The Birthmark by Beth Montgomery Page A

most of it.
    â€˜Where did you see it?’ Riki’s voice was a whisper.
    Lily shifted in her seat but she didn’t take her eyes off Hector. ‘Near my house, just down there,’ she waved.
    â€˜There is a pillbox nearby, yes?’
    â€˜Yeah, it’s just down the beach from our house.’
    â€˜Then that must be the home of your ghost, he probably died in a bombing raid. Have you been there to feel the air?’
    â€˜What do you mean, “feel the air”?’ Hector asked.
    â€˜She will know when she tries it. A cool breeze cuts your heart. You will feel its pain.’ He smiled at her and patted his belly.
    Hector was relieved: Lily seemed more relaxed now, engaged by Riki.
    â€˜He seems dangerous…angry or something,’ Lily said. ‘If he was a Jap he was cruel when he was alive.’ The old man paused and thought for a moment. ‘When you see him, what does he do?’
    â€˜He shouts at me, but I can’t hear him.’
    Riki smiled and nodded, ‘He is silent. It is good.’ Then he stopped and waved a finger at Lily’s face. ‘Don’t tell anyone else about this ghost, my girl. They might think you are crazy, like me.’ He turned and winked at Christina. ‘This one, she thinks we’re crazy.’
    Christina shrugged and avoided Riki’s eyes.
    Lily and Decima laughed. The girls weren’t so frightened of him now. Hector smiled too.
    â€˜I have one more question,’ Lily said. ‘Do you know anything about the lepers that were on the island?’
    Riki’s face twitched and he straightened himself slowly. ‘They died,’ he muttered and their conversation was cut short by the slow put-put of a motor scooter winding up the narrow track.
    They all turned and looked down the path to see Lorelei, her fat frame bouncing on the small vehicle as it manoeuvred over the bumps.
    â€˜You come home, girl!’ she shouted over the noise of the motor. ‘You come home right now.’
    Lily pushed away from the table. ‘I’ve got to go, sorry.’
    â€˜Maybe tomorrow I’ll come around,’ Decima whispered to Lily as she left.
    Hector watched Lily walk down the steps and get on the back of the scooter. Although it was difficult with Lorelei’s bulk, she avoided touching her mother. Instead she kept her balance by holding on to the back of the seat. She looked like a dog when you shout at it: sullen and defeated. It wasn’t the same Lily Hector knew at school, the fearless Lily. But Hector knew better than most people that sullen dogs bite.

eight

    Baringa Bay
30 December 1942
    The marines came closer. Tepu held his breath. His pulse thundered through his body, urging him to run, but he dared not. They were only a few steps from where he hid. The slightest movement would mean capture or death.
    Suddenly a flurry of wings swooped upon the sentries. A dozen black noddies whistled, dived and darted around the clearing as if disoriented.
    The marines shouted, swinging their guns in the air. Shots rang out. In the confusion Tepu sprinted from his cover across the clearing and vanished into the night. He ran on as soundlessly as he could, terrified his breathing and the rhythm of his gait would attract attention. He only slowed down when he reached the hills at Anbwido. It was a few minutes from there to the leper camp. He knew he should stop to give thanks to the great ancestor bird but he feared the witch ghost that roamed the hills and devoured children. He was no longer a child though; surely she wouldn’t harm him. He knelt under a huge tomano tree. Its night-time flowers filled his lungs with their sweet heavy scent. He closed his eyes, raised his hands and began the soft chant he had now perfected, ‘Ancestor bird, I call you. Ancestor bird, I follow you.’
    Within minutes the floating sensation entered his body. He opened his eyes and saw the phantom bird sitting on a