Read Somewhere around the Corner Online
Authors: Jackie French
Somewhere around the Corner (17 page)
Coming Home
The house was too empty to go to. Barbara bought a sandwich at a take-away cafe and sat by the harbour until it was time to go back to the hospital. The waves washed in and out, white hats and fat green bellies, slopping and slapping at the shore. The sun sucked up the morning’s shadows, then spat them out the other side; tiny shadows that lengthened with the afternoon.
It was comfortable to be in her own time again. The loss of the O’Reillys, of Ma and Dad, was fading. She had pushed the grief back to years ago, where it belonged.
There was one other thing to do. She had been putting it off, trying to pretend it needn’t be done. She had to ring her mother. There was a phone box up the hill. She took some change out of her pocket and dialled the numbers slowly…8, 6, 4…
She heard the ringing at the other end, over and over. If there was no-one home, she’d have to screw up her courage to ring again, and then the ringing stopped. She heard the money clang down.
‘Hello, hello.’ It was her mother’s voice.
‘Mum, it’s me.’
‘Who is it, who?’
The voice was vague, annoyed. She’d interrupted something. Another voice called in the distance. ‘Who is it?’
‘Will you shut up, I’m trying to find out. Hello. Hello!’
‘It’s me, Barbara.’
‘Barbara.’ She could almost see her mother trying to concentrate. ‘Where are you ringing from? Is it a good foster home they’ve found you now?’ Steve’s voice said something in the background again. Her mother spoke louder to drown him out. ‘We’re just fine here, everthing’s just fine. Another few weeks and I’ll be right again. Everything’s just fine.’ Another interruption. ‘Barbara love, I have to go. You’ll ring again won’t you?’
‘I’ll ring again,’ said Barbara. She put the phone down.
It should have hurt. It always had before. It didn’t now, just a faint ache like an old scar that will
gradually heal. All she could feel was pity for her mother, and hope that one day she’d find her way around the corner too. Home was somewhere else now. The thought floated up and circled with the gulls. Just one more corner to turn and she’d be there.
She watched the waves and sat and thought. Back and forth, back and forth—like the waves she too had returned. Sixty years of the O’Reillys’ time, but her true journey was just starting. This was the world that Ma and Dad and Elaine and Jim had helped create. A world with schools for everyone, and vaccination against polio. There were hundreds of small and large battles they’d been part of. This time she could face the corners to come without fear. They were there, Ma and Dad and Gully Jack, solid in the past behind her.
The breeze was sweet and salty off the sea as she climbed the hill to the hospital. The nurse at the desk smiled at her now that the mud was washed off her, in a clean skirt and sandals. Barbara nodded to the old man in the first bed as she came into Jim’s room.
He wasn’t alone. A woman sat with him. She wore a denim skirt and a pale blue blouse. Her hair was brown and short. It should be in a ponytail—Dulcie always wore a ponytail—and the dress was wrong. It wasn’t Dulcie’s dress, the one with bright red roses
that she’d worn to the Friday dance. It wasn’t Dulcie. The face was similar, but there were differences. There was a hint of Jim, a sudden flash of Thellie…
The woman stood up. She looked at Barbara carefully, as though there was a decision to be made.
The woman smiled—just like Ma, thought Barbara—and held out her arms.
Jim’s face was calm. It was the face of a man who knows where he’s been and where he’s come to, although the journey has been long and not what he’d expected.
‘This is Helen,’ he told Barbara gently. ‘She came up from the valley this morning. She’s come to take us home.’
Somewhere Around The Corner
was inspired by stories of a ‘susso camp’ that was situated near my home. I’ve used the names of some of the people that lived there, such as Gully Jack and Dulcie, and some of their circumstances, like those of Mr Henderson, the headmaster who was retrenched when his school closed down. Apart from these, the characters in this book are not based in any way on any person, alive or dead.
Gully Jack’s method of extracting gold is based on fact, but even though vast channels were made in the hopes of finding a fortune, very little gold was recovered. Many of the channels are still there, and so perhaps is the gold that Gully Jack dreamed of, if there was ever any to be found.
Poverty Gully, was deserted at the beginning of World War II. Blackberries and thornbush now grow
where the shanties stood and lyrebirds scratch where once there were hundreds of people. Most dole camps are remembered with horror. Poverty Gully was a place where people helped each other, and it is still spoken of with affection by those who knew it, or those who can recall the stories of their parents.
Araluen Valley
1994
JACKIE FRENCH’s writing career spans 10 years. During this time she has written over 100 books for kids and adults, some of which have been translated into other languages, and won various awards for her writing. Jackie has also been a regular on ‘Burke’s Backyard’ in many disguises, and writes columns on gardening and the environment in newspapers and magazines.
Jackie’s love of history began as a child and has been the inspiration for the series of books that began with
Somewhere Around the Corner
, followed by
Daughter of the Regiment
,
Soldier on the Hill
,
Lady Dance
,
The White Ship
,
How the Finnegans Saved the Ship
and
Valley of Gold
. Jackie feels that the past was not only a fascinating adventure, but also holds the clues to understanding our own time.
Hitler’s Daughter
has received wide critical acclaim and in 2000 won the Children’s Book Council Book of the Year for Younger Readers.
‘It is a mark of French’s genius that she can weave deep moral issues into an engrossing, fast-moving story.’
Stephen Matthews,
Canberra Times
To find out more about Jackie French and her books register for her monthly newsletter at www.harpercollins.com.au/jackiefrench.
Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.
Fiction
The Roo that Won the Melbourne Cup • Rain Stones
Walking the Boundaries • The Boy Who Had Wings
Somewhere Around the Corner
Annie’s Pouch • Alien Games • The Secret Beach
Mermaids • Mind’s Eye • A Wombat Named Bosco
Summerland • Beyond the Boundaries
The Warrior—The Story of a Wombat
The Book of Unicorns • Dancing with Ben Hall
Soldier on the Hill • Daughter of the Regiment
Stories to Eat with a Banana • Tajore Arkle
Hitler’s Daughter • In the Blood • Missing You, Love Sara
Stories to Eat with a Watermelon • Lady Dance
Stories to Eat with a Blood Plum
How the Finnegans Saved the Ship
Dark Wind Blowing • A Story to Eat with a Mandarin
Ride the Wild Wind • Blood Moon • The White Ship
Phredde and the Leopard-skin Librarian • Valley of Gold
Non-fiction
How the Aliens from Alpha Centauri Invaded My
Maths Class and Turned Me Into a Writer…
How to Guzzle Your Garden • Book of Challenges
Stamp, Stomp, Whomp
(and other interesting ways to get rid of pests)
Seasons of Content • The Best of Jackie French
Earthly Delights
The Fascinating History of Your Lunch
The Secret Life of Santa Claus
Big Burps, Bare Bums and Other Bad-Mannered Blunders
Visit Jackie’s website
www.jackiefrench.com
Angus&Robertson
An imprint of HarperCollins
Publishers
, Australia
First published in Australia in 1994
This edition published in 2010
by HarperCollins
Publishers
Pty Limited
ABN 36 009 913 517
A member of the HarperCollinsPublishers (Australia) Pty Limited Group
www.harpercollins.com.au
Copyright © Jackie French 1994
The right of Jackie French to be identified as the moral rights author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the
Copyright Amendment (Moral Rights) Act 2000
(Cth).
This book is copyright.
Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission. Inquiries should be addressed to the publishers.
HarperCollins
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and
1995 Markham Road, Scarborough, Ontario M1B 5M8, Canada
10 East 53rd Street, New York NY 10022, USA
National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication data:
French, Jackie.
Somewhere Around the Corner.
ISBN 0 207 18359 7. (pbk.)
ISBN: 978-0-730-49195-8 (ePub)
I. Title.
A823.3
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