India Dark
KIRSTY MURRAY
was born in Melbourne and lives there still, though she has tried on many other cities and countries for size. She has been a middle child in a family of seven children, a mother to three and stepmother to three more, as well as godmother and friend to many amazing people. She has loved books, stories and people all her life, and is the author of nine novels.
OTHER NOVELS
BY KIRSTY MURRAY
Vulture's Gate
Zarconi's Magic Flying Fish
Market Blues
Walking Home with Marie-Claire
Children of the Wind
Bridie's Fire
Becoming Billy Dare
A Prayer for Blue Delaney
The Secret Life of Maeve Lee Kwong
India Dark
KIRSTY MURRAY
This project has been assisted by the Australian Government
through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body.
First published in 2010
Copyright © Kirsty Murray 2010
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. The
Australian Copyright Act 1968
(the Act) allows a maximum of one chapter or ten per cent of this book, whichever is the greater, to be photocopied by any educational institution for its educational purposes provided that the educational institution (or body that administers it) has given a remuneration notice to Copyright Agency Limited (CAL) under the Act.
Allen & Unwin
83 Alexander Street | Crows Nest NSW 2065 | Australia
Phone
(61 2) 8425 0100 |
Fax
(61 2) 9906 2218
Email
[email protected] |
Web
www.allenandunwin.com
Cataloguing-in-Publication data available from the
National Library of Australia â
www.librariesaustralia.nla.gov.au
ISBN 978 1 74175 858 0
Teachers' notes available from
www.allenandunwin.com
Cover and text design by Ruth Grüner
Cover image: Jupiterimages / Getty Images (girl), Wiki Commons (building),
belterz / iStockphoto(decoration)
Set in 10.5 pt Sabon by Ruth Grüner
Printed in Australia by McPherson's Printing Group
1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2
For Jocelyn Ainslie,
an angel at our table who always
holds the right thought
CONTENTS
14
Spinning across the Arafura Sea
37
Death and the invisible river
Maps of the Lilliputians' journey through South-East Asia
and across India are on the inside covers
The Cast and Crew
of Percival's Lilliputian Opera Company
I
N THE PERFORMANCE OF A LIFETIME
INDIA DARK:
Or
P
OESY'S ADVENTURES
AMONGST THE LILLIPUTIANS
PEOPLE IN THE PLAY
I
N STARRING ROLES
| Miss Poesy Swift................. Aged 13 years |
| Miss Tilly Sweetrick................... 15 years |
F
EATURING
| Master Charlie Byrne.................... 13 years |
| Miss Eliza Finton......................... 18 years |
| Master Lionel Byrne..................... 14 years |
| Miss Tempe Melbourne................. 17 years |
| Miss Ruby Kelly........................... 17 years |
| Miss Clarissa Holden.................... 17 years |
| Master Freddie Kreutz................... 14 years |
| Master Max Kreutz....................... 14 years |
| Miss Valentine Percival (Usher)...... 14 years |