Flight of the Jabiru (30 page)

“Why you think I know the way?” Jiana asked.

Lara hadn't thought about it. “I just assumed ... you could find the way home, couldn't you?”

“I've not bin walkabout with my mob since I was small.”

“But you found your way home from Alice Springs.”

“That different way,” Jiana said. “I find my way by talkin' with black fellas.”

“We've got to get home,” Lara said insistently. “Maybe someone will come along and give us a lift.”

“Maybe, but if they don't, we need to walk ‘long the Arnhem Highway, walkin' cross country that way,” she pointed to her east. “That way, we'd have to cross the Mary River. It's a big river.”

“Are there crocs in the Mary River?”

“Crocs in all the rivers in the Territory.”

“I'm not swimming across a croc-infested river,” Lara insisted. “Is there another way that we don't have to cross rivers?”

“No, lots of rivers and wetlands every way.”

“We'll go down the Arnhem Highway. Hopefully no army trucks are going that way, or they'll make us go south with them,” Lara said.

“It's a bloody long walk,” Jiana insisted. “And we've got no water. Can't go walkabout with no water.”

“Maybe someone in Humpty-Doo would give us some,” Lara said. Through the trees she could see houses in the distance.

“That mob probably all gone south,” Jiana said.

“You're right, but maybe we can find something outside one of the houses that we could use to carry water.”

“Maybe,” Jiana agreed. Neither of them relished walking seventy miles or more in the heat, but they had no choice.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Colin slowed the car as he came into Shady Camp, almost disbelieving that he'd arrived and he was still alive. He'd driven home in a virtual trance, with absolutely no memory of travelling eighty miles. The last thing he remembered was reaching the outskirts of the city just as the second wave of bombs dropped from Japanese planes. The wisest thing to do was park and take shelter somewhere, but instead he pressed on the accelerator and headed for the highway, expecting every moment was going to be his last. When he glanced in the rear view mirror he could see explosions going off behind him. He'd never been a religious man, but he began praying in earnest.

Part of him knew he was being reckless with his life, but the other part was numb with shock. He kept asking himself why he'd survived and Lara and Jiana hadn't, but he had no answer and it didn't make sense. He was suffering survivor's guilt and it was the worst pain he'd ever had to endure.

Stopping in front of the store, Colin turned the car's engine off and looked around him. The tiny settlement, his home of ten years, looked exactly the same as he'd left it — peaceful and untouched by the horrors of war. But nothing would ever be the same after losing two loved members of the community to a Japanese bomb.

Colin managed to climb out of the car, only just, but when his feet touched the ground his legs turned to jelly and crumbled under his weight. He wasn't sure what was happening, but he began trembling uncontrollably, as if his body belonged to someone else.

Betty had been filling bags of rice when the car pulled up. Through the window she saw Colin fall to the ground. At the same time Monty and Charlie witnessed his collapse from the pub, so the three of them ran to Colin's aid.

“Colin! What's wrong?” Betty asked, panicked. She could see he was not himself. His eyes were glazed and he was shaking. She looked him over, but there was nothing obvious to see that would give her a clue. “Are you ill?”

Charlie knelt as his side and Monty peered over his shoulder asking, “What's wrong with him?”

“He appears to be in shock,” Charlie said. He'd seen it before on mates who'd fought beside him in his army days but he was perplexed why Colin would be in such a state. For weeks they'd seen planes high in the sky that they suspected were Japanese, and a few more than usual that morning, but the town was too far away from the city to have heard the bombs dropping, so they hadn't a clue about what had happened.

“Where's Lara and Jiana, Colin?” Betty asked. “Did they stay in the city?”

Unable to speak because his teeth were rattling, Colin managed to shake his head, but he became agitated.

“Were you in an accident?” Monty asked, thinking maybe the girls had been hurt and he'd left them beside the road somewhere and come to town to fetch help. He glanced at the car, but it didn't look any worse than usual.

“The ... the building was gone,” Colin managed to whisper. He still couldn't comprehend it.

“What building?” Betty asked him.

Colin's shaking became worse.

“Help me get him to his feet,” Betty said to Monty and Charlie.

Between the three of them, they got Colin up on his feet, took him into the pub, and put him on a chair.

Monty poured him a large whiskey. “Drink this,” he insisted.

Colin's hands were shaking so much that Betty had to hold the glass to his lips so that he wouldn't spill the contents. He drank the whiskey in four gulps, while his wife and mates waited patiently and watched him closely.

After a minute, Colin began to feel a little better. He was still shaking, but not quite so violently.

“Can you tell us what happened?” Betty asked him gently. She'd never seen her husband in such a state before. It was unsettling.

“The ... Japs bombed the city,” Colin managed to get out.

“What?” Betty looked at the others in alarm. “That's why the radiogram went dead,” she said to Monty. The community radio station was at the corner of Whitfield and Smith Street. Monty always listened to the radiogram so that he could keep everyone in town abreast of what was going on in the world beyond their little town, but just after ten o'clock that morning it had stopped receiving, and he hadn't been able to get a peep since.

“What about Jiana and Lara?” Betty asked worriedly. “Where are they? Were they hurt? Are they in hospital?”

“We went our separate ways in the city, but we promised to meet up at ten thirty at the spot where I dropped them in Smith Street,” Colin said tearfully as he recalled Lara admonishing him for going to the pub. “I went to Doctor's Gully to buy some produce for the store. While I was there the bloody Japs flew over and started bombing the city. When the bombs stopped dropping, I drove to Smith Street to see if the Lara and Jiana were there waiting for me, but the street was virtually gone. A bomb had landed right where my car had been parked, leaving a massive crater in the road. If the girls had been standing there...” He fought tears.

“Perhaps they weren't there when the bomb dropped, Colin,” Monty suggested.

“There are only two places they could've been. Either they were where I'd left my car, or they were in the education department building. I drove to the street where the education department building had been.”

“Had been?” Charlie said.

“It wasn't there. The building was gone, destroyed by a direct hit from a bomb.”

“Oh, God,” Betty said in disbelief.

“Nearly the whole street had been destroyed. All that was left was rubble ... and dust. No survivors. Not one...” Colin looked up at his wife's face. “Oh, God, Betty, the girls are dead.” He wrapped his arms around her and put his head on her stomach, sobbing like a child.

Monty and Charlie glanced at each other. They felt helpless and uncomfortable to see Colin in this state. But they were now in shock, too. They couldn't comprehend that they'd never see Jiana or Lara again.

“You'll be right, mate,” Monty said, patting Colin's shoulder. “This wasn't your fault.” He didn't know what else to say.

Colin lifted his head and sniffed. “The army was picking up bodies from the burning streets. I drove past what little was left of the wharf. I couldn't see much through the thick black smoke except the glow of ships on fire. An oil tanker must've been hit because the sea was on fire. It was the worst sight you could imagine. I'll never get over what I've seen. Never!” He began to sob again.

Betty looked down at the top of her husband's head and also felt helpless to console him. It was hard to comprehend that what he'd seen was so horrific that it had rendered him uninhibited enough to break down in front of his mates. She knew her husband would sooner lose an arm or leg than his dignity in front of his mates. She put her arms around him, and felt his body wrack in pain. Tears welled and ran down her cheeks. “The girls can't be gone,” she whispered. “They can't be.”

“What did you say?” Jerry asked. No one had seen him come into the hotel.

Betty turned to look at him and he could tell by her expression that something terrible had happened. He glanced at Colin and was shocked to see the state he was in.

“The Japs bombed Darwin, Jerry,” Betty said. “Colin's in a bad way. Can you help him?”

“Is he wounded?” Jerry rushed to his side, his trained eye assessing his physical state and determining he was in shock.

“No, physically he appears to be all right.”

“Let's get him to bed,” Jerry said.

When Colin was comfortable, and Jerry had given him an injection to help him sleep, he took Betty aside. “What did Colin tell you?” he asked gravely.

Betty had been dreading this moment, but she was upset too, and couldn't stop crying.

“He took Jiana and Lara into the city to collect their pays from the education department,” she said, dabbing tears. Thinking of Jiana's family, who'd been joyous to have her back after so many years apart, she began to sob. Jerry put his arm around her. “Are you trying to tell me that Jiana and Lara ... have been hurt? Are they in the city?”

Betty shook her head. She knew that Jerry was very fond of Lara. He was going to be devastated by what she had to tell him. And then there was Rick. Someone had to tell him that Lara wouldn't be coming home.

“Colin said the building where the girls had gone to collect their pay packets had been blown up and there was nothing left. He believes they were in the building.”

“Oh, God, no,” Jerry said, going white. “He doesn't know for sure though, does he?”

“He's fairly certain. He wouldn't be in this state otherwise. He'd be searching for them.”

“I know he would, Betty. But he could be mistaken. If they split up in town then there is no way to know for sure that they were in the building.”

Betty realized that Jerry couldn't accept the girls were gone until he had proof. “The building was blown to pieces, Jerry. It was just rubble and dust. No one will ever know for sure who was in it, will they?”

“No, and that's all the more reason why we can't give up hope yet,” Jerry said optimistically.

Betty didn't want to hurt him, but she wanted him to face what was more likely the truth. “If they were alive, they'd come home, wouldn't they?”

“Yes, they would, if they could. There's no way for them to get here, though, is there?”

“I suppose not, but they wouldn't let us suffer not knowing if they were dead or alive. I'm sure of that.”

“Not on purpose, but they could be injured. For now we have to consider them missing until we know for sure. I should go to town and look for them. If the hospital is still standing, they'll need all the help they can get. Maybe the girls are at the hospital. We can't believe they're dead until we know for sure.”

“The Japs are bombing the city. If you go to town, you'll likely be killed, Jerry,” Betty said worriedly. “Most of the people living in the wetlands have decided to stay, whereas most of the people in the city were evacuated. There'll be plenty of military medics to see to whoever is left behind.”

“You are probably right and little Billy Westly has a fever I'm concerned about, but we're really not sure how safe we are out here. There's still a chance this town could be bombed.”

“I know that.” Betty paled. “As soon as Colin is well enough, we're going south, to Tasmania. I won't have my children living in danger a moment longer. If Colin refuses to leave with us, I'm going alone with the children.”

“You have to do what you think is right for your family, Betty. Perhaps after today Colin will be just as eager to get out of here, as you are. Meanwhile, we have to believe the girls are safe, until we know otherwise.”

“What will we say to Jiana's mother?”

“That she's missing, for now. I also hope my mother is safe at Mt. Bundy Station.”

Betty had met Jerry's mother, Beatrice, on several occasions. Beatrice was now in her sixties, but she'd been a good nurse in her day and for a time had worked with Jerry amongst the Aborigines in the wetland communities. Betty had assumed that Beatrice would've gone to Alice Springs along with all the other evacuees. “What is she doing at Mt. Bundy?”

“You know how stubborn she can be. She wouldn't go to Alice Springs unless I went with her, so we compromised. She's staying with friends of hers who run a cattle station. She might've heard about the bombing by now as her friends keep in touch with other stations by pedal radio, so she could be in a state of panic. Silvia and Gerry Eeles at Corroboree billabong have a pedal radio. I'm sure they'd let me radio Mt. Bundy Station and let mother know I wasn't in the city when the Japs attacked. If I don't, she'd find a way to get back here.”

Rick arrived back in Shady Camp after being away on a two-day charter with three boisterous American soldiers on an overnight pass from the base. It was the second such trip in four days, but the first trip was with two Australian soldiers for an overnight fishing trip. The Aussie soldiers had been easy going and good company, but the Americans had been loud and exhausting. On both trips they'd seen Japanese planes scouting the area and discussed the possibility of being invaded. The yanks declared they were ready for them, and had a gung-ho, bring it on attitude, while the Aussies were more concerned for family and friends and believed there was only a fifty-fifty chance that Darwin would be attacked, although they were preparing for the worst.

Rick remembered that Lara had gone to the city to collect her pay. He cleaned the boat and then on impulse went out by himself for some much needed solitude, intending to catch up with Lara that evening. He was several miles away from town when the boat's engine died unexpectedly. He anchored and began working on it. It soon became obvious that he wouldn't be able to fix it before the daylight was gone and he wouldn't be able to see what he was doing, so he became resigned to the fact that he wouldn't get back to town to see Lara. He just hoped she wasn't worried.