patients are isolated in a makeshift sanatorium behind the hospital. What if the doctors put Papa in there? How will he survive?
Papa coughs and sponges his moustache with his thread-bare handkerchief, leaving a tell-tail trail of pink sputum. ‘It might not be TB.’
‘Well, you’ll have to see the doctors. I’ll take you to the hospital tomorrow.’
‘Getting back to that boy you’ve got involved with.’ Papa clears his throat. ‘I can’t have you making a spectacle of yourself. It won’t do your reputation any good, dear girl. You’re growing up and you’ll be seventeen soon.’
‘Charles is just a friend. There’s nothing going on between us.’
‘Are you sure?’
I cross my fingers behind my back. ‘Absolutely. Don’t worry!’
***
The doctors have put Papa in a side ward and keep him under observation. I’m free to spend as much time with Charles as our lack of privacy allows. Today, I’m sitting with him under the orchid tree, his arm around me. There’s movement down on the beach. The Camp Commandant’s Assistant is swinging a baseball bat, and shouting at a gang of European men unloading a consignment of supplies from a boat. I nudge Charles and point.
‘He goes around slapping people’s faces and laying into them with that paddle if they don’t toe the line,’ he says, taking my hand.
‘Did you hear about his theories on eating grass?’
‘He’s been telling people they should live on it like Japanese soldiers hundreds of years ago.’
‘Mr Chambers and Professor Morris have started making grass stews.’
‘That can’t be good for their stomachs. Human beings aren’t able to digest the stuff. We’re not cows,’ Charles groans. ‘The war has got to end one of these days, you know. And all this will just be a memory.’
‘A bad one, I’m afraid.’
‘All bad?’ He smiles.
‘Not you, of course. You make it bearable.’
I run my fingers through my tangled curls and push them back from my face. ‘The Japanese are losing the war, though, aren’t they?’
‘Of course they are, bit by bit. We have to be patient.’
‘But what if we all die of starvation before the Allies can get here?’
‘We won’t.’ Charles puts his arms around me again.
I relax and snuggle against him. ‘I love you.’ The words spill out of my mouth before I’ve even thought about them. I hold my breath and wait for his response.
‘I love you too. I want us to be together for always.’ His mouth comes down on mine and I melt into him.
A shout from lower down the hill. ‘Kate,’ Jessica calls out. ‘Time to queue for supper . . .’
I wish she would leave us alone.
***
‘Your father asked me to keep an eye on you,’ Jessica says. ‘He doesn’t approve of your friendship with that young man.’
‘Why? I don’t understand.’
‘Charles Pearce is neither one thing nor the other. He’s not Chinese and he’s not English.’
‘Well, I think he’s very lucky to have two cultures.’
‘That’s the problem, don’t you see? The Chinese and the expatriates don’t mix. We respect each other, of course, and we work together quite happily, but our backgrounds are too different. If the races inter-marry they become part of the Eurasian community, which isn’t accepted by either side.’
‘I don’t see why we have to take sides. I really love my amah and her son is like a brother to me.’
‘That’s because they lived in your house and there were barriers, only you were just too young to notice them.’
‘There aren’t any barriers here in Stanley.’
‘We won’t be here much longer.’
‘I hope not. Yet sometimes I think we will be, and we should live for now as we don’t know what the future will bring.’
Jessica stands back and studies me with stern eyes. ‘You have an old head on young shoulders, my dear. Just be careful!’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Have you started your periods yet?’
‘Of course. But they stopped a few months
Papa coughs and sponges his moustache with his thread-bare handkerchief, leaving a tell-tail trail of pink sputum. ‘It might not be TB.’
‘Well, you’ll have to see the doctors. I’ll take you to the hospital tomorrow.’
‘Getting back to that boy you’ve got involved with.’ Papa clears his throat. ‘I can’t have you making a spectacle of yourself. It won’t do your reputation any good, dear girl. You’re growing up and you’ll be seventeen soon.’
‘Charles is just a friend. There’s nothing going on between us.’
‘Are you sure?’
I cross my fingers behind my back. ‘Absolutely. Don’t worry!’
***
The doctors have put Papa in a side ward and keep him under observation. I’m free to spend as much time with Charles as our lack of privacy allows. Today, I’m sitting with him under the orchid tree, his arm around me. There’s movement down on the beach. The Camp Commandant’s Assistant is swinging a baseball bat, and shouting at a gang of European men unloading a consignment of supplies from a boat. I nudge Charles and point.
‘He goes around slapping people’s faces and laying into them with that paddle if they don’t toe the line,’ he says, taking my hand.
‘Did you hear about his theories on eating grass?’
‘He’s been telling people they should live on it like Japanese soldiers hundreds of years ago.’
‘Mr Chambers and Professor Morris have started making grass stews.’
‘That can’t be good for their stomachs. Human beings aren’t able to digest the stuff. We’re not cows,’ Charles groans. ‘The war has got to end one of these days, you know. And all this will just be a memory.’
‘A bad one, I’m afraid.’
‘All bad?’ He smiles.
‘Not you, of course. You make it bearable.’
I run my fingers through my tangled curls and push them back from my face. ‘The Japanese are losing the war, though, aren’t they?’
‘Of course they are, bit by bit. We have to be patient.’
‘But what if we all die of starvation before the Allies can get here?’
‘We won’t.’ Charles puts his arms around me again.
I relax and snuggle against him. ‘I love you.’ The words spill out of my mouth before I’ve even thought about them. I hold my breath and wait for his response.
‘I love you too. I want us to be together for always.’ His mouth comes down on mine and I melt into him.
A shout from lower down the hill. ‘Kate,’ Jessica calls out. ‘Time to queue for supper . . .’
I wish she would leave us alone.
***
‘Your father asked me to keep an eye on you,’ Jessica says. ‘He doesn’t approve of your friendship with that young man.’
‘Why? I don’t understand.’
‘Charles Pearce is neither one thing nor the other. He’s not Chinese and he’s not English.’
‘Well, I think he’s very lucky to have two cultures.’
‘That’s the problem, don’t you see? The Chinese and the expatriates don’t mix. We respect each other, of course, and we work together quite happily, but our backgrounds are too different. If the races inter-marry they become part of the Eurasian community, which isn’t accepted by either side.’
‘I don’t see why we have to take sides. I really love my amah and her son is like a brother to me.’
‘That’s because they lived in your house and there were barriers, only you were just too young to notice them.’
‘There aren’t any barriers here in Stanley.’
‘We won’t be here much longer.’
‘I hope not. Yet sometimes I think we will be, and we should live for now as we don’t know what the future will bring.’
Jessica stands back and studies me with stern eyes. ‘You have an old head on young shoulders, my dear. Just be careful!’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Have you started your periods yet?’
‘Of course. But they stopped a few months
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