Pearlie's Pet Rescue (7 page)

I am a fourth-generation Chinese Australian. My great-grandfather came to the Victorian goldfields from China in 1853. China was a very poor country and many people sailed across the sea in search of a better life.

My dad was born in Shanghai, China. He met my mum when he was sent to Australia by the Chinese government during World War Two. War separates some people and brings others together. It is strange to think that if World War Two hadn't happened, I wouldn't have been born.

I grew up in the suburbs of Melbourne. I was a tomboy. I climbed trees, dug tunnels, built cubby houses. And like my main character, Pearlie, I loved animals.

I was born and grew up in Italy, a beautiful country to visit, but also a difficult country to live in for new generations.

In 2006, I packed up my suitcase and I left Italy with the man I love. We bet on Australia. I didn't know much about Australia before coming – I was just looking for new opportunities, I guess.

And I liked it right from the beginning! Australian people are resourceful, open-minded and always with a smile on their faces. I think all Australians keep in their blood a bit of the pioneer heritage, regardless of their own birthplace.

Here I began a new life and now I'm doing what I always dreamed of: I illustrate stories. Here is the place where I'd like to live and to grow up my children, in a country that doesn't fear the future.

O
N
15th December 1941, the government sent a printed note to every single household in Darwin. It told people that, because of the risk of the Japanese bombing the city, women and children might be evacuated. This note also said that: ‘Any pets owned by Evacuees should be destroyed before the Evacuation.'

The next day there was an official notice from the War Cabinet in the newspaper, ordering the evacuations to begin. Once this happened, people didn't have a choice – they had to leave, like it or not, and some families were given less than an hour to pack once it was their turn to go. The newspaper notice said:

‘Darwin citizens will greatly assist the war effort by cheerfully carrying out all requests. There will be hardship and sacrifice, but the war situation demands these and I am sure Darwin will set the rest of Australia a magnificent example to follow.'

Nowadays, we know that these people were lucky to leave Darwin when they did, as the city was bombed just four days after the last evacuee ship left on 15 February, 1942. But at the time, leaving Darwin was a scary, uncomfortable and overwhelming thing to do. The ships were hot and often overcrowded, as there were also sick soldiers and Japanese prisoners of war on board. There wasn't enough to eat or drink, and people were frightened that enemy submarines were in the water.

In total, 1066 women and 900 children were evacuated from Darwin by sea. Many of them lost their fathers and husbands in the bombings, and some weren't able to return until six years later. They came back to find that Darwin was a very different place to the one they had left.

Building Trenches

These children are building a trench to shelter in during an air raid. If bombs were being dropped, hiding under ground level would protect people from all the flying debris caused by the blasts.

T
he
man who called out to her was standing in the shadows so Pearlie couldn't see who it was.

‘Pearlie,' the man said again. That's when he stepped out into the light.

He had bright blue eyes that pierced her like daggers. His skin was pale and he wore a small, ginger-coloured moustache. And dangling from his bony fingers was her bracelet.

‘It can't be you,' she breathed. ‘It can't . . .'

‘So, you
are
the real Pearlie,' Beake said, walking towards her. ‘Little girls shouldn't lie to grownups, you know. That's when they get punished.'

Pearlie gasped. She wanted to run but it was as if her dress was made out of lead, her body felt so heavy. She couldn't go to Old Man Lizard and ask him for help. Not now, she thought. He's not strong enough to fight Beake. And I can't lead him to my darling animals. I have to lead him away. She told her legs to move and at last they obeyed.

Pearlie fled in the opposite direction, away from the hut, away from town and from safety.

‘Come back, you little wretch!' she heard Beake yell.

Pearlie darted through the bush, one hand on Tinto's pouch, making it even harder to run.

Behind her came the sound of Beake's shoes pounding the ground. With each step he seemed to be getting closer and closer. Pearlie was small, her legs were short and she'd run such a long way already. I'll never be able to outrun him, she thought.