It is too wonderful to be real, they think, and they look for flaws.
Have you done that, do you think? “
“Perhaps. But I am not sure. There ;s something there, and it haunts him.”
“He will tell you. When you are married to him and he has lost his fear of losing you. He will tell you.”
“Why should he be afraid to tell me now?”
“For the same reason that he was not going to tell you his wife had returned. Because he fears above all things to lose you.”
“It is dishonest.”
My father smiled shrewdly and said: “It is love, and did we not agree that there is nothing in life so wonderful as true love?”
I wrote to both Crispin and Aunt Sophie. I had not told Aunt Sophie that my father was blind. I sensed that he would have done so himself had he wanted her to know. The letters would be ready next time a boat called to take them back to Sydney where they would have to make the long journey to England. It would be a long time before they reached their destination.
I was convincing myself that I must go home. They were both asking me to, and whatever the outcome, I must be there.
Tom Holloway was a frequent visitor. Karia welcomed visitors. Luke and the Havers often came now. Karia was sure they did not get enough to eat at the mission house. They employed only two servants and Karia feared that Muriel was too concerned with the spirit to think much of bodily needs.
Luke was always overjoyed to come. The optimism he had shown on the ship had faded considerably. There were many alterations he wanted to make to the mission house and this presented a difficulty as he did not want to override the Havers, and although they were not the most forceful of people, they had firm ideas.
Tamarisk had already lured the children into the mission house and many of them were regular visitors now. But they came to see Tamarisk and, although she tried them with the story of the Good Samaritan, they still demanded Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf.
Poor Luke! He was so dedicated, so anxious to do the work he felt needed to be done.
One afternoon Tom took us over to see the plantation. There were Tamarisk, Luke and myself. As we walked through the tall trees we saw kernels of the nuts exposed to the sun, and Tom took us into the shed where they were making the coconut matting which formed a large part of the business, and to the office where his assistant sat working.
We saw his living quarters. They were quite spacious and well-furnished. I guessed Karia would have arranged that. He had one servant, who brought us a fruit drink as we sat on a verandah looking out over the plantation.
Tom asked about the mission and Luke explained the indifference of the people and the difficulty of getting through to them.
“Language is a problem,” said Tom.
“It’s easier for me. I show them what to do and they do it. These people who work for me are the aristocrats of the island. They earn money but it is not all of them who want to. Some prefer to lie in the sun. It is the heat which forms their characters. It makes them light-hearted and easy-going unless they are roused to anger. They can be dangerous.”
“That’s true enough,” said Luke.
“There were two of them quarrelling the other day. It was over some trivial matter about a piece of land.
One said it was his and the other laid claim to it. There were curses and knives flying. It looked like a fight to the death until someone called in the big chief. “
“Oh yes,” said Tom.
“I know who you mean. Olam. A little old man with very fierce eyes. They are very strange eyes. There are white rings round the pupils. Some disease, most likely, but it is because of this that he has his power.”
“It was settled at once,” went on Luke.
“I was amazed at his power.”
“He is the wise man. I have qualms about him. His judgement in your case evidently solved the matter satisfactorily. It’s not always so.
He can be quite . terrifying. He is reckoned to have special powers. If he tells a man he will die, generally he does. “
“I have heard of that,” said Luke.
“It’s dangerous.”
“I have to be wary of him. Keep on good terms with him. I send him little presents from time to time. That keeps him my good friend.”
“What a lot one has to learn about these people,” said Tamarisk.
“A pity they are not all like the children. They are sweet. “
“Tamarisk gets along well with them,” commented Luke.
“It’s the colour of my hair which attracts them,” said Tamarisk.
“It’s so different from theirs.”
“Most of them just want a pleasant life,” Tom explained.
“They’ll work for a while but you mustn’t expect too much from them. They enjoy their work here. They take a certain pride in it. Olam doesn’t object because I show due respect to him, so all is well at the moment. Last year, some special season which is important to them went off very well. It will soon be here again. I am prepared for it. But my first year was rather tricky.”
“What happened?” asked Tamarisk.
“While it’s going on, they don’t come to work. I didn’t know this at first and was annoyed, for I had had no warning. There are all sorts of rituals. There was chanting through the days and nights and they danced with long spears. Where they keep them, I don’t know. One doesn’t see them from one season to the next. Old Olam is much in evidence. In fact, he organizes the whole show. They dance round, stamp their feet and look fierce. I was on the point of going to look where they were when Karia arrived. She explained to me that it would be wise for me to keep out of the way during the two days it was going on. We couldn’t help hearing the chanting all through the night, which was disturbing. When it’s over they all settle down and everything is as it was.”
“What are they supposed to be doing?”
“It’s like a preparation for some battle a sort of practice perhaps to keep them in trim in case they are attacked by people from another island.”
“That’s not likely,” said Luke.
“Not now, with all these ships plying back and forth and some of the bigger islands belonging to Britain and France. But they keep up the ceremony. It is invoking the spirits to come and fight for them. And, of course, it is the wise old Olam who remembers these things and keeps the tradition going.”
“Isn’t it fascinating?” said Tamarisk.
“Do you feel scared, Mr. Holloway, living right in the midst of it?”
“We are all in the midst of it,” said Tom.
“Yes, but you more so. You are surrounded by them.”
Tom shrugged his shoulders.
“No,” he said.
“They are gentle people. It is only when they are provoked that they might be dangerous, and I am not likely to provoke them.”
“What we have to do is show them a different way of life,” said Luke.
“Teach them that they must love their neighbours. I think, with God’s help, we shall do that.”
“I am sure you will,” I said.
Then Tom asked about the mission. He had heard some children were going every morning.
Tamarisk laughed.
“To hear Red Riding Hood and pull my hair.”
“It’s a good start,” said Luke, smiling at her affectionately.
“It’s fun,” replied Tamarisk.
“I’d like to meet old what’s-his-name.
Olam, is it? “
“Rest assured, he will be aware of you,” said Tom.
I said: “I think it is wonderful the way in which those children have taken to you. Tamarisk.”
“As I told you, it is Red Riding Hood they appreciate, or perhaps more likely the wolf.”
“Not entirely. They liked you before that.”
She laughed, flashing her eyes from Luke to Tom.