Tears of the Moon (63 page)

‘Thank you dear Mabel for being such a good and true friend.’

‘To new beginnings,’ added Maya. ‘For all of us.’

As Olivia and Mabel had foreseen, the night turned into a spree of uproarious drinking and outrageous
storytelling once the master pearlers dragged Tyndall into the Lugger Bar and began challenging and betting each other on who could kick the ceiling fan from standing on top of the bar. Tyndall with his height and long legs won, but at the cost of crashing into several chairs and breaking them.

The women had deserted the festivities as soon as ‘nightcaps in the Lugger Bar’ was suggested. Olivia, Maya and Mabel sat in Olivia’s kitchen, brewing tea and laughing over their stories of the evening’s events. Maya had won the attention of several pearlers and the Inspector of Pearl Fisheries himself had requested two dances.

‘This is not how you should be spending your wedding night, Olivia,’ said Mabel. ‘I thought you had the best room at the Conti set aside.’

‘We do, and I hope someone pours John into it. When they started singing and talking of going round for drinks at the Star and the Roebuck … ’

‘And the Governor Broome … ’

‘Yes, I thought I’d rather sleep in my own bed. John and I have the rest of our lives together,’ she answered.

‘You’re not mad at him?’ asked Maya.

‘How can you be. He’s so happy, he’s just a silly kid at times. Leave them to it. He’ll make it up to me.’

Mabel left and Maya and Olivia got ready for bed.

Maya slipped down the hall and tapped at Olivia’s door. ‘Good night. Sweet dreams, Olivia.’

‘Maya, come in for a minute.’ Olivia was standing
in her nightgown brushing her long hair, still wearing the pearls. She put down the brush and lifted the pearls over her head. ‘Maya, these are to be yours one day. And I trust you will pass them on to Georgiana.’

‘Oh, Olivia … I don’t know what to say. They’re so beautiful.’ Together they fingered the perfect spheres the colour of moonlight.

‘You and I know, maybe better than most women, at what cost these come. The price men pay is not in money.’

‘It’s like these cast a spell,’ said Maya softly.

‘Men have always searched for some prize, a reward, but secretly I think it’s the adventure of the search that lures them. I often think that pearls hold the souls of men. See how they come to life against your skin. Don’t put them away in a box, wear them.’

‘I’ll remember that.’

They hugged and Maya went to her room.

And while Tyndall and his pearling mates began a game of bowls using tennis balls and bottles of champagne in the grounds of the Conti, his daughter and his wife slept peacefully.

There followed years Olivia always remembered as the Happy Years. She and Tyndall were blissfully content, enjoying every moment they spent together, whether working over details of the business or simply watching the sunset from the verandah. He made her laugh, they still found each other’s company exhilarating and their lovemaking continued as passionate as ever. Occasionally Tyndall swept a willing
Olivia away from their bed to make love under the stars or on one of the boats they motored to a far reach of the bay. They built a tiny one-room shack further along the coast past Cable Beach where they sometimes camped for days at a stretch. ‘Shipwreck House’ they called it. They cooked over an open fire, swam naked in rock pools and slept in hammocks between palm trees.

Olivia described these days of simple fun in detail in her diary … watching the big circus that came up by coastal steamer and performed in the grounds of the Conti … an evening at Sun Pictures sitting in the canvas deck chairs in the open air, a length of lattice dividing the whites from the ‘coloureds’ who sat on benches on the other side … cold lemon shaved ices on a hot afternoon … wild turkey and duck hunting trips to Lake Eda, Stan’s young relatives acting as retrievers … and watching at sunset hundreds of brolgas performing mating dances around the fringes of Roebuck Plains. On these trips Olivia collected flower and grass specimens which she pressed in her flower book.

The Depression knocked the bottom out of the pearling business once again. By the mid-thirties the sliding price for shell had forced many pearlers out of business and others had to sell off some of their luggers. The Star of the Sea fleet was down to the schooner,
Mist,
and four boats, six having been sold off for very poor prices. The situation was made worse by new incursions by foreign vessels into Australian waters as well as the deep sea beds. The
development of small engines for the luggers had given fleets a much greater mobility and the Australian pearlers were faced with a virtual invasion of mainly Japanese operated craft, particularly in the northern waters.

The pearlers, including Tyndall, were furious but there seemed to be nothing they could do.

Olivia tried to be philosophical about the changing world. ‘John, you’re in your sixties and we’ve had a good run. There’s still money to be made and we’re comfortable.’

‘It’s just not right though … Sure, a lot of the pearling is done in international waters, but the foreigners are coming into territorial waters as well. You know, the police tell me they’ve heard of lubras being sold to Japanese and Malay crews for liquor, tobacco and flour. But they haven’t caught anyone. And the customs people are bloody hopeless, too. Haven’t any decent boats.’

Tyndall was not in a good mood at all and he stomped off inside, found a bottle of beer in the ice chest, filled a pewter mug and returned to Olivia on the verandah. ‘Another thing. I’m not going to become a bloody verandah pearler, so don’t bring up that age business again.’

Olivia looked up from her diary and smiled as she dipped her pen in the inkpot. She loved the way her husband always bridled whenever reference was made to his age. ‘No darling, of course not. It wouldn’t suit you at all.’

The only shadow over their life was the rebellious Georgiana. Years ago, after long and often tearful discussions,
they had capitulated and agreed to send her to high school in Perth where she boarded with old friends of Olivia’s. Georgiana had never settled into Broome life, nor taken to its people. It saddened Maya deeply that her daughter seemed so determined to turn her back on their Aboriginal heritage.

‘You can’t force it on her, Maya dear,’ said Olivia sympathetically. ‘She may come to it in her own time but that has to be her decision. It must be very difficult for her.’

It had been Olivia, not Maya, that Georgiana had turned to for help when she graduated from high school. Olivia had gone to Perth specifically to help her get settled in a secretarial school and now she was working in the office of one of the coastal shipping companies. Georgiana no longer came back to Broome for holidays, and her letters were becoming less frequent.

It came as quite a shock to them all when a letter arrived from Georgiana announcing that she had been offered a job in the head office of the company in Sydney and she was sailing east in a couple of weeks.

Maya immediately went to the post office and sent a telegram to her daughter.
Good luck God bless you love Mother.

As she walked slowly and sadly back home, Maya knew in her heart that the move east was designed to put even more distance between her daughter and a heritage that she couldn’t live with.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

M
aya glanced up as the MacRobertson Miller de Havilland mail plane circled over Broome before landing. She must have had a premonition, for the following morning Olivia handed her a letter. It was from Georgie in Sydney.

Dear Mother,

I’m well settled here in Sydney, I just didn’t think there were enough opportunities in Perth—and how right I was! I have a wonderful job with David Jones department store in Elizabeth Street. I’m secretary to the fashion buyer—all those boring practise sessions on the old Remington have paid off—and I’m enjoying it. Through friends at work I have found a teeny flat in Kings Cross, a very bohemian sort of area where a lot of artists, writers and musicians and ‘characters’ live—right up my street! I really feel I’m in the hub of things here and have a proper career path lined up. Those years as an office junior, then secretary, in the
shipping company in Perth have proved valuable even though I found it so deadly dull at the time. When I was boarding with Olivia and Gilbert’s friends there, they thought I was such an independent modern woman to be out in the world supporting myself. I think they’d be quite shocked if they could see the career girls about in Sydney. Everyone dresses so nicely and the social life is outstanding. I’m glad I get my fashions at a discount! I am considering saving what money I can to travel abroad in a year or so. I’ve met a lot of sophisticated foreigners here and I can’t wait to see London. Give my love to Olivia and Tyndall.

Love,
Georgie

Maya folded the letter. It was written in Georgie’s large flowing hand and had the same breathless quality as the way she spoke. Probably dashed the letter off on the tram on the way to work, thought Maya. She was pleased at her daughter’s capacity to look after herself and get on in the world. Georgie was a survivor and an adventurer, she certainly wasn’t looking over her shoulder towards Broome. Georgie had shown her independence from a very early age but it made Maya sad that in so doing she had turned away from the family. Georgie had never felt connected to her family and Maya didn’t really understand why. Perhaps she should have persisted in trying to instil more knowledge of her Aboriginal heritage to give her more of a sense of belonging. Minnie always said Georgie should have got the knowledge and done the ceremonies but the girl had rebelled at anything to do with ‘Minnie’s mob’.
There was not the emotional closeness Maya would have liked and sometimes she felt Georgiana was closer to Olivia than to her.

She shared these thoughts with Olivia after giving her Georgie’s letter to read.

‘She is something of a free spirit, Maya, that’s for sure. But I think it’s how she was born. You can’t have any regrets about how you brought her up. Let’s hope that one day Georgie stops rushing at the world and finds her true self. Maybe when she marries she will come to realise how important family is,’ said Olivia, trying to comfort Maya.

Maya nodded but didn’t answer. Deep down she had her doubts about Georgiana returning to the fold as a loving and devoted daughter and it felt like a rejection. Some people don’t need that closeness and never face up to who they really are and what’s important in their lives. Minnie used to say such people died as ‘lost souls’ and Maya fervently hoped Georgie wouldn’t be one of them.

Tyndall walked along the almost deserted verandah of the Continental. In the old days it would have been crowded and noisy just before lunch. He spotted the rotund shape of Toby Metta talking to the slim man in a formal grey suit sitting next to Olivia, and headed towards them. The man rose to his feet as Tyndall joined them.

Toby did the introductions. ‘Ah, John, please meet Claude Barat … Claude, this is Captain John Tyndall.’

‘I’m pleased to make your acquaintance, sir. I’ve heard a lot about you.’

Tyndall smiled as he shook hands with the handsome young European on his first trip to Australia to buy pearls. ‘How is your father? We will miss him, he has been such a good friend as well as business associate over the years. Men of his quality rarely find their way to Broome.’

‘Thank you so much for your kind words. He remembers you all with affection. It’s a pity that he now finds the trip a bit much, but he’s still active in the business. I’m looking forward to being a regular visitor to Broome. When things settle down, of course.’

‘Drink, John?’ asked Toby.

‘I have one on the way, thanks. So you and Olivia have finalised your transactions?’ He smiled at his wife. ‘You’ve probably discovered Olivia drives a hard bargain.’

‘Ah, my father told me Mrs Tyndall is always fair … and … charming.’ Monsieur Barat’s son lifted his glass to Olivia with a courtly nod.

Tyndall sipped his drink. ‘The shell market has been poor but we still manage to find a decent pearl or two. But what do you mean “when things settle down”? The market you mean?’

‘I was thinking more particularly of the political events in Europe, especially in Germany. The Jewish people are being persecuted terribly. Hitler is getting ready for war, there’s no doubt about it. The repercussions will hit Broome, believe me.’