Flight of the Jabiru (26 page)

Lara didn't say anything because she was still thinking about Rick. Betty could see by her dreamy expression that Jerry didn't stand a chance.

“I like a man who is confident and doesn't pretend to be someone he's not,” Lara said. “Rick is just himself, take him or leave him. I don't know how he feels about me, though. I'm not sure he feels the same attraction. It's frustrating.”

“I can't imagine any red-blooded man not being attracted to you, Lara,” Betty said. “So I don't think you have to worry about that.”

“Then why didn't he kiss me?” Lara said in frustration. Her voice had risen, so Colin and Monty turned to look at her, and she blushed.

“I'll ask him, if you like,” Colin said with a smirk.

“You will not, Colin Jeffries,” Lara said as she got up to leave. “Not a word,” she warned as she went out the door.

Colin and Monty laughed, while Betty gave them a scolding look and went to check on her children.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Late September, 1941

“I've got wonderful news, Jiana,” Lara said excitedly. A clap of thunder directly overhead startled her, but she knew it was an idle threat. Storm clouds had gathered every afternoon for weeks, building her hopes that it would rain, but she was always disappointed.

Lara had asked the Aboriginal girl to meet her in the classroom that afternoon, even though there'd been no classes because it was midterm school break. “It's taken weeks, but it's finally official! You are Shady Camp's new trainee teacher! You will get a salary as of the first day of the new term.”

Jiana's mouth dropped open. “That's next week!”

“That's right. As of next Monday, you are an employee of the education department.”

“Did the government say they'd employ a black fella for sure?”

“I wish you wouldn't call yourself that, Jiana. You're a young lady, and yes, they agreed to employ you — an Aboriginal woman. I do believe you are the Northern Territories first Aboriginal woman teacher. Isn't that wonderful?”

“I can't believe it,” Jiana said going numb.

“Well, believe it. Your application was formally approved this afternoon.” Lara held up the paperwork as proof. “You will have to attend college in the city two days a week, but Colin has promised to drive you in. Congratulations, Miss Chinmurra,” Lara hugged her. “You are officially my assistant teacher!”

Jiana had been helping every day at the school for more than two months and had brought in seven more Aboriginal students, including two boys in their early teens. Lara was very grateful, and found it as rewarding to see her confidence blossom as she did to see her students learning to read and write. She was certain she wouldn't have so many Aboriginal students if not for Jiana.

Lara had quietly approached the education department in early August, asking for a trainee teacher. As class numbers had grown, and the student's ages varied so much, her request was approved. Then she approached Jiana and suggested she fill in an application to make her position official. Jiana was excited by the idea, so Lara helped her with the paperwork. One of the questions was about nationality. They filled in ‘Aboriginal' and held their breaths.

Jiana told Lara that she held little hope of being hired because her mother had told her that the government would never help black fellas. Lara ignored her fears and handed the application in personally at the education office. An official perused it and looked at her strangely.

“The applicant is Aboriginal?” he said.

“That's right.”

“You do know she will have to sit tests,” he suggested almost mockingly.

“Of course,” Lara said defiantly. “Give her a time and she'll be here.”

The date was set and Jiana nervously took the tests. She found them surprisingly easy and passed with flying colors. Even so, her application still had to be approved. They waited two agonizingly long weeks and heard nothing.

Lara then made enquiries about whether it looked like Jiana would be accepted as a trainee. When the information she received was not positive, she was furious and went into battle. She made several trips into the city, putting pressure on the education department. The officials made up all sorts of excuses about why they shouldn't hire Jiana, none of them with any substance. Lara was convinced their excuses were racial, but also part of the problem was their fear about being the first government department in Darwin to hire an Aboriginal woman. When Lara challenged all their excuses, but still felt she was getting nowhere, she threatened to go to the newspapers and make it public about how the government had taken Aboriginal children from their families to educate and assimilate them, but then wouldn't employ them so that they could use their education. As some parliamentarians were up for re-election, her determination and threats were timely, and paid off.

“Am I going to get paid with money?” Jiana asked, unable to imagine what it would feel like to get a real pay packet.

“Of course! Trainee teachers don't get paid a lot, but each year your wage will go up and after three years you'll be qualified as a teacher and get a full wage.” Lara knew how much Jiana's mother had been pressuring her to marry Willie Doonunga. She hoped this made a difference.

Jiana was almost bursting with happiness. “Maybe now I won't have to marry that old fella,” she said excitedly. Willie had been hanging around pressuring her. He was a well-respected elder and her reluctance to marry him was causing trouble in the community so Jiana had hinted that she might run away again so that she didn't bring shame to her mother.

“No, you won't have to marry that old fella,” Lara said with a smile. She'd met Willie and the thought of Jiana marrying a creepy old man made her feel sick. “You'll have your own money and you can make your own choices. You'll be independent.”

Jiana had never thought about being independent. As an Aboriginal woman, she barely knew what that term meant. Aboriginal women relied on the community for everything. It was how they lived. She could see that Lara was excited for her, but she also knew that her mother wouldn't give up the idea of her marrying Willie Doonunga, even if she worked as a teacher. The clan had their rules and their own way of meting out punishments to those who didn't follow the rules. Her only hope was that earning a wage would buy her time.

After Jiana became a trainee teacher, the weeks passed quickly and September rolled into October. Lara had received two letters from her father since arriving in Shady Camp. Because he wasn't much for correspondence by mail, the letters were all the more special. She wrote to him weekly, telling him of the progress she was making at the school. She told him she'd been fishing and caught a mighty barra weighing thirty pounds. She knew he'd be amazed, but she could almost hear him laugh out loud when she admitted to dropping the fish back into the billabong, unharmed.

Lara mentioned Rick in her letters, telling her father that she'd hired him to rid the town of menacing crocodiles that threatened the children and pets. She didn't mention the monster crocodile in her kitchen doorway, even though she knew her father wouldn't doubt her word. She didn't want to add to his worries. She did say that Rick relocated the crocodiles, rather than shooting them, but tried not to sound as if she found this admirable. Overall, when mentioning Rick, she aimed to keep her ‘tone' neutral because she didn't want her father to know that she'd fallen in love with him. Their relationship would be too difficult to explain.

Lara and Rick still spent a lot of time in each other's company, laughing and talking about everything. They were as close as two people could be without romance. Lara was certain he didn't think of her with sisterly affection because the tension and chemistry between them was as palpable as the humidity. She also knew he wasn't shy, so she was baffled about why he didn't make a move to kiss her. She could only conclude that perhaps he didn't ever see himself married with a family because of his lifestyle. She found this heartbreaking, but there was nothing she could do about it.

Walter informed Lara that he was still working for Lord Roy Hornsby and still actively looking for another position, but admitted that their relationship was strained. It was obvious to Lara that he missed her dreadfully and was counting the days until she returned to England.

Once a week, on Friday afternoons, Lara travelled with Colin into town to pick Jiana up from college, and to collect their pay packets. Lara enjoyed seeing the joy and pride that filled Jiana when she counted her pay. Her confidence had increased tenfold. One of the first things she did as a paid employee was fulfill the promise she'd made herself when she ran away from the Carlton's home. She sent the money back that she'd stolen from Mrs. Carlton. She asked for forgiveness and tried to explain that she'd only committed such a terrible deed out of desperation to see her mother again. She also told Mrs. Carlton that she was grateful for her education and that she was making something of her life. With that burden of guilt lifted, Jiana felt free for the first time since she'd been taken from her family as a child.

“I never thought I'd miss rain this much,” Lara complained to Betty one afternoon while giving her a reading lesson. Colin had so far made excuses why he couldn't participate so she hadn't pressed him, but Betty was enthusiastic and doing well. It hadn't rained since she arrived in Darwin and the build-up, as the locals called it, was difficult to bear. Lara likened how she felt to being in a pressure cooker that was on the verge of exploding. She promised herself that the minute it bucketed down, she was going outside to stand in it. “When it starts raining, you‘ll be wishing it would stop,” Betty replied. She was desperate to cool down.

“They don't call October suicide month for nothing,” Monty kept telling her when she complained about the humidity levels and constantly asked for ice cubes.

“Suicide month!” Lara was shocked.

“Yeah, the oppressive heat drives people nuts,” Monty said.

“Not you, you just drink more,” Betty told him.

“It's my way of coping,” Monty suggested. “Nothing bothers me when I'm drunk.”

Betty rolled her eyes. “That explains why nothing ever bothers you.”

Monty was beginning to wonder where Betty's happy disposition had gone. He could remember a time, not so long ago, when nothing bothered her. He'd tried to talk to Colin about it, but he'd just shrugged it off and mumbled something about women's moods.

Monty and the men had taken to spending time in the now complete air raid shelter. The floor was dirt, and so were the walls. They'd shored the ceiling up with wooden beams. It was surprising cool in the shelter because it was underground and insulated from the heat. It was so cool that Monty had taken chairs and tables down the shelter and set up a make shift bar, calling it ‘The Shady Camp Underground Cavern”. He even slept down there.

Betty didn't trust her husband and Monty when it came to their engineering skills. Consequently, she had banned the children from spending time in the shelter.

“I'll wait and see if the shelter caves in before I let my kids down there,” she told Colin. She also doubted it would be waterproof when the rains came.

“We wouldn't spend time down there if it wasn't safe,” Colin barked back.

“You'd spend time swimming with the crocodiles if you thought it would get you out of work,” Betty retorted.

The only work Colin did was fetching the supplies from the city and unloading them from the car. The rest of the time he spent drinking with Monty, although it seemed to be no trouble to drive Jiana into college and fetch her back. Betty hated feeling resentful, but she couldn't help it. Jiana was young, slim, and attractive, and she'd noticed that Colin talked about her all the time since they now spent a lot of time in each other's company. After four children, Betty had long given up the hope of ever having a tiny waist again and she was too exhausted and time depleted to take pride in her appearance. To further undermine her confidence, Colin never said anything remotely flattering or showed her any appreciation. She found herself thinking more and more of her family in Tasmania, especially with the constant talk of being invaded by the Japanese.

It was the end of a particularly bad week for Betty, when Rick walked into the store late one afternoon. He'd built his new crocodile trap and it was all the men could talk about.

As the new croc trap was much larger than Rick's old trap, the men were convinced he believed Lara's story about a monster crocodile. But he wouldn't confirm their speculation and this frustrated them, which in turn frustrated Betty because she was more interested in whether Rick had romantic feelings for Lara. So when Rick walked into the store to purchase the meat he'd ordered for the trap, Betty was in no mood for him dancing about the facts in regards to his feelings for Lara.

It was obvious to Betty that Lara was in love with Rick, even though she hadn't admitted it. Betty completely understood why she wouldn't make an open declaration because Rick still hadn't kissed her or expressed any romantic feelings. He'd been kind to her and helpful, and he certainly made her laugh. He just hadn't been romantic. Betty decided he needed to be prompted, but subtlety was required. Unfortunately, that wasn't her specialty.

She handed Rick a huge chunk of buffalo meat that he'd ordered. “I've kept it out of the fridge for a couple of days, just as you asked, so I'll be glad to see it go,” she said. She had it in a cheese-cloth bag that did nothing to contain the smell. “Bury the bag when you are done with it. I don't want it back,” she insisted brusquely.

“Thanks, Betty. Crocs love their meat on the ripe side,” Rick said.

“You've been in town for weeks now, so you must've moved most of the troublesome crocs.”