Previously:

We didn't really need a bed for Jenny because we cuddled up and went to sleep giggling, much to Rita's annoyance, Sunday was spent much the same way and Jenny's Mum came to pick her up late in the afternoon.

Jenny was all excited and said, “Mummy, I scored an uncle over the weekend, and had the best time, and can Carla come over to our place next weekend?” all in one breath.

Jenny's Mum replied, “Darling I don't know about next weekend, we will have to talk to Carla’s Mum first, and yes Bill called me, and said you called him uncle and yes it's ok to do that if you want. He might want to adopt you like he has Carla.”

Jenny said, “Mummy that's silly, what would Daddy say?”

“He might say that'd be cheaper for us!”

I waved Jenny and her Mum goodbye and rang Mummy to come and pick me up to take me to the restaurant to have my tea there because the freezer at home was near on empty.

Monday 1/6/1959
The start of another boring week of school work, but what else can a kid my age do? I finished my set work by eleven am and was bored, so seeing Ginger was pacing up and down the verandah, it was time for me to take her for a run behind my bike down to the park where I could throw her a ball for her to fetch and bring it back to me to throw again and use up all her pent up energy.

We got to the park and Ginger was barking at something in a trash can, I thought it must have been a snake or a lizard but as I got closer I could hear a little kitten crying. I got closer and had a look and couldn't see a kitten, but there was a hessian bag tied off at the top with some wire I was careful not to put my hand straight into the trash can because snakes sometimes get in them to hunt mice. I picked up a stick and poked into the trash can making sure there was no nasty surprise waiting for me. If it was a 'red belly black snake' in there and I got bitten I would only have minutes to get help or would be unconscious and I would be joining my twin. Anyway there was no snake, just a little white kitten put in there by some horrible person with a sick mind. I pulled it out of the sack and it clung to my hand because Ginger was sniffing it but not to harm it in any way. Ginger is a very gentle and intelligent dog with a lot of Australian dingo in her. I took the little pussy to the water tank in the park and put some water in my cupped hand and the little thing just lapped it up like there was no tomorrow.

I was really good with animals because back at River Downs I got really friendly with an aboriginal station worker and he didn't like living indoors but had set up a camp a little way from the homestead. I used to hang out there when he wasn’t working and listened to him tell me stories about the dream time, and this is also how I learned about bush tucker and as I said earlier I could go bush and survive and hide forever. I also learned how to tell the sex of animals that live in the bush, that is why I knew the little pussy cat was a girl. She was pure white and would be no more than a month old. Ginger was looking like she was going to lick her but I said 'no' in case she frighten the poor little thing. Maybe later Ginger can play mother.

It was cold weather and I was wearing jeans, boots, and had a woollen jumper on and I put the little kitten inside my jumper to keep it warm, (it actually went to sleep there!), got on my bike and rode home. It was lunch time so I made myself a sandwich and fed Ginger some raw mince mixed with some vegies in it.

Once I had my sandwich I decided to make a bed for the little pussy and went out to the shed and got an old washing trolley basket and put an old baby blanket in it. I took her out of my jumper and placed her in her new home. She looked like a ball of white cotton in a pink baby blanket. I decided right then to call her 'Fluffy'. Ginger was doing the mummy thing and laid down beside the basket which I left in the warm kitchen.

I rang Mummy and asked her to buy a baby's bottle so I could feed my new little friend.

Mummy said, “Alright darling, but you will have to wait till I get home to night, I might get Linda to drop it home for you. It sounds like the poor little mite needs to have some food or it might not survive.

I said, “Mummy, Ginger is acting all concerned and is lying beside the basket.”

Mummy said, “Ginger had puppies two years ago so she probably thinks she has to look after the little kitten.”

“'Fluffy' Mummy, her name is Fluffy.” I replied

“Alright sweetheart, I’ll see you tonight.” said Mummy.

Linda dropped the bottle off and came in and had look at Fluffy, and said to see if I could get it to take some milk and build up its strength because heaven only knows how long the poor little thing was in that trash can. I warmed up some milk and put it in the baby bottle with a teat on. I picked up Fluffy and got her to suck on the bottle and was surprised when she sucked for all she was worth. She is going to survive quite well.

When everyone got home that night, Fluffy was the centre of attention and they could see why I named her Fluffy.

Daddy said “I would like to get hold of whoever put her in a bag like that. They would walk away with a higher voice.”

I said, “Daddy what would you do to their voice?”

He replied “Never mind darling, you don’t want to know.” Don't you just hate it when they say something like that? Ginger wouldn't move from her position so we just left her there looking after her new charge, and left the door ajar so she could go and do her business in the night. No one would get past her if they valued their life because at one time she was used as a guard dog at the service station station after it got broken into. No-one ever tried again after she was there.

It was really cold that night because there was a westerly wind blowing all day and after a day like that it gets to almost freezing temperatures at night in the outback, so both Rita and myself used a hot water bottle to keep our feet warm in bed. We also wore fluffy flannel pj's, it was to cold to wear nighties. I checked up one more time on Fluffy and she looked fine, and Ginger was leaning up against the basket as though she was trying to keep the kitten warm by getting closer to it. She is indeed a mother. I went to sleep feeling pleased with myself for having saved a little life that day.

Tuesday.
Ginger came in and woke me up a little earlier then she normally does, and seemed to want me to get up. She was standing at the bedroom door wagging her tail and whining a little bit as if to say 'Come on you have a little one to feed.'

I rolled my eyes, shrugged my shoulders and said, “Oh alright mummy, I am coming to feed your little baby.” 'Gee mothers' I thought. When I got to the kitchen, Fluffy was making quite a noise and I picked her up and she cuddled into me so I made her a bottle and she drank the whole bottle in minutes. 'Wow what a greedy guts'.

Daddy came out into the kitchen and said, “Bloody hell! It's only five a.m., what's all the noise about?” Then he saw me holding Fluffy like a baby and giving her the bottle of milk and he said, “Carla you are a true girl and don’t let anyone try to tell you any different. Just send them to me if they do, and I’ll sort them out real quick.”

I replied, “Thanks Daddy.”

Everyone was at work and I was in the middle of doing some horrible sums that I couldn't make head nor tail of, and was about to get on the two-way radio to the School of the Air to ask some silly question about maths, that I thought I would never have to use looking after animals anyway, when the phone rang on my school work desk. Mummy had an extension put in there so it would be easier for me to stay in touch with her at a moment's notice.

Anyway I picked it up thinking it was Mummy and said, “Hello, animal refuge, can I help you?”

It was quiet for a bit and then Uncle Tony was on the other end of the line and said, “Carla is that you you little monkey?”

I replied,“Oops sorry Uncle Tony, I thought it was Mummy.”

“Well,” he said,“We have just finished loading up the removal truck and will be driving to Quilpie in the next hour. We will probably be there before the truck, so if you can let your Mum know we should be there tomorrow afternoon some time after lunch.”

I replied, “Is Goldie coming with you in the new Land Rover?”

“Yes, she sure is. It is going to be a long trip for her, so she will have to be taken for a run when we get there.”

I said, “I'll will take her for a run together with Ginger and they can get to know each other that way as well.”

“Ok sweetheart, we'll see you tomorrow 'bye.” and he was gone.

I rang Mummy and told her the news and she said, “Oh hell, I had better get some food back in the home freezer. I'll bring some home from here tonight, Carla I’ll be coming home a bit earlier from now on too because I don’t want you to spend so much time by yourself any more.”

I said, “What about Rita and Daddy? Will they be coming home earlier too?”

Mummy replied, “Daddy probably will, but Rita will start running the restaurant a bit more with the help of Linda and Alice and her Mum Jenny.” We said 'bye and ended the call. Back to my sums, the damn phone rang again but I thought I had better not be funny this time and answered it “Hello Carla White.”

“Hi Carla sweetie, it is Jan Ryan. I forgot your Mum would be at her restaurant sorry to bother you I'll hang up and give her a ring there.”

I said “Mrs Ryan can I help you with anything?”

She replied, “Oh I might as well tell you it concerns you anyway. You probably already know that we are friends with your doctor in Brisbane.”

I replied, “Yes, Rose told me that she studied with Doctor Jim at uni, and she said she wanted to come out here to visit.”

I asked, “Is she coming to see me too?”

“Yes Carla, I think she might have something to tell you, but you will have to wait, because I am not allowed to talk about private doctors' records sweetheart.”

I replied, “Ok, but I will grill Mummy when she comes home anyway.”

She said, “I’m sure you will Carla and she will have trouble with those big brown eyes of yours.”

I replied, “I know. I have magic in them.”

She said, “Bye Carla.”

I thought 'I hope they don’t tell me I have to go back to being a boy because I will take Ginger with me and disappear into the bush, never to be found again.'

I was waiting eagerly for Mummy to come home so I could grill her about Doctor Rose's visit. I made sure everything was ready for Aunty Bella and Uncle Tony because they would want to stay with us for a few days till their house was all set up and of course Uncle Tony's television to be set up. Mummy came home at four o'clock. and Rita was with her as well.

I said, “Wow, I must be important for both of you to come home early.”

Rita said “You’re not the only one that is important around here you know sis.”

I gave Rita a hug and said,”Rita I love you and you are the most important person in my life.”

Mummy said,“Hey watch it kid.”

I said, “Sorry Mummy.”

She replied, “I should think so.”

When things settled down, I cornered Mummy and said, “Mummy what is Rose going to tell me when she visits on Friday?”

“Carla, I doubt that it is anything bad, so you will just have to be patient like the rest of us, I know that is going to be hard for you but that is just the way it is ok?”

“Ok Mummy.” I replied.

While Mummy got busy with filling the freezer with food she brought home from the restaurant and getting our tea ready for when Daddy arrived home, Rita and I were playing with Fluffy and Ginger and I said, “Rita what are you going to do on your birthday on Saturday?”

She replied, “Mum said seeing that I didn't want to have a party at the restaurant, we would have a barbecue here in the backyard at lunch time and I can invite anyone I want have here.”

I said “Can I have my friends over too?”

“Yeah of course, the more the merrier.” she replied.

Wednesday
It was another normal day and I waited to take Ginger to the park until Uncle Tony turned up so I could take Goldie for a run after being cooped up in the back of the Land Rover for hours on end. It is usually a two day trip by car from Brisbane with constant driving, so with two drivers it is not too bad. They arrived at three thirty in the afternoon, so it gave me plenty of time to take the two dogs for a walk. I didn't ride my bike this time because Goldie would not be used to going for a walk without a lead. Goldie greeted me by jumping up and putting her paws on my shoulders and licking my face and almost knocking me over. Ginger came bounding out and they hit it off straight away much to my surprise, well, they are both girls after all!

After being hugged and kissed to death by two Italians, I took the two girls for a walk down to the park, and Ricky was there on his bike, I think he must be missing talking to me. We played around with the dogs and sat on those swings again, I thought 'Oh boy I am going to be kissed again.' and Ricky said “Carla I felt really strange last time I kissed you. What about you, what did you feel?”

I replied, “Kiss me again and I will tell you.”

Ricky complied with my command and I closed my eyes and Jean was there with a big smile on her face and said, “Go on then, I wont tell Mummy if you don’t.”

It was too late. Ricky had planted the kiss and it was like an electric shock going up and down my spine. and I could hear Jean in my mind laughing and then fading away. Ricky fell of the swing on to his bum and said “What the hell was that?”

After I recovered I said, “You have just been kissed by my twin sister, Ricky.”

He said, “Shit, that could kill someone Carla.”

I replied, “But did you like it?”

He said “Yeah, but I don’t think we had better do it again today or I won't be able to ride home.” We both swore each to secrecy about our kissing and said bye.

I collected the two girl dogs and walked home with wobbly legs and tried to get Jean to come back into my mind but the rotten sod didn't respond.

Thursday went by fairly quickly. Uncle Tony and Aunty Belle went to their house to make sure their furniture was all unloaded without too much damage.

Friday.
I was getting anxious about Rose and what she had to tell me, so I told Mummy she had to take me to Doctor Ryan's surgery first thing or I would ride there on my bike and knock on the doctor's door myself.

She said, “Settle down Carla, it has all been arranged. Rose will be here in half an hour with Jim and they will tell you all about it.”

I was sitting on hot coals and was thinking all sorts of things and not all good either. They turned up and by this time I had Mummy hugging me because I was so upset I was crying.

Rose walked in and got on her knees and put both her hands on my shoulders and said “Sweetheart, it is good news, so stop all this and dry those pretty brown eyes of yours and let me tell you what we have discovered from the x-rays and blood tests ok?”

I said in between sobs “Oo -k-k-y,” Rose.

“Right, here it is. Carla you are what is called intersexed which means that you have a bit of both boy and girl in you, but in your case you seem to be eighty percent girl so we are going to put you on a very low dose of female hormones for now till you reach your puberty and reassess the situation about any surgery in a couple of years, so don’t worry, you will never be a boy, do you understand?”

I said, “So I can stay being a girl for the rest of my life?”

“Yes Carla, that is what I just said.”

I jumped into her arms and just said “Thank you Rose.”

Doctor Ryan then said, “Carla, I will see you next week and we will sort out what you have to do so far as medication goes. It can either be given by injection or by taking tablets but I will talk to you Mum about that in due course ok ?”

I said “Yes doctor.” and gave him a hug as well.

Rose then got back to the subject about the study she was conducting concerning identical twins and said she will be around for a couple of days and would I mind if she brings her tape recorder and camera to do the the interview? She also said that Mummy had agreed to do the filming for her.

I shrugged my shoulders and said, “As long as I can stay a girl she can film me any time she wants.”

Mummy and Rose both laughed and Mummy said “That's our Carla.”

To be continued.

Next time: The interview and Rita’s barbecue with Peter and some new friends.

Please leave some comments.

Red belly black snake