‘
I stopped off in Gallup to look up an old
friend who served overseas in the United States Army Air Force,’
Faith said as she put the key into her purse. ‘Since you’ve been
here so long, you may have heard of him. His name is Dan
Rivers.’
The old Indian’s mouth broke into a near toothless
grin. ‘Ain’t nobody in Gallup hasn’t heard of Captain Dan Rivers,
ma’am.’ He pointed across the station hall behind her. ‘He’s right
over there, lady, wearin’ his medal.’
Faith turned around, her heart in her mouth. Her
eyes searched the faces of the travelers in the station hall behind
her but she saw no sign of Dan. But then she saw a huge war bond
poster on the station wall. Unlike the poster in Union Square in
San Francisco, the man smiling down onto the station floor wasn’t
Uncle Sam. It was Dan. And on his chest he wore the Congressional
Medal of Honor, the United States’ highest military
decoration.
‘Mr Rivers runs the Mesa Construction Company now,
lady. Their office is right here in Gallup.’
‘The Mesa Construction Company,’ Faith repeated. She
tipped the porter with some coins. ‘Where can I find a taxi?’
The old man tipped his cap and grinned. ‘You don’t
need one lady. It’s only three blocks down the street.’
Faith walked the distance in less than ten minutes.
When she arrived at the wooden storefront building which housed the
Mesa Construction Company she wondered if it was the scorching
midsummer heat of Gallup or the prospect of seeing Dan again that
made her hands so clammy. She drew a deep breath and stepped
through the door. A young Indian in a bright red shirt and blue
denims looked up from one of a number of drafting tables. He smiled
and walked over to the counter
‘Can I help you, ma’am?’
‘Is Mr Rivers in please?’
‘No ma’am. He’s over at the Los Alamos project.’
‘Los Alamos, where is that?’
It’s about five hours from here, ma’am. It’s out in
the desert, just north of Santa Fe.’
‘Can he be reached on the telephone?’
‘Yes. But he’s usually out on the project. We leave
messages and he calls back later when he comes into the field
office, usually around quitting time.’
‘How would I get to Los Alamos?’
‘By road or train as far as Santa Fe. But you won’t
get onto the project without top government security clearance
ma’am.’
Faith sighed. ‘When will Mr Rivers be back in
Gallup?’
‘Not for awhile. He spends most of his time at Los
Alamos.’ The young man smiled again. ‘Is there something I can do
for you?’
The apprehension that had built up in Faith on the
walk from the railway station suddenly evaporated leaving her
feeling drained. ‘Oh, no,’ she sighed wearily, ‘I’m just an old
friend of Mr Rivers from overseas. I thought I’d say hello seeing I
was passing through town.’
‘Mrs Rivers is in today. Shall I fetch her?’
Mrs Rivers?
Faith was taken completely off guard. The
possibility of Dan being married hadn’t even crossed her
mind.
‘Oh no, that’s not necessary.’ Faith said quickly.
She was about to turn and leave when the door of an adjoining room
swung open and a woman stepped outside. She was tall and well
proportioned with the high cheekbones and the attractive angular
features of a Navajo. Faith thought there was a tinge of grey in
her long black hair.
The young man turned around. ‘Oh, Mrs Rivers. This
lady is looking for Dan.’
‘I heard,’ the tall woman said in a soft even
voice.’ The woman stared solemnly at Faith, her black eyes slowly
appraising every inch of the visitor from head to foot. ‘You’re not
an American, miss. You speak English with a foreign accent. What
country are you from?’
‘Australia.’
The tall woman took another long evaluating stare.
Then she said, ‘You must be Faith Brodie. I am Shona Rivers, Dan’s
mother. My son used to speak of you often.’
Faith smiled. ‘We were very close once, Mrs
Rivers.’
Shona Rivers smiled for the first time. ‘I just come
in a couple of days a week to file things and try and help out a
little. She gestured toward the office door. ‘This is Dan’s office.
Would you care to come in?’
Faith stepped inside the room and Shona Rivers
closed the door behind her.
‘I saw the war bond poster in the station, Mrs
Rivers,’ Faith said. ‘You must be very proud of Dan’
‘Yes, I am.’
‘And you have good reason to be. He served his
country well and now he has what he said he always wanted, his own
engineering and construction business.’
‘
Yes. It’s always been his dream. A dream I thought
he may fulfill far away from here. He told me he had plans to build
roads and bridges in Australia and start a new life there. My son
loved your country—enough to want to make it his home. But your
country said a Navajo was only good enough to fight and die for it,
not good enough to live in it.’ Shona Rivers still spoke softly and
there was no trace of malice in her voice. ‘Now tell me, Miss
Brodie, why is it you have come to Dinétah now.’
‘On my way to America I met a friend on board ship
who told me about what happened to Dan with the immigration people
in Australia. It was the first I heard of it. He must have been
very bitter. He had promised to come to Brisbane when he was
discharged from the hospital in Melbourne. We planned to discuss a
future together He said he would know by then if he could...
well... have children and lead a normal family life. I know that
was very important to him. When he didn’t come, I thought the
medical news must have been bad or that he had just stopped caring
for me. Over time I accepted that he had not come to me because of
one or both of those reasons. When I learned on the ship that the
immigration problem might have been the reason, I just had to find
out for myself.’
‘But my son did go to Brisbane to see you after he
was discharged from hospital, Miss Brodie’
Faith was stunned. ‘But he didn’t... He couldn’t
have... I didn’t see him.’
‘That’s because you weren’t there. Dan said when he
got to Brisbane he discovered you were staying in a hotel by the
sea with another American officer.’
Faith stood open-mouthed and dumbfounded as she
recalled her visit to Point Danger to see Lyle. She could have only
missed Dan by hours. She was about to try and explain but Dan’s
Mother spoke first.
‘Why have you come to this country, Miss Brodie?
‘I came to get married, in New York.’
‘To this other man. The American officer?’
‘Yes.’ Faith felt her face flush.
‘I see.’
Faith could see from the look on Shona Rivers’ face
that she didn’t see at all. She drew a deep breath. ‘I don’t think
you do, Mrs Rivers. It seems there have been misunderstandings all
around. It’s unfortunate Dan isn’t here so we could set them
straight.’
‘Perhaps it is just as well he’s not here, Miss
Brodie. He’s still under special medication from the doctors and
may be for the rest of his life. But he is happy now and I want him
to stay that way. He has finally put all his bitterness to rest and
allowed the fire in his heart to subside. I think, maybe, it’s
better if you don’t see him and start fanning the ashes.’
The words cut like a knife. Faith’s lips trembled
involuntarily. She felt her eyes moisten. Unsure of whether she
could control her emotions, she turned away quickly. But before she
reached the door she felt Shona Rivers’ firm hand on her
forearm.
‘Where are you going now?’
‘I’m not sure,’ Faith said without looking up. ‘I
have to think.’
‘You heard what the young man said. It’s not
possible for you to gain access to the Los Alamos project to see
Dan.’
Faith looked up quickly. She had composed herself
now. ‘With all respect, Mrs Rivers, if I don’t see Dan it will be
because I have decided not to,’ she said forcefully, ‘not because
you say I cannot.’
Faith was surprised to see the older woman’s lips
form a tight smile.
‘That’s more like it. Dan told me you were a
fighter. He said you walked hundreds of miles across the wilderness
leading a group of abandoned children to safety when the Japanese
were bombing your country. Is that true?’
Shona Rivers didn’t wait for Faith to reply.
‘Whatever happened between you and my son or whatever my own
feelings are,’ she said gently, ‘Dan wouldn’t thank me for not
telling him you were here. Now, a local train leaves Gallup at noon
everyday for Albuquerque and Santa Fe. It won’t get to Santa Fe for
six, maybe seven hours because it makes a lot of stops along the
way. If you hurry you can be on it and I will telephone the field
office at Los Alamos and leave word for Dan that you are aboard. If
he wishes to see you, he’ll have lots of time to get into town to
the railroad station. And if he doesn’t, well, you can just carry
on to New York.’
*
The most northerly of the Sir Edward Pellow Group
of islands clustered around the mouth of the MacArthur River, lay
almost twenty miles offshore in the Gulf of Carpentaria. Monday
spotted them first in the early afternoon, when he was perched high
up on the
Walrus’
mainmast
keeping at eye out for the
Groote Eylandt Lady.
When he shouted out the news, Joe asked Weasel to
take the helm and went below to check the charts. Koko was in the
galley off the main cabin. He looked up from cutting bread for the
crew’s midday meal of sandwiches when Joe clambered down the
companionway.
‘I heard, Monday.’ Koko said. ‘How far off are
we?’
Joe sat down at the chart table. ‘It’s about fifteen
miles to the islands, I’d say. That means we’re around thirty five
miles from the mouth of the MacArthur River. It will be almost dark
when we get there. I’m just going to check the best place to anchor
overnight.’
‘And what happens tomorrow, Joe?’ Koko asked
softly.
Joe looked up from the chart. Koko was staring at
him morosely. All the way southward down the Gulf he had become
increasingly withdrawn. Joe had never seen Koko looking so down and
his heart went out to him.
‘
You know what must happen, Koko. I have to
take you to the Nackeroos in Borroloola. It will take most of the
day. The river’s too shallow for the
Walrus
to make it upstream any further than Black Rock Landing.
From there we’ll have to make the last twelve miles or so in the
dinghy.’
‘Must you turn me in tomorrow? Can’t we wait at the
river mouth for one more day just in case the Horan brothers show
up?’
‘You know I can’t do that.’
‘But who would ever know. Please...’ Koko pleaded.
‘Please Joe, just one more day.’
Joe sighed. ‘Look, I was lucky no-one pressed
charges when I took you with me on
Faraway
when we left Darwin. I not only took a boat that
had been commandeered by the Navy but I knowingly harbored and
transported an internee. I know the law’s been hard on you. But it
could be very hard on me if I started making my own rules instead
of following orders. It’s better for both of us if we do the right
thing.’
‘
I told you I couldn’t stand to be locked up
again, Joe,’ Koko said. He spoke resignedly, staring at the long
bread knife in his hand, his voice little more than a whisper. ‘I
will not allow them to take me back to Cowra.’
‘
Bloody hell, Koko.’ Joe bounded across the
cabin floor. He snatched the knife from Koko’s hand. ‘If you’re
thinking of doing anything stupid, I’ll have to lock you in the
forward cabin.’
For a moment they stood staring at each other
eyeball to eyeball. Joe was about to say something else when the
amplifier on the radio across the cabin sounded a loud signal.
Darwin was about to transmit. Joe sat down at the receiver and
grabbed a pencil. A few moments later a coded message came through
loud and clear.
When Joe had decoded it he turned to Koko.
‘There’s no need to wait a day for the
Groote Eylandt Lady
,’ he said grimly. ‘It says here the
Nackeroos in Borroloola just reported the Horan brothers have just
delivered croc skins to the store in town. They brought them up the
river from Black Rock Landing in a dinghy. Darwin wants to know if
we can get to the MacArthur River in time to prevent the
Groote Eylandt
Lady
slipping back out
to sea.’
‘We can, can’t we Joe?’ Suddenly Koko’s despair had
turned to elation
‘
Bloody right. They’ll have more than one trip to
make upriver with their croc skins, so they won’t be heading out
today. Anyway, it’s only possible to navigate the shallow lower
reaches of the river in daylight and on the top of the tide. Joe
returned to the chart table and checked the tide times for the
lower Gulf region, then triumphantly slammed the little book
closed. ‘My bet is they’ll leave Black Rock Landing on the high
tide at around seven o’clock in the morning,’ he said grimly as he
began tapping a reply to Darwin on the Morse code button. ‘I think
we’ve finally got the bastards, Koko. ’
CHAPTER
THIRTY-SIX
Lyle took off from Washington at 0800 hours
for Santa Fe aboard a USAAF DC-3 transport, carrying a delegation
of senior military officers. He knew that by not waiting for the
telephone call Faith had promised to make to him along the way, he
was taking a gamble. He was also gambling that she didn’t know
exactly where Dan Rivers was. Plimpton had said she made no long
distance calls from the St Francis, so he assumed she would have no
way of knowing exactly where he was until she made enquiries in
Gallup.