The Forgotten Pearl Read Free Page B

him up here and arrived last week, although Mother would much rather have stayed behind in Sydney. She thinks Darwin is far too dangerous.’
    â€˜Dangerous? What could possibly be dangerous about Darwin?’
    Maude grinned and ticked the list off on her fingers. ‘Crocodiles, snakes, venomous spiders, mosquitoes, malaria, dengue fever, villainous criminals and soldiers – not necessarily in that order.’
    Poppy snorted in derision. ‘Rubbish. Darwin is paradise.’ She swung down from the tree. ‘Would you like to see something quite amazing?’
    â€˜What?’
    â€˜A two-headed calf.’
    Maude once more looked bemused, but obediently followed in Poppy’s wake. This time Poppy led Maude to the western side of the house.
    â€˜This is my father’s study,’ explained Poppy, creaking open the French door. ‘He’s a doctor and works at the hospital in the afternoons, but he sees patients here in the mornings.’
    The room was clinically white with a huge timber desk in the centre, facing the view. Bookshelves, crowded with journals and large jars, covered two walls. The third wall was occupied by an observation couch, medical charts and storage cupboards.
    â€˜Dad collects medical curios,’ continued Poppy, gesturing to a human skeleton standing guard in the corner of the room. ‘That’s Hippocrates.’
    Poppy shook hands with Hippocrates, making Maude giggle.
    Two shelves of the bookcase were devoted to slimy, white specimens preserved in formaldehyde and a collection of skulls. Maude peered into each jar, her face a mixture of curiosity and revulsion. The collection included various floating organs, a soggy brain, a variety of animal foetuses, a dissected possum and a wrinkled human hand.
    â€˜Look, this one’s a diseased liver,’ explained Poppy.‘Dad saves it to show the miners and stockmen what will happen to them if they drink all their earnings in rum.’
    â€˜Eeeewww,’ replied Maude. ‘Do they stop drinking rum?’
    â€˜No – well, maybe for a day or two.’
    In the very centre, in pride of place, was a glass tank containing the preserved remains of two calf heads, joined together at the neck.
    Maude reeled back, swallowing nervously. ‘Is it real?’
    â€˜Yes, of course. Isn’t it fascinating?’ asked Poppy, stroking the side of the tank, as though she was stroking the animal’s face. ‘The calf was born out on one of the stations. It had no chance of surviving, but they put the head in the icebox and saved it for Dad. He keeps it here to remind him of the peculiarities of Mother Nature.’
    The girls poked around the exhibits, marvelling at the massive skull of a crocodile, big enough to encase a child in its jaws.
    â€˜Feel his teeth,’ Poppy suggested, running her fingers over the powerful jaw. ‘Dad snared this croc on his fishing line. It completely swallowed a prize barramundi he had just caught. I was only eight and was fishing with Dad down near the creek. The croc thought I looked more delicious than the barramundi and started paddling towards me, licking his chops and dragging Dad’s fishing line behind him. He yelled at me to run. Next thing I knew, I was being chased up the mudflat by this enormous, prehistoric beast, who was gaining on me fast. It took Dad six shots to bring it down. Boy, was Dad in trouble when he brought it home and had to confess to Mum that the croc nearly snapped me up.’
    A bell jangled from the front sitting room.
    â€˜Come on,’ urged Poppy, ‘I think Mum wants us back.’
    The girls returned to the sitting room, where the two mothers were still chatting.
    â€˜Perhaps you’d like to join us at the weekly Red Cross meetings, Mrs Tibbets?’ suggested Cecilia. ‘Mrs Abbott, the Administrator’s wife, is our patron. We do lots of work for the war effort: rolling bandages, knitting socks