The Plantation (44 page)

He kissed her and then handed her a small package. ‘Nothing sinister. You’ll be right going through security,’ he said, giving her a quick hug before watching her walk away.

She opened the package on the plane and found that Christopher had given her a small book of watercolour paintings of Penang including one of Rose Mansion. Later on the flight, to distract herself from thinking too much about him, she delved in her bag and pulled out the copy of Bette’s pamphlet that Angie Ping from the Kuching museum had given her and read it.

Julie gazed out the window at the clouds shielding the view below. She imagined that she was far above the mist-shrouded dark jungles of Borneo and the passion of her aunt’s words, written so long ago, struck a powerful chord with her.

These affable, clever, playful, loving creatures are among our nearest living relatives. The wanton destruction of their jungle home, the stealing and murder of their families, is as unnecessary as war, genocide and the worst kind of human behaviour. Let us leave the orangutans in peace and learn from them.

Almost fifty years ago, Bette had feared for the future of orangutans. Sadly, Julie reflected, her aunt had been right. Those issues that Bette had raised all those years ago had not yet been addressed, and the great apes were now critically endangered.

Julie was happy to be home. The minute she walked out of the airport into bright sunshine she realised how she’d missed the clear blue skies of Brisbane. She had not enjoyed the grey pall that hung above Malaysia so much of the time. And it was nice to be back in her neat, white, calming cottage. How quiet and reclusive her street seemed after the clutter, noise and energy of the streets in Malaysia. She then drove to her mother’s house and walked around the garden with her father while her mother made tea.

‘This has been quite an eventful trip,’ commented Paul. ‘Your mother is quite stunned by your news. Excited too, of course.’

‘It is quite a story. I suppose it’s not so unusual to have these kinds of secrets in a family,’ said Julie. ‘I’m sure we’re not the only ones.’

Her father nodded. ‘Your mother watches those TV shows where they find lost relatives and so on. There’s always some twist and surprise and a secret revealed. As a matter of fact, I know a fellow whose wife was perfectly happy, grew up with an older sister and when her mother died she was going though some documents and found out at the age of fifty that she had been adopted. On top of that was the revelation that her older sister had known all along. It certainly rocked her and she took some time to get over that little family secret.’

‘How awful,’ said Julie. ‘At least our secret turns out to be good news.’

‘I hope so. You remember how prickly your grandmother could be? Let’s hope that her sister isn’t the same. By the way, your mother missed you while you were away, so it’s been good she’s involved in this bypass thing.’

‘What’s happened with the bypass, Dad?’

‘The committee has hired a lawyer and he’s found out that there could have been an earlier bypass plan, but he doesn’t know why it was scrapped.’

‘That’s interesting, I suppose, but will it give us any ammunition to fight it here?’ asked Julie.

‘No idea, but you let your mother handle this, she’s really got her teeth into it.’

Caroline called them to the verandah where she had morning tea set out.

‘This looks lovely. Didn’t see any pumpkin scones in Malaysia,’ said Julie.

‘Did you like the food?’ asked her mother as she poured the tea. ‘Mother always had a fondness for spicy dishes. And she made a wonderful mango chutney.’

‘I loved it!’ said Julie, feeling happy as she thought of the meals with Christopher. ‘Do you remember any special dishes?’ she asked her mother.

‘I can’t say I do,’ she replied. ‘I was too little. Now, fill me in on your adventures. Was David Cooper helpful? How was it living in the jungle with the wild men of Borneo?’

‘Yes, he was helpful. So many people were. Especially a very nice RAAF pilot, a friend of the Elliotts. If it hadn’t been for Christopher getting me into Rose Mansion and meeting Carla we’d never have found out about Bette.’

‘A pilot?’ asked her father.

‘He’s working at Butterworth. Some liaison thing with the Malaysian Air Force,’ said Julie.

‘What happened to David?’ demanded Caroline. ‘I thought you’d see a lot of him there.’

‘He had to spend more time with the villagers, which I didn’t want to do. It was a bit uncomfortable in those longhouses,’ said Julie. ‘Actually, Mum, I found David a bit, well, overkeen, a bit pushy. He irritated me.’

Her father smiled at his wife. ‘Oh dear. You can forget about that one, dear.’

‘Dad, he was absolutely not my type. But, I have to say that the experiences I had in Sarawak were very interesting. I think he’s still very keen to help you with the bypass, Mum.’

‘We could still use him, so I hope you didn’t upset him too much,’ said Caroline.

‘Mum! It’s okay. I went off to do my own thing and he had his work. You can catch up with him when he gets back to Brisbane.’

‘So what’s your plan?’ asked Paul, to change the subject.

‘I thought we should write to Bette. Break our existence to her gently, let her take her own time, rather than ring her out of the blue,’ said Julie.

‘Very sensible,’ said her father. ‘Besides, you have to go back to work, you can’t go gallivanting all the way up to Cairns, just now, can you?’

‘I think we should make contact with Bette as soon as we can. She is getting on,’ said Caroline.

That evening with her parents, Julie went through the whole sequence of events from when she first arrived in Malaysia. She brought out her laptop with her downloaded photographs and showed pictures of Shane and Peter, Martine, the big house at Utopia and other parts of the plantation.

Caroline was thoughtful. ‘I can’t recall any of this. I have some vague memories, but none of this looks familiar.’

‘I’m not surprised. The plantation would’ve been very different in your day. But we should all go there,’ said Julie. ‘We could stay in Penang at Rose Mansion with Carla, see Marjorie, then go to Utopia. And I’d love to show you Langkawi Island. I’ve made so many new friends there …’

‘Yes, looking at your photos, I can see it all looks very beautiful, but I have to say that I would love to meet Bette first,’ said Caroline.

‘Yes, I agree, but really you should go to Malaysia, it’s part of our family, it’s your heritage,’ exclaimed Julie.

‘You seem pretty keen on the place,’ said Paul.

‘I feel I’ve just scratched the surface,’ said Julie. ‘I didn’t go to Malacca, which everyone tells me is really interesting and has beautifully restored historic architecture, or to the east coast and swim in the South China Sea, or drive into the highlands.’

Her mother started putting glasses and plates on the tray. ‘Let’s see Bette first. Why don’t we compose the letter together tonight?’

After much discussion about how much to put in the letter and deciding to keep it brief and simple, they finally posted it.

Dear Aunt Bette,

I am Caroline, Margaret’s daughter, and I have only just discovered that you are living in Cairns. I am living in the family home in Brisbane since Mother died. My daughter Julie and I would love to talk to you, if that is at all possible. Here is my phone number. With love and warm wishes – after such a long time!

Caroline Reagan, nee Elliott

‘We’ll give her a couple of weeks to reply and then if we don’t hear from her we’ll call her,’ said Julie.

‘She might take awhile to digest this news and my hunch is she’ll send a note rather than phone,’ said Caroline. ‘She’s of that generation.’

Julie emailed Christopher, telling him how she felt about being home, and how she and Caroline hoped to go to Cairns in the near future. But once she returned to work, she had a lot of catching up to do. She was swamped and found that she was working late – there was a marketing project in Melbourne that would take up all her time for the next few weeks.

Then all thoughts of Bette were swept away when Caroline rang Julie one evening with some very exciting news.

‘It’s Adam and Heather,’ she exclaimed breathlessly.

‘Mum, what’s up? What’s happened to Adam and Heather? Are they all right?’

‘They’re expecting a baby! At last! I’m beside myself. I’m so thrilled. I have to go and visit them immediately.’

‘Mum! They’ve just announced it. When is it due?’

‘Not for seven months. But I want to be there now, help them celebrate. I’ve been longing to be a grandmother.’

Julie smiled to herself. ‘Mum, you can’t stay with them for seven months. Make it a quick trip. I’m sure they’ll want you back when the baby is due. What about the bypass? And what about visiting Bette?’

‘Well, there’s not much happening with the bypass since we heard from the lawyer, and you’re flat out at work anyway, and we haven’t heard from Bette at all, so maybe she doesn’t want to speak with us. And I know, you’re right, I can’t stay with Adam and Heather for seven months, but I just have to go now.’

Julie was pleased that her mother was so happy about her brother’s news. She shared the excitement with Christopher.

I’m very pleased that you’re going to be an aunt. I bet you’ll be the best aunt ever. I like the sound of your family and I know when you meet Bette, she’ll warm to you no matter what happened in the past. I’m waiting for the next exciting episode. My life seems pretty dull and empty compared with yours! Have to say I miss seeing you. Chris x

11

H
OW QUICKLY SHE SLIPPED
back into her old life, and how crazy and frustrating that life suddenly seemed to Julie. She was hardly ever home. She made two trips to Melbourne to help launch a new company, she wrote reports, and she tried to spend time with her father while her mother was away in Adelaide. There just didn’t seem to be time to sit back and relax in peace, with space and openness around her.

She found herself thinking about the ritual in the longhouse after the evening meal when everyone sat quietly on mats, mothers singing or talking softly to children, men smoking their pipes staring into the flames of the little fire while discussing the events of the day, and women and girls weaving by lantern and firelight. By the time the jungle night creatures stirred and began foraging, the Iban were asleep. At the same hour in Australia, Julie was just getting home from work, wondering what she had in the freezer that she could heat up quickly for supper, before she sat down at her computer to look at her emails.

Having to come home by train one evening, Julie thought of the sundowners she’d shared on the verandah at Utopia as the chick blinds were raised to let in the cool night breeze and delicious smells wafted from the kitchen. Meals with her cousins were relaxed gatherings of friends and family, waited on discreetly by old family retainers, and served from silver and china dating from Eugene and Charlotte’s day. The guests were always interesting and worldly, and the conversation stimulating.

She thought of Christopher, how well he’d fitted in, and yet he had been unobtrusive. His company, laughter and friendship had crept up on her. She wished that she’d paid more attention to him right from the start. Now she missed him and longed to spend more time with him.

Julie tried to work out how she could get back to Penang. She’d used up all her holidays and her job commitments were heavy as she’d taken on two new clients. But a welcome diversion came when her father rang and asked her over for tea.

‘Dinner, I mean. I’ve made a rather good chicken soup. There’s a letter here you might want to sneak a peak at. It’s addressed to your mother but if we call her, she’ll say to go ahead and read it, I’m sure.’

Julie caught her breath. ‘Bette. It’s from Cairns?’

‘Yes. Just a card by the feel of it.’

As soon as Julie arrived at her parents’ home, she picked up the pale blue envelope, turned it over and slit it open with her father’s letter opener. Inside was a blue card with a few lines written on it in deep blue ink.

Dear Caroline,

Well, what a surprise! I am very pleased to hear from you after all these years. I recall you very well as a small child and am happy to know you now have a daughter of your own.