screaming, my interest is only you Phillip, and your welfare; please let me tell you how I come to be here?’

  
  ‘I think that is a very good i
dea Frank, then we can tell you our position.’

     ‘I’ll start at the beginning
Gloria
,
Owen
and you,
Phillip
, please listen; I left
Phillip
and
Barbara
my wife in May, nineteen forty, you were just coming up to five. The Royal Navy assigned me to HMS Repulse. After sailing halfway around the world, we ended up in Singapore as part of Z Force, with orders to intercept the Japanese invasion force, the out come was, the Japs found us.

     On the tenth December
nineteen forty one,
Japanese planes
sank the Repulse, and our sister ship, The Prince of Wales, with bombs and torpedoes. Five hundred of our crew and three hundred on the
Wales
died that day.
I was one of the lucky ones who
was rescued by HMS Electra, and taken to
Singapore
, where we were deployed to defend
Singapore
.’ 

     Taking a sip of tea, Frank appears to be gathering his thoughts, ‘It didn’t quite work like that, we were over run so quickly, by the Japs
,
I missed most of the attack, with, virtually, the first bomb taking out the transmitter of the radio I was operating. My co operator,
Nick
Castle
, was on the night shift and was at home in
Orchard Road
, sleeping. I went to warn him, only to find him in the front garden, dead, he had been bayoneted, and his throat cut. In the house I found his wife, and their two year old daughter, had suffered the same fate. I broke down, didn’t know what to do, then Snow, who was the child’s nanny appeared
,
she took me to Mphoy her village in the hills, away from the Japs.

      ‘The bastards, killing a kid like that how could anyone do such a thing?’

     ‘Please
Owen
, let me finish.’

     ‘Sorry Frank carry
on
please do.’

     ‘I spent the next three and a half years harassing the Japs, with a group of Chinese partisans. We were never caught, terrible reprisals were carried out against the locals, but we were never betrayed.’ When the Japs surrendered I went to Changi prison in
Singapore
, where I met up with some of my mates from the Repulse. I was then put onto HMAS Sydney for rehabilitation. During my time there I learnt that my wife had died, and my son had been taken into care. When I found that
Barbara
had died, I got compassionate leave and went back to Mphoy. I brought
Snow
to
Singapore
, where we married in November nineteen forty six. I had no one in
England
except
Phillip
, but didn’t know where he was, so I accepted repatriation to
Australia
. We came to
Sydney
, where we now live. 

    With the help of The Returned Soldiers Association,
and the British Legion I was able to trace Phillip, and find out,
that through Barnardos, he had e
migrated to
Australia
. The Immigration Department was able to give your address and here I am. I just wanted to see that you were being treated w
ell, and it is obvious that you
are
. So now with my mind at rest
Snow and I will return to
Sydney
.’

     ‘Well, not until Tuesday we hope, the bus only runs Monday to Saturday,
Gambia
to Coleraine one day, and then back the next. You could go tomorrow if you wish, but we would prefer, and I am sure
Phil
would want you to stay, what do you say?’

    ‘Are you sure, we wouldn’t want to be any trouble?’

    ‘Don’t be silly, it is no trouble, anyway, you will have to stay tonight unless you intend to do a
Phillip
, and walk.’
Frank
looks enquiringly,

    ‘
Phillip
, will tell you all about it, over the weekend.’
Frank
looks at Snow; she smiles, bows, her head and sings.

     ‘We would love to thank you. You are very kind’

     ‘The pleasure is all ours, you and
Phillip
have a lot of catching up to do.’

     ‘We certainly have, five years it seems like a lifetime. Phillip was a baby, now he is
a young man even driving, for god’s
sake.

     If we had been together I honestly believe
Phillip
would not have become what he is now. I cannot offer him what he has here, or the potential future he has with you. I don’t want to lose my son again but, likewise, I do not want to take him away from you,---err look; sorry, I’m trying to find the right words; I want to be part of his life, I want to relish in his achievements and help with his problems. I want to be there for you
Phillip
, if you need me, but from a distance.

     Snow and I have a life to build together; we have been given a new start.
Snow
is a young woman we could start our own family, who knows, --- sorry, I’m making a bloody mess of this.’

     ‘No, you’re not, we understand what you are saying, between now, and Tuesday everything will become as clear as a bell.’

     ‘I have a gut feeling you could be right
Owen
.’

     ‘I’ll drink to that, fancy a beer
Frank
, or something a little stronger?’

     ‘A beer will be fine, thanks
Owen
’

     ‘And you S
now, what would you like?’

     ‘Thank you, another cup of tea if you don’t mind.’

     ‘Come with me dear to the kitchen and leave these men to their beer, then I will show you where you will be sleeping’
Gloria
steers snow to the kitchen ‘There must be so many---- the door closes.

     ‘
Phil
what about you, do you want a drink?’

     ‘No thanks Owen, I have to go
,
Hero will be waiting for his carrot.’ 

                          
                  
The End

        
The Author

Brian Franci
s
, born in London,
e
migrated as a
£
10 Pom
with his parents
to
Australia
.   H
e was educated at
Yallourn
Technical
College
and
Horsham
High School
in
Victoria
.
On leaving school he spent three years as a jackaroo on a
sheep
station in the Grampian area of
Victoria
.

In 1965 h
is lust for adventure
resulted in he and his
first
wife
embarking on a
14,000 mile,
five month journey
driving his
1200cc 1961 vintage
Volkswagen beetle from Australia
to London
, via India
,
Pakistan
,
Afghanistan
, Iran and Turkey
and
then through
most of Europe. The account of that adventure AUS 2 GB will be available on Amazon Kindle at the end of 2012.

On his return to England
Brian
followed a career
in the refrigeration indust
r
y
achieving Branch Manager and Senior contracts manager for a major industrial refrigeration equipment manufacture,
until taking early retirement to become a
Continental
tour coach
Driver/Courier until finally retiring to
Cyprus where he now
lives
with his wife
enj
oying
the
relaxed lifestyle and
sunshine
,
and
filling
his time with his new venture writing.