The Birthmark Read Online Free Page A

it.’
    â€˜Well it probably is. Dad says people are always finding World War Two artefacts on their land—unexploded bombs and things. I bet it’s pretty valuable.’
    â€˜It’s mine,’ Lily pronounced, looking at her defiantly.
    Christina was startled by her tone. ‘I didn’t mean I wanted to buy it or anything,’ she said. ‘It’s just unreal to be surrounded by all these old things from the war.’
    Lily rolled her eyes. ‘It’s just our shit of an island, nothing special.’
    â€˜Have you seen the pillboxes? There’s one near Lily’s house,’ Hector offered.
    â€˜What…those concrete bunker things?
    Hector nodded.
    â€˜Yeah, Dad told me the Japanese used to sit in them with their guns and look out for American ships. I’ve only seen them from the road.’
    â€˜They’re not that great, Hector,’ Lily said. ‘Anything left there from the war was taken ages ago. People just get pissed on them now.’
    â€˜Still, Christina might like to visit one—tourism on Tevua!’ he said, turning to the Australian.
    â€˜Why so friendly, Hector? Catching girls again, hey?’ said Lily.
    Christina smiled. Exploring a pillbox with these two would be better than lying on the couch all day watching the same old DVDs. At least she’d get some stories to tell her friends back in Mansfield.
    â€˜How about tomorrow?’ he asked.
    â€˜Sounds good,’ she said.
    â€˜After lunch then,’ he said, checking that Lily agreed. Lily raised her eyebrows. She was busy drilling holes in the terrace floor with the point of the sword.
    â€˜You’re not going to bring that sword, are you?’ Christina said.
    Lily snorted. ‘Nah, I’m going to hide it, until I need to use it,’ she said coldly, staring at the blade.
    Christina knew she wasn’t bluffing.

three

    Anbwido District
12 September 1942
    Tepu had only enough time to snatch a cooking pot and a knife before the marines entered his home. He fled into the forest behind his younger brother, Tarema, who was pulling their mother along behind him. She objected to leaving the house and wailed in fear. Tepu caught up with them and tried to silence her.
    â€˜They’ll hear you and know exactly where we are,’ he hissed. But the marines had given up the chase. Their shouts and laughter rang through the forest and it made Tepu seethe.
    â€˜We’ll make for Yamek,’ he said, knowing that some families had fled to the weather coast of the island already. It was an inhospitable place to the northeast of Tevua where the wind howled, the soil was poor and the water brackish, but its rocky outcrops and pinnacles offered some protection from the invaders. Also it was still within an hour’s walk of Baringa Bay and the leper camp, and Tepu didn’t want to be separated from Edouwe and her grandparents.
    Once they reached Yamek they set up camp amongst the coral pinnacles, using them as corner posts for their new home: a crude lean-to. Over the next few days Tepu used his knife to cut coconut leaves for a makeshift roof. Tarema searched the forest’s edge for firewood, and their mother gathered what seedpods and crabs she could find from the mangroves that grew in the salty ponds. Their nights were spent in quiet conversation, each of them consumed by fear and uncertainty.
    â€˜We’ll go back and get some of our things, Mother,’ Tepu said. It upset him to see her so withdrawn and dejected.
    â€˜You must be careful. They will eat you up if they catch you. They’ll eat the whole island soon enough and dance on our withered souls.’
    Tepu reassured her and he and Tarema set out the next morning at dawn. Once on the outskirts of Anbwido they crept back to the house. Tepu was shocked by what he saw—half the building was missing, the timber had been stripped away and only a small section of the frame remained. The