I climbed out of bed and went into the kitchen to relight the stove like I’d been told to do the night before. Both Dad and Little Eric were due to head off on the ferry this morning—Dad to go to Crawley Bay and work for the Americans, and Little Eric to go to Perth to see about joining the navy. With his experience on the ferry he hoped he might get into officer school. Commander Grant had said he’d put in a good word for him with the Australian naval authorities. Colonel Hurley had also given him a good reference. I would’ve too, if they’d asked me. It would be the best reference ever written in the history of references. It’s not every day someone jumps into a wild sea full of sharks to rescue you.
‘Is that you, Jack?’ called Mum from the bedroom. ‘Get the kettle on, will you. We won’t be a moment.’
Dad appeared first, wearing the only suit he owned—his wedding suit—and carrying an old suitcase. ‘Looks like it falls to you now, young man. No more skylarking, you hear,’ he said. ‘I’ll be back as soon as I can. I might be able to get away on some weekends, so I’ll hear everything there is to hear about you. And Banjo.’ He narrowed his eyes in a frown.
I nodded. This was serious talk, but what could I say? We didn’t mean to get into trouble all the time. It just happened.
But then Dad couldn’t help himself and he grinned widely and messed up my hair. I opened the front door and carried his suitcase out. It was surprisingly light but then I don’t think Dad owned too much stuff. Mum had left the card table up on the verandah overnight and right in the middle of it, on a little mound of sand, sat a slightly used red cricket ball.
‘Dad?’ I said as he came to the door adjusting his hat.
‘It’s not mine. I didn’t put it there,’ he answered. ‘Strange, but we don’t have time to worry about it now. The boat leaves in less than ten minutes. You know Red Eric. He waits for no man, especially a union member like me.’ He knew perfectly well Red Eric would’ve waited for him. They’d become firm friends and often shared a glass or two of Thor’s Hammer, far too often as far as Mum was concerned.
Watching Dad and Little Eric leave as the ferry pulled out from the jetty was a bit like watching Dafty being taken away, but unlike Dafty, at least this time we knew they’d be coming back.
Mum didn’t make a move to head home until the ferry had almost completely disappeared out of sight. ‘What would you like for tea, Jack? Special treat,’ she said as we walked back along the jetty.
‘Can Banjo come over?’ I asked. ‘I haven’t seen him for ages.’ Well, I hadn’t seen him since the day before.