The Other Side of Paradise (17 page)

‘Yes, it’s fine, thanks.’

‘Sorry I couldn’t see to the stitches myself. There’s been a hell of a lot going on here.’

‘I can imagine.’

‘I hope you’ll be getting out of Singapore soon.’

‘In a few days. We’re waiting for the next ship.’

‘That’s good news. To Australia?’

‘Worse luck.’

‘You never know, you might like it better than you think.’

‘How long will it take us to get there?’

‘Depends where you’re going.’

‘No idea.’

‘Probably Fremantle, in which case it’ll be about a week.’

‘I expect you’ll be staying on at the hospital?’

‘Have to.’

A pause. It cost her, but it had to be said to him.

‘I’m sorry to have made such a stupid fuss, Ray. I’m afraid I just went to pieces in the end.’

‘I don’t blame you. It was pretty grim. You did bloody well.’

‘I must have been a perfect nuisance.’

‘No,’ he said. ‘You weren’t. I promise you that.’

Somebody started speaking to him at the other end. He said, ‘Hang on a minute.’

She waited till he came back on the line.

‘Sorry, Susan, but I’ve got to go now.’

‘Well, thanks again.’

‘Let me know what you think of Australia when you get there.’

‘It could be difficult to keep in touch.’

‘Try writing me a letter. It might even reach me.’ She went out into the garden and sat on the verandah steps and, presently, Sweep came silently out of the darkness and sat beside her.

‘I want to talk to you, Daddy.’

‘What about, poppet?’

‘About me staying in Singapore.’

‘Out of the question.’

‘I could help.’

‘It’s a man’s job now.’

‘I’ve been doing a man’s job.’

‘And I should never have let you. Lawrence Trent tells me that the Japs are nearly at Johore Bahru. There’ll soon be nothing but the Causeway between them and us. Singapore will be under siege.’

‘We can hold out against them for ages. There are thousands of troops on the island.’

‘You heard what Mr Trent said about the situation.’

‘Why do you always have to believe
him
?’

‘Because he knows the truth.’

‘England will send reinforcements.’

‘There are none to spare. And Churchill’s given us up. He’s said as much. In any case, it’s too late now.’

‘Then can’t you come with us?’

‘I’ve work to do here, poppet. Not just filling in forms any longer. Those days are gone. We can’t let the people of Malaya down, whatever happens. We have to fight on to the end.’

They were given passes for another ship – a liner bringing more Australian troops to Singapore and returning to Fremantle. Ghani drove them to the docks and her father came to see them off. Susan sat in silence with her mother and grandmother in the back of the Buick. Zhu was huddled in the front between her father and Ghani. It was a beautiful day, the sky a cloudless blue.

She had said goodbye to the servants in turn: to the
amahs
, to Cookie and the kitchen boy, to the
kebuns
, to Amith. They had all looked sad and bewildered, the
amahs
frightened too. Soojal had been the last and she had clasped both his hands in hers and seen the tears in his eyes.

‘Safe journey,
missee
. I take care of everything here for you.’

Finally, she had said goodbye to Rex and Bonnie and given them each a piece of chocolate, and goodbye to wicked old Hector who shouted something rude at her. To her great sadness, Sweep was nowhere to be found.

‘You’ll look after him till I come back, won’t you, Soojal?’

‘Yes,
missee
. I look after him for you.’

She gave the Buddha’s tummy one last rub for luck, and placed a pink hibiscus flower behind his ear.

On the way to the docks she stared out of the car window, twisting and untwisting the string of pearls round her neck. Ruined streets and rubble, deserted marketplaces, shuttered shops and burned-out cars went by. A Chinese family crouched pathetically in the ruins of their home and some Tamils stood watching at the roadside as the Buick swept past. What must they think of the white
tuans
and
mems
now? What price the great British Empire that had claimed to be protecting them? She thought, ashamed, we’ve betrayed them all.

Closer to the docks, Ghani had to weave in and out of bomb craters. Troops were wandering about and a group of drunken Australian soldiers were smashing shop windows and waving beer bottles. A military truck tore past, scattering the soldiers; some of them jeered and shook their fists.

The Governor had broadcast on the wireless to the people and spoken of the battle to be fought for Singapore and the need to write a glorious chapter in history. None of it seemed very glorious so far.

At the docks their way was barred by dozens of empty cars, abandoned by their fleeing owners. Ghani found a handcart to take the luggage and they walked the rest of the way to the wharf and joined the end of a long queue. There was no shade from the glaring heat of the sun, no shelter of any kind.

Before long the air raid warning sounded and Jap planes screamed overhead. They wheeled to fly low along the wharf, guns firing, and the queue went down before them like standing corn before a reaper’s scythe.

When the planes had gone those who had survived rose from the ground. Susan helped Grandmother to her feet while Zhu retrieved the solar topee. Her father was comforting her mother. Children and babies were crying, women screaming. The woman who had been standing immediately behind Susan had been hit in the head and lay dead, half her face shot away. When the dead and the injured had been carried away the queue inched forward once more, stepping over the blood.

After nearly three hours they reached the officials’ trestle table where their papers and passports were checked and stamped. At the foot of the gangplank, her father kissed her goodbye and hugged her.

‘Off you go, poppet.’ He pushed her firmly towards the gangplank. ‘Godspeed!’

Halfway up, she turned round to see him walking away, and when she turned again at the top he had already vanished.

There had been no time to clean the ship after the troops had disembarked. Her mother and grandmother’s cabin had no porthole and the fan was broken, the heat appalling. Her mother lay down on a bunk and closed her eyes.

‘Well, at least we’re getting out of this horrible country at last.’

Susan said, ‘What about Daddy?’

‘It was his choice to stay.’

‘We may never see him again. The Japs might kill him. Don’t you care?’

Grandmother put a hand on her arm. ‘That’s enough, Susan. Go and find your berth.’

The purser had allotted her a bunk in a cabin further along the deck but someone else was sitting on it – a fat, ugly woman, mopping her sweaty face.

‘I’ve taken this bunk and I’m not moving. I’ve got a bad heart. You’ll have to find somewhere else.’

She carried her suitcase out on to the deck again and went over to the rail. The men who were being left behind were standing on the quayside, looking up at the ship – some waving, some calling out, some smiling, some grim, some just sad. There was no sign of her father.

Nobody tried to stop her as she started down the gangplank. She pushed past passengers struggling up with their baggage and they grumbled and swore at her. At the bottom, a ship’s officer said, ‘Hey, where do you think you’re going, miss? The ship will be sailing soon.’

She took no notice of him and walked away down the wharf. The abandoned cars were being pushed over the side into the sea – Chryslers, Vauxhalls, Cadillacs, Buicks, Morgans, Jaguars, Fords, Morrises … splash, splash, splash, splash, splash. Further on some policemen were taking bottles of whisky from a pile of crates and pouring the contents into the harbour. She went on past them, out of the dock gates and back on to the streets of Singapore.

There were no taxis. No rickshaws either. She started to walk, lugging her suitcase, handbag over her arm.

She had reached Alexandra Road when a military vehicle drew up beside her with a screech of brakes. Denys leaned out.

‘What in Christ’s name are you up to now, Susan?’

‘Going home.’

‘Are you mad? What the hell for? You were supposed to be leaving before the Japs arrive.’

‘I changed my mind and walked off the ship. I’m going to stay in Singapore with my father.’

‘Christ Almighty! Does he know?’

‘Not yet.’

‘Well, you’d better get in.’

She slung the case on the back seat and climbed in beside him.

He said furiously, ‘I ought to drive you straight down to the docks again.’

‘It wouldn’t do any good. The ship’s about to sail. And I’m not leaving anyway. You can’t make me, Denys.’

‘You’re crazy, Susan. Absolutely stark, raving mad. Singapore’s going to fall, don’t you realize? The Causeway’s been blown up, but that won’t stop the Nips for long. Do you know what’ll probably happen to you when they get here?’

‘What’ll happen to you, come to that?’

‘It doesn’t matter what happens to me. But
you
should have gone with the other women and children, while you could. You’re a complete idiot. And a damned nuisance as well.’

She sat in chastened silence until they reached Cavenagh Road.

‘Thanks, Denys, anyway.’

‘Don’t thank me for bringing you back here. I just hope your father can persuade you to see some sense. Maybe it’s not too late to get out. If it isn’t, for God’s sake,
go
!’

She hauled her suitcase out of the back and went indoors. Everything was silent. None of the usual household sounds: no click of mah-jong tiles, no clink of sundowner glasses, no twittering of the songbirds in their cages, none of Hector’s harsh squawks or Rex’s barks. Only silence. But the glass Buddha smiled at her kindly from the table beside the stairs.

‘
Missee?
’

Soojal looked as shocked as Denys, but anguished instead of angry.

‘Why are you here,
missee
? What has happened?’

She put down the suitcase and her handbag. ‘I decided to stay, that’s all. Is the
tuan
home?’

‘No. He came back but then he is gone. This is a very bad thing,
missee
. It is dangerous for you here.’

She looked round the hall. ‘Where are the other servants?’

‘The
tuan
send everyone away to their families. Everyone. Safer for them, he says. Only me and Ghani to stay. We look after the house and the
tuan
.’

‘Where is Rex? And Bonnie?’

He spread his hands. ‘The
tuan
gives orders to me. Before you leave this morning.’

‘Orders? What orders?’

‘I cannot say.’

‘What orders, Soojal?
Tell me
.’

‘The animal doctor comes here. He gives the dogs very strong medicine.’

She stared at the houseboy. ‘You mean, he put them down?’

‘Yes,
missee
. They die at once. Very quick. Amith helps me to bury them. We must do as the
tuan
says.’

‘Show me where they are.’

She followed him out into the garden and he led her to the two small mounds of earth side by side in the pet cemetery beneath the frangipani trees. Poor old Rex, poor fat Bonnie. No more toast under the table at breakfast, no more pieces of milk chocolate.

Soojal said quietly, ‘Better for them,
missee
. Japanese soldiers not kind to animals. They suffer. And the
tuan
says to let the birds go. I open the cage doors, so they can fly away. The parrot, also. The doves and the fish I will feed as long as possible. I am very sorry. Very, very sorry.’

She swallowed. ‘It’s not your fault, Soojal. I understand. You did what the
tuan
told you.’

‘Yes,
missee
. The
tuan
knows best.’

‘Yes, the
tuan
knows best.’ She wiped her eyes. ‘And Sweep? Where is Sweep?’

‘I cannot find him,
missee
. The
tuan
gives order for him too but I think he hides. Cats are very clever. They know things. Perhaps he will hide from the Japanese when they come.’

‘You said you would look after him.’

‘I cannot disobey the
tuan
.’

‘You could for my sake, Soojal. Please look after him if he comes back. Give him food.’

‘Very well – for your sake,
missee
. If he comes back.’

‘You promise?’

‘I promise.’

‘Thank you.’ She turned away from the graves. ‘Where did my father go?’

‘To help with the fighting,
missee
. I do not know where.’

‘I’m going out to find him.’

‘Ghani is not here. He drives the
tuan
.’

‘I’ll take my bike.’

She rode up and down the streets and drunken soldiers kept trying to stop her, standing in her path, waving their arms, grabbing at her, shouting after her as she escaped them. The siren went again and another air raid started: the drone of Jap bombers, the whistle of bombs falling and the deafening boom that followed. She jumped off the bike and flung herself into a ditch at the side of Tiong Bahri road just as another one exploded close by and the earth rocked around her.

The bomb had landed on a Chinese settlement in a coconut grove across the road – a cluster of rickety shacks built from timber and matting and sheets of corrugated iron. It had raised a great cloud of dust and flames were already crackling in the wreckage. After a moment a fire engine came tearing round the corner, bell clanging.

She climbed out of the ditch and stood at a distance as the firemen pumped water on to the flames and air raid wardens began searching through the rubble with shovels and picks. They dug up an old woman and an old man, then a young boy, and then a tiny baby – all of them dead – and laid them out in a row. Then they dug further and brought out another Chinese woman, quite young and also dead. She was holding a child in her arms, protecting it with her own body.

‘This one’s alive,’ one of the rescuers said, lifting up the child. ‘It’s a miracle.’