A New Dawn
Chapter 18
They had been in Singapore for about 10 days now and were due to fly out that day to Melbourne. Molly was so excited to see Katie and Alex again, who had flown out two days previously to prepare for their arrival to their home.
They all went through the arrivals gate to see Alex waiting for them and he waved at them enthusiastically.
"I've hired a plane to take us all back to the station" he grinned at them and they followed him to a small single engine plane.
Molly gripped Charles hand, this was quite different from the big planes they had come across in and it was buffeted about in the winds.
"You reckon you want to learn to fly" Charles grinned down at her his fingers going a bit numb at her tight grip. She released her hold a bit as she noticed they looked a little purple
"I ain't scared, just excited" she laughed back at him and he nodded at her with a smirk on his face.
They had a lovely home, all set on one level with a veranda that went round most of the house, they had plenty of bedrooms in the house. How they had planned windows and doors it sent a draft through the house making it feel cool inside.
Katie came out to greet them all carrying Elizabeth who at a year old was crawling but not walking although she was trying to stand according to Katie. She had her mother's black hair but her father's brown eyes and looked at them with a shy smile.
Charles wrapped his arm across the front of Molly's shoulder pulling her back into his chest knowing that after two weeks Molly was missing John and wondering how he was getting on with her parents. He gave her a brief kiss on the top of her head and rested his chin on her head as she realised what he was doing and getting comfort from his hold.
Alex asked the men if they could ride and both Roger and Charles could, Brian saying he'd never even sat on one.
"Are we going to ride across to see this piece of land tomorrow then?" asked Charles.
Alex laughed "No tomorrow I show you some of the land and the sheep here but the next day I'll get the truck and drive us across" he sniggered "We may be neighbours if you come over Charlie but you will still be an hour's drive away"
It brought it home to Molly and Charles just how big this country was.
-OG-
Brian decided that he wouldn't go with Alex, Charles and Roger round the station as he didn't particularly want to sit on a horse so would stay round the house with the girls.
Charles didn't know what he was expecting but it was greener than he thought it would be and when he saw the flock of sheep he hadn't realised just how many thousands there were scattered as far as the eye could see.
The sheep dogs working them together to bring some closer to them. Alex explained all about Merino wool, the grading's, just how big an export it was and supplied much of the world with high quality wool.
Roger had asked a lot of questions on their excursion, how often are they shorn, how much wool do they produce, when are they shorn.
"Do you come from a farming background" Alex asked "You seem to know quite a bit about sheep"
"Not these sheep but the family have a farm in Worcester that farm sheep but that is for lamb rather than wool, these are much bigger"
"I want this to be the best station in the area, I want the best shearers to want to come here both because we provide the best facilities for them and pay well" he gushed and led them to the sheering sheds.
"They need modernising and improving so that the sheep are in an out as quickly as possible with the least risk to injury"
"I want the shearers to have good quality lodgings maybe with a mess area" reverting to his army jargon "somewhere to eat together, have a drink, play pool or even watch a film while they relax at the end of a hard day"
"If we provide all that then we might get the best crews with the best reputations and not have to wait to late into the season before we get them shorn or have the wool ruined by bad shearers"
"You've really thought this through haven't you Alex?" said Charles impressed with what he was seeing and swept along with his enthusiasm.
"Yeah! I have" he replied "The army taught me how to look after the men in my command, so I'm applying it to a different situation and making sure the animals are cared for too" he snorted a laugh "Never would have got Katie to agree to this if we didn't make sure the sheep were looked after, she wants us to have a permanent vet here too"
"I have to say it's very commendable" said Roger "Looks like you have a good set up here if you are looking at the welfare of the animals as well as the men that work here"
"There aren't that many permanent jobs here, we have a few roustabouts to help with mustering the sheep to move them to a new pasture or holding pens but that's about it. The rest only come in for the shearing in spring"
"We would be doing the rounding up as well along with the roustabouts and the dogs Charlie, organise the shearers, ship the wool, secure buyers and get a good price"
"With your background Charlie and your accent you should be able to get the Brits to buy from us"
The more that Charles was being told, the immediate view from the ride across the land, the freedom and space out here, the more he liked the idea but he would need to sit down with Molly and discuss it thoroughly. Would she like it out here?, it was a long way to get home to England to see family and she had always been close to them, although they were slowly moving out of London and scattering to the four winds.
Roger could almost see the cogs turning in Charles brain, he could see that he liked it and he could see that he got on well with Alex. They had been friends before the fall, but in the camp they had got close. They would make a good team with their army experience for organisation. The farming side, Roger was under no illusion that a person like Charles would pick it up and enjoy it.
-OG-
The following day they all got into a couple of old Bedford trucks for Katie and Alex to drive the group to the neighbouring land that was up for sale.
The house was a wreck and both Molly and Charles hated it, it was corrugated iron and what looked like an outside toilet.
"Charlie we would have to build a new house, we couldn't live here with John" and Charles nodded his head in agreement
"But I could draw up plans for you Moll" said Brian "After all I am a draftsman, you'd have to get builders in but I can give you the plans to work to"
"I want one like Katie and Alex she beamed "I want a veranda around the entire house so we can sit in the shade if it's too hot…. I want a big kitchen and dining room …. A living room where we could listen to the radio or watch TV" she was getting more animated with every thought "lots of bedrooms ….. and I'd like a bathroom in a couple of them as well as a main bathroom" she held onto Charles arm and looked up at him beaming while he smiled back
"I could have a study" and she jabbed him in the ribs
"You could even have a pool out here" laughed Katie "Like the one we're just finishing off"
"Now that is a good idea" grinned Charles and kissed Molly's hand "You can learn to swim then"
"Well only a small one and not very deep" she said while Charles howled with laughter at her and shook his head.
-OG-
They went back to Katie's and Alex's home, Charles asking why the land was being sold, who by and how much. What with having to build a house as well he wasn't sure if he could raise that sort of money. Then there was the joint venture of doing up the housing and facilities for the shearers. If he was going into partnership with Alex he would have to know costs and then speak with his parents about the inheritance his grandfather left him, he hadn't touched any of it what with the war and he and Molly were living in army housing.
He and Alex shut themselves away in his study talking late into the night about all the finer details and costs. Alex had really thought this through, he was very taken with the idea and he thought Molly was too but they would need to talk about it properly.
It was the early hours before they stopped talking and he made his way to his and Molly's room. Molly already in a deep sleep her hair splayed out across the pillow. He removed his clothes, slipped in beside her and leaning on his elbow brushed his hand across her face to remove the wisps of hair that had fallen across it. She stretched and stirred rolling onto her back to look up at him.
"You like it out here don't you Charlie" and he nodded grinning down at her his hand still smoothing her hair away from her face.
"Could we afford it?"
He shrugged, "It might be tight for a while, but yes I think we can, we could use the assisted passage option and we don't have much to move out here only us and John. All the rest belongs to the army." "What about you Molly do you want to move out here?" Charles asked kissing her on the nose. She ran her hand up his arm and across his shoulder to his neck twisting her fingers into his short hair at the back of his head, a sensation that always gave him goose bumps and made his heart race.
"Well I would miss me mum, dad and nan of course" she said "but me brothers and sisters are all moving away, got their own lives now and we don't see them so often like we used to" she hesitated "But we've got to do what's right for us and our family Charlie"
"So, what do you think?"
"I think we should Charlie, I think it's a great opportunity for us and for you" she kissed his cheek "You can leave the army, I know you don't like it and I don't like it either you might have to be sent off to another war or something and gone for years" her eyes filling with tears at the thought "I think this could be an opportunity for our kids to have something better than what I had growing up, they can run free here and be whatever they want"
He lowered his head to kiss her, a long and lingering kiss.
"But what about you Molly, what do you want?. I've only ever wanted to make you happy"
She smiled one of her wide cheeky smiles that always made him melt. "I like Katie and I think we could set up this clinic idea, we worked well together at the Alexandra and in the camp. I think it would be a nursing opportunity that I would never get at home even with the National Health" she gave him a quick peck on the lips "I think we should do it"
He was grinning at her with equal happiness their eyes never leaving each other and his hand started making its way down her body
"One other minor little thing Mrs James" he giggled "You said kids, does that mean we are going to be making more"
"You didn't think John would be an only child did you?" she laughed before pulling his head towards her.
-OG-
The men went off in Alex jeep. Charles liked the American vehicle and thought it was perfect for this type of off road driving. Maybe he might look into that when they got out here, he certainly couldn't have another Lagonda out here.
Brian was in his element at the thought of being given an opportunity to design his friends' house and draw up the plans. He took into account where the sun was in the sky to plan out where the bedrooms should be and the kitchen, he knew that Molly would want it to be light and bright.
"Are you going to have a pool then?" he asked Charles
"Why not if Molly thinks she is brave enough to learn to fly she can learn to swim too" he laughed
"Good luck with that mate" Brian sniggered "Jacs certainly ain't interested after that night in the sea"
"What!" Charles was incredulous "She still can't swim either?"
"Nope" he grinned "me neither"
"Bloody hell" said Alex shocked
"Well it's alright for you lot, you should see what we would have had to swim in if we learnt, the Thames is bloody filthy"
"Can't ride, can't swim…you are definitely going to have to come here more often and bloody learn" laughed Alex.
"Will you go back to England once the memorial is finished?" asked Roger
"Well Jacs and I have been talking about that funnily enough" he sighed "No we don't think we will…we like it out there in Singapore and even when it gets independence we won't have to leave"
"How come?" asked Beck
"I've been offered a permanent posting with the War Graves Commission out here. Once it's been opened there will be people coming, trying to find their relatives and they will need someone to show 'em. On top of that there is all the maintenance and upkeep to organise so we think we will stay out here" he smiled at the other men "We like it out here, we don't get treated as toffs and they don't look at us as if we are spivs either"
"You don't miss London then?" asked Charles keen to get a perspective from him as they had made the move a few years ago now
"Sometimes" he answered "But it's not what it was, all our families are moving out, they can't find anywhere to live….What we knew when we came back at the end of '45 is vanishing….the community all clubbing together to buy a pig, raise a few chickens…..we don't wanna live somewhere where you don't know who your next door neighbour is"
"Do you think that is happening then" persisted Charles and Brian nodded
"The container ships are getting bigger and can't get up the Thames so it's only a matter of time and there will be no work there, all the docks going to Tilbury or Felixstowe, so the family will have to move out."
"So, no regrets then about moving out here?"
Brian smiled, "None whatsoever mate, better than what we would have had if we had stayed in East London" and slapped Charles on the back
Roger looked closely at Charles through the conversation watching his changing expressions, he knew that he had never been truly happy in the army but pushed into it by his father because that is what the eldest son always did. His meeting Molly and three and a half years as a POW had changed him enough to go against family tradition and want a different life for himself and his children. Charles was for the first time animated at the prospects of this new adventure and his heart broke a little for Edna who would miss them both sorely.
-OG-
Edna was playing with little Elizabeth, she was such a pretty little thing. Well, all her girls' children were, as mothers they seemed so natural, relaxed and at ease.
Molly came and sat down next to her, knowing that she was feeling rather sad at the prospect of her and Charles moving here.
"Edna, nothing is set in stone yet" she said holding her hand "We might not be able to get the money" she snorted a laugh "Or the Australians might not want us to come live here"
"I'm sure they will, young couple like you"
"Not so young now Edna, I'm 30 and Charlie is 32. But we would like to try" her eyes filled with unshed tears for her friend. She knew that Edna was very attached to her and thought of her like the daughter she had lost, she adored John and was used to seeing him every day.
Molly put her arms around the older woman's neck "You will always be a part of my life Edna, no matter what happens and where we are."
"Is it too early for a G&T" shouted Katie watching Molly trying to console Edna. While her and Jacqui saw each other now and again because they were only about seven maybe eight hours flying time, it was 22 hours to get to England so this was the first time she had seen Molly and Charles since they got the ship back to Australia in 1945. She had missed her but this trip had reminded her of those days in the hospital and as neighbours, not to forget those bloody camps. It was if the intervening five years hadn't passed they were still as close as they had been. She hoped that her and Charles did come out here and that Molly didn't sacrifice her opportunities to stay with Edna. The lightbulb came back on and she remembered that conversation in Raffles, why don't they try and convince Edna to come out here too. With a glint in her eye she went off to get the Gin, a jug of tonic and ice.
-OG-
The men arrived back late in the afternoon, the sun just starting to dip, from looking at the land. Brian agreed he would try and work out plans for the shearing sheds and mess areas that Alex had in mind.
They found the women giggling on the veranda with a half empty bottle of gin on the table testament to how much they had already had. Elizabeth had been playing with her toys in the middle of them, spotting her father grinned broadly and crawled to him hauling herself up his leg. Alex bent to pick her up laughing
"Looks like no tea for you tonight sweetheart" he laughed kissing his daughter and shaking his head in the direction of the girls giggling over some story they were telling.
Molly was crying with laughter "It's better than that shitty hooch that Blanche kept bringing into camp ain't it?"
"I think it grew on me" replied Edna laughing
"The things she told us" giggled Jacqui
"Stop, stop…..I'm going to wet myself" laughed Katie crying with laughter and holding her sides.
"Aaaah! The Blanche effect" laughed Alex "Think we better see if they have organised anything for tea before they got in this state" and starting to walk to the kitchen.
"I would suggest we have a barbeque" he said "Steak do everyone" They looked around the kitchen and into the fridge and found salads and potatoes already peeled and waiting to be put on the stove.
"Remember that dinner we tried to do in Singapore Charlie" laughed Brian "Good job your Katie turned up before it was all ruined"
"When was this" asked Alex getting them all a beer from the fridge.
Charles looked down at his feet "just before the fall, when we were trying to convince them to leave"
Alex put his daughter into her cot and came back to his beer, them all clinking bottles and listening to the women giggling on the veranda
"What did you mean the Blanche effect" asked Brian in all seriousness
"Has Jacqui never mentioned her" sniggered Alex
"Of course she has" he coloured slightly remembering some of their conversations "She got a bucket of hooch on their birthdays if she could and VE day of course" he grinned
Roger was reading the label on his bottle "A lady in the drawing room and a whore in the bedroom" and three pairs of eyes turned to him, he looked up to see them all staring at him stunned into silence
"What" he grinned "Do you think because Edna and I are old fossils we don't talk" and all four men burst into the same hysterical laughter as the women on the veranda.
"I have to say when we had Sophie I was a little worried that Jacs wanted to call her Blanche"
"You and me both" laughed Alex "You were so lucky having a boy Charlie"
"Oh I know, she was pretty adamant at the time he was to be Blanche if a girl"
"That thing though" sighed Brian and all eyes turned to him but he was looking at his bottle the label becoming very interesting as he reddened up a little "that can drive a man….." as he petered off he looked up
"What?" he grinned and the rest of the group burst into laughter nodding
"She saved my Molly" Charles sighed "Would have liked to have met her, shaken her hand"
"With a face like yours she might have wanted to shake something else" grinned Brian and Alex slapped Charles on the back laughing hysterically at his expression.
-OG-
They had their barbeque courtesy of Alex with Brian, Roger and Charles finishing off the chopping of salads and boiling the spuds.
"Come on Edna old girl" smiled Roger "Time you were off" and she grinned up at him very sleepy in the chair
The girls had had a quite a head start on the men with their Gin and were decidedly mellow.
"Why don't you ask Edna and Roger if they want to follow you out here" asked Katie "She's going to miss you if you leave"
"We could ask her if she would look after the kids while we are all out working" added Molly "Wasn't her dad a teacher or something"
"He was a headmaster" replied Charles "Which is a thought, what is the schooling like out here"
"If they live near enough they go to the schoolhouse if not classes are done on the wireless" stated Alex "We are quite a long way out so it would be remote schooling here"
"But we could build a small classroom for the kids with the radio and bring in some of the others that are closer to us" enthused Katie "Edna could supervise them if she wanted"
Molly was looking at him with pensive eyes, he knew that it would be Edna that would be the stumbling block for Molly, even after coming home they had remained close. That first Christmas she wanted to involve her and nothing had changed over the years.
Charles nodded staring into her eyes "We can ask them, they might not want to" and he watched as Molly's face lit up, which had always made his heart flip, he had only ever wanted her to be happy.
"She will, I know she will" he held her hand "But Roger might not want to" as he brought her hand to his lips
"We'll work on them then" said Jacqui who would never forget how kind Edna had been when she lost Violet "We would at least all be closer together to see each other and spend Christmas together"
"Edna has always wanted a family" whispered Molly to Charles his eyes going a soft caramel colour as he looked at her, she always wanted everyone to be as happy as her.
"Come on Mrs James" he said kissing her on the forehead and laughing "Let's get you to bed" she staggered as she stood up and he lifted her into his arms "I think my wife might be a little worse for wear"
Alex laughed, "well I don't think the others are any better" as he looked at the unfocused eyes of his wife as he helped her up off the chair
-OG-
By the time they got back to the UK it was the beginning of September and Alex had been in touch with the seller of the land to put it on hold while Charles and Molly sorted things their end.
They needed to see his parents and look at the finances along with going to Australia House in London to see what the chances were that they could get assisted passage to migrate there. They started the interview process with Australia House first and took John with them, filled in all their forms. There was no point if they couldn't get visas to emigrate.
They had told Alex and Katie that if they could organise everything then they would look at February as the time to come across. If they got confirmation earlier then perhaps the build could start on their new home.
Charles resigned his commission with the army and although Molly didn't say anything she was so pleased he had, she didn't want him leaving her again. The Korean war already underway and had been since June now 90,000 troops were being sent to support the US. Alex and Charles had kept in touch by phone and it seemed a similar amount had been sent by the Australians
"So glad I got out" he said "Remembering some of those guards when we were in camp, this won't be like anything they have ever seen before"
"I think I agree Alex" Charles nodded "I think it unlikely they are going to follow the Geneva Convention any more than the Japanese did and our troops will probably be another forgotten army and no one will remember they were there"
"Anyway, how are the interviews going are you coming out here"
"Looks like it Alex, we've been accepted" he grinned "We just need to tell everyone we are coming now and get the finances together and transferred across"
"Still on track for February then"
"Yep, but we have a bit of news on that score" and he wished that Alex could see the smile on his face "Molly's pregnant so we have to be there by February its due in May"
"Crickey mate" laughed Alex "you didn't waste any time, so is it an Aus baby"
"Could well be Alex" laughed Charles
"Must be that Blanche effect again then mate" chortled Alex "Katie is pregnant as well and looks like we will be dads again at the same time"