The Plantation (51 page)

Bette smoothed Philip’s hair. ‘Go and help your mother.’

Bette spoke briefly to the soldier and then returned to the car and got in behind the wheel. Philip sat beside her while Margaret, in the back, held Caroline who had stopped crying and was now asking where Hamid was.

No one answered her as Bette cautiously manoeuvred the big, bullet-riddled car around the tight bends, following the tank to the safety of the holiday township at Fraser’s Hill.

They were all deeply distressed. Margaret was quickly surrounded by her sympathetic friends and arrangements were made for them to return to Utopia straight away.

*

When they arrived home, Margaret was still extremely upset. Roland kissed his wife, embraced Bette, and hugged Philip and Caroline.

‘Thank you, Bette. That couldn’t have been an easy drive for you to manage from Fraser’s Hill,’ said Roland as the children went to find Ah Min. ‘I’ve broken the news to Hamid’s family. It’s been a terrible shock for them.’

‘It must be. Philip kept me company and wanted to talk about Hamid and all the memories he had of him.’ She looked at Margaret. ‘I’ll never forget the time he drove us to Singapore.’ Seeing her sister’s set and angry face, she said no more about Hamid. ‘I’m glad that Caroline’s all right.’

‘She’s still too little to articulate her feelings. Unlike Philip,’ snapped Margaret. ‘All those years you had with my son. All those years. Now it seems you are still trying to come between us.’

‘Now, dear,’ began Roland, looking distressed.

‘Don’t be naïve, Roland. Philip had a choice and he chose to save Bette rather than his mother,’ cried Margaret.

‘Margaret! What do you mean? Philip …’ Bette wanted to remind Margaret how brave Philip had been on the Fraser’s Hill road, but she realised that Margaret didn’t want to hear about that. ‘He’s a young man now. I was just closer to him …’

‘Than I was because I wasn’t there! That’s what you’re trying to say. It wasn’t my fault that you missed the damn boat!’

‘I didn’t mean that. I was just saying that on the mountain road, Philip was closer to me than he was to you, so that’s why he tried to protect me. Anyway, you were rushing to Caroline,’ Bette said, trying to calm Margaret who was now looking wild-eyed.

‘Bette, I’ve watched you ever since you came and you’ve done nothing but try to take my son away from me,’ screamed Margaret.

‘Margaret! That’s enough,’ bellowed Roland.

‘That’s not true! I was not trying to steal your son. I did all I could to look after him – for your sake!’ cried Bette, feeling wounded that Margaret could harbour such ill feeling and jealousy. But no accusations could alter the fact that Bette and Philip did share a special bond.

‘Margaret, Philip’s feelings towards me are different from how he feels about you. He loves you and needs you, too. He’s your son, for God’s sake! I was always so glad you weren’t the one in the camp …’

‘You had him to yourself all those years. You put ideas into his head,’ shouted Margaret. ‘It should have been me with him.’

‘If it had been you, how do you know if both of you would have survived?’ asked Bette heatedly.

‘I insist that this argument stops, immediately,’ said Roland. ‘Bette, I must apologise for my wife’s uncalled-for remarks.’

At this Margaret turned on her heel and hurried from the room, slamming the door.

‘There’s no need to apologise, Roland,’ said Bette miserably. ‘I shouldn’t have come. I should have realised that Margaret still has a lot of anger and a lot of guilt about what happened in Singapore. In a way that’s also true for me. I lost the man I thought I would marry and my life was on hold for three and a half years. Every day I prayed we’d survive the POW camp so I could bring Philip home to his parents.’ Tears sprang to Bette’s eyes. ‘I thought Margaret would love me for doing that.’

Roland sighed. ‘Margaret is a very complicated woman.’

‘I’m sorry I’ve caused such … distress. I had no idea how deeply she’s been affected by what happened.’

‘Yes. I knew there was something troubling her, and I hoped your visit would help.’

‘I’m so sorry my being here is making things worse.’

‘Well, it’s certainly brought matters to a head,’ said Roland ruefully. ‘But at least I know now what the cause of her unhappiness is. She feels very guilty for having been separated from Philip. She’s full of remorse, although it obviously wasn’t her fault. Now she doesn’t want him to go away to boarding school either. I don’t believe that her attitude is doing him any favours, but it seems that she’s afraid to let him out of her sight.’

‘That’s not going to bring him closer,’ said Bette sadly. ‘I think the best thing is for me to leave. I just want to make sure Philip understands why I’m going and the reasons I think that it’s best if I don’t make any contact with him again, at least until things improve with Margaret. Maybe if I stay right out of the picture, relations between the two of them might get better.’

‘I’d hate to see you leave, Bette. I know how fond you are of Philip and I’d hoped you’d be able to enjoy staying with us. I’m not sure that your leaving will improve things for Margaret, because I know that the current situation with the communist terrorists, the curfews and the constant violence is not helping matters either, but I can’t take Margaret away from here because this place is our future, and our children’s.’

‘It’s not your fault, Roland. You’ve been wonderful. Perhaps I’ll travel a little, go where it’s safe. I’m not ready to go home just yet.’

‘Then let me help you. Go to KL for awhile, or to Penang. It’s far safer there than in the countryside. We have good friends there. I’m sure you’ll remember some of them and they would enjoy your company. Remember the good times we had there when you first visited? Or you could go to Malacca, it’s such an interesting old place. Use that artist’s eye of yours, see new things. Meet new people.’

‘Yes,’ she said. ‘I think that would be for the best. I hope Philip will understand the situation better and the reasons why I’ve decided to leave when he gets older.’

‘I’m sure that he will,’ said Roland firmly.

‘I’d like to speak to him and explain about this change of plan. I don’t want him to know about the problems between his mother and me.’

‘You’re a very loyal and kind person, Bette. I’ll give you our friends’ addresses in Penang and send them a note asking them to look after you.’

Before she left, Bette took Philip aside and spoke to him quietly.

‘Philip, I’m leaving early in the morning. I’m going to travel a bit and see some of your parents’ friends. Some of them I know from my first visit. I think that my being here has brought back memories of a painful time for your mother.’ Bette looked at Philip and smiled. ‘I know it was tough and horrible and awful at times for us in that POW camp, but I also remember laughter, friends and a lot of love and caring, and we had each other. Your mother was quite alone.’

Philip nodded, hardly trusting himself to speak but managed to say, ‘I still have Lumpy. My elephant.’

Bette took his hand, the tall boy on the brink of adolescence suddenly looking like the insecure little chap she’d loved through those terrible war years.

‘I’ll be going to England, soon, to boarding school.’

Bette nodded. ‘Yes. But, Philip, your mother needs you now. Before you leave, let her know that you love her. She will miss you so much while you’re away. I know that we’ll always have a special tie between us, but we have to get on with our own lives now.’

‘She’ll have Caroline,’ said Philip pragmatically.

‘Yes. And your father.’ She dropped his hand. ‘Be generous, big-hearted and work hard. As I know you will. And think of me sometimes.’

‘I’ll never forget you, Bet-Bet.’ He looked stricken, tears filling his eyes.

‘I know I’ll always be proud of you, Philip. Give Lumpy a cuddle from me.’ Bette smiled and turned away, relinquishing the boy she loved so deeply.

As the driver turned the car into the laneway outside the garden of the big house, Bette glanced up at the solid colonial home Eugene had built so many years ago, and knew that behind a curtain a young boy was watching her leave.

Although Roland had suggested that the driver take her all the way to Penang, Bette insisted on taking the train, even though it was very slow. She loved the jungle-clad hills, the stretches of plantations, the villages and rivers as they wound through the countryside.

Bette was happy to be in a city. The threat of insurgents and attacks on remote estates seemed far away. She indulged herself, wandering through the places she’d missed on her previous visit. She found that in spite of the circumstances, she enjoyed travelling and visiting Roland’s friends, many of whom remembered her from her previous visit. They were all delighted to entertain the pretty, charming woman in their happy-go-lucky social circle.

But behind the laughter, the drinking, the dancing and the sports, there was always a shadow. All had been affected in one way or another by the war and now they had to live with the uncertainty of the Emergency and the push for independence. Sometimes it seemed to Bette that there was a tinge of desperation to their gaiety. But Bette thanked them for their hospitality and the opportunity they provided for her to have a bit of adventure and the chance to sketch and absorb something of the rich culture of this interesting country. And she told them that she was, of course, in regular contact with Roland and Margaret who continued to make so many wonderful introductions for her. This wasn’t quite the truth, for Bette sent the occasional note to Roland only. Margaret had made it very clear that what Bette did and where she went were of no interest to her at all.

Being on her own, Bette felt a great sense of freedom and fun. She booked herself into the E&O Hotel where there was no Margaret frowning at her, no parents to worry about and no demands on her in any way. It was a heady time. There were many single men and a dearth of attractive, unattached women, so Bette was whirled from dances to dinners. There were social sporting events, picnics, house parties and tour trips. She accepted an invitation from some friends of Roland’s, Lori and Andrew Pike, to stay in their summer house on Penang Hill. Other friends of Roland’s, Nancy and Beau Gideon, asked her to join them for a weekend party at their beach house at Batu Ferringhi.

She travelled to the Pikes’ summer house on the pretty funicular railway, with its two carriages that stopped at tiny stations on the way up Penang Hill. Bette felt the temperature cooling and the humidity dissolve as the train gained altitude. At the little viaduct station she was met by Andrew with his driver but no car.

‘Can you carry your small bag? Lim will take the rest. The house is a bit of a hike from the station,’ Andrew told her. ‘The other guests are already there.’

In single file, they followed a jungle path that ended at some rough steps leading to a large bungalow on the edge of a cliff. It had commanding views.

‘Bette, we’ve given you the sunrise room, so you’ll see the morning light first,’ said Lorraine as she came over to greet her guest. ‘The housegirls will unpack your things. After that walk from the station you’ll need refreshments, I expect. Come along, we’ll all meet on the lawn for tea. I think you already know some of our other friends, Harold Mitchum and Tony Tsang. They are old friends of Roland and Margaret.’

‘Yes, I did meet Tony Tsang and his wife, years ago.’

‘Did Roland and Margaret tell you that Mai Ling was killed in the war?’

‘No, they didn’t. How very sad. She was tall and very beautiful. I do remember her,’ said Bette. ‘He must miss her.’

‘I’m sure he does. She was caught in the street during a bombing raid. Anyway, Tony has a big family, four children, and what seems to be lots of other relatives. We thought he needed a bit of time away from business and his family, so we asked him up,’ said Lorraine. ‘See you downstairs on the lawn when you’re ready.’

Before joining the others for tea, Bette decided to walk around the grounds. She discovered a flourishing kitchen garden and some well-tended fruit trees, and was entranced by the view of the valley below. Terraced slopes were cut into the hillside, the gardens on them beautifully laid out.

‘There are a lot of secret paths down there. They make lovely walks,’ said a friendly voice behind her. ‘I’m Tony Tsang. I believe we met at the races before the war. You were with the Elliotts.’

Bette turned and was immediately struck by how exotically handsome he was. She recalled Roland telling her about his old university friend. She returned his smile. ‘That’s right, we did.’ She hesitated. ‘I’m sorry to hear about your wife.’

‘Yes. But that was a long time ago now. The war was hard on many of us. But then you’d know about that,’ he said. ‘I heard you were interned in a POW camp. Roland was full of praise for the way you looked after their son.’

‘It wasn’t easy. Even though it was years ago, it’s not something that fades from one’s memory.’

Tony looked away and said slowly, ‘I know what you mean. I find it difficult to be in the street where … the bomb fell. It was as if Mai Ling was an exquisite porcelain vase that just … shattered into fragments.’

Bette nodded. ‘My friend Gilbert Mason died, too, so horribly, trying to save Philip and me. I always thought I’d marry Gilbert, if he asked me. There just seemed to be an understanding between us without our saying anything.’ In a rush she blurted the words she’d never said before, ‘I wish I’d told him I loved him.’