Barbed Wire and Cherry Blossoms Read Online Free Page B

else.’
    â€˜Yeah,’ Kevin growls, ‘you just finished ordering us not to tell anyone, and now you’re breaking your own rule. Why don’t you or Joan or one of these fellas take it down?’ He points to Sid and Fred.
    Banjo taps on his gammy leg. ‘I can’t climb down a ladder with this leg. And you fellas seen in our yard a lot will only draw suspicion.’
    â€˜But why Mary? She’s so young,’ Sid says, concerned.
    â€˜Yes, she’s young, but King Billie trusts her, everyone trusts her. If there’s ever any suspicion here they will never look at Mary.’
    â€˜Banjo!’ There’s a thump on the door. ‘Banjo! Open up, it’s John Smith!’
    â€˜What does he want?’ Kevin mouths to Sid and Fred, who both shrug their shoulders.
    John Smith is the Manager of Erambie. Behind his back, everyone refers to him as King Billie. There is a version of King Billie on every reserve and mission in the country. Few Managers understand the resentment that Blacks have towards them, and even fewer would care if they did – being a mission Manager requires one to have no sense of human rights or justice. It’s only Black humour and making fun of the Manager that sustains the locals at Erambie through the misery being no one in your own land can bring.
    Everyone sits to attention as Joan looks around her kitchen to check it’s tidy.
    â€˜It’s not Manager’s Day,’ she says to her husband, referring to the nominated days that the Manager and/or his wife could go through their huts. Joan, like the other women on the mission, knew the authorities – the Smiths and the police they brought sometimes – were always looking for a reason to say the Blacks were unfit parents. A speck of dirt on the floor. Beds not made perfectly. Kids not clean enough.
    Joan looks at the meat safe, the cast iron pots hanging over the fire and the kerosene hurricane lamp, which has been polished. She checks and double-checks the wooden floors she scrubs with sandstone soap on a regular basis. Everything looks clean and tidy as Banjo opens the door.
    â€˜What’s going on here?’ King Billie says, looking over Banjo’s shoulder to the men at the table. ‘Stop-work meeting?’
    The men laugh awkwardly but say nothing.
    â€˜Everyone is to stay indoors until further notice,’ he orders.
    â€˜What’s up, John?’ Banjo asks, hoping it has nothing to do with the morning’s events.
    â€˜There’s been a breakout at the Japs’ camp, and I want everyone indoors until I say so.’ King Billie has the shits, as if someone has put a spanner in his works. ‘Jim is up at the compound as you know, but I don’t want you talking to him. I don’t want you talking to anyone about it. We don’t want people getting hysterical. Let the army sort this mess out.’ He speaks directly to Banjo. ‘You just keep to your own business here. I’ll let you know when things have settled down.
    â€˜And you lot,’ he finally addresses the other men, ‘you do the same, and if you see anyone out and about, you know to give them this order. Right. Go.’
    Kevin, Fred and Sid get up, all pushing their chairs in slowly to bide time while King Billie leaves. When they can see him marching towards another hut, they shake hands and cement their decision before heading off.
    â€˜Mary!’ Banjo calls out.
    She enters the room with the kids and little James runs straight to his mother and squeezes between her legs, as he often does. The three younger girls look frightened.
    â€˜What did he want?’ Mary asks, trying not to sound disrespectful.
    â€˜We all have to stay inside for a few hours at least, until Mr Smith comes back.’ Banjo rarely uses the term King Billie in front of the kids in case they let it slip in front of the Manager. ‘Come with me,’ he says, leading his daughter out