The Plantation (17 page)

A pretty, young Malay girl came towards her with a tray of glasses and a large bottle of ginger beer and pieces of fresh lime. To Margaret’s surprise the girl handed her the tray and scurried out of the room as Smedley-Smith reappeared in a planter’s cotton suit, buttoned to the neck, and leather shoes.

Margaret returned to the verandah, but despite the lowered blinds and fan, she was hot as she listened to the two men talking about the plantation, while Philip was clearly bored.

‘I’m very hot here. I’ll take a little stroll outside under the trees. Come on, Philip,’ she said.

It wasn’t long until Roland emerged from the bungalow, followed by Smedley-Smith, who had donned a solar topee. The assistant manager shook Margaret’s hand and said goodbye to both the Elliotts, before jumping on an ancient bicycle and pedalling away along the rutted plantation paths.

‘That was all very satisfactory,’ said Roland as they drove away.

‘Roland! You have to get rid of that young man. It’s disgusting.’

‘What do you mean? The fact we caught him having an afternoon nap? No harm in that. In fact, I think it’s a good idea.’

‘No. That young Malay girl. She’s living with him,’ said Margaret.

‘Nonsense. That’s not on. Not allowed. She’s just a housegirl from the local kampong.’

‘She might be. But she’s also living there,’ said Margaret firmly. ‘When I was walking outside I passed his bedroom and I saw her clothes in there. When I asked her why they were there, she got very embarrassed and ran away.’

Roland paused. ‘Well, it’s not an uncommon situation, Margaret. It gets pretty lonely way out here. Hard for a young man to be on his own all the time.’

‘Then why do all the big companies forbid their single white staff from fraternising with local women? If Smedley- Smith was working for one of them and they found out what he was doing they’d ship him home. Anyway, what would your father say if he knew?’

‘He wouldn’t like it,’ admitted Roland. ‘But we are a family concern and I can bend the rules a bit.’

‘Your father wouldn’t. He’ll send him off once he knows,’ said Margaret.

‘Margaret, Father is not going to know. Smedley-Smith is an excellent worker and I simply can’t replace him. There’s a war on in Europe, in case you’ve forgotten, so where do I get someone else to take his place?’

Margaret stared at Roland. ‘So you’re going to let this situation persist? And are you telling me not to say anything about it?’

‘Yes, I am. I have to be practical.’

Margaret was quiet a moment then said briskly, ‘Well, if that’s the way it is, I’ll strike a bargain with you. I won’t mention this situation to your father … but in exchange I think you should get me that Baby Austin car that Gilbert told you about.’

‘Margaret! That’s blackmail,’ exploded Roland but just the same he sounded amused by her cheek as they got into the car.

Margaret stared out the window. ‘I’m so looking forward to driving Bette around and showing her a few new places in my own car.’

Roland said, ‘Well, I hope you girls enjoy Ipoh.’

When they pulled up back at the lodge, Margaret marched up the front steps and stopped as she saw Bette stretched out on a sarong on the floor of the verandah in her swimsuit and Gilbert bending over her, his face close to her bare leg.

‘What on earth is going on?’ she demanded.

Gilbert straightened up and held up a jar. ‘Leeches, I’m afraid. We’re covered in them.’

‘Ugh. I hate those things,’ said Margaret.

‘I’ll get the salt,’ said Roland. ‘That gets rid of them.’

True to his word, Roland bought the Baby Austin Tourer for Margaret, and Gilbert drove it to Utopia from Kuala Lumpur.

‘I’ll drive Gilbert back up to KL in the Olds mobile, as we have to attend a planters’ meeting,’ Roland told Margaret.

‘Roland, the car is gorgeous. It will be so useful, thank you, darling,’ said Margaret, experimenting with the fold-down roof.

‘A deal’s a deal,’ grinned Roland. ‘Father agreed, when I told him that I’d bought it. Said he didn’t want women stranded here with no transport, especially as I’m moving around a lot more these days.’

‘Gilbert, can you entertain Bette? I won’t be long. I just want to savour my independence and get used to driving the car before I take passengers.’

‘I love the shape and the open roof. It can fit four passengers, too,’ exclaimed Bette as Margaret took the key from Gilbert.

‘It’s been checked out, and it’s as sound as a bell. I had no trouble driving it here,’ said Gilbert. ‘So, Roland, we’ll leave early tomorrow morning for the meeting then?’

‘Yes. And thanks for bringing the car. Bette, make sure Margaret doesn’t drive too far until she’s familiar with it,’ said Roland.

‘She’s a good driver. What meeting are you going to?’ asked Bette. ‘Aren’t you going too, Margaret?’

‘I don’t think Margaret would be all that interested. My friends are telling me there is talk of Malays in the countryside aligning themselves with the communists,’ said Roland. ‘These communists are a loose, somewhat unstructured group and usually they have been in the big towns. Communist alliances in the countryside will destabilise the local communities and plantations, so there’s an extraordinary meeting of the Planters’ Association to see what can be done about it. With the war favourably affecting exports, we have to make sure that these communist groups don’t upset the applecart.’

Bette stared at Roland in alarm. ‘So it could be trouble for the plantation, then?’

‘I shouldn’t think so, but best to be on top of things,’ said Gilbert.

‘I still think we should have a few more precautions in place other than what the government here is doing,’ said Roland.

Gilbert wrapped his arm around Bette’s shoulder. ‘Keep smiling, Bette. Next time I come back what say we go into Taiping for a day, go to the pictures, have a slap-up meal?’

‘Sounds fun. I’ll look forward to it.’

‘Well, I’m taking the car for a drive around the estate. See you in half an hour,’ said Margaret gaily, as she drove off in her little Austin Tourer over the bumpy roads of the plantation.

*

The two men left for Kuala Lumpur early the next morning and Margaret insisted on driving her new car over to show Eugene.

‘I know you like walking over there, Bette, but come with me for a change. You must know every tree on the estate by now.’

‘Not quite, but I do enjoy the silence and the smells and the scenery.’

‘Well, I think it’s time for a sisterly talk. What do you think about Gilbert?’

‘That’s a pretty direct question. Let me see,’ Bette replied. ‘He’s a nice man. I think he would be steady and reliable. He’s quietly amusing, too. Different from other men I know who always laugh uproariously at their own jokes. Gil is not too competitive, either. He’s a good tennis player, but he seems happy to fool around and make me laugh and he lets me win. I like that.’

‘I hate it when people hold back and don’t play properly,’ said Margaret.

‘Yes, and then you hate it when you don’t win against them. Margie, you’re way too competitive, sometimes. I think I like Gil because he’s a bit like me and doesn’t take everything too seriously.’

As soon as she could organise it, Margaret drove Bette to Taiping and they spent a day there, shopping and seeing Margaret’s friends for lunch before returning to Utopia
.
Margaret was thrilled with her independence and had the gardener polish her car each day.

Bette had by now become known to many of the plantation workers as she took her drawing book into the avenues of rubber trees to sketch scenes and people. Margaret thought Bette’s fascination with the workers odd but, nevertheless, she supplied her sister with clothes to protect her from the mosquitoes. Bette drew the tappers working and sometimes walked back with them through the rubber trees to their kampongs. She had also started doing a series of sketches of two pretty Indian women tappers.

She had initially befriended one of the young women after she’d watched her packing up her bicycle at the edge of the section near a little roadside altar. Bette studied her carefully as the woman removed her long-sleeved cotton jacket, gloves and her hat and, finally, unwound the scarf from about her head, revealing her pretty face. The girl then gave another female worker a ride home on her bicycle and the two smiled and nodded at Bette, chattering and giggling as they headed back to their kampong on the wobbly old bicycle. The next day Bette asked the women if she could sketch them and they agreed.

When she showed the sketches of the two women to Margaret and Roland, both had to admit that Bette’s work was enchanting and that she’d captured the life of the plantation workers very well. So one morning when Margaret asked her if she wanted to go into Slim River with her in the Baby Austin, Bette, who was getting ready to go and sketch, said, ‘Can you manage without me? I really want to finish these sketches of the two Indian girls.’

‘I can’t imagine why you want to draw them. It’s so muggy and bug-ridden down there,’ said Margaret. ‘I’ll be back just after lunch. Philip is with Ah Min.’

‘I’ll make sure I’m back in time to have lunch with him,’ said Bette.

Margaret waved happily to Bette as she sailed off in her beautiful Austin Tourer, enjoying her new found independence and feeling that life was just wonderful.

*

Several hours later, Margaret awoke in what was clearly a hospital bed with her anxious sister sitting beside her.

‘Oh, Margaret, thank heavens you’ve woken up. You have given us such a fright.’

‘What happened? Where am I?’

‘You’re in the hospital at Tanjong Malim and you’ve broken your leg rather badly, I’m afraid.’

‘Where’s Roland? Is Philip all right?’

‘Roland’s on his way back from KL. He won’t be long, and I left Philip with his amah. He’s fine.’

‘How did you find me?’

‘That’s a bit of a story. When you hadn’t returned by mid afternoon, I began to worry. Roland and Eugene were in Kuala Lumpur and while I thought you might have got delayed shopping or run into a friend, I decided to go over to Mr Elliott’s place and see Ho, who I thought was the most senior person left on the estate. When I told him that I was worried, he looked very concerned.

‘“Mem, maybe mem Elliott had accident.” I thought this was a bit dramatic, but it wouldn’t hurt to check, so I rang the police station at the district headquarters.’

‘So you spoke to Alan Williams, the police commander, did you?’

‘No, he wasn’t there, so things got a bit more complicated and it took a while to speak to someone who understood what I was saying. Eventually, with Ho’s help, I managed to explain to him that I was worried about you and he grasped what I was saying. He then asked me if I was coming there and I said, no I was just looking for you. Had he heard if you had broken down? But he kept on insisting that I had to come there. Finally he said, “Mem, you must come at once. Mem’s car, it run into bad buffalo and fall over. Mem, she go to hospital in Tanjong Malim.”’

‘So how did you get here? There’s only the Bedford truck left, and no one can drive that.’

‘Yes, I found that out when I asked Ho. He assured me that only Roland, Eugene and Hamid could drive it. But I can drive, so I collected some toiletries and a change of clothes for you, made sure Ah Kit understood what was going on. I spoke to Ah Min and gave Philip a hug and told him that I was going to see his mummy and that he was to be a good boy and I’d be back soon. I have to say that truck is very difficult to drive. I don’t think the gears work very well, but here I am. Tell me what happened to you, if you’re up to it.’

The hospital halls echoed, rubber-soled shoes squeaked and there was the unmistakable smell of disinfectant. Margaret’s leg was in traction and there was a bandage around her head, but she managed to smile wanly at her sister.

‘I don’t really know. I was happily driving along, past a kampong, when a great water buffalo seemed to leap out at me and the next thing I know, I’m here. How’s my beautiful little car?’

Just then one of the doctors walked into the room.

‘Is she all right? Doctor, this is my sister, how is she?’ asked Bette anxiously.

‘I’m Dr Singh, I’m afraid your sister has a very badly broken leg and a fractured ankle.’

‘Why has she a bandage on her head?’ asked Bette nervously, stroking Margaret’s hand.

‘She hit her head on the windscreen and she has some cuts, which have required some stitches, but they are not serious.’ He smiled at Margaret. ‘You are very lucky, Mrs Elliott. Your injuries could have been much worse.’

Roland and Eugene arrived at the hospital later.

‘I shouldn’t have let you talk me into that car. I feel that this is all my fault.’

‘Don’t be silly, Roland,’ said Margaret. ‘It was the stupid buffalo. I’ll be all right.’

Roland called in another doctor from Kuala Lumpur for a second opinion. He was assured that Dr Singh had done all the right things but that Margaret would have to spend quite some time in the hospital in traction.

As Margaret grew stronger there was a constant stream of visitors who brought food, champagne, flowers and chocolates along with magazines newly arrived from Australia.