Page 83 of Sisters Under The Rising Sun

Vivian pushes her way through the women and helps free Nesta from the rope, restoring her dignity.

‘The others back at the house are going to kick themselves for missing this,’ Vivian says.

‘Happy to have entertained,’ Nesta replies, looking at the grinning women circling her.

Nesta and Vivian walk back to the house, Nesta now carrying a bucket full of water, Vivian the pot.

‘I guess there’s no way we can keep this little event a secret, just between you and me?’ Nesta says hopefully.

‘Not a chance, Sister James, not a chance.’

‘They’ve said we can have a vegetable garden,’ Nesta announces to her nurses. ‘So let’s join the effort and get on with it.’

‘Thank God,’ Jean says. ‘We’re practically starving.’

‘Betty, Vivian, it’s our turn to work the plot; we’ve got the morning shift. Jean, can you find two others not rostered on home visits to take over from us this afternoon please?’

‘Of course, Nesta. I’ll be free this afternoon and will join them.’

Arriving at the designated spot, they are each handed half a scooped-out coconut shell.

‘Has someone got the tools?’ Betty asks.

‘If you mean the axe handle or the shovel blade, then yes. The rest of us get the coconuts,’ Betty says.

‘Hands and knees, girls,’ Nesta instructs, kneeling in the dirt and beginning to loosen the soil with her shell. They have had to sacrifice a small portion of their rations to provide pips and seeds, which they will plant this afternoon.

‘Do you really think they will let us eat what we grow?’ Vivian asks.

‘We can only hope,’ sighs Betty. ‘But we’ve put a lot of work into clearing this garden, surely we can eat the spoils of our efforts.’

‘There’s no telling really, all we can do is our best,’ Nesta concludes. ‘Having said that, I don’t want anyone keeling over in this heat. If you need a break, just say so.’

‘We’ll stop when you stop,’ Betty says, nudging her friend.

For once, the women see the benefits of living in the tropics; once planted, the food springs up and is shared amongst them. They also scavenge the immediate area, looking for other edible plants, bark from trees that could be boiled until soft to go with the spinach and beans that have sprouted up. As always, the first mouthfuls go to the children.

One day, as Norah is working outside, June runs up to her, clenching something in her fist.

‘Look, Aunty Norah, look what I’ve got.’

She gently uncurls her hand, showing a few precious grains of cooked rice.

‘Where did you get that?’

‘I went with the boys and we found it under the hut.’

‘What hut? And, come to that, what boys?’

‘Just my friends. Normally only the boys go, but I told them I was going to scream if they didn’t let me come too. We crawled under the guards’ hut, there are little gaps in the floor and when the guards are eating, some of the rice falls on the floor and rolls through the gaps. We lie there with our hands open, and this is what I caught,’ June says with the pride of a hunter returning to his cave.

Norah is lost for words. She looks around to see if anyone is listening to June talk of the risks she and the boys are taking. Wanting to tell her she can’t do it again, it was wrong to be anywhere near the guards’ huts, she looks into the smiling eyes of the little girl and sees once again the pride; her heart breaks. All she can do is hold her tightly and try to hide her pain, pain for not being able to feed and care for a child, not her own, but one she has willingly accepted responsibility for and who has won her love.

Pulling away from Norah, June excitedly says, ‘I’m going to go and share it with Sammy, he wasn’t there. OK?’

As June skips away, Norah collapses, with her face buried in her hands as she sobs quietly. Vivian is the first to find her.

‘Norah, what’s wrong?’