Part 32 (2/2)

She was amazed that it took so short a time to fly from Sydney to Singapore and then on to KL, especially compared with her sea voyage ten years ago. Aeroplane travel was the future, the man seated next to Bette told her. Long sea voyages were now just for the young or the elderly with plenty of time on their hands, he added.

Bette was momentarily taken aback by the impact of her emotions when Margaret met her at the airport in Kuala Lumpur.

'Margaret, I can't believe that it's more than three years. You look wonderful. Motherhood obviously suits you.'

'You look very well yourself,' said Margaret. 'I guess having no responsibilities suits you.'

Bette was disappointed that Caroline and Philip weren't there as well, but she was touched when she realised that Margaret wanted to share a few days in KL, just the two of them.

Bette was also delighted to see Hamid again.

'Is everything well with you, Hamid, and your family?' asked Bette shaking his hand warmly.

The driver nodded, his eyes moist, clearly pleased to see Bette. Then he was once again his smiling, deferential self. For Bette, seeing him again in such normal circ.u.mstances, the wild nightmare drive to Singapore all those years ago seemed like a strange dream that had happened to someone else.

'It is very good to see you again, mem. You will see many changes. Tuan kechil is grown up now. He is learning many things at Utopia.'

Margaret sniffed at this comment. 'Following his father around, trying to boss the workers and messing in the rubber factory with the latex. And he keeps pestering Roland to take him flying. We have a plane now, an Auster. Roland flies around as much as he can because he says some of the roads aren't safe.'

'I suppose that now he's twelve, you'll be sending him to boarding school?' asked Bette.

'Roland put Philip's name down at his old school in England before he was born. I'd much rather he went to school in Australia, it's much closer. Going to school in England means he'll never really know or visit our parents in Brisbane. But Roland insists that that's the way it's to be and his mother backs him. I wish she'd keep out of it.'

Bette nodded. She realised at once that Margaret was not looking forward to losing her son and she thought this was quite understandable. 'I'm so looking forward to meeting little Caroline. I can't wait to see her.'

'She's running around and becoming very independent. You may recall how the servants indulge and spoil the children. Caroline will be princess of the estate while I'm away,' said Margaret.

'Yes, she'd probably have a better time there than getting bored shopping and dining out with us,' said Bette, who wasn't especially looking forward to doing these activities either.

Nevertheless, as she and Margaret spent the next few days travelling about the city, Bette found that being back in bustling Malaya was exhilarating. All signs of wartime austerity were gone. She would have liked to explore more of KL, but Margaret flatly refused to venture into Chinatown or the seedy areas, preferring to wander through the new department stores.

Margaret was pleased with her purchases and enjoyed her break away in the city. She was a lot more relaxed as Hamid drove the two of them to the Selangor Club for tea. 'We'll have to do this again, or we could take another trip. I was thinking of going to the Cameron Highlands or Fraser's Hill. I could take the children, Caroline's old enough to enjoy that,' said Margaret.

Hamid glanced at them in the rear-vision mirror of Roland's new Oldsmobile. 'Tuan says that it's not so safe to travel in the countryside, mem,' he advised. 'The communists are making trouble for everyone.'

'Those wretched Chinese communists. It's all a lot of fire in the belly and shouting, as far as I'm concerned,' said Margaret. 'They want the British out of Malaya, but these people aren't ready to rule themselves.'

'Be independent, like India? I don't know about that, Margaret. Surely the most important issue is for all the different races to live together in peaceful harmony and then decide what sort of an independent Malaya they want,' said Bette.

'Really, Bette, you've been so far removed from all of this. Speak to Roland before venturing an opinion, though frankly I think some of the planters are being rather alarmist. We've had no trouble on Utopia.' She nudged Bette and nodded her head towards Hamid. 'It's rumours and innuendo flying around that start the trouble.'

In spite of Margaret's comments about the communists, when they left KL, their car was escorted by two special constables armed with submachine guns. Margaret admitted to Bette that Roland would not allow her to travel to KL and back without such an escort.

As they approached Utopia, Bette began to recognise the once familiar countryside. As soon as the car slid under the portico, two people appeared at the front door. Bette gasped as she realised that one of them was Philip. She saw he was now a young man, not yet as tall as his father, who looked, Bette thought, rather careworn. Hamid opened Bette's door and she leapt out of the car and raced to the steps as Roland came down to embrace her.

'Welcome, welcome. Wonderful to see you again, Bette. h.e.l.lo, darling,' he said, turning to Margaret as she stepped from the car.

Bette stood at the bottom of the four steps staring up at Philip. They looked at each other curiously. Then slowly a smile broke out on Philip's face and in one leap he was down the steps, standing before her.

Bette couldn't speak. The physical memory of the thin body she'd held in her arms night after night in the camp was imprinted on her mind and on her body, but this strong, firm frame was almost unrecognisable. As was his voice, which had lost its high, childish tone.

'Bet-Bet.'

She laughed and hugged him. 'I haven't been called that in a long time. You look wonderful. I can't believe how tall you are.'

'Goodness, Bette, remember how we hated people saying that to us when we were young?' Margaret leaned towards Philip, offering her cheek to be kissed. 'Where's Caroline?'

'Asleep,' said Philip taking Bette's arm. 'Can I show Bette to her room?'

'Good idea, take Bette's small bag. Ho and Hamid can bring in the rest,' said Roland.

'Ho is still here! That's wonderful, he must be very old,' said Bette. 'And Ah Kit? That was the name of your houseboy when you were in the other house, wasn't it?'

'He no longer works for me,' said Roland.

Philip took Bette's small carry bag. She wanted to say that she was travelling with more luggage than the last time the two of them had travelled together, but she wasn't sure how a flippant remark about the past would be received.

'I'll go and check on Caroline,' said Margaret.

'I can't wait to see her,' said Bette, following Philip up the stairs.

'She's a bundle of energy. A bit of a tomboy. Mother put you in this room. It has a nice view.' He put her bag down.

'I'm so pleased to see you looking ... so well,' said Bette.

'You look different too. I think you're very pretty,' said Philip shyly. He paused awkwardly. 'Thank you for the letters, the books and pictures.'

'I'm glad you liked them.'

'Yes. I wrote to you,' he said.

'Thank you. I enjoyed receiving your notes. I'm hoping to do some more drawings while I'm here,' said Bette. As they left the bedroom, Bette asked, 'Are you looking forward to boarding school?'

'Yes, lots. All my friends have been going for years. I can't wait to play cricket and rugby with them. I'm starting next term.'

Bette didn't pursue the subject. She had thought that perhaps Philip would not want to go to school so far away from home but clearly he was eager to. 'So what do you do with yourself here, when you're not studying?'

'I'm learning the plantation business. I like to watch the tappers working, but it's most fun to mess around where the latex is drying. Those sheets remind me of spooky ghosts.' He grinned. 'And we've got a fast boat down at the river so I drive that.'

'You'll have to take me out in it,' said Bette.

Margaret appeared in the hallway. 'He's not supposed to take that boat out alone.'

'Is the pagar still there? Maybe we could go on a picnic,' suggested Bette.

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