Page 94 of Sisters Under The Rising Sun

Sister Catherina laughs. ‘I’ve come close, but I don’t know, maybe someone’ – she raises her eyes skyward – ‘is looking out for me.’

‘If I ever see a long arm stretching down from the heavens to catch you, then you can call me a believer,’ Jean says.

‘I don’t ever see you gardening,’ Betty remarks. ‘Do you prefer men’s work?’

‘I only like to eat the rewards of gardening,’ Sister Catherina replies. ‘I much prefer to be useful elsewhere – fixing things, teaching the children. That is one thing about this camp. We all work to our strengths. I went into the convent when I was very young; I’ve spent the last few years in teaching with some wonderful colleagues and, of course, Mother Laurentia, but I have never seen a sisterhood quite like what we have here.’

‘Oh, I don’t know, we have our moments, don’t we, ladies?’ Betty says.

‘Yes, but is there a person here who you would not help, defend, fight for?’

‘You’re probably right. You know, Sister, you should be a politician when we get out of here, you are so diplomatic,’ Blanche says.

‘Not likely. You know, I wanted to join the Navy? I couldn’t see why, just because I was a girl, I couldn’t be a sailor,’ Sister Catherina remarks indignantly.

‘Really, you wanted to be a sailor? I’ve never heard of women in the Navy, except as nurses of course,’ Betty says.

‘Well, I think one day it will happen, just probably not in my lifetime.’

After Sister Catherina leaves, the women sit around talking about the careers they would have liked to have had, had they not become nurses.

‘I could fix any piece of farm machinery growing up; I could’ve been a mechanic,’ Vivian says.

‘Well, you kind of are, you put people back together again,’ Betty says, with a laugh.

‘Very funny – and what about you, did you always want to be a nurse?’

‘No, not really. My father was an accountant. Other than sewing and being full of mischief, the main thing I got from my family was always to do my bit, help anyone and everyone. I didn’t know what I was going to do with my life, which is why I was an old woman of twenty-nine before I started training.’

‘And you’re still an old woman,’ Jean quips.

‘Then what about you – nursing in your veins?’

‘I think the bigger question is, did any of us dream of becoming a doctor?’ Jean retorts.

The question has a sobering effect on the nurses. They shake their heads.

‘Well, hopefully when we return home and tell the army what we’ve been doing, they will see that women are capable of being trained either as doctors, or as nurses who can treat – and not just care for – patients,’ Vivian says firmly.

It is when the monsoon rains arrive that the crops begin to truly flourish and it is not long before carrots have pushed through the dirt, their lovely green tops waving to the women as they work. Peeking beneath the earth, the women spy the brilliant orange of a carrot ready to pluck. Calling Seedling over, they ask if they can start digging. Smiling, he enthusiastically tells them he will ask for permission and hurries away.

It is not long before he returns with Ah Fat in tow. The women understand his message all too clearly: none of the food they have planted and tended is for them – it is to feed the noble Japanese officers.

When the women of the camp hear this news, they gather in the central clearing. Mrs Hinch pushes her way through the crowd until she reaches the front. There is the small box that occasionally Seki perches on to deliver his missives.

‘Give me a hand up, Norah,’ she says.

With a hoist and grunt from Mrs Hinch, she gathers her pride and looks out over her audience.

‘Quiet. Please,’ she says in her calm, clear voice, and when Mrs Hinch speaks, others listen. ‘So, you’ve all heard the news. Apparently, none of the vegetables you have gone to such lengths to cultivate are for us. If you will all just wait here, I think it is time I had a chat with our captain. Help me down, will you please, Norah?’

With a groan and grunt, Norah helps Mrs Hinch off the box.

‘Come with me, Norah. Let’s see what he has to say for himself.’

Mrs Hinch and Norah are met outside the captain’s office by Ah Fat.

‘Inchi, what are you doing here?’