Chapter 3

MANGROVE DREAMING
By Kerrie Bygrave

Chapter 3:

The next evening, Matt was true to his word, and came home from work early so that he could take Sam out for dinner. He was a handsome man, and Sam had thought it had been love at first sight the first time she saw him. He was just over six foot tall, had sandy blonde hair, and a physique that showed he liked to look after his health. He went running most mornings before work.
Matt had noticed Sam straight away too the first time they met. He had been drawn to her white blonde hair that hung in natural curls about her face, her slender figure, but most of all, he had been captivated by her brilliant blue eyes and her smile which lit up her whole face. He’d been unable to take his eyes of her the first night they met. He quickly learnt too that she had a heart of gold and would do anything to help anyone. Matt really admired that in Sam. In the early days, she used to be so happy almost all of the time, but now days she rarely smiled. His heart ached for her. He knew she was still feeling a lot of pain, but he was at a loss of how to help her anymore. She seemed to shut him out any time he tried to be there for her.
‘So, wear something nice’ Matt called out to Sam from the ensuite as he got out the shower. ‘I’ve booked us a table at Matso’s. I thought we should spoil ourselves.’
‘Are you saying I don’t always look nice?’ Sam called back from their bedroom. ‘You don’t normally complain about the way I look.’
She sounded annoyed. ‘No, not at all.’ replied Matt. ‘I guess I meant to wear something extra nice. Come on, I just thought it would be fun to get a bit more dressed up than normal.’ He walked into the bedroom with his towel wrapped around him and walked up to her from behind to put his arms around her waist. ‘That’s all I meant. You know I think you’d look gorgeous in a hessian sack.’
But she still pulled away from him and walked over to her wardrobe. She didn’t look at him. She just said in a dull tone ‘Yeah, I know. I guess I’m being oversensitive again. Sorry.’ She started flicking through her wardrobe, and pulled out a bright summery dress she had bought from one of the clothing boutiques in town when they had first arrived. ‘How about this?’ She turned around and smiled at him, but they both knew that the smile was forced.
‘That will look great’ he said and he left it at that while he started getting ready. He didn’t know what to say nowadays. No matter what he said, it seemed to be the wrong thing.
They decided to drive to the restaurant. Even though it was walking distance, they had both had a busy day. When they arrived, they went inside to wait to be seated. Matt had requested a table on the veranda facing the ocean. The wide, spacious veranda wrapped around three sides of the restaurant, and most people preferred that seating to the tables that were available inside, despite the fact that there was air-conditioning inside. They were quickly shown to their tables. They had been to Matso’s a couple of times for dinner since they arrived, and the service was always good.
Despite the fact that it was now dark, they could still see lights on the bay from some of the boats out there. In the day light, this spot offered an amazing view of the turquoise water. Sam had come down a few times for morning tea. She would order a coffee and bring a good book with her. Even if they were busy, the staff never made her feel like she should leave because she hadn’t ordered a main meal.
When they were seated, the waiter gave them their menus and asked them if they would like to order drinks. Matt ordered one of Matso’s own brewed beers, and Sam ordered a glass of white wine. While they waited for their drinks, Matt started to talk about his day at work.
‘We got a new project we’re about to look at.’ he started. ‘We’re investigating ways to improve the town beach area for families’.
‘I thought it was already a pretty nice area.’ Sam said as she browsed through her menu. ‘What with the playground near the café, the toilet blocks and the family picnic tables.’
‘Oh yeah, we’re not saying it isn’t a nice area, it’s just with the increase in tourism, we figure that it’s worth looking at some other ideas. We’re not sure what we want to do yet, or even if we’ll do anything. We’re just looking at possibilities. One suggestion has been a water playground for kids. You know, the type that has water spouts for children to run through, and small slides with water coming down them. That way, during stinger season, or when the tide’s still out, families can still bring there kids down to cool off.’
‘That does sound good.’ said Sam as she took a small sip of her wine.
There was an awkward pause, but they were saved by the return of the waiter. ‘Are you ready to order yet’, he said in a thick Irish brogue. He addressed the question to Matt, but he was clearly looking at Sam.
It didn’t bother Matt. He knew his wife’s beauty attracted the attention of other men. But despite the fact they were going through a rough patch, he also knew that Sam would never cheat on him. It had made him very jealous when they first started seeing each other, but when he mentioned it to Sam, she had merely laughed softly and asked him whether he would rather be with someone where other men questioned his taste in a girlfriend. She had advised him to take it as a compliment and he learnt to do that. It wasn’t hard to do. Sam had made it obvious where her heart lied.
‘Ah yes, for an entrée, I’ll have the garlic chilly prawns please. And for the main meal I’ll have the Kimberly steak, medium rare, with vegetables and mushroom sauce thanks’ he said ‘and for my wife…’
Sam took one last glance at the menu before handing it back. ‘I’ll have a ceaser salad for an entrée.’ she told the waiter. ‘and for my main meal, I think I’ll try the soft shell crab dish’.
The waiter took both menus and walked away. Matt sipped his beer, and then asks Sam ‘So how was your day today? What did you get up to?’
Sam started telling him about how she had finished unpacking the last of the boxes. She didn’t mention the boxes which remained untouched in the spare room. Instead she went on to tell her about her trip into China Town. ‘The other night in the storm, I let this older lady from down the road take shelter from the rain on our veranda. We had a cup of tea while we waited for the rain to pass.’ she said.
Matt smiled. Letting someone take shelter from the rain in their home and offering them her hospitality was just the kind of thing he expected Sam to do.
‘She was a very nice woman actually.’ Sam continued. ‘We got along quite well. But anyway, she was telling me about the Yuen Wing store in town, so today I decided to go in and have a sticky beak. That store is amazing. It looks so small a pokey from the street front, but inside it has all these different rooms with all sorts of stuff for sale.’
Matt laughed at her enthusiasm. He rarely saw that in her anymore. ‘So does that mean I should watch out for next month’s credit card bill?’ he teased her.
‘Not at all.’ she replied. ‘I didn’t actually buy anything today, but I’ll definitely go back again. They had everything from specialty Asian foods, towels and linen, to camping and electrical equipment. You could even buy the latest Play Station in there.’
‘That’s it.’ said Matt. ‘I’m taking my cheque book in there tomorrow.’ and they both laughed out loud.
They continued to chat light heartedly until their entrée arrived and then started to eat. When they received their main meal, they each tried what the other had ordered as well. Matt held his fork over for her to try some of his steak. A couple of drops of sauce dribbled down her chin. He quickly grabbed a serviette and tenderly dabbed the drops for her. She smiled tenderly at him, and his heart soared. It had been so long since she had smiled at him like that.
A few minutes later, he carefully tried to broach another topic. ‘You know Sam, we do have to talk about it sometime.’
‘Talk about what?’ she asked absent mindedly.
‘You know what I mean.’ he replied.
She had been about to take another sip of her wine, but her hand froze half way. ‘Why can’t you just give me time?’ she demanded.
‘Come on, Sam. It’s been six months now.’
‘Oh, and six months is the magic number, is it? It’s been six months so I should be able to forget about it now.’
‘That’s not what I meant and you know it’ said Matt in frustration. ‘We started getting counselling in Melbourne Sam, and I thought we were starting to deal with it. But ever since we got to Broome, you’ve acted like nothing happened. You won’t talk about it, and you shut me out every time I start to talk about it’
‘Well, I tell you something.’ Sam said vehemently. ‘I sure as hell don’t feel like talking about it here and now. So please, just drop the subject’.
Matt went to say something else, but decided against it. It was no use. She just wouldn’t open up to him. He then became annoyed at himself. Even though he felt they needed to talk about what had happened, they had been enjoying themselves for the first time in ages, and now Sam was staring out at the Bay with a stony silence.
She picked up her knife and fork again and finished the last of her meal. Matt did the same, but they finished their meal in virtual silence, whilst the restaurant patrons around them chatted away.
Soon, their waiter arrived again to remove their plates. He asked them if they would like to see the dessert menu. Before Matt could reply, Sam jumped in and said ‘No thanks, we’ve had enough. Can you bring us our bill please?’
The waiter walked away. Matt was slightly annoyed. He had been planning to try the sticky date pudding. But he didn’t say anything. Instead he tried to lighten the mood again. ‘I tell you what. Why don’t we go for a drive out to the port on the way home and go for a walk on the wharf? The fresh air will do us good.’
‘I don’t think so.’ Sam said quietly. ‘I’m feeling pretty tired. I’d rather just go home.’
‘No worries.’ replied Matt. When the bill arrived, he got up to go inside and pay.
Sam rose from the table too. ‘I’ll wait for you at the car.’ she said, and she walked off.
Matt watched her walk away, and then went inside.
When they got home, Sam walked inside without a word and went straight to the bedroom. Matt followed her in and locked the door behind him. He went to the kitchen and got himself a drink of water. He stood at the kitchen sink and stared out the window. Even at night, the garden was illuminated in a soft light from the street lamp nearby. He took a deep breath. He didn’t know how much longer he could cope with Sam freezing him out.
He finished his water, put his glass in the sink, and headed into the bedroom. Sam had already changed into her pyjamas. She always wore long white cotton pants and a matching button up top. She never used to wear anything to bed, but Matt knew that now it was her way of avoiding intimacy.
Matt stripped down to his underwear and climbed into bed beside her, before turning out his bedside lamp. ‘Goodnight’ he said, not really expecting a reply.
After a short pause, Sam turned on her bedside lamp. She sat up and turned to her husband. ‘Matt, I’m so sorry.’ she started.
Matt sat up too and looked at her. ‘You don’t have to be sorry. I know it’s hard for you. I shouldn’t push you.’
‘It is hard.’ continued Sam. ‘But I know it’s hard for you too. And I feel selfish when I act like it’s only me going through this.’
Matt went to say something, but Sam put her finger up to his lips. ‘No, let me finish.’ she continued. ‘I promise from now on, I’ll try not to shut you out so much. I’m not saying that it’s going to be plain sailing from now on. And I’m not saying that I won’t have my moments, but I will try.’ She paused. ‘You know I love you, don’t you?’
‘Oh Sam, honey, of course I do.’ He took her in his arms and held her tight. She put her head on his shoulder and relished the feel of his arms around her.
After a minute, she pulled back slightly and looked up into his eyes. Slowly, ever so slowly, he brought his lips down to hers and kissed her gently. She parted her lips and allowed his tongue to dart in with a sweet tenderness. He kept the kiss slow and tender, not wanting to overwhelm her. He brought his hand up to her face and caressed her cheek.
She pulled away slightly, reluctant to break off their kiss. ‘Oh Matt, make love to me, please’.
‘Are you sure?’ he asked.
Sam didn’t answer. Instead she guided his hands to the buttons on her top. Matt held her gaze, while he slowly undid each button. After the last button, he slid his hands up under her top and over her shoulders, causing her top to fall away behind her.
He then expertly reached behind her and unclipped her bra strap. He pulled her bra away and gazed for a minute at her full breasts. He felt himself harden. ‘They’re so damn beautiful’ he whispered half to himself, but knowing Sam would hear him too.
This time it was Sam who reached up to him and enclosed his lips with hers, but the gentleness of the first kiss was replaced with a more eager passion. They wrapped their arms around each other and fell back onto the bed. Matt broke off their kiss to emit a hungry groan before kissing a trail from her lips, down her throat and to encapture one of her hardened nipples in his mouth. She arched her back to meet his hungry response.
Whilst he transferred his attention to the other breast, he trailed his hand down her side to the elastic of her pyjama pants. He placed the palm of his hand flat to her skin and slipped beneath the fabric to feel for her sweet intimate place. Matt thought he felt her pull away slightly, so he took his hand back out to caress the small of her back. Before long, they were kissing ferociously again. This time Matt’s tongue had an urgency about it that he could barely contain. He went to tug on her pyjama pants and pull them down the length of her long slender thighs.
But suddenly Sam moved away from him. She pulled her pants back up and sat upright. She didn’t look at him. She just blurted out in an anguished voice ‘I’m sorry Matt. I thought I was ready, but I’m not’.
He was still panting from unspent passion, but he managed to reply ‘Forget it. I understand.’ He got up and walked towards the door.
‘Where are you going?’ Sam asked.
‘Just out to watch some TV.’ Matt replied without looking back. ‘Get some sleep.’ he said, and closed the door behind him.
Sam didn’t hear the TV come on. After putting her top back on, it took her a long time before she was able to close her eyes and fall asleep. She awoke some time later and realised that Matt still hadn’t come back to bed. She padded softly out to the lounge room and found him sound asleep on the lounge.
Sam thought about waking him and getting him to come back to bed, but she didn’t want to disturb him. So she went and got a light blanket from the linen cupboard and covered him up before returning to bed herself.
The next morning when the alarm went off at 7.00, Sam got up to go and wake up her husband. She planned to make his breakfast while he got ready for work. She knew it wouldn’t make up for what happened the night before, but it was better than nothing. She got out to the lounge room, but Matt wasn’t there. The blanket was folded up neatly on the back of the couch. On the kitchen bench was a short note saying ‘Busy day at work, thought I’d make an early start. Matt.’
Sam sat down at the dining room table and put her head in her hands. She couldn’t blame him. It must be hard for him to put up with her behaving this way. And he had been so patient with her. She didn’t know what she was going to do, but she knew something had to change. The last thing she wanted was to end up losing him…

Chapter 2

MANGROVE DREAMING
By Kerrie Bygrave

Chapter 2:

Sam sliced the knife through the sticky tape on the bottom of the packing box. She felt like she’d been living amongst boxes for months, even though it had only been a couple of weeks. Today she was determined to tackle the remaining boxes that hadn’t been opened. Most of them had been stacked up near the doors in each room that led out to the wrap around veranda, which surrounded the house. The house it self was in the old Pearling master style with French doors in almost every room.
Sam decided to start with the boxes in the lounge room. As she finished each box, she flattened it and took it out to the veranda. Later it would be easy for her husband Matt to walk around the veranda and collect them all. It seemed like an eternity since she had packed up their house in the inner suburbs of Melbourne. They had packed up almost a month before they left, and had stayed with Matt’s parents for the last few weeks. Then when they got to Broome, there hadn’t been any housing immediately available and Matt’s work had put them up at Ocean Lodge.
It had taken another five weeks for this house to become available, but the wait had been truly worth it. The location and proximity to China Town was ideal, and Matt was able to walk to work every day. Sam had also fallen in love with the house itself the first time the real estate agent had shown it to them. Apart from the wide enclosed wrap around veranda, and French doors, the house had an old world charm, with it’s wooden floorboard, and bright colours, it was if the person who had decorated it had intended for the colours of the Kimberley region to be recreated on the inside. It had just the right combination of the reddish colours of the deserts that characterised the interior of this part of the country, with the brilliant colours of the vegetation that was so common around Broome. The garden was also an absolute source of delight to Sam. There was a selection of Frangipanis, palm trees, and other tropical plants, and it was surrounded by a white waist high picket fence, which allowed Sam and Matt to sit outside on their veranda and watch the world go by.
Every now and again, Sam pulled one of her possessions out of a box that she seemed to temporarily forgotten about. Like the crystal glass vase that her friends from work had given her as a wedding present. She had it packed away in Melbourne, as their small unit had not had a lot of room to display trinkets and such. But here, in this large rambling home, all that would change. She looked forward to having the vase on display and picking some of the beautiful exotic flowers in her garden to decorate her new home with.
After a while, when she’d finished unpacking the boxes in the lounge room, kitchen and dining room, she walked into the spare bedroom, and sliced open the top of the first box, she lifted up the flaps of the box and peered inside. For a few seconds she couldn’t work out what was in the box, but then it dawned on her. Matt had packed these boxes, as she hadn’t been able to bring herself to do so. In fact at first she had told Matt that she was going to give the content of these boxes to charity, but Matt had insisted that down the track she would regret it. She closed the box back up again and walked outside. It was Matt who insisted on bringing these boxes, so he could deal with them.
The weather was hot and humid, which wasn’t helped by the heavy storm clouds that were hanging around. People she had met had warned her that this time of year could be quite uncomfortable. The house was fully air-conditioned, but most afternoons, a slight breeze would bring some relief, and Sam would open up the doors and put the fans on. There were also fans built into the veranda, making it quite pleasant to sit outside once the breeze came in.
Sam grabbed a glass of ice water and went and settled on the cane outdoor settee that she and Matt had bought for the veranda as a house warming present to themselves. She loved sitting on the veranda this time of day. The children would walk past on their way home from school. There were normally a few backpackers walking to town, speaking various languages and looking very relaxed in the infamous Broome Time fashion. Interestingly enough, every few days, she would see an older woman going past with an old backpack. She would have a greyish mud on her sandals. Sam always wondered where she had been to get that colour mud on her. The beaches in Broome were well known for their white pristine sands. Sam had seen the lady a few times in her own yard a couple of blocks further down the road. She always smiled at Sam if they walked past each other.
On this day, there were no backpackers about, and the children who normally meandered slowly home, rushed past quickly. It seems everyone was conscious of the looming clouds that held the promise of a good down pour for once. It wasn’t uncommon to see clouds nearby, but for there to be no rain forthcoming in town. It was more common for the rain to fall just out of Broome.
Just as the last of the children disappeared down the road, there was a large clap of thunder and the heavens opened up. No where had Sam ever experienced the cliché that ‘it never rains but it pours’. At that same moment, Sam saw the lady from down the road hurrying past. Sam ran to the gate and flung it open. ‘Quick come on in’ she yelled. ‘You’ll be saturated if you try to get home in this rain’. With a grateful look, the woman followed Sam up onto her veranda.
‘Thankyou very much dear.’ she said once she was out of the wet. ‘That’s very thoughtful of you.’
‘No worries.’ said Sam. ‘Please feel free to wait until the rain passes. Can I get you a cup of tea or coffee, or perhaps a glass of water?’
‘A cup of tea would be lovely, thankyou. But first, can I wash my feet? I don’t want to walk mud over your veranda.’ she said with a smile.
‘Oh, of course.’ said Sam. ‘There’s a tap and hose by the stairs’, and she went to get the hose. But the lady was closer and shooed her away.
‘I can do that.’ she said, ‘I’ll just rinse them off the side of the steps.’
‘Alright,’ Sam replied, ‘I’ll just pop the kettle on’. She walked inside but stuck her head back out. ‘By the way, my name is Samantha, but everyone calls me Sam’.
The lady smiled. ‘Nice to meet you Sam. I’m Tara.’
When Sam had boiled the kettle and poured a cup of tea for herself and Tara, she put the cups and saucers on a tray along with the sugar and milk pots and carried them back out on the veranda and put them on the cane coffee table that matched the settee. She set the tray down and passed one of the cups to Tara. Tara helped herself to the sugar and milk, stirred her tea and took a sip. ‘Ah, now that’s a nice cup of tea.’ she said. ‘I notice the packing boxes laying around the veranda. Have you just arrived in Broome, or did you move from another part of town?’
‘Yes to both in a way, I guess.’ replied Sam. ‘My husband and I just moved here about seven weeks ago. But we stayed at the Ocean Lodge for about five weeks before we moved in here.’
‘And what brings you to Broome?’ said Tara.
‘My husband Matt got a job with the Broome Council. He’s the new engineer there.’
‘So then, what do you think of Broome so far then?’ inquired Tara.
‘I absolutely love it.’ said Sam. ‘I’ve never lived in a small town before, but this town just feels so vibrant. Sometimes I miss being able to shop in a city, but the feeling quickly passes. We lived in an inner city suburb in Melbourne when we were there. And even at night there was the distant din of city traffic. I love how it is so peaceful here. And besides, there are still some great shops here. I found a couple of great things for the house in that home ware shop near the butcher in China Town.’
‘Oh you mean Monsoonal Blues’ laughed Tara. ‘Yes, that is a nice shop’.
‘The only thing is that every now and then, I like to buy some specialty foods to cook with, and the supermarkets here don’t carry them’ continued Tara ‘or when I’m looking for a certain knick knack for the kitchen, and I can’t find it, but that’s a small price to pay, considering I feel like I’ve moved to paradise.’
‘Yes, I agree’ said Tara, as she took another sip of her tea. ‘I’ve lived her for most of my life, and I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else. I’ll give you one tip though. If there’s ever anything you can’t find in the other shops, try the Yuen Wing Store on Carnarvon Street near the bakery. Most thing’s you want will be in that place.’
‘Oh, I know the one you’re talking about, I haven’t been in there, but I’ve seen it. It looks so small from the front though. Surely there’s not that much in there? It looks like they’ve just got some gimmicky tourist stuff’ said Sam.
‘You’d be surprised.’ said Tara. ‘Looks can be deceptive, have a look next time you go past.’
‘Mmm, I might just do that.’ commented Sam.
The two women fell into an easy silence as they both enjoyed the sound of the rain on the tin roof, while they sipped on their tea. Every now and again, lightening would light up the sky, which was growing slightly dim, with the passing of the late afternoon.
Tara glanced out at the sky. ‘It looks like the rain has nearly stopped. I better get going soon’ she said, before downing the last of her tea. ‘But thankyou so much for allowing me to take shelter in your veranda. It was lovely to meet you’.
‘It was nice to meet you too.’ smiled Sam. ‘Please feel free to come over for a cuppa any time’.
‘I’ll take you up on that offer.’ said Tara
Sam hesitated before she spoke again. ‘Do you mind me asking where it is you go with your backpack? I’ve noticed you come past a few times with it, and well… I guess it’s just got me curious. I hope you don’t think I’m being too nosey or anything.’
‘No, that’s alright.’ Tara chuckled. ‘I actually have a little fishing spot I like to go to. I only go every now and again, but it’s one of my favourite spots’.
‘There’s a fishing spot this close to town?’ marvelled Sam. ‘I thought you had to get out of town a bit to find any decent places to fish, not that I know anything about fishing.’
‘Not at all.’ said Tara. ‘Although not many people go to this spot, it is a bit of a hike, not distance wise, it just takes a bit to get there, and it is a bit of a muddy track, but I don’t mind. The exercise does me good. I like to think it keeps me young. I tell you what, would you like to come with me. I’m planning to go again in another few days.’
‘I’d love to. I mean, are you sure you wouldn’t mind. I don’t want to intrude, if you like to fish alone’.
‘I don’t mind at all.’ replied Tara. ‘I wouldn’t have asked you it I minded. If you don’t know much about fishing, it would be my pleasure to show you how to fish’.
‘Well, then I’ll come.’ said Tara. ‘What do I need to bring?’
‘I’ve got all the fishing gear you need, you can use my spare line, so just bring some sun block, mozzie repellent, a broad brim hat and a couple of litres of drinking water. Oh, and don’t forget to wear some comfortable walking shoes or sandals, but make sure they are old, they will get rather muddy. I’ll call in for you on my way past on Thursday, say around 11.00?’ With that, Tara stood up to leave
‘That would be great. I’m looking forward to it to.’ Sam said, and she also rose to see Tara to the gate.
When they got to the gate, Tara turned around. ‘Thankyou once again. I’ll see you on Thursday’. And with that, she went out the gate and walked down the road.
Sam returned to the veranda, collected the cups and sauces along with the sugar and tea pots and took them inside.
She put the dishes in the sink and the other things away. Then she wondered to herself what she would have for dinner. Matt had called her at lunchtime, and told her that he had a late meeting at work and that they would be eating dinner at the Mangrove Hotel, whilst the meeting was in progress. Matt had apologised that the dinner was ‘purely business’ so it would be too boring for her to join him, but he promised to take her out for dinner the following night.
Matt was working late quite a bit and Sam couldn’t help wondering whether he was that busy at work, or whether he was just avoiding spending time with her. Not that she blamed him. She still wasn’t over what had happened. She was fine when she was around other people. Her upbringing had taught her how to put on a social face that was appropriate for almost any given situation. But when they were alone, she could be pretty anti-social. She couldn’t help but withdraw into herself. Not that she blamed Matt in any way. And she did love him deeply. But the pain was still raw, and every time she looked at Matt, she was reminded of what had happened.
Dinner could wait a while she decided. She grabbed herself a glass of white wine from the fridge, and went back to the chair on the veranda, and stared at the sky. The clouds had cleared away and the remnants of the sunset left a beautiful orange haze across the horizon down the street.

Epilogue and Chapter 1

MANGROVE DREAMING
By Kerrie Bygrave


Epilogue:

She stared out across the creek as the water gently lapped at her feet. She’d already packed up to go, but she couldn’t bring herself to leave just yet. The soft wind played with the loose ringlets that framed her face. No matter how hard she tried to tame them into a ponytail or a bun, they always managed to work themselves free. Her hair used to be a natural vivid red, but now, there were some grey hairs sneaking in, that gave her a soft look. Not that she needed to soften her look. Anyone that knew her knew she was a woman of passion and compassion.

In the distance, there was a strong ripple across the water. She knew it meant that the fish would be biting, but it really was almost time to go. This place held so many memories for her. She let out a long, slow sigh. ‘People tell me I shouldn’t come down here, but I just can’t stay away from you’ she murmured.

Just then, a large loggerhead turtle floated past heading upstream with the incoming tide. Many years ago, they were very common in these parts. They were a much rarer sight now days. But even though she had been coming here for a long time, she still got a thrill to see the turtles when she did happen to spot one

Out in the distance past the entrance of the creek, were the stunning blue waters of Roebuck Bay. The colour of the water was so hard to describe to someone who’d never seen it. It wasn’t the normal dark blue hue of the rest of the Indian Ocean coastline. Instead it was a brilliant aqua blue, which gave the appearance that it was illuminated from underneath.

She glanced one more time around her. She could never grow tired of this scenery, no matter how many times she came here. It was so peaceful, and rarely was anyone else down here. Not that she minded if there was. She wouldn’t ever begrudge someone sharing these beautiful surrounds.

She picked up her backpack and turned to go. She knew she’d be back in a few days, but it was always hard to leave. Slowly but sure-footed, she headed back out through the pathway between the mangled mangrove trees.


Chapter 1:

January 11, 1992

Caitlyn pressed her forehead against the window of the plane and looked down at the scenery beneath her. She was fascinated by the colour of the earth. It was a vivid red colour, not at all like the subdued browns or the sandy yellows of the summer scenery she had seen as she left Perth. Someone had told her that it was the wet season up north, but it only rained in some areas, unless there was a cyclone brewing off the coast somewhere. And sure enough, whilst sometimes she could see large rivers coursing through the desert, other times she could make out dry river beds that branched off occasionally in odd directions. They looked like giant spindly veins exploring the desert landscape.
She was lost in her own thoughts and the wonder of the spectacular landscape below her when the voice of the captain announcing their decent into Broome brought her back to attention, so that she could put her seat back in the upright position. She was both nervous and excited. Broome was meant to be quite a tourist destination, but she was going up there to live. But Caitlyn also realised that living and working in a town would be quite different to taking a holiday there.
When Caitlyn stepped off the plane in the mid afternoon, she felt like she was walking into an oven. The heat hit her as soon as she left the cabin, before she even got to the base of the stairs onto the tarmac. It was definitely a shock to the system. She was used to Perth summers, which have their fair share of hot days sometimes as high as forty degrees, but in general are quite bearable. But this heat was totally different. There was a stifling quality to it. And the humidity was unbelievably high. It was almost as if you could drink the air, it felt that moist.
The principal of Broome Christian Primary School, where Caitlyn was about to start her teaching career, met her in the terminal. He was a piece of paper with name Caitlyn Jackson on it, so Caitlyn knew who he was straight away. Although it wouldn’t have been hard to guess that he was a school principal. He had that stereotypical look of a school principal about him. He looked to be about forty five years old. He had a large frame, and even though it was a Saturday, he wore grey slacks and a white button up shirt. He had large wet marks under his arms that were obviously perspiration. Normally that would have dismayed Caitlyn to see someone like this, but she quickly realised that in this heat it would be hard to avoid. Deodorant can only do so much.
‘Good afternoon Miss Jackson.’ He said with a gruff voice, when he realised who Caitlyn was, ‘I’m Mr Basil, the school principal at Broome Primary School’. He tended to use formalities amongst school staff, even when there were no students present. ‘How was your flight?’ he asked.
‘Long. Nice to meet you Mr Basil’ she replied keeping her response to a minimum. Caitlyn got the feeling that Mr Basil wasn’t the sort to make small talk. ‘Thank you for coming to the airport.’
‘That’s fine.’ He said somewhat abruptly. ‘I do this for all my new teachers. Come on, let’s get your bags.’ Caitlyn was soon to learn that her new boss was always gruff and abrupt. It was his way of keeping his ‘tough principal’ image in tact.

Mr Basil helped Caitlyn collect my bags and take them to his car. If Caitlyn thought the heat was bad outside, it was ten times worse in his troupe carrier. She went to sit in the passenger seat but quickly jumped out again. The vinyl seat was searingly hot through her thin cotton skirt.
‘Sorry,’ apologised Mr Basil. He reached over into the back and grabbed an old towel to put on the seat. He already had a towel spread over the driver’s seat. Arranging the towel he’d given her as best as she could, and sat down once more before doing my seat belt up. It was a relief for Caitlyn when the car engine finally started and the air conditioning blasted to life.
Before he took Caitlyn back to her allocated unit, Mr Basil took her for a quick drive around the town. She was surprised to see that there was nothing but scrub out Cable Beach way. Caitlyn instantly fell in love with the quaint little shop on the beach front that sold drinks and ice creams. Mr Basil pointed to the hotel complex across the road. “That’s Cable Beach Club. Every second Friday, we have drinks after work there for sundowners. The bar over looking the beach is called Sundowners, so it’s quite fitting really.” Caitlyn was amazed. Mr Basil had managed to crack a joke, but he still didn’t crack a smile.
The next place Mr Basil took Caitlyn was down to Town Beach. That was where the town’s only supermarket was at the Seaview Shopping Centre. Mr Basil warned that the price of food was quite expensive due to the slowly increasing tourism and the fact that they were the only supermarket in town.
Next stop was Town Beach itself, where the local kids frolicking in the edge of the water. There was also a small cemetery on the top of the nearby hill and from the car park, you could see the old headstones.
The final part of the ‘town tour’ was China Town, and the main sights included the Sun Pictures Outdoor Cinema, the town jetty, and the Roebuck Hotel. Mr Basil didn’t actually tell Caitlyn not to go to the Roebuck Hotel, but he let it be known in not so many words that it was frowned upon for teachers to be seen frequenting the premises too often. That didn’t bother Caitlyn though. She’d never been the type to ‘hang out’ at a pub.
After that, Mr Basil took Caitlyn back to the unit that she was going to be living in. As a single female, who didn’t have her own car yet, she’d been allocated a small two bedroom unit a couple of blocks from the school. Mr Basil handed her the front door key and she let them both in. The unit was made from a reddish brick. It had a patio out the back which overlooked the little court yard which happened to be over grown with weeds. There was some very basic furniture including a bed, a table and chairs, an old cane lounge, a fridge, a washing machine, and an outdoor table with two plastic chairs. All of these were rather aged, but Mr Basil assured Caitlyn that all the white goods were in working order.
The inside was painted a bland cream colour throughout, and there was old worn vinyl throughout for flooring. Caitlyn found it a bit depressing at first. But she knew that once her own furniture and personal effects were delivered, she would be able to brighten the place up. That wasn’t going to be for another three weeks though. The road south of Broome was still flooded from the last cyclone that had gone down the coast, and there was going to be a lengthy delay in getting furniture deliveries, especially at this time of year when there was an influx of teachers moving north to start in new jobs.
Mr Basil pointed out that his wife had stocked the fridge with some basic food to see Caitlyn through until tomorrow when she would be able to go shopping at Seaview. With that, he went to walk out the door. Before he left, he told her ‘Don’t worry about coming into school tomorrow. Just get yourself settled in, but I’ll see you at school on Tuesday. We have a staff meeting at eight o’clock.’ He had shut the front door and was gone before Caitlyn even had the chance to say goodbye.
The first thing Caitlyn did was reopen the front door, open the back door, and turn on the fan in the small lounge room. But it was still very stuffy, so she opened the windows as well. She saw the ducted air conditioning, but as the unit had been locked up for probably a few months, she wanted to air the unit out first.
She went and looked in the fridge. As Mr Basil had promised, there was some basic food in my fridge, including some milk bread, butter, ham slices and some fruit. Despite being in the fridge, the fruit looked somewhat questionable. There was also an old plastic jug filled with water. She was grateful for the thought, but normally preferred water at room temperature.
Resisting the temptation to stand in the doorway of the fridge, Caitlyn shut the fridge door, went and grabbed the book she’d been reading on the plane and wandered out to the back patio. She sat on one of the plastic chairs in the shade of the back veranda and tried to relax whilst reading her book, but the sweat continued to pour down her face.
After about twenty minutes, she had the thought that she could go and take a cold bath. Caitlyn put her book on the old plastic table, and wandered inside. It was only a small bathroom, and the shower was in the bath. She reached in, put the plug in the bath, and turned on the cold water. As the bath filled, she got undressed and looked forward to sitting in the cool, refreshing water. But Caitlyn was in for a huge shock, as she went to put my foot in the water, not only did she find that it wasn’t room temperature, but it was actually quite warm. She double checked the taps and found the hot tap water was hotter, but only slightly. It was then that it occurred to her why Mrs Basil had put drinking water in the fridge.
Caitlyn decided against the bath for obvious reasons, so she let the water out and got dressed again. By this stage, the sun was starting to get lower, so she contemplated going for a walk to look around her new neighbourhood. But the weather seemed to have sapped all her energy. On a brighter note, a late afternoon breeze had come in. It wasn’t strong, but it was enough to bring some relief, so she went back to reading her book on the back patio, taking a glass of water from the fridge outside as well. This time she was able to read for another forty minutes. But what drove her inside next wasn’t the heat, but instead, it was the mosquitoes which had come out as soon as dusk set in. Caitlyn hurriedly closed the book, grabbed her water glass, and went inside.
Now that the unit had been airing for a while, Caitlyn decided to shut the door and turn on the air conditioning. But when she flicked what she was sure was the air conditioning switch, she heard a large clunk, and then nothing. She tried again, but to know avail. Her first thought was to try and contact Mr Basil, but she realised she had no contact number, and even if she had, the home phone wasn’t connected yet. Caitlyn convinced herself that for one night she would be able to handle it. She would find a public phone and contact Mr Basil at the school in the morning and get it sorted then.
It was then that she had the thought that she would also try and ring her auntie who lived in Broome. Caitlyn had only met her once at a cousin’s wedding about five years ago, but she had instantly warmed to her auntie’s friendly personality and had felt a bond with her over the evening. They had stayed in touch with the occasional letter and Christmas cards. Her auntie didn’t even know she was in Broome now as she had only had two weeks notice that she had got the job, and Caitlyn had been so busy organising to move, that she hadn’t really had a chance to call her. Caitlyn was looking forward to surprising her.
So resigning herself to a ‘warm’ night, Caitlyn made herself a ham sandwich for dinner, and sat in the lounge room. There was no TV, so she couldn’t even watch that.
Caitlyn thought she’d try to get an early night. She left the doors and windows open and snipped the wire screen doors shut.
Even though it had cooled down slightly outside, inside that brick unit was still unbearably warm and muggy. Caitlyn lay on her bed all night tossing and turning. The ceiling fan was on as high as it would go, but apart from not cooling the air very much, it was also very noisy. Caitlyn finally managed to fall into a restless sleep about three o’clock in the morning, but the sun rose just before six, and the unit started to heat up again incredibly quickly. Mrs Basil had left some breakfast cereal on the kitchen bench along with some tea and coffee, so Caitlyn made herself a bowl of cereal, a cup of coffee and went and sat on the back veranda again.
After breakfast, she had a ‘warm’ shower, since it wasn’t possible to have a cold one, then headed out for a walk. Caitlyn walked up to town beach, with the intention of doing some shopping on the way home.
She walked at a leisurely pace, not wanting to exert herself too much. Even though it was only just after eight in the morning, there was already a strong bite in the sun. Walking back towards Hamersley Street, then down onto the sand, she followed the shore line along. Suddenly, Caitlyn noticed all the trees growing on the waters edge, which surprised her. She had no idea that any vegetation could grow in salt water. She followed these strange water side trees along to Town Beach. But when the mangroves cleared away, and Caitlyn was able to see the bay, but could barely see any water. The water line was over one kilometre further out than it had been yesterday when she’d seen it. Caitlyn came across an aboriginal family sitting under a tree up on the grassy banks of Town Beach.
They were seated in a semi circle facing the bay, and looked very relaxed and they were talking animatedly amongst themselves. There were a couple of young children, a boy and a girl. The young slender girl had a long cotton dress on that looked about two sizes too big on her. But despite this, she was a very pretty girl, and when she laughed, her white teeth contrasted with her dark skin. Her hair, like her mother’s, (Caitlyn assumed that the women nursing the sleeping infant was her mother) was long and jet black with a slight wave in it. This was in sharp contrast to the few indigenous people Caitlyn had seen down in Perth who had the more wiry, tight, afro style hair. She came to learn later that this was due to a lot of indigenous people in the Broome area having Japanese heritage in their blood as well, a left over culture from Broome's pearling days.
The young boy had obviously been playing in the sandy mud where the water had disappeared.
Caitlyn went over to them and excused herself.
‘Pardon me’, she started. ‘But can you tell me what happened to the water.’
They laughed in a good natured manner at Caitlyn’s naïveté. ‘That there is the king tide, Misses’, said the mother in the group. ‘The water will come back in about five hours, then it will be way up high on the beach, and almost to the grass here’. She smiled. ‘You new in town, aah, Misses?’ she asked.
‘Yes I am’, Caitlyn replied with a laugh of her own. ‘Is it that obvious?’
‘Sure is, misses. Everyone in Broome knows about the king tides. What you doin’ in Broome then, hey?’
Caitlyn told her how she was going to be teaching year seven at Broome Christian Primary School.
‘This here is Sissy.’ she indicated to the young girl. ‘She’ll be in year seven this year. You be having her in your class probably, misses’.
‘I dare say I will.’ Caitlyn turned to Sissy ‘Hello, Sissy. Nice to meet you. I’m Miss Johnson.’
‘Hello Misses’ Sissy said in a barely audible tone, then she giggled to her younger brother standing next to her and they both ran down to the sandy flats that were now void of water.’
Caitlyn said goodbye to the family and wandered a bit further up the beach before deciding to walk out towards the water. As she walked along, she became fascinated by the myriad of things to be found upon the sandy flats. Not only was there an assortment of shells, and small crabs scuttling along, there were also pools of water left behind by the receding water. In these pools, were tiny fish swimming around. Caitlyn reached into one of the pools and watched the fish dart towards her fingers then out again. She wandered a bit further and found another pool of water. This time there was a small octopus in it with a beautiful bluey purple colouring on it. Once again she went to reach into the water, but unbeknownst to her, Sissy had come up beside me with her brother, and she quickly said in a quite voice ‘I wouldn’t do that Misses. That there’s a blue ring octopus. You get true sick if he stings ya.’ Caitlyn quickly withdrew her hand again.
‘Thankyou Sissy’ she replied and Sissy smiled again shyly.
‘We’ll show you something Misses’ and they ran off out towards the shore line. Caitlyn proceeded to follow them. They stopped about forty metres away over what appeared to be another pool of water. As she started to get closer to where they were, Caitlyn noticed that she was no longer walking on just sand, but rather a more muddy type of consistency, and the sandy yellow had become a greyer looking colour.
When Caitlyn caught up with the children, Sissy’s brother had a small rock, and was banging it against the rocks in another rock pool. Before she could see what he was doing properly, he stopped banging and lifted up a large black shell towards her face. In the shell was a greyish meat.
‘Oyster, Misses. It’s yum. Want it?’ he said, grinning sheepishly. As Caitlyn tried to decide whether she would be brave enough to taste his offering, he dug the meat out of the shell and popped it into his mouth. ‘Too late Misses” he laughed, “but I’ll get ya another one.’ And with that, he picked up another rock and started banging again.
This time, when he held up another shell, she decided to be brave and dug the meat out with my fingers like she had seen Sissy’s brother do. She placed the meat in her mouth and had to steel herself to prevent spitting it straight out again. Caitlyn had never tried oysters before, and the slimy consistency was not one she was accustomed too. Despite not spitting it out, she pulled a face that showed her surprise, because both children burst out into hysterical laughing fits watching Caitlyn swallow the salty morsel.
When Caitlyn finished swallowing, she thanked Sissy’s brother for his ‘gift’, and told the children that she would be going now, as the sun was getting a bit hot for her. After telling them goodbye, she headed back the way she had come. She could still hear their laughter half way back, but she knew that they were good kids, so she didn’t take offence.
The sun was now high in the sky, and Caitlyn could feel the beads of sweat running down her face. She decided to head for the supermarket at Seaview shopping centre, and do some shopping.
When she got back to the grassed area at Town Beach, my feet and sandals were covered in a layer of grey mud. She found a tap and proceeded to rinse my feet. It took quite a bit of water, and rubbing to get her feet and sandals clean.
The shopping centre itself was large stone building, which provided some insulation from the heat. Caitlyn headed towards the supermarket with a mental list of the items she wanted to buy. She realised that she needed a fair bit of shopping and that she wouldn’t be able to carry it all home with her while she was walking. As she entered the supermarket, Caitlyn spotted a young woman about her own age standing at a checkout with no customers, looking bored and filing her nails. She went up to her and waited a few seconds for the checkout operator, whose name badge said Jolene to realise she was standing there. ‘Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t see you there. Can I help you?’
‘Ah yes’ Caitlyn said. ‘My name’s Caitlyn. I’m new in town, and I have a lot of shopping to do. The problem is I don’t have a car…’
Caitlyn was about to ask if they did home deliveries, but Jolene pre-empted her ‘Yeah, no worries’ she said. ‘We have lots of people round these parts that need home deliveries. Just do your shopping and I’ll ring it through for you, then I’ll organise someone to deliver it for you.’
‘Thanks, Jolene’ Caitlyn replied pointing towards her name tag and before heading towards the supermarket entrance, where she grabbed a rickety old trolley and started shopping.
Caitlyn didn’t actually have a shopping list, not even in her head, so she just started at one end and went up and down the aisles grabbing what she thought she would need. Before she knew it, she had come to the end of the last aisle and the shopping trolley was very full. There was everything from food to bed sheets and a plastic bin for the kitchen.
Caitlyn made her way over to Jolene’s checkout and waited behind the person she was now serving.
When Jolene started ringing through Caitlyn’s shopping, they got talking. Jolene was a happy-go-lucky sort of character, who loved to chat. Because she was aware that Caitlyn was new in town, she decided that Caitlyn needed to know what there was for young people their age to do and commenced talking about how she personally liked to go to Cable Beach on her days off, catch a movie at the Outdoor picture theatre, and how best of all she liked to go to Pearlers Bar at the Roebuck Hotel on a Friday night.
When Caitlyn told her that she wasn’t really the type to go out that much, and she wasn’t particularly into hanging out at pubs, Jolene gave what seemed like a horrified look. ‘Oh, Caitlyn, honey.’ she exclaimed. ‘You’re going to get bored mighty quick in this town if you lock yourself away and never having any fun.’
‘It’s not that I don’t like to have fun. It’s just that as a teacher, I’ll probably be flat out with my school work. Besides that, I’ve already met my new principal, and in not so many words, he told me that it’s frowned upon for teachers to be seen frequenting the wrong sorts of establishments, if you get my drift. I think he sees it as falling into a christian ethos issue. And I’ve also got an aunt in town, so I’m sure I won’t get too lonely.’
‘If you say so’ said Jolene, then added in a conspiratorial tone, ‘But, Pearlers on a Friday night, really is the best place to meet the cute boys.’
Caitlyn just laughed and let Jolene talk a bit longer while she finished ringing up her order. Then without really meaning too, Caitlyn yawned at her. She was instantly mortified to think Jolene may think she was rude yawning while she was talking, so she quickly said ‘I’m so sorry. I wasn’t yawning at your conversation. It’s just that I was barely able to sleep last night. I just moved into my unit that the school gave me to live in, and I discovered late in the day that my air conditioner wasn’t working, and the fan in my bedroom didn’t make much difference. I couldn’t even take a cold bath to cool down as the water in the taps seem to be warm all the time.’
Jolene gave an understanding smile and went on to give Caitlyn some useful advice. She explained that if you ran a bath and let it sit for a few hours, it would cool down sufficiently to provide a relaxing cold bath. The other tip she gave was that by buying a sarong which they sold for tourist in the supermarket, wetting it at night, and wringing it out and using it as a sheet, that together with the fan that would make it easier to sleep. Jolene explained that she lived in a housing commission unit, where there was no air conditioning provided, and that was what she did. Caitlyn was a bit doubtful about the sarong idea, but never the less, added one to her shopping.
On the way home, Caitlyn spotted a public phone and called the school. The school secretary that took the call promised to contact an electrician as soon as possible. But she warned Caitlyn that there was no guarantee that a tradesman could go around that day to fix it, but she would try. She also offered to organise for Caitlyn to stay in a hotel for a night or two. But Caitlyn felt that if it was only going to be a day or two, she would tough it out. She wasn’t much in the mood for packing up for the sake of a night or two. And besides, she’d already done all that shopping.
Next Caitlyn rang her auntie. There was no answer, so Caitlyn left a brief message on the answering machine. She informed her auntie that she had moved to Broome at short notice, left her address and said that she looked forward to catching up.
When Caitlyn got home, she immediately ran a bath and left it as Jolene had suggested, then waited for her shopping to arrive.
That night, before bed, she went back into the bathroom, and discover a refreshingly cool bath waiting. Afterwards she went to bed with just the wet sarong as a sheet. It felt strange at first, and she doubted whether she would be able to sleep with the sensation of feeling ‘wet’, but sure enough, within twenty minutes, she was fast asleep.