Barbed Wire and Cherry Blossoms Read Online Free PDF Page A

to the verandah and leaving the others inside.
    He lights up a cigarette and looks to see if anyone is outside the hut. ‘This morning, a visitor arrived here. A Japanese soldier. It turns out he escaped from the camp up the road.’
    Mary listens, sipping a mug of black tea.
    â€˜And, well, we, the Elders, have decided we’ll give him shelter here.’
    â€˜You’re hiding him?’
    â€˜Yes, we are. We don’t know what happened, but John Smith said there was some kind of breakout, so he must be one of the ones who got away. Now, Mary, I want us to look after this fella, he’s probably been through a lot in the war, like our own fellas have. He probably has a family just like us. He looked scared.’
    â€˜What will everyone say, though, Dad? Everyone here hates the Japanese. Mr Smith is saying stuff about them all the time.’
    â€˜I know, but we aren’t filled with that hate. You know in our house we treat people the way they treat us, right?’ He looks straight into his daughter’s eyes.
    â€˜Yes.’ She nods.
    â€˜So we will take care of him as long as we can.’ He takes a drag on his cigarette then blows smoke before adding, ‘And there’s two things you’re responsible for.’
    Mary’s eyes light up. ‘What? What can I do?’
    â€˜Firstly, you can’t tell anyone about him, no one. If Smith finds out, or your Aunty Marj, then we could be in a lot of trouble.’
    â€˜I understand.’
    â€˜And you’re also responsible for taking his food down every day. It won’t be much, but we’ll give what we can.’
    â€˜But why me?’
    â€˜You’re the only one who won’t attract attention or suspicion.’
    â€˜When will I take it down?’
    â€˜We won’t risk doing anything tonight, but tomorrow you will take whatever we can pull together and head to the shelter.’
    â€˜Okay.’
    â€˜Are you nervous?’
    â€˜Not yet,’ she says although she laughs anxiously.
    â€˜You sure?’
    â€˜I feel proud you all trust me to do this. It’s much more exciting than doing the Smiths’ laundry.’ She laughs softly.

    Later that night, against his better judgement Banjo sends Mary to get a group of young fellas, including her cousin Claude Williams, who are at the Theatre Cowra in Kendal Street. They somehow didn’t get the message to stay indoors, but Mary knows they probably would’ve snuck out anyway. When she arrives, she sees Jim in uniform.
    â€˜What are doing here, Mary? You should be back home,’ he says.
    â€˜Yes, I know, I just came to get Claude and some of the other fellas,’ she replies nervously.
    â€˜Okay, hurry up, the film’s about to start.’
    As usual the boys have entered the theatre by the side entrance and are segregated by a rope from the whites. Theysit up the front of the cinema close to the screen, necks craned as they watch. As Mary walks into the theatre just before the movie begins, an announcement is made: ‘There has been an outbreak from the prisoner of war compound, it is recommended that everyone return to their homes and stay indoors until further notice.’
    The lads are all trying to be tough but Mary can tell by the speed of their departure from the theatre how scared they really are. They’ve only ever heard bad things about the Japanese – the newspapers often have cartoons that paint the enemy in a bad light. They’ve heard phrases like ‘yellow peril’ at school but never really knew what it meant. They’ve never seen any of the soldiers in real life because the Japanese aren’t allowed out into the community like the Italian prisoners, who work on properties and in homes in town. Banjo often gets angry that the local whites would prefer to have the Italians they are at war with work for them than the local Blacks. The day he heard that the Italian prisoners