SOMEDAY SOON (6 page)

I’d appreciate it if you would release these
children to the police sergeant as he’s requested. I’ll take full
responsibility.’

At first the provost sergeant looked
surprised, then confused, as if unsure of the extent of the
authority of an Allied officer. After a few moments he said:

‘Is that an order, sir?’

‘Yes, it is, Sergeant.’

‘Very well, sir.’

There wasn’t room for everyone in the police
van but Captain Rivers and the US military police sergeant were
happy to transport the overflow in their jeep. When the vehicles
pulled up outside the sergeant’s house, Mary Maxwell, a plump,
grey-haired woman, came out onto the veranda with Faith. When Faith
saw Joe, she flew down the steps, raced across the yard and hugged
him tightly.

‘These youngsters all look like they need a
good feed,’ Mrs Maxwell said when her husband explained what was
going on. ‘They can go over to your place later, Joe,’ she called
out over her shoulder as she herded the children into the
house.

Captain Rivers stepped out of the jeep and
reached for Joe’s hand. ‘I want to thank you again for everything,
Joe. I wish there was some way I could make it up to you.’

Joe brushed the gratitude aside. ‘I just gave
you a boat ride, that’s all.’ Joe was standing with his arm around
Faith and he noticed the American’s eyes were on her. ‘Oh, Faith,’
he said quickly. ‘This is Captain Rivers, his plane was shot down
yesterday. We brought him over from Bathhurst. Captain, this is my
sister, Faith.’

The captain took her hand and shook it
gently.

She smiled. ‘Captain Rivers.’

‘My pleasure, Faith.’ He looked intently into
her pale blue eyes. ‘Please call me Dan.’

Faith smiled again, then she and Joe turned
to go into the house.

Dan climbed back into the jeep. ‘Let’s go,
Sergeant.’ He spoke without taking his eyes off Faith. As the jeep
pulled away he remained watching her until she disappeared inside
the house.

*

‘You’ll stay with Uncle Richard and Aunt
Helen when you get to Brisbane, of course.’ Joe was concerned for
his sister..

‘Yes, if they’ve got the room,’ Faith
replied. She reached across the table and took her brother’s hand.
‘Oh, Joe, say you’ll come with me on the train tomorrow.’

It was almost midnight and Faith and Joe were
talking in hushed tones in the glow of a candle at their kitchen
table. The mission children, well fed at the Maxwell’s earlier in
the evening, were now all fast asleep in beds or on mattresses
scattered around the floor of the Brodie house.

‘I just can’t go that soon,’ Joe said. ‘I
can’t leave the boat and the house and everything. I’ll need a few
days and I want to see if there’s anything that I can do for
Koko.’

‘I don’t think there’s anything anyone
can do for Koko. It’s just awful, I know. But at least he’ll be
safe, Joe. As for everything else, why do you need to stay? The
house and the boat will probably be destroyed if the Japs come
back. Even if there’s no more bombing, or they’ve got no intention
of landing, there’s no trade left for a small private vessel
anyway. It’s just too dangerous. Besides, you told me
Faraway
will probably be
commandeered.’

Joe shrugged. ‘Perhaps she won’t. They may
think she’s too old or too small to be of any use.’

‘Well, if they don’t, the bank will take her
if she can’t pay for herself.’

‘George Maxwell told me all the banks are
closed. Apparently the Territory Administrator made special
arrangements for the staff, cash and negotiable securities to be
taken south last night.’

Faith sighed. ‘They’ll still get your boat,
Joe.’

‘Not if I volunteer or get called up. There’s
a government-enforced debt moratorium on anyone who enlists in the
services.’

‘What good is a debt moratorium if you’re
dead?’

Joe shrugged again. ‘Not much, I suppose. But
I’m going to enlist. And I’d better do that as soon as I can.’

‘You can’t join up here. You have to go to
Adelaide River or Katherine.’

‘
Then I’ll see if I can get on that
train tomorrow. I’ll have to go down to the boat first thing though
and tell Sunday and Monday to go bush. And I want to see Koko
before George Maxwell goes over to Myilly Point in the morning to
pick him and Aki up.’ Joe stood up and stretched. ‘But now, I think
we’d both better try and get a bit of sleep.’

Faith got up, went to the sink and began
filling the kettle. ‘I’m going to make some tea, Joe. You go and
put your head down on the settee. I don’t need any sleep now, I
slept most of the day. I’ll wake you at dawn.’

*

Around 2 a.m. the candle on the kitchen table
had burnt itself out. Faith was just nodding off, still sitting
upright in her chair, when she thought she heard a noise outside.
She got up quickly, moved to the kitchen door and stood listening
in the darkness. After a moment she heard soft footsteps on the
porch outside, then a sharp rap on the door.

Faith crept silently back to the table, took
her father’s Walther from the drawer and held it up in front of her
with both hands.

‘Who’s there?’

‘Faith, it’s me, Koko. Let me in. I must
speak with Joe.’

Somehow, Koko’s usually familiar voice
sounded different. Faith wasn’t quite sure if it was him. She made
no move to open the door or lower the gun.

There was another rap on the door. ‘Please,
Faith. Let me in.’

Still unsure if it was Koko outside, Faith
was about to go and wake Joe when her brother appeared in the
kitchen beside her.

‘Someone’s outside,’ Faith whispered. ‘He
says he’s Koko.’

Joe took the pistol from Faith’s hands and
went to the door.

‘Koko?’

‘Yes, Joe, it’s me.’

Joe quickly unbolted the door and opened it.
Koko stepped in from the night.

‘Joe…’ Koko’s voice was shaking. ‘They’ve
killed Aki.’

‘What are you saying, Koko? What do you
mean?’

‘It’s true, they’ve killed my mother. I found
her body when I went home from the boat. They…’ Emotion choked off
Koko’s voice.

Faith put a match to a new candle. Koko’s
face glistened with sweat. His shirt and shorts were caked with
dirt. There were nicks and cuts on his hands and knees. His eyes
were wide with fear. Joe steered him to a chair at the table; then
he and Faith listened in horror and dismay as, struggling to hold
back tears, he told them of the terrible circumstances in which he
had found Aki.

‘And I was so afraid,’ Koko said after
he had told them the worst. ‘I knew there would be people who would
have seen
Faraway
sail back
into the harbor last night—people who hate my mother and me only
because we’re Japanese. I was afraid they would come for me before
I had a chance to bury her properly. I had to dig and scrape with
my bare hands. One day, if they don’t kill me first, I will go back
and bury her properly.’ Koko buried his face in his hands. ‘I’m
sorry Joe. But I had to come here. There’s nowhere else I can
hide.’

‘You did the right thing, Koko. And no one is
going to kill you.’ Joe tried to sound reassuring. He glanced at
Faith and from the look on her face he knew he hadn’t.

‘Sergeant Maxwell won’t let that happen,
Koko,’ Faith said quickly.

Koko lifted his head from his hands. ‘How can
he stop it? After what the Japanese have done to Darwin, I wouldn’t
even be safe in jail.’

‘The jail’s empty.’ Faith said. ‘All the
prisoners have been set free. Sergeant Maxwell told me he’d have to
hand you over to the Army for your own protection.’

Joe shook his head. ‘From what I’ve seen of
the provosts here today and after what’s happened to Aki, I don’t
think Koko would be safe anywhere in Darwin, not even here in this
house.’

No one spoke for some time. Joe stared
thoughtfully into the kitchen table pondering the situation.
Eventually he looked up and said:

‘
Look, Koko, I’ve got an idea. I don’t
know if it will work. I’ll need more time to think about it. But
for now, nip over to the boat while it’s still dark and lay low.
I’ll see you down there first thing in the morning.’

*

In pale moonlight Koko ran all the way
to
Faraway,
keeping a sharp
lookout for anyone along the way. Intending to swim out to the
ketch, he waded knee-deep into the water before he saw two telltale
beads gleaming in moonlight at the edge of the mangroves. Koko knew
the eyes of the submerged crocodile would have been on him since
before he entered the water and that the reptile was patiently
waiting for the best moment to strike.

Knowing a hasty scramble back to the shore
would only draw a swift attack, Koko began retreating very slowly.
But the primal instincts which had allowed crocodiles to survive
since prehistoric times detected Koko’s defensive movement
immediately and the beast attacked. It swam through the water at
incredible speed, then noisily splashed and padded it’s way up onto
the shore. Well aware of the saltwater crocodile’s speed on land as
well as in the water, Koko ran for his life. It was only when he
reached the railway line that he dared to look back, and with his
heart bursting in his chest he was relieved to find the terrifying
predator had given up the chase.

From where he stood, Koko could see the
silhouette of
Faraway
out on
the water. He saw shadows moving on the deck, then he heard a
splash and knew the dinghy had been lowered. He crept down as close
to the shore as he dared. After a few moments he saw the dinghy and
heard a voice call out.

‘Who is there…? Is that Mr Joe…?’ The voice
belonged to Sunday.

Koko called back. ‘It’s me, Koko. I must come
aboard. Watch out for croc’s.’

‘We heard them.’ This time it was Monday’s
voice. ‘I got Mr Joe’s rifle.’

Koko watched as the dinghy glided in toward
the shore. Monday stood in the bow, the rifle raised defensively.
Sunday was at the oars. When the dinghy reached shallow water Koko
quickly clambered aboard. Monday gave Koko the rifle and sat down
in the stern. Sunday pulled hard on the oars and the boat moved
back out into deep water.

‘Me and Monday bin takin’ turns on watch,
like Mr Joe told us,’ Sunday said between oar strokes. ‘Monday wake
me when he heard the croc. Why you come in the middle of the night,
Mr Koko?

‘There are people looking for me,’ Koko
said. ‘They blame me for the bombs because I’m Japanese. Joe told
me to come to the boat. He said to tell you he’ll be here later. If
anyone comes asking for me, you must tell them I’m not
aboard
Faraway
, all
right?

As soon as he was aboard, Koko went to the
galley and made a pot of tea, then he sat alone outside on the deck
in the moonlight nursing a cup in his hands. Just before dawn he
got up and went below to a tiny cabin in the forepeak of the vessel
where he lay down among a pile of sail bags with his grief until
mercifully, sleep overtook him.

An hour later Koko was awakened by the
throbbing of an engine. For a moment he thought
Faraway
was underway but a quick look through a
small porthole in the cabin told him the vessel was still at anchor
and the noise was coming from an approaching naval launch. Two
ratings and an officer stood on her deck. Koko could see they were
preparing to board
Faraway
. He
dived back into the sail bags and burrowed underneath them. Moments
later the throb of the launch’s engine stopped and he heard the
scuffle of feet on
the deck above him.

‘
I’m Lieutenant Commander Grimshaw,
Royal Australian Navy. Is the master of this vessel
aboard?’

‘
No, Mr Joe in town. No one on board
but Monday and me.’

Koko could hear the voices of the lieutenant
and Sunday clearly.

‘I have orders to commandeer this
vessel,’ the lieutenant continued. ‘I have here a document
detailing the terms and condition of secondment. It states that the
ketch
Faraway
is to be given
up to the Navy here in the Port of Darwin with her entire inventory
intact. In the absence of her master I am obliged to nail this
notice to the mast. Please draw it to his attention, when he
returns. He will see that it allows for the removal of all personal
effects from the vessel within twenty four hours, after which time
the Navy will take formal possession of her. Do you understand what
I have said?’

‘No, boss.’ Sunday said. ‘But I show Mr Joe
the paper when he come back.’

Koko heard footsteps moving around the deck
and the sound of a hammer at the mast. Moments later the engine of
the launch roared to life and the little craft sped away.

*

Chatter from the Aboriginal children woke Joe
from a short sleep just before dawn. He got up and went outside. It
was a hot sultry morning. He filled a galvanized tub with water
from the rain catchment tank in the back yard and the children
began washing themselves while Faith made a makeshift breakfast
from an assortment of tinned food left in the house.

While the children were eating, Joe went out
to the garden shed and was glad to see his BSA motorcycle had not
been stolen and used in the Adelaide Stakes. He straddled the old
machine, unscrewed the petrol cap and shook the bike from side to
side. There was a faint sloshing sound. At least there was some
petrol in the tank. Later he returned to carry several empty boxes
from the shed. The children had finished eating and Faith sent them
all out to play in the backyard where she could keep an eye on them
through the kitchen window.