‘FORE!’ JANEY AND Jimmy snap their heads up at the sound of the familiar voice. There on the other side of the huge trestle table that supports the model of the Eagle Beach Resort, Michael is grinning at them. Once he has their attention he laughs and mimics a golf swing.
Spread out between them is Big Al’s plan, now in full colour and three-dimensional detail. Golf greens with miniature flags and lush fairways. The resort headquarters, the luxury self-contained cabins, the clubhouse, tavern and tourist centre, are all portrayed in finely detailed, matchbox-sized splendour.
The jumble of rocks on Jiir’s headland is recreated in almost eerie detail. A little structure set back from it has a tag saying Cultural Interpretative Display. A tiny lugger is moored at the pearl farm’s jetty. There is even a miniature dolphin leaping from the blue waters of the bay. No expense has been spared to make this look like heaven on earth.
Over the public address system an announcement calls people to the garden bar for the official launch. Jimmy is feeling sick in the guts, and pleads with Janey to go home, but she is determined to see this through to the bitter end. With Jimmy reluctantly following, she worms her way to the front of the crowd. The stage is serving as a podium, with Big Al at the centre of a row of dignitaries.
The speeches drone on, praising Mr Steer’s vision and the benefits it will bring the town. At one point Big Al, sitting there lapping it all up, catches Janey’s eye and gives her a cold stare. Jimmy gets the same treatment from Mack, who is standing to the right of the podium.
The head of the chamber of commerce introduces the next speaker, ‘The highly respected representative of our local Indigenous community, and Aboriginal Liaison Officer at the state Planning Department, Mr Georgie Jordan.’
Jimmy starts to drift off as Georgie rabbits on. ‘This town needs development, it needs progress, and it needs jobs. Speaking as a local born and bred, and as an Indigenous person, I can assure you that the local population is right behind Big Al Steer and this wonderful project.’
Finally Big Al gets to his feet. ‘Ladies and gentlemen, as chairman and major shareholder of Garnet Investments …’
Big Al thanks all the dignitaries and ‘the good folk of Broome’ for turning out today to support him. He goes on to list the many groundbreaking aspects of the development. ‘Then when the tourists have done the rounds of the pearl farm — and bought themselves a souvenir at the shop, I hope — they can wander over to the Diamond Tavern.’
Janey’s attention had been starting to wander, but suddenly she is all ears again. She elbows Jimmy in the ribs.
‘Now why call a pub at a pearl farm the Diamond Tavern you might ask?’ Big Al is saying. ‘You’ve all heard the legend of the lost diamonds of Garnet Bay, I’m sure. Their story is part of the heritage of Broome. Like many of you, I have fantasised about finding the diamonds one day.’
He says it with a smile, but the smile is too tight, and his face too intense for the flippant joke it is meant to be.
‘I called my company Garnet Investments because the story of the Garnet Bay diamonds is the stuff of dreams. I too am a dreamer, and this project is my dream.’
Georgie starts clapping, and this sparks a round of applause through the crowd.
Janey claps her hands to her cheeks, and stares up at the empty balcony above, remembering Big Al’s words. One of the crowd must have snaffled it. And Tich’s anguished cry, Stealed it you mean? And Tich again, later — He bumped me over while I was dancing.
Big Al is still talking. ‘We will take this wasteland and transform it into a playground that will bring benefits to all the people of Broome …’ Jimmy turns to make a comment to Janey, but she is already wriggling backwards through the crowd. He follows her and catches up as Janey runs out into the foyer. ‘What’s going on?’ he asks.
‘Mimi’s diamond. It’s him! I just know it is.’
Janey is bounding up the stairs, flinging a command back over her shoulder, ‘Wait here.’ The penny drops. Jimmy realises what she means, and then, to his horror, what she is doing.
In the long corridor on the first floor Janey gets her bearings. She works out which door would align with the balcony where she has seen Big Al standing so often. She glances up and down the corridor. No-one. She tries the door handle. To her amazement, it gives.
So far she has been acting on pure instinct, but now she realises what she is about to do, and the fear hits. She hesitates for a moment, understanding that she may be crossing a threshold in more ways than one if she enters Big Al’s office. But the instinct that drew her here is more powerful. She gulps nervously and steps inside.
She kicks off her sandals and looks around. On the other side of the office the French doors leading to the balcony are closed. She can’t get a good view, but she can tell that Big Al is still speaking. She tests the drawers of the filing cabinets, but they are locked. The photograph of the young Big Al and his father catches her eye. She lifts it and peers behind, half expecting to see a wall safe, like in the movies.
She sits in the big swivel chair and opens and inspects each of the desk drawers, looking anxiously up at the door after each one. When she tries the bottom drawer, it won’t give. She shakes at the handle and tugs again, but it is locked.
For some reason she is absolutely sure about the feeling that is overwhelming her. She can’t stand the thought of being this close and having to walk away.
Stranded at the foot of the stairs, Jimmy’s nervousness becomes almost total panic when Mack strolls up saying, ‘What are you hanging around here for?’
For a moment he is speechless. But he has the presence of mind to point at the door of the ladies toilets on the other side of the foyer. He manages to keep the quaver out of his voice when he answers, ‘Waiting for Janey.’ Mack glares at him suspiciously, then returns to the garden bar.
Janey peers through the window again. Big Al is still going! She can glimpse the mayor, who looks like he is nodding off. She picks up Big Al’s metal paperweight and taps it gently against the flimsy lock on the drawer. It wobbles. She taps a bit harder, and jumps at the noise it makes. Her nerves are on fire, but she can see that the lock has moved a bit in its housing.
After a frantic search of the room she finds a tea towel on one of the filing cabinets. She wraps it round the weight, and attacks the lock properly. The towel muffles the sound, but not completely, and she is grateful for the noise of the applause from down below. One last thump, and the lock is knocked out.
When Jimmy sees Mack returning, with Michael and Kim in tow, he almost does a runner. But even as the idea flashes through his mind it is already too late. ‘Still in there is she?’ Mack asks icily. It is all Jimmy can do to nod.
Mack nods at Michael. ‘Go on,’ Michael tells Kim.
‘What’s going on?’ Kim asks uneasily.
‘Just get in there and look will you, girlie,’ Mack demands.
Kim lifts her hands in a shrug at Jimmy to indicate that she has no idea what is going on. It doesn’t take long for her to reappear, shaking her head.
Mack fixes his gaze on Jimmy. ‘Well?’
Jimmy can’t stop his eyes from darting nervously in the direction of the stairs. Mack follows his look and is off like a shot.
‘Janeyyy!’ Jimmy yells as loud as he can. He dodges Michael’s attempt to grab him, and runs for his life out the front door.
The instant Janey opens the drawer and sees the bulging envelope, she knows she was right. But even as her fingers close around it and feel the familiar shape through the paper, Jimmy’s shout echoes up the stairs. Panic and triumph are simultaneous. She grabs the envelope without even noticing the old tobacco tin sitting beneath it, and runs out the door and up the corridor, away from the stairs.
Turning a corner, all she can see is numbered guest rooms on either side of the corridor, and a brick wall at the end. She tries one door, and a second. Both are locked. The third one gives. Without knocking, she barges in.
A startled Japanese couple look up from unpacking their suitcases. ‘Sorry, excuse me, sorry,’ she apologises as she edges past them and out onto their balcony. She swings out from the railing, grabs hold of a drainpipe, and shins down to ground level, jumping the last few feet. With the briefest of glances over her shoulder she sees the astonished couple staring down. Then she is off and running. She realizes she has left her sandals behind, but it is too late to worry about that.
When she is nearly home, Janey stops to catch her breath and think. Or try to think. She can’t. All she can do is grin as she pulls the envelope out of her pocket. She takes out the pendant and feels its familiar shape and smooth surface. She kisses it, then clutches it tight as she walks the last hundred metres.
She pauses in the driveway and listens. All is silent. Jimmy can’t have made it back yet or there would be noise and action aplenty. She makes her way across the backyard and sees Bella asleep in her rocking chair, with no sign of Nyami Micky anywhere. She creeps up onto the verandah, and ever so carefully eases the chain over Bella’s head, and arranges the pendant on her breast.
She sits down to wait.