Pearlie's Pet Rescue (3 page)

‘I gotta say it, Pearlie, 'cos it's like you're in a dream or something. Think about it. The soldiers are forcing people to leave at gunpoint.'

‘Fine then. If you won't help me, I'll do it myself.' She felt the heat rising in her body.

He rolled his eyes. ‘Pearlie . . .'

Pearlie pounded the pin into a corner of the sign, missed and hit her thumb instead. ‘Ow,' she said, sucking the blood. ‘Now look what you made me do.' She scowled at him.

‘You're stubborn as a truck in the mud. You just don't wanna hear the truth, do you?' Reddy said.

‘I'm busy right now.' Pearlie's tummy was twisting in a knot as she shoved the stack of notices under her arm and pushed past him. Reddy was wrong, thought Pearlie. I'm never going to leave.

A
FTER
pinning up notices all around town, Pearlie went home. She was still seething with anger at Reddy for all the things he'd said. How could she let animals like Goliath suffer if she could do something about it? No, he was wrong, and heartless.

It began to rain and Pearlie ran for shelter under the shop verandahs. When she looked up the street she blinked, then blinked again, thinking she must be imagining what she saw.

Is that Dulcie? Impossible. ‘I wouldn't be seen dead in Chinatown because of the filth and smell! I don't know how you could live there,' she had once said to Pearlie.

As Dulcie ran to get out of the rain, Pearlie saw she was carrying something covered with a cloth. What's she up to? Pearlie wondered. She was surprised at how scruffy Dulcie looked. She wasn't wearing her hat and now her wet hair was plastered to her scalp.

She walked up to Pearlie and said hesitantly, ‘Hello, Pearlie.'

The pinging of rain on the iron roof was so loud, Pearlie had to take a step closer to hear her properly.

‘This is Santa, my cockatiel,' Dulcie went on. She took off the cloth. A bird sat in a white cage. He had soft grey wings, orange cheeks and a crest of feathers on the top of his head. He chirped and sidled up to Dulcie, who tickled him through the bars.

‘I saw one of your notices . . .' A sob welled up inside Dulcie and she gulped it back. ‘About your pet rescue service.' She looked away. ‘I know you hate me, Pearlie, but . . . we're . . . being evacuated tomorrow.' Tears began to course down her cheeks.

Pearlie stood staring at Dulcie and shaking her head. How could she forget all the horrible things Dulcie had said to Naoko? ‘Sorry, I can't,' she said simply.

Dulcie lifted her gaze from the cage and looked at Pearlie in disbelief. It was as if it was the first time anyone had ever said ‘no' to Dulcie McBride. She sniffed and wiped her eyes. ‘Oh, but you have to. I don't know what to do otherwise. Daddy said I should let Santa go free. But do you know what will happen to him if I do?' She took a long shuddery breath. ‘He'll be pecked to death by the wild birds, that's what will happen. Can you imagine a worse way to die?'

Pearlie shivered and thought of Goliath. A tiny bit of her heart began to soften. If she didn't take care of Santa, wouldn't it be like she had killed the little bird herself? It's not his fault his owner is so mean, she thought. And she
was
a pet rescue service.

‘Please, Pearlie. I'm begging . . .'

‘All right. But I'm not doing it for you, I'm doing it for Santa,' Pearlie said.

Dulcie flung her arms around Pearlie's neck as if they were long-lost friends.

Pearlie untangled herself from Dulcie's embrace and stepped away. ‘You better come back to my place and show me what to do. I've never looked after a bird before.'

Dulcie lived in the best part of town, in a big white house on stilts surrounded by a garden. As Pearlie led her through Dad's dim shop and into the living area at the back, she wondered what Dulcie would think of the place Pearlie called home.

She lit the kerosene lamp, closed the door and let Tinto jump out of his pouch.

‘You're so lucky, Pearlie Chan,' said Dulcie. ‘I wish I had a pet monkey. Come here, Tinto.'

But Tinto was more interested in the feathered creature inside the cage. He peered warily through the bars.

‘He won't hurt Santa, will he?' Dulcie said.

‘They'll get used to each other,' Pearlie replied.

‘Allo, allo,' Santa said. ‘My name Santa.'

Tinto ran behind Pearlie for protection.

Dulcie smiled. ‘He can say lots of words like bicycle, Mummy, Daddy, I want a biscuit. He knows fifty words.'

‘Did you teach him?'

‘Yes, but he's really smart. I take him out once a day when I get home from school,' Dulcie said, scratching Santa's head through the bars. ‘You know . . . we're really a lot alike, you and me.' She looked up at Pearlie.

Pearlie jerked her head back in surprise. ‘No, I don't think so. Well, maybe 'cos we love our pets, but that's all.'

‘You cut off my ponytail. I never thought you could do a thing like that, but you did and I kind of admire you for it now.' Dulcie shrugged. ‘If I was around longer, if there wasn't a war, we might've been friends.'

We'd never be friends if we were the last two people on earth, Pearlie thought. Dulcie had Santa perched on her finger and she was talking softly to him.
Was
there a different side to Dulcie?

‘I have to go,' Dulcie said, kissing Santa on the beak and putting him back inside the cage. ‘Even though it's a luxury American liner we're leaving on, we're still only allowed to take one suitcase and I have to decide which of my dresses I want to pack.'

Nope, back to the same old show-off, Pearlie thought. But somehow she couldn't hate Dulcie as much anymore. ‘Merry Christmas, Dulcie,' she said.

‘Merry Christmas, Pearlie. Good luck. Oh . . . wait.' Dulcie dug into her pocket and pulled out a small purse. ‘This is all my pocket money I saved for a year. For his food and things.' She dropped the purse onto Pearlie's bed and said goodbye to Santa.

When she'd left, Pearlie hung Santa's cage in the window at the front of the shop. ‘That's a good place for you. Maybe I can teach you to say hello to Dad's customers when they come in.' She slowly put her hand inside the cage. ‘Don't be scared. This is your new home now with Tinto, Rusty, the Girls and me.' But the little bird moved away from her and sat hunched in the corner.

The next morning, Pearlie watched from the beach as the big luxury ship,
President Grant
, sailed out of Darwin Harbour for Brisbane. On board were Dulcie, Mr Spiros and their families.

Pearlie felt tired. She'd been awake most of the night having imaginary conversations with Reddy and telling him all the reasons he was wrong. Stupid Reddy. But he's the only friend I have left in Darwin, she thought. She lay back in the sand and looked up at the gathering storm clouds, wondering what was to become of her. In three days' time it would be Christmas and she had never felt so alone.

M
UM
roasted a magpie goose for Christmas lunch, but the air-raid sirens began to wail just as they sat down to eat.

‘Quickly, to the trench,' said Dad, lifting Joey out of his high chair.

The trench was a new addition to their backyard. Dad had finished sandbagging it only days before in case Japanese warplanes attacked Darwin.

The family had practised the drill many times, so Pearlie knew exactly what to do. She put Tinto into his pouch, placed Santa's cage under the kitchen table, then went outside to comfort Rusty, who was howling like a wolf in a forest. He hated the sirens as much as Pearlie did.

‘It's all right, Rusty,' she said, tying a rope around his neck. He followed Pearlie with his head down and tail between his legs.

The Girls had already fled inside the chicken coop and all Mum had to do was lock them in.

Before jumping into the trench, Dad gave Pearlie a stick, which she put in her mouth. She bit down on it as they had all been trained to do. This was in case of bombs exploding around you. It had been raining on and off for days and the bottom of the trench was filled with muddy water. She tried to coax Rusty to jump in but his body was rigid with fear. So she lay down on her back, cuddling Tinto to her chest and holding onto the end of Rusty's rope so he couldn't run away.

The rain fell on Pearlie's face and she closed her eyes, praying that she wouldn't hear the drone of bomber planes. She wondered what Reddy was doing. His house didn't have a trench. Where would he be sheltering? She hadn't seen him since they'd had the argument and missed him not being around.

When the all-clear siren sounded, Dad stood up first. His back was dripping with mud and so was Mum's. Joey had mud splatters on his face, as if he had the measles.

Pearlie couldn't help herself and she began to giggle. Dad drew a moustache on his top lip with his muddy finger, which set Mum off giggling too. And all at once, things didn't seem so terrifying.

‘We'll clean ourselves up and go back to our Christmas lunch,' Dad said as he gave one more glance up at the sky.

He brought buckets of water up from the well and poured them into a channel that connected to the trough in the kitchen, which Mum then heated up on the wood stove.

Pearlie was first to wash. She peeled off her mud-soaked dress and dropped it on the floor. Then she stepped into a metal tub that Mum had filled. The water turned a deep chocolate brown. Tinto peeped over the edge, looking at his reflection in the water. He didn't need a bath – only his face and hands were muddy, so Pearlie used a cloth to wipe him down gently.

That was by far the most interesting thing that happened all day. It was the quietest Christmas Pearlie had known. Quiet, that is, until Reddy popped his head inside the back door.

‘Merry Christmas, everyone!' he said. ‘Mum baked a fruit cake and asked me to bring it round.'

‘Come in, Reddy,' Mum said and fussed about setting a place for him. ‘There's plenty of goose left.'

Reddy glanced at Pearlie. She was overjoyed to see him but didn't want Reddy to know so she gave him a frown instead. Tinto was sitting on her lap and she felt him move. She knew he wanted to go to Reddy but she held him back.

‘Ah, no thanks. I have to go,' Reddy said.

‘Well, thank your mother for the cake . . .' Mum began.

Pearlie didn't want Reddy to leave. Now she released Tinto. The little monkey scampered towards him.

‘You can stay if you want,' she said, pretending not to care by helping herself to a serving of carrots.

‘Well, as a matter of fact I don't have time,' Reddy said. ‘I have a piglet to rescue.'

Pearlie looked up in surprise. ‘What piglet?'

‘Her name's Leonetta, belongs to my neighbour. Someone saw her heading down the Mindil Beach track.' Then Reddy smiled. ‘Thought it'd be a good job for Pearlie's Pet Rescue.'

Pearlie was grinning on the inside. She stood up. ‘Then what are we waiting for?' She put Tinto's pouch over her head and called to him. Tinto snuggled down inside. Grabbing the rope that she'd used for Rusty, she said, ‘See you later, Mum and Dad.'

‘Wait a minute, Pearlie! What about the rest of lunch – and the dishes?' Mum said.

‘I'll do them when I get back!' she called, and she and Reddy hurried through the shop and out onto the street.

They walked in silence past the swamp and the cemetery, made a wide circle around Old Man Lizard's shack and Titch, his ferocious barking dog, then headed to the beach. It felt right to have Reddy back there by her side. Pearlie hadn't had many arguments with friends – only one or two with Naoko and this one with Reddy – and they made her feel sour inside, as if her veins were filled with lemon juice.

Pearlie was the first one to speak. ‘Dulcie gave me her bird to look after. He's cute, really cute, and he can talk. We nearly became friends . . .'

Reddy stopped dead on the track. ‘This is Dulcie McBride you're talking about?'

Pearlie laughed. ‘I know, funny isn't it? But when big things happen to people it changes them. Dulcie turned out to be okay on the inside. Sort of.'

A dragonfly with a bright red body flew across their path and hovered with invisible wings before buzzing off. Tinto saw it and leapt out of his pouch to the ground. Then he sat on his haunches watching the dragonfly flutter into the air.

‘Hear that?' Reddy said, stopping and turning his head to face the wind.

Pearlie heard a high-pitched squealing sound. ‘Is that –?'

‘Yep. Sounds like a trapped piggy to me,' Reddy said as he pushed through the scrub.

Pearlie followed and found Reddy on his knees peering down a large burrow. She knelt beside him and looked into the darkness.

Two frightened eyes peered back at them.

‘Poor little girl,' Pearlie said. ‘How can we get her out?'

‘I can probably reach her,' Reddy said, lying on his stomach. He plunged his arm into the hole right up to his armpit and hauled a squealing Leonetta out by her two front legs.

Pearlie clasped her hands together in delight when she saw the piglet. She had brown fur with black splodges like a leopard. Leonetta struggled in Reddy's arms as he brushed the dirt off her face.

‘She's adorable! Look, she's smiling,' Pearlie said.

‘Do you want to keep her?' Reddy said.

‘I thought she belonged to your neighbour.'

‘She does but they're leaving. That's why I asked you to come and find her with me.'

‘I thought you were against rescuing animals,' Pearlie said. ‘You said it was a waste of time.'

He gave a shy smile. ‘I'll help you look after them until our family has to go, too.'

‘Oh peanuts, Reddy Hart,' Pearlie said. ‘I wish you'd make up your mind. I was so mad at you I couldn't sleep!'

Reddy grinned sheepishly. ‘What can I do to help?'

‘I don't think Mum will be too thrilled if I bring home another animal. Leonetta will have to live at your place.
Your
mum won't mind, will she?' Pearlie said.

‘I reckon she has no choice.'

‘Reckon not.'

‘You're getting quite bossy, you know?' Reddy said. ‘Almost as bossy as Naoko.'

‘She was a good teacher.' Pearlie grinned. ‘Now let me tie this rope around Leonetta's neck and see if she'll follow us.'

And follow them the little piglet did, right at Pearlie's heel, just like a puppy.

When Pearlie and Reddy got to his house, his brother and sister came running outside. It wasn't the piglet they were interested in but Tinto.

‘Can I have a hold?' Clara said.

‘He might be a bit scared so just pat his head,' Pearlie replied as she held Tinto in the crook of her arm.

Clara stroked Tinto gently.

‘Leonetta might be hungry. What do pigs eat?' Pearlie said.

‘Uncle Tom used to have a pig and he gave it scraps,' said Reddy.

‘Are we keeping her?' Billy said.

‘Yep. She's our Christmas present. See what you can rustle up.'

Billy raced inside the house and came back with a bowl of mashed potato. He put it down on the ground and Leonetta buried her little snout into it.

‘She likes it.' Clara smiled.

‘Now she's fed, we better build a pen,' said Reddy.

Reddy's dad was a builder before he joined the army and went away to fight, so the backyard was filled with pieces of timber. And he had a shed full of tools.

‘She needs a place to roll in the mud to keep cool,' Billy said to Pearlie.

‘And some straw to sleep on,' said Clara.

They worked all afternoon and soon there was a comfortable pen for Leonetta with a mud puddle, a hutch filled with straw, scraps of food and plenty of clean water.

The children sat back happily, watching Leonetta wagging her curly tail as she checked out her new enclosure. Then she trotted up to the wire fence and pushed her snout through.

At that moment, Tinto pulled himself out of the pouch and jumped down. But instead of frightening Leonetta, he went up to her slowly and reached out his little hand. Leonetta was curious and came right up to Tinto, wagging her tail. Then Tinto started grooming the piglet like he would another monkey.

‘Well, will you look at that,' Reddy said, leaning on the shovel.

‘They're best friends.' Pearlie grinned. And then she looked up at Reddy, who grinned back, nodding.