Part 29 (1/2)

'And me. Do I get a look-in as a character in this story?' he asked softly.

'Of course! It's been wonderful to share this with you and you've been so helpful and so interested.' Her voice trailed off as she saw the tender look in his eyes, the slight smile and lifted eyebrow. And in a rush, a kaleidoscope of images came to her: playing tennis with him, drifting through the magic of the mangroves, talking by the pool, sharing dinners and lunches, and now the excitement of Rose Mansion and the discovery of Bette ... And then their heads drew close and he was kissing her. Julie had the sensation of suddenly letting go, of being swamped by a tide of feelings she hadn't realised she had held in check. If Christopher was surprised by her unexpected ardour he didn't react except to enfold her in his arms as she wound her arms about him.

Much later, dinner forgotten, they fell asleep in a tangle of sheets.

Dawn came and a distant muezzin called the faithful to prayer. Soon the jingle of bicycle bells and the clang of food hawkers setting up their stalls stirred them from their sleep. The day had begun.

'I'm going to miss these exotic sounds first thing in the morning,' said Julie.

Christopher didn't reply at first, but rolled onto his side and gently smoothed her hair. 'You look pretty first thing in the morning.'

She pulled the sheet over her face. 'I didn't even wash my face last night.'

'We had better things to do.' He pulled the sheet away and kissed her nose. 'In a way I wish this hadn't happened ...' As she started to protest, he put a finger to her lips. 'I feel very attracted to you and now I'm going to miss you. Wonder about you ...'

'Me too ... But I have to go back, Chris. I'd love to stay longer.'

'I know, I know. Of course you have to. Listen, we just have to keep in touch, keep in contact,' he said. 'Speaking of contact ...' He grabbed her and the intensity of their looming separation was dissipated as they playfully wrestled before clinging to one another, making love once more, this time the pa.s.sion more tender, more poignant.

They went out to the street and sat at a street stall together while Chris watched in amazement as Julie downed a huge breakfast.

'Where are you putting all that?'

'I'm going back to Brisbane ... It's hard to find food like this at home! I'm making the most of it.'

Before he returned to b.u.t.terworth, Christopher drove her to the airport for her flight to Kuala Lumpur.

'It won't be too long till we see each other again. I just know it. We'll work something out. Keep me posted about Aunt Bette.'

She nodded, finding it hard to speak.

He kissed her and then handed her a small package. 'Nothing sinister. You'll be right going through security,' he said, giving her a quick hug before watching her walk away.

She opened the package on the plane and found that Christopher had given her a small book of watercolour paintings of Penang including one of Rose Mansion. Later on the flight, to distract herself from thinking too much about him, she delved in her bag and pulled out the copy of Bette's pamphlet that Angie Ping from the Kuching museum had given her and read it.

Julie gazed out the window at the clouds s.h.i.+elding the view below. She imagined that she was far above the mist-shrouded dark jungles of Borneo and the pa.s.sion of her aunt's words, written so long ago, struck a powerful chord with her.

These affable, clever, playful, loving creatures are among our nearest living relatives. The wanton destruction of their jungle home, the stealing and murder of their families, is as unnecessary as war, genocide and the worst kind of human behaviour. Let us leave the orangutans in peace and learn from them.

Almost fifty years ago, Bette had feared for the future of orangutans. Sadly, Julie reflected, her aunt had been right. Those issues that Bette had raised all those years ago had not yet been addressed, and the great apes were now critically endangered.

Julie was happy to be home. The minute she walked out of the airport into bright suns.h.i.+ne she realised how she'd missed the clear blue skies of Brisbane. She had not enjoyed the grey pall that hung above Malaysia so much of the time. And it was nice to be back in her neat, white, calming cottage. How quiet and reclusive her street seemed after the clutter, noise and energy of the streets in Malaysia. She then drove to her mother's house and walked around the garden with her father while her mother made tea.

'This has been quite an eventful trip,' commented Paul. 'Your mother is quite stunned by your news. Excited too, of course.'

'It is quite a story. I suppose it's not so unusual to have these kinds of secrets in a family,' said Julie. 'I'm sure we're not the only ones.'

Her father nodded. 'Your mother watches those TV shows where they find lost relatives and so on. There's always some twist and surprise and a secret revealed. As a matter of fact, I know a fellow whose wife was perfectly happy, grew up with an older sister and when her mother died she was going though some doc.u.ments and found out at the age of fifty that she had been adopted. On top of that was the revelation that her older sister had known all along. It certainly rocked her and she took some time to get over that little family secret.'

'How awful,' said Julie. 'At least our secret turns out to be good news.'

'I hope so. You remember how p.r.i.c.kly your grandmother could be? Let's hope that her sister isn't the same. By the way, your mother missed you while you were away, so it's been good she's involved in this bypa.s.s thing.'

'What's happened with the bypa.s.s, Dad?'

'The committee has hired a lawyer and he's found out that there could have been an earlier bypa.s.s plan, but he doesn't know why it was sc.r.a.pped.'

'That's interesting, I suppose, but will it give us any ammunition to fight it here?' asked Julie.

'No idea, but you let your mother handle this, she's really got her teeth into it.'

Caroline called them to the verandah where she had morning tea set out.

'This looks lovely. Didn't see any pumpkin scones in Malaysia,' said Julie.

'Did you like the food?' asked her mother as she poured the tea. 'Mother always had a fondness for spicy dishes. And she made a wonderful mango chutney.'

'I loved it!' said Julie, feeling happy as she thought of the meals with Christopher. 'Do you remember any special dishes?' she asked her mother.

'I can't say I do,' she replied. 'I was too little. Now, fill me in on your adventures. Was David Cooper helpful? How was it living in the jungle with the wild men of Borneo?'

'Yes, he was helpful. So many people were. Especially a very nice RAAF pilot, a friend of the Elliotts. If it hadn't been for Christopher getting me into Rose Mansion and meeting Carla we'd never have found out about Bette.'

'A pilot?' asked her father.

'He's working at b.u.t.terworth. Some liaison thing with the Malaysian Air Force,' said Julie.

'What happened to David?' demanded Caroline. 'I thought you'd see a lot of him there.'

'He had to spend more time with the villagers, which I didn't want to do. It was a bit uncomfortable in those longhouses,' said Julie. 'Actually, Mum, I found David a bit, well, overkeen, a bit pushy. He irritated me.'

Her father smiled at his wife. 'Oh dear. You can forget about that one, dear.'

'Dad, he was absolutely not my type. But, I have to say that the experiences I had in Sarawak were very interesting. I think he's still very keen to help you with the bypa.s.s, Mum.'

'We could still use him, so I hope you didn't upset him too much,' said Caroline.

'Mum! It's okay. I went off to do my own thing and he had his work. You can catch up with him when he gets back to Brisbane.'

'So what's your plan?' asked Paul, to change the subject.

'I thought we should write to Bette. Break our existence to her gently, let her take her own time, rather than ring her out of the blue,' said Julie.

'Very sensible,' said her father. 'Besides, you have to go back to work, you can't go gallivanting all the way up to Cairns, just now, can you?'

'I think we should make contact with Bette as soon as we can. She is getting on,' said Caroline.