Barbed Wire and Cherry Blossoms Read Online Free PDF Page B

that will give him comfort. ‘Bloodied soldiers on the ground too. They killed themselves, and they must’ve killed each other.’ He puts his head back in his hands and feels the tears well. It’s not a sight he could’ve imagined and not one he’ll forget soon.
    Joan puts her arms around her husband’s broad shoulders and neck. She can feel the tension in his body as she hugs him close, but says nothing. What can she say to make what he saw any easier? What words could possibly remove the memory of what he’s seen? She rubs his shoulders, trying to draw out some of the misery from his body.
    â€˜King Billie was right to keep everyone in. Don’t let the kids out till this is sorted,’ he says softly, choking back emotion.
    â€˜I don’t understand why,’ Joan says. She makes the sign of the cross as she stares at the ceiling and says a quiet Hail Mary.
    â€˜I don’t know why they did it either. Surely life in the compound wasn’t that bad? Jim reckons they eat real good tucker, they play sport and they are treated well.’ He closes his eyes and sighs. ‘Suicide just doesn’t make sense.’
    â€˜They were still locked up, Banjo. That’s no life either. And they’ve been at war, seen things we will never know or understand.’ Just as her own husband has just seen something she will never know.
    Mary walks in the door with three eggs. ‘Mrs Smith gave them to me,’ she says, handing them to her mother. ‘Says the hens are laying faster than they can eat them and Mr Smith is sick of eating eggs.’ Mary wishes John Smith would just stopeating all together and die, but she’d never say that out loud. When Mary prays that’s the kind of thing she asks God for.
    Joan takes the eggs from her daughter and looks at Banjo, who is still too choked up to speak.
    â€˜We’ll give one of these to that fella,’ Joan says. She puts the eggs into the pot of water on the stove. ‘You’ll have to go down tonight, Mary, as soon as it looks like the Smiths have settled in for the night. You’ll know better than anyone when that is.’ Without trying or wanting to be, Mary Williams is the person closest to the Smiths. She knows their daily routine, their eating habits, when Carmichael wets the bed, when Mr Smith is in a foul mood, when Mrs Smith is on her rags. She knows more than she wants to, but all that knowledge now means she can help her parents and the Elders help this Japanese soldier.
    She nods.

    It’s dark by six pm and quiet on the mission. Families are sitting in their huts, woodstoves burning to keep them warm. Many are eating rabbit stew thanks to Claude and some of the other young fellas, who have caught a few on the other side of the train lines. Everything is shared between the local families. Kids are getting ready for sleep, making their own fun and keeping warm with four bodies, sometimes more, in one bed. Mary sits at the kitchen table for what seems like hours, just waiting. She has a belly full of butterflies, having rehearsed athousand times what she will say to the stranger, and how she will pass the food over. She has been feeling sick all day about seeing the Japanese soldier for the first time. She understands the logistics of what lies ahead: getting food to the Japanese man and keeping him alive and hidden. But she is feeling nervous and nauseous about making a mistake, even though being appointed the food messenger by the Elders also makes her feel important and special. What if she gets caught? His presence could bring trouble to them and everyone at Erambie, and she doesn’t want to be responsible for that.
    At well past eight o’clock, Joan puts a hard-boiled egg and some damper into a hessian bag and wraps it tight for Mary to slip under her coat, which barely keeps her warm over the calico dress underneath.
    â€˜I want you there and back in five minutes, Mary,