Belinda Murrell: Bringing Australian History To Life | Page 35

EXTRACT

She crashed into the wall and crumpled to
the floor, where she lay motionless.
‘Mama,’ screamed Poppy, ‘are you all
right?’
There was no answer. Poppy felt her
heart stop, a sob welling up in her throat.
Could she be dead? Could my beautiful
mother be dead? Please, God, don’t let
her die.
Poppy scrabbled across the floor on all
fours, heedless of the falling masonry and
debris, to her mother’s inert body.
‘Mama?’ Poppy whispered, gently
touching her mother’s shoulder.
Cecilia moaned and shuddered, eyelids
fluttering. Poppy flung her arms around
her mother protectively and kissed her
cheek. ‘Thank God, you’re all right!’
Cecilia rubbed her head and winced,
glancing around. ‘Oh, the bombs. Poppy,
get back under the bed.’
‘Not without you,’ Poppy replied. They
scuttled back across the rubble-strewn
floor to the makeshift shelter under the
bed.
Cecilia and Poppy huddled together
until the dust cleared. Slowly, painfully,
they crawled out, checking all the
patients. No one seemed to be hurt
beneath their mattress protection.
Cecilia limped out, followed by Poppy,
and headed next door to another ward.
Here, they set to work getting as many
patients out of the building as possible.
Strangely, Poppy no longer felt afraid –
she was too busy lifting, pulling, coaxing
and running. There were two patients,
barely mobile, who were trying to help
each other shuffle outside. A quick glance
around the ward showed that all the
patients in this room had either been
evacuated or moved under the beds.
‘Come on, lads,’ said Cecilia with a smile.

‘Would you like a
hand?’
Cecilia slipped
her arm under the
soldier’s elbow,
taking his weight.
‘Thanks, Sister,’ he
replied. ‘I think we
might be better off
outside, don’t you?’
Poppy ran to his
companion’s side
and offered her arm,
which was already
aching from lifting
the heavy men. Her
legs were trembling
as well, but she
dug deep inside for
strength.
‘I don’t know
about that,
sir,’ replied
Poppy, smiling,
remembering her
mother’s advice.
‘They sound really
close.’
‘Strike me fat!
Look at you, missy
– not much more’n
a tot. What’re you
doing here in a war
zone?’
‘Same as you, sir
– dodging Japanese bombs,’ Poppy joked
weakly.
They hobbled outside and stopped.
To the west, they had a perfect view of
Darwin Harbour. Poppy could see wave
after wave of planes darkening the sky
overhead, dropping whistling silver
bombs. There seemed to be nearly two

hundred planes, at a guess.

With Darwin in chaos after the bombing, how will Poppy and her family escape?
This important story delves into what it was like for a teenager in World War II to live
through a terrifying invasion on Australian soil.
The Forgotten Pearl is published by Random House Australia and is copyrig