said.
‘It’s certainly different.’ Her mouth felt as though it was on fire.
‘Food too hot for you?’
‘Not at all.’ She took a gulp of lemonade. ‘Tell me, what do you eat in Australia? Kangaroos?’
He smiled. ‘Kangaroos are tough. We eat beef. Lots of steaks.’
‘I’ve heard you even have steak for breakfast.’
‘Too right. With a fried egg on top.’
‘How revolting.’
‘We don’t think so. We eat lots of seafood, too.’
‘What sort?’
‘Barramundi, snapper, salmon, prawns, oysters, lobsters – sharks, sometimes.’
‘
Sharks?
’
‘They taste pretty good and we’ve got plenty of them in the sea.’
‘We have them here, too.’
‘They’re tiddlers compared with ours. Ours are a lot bigger and meaner. They ride right in on the surf and grab hold of you in a few feet of water, if you’re not careful. When I was a student on the wards there were always patients with terrible shark bites – they were the lucky ones.’
‘Lucky?’
‘The others were dead.’
She said, ‘You come from Sydney, don’t you?’
‘Born and brought up there. Biggest and best natural harbour in the world, wonderful sailing, wonderful beaches, wonderful surfing –’
‘Wonderful everything?’
‘That’s about it. I reckon I feel about Sydney the same way you feel about Singapore.’
‘Have you ever been to England?’
He shook his head. ‘I’ll have to go one day to take my Fellowship exams in London. We can’t do those in Australia.’
‘Don’t all you Aussies have a huge chip on your shoulder about the English? That’s what I’ve always heard. We’re bloody Poms.’
‘Too right you are.’
‘I suppose you think we’re frightfully stuck-up.’
‘In Australia Jack’s as good as his master.’
‘Well, you’re all descended from convicts, so he would be.’
She’d hoped to annoy him, to get under his thick skin, but not a bit of it. He only smiled.
‘Sorry to disappoint you, but my grandfather came from a respectable and law-abiding family in Devon. His father kept a chemist’s shop.’
‘How fascinating.’
‘He emigrated to Australia when he was eighteen.’
‘What on earth for?’
‘Adventure. He didn’t like the idea of staying put in Devon for ever.’
‘I can’t blame him for that. I don’t like England that much either. It’s got a horrible climate. What’s the weather like in Australia?’
‘Depends where you are. It’s a big country so it’s got different climates. The further north you go, the hotter it is.’
‘Well, you’re upside down, aren’t you? So everything would be the wrong way round.’
‘True enough. We have summer in winter, and winter in summer.’
‘It sounds awful.’
‘It isn’t.’
She gulped some more lemonade to put out the fire in her throat. ‘My father thinks my mother and I ought to go there – to be safe from the Japs. Rather a joke, really.’
‘Nothing to joke about. It’d be a whole lot safer than staying in Singapore.’
‘You’re the one who said I ought to be doing something useful here.’
‘But you don’t want to stick around too long if the Japs ever land on Malaya.’
‘They wouldn’t get very far, even if they did.’
He set down his beer glass, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. ‘That’s what everyone here believes, but I wouldn’t count on it, Susan. Not if you’re smart.’
‘You think I should run away, then? Personally, I don’t think that’s a very decent thing to do.’
‘It may not be decent, but it’d be bloody sensible. Look at it like this. If Malaya turns into a battleground, you white women are going to be in the way and in big danger. You’d be doing the men a favour by getting out.’
He drove her back in the ordinary old car and without stopping in a secluded spot which most men did, if they could. She half-hoped that he’d try to kiss her when they reached the house so that she could have the pleasure of giving him the brush-off, but
‘It’s certainly different.’ Her mouth felt as though it was on fire.
‘Food too hot for you?’
‘Not at all.’ She took a gulp of lemonade. ‘Tell me, what do you eat in Australia? Kangaroos?’
He smiled. ‘Kangaroos are tough. We eat beef. Lots of steaks.’
‘I’ve heard you even have steak for breakfast.’
‘Too right. With a fried egg on top.’
‘How revolting.’
‘We don’t think so. We eat lots of seafood, too.’
‘What sort?’
‘Barramundi, snapper, salmon, prawns, oysters, lobsters – sharks, sometimes.’
‘
Sharks?
’
‘They taste pretty good and we’ve got plenty of them in the sea.’
‘We have them here, too.’
‘They’re tiddlers compared with ours. Ours are a lot bigger and meaner. They ride right in on the surf and grab hold of you in a few feet of water, if you’re not careful. When I was a student on the wards there were always patients with terrible shark bites – they were the lucky ones.’
‘Lucky?’
‘The others were dead.’
She said, ‘You come from Sydney, don’t you?’
‘Born and brought up there. Biggest and best natural harbour in the world, wonderful sailing, wonderful beaches, wonderful surfing –’
‘Wonderful everything?’
‘That’s about it. I reckon I feel about Sydney the same way you feel about Singapore.’
‘Have you ever been to England?’
He shook his head. ‘I’ll have to go one day to take my Fellowship exams in London. We can’t do those in Australia.’
‘Don’t all you Aussies have a huge chip on your shoulder about the English? That’s what I’ve always heard. We’re bloody Poms.’
‘Too right you are.’
‘I suppose you think we’re frightfully stuck-up.’
‘In Australia Jack’s as good as his master.’
‘Well, you’re all descended from convicts, so he would be.’
She’d hoped to annoy him, to get under his thick skin, but not a bit of it. He only smiled.
‘Sorry to disappoint you, but my grandfather came from a respectable and law-abiding family in Devon. His father kept a chemist’s shop.’
‘How fascinating.’
‘He emigrated to Australia when he was eighteen.’
‘What on earth for?’
‘Adventure. He didn’t like the idea of staying put in Devon for ever.’
‘I can’t blame him for that. I don’t like England that much either. It’s got a horrible climate. What’s the weather like in Australia?’
‘Depends where you are. It’s a big country so it’s got different climates. The further north you go, the hotter it is.’
‘Well, you’re upside down, aren’t you? So everything would be the wrong way round.’
‘True enough. We have summer in winter, and winter in summer.’
‘It sounds awful.’
‘It isn’t.’
She gulped some more lemonade to put out the fire in her throat. ‘My father thinks my mother and I ought to go there – to be safe from the Japs. Rather a joke, really.’
‘Nothing to joke about. It’d be a whole lot safer than staying in Singapore.’
‘You’re the one who said I ought to be doing something useful here.’
‘But you don’t want to stick around too long if the Japs ever land on Malaya.’
‘They wouldn’t get very far, even if they did.’
He set down his beer glass, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. ‘That’s what everyone here believes, but I wouldn’t count on it, Susan. Not if you’re smart.’
‘You think I should run away, then? Personally, I don’t think that’s a very decent thing to do.’
‘It may not be decent, but it’d be bloody sensible. Look at it like this. If Malaya turns into a battleground, you white women are going to be in the way and in big danger. You’d be doing the men a favour by getting out.’
He drove her back in the ordinary old car and without stopping in a secluded spot which most men did, if they could. She half-hoped that he’d try to kiss her when they reached the house so that she could have the pleasure of giving him the brush-off, but
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