Rain Music (4 page)

‘So, he really made good after a hard time in the war?'

‘He did. He sold the coconut plantation and he and my great-grandmother moved to Micronesia and started helping the villagers. Built a school for the kids. Then he came back to Australia and set up a kids' camp on an island on the Barrier Reef where Indigenous and outback kids could go and holiday for free.'

‘What a great thing to do!' said Bella. ‘And what happened to the old plantation?'

‘You're sitting in it. Well, all that land there behind us.'

‘No way! Hidden Cove belonged to your great-grandfather?' exclaimed Bella. ‘What became of him?'

‘He retired back to Sydney and lived quietly. When I discovered the story through my aunt, I just had to come and have a look. I work in the hotel over there. Just saving up to go to the islands.'

‘Are you going to visit the school he started?' asked Bella, quite intrigued by this story.

‘I thought I'd just go and see. You have to follow your intuition, right?'

‘Yes,' said Bella slowly. ‘I guess you do.'

The girl smiled and resumed her pose, closing her eyes again.

Bella stayed a while but then got up and walked back towards her apartment, thinking the girl was right. Sometimes you did have to follow your intuition.

*

By the end of the weekend, Bella could feel her head clearing. The break was doing her good. She decided she should probably start looking for Ned more earnestly and stop just checking social media and calling his friends hoping to find him.

She decided to head to Cairns. Bella saw why the girl at the reception desk of her apartment building had called Cairns a jumping place – there seemed to be people everywhere. After she had parked her car in the downtown area and begun to explore, she initially wondered why the CBD seemed to be filled with a small army of retirees in colourful shorts and shirts, loose frocks or snug slacks, until she saw them all wearing tags around their necks and realised that they were passengers from a cruise ship, having their day ashore in the capital of Far North Queensland.

Cairns had a lively atmosphere. There was a plethora of places to eat, drink, dance, listen to music and watch tourist shows. There were art galleries and tourist shops selling Aboriginal art and artefacts. The theme of Cairns appeared to be crocodiles, both alive and stuffed. Almost every gift shop featured crocodile leather handbags, belts, shoes and hat bands, crocodile teeth jewellery as well as ornamental crocodiles carved from wood. A photographer's studio featured close-ups of large crocodiles, their jaws wide open, displaying their awesome teeth, which made Bella shudder.

She had no trouble finding the club where a mutual friend had told her Ned had recently appeared. It looked an unprepossessing place in the daylight, but she went in and asked for the manager. As Bella's eyes adjusted to the gloomy surrounds of an empty music club, a woman around her own age came to meet her.

‘I'm Sarah. I book the artists here and plan events. Can I ask you why you're looking for Ned Chisholm?'

‘Ned's my brother. He's been on the road and the family's trying to find him – he's a bit slack at keeping in touch.' She gave Sarah her most charming smile.

‘Yeah, musos are an itinerant lot,' Sarah said, shaking her head. ‘Ned was here a while back . . . He was very popular.' She pulled out a chair at an empty table and signalled Bella to join her.

Bella sat down. ‘That's nice to hear. When you grow up with someone who is always singing and playing music you tend to take it a bit for granted. So how come he played here?'

Sarah smiled. ‘He walked in the door and asked for a gig. I knew who he was. He is seriously good-looking.' She fanned herself with mock passion as Bella laughed and rolled her eyes. ‘You look quite like him. Are you musical, too?'

‘Not really, not like Ned. So do you know where he is now?' said Bella. ‘Have you any clue where he might have headed?'

‘I have no idea. A local band backed him; they might know. I can give you their number, if you like. I've also got an address for them, somewhere up in the Atherton Tablelands. I know they liked working with him. Your brother is very professional, but easy to get on with. He'd have a sound check and then run through a couple of numbers with them, and that was all. But he was really good. He connects with an audience, y'know?'

Bella nodded and felt a warm glow hearing her brother praised. ‘Yes, I know he's good. A phone number and address would be great.'

After Sarah gave them to her, Bella nodded. ‘Here's my number in case you hear anything about him from someone else. I appreciate your help. Brothers can be such a pain at times.' She gave Sarah a grateful smile. ‘Thanks for seeing me.'

‘No worries.'

As Bella turned and headed towards the exit of the dark club, Sarah called after her, ‘You might stop by the community radio station. Miz Irene interviewed him for her programme,
I Got the Blues
. I didn't hear it but he might have told her something about his plans.'

‘Great. I'll do that. Thanks again, Sarah.'

Bella mulled Sarah's suggestion over for a moment, googling Miz Irene and the radio station's address. The station was only ten minutes away, so she decided to check it out first before she contacted the backing group.

A petite blonde in her fifties, her age disguised by her boyishly slim body, youthful clothes and beautifully cared for skin, greeted Bella in the lobby with a warm smile.

‘I'm Irene. How can I help you?' she said.

‘I wanted to ask you about an interview you did with Ned Chisholm. I'm his sister.' Bella glanced at the walls covered in framed photos of Irene with some very famous musicians. ‘These photos are amazing. Have you been doing this long?'

Irene chuckled. ‘I've always been a country and western and blues fan, so I kind of fell into this. Mind you, I've spent a lot of time in the US. I go to the jazz and blues festivals there, Nashville of course, and I've had the privilege of interviewing a lot of big names for my little ole show back here.'

‘There's a big audience here in the north for the blues?' asked Bella curiously.

‘Yes, but my show also streams on the net. I have fans all over the world, especially in the US. You'd be surprised how many people in the States know about Cairns. Of course, I think they knew about this place right back to Lee Marvin.'

‘You mean the old-time American movie actor?'

‘That's him. He was a keen deep-sea fisherman, and once the first thousand-pound black marlin was caught off Cairns he used to visit the place regularly. Brought his Hollywood mates with him. That was in the sixties and seventies, when marlin fishing was all the go. Still is. Cairns was apparently a pretty wild old town back then. You could fall over any number of big-time celebrities in the local pubs in the fishing season. Anyway, tell me again, what did you want to know about Ned?'

‘I'm trying to track him down. Sarah at the jazz club told me you'd interviewed him when he was playing there?'

‘Sure did!' Irene beamed. ‘Lovely man. Big talent. His show was great, could have run for weeks. So you've lost touch?'

‘He's not one for calling home unless he has to, and we have a family event happening and I need to pin him down,' said Bella.

Irene cocked her head. ‘Um, I remember he said something about heading further north. I don't think he mentioned anywhere specific; maybe up to the Daintree?'

‘Apparently it's beautiful up there. A bit away from everything. Maybe he's looking for inspiration,' said Bella.

Irene shrugged. ‘Could be. These artists do their own thing, I've discovered. You don't hear from them for ages, then they just turn up. It drives me nuts when I'm trying to arrange interviews.'

‘I can imagine. Musicians live on another planet, if Ned's anything to go by. Well, thanks for your time. Oh, is it possible to listen to the interview my brother did with you?'

‘Sure thing. It's up on my website. I don't put everything up there, but Ned speaks from the heart. I'll give you the date we ran it so you can find it online.'

‘I suppose my best bet now would be to drive up to the Daintree, if you think he's gone north.'

As she handed Bella a slip of paper with the date of the interview on it, Irene said, ‘You'll enjoy the Daintree. There's a wonderful lodge up there, built in the area before it was all proclaimed a national park and no more development was allowed. It's all very eco-friendly. I try to escape up there when I can. A friend of mine works as a local guide, and knows the Daintree really well. Look her up if you want to see the area properly. She's very cool and will show you the real heart of the place. I'll give you her number if you like.'

‘That would be great,' said Bella, and Irene added the details to the piece of paper.

‘If you're back in town and get the chance, get in touch and I'll take you to a gig.'

‘Terrific! And thanks for your help. You've been very kind.'

As she walked back to her car, Bella tried to ring the backing band to see if they could give her a lead on Ned's whereabouts. Her call went straight through to message bank, so she left a brief message. Hearing Irene speak so admiringly of Ned had softened some of Bella's feelings towards him.
I just hope I can see him soon
, she thought.

*

As she set off back to Hidden Cove, early evening was settling on Cairns. The sun was low and the boats at the marina were reflected in the calm sea. There was a pink tinge to the clouds and a fresh breeze brought down the oppressive humidity. People were walking about looking for a place to have dinner, and the visiting jet set had begun to emerge and settle themselves in for some serious partying.

She loved driving along the twisting coastal highway that threaded its way between the sea on one side and the high rugged hills on the other on the way from Cairns to Hidden Cove. In places there were small stretches of sandy inlets squeezed between bulky rocks where the waves flung themselves onto the shore, but all were deserted this late in the day.

Along the shorefront of Hidden Cove, fairy lights and flame torches glowed in the balmy air, and music and laughter rolled gently into the night. She parked the car in the apartment block and hurried upstairs to freshen up. Although she wanted to listen to Ned's interview on her phone, she decided to save it for later.

As Bella walked along the seafront, tantalising aromas made the choice of food difficult and she could see that most
of the cafés and restaurants were nearly full. Eventually she chose an Asian-fusion restaurant that had a small empty table in the front. She ordered Thai fish cakes and a crunchy Asian salad. When her glass of white wine came, she picked up her phone and rang her mother. She told her mother about Hidden Cove and her quick trip to Cairns.

‘I'm so glad you're relaxing,' said Josie. ‘It sounds so tropical. We had a change in the weather through yesterday and it's freezing here at the moment.'

‘Yes, it's certainly warmer here,' Bella said, a soft breeze lifting her curls. ‘I'm thinking of going into the rainforest area, up to the Daintree.'

‘I didn't expect you'd go so far. And you liked Cairns?'

‘It was fun for a day. Are you okay? How're things there?'

‘Apart from this cold spell, all good. I'll go over to your place tomorrow and water your plants and check your mail.'

‘Thanks, Mum. Don't go out of your way, the plants will be fine and the letters will be bills. Ooh, my meal is here, looks fabulous. Talk soon. Love you.'

The waiter, Bella guessed, was a backpacker from Italy, and he lingered longer than was really necessary as he refilled her wineglass and gently probed into her plans. She was used to deflecting such overtures and charmingly let him know that she wasn't going to be spending much time in Hidden Cove and definitely was not available for a holiday fling.

Somewhat chastened, he asked, ‘So where are you going after here?'

‘I thought I'd go up to the Daintree. Have you been there?'

‘I went to Cape Tribulation once but it is too dangerous, I think. Too much wildlife.'

‘You don't like the wildlife?'

He shook his head. ‘No, too many crocodiles and very poisonous snakes. Some of the people are a bit crazy wild, too. I like cities. I am here for, you know . . .' He rubbed his fingers together.

‘To make money? I'm sure you get a lot of tips,' said Bella, smiling at the handsome man.

‘
Si
. But,' he lowered his voice and leaned closer, ‘not from the young girls. The ladies, the mamas on their own. They like some talk, some company. How come you take holiday by yourself?'

Bella also lowered her voice. ‘I'm on a secret mission. I'm just pretending to be on a holiday.' She tapped the side of her nose.

He looked puzzled for a moment, then burst out laughing. ‘Ah,
bravo
. A secret. I keep it to myself.'

Bella lifted her glass in a mock toast as he moved away. In his tight white T-shirt, his tanned, muscular arms were shown to full advantage. She had a slight twinge of guilt thinking of Brendan but then she laughed as the waiter winked at her. It was all in good fun.

Over her meal she googled information about the Daintree on her phone.
If Ned was headed that way, was it for pleasure or performance?
she wondered. The whole area looked beautiful and interesting, so she decided she'd go.
Sometimes you just had to trust your intuition
, thought Bella, and if she didn't find Ned there, then she would enjoy a different part of the world.

After dinner she returned to her apartment and listened to the programme that Ned had done with Irene. Although she learned nothing further about his plans, she enjoyed listening to Ned speak. Ned was so passionate about his music. Moreover, the respect and enthusiasm that Irene had shown him in the interview indicated that the DJ also regarded him as a very serious and talented musician. Bella felt a swell of pride.