Flight of the Jabiru (11 page)

“What'll ya have, love?” Monty asked. “The beer is ice cold.” In the background a generator hummed noisily.

“I'll have a beer, please, Monty,” Betty said.

Lara was unsure. “Do you have lemonade?”

“Sure,” Monty said. “I'll make you a shandy.”

Lara had no idea what a shandy was, but she was thirsty enough to drink it.

“Make mine a shandy, too,” Betty said. “I don't want to fall asleep this afternoon.”

While Lara looked around, Monty went behind the bar to fetch their drinks. She noted there were oil lanterns everywhere and realized they probably didn't have electricity connected. This reinforced her opinion that Shady Camp was primitive.

Lara's attention was drawn to something large above the bar. When she realized it was the head of a crocodile mounted on the wall, she gasped. The head was huge and the mouth was open, revealing rows of enormous teeth. “What a frightening beast,” she commented.

Betty looked at Colin with an apprehensive expression.

“Are you scared of crocodiles,” Betty asked.

“Isn't everybody?” Lara answered.

“No, we're used to them,” Colin said. “They're just large lizards with big teeth to us.”

Lara was astonished. She noticed that Betty kicked Colin under the table.

He grimaced in pain. “There are plenty of crocs in the Territory,” he said in a more measured tone, watching her reaction.

Betty kicked him under the table again, this time hard. He glanced at her, annoyed. “But they won't bother you if you keep your distance.”

“Am I likely to see any?” Lara asked as Monty put two glasses of shandy down, one in front of her and the other in front of Betty.

Colin glanced at Betty, but with two sore shins, he wasn't game to reply.

“Lost my leg to that fella,” Monty said pointing upwards. “You can just see the bullet hole through his head, so I got the last laugh.”

“You are not serious, are you?” Lara asked in disbelief.

“Of course he's not,” Betty said lightly. “Take no notice of him, Lara.”

Monty rolled up one trouser leg to reveal a battered wooden leg, with a wooden foot attached, on which there was a shoe. “How do you explain this, then?” Monty asked.

Lara's mouth fell open, and she looked up at the crocodile again. Then she went very pale. “You are pulling my leg, aren't you?” she asked hopefully.

Monty laughed while Lara took a gulp of her shandy, and then another.

“Don't take any notice of Monty,” Betty said. “He likes to tell tall stories. It's part of his charm.”

“They found my leg and foot inside that croc,” Monty insisted.

“Stop it, Monty,” Betty said annoyed. “You'll scare the life out of Lara.”

“So the crocodile didn't rip your leg off,” Lara said, sure he was having fun with her.

“Not exactly,” Monty said.

“Please clarify what that means,” Lara said, taking another drink of the shandy, which appeared to be a refreshing mixture of beer and lemonade.

“He actually latched onto me and did the death roll, trying to drag me under water and drown me. He probably would've stored my body in the reeds for when he got real hungry. That's what they do.”

This time Betty kicked Monty, but she got his wooden leg, so it didn't hurt. He only laughed. “I managed to escape the croc's grasp,” he said building the suspense.

“But your leg,” Lara said, by now half enjoying his story thanks to the shandy.

“Unfortunately, the damage was so severe that the leg had to be amputated before it went gangrene.”

Lara glanced at Colin, but rather than looking upset for Monty, he was smirking.

“He loves to tell that story,” Colin said, making light of it.

Lara laughed. She was certain that no one who had suffered something so horrific would want to be reminded on a daily basis by putting the crocodile's head above the bar as a souvenir.

CHAPTER TEN

Monty Dwyer insisted that Lara have another shandy as a proper welcome, before Betty took her for a walk to show her the ‘town'. Lara got the feeling that the locals didn't need much of an excuse to drink.

“I don't think I should,” she protested as he took her glass to refill it. The first shandy had gone to her head, so she was feeling more relaxed but was perspiring like a leaky tap.

“I haven't told you about Fergus yet,” Monty said refilling her glass. This time he added very little lemonade to the beer.

“She doesn't want to hear about a pig,” Betty protested.

“You keep pigs,” Lara said, astonished to notice a chicken was strolling through the pub and that no one was taking any notice.

“Don't belittle Fergus by calling him a pig,” Monty said emotionally.

“That's what he was,” Betty insisted.

“He was a much loved companion,” Monty insisted indignantly.

“More like the son you never had,” Colin piped in with a smirk.

Lara was confused. Were they referring to a real pig — a swine — or someone with very bad manners?

Monty frowned at him. “He had better manners than a lot of humans I know,” he said pointedly.

“I won't argue with that,” Betty said, also looking at her husband.

“I was given Fergus when he was a tiny suckling,” Monty said fondly.

“And he grew into a small horse, weighing nearly two hundred pounds,” Betty said, remembering how he'd smash down every fence she built to keep him out of her vegetable garden.

“He's gone now and I miss him terribly,” Monty said sadly. “He could drink any man here under the table. He was an absolute legend!”

“Yer not getting another pig,” Betty insisted gravely.

Lara looked at Colin. “Is it true that Fergus drank beer?”

“By the barrel,” Colin said. “But at nearly two hundred pounds he weighed as much as any man in town,” he added. “So he could hold it well.”

“All I know is he did exactly what he wanted when he wanted. We had no say,” Betty said scowling as she remembered how he'd walk into the shop and steal her food stocks. No amount of shouting or threatening him with a broom would make a bit of difference.

“That's him on the wall over there.” Colin pointed to a painting of Monty with Fergus, an enormous black and white porker wearing a hat with corks dangling from it.

“What happened to Fergus?” Lara asked as Monty got up to refill his and Colin's glass.

“Shhh, don't ask,” Colin whispered, glancing sideways at Monty. “Tell Lara about the giant barra you caught, Monty,” he said to distract the pub owner.

After listening to stories about the monster ‘barra', Betty suggested they get going on the tour. Lara didn't really see the point of a tour when there wasn't much to see, however Betty was enthusiastic and insistent.

As they walked in the direction of the billabong, Betty pointed to tracks leading in different directions through the vegetation.

“There are homes down there where fishermen live,” she said. “Some have wives and children, others live alone.”

“I can't see the houses,” Lara said, looking at the winding tracks.

“They're hidden by vegetation,” Betty said. “There's an Aboriginal community down that track as well,” she said, pointing to one of the wider tracks.

“Will their children really not attend school?”

“Not likely,” Betty said. “It'll take awhile to encourage all the white kids back to school.”

“The greater the number of students, the more chance we'll have of getting government funding which will come in handy for new text books. Or that was the case in England. I'm assuming it's the same here.”

“It could be,” Betty said, “But I think the government have forgotten about our school. I'm surprised you were sent here.”

“I was recruited from England,” Lara said, hoping Betty didn't ask too many questions.

“Were you told exactly where you were being sent?” Betty asked.

“I was told I was being sent to your school, and that Shady Camp billabong was an isolated settlement.”

“And yet you still came,” Betty said, totally mystified about why someone beautiful and intelligent would take up such an isolated post.

“Your children are just as important and as entitled to an education as those in the city,” Lara said. She meant what she said. Shady Camp was a disappointment, but she was sure she'd love the children.

Betty was baffled, but grateful that Lara felt this way. “God bless you,” she said. She was still not convinced that she'd stay in Shady Camp, though. Nevertheless, she pointed out different cottages and told Lara a little about the occupants, including how many children of school age lived in each home. Before she knew it, Lara was swept up in her enthusiasm and became quite interested to hear about the families and how they came to be living in Shady Camp.

Up close, the cottages were simple timber dwellings on stumps, but the residents had made efforts to make them homely and give them character. There were nice curtains in some of the windows and pot plants on the veranda. Lara noticed skinks scuttling in or out of the shade under the houses. Betty said they were everywhere. She also warned her about geckos that came inside.

“They have little suction pads on their feet so they cling to the ceilings and walls. They're harmless, though. In fact, they catch the mozzies and eat them, so they provide a service.”

Lara was glad to hear they didn't bite people.

A few of the cottages had one or two dogs or cats sleeping on the veranda in the shade. They got a tail wag from the dogs when Betty said hello, but the afternoon heat had rendered them less enthusiastic for anything requiring more energy. On one veranda there was a stand with a very large cockatoo parrot sitting on it. It was smoky gray in color with a black plume on its head and bright red cheeks. He was happily chewing on what appeared to be a seedpod, which he had clutched in one of his feet.

“This is Charlie Tidwell's home. He's in his eighties, but still goes out fishing every day. He was a merchant seaman for many years after the war, but he never married. The parrot has been Charlie's companion for the eleven years he's lived here. He inherited him from an old friend who died. He'd had him for thirty years, so Kiwi is quite old. You can imagine the colorful words he's been taught.” Betty bent forward to look at the parrot closely. “You're a naughty boy, aren't you, Kiwi?”

“He's beautiful,” Lara said admiring the unusual bird. “What kind of parrot is he?”

“A Palm Cockatoo. If he wasn't eating that seed pod he'd no doubt give you a demonstration of his colorful language.”

“Kiwi is an unusual name for a bird,” Lara commented. “Is he too old to fly away into the trees?”

“Heaven's, no. He's barely middle-aged by cockatoo standards. He could live to be a hundred. He flies into the stringy bark trees to feed while Charlie is out fishing, and he forages for fruit and seed pods, but he always comes back. You'll see Charlie in the pub with Kiwi on his shoulder every afternoon. Monty pours a beer, Kiwi tastes the froth, and then Charlie drinks the beer. Sometimes it's hard to tell which of them is the drunkest by the end of the night.”

“Where are the women who live in these cottages?” Lara asked. The town still appeared deserted.

“At this time of day, when it's the hottest, they've done their chores and they're having a lie down before their husbands come home. If the fishermen are having a good day, they'll stay out until early evening. If not, they'll come home and their wives might come up to the pub with them for a coldie before dinner.”

“Do they lie down every afternoon?”

“Yes, you'll rarely see a soul around at this time. It's the only thing to do in the tropics.”

“An afternoon siesta sounds like a civilized idea,” Lara said. She couldn't deny the heat was draining.

“A what?”

“Siesta is Spanish for an afternoon nap,” Lara explained.

“Oh,” Betty said.

“What about the children who attend school? Do they take a siesta, too?”

“School usually starts early in the tropics at eight o'clock, and finishes at two thirty in the afternoon. By then you'll be glad to send them home so you can have a siesta,” Betty said smiling, as she felt quite exotic speaking Spanish.

Lara was astonished. She couldn't imagine doing something like that in England.

They walked through shady paper bark trees towards the billabong. In the branches of the trees, Betty pointed out kookaburras as they were making the most fascinating and unique sound, like laughter. Other exotic birds were calling to one another. They were sounds that Lara had never heard before, and she was captivated.

A boat ramp and wooden jetty came into view, also the damaged hull of an upturned wooden boat on the edge of the water. Lara went to the edge of the billabong and squatted, putting her hand into the cool water. Betty insisted she come onto the jetty, where they stood in silence and took in the view.

A whisper of breeze drifted across the billabong, which took Lara's breath away. It was so vast and peaceful. Water lilies clumped around the edges with big white or red flowers sprouting from them. Dragonflies hovered over tall, spindly reeds. The few clouds in the sky were reflected in the water. But it was the water birds that made Lara gape in wonder.

“What's that?” she asked pointing to the largest of the water birds a short distance away. It had very long coral legs, a big black beak, and a black and white body and wings. The very top of its head and neck were a glossy blue and green. It was magnificent as it strutted between lily pads in the shallows in search of a fish meal.

“That's a Jabiru, otherwise known as a black-necked stork. Monty says the Jabiru is the only species of stork in Australia. That one is a male.”

“How do you know?” Lara asked curiously.

“The female has yellow eyes. The chicks are quite dull in color until they get their adult plumage.” She pointed out other birds that included magpie geese, ducks, herons, and ibis. There were flocks of birds everywhere. The billabong was literally teeming with life but the birds were co-existing so peacefully.

“Is the fisherman in the boat, near that large floating log, someone from town?” Lara asked Betty. She was referring to a boat in the distance. The fisherman had his back to them.

Betty shaded her eyes from the sun and looked to where Lara was pointing. “I see a boat, but not a floating log
...
oh,” Betty said. “Yes, that looks like Charlie's boat. He must be catching plenty today or he'd have been back by now.”

The beauty of the billabong far exceeded anything that Lara had imagined. As she stood admiring it, she was longing to remove her shoes and step into the shallows of the cool, inviting water.

“I love swimming,” she said to Betty with a sigh. “In the summer time my friends and I would swim in the rivers and streams in and around Newmarket in County Suffolk where I come from. It was so enjoyable.” She didn't notice that Betty's smile had instantly faded. “Do you like swimming?” Lara asked.

“Not so much,” Betty said. “I'll show you where you'll be teaching,” she added and began walking away. Lara was left to follow, a little mystified by Betty's reaction to a simple question about swimming.

To Lara's surprise, Betty headed for the little church, which was one of the closest buildings to the billabong. It was wooden, once cream in color but the paint was peeling, and it had big windows on the billabong side that were stained glass. Lara caught up with Betty as they reached the double doors.

“We don't actually have a proper school in town, and we've never had a permanent minister, so the church has doubled as a school house.” She opened one side of the doors and they stepped inside. Lara immediately smelt the mustiness of a room seldom used. The pews had been pushed against the walls, under the large stained glass windows, to make room for a few desks and chairs. The blackboard was on a stand in front of the altar.

“I can see this room hasn't been used for a very long time,” Lara said looking around at all the dust and feeling dispirited. At least the ceiling was high, so it was cooler inside than outside, but she had the urge to open a few windows to let in fresh air.

“It's been three years since we've had a full time teacher,” Betty admitted, watching Lara closely for her reaction. She was puzzled when she didn't appear surprised.

“Colin told me,” Lara informed her. She kept mopping perspiration on her face with a handkerchief that was so damp that she felt she could wring it out.

Betty frowned in annoyance because Colin had risked putting Lara off before they had a chance to try and persuade her to stay.

“The children have missed out on a lot of schooling,” Lara said. “So it will take a lot of hard work to bring them up to the standard they should be at for their ages.”