Previously

Helen came over to us and said, “Ricky and Billy, we will be going in a few minutes so you had better say goodbye to the girls now ok?”

We went outside to where the cars were parked and I had a quick cuddle and a kiss with Ricky and there was that tremble in my chest again, and Ricky jumped and said, “That sister of yours is a mighty fine kisser Carla, tell her thanks.”

Billy looked at Jenny and said, “What was that all about Jenny?”

She replied, “We can't tell you yet, but maybe one day.”

He gave Jenny a quick kiss on the cheek before Helen could catch us kissing, but I think she waited for a while to let us do it anyway. She knows how close me and Ricky are and trusts us not to go any further. We went back into the restaurant and people were all helping to clean up the place so it would be ready for business tomorrow morning. It was getting late when we finally got home Jenny and I hit the sack and went to sleep dreaming of kissing boys.

Saturday 3/7/59.

Jenny and I slept in till eight am which is unusual for us but it was a big day yesterday so we had to get our beauty sleep, we got up and ran to the bath room with our bare feet on the freezing floor boards because we left our slippers in the bath room last night. We quickly got the shower water running and got in under the warm water. We both needed to wash our hair because there were people that smoked cigars last night and our hair smelt of smoke.

Once we finished in the shower we realised that in our rush we didn't bring any clothes with us from the bedroom so it was a mad dash with a towel wrapped around us and a pair of slippers on our feet to get back to the bedroom.

Rita was just getting up and going to the the bathroom and said “Shit it's cold” and started to run to the bathroom door to close it before all the warm air escaped so she didn't have to freeze getting her clothes off to get into the shower.

It was so cold we decided to wear jeans and warm tops and jumpers with our wool lined flying boots. Jenny had almost as much of her clothes in my wardrobe as me but it didn't matter because we were both the same size and we just wore each others clothes except our knickers. Mine were pink and Jenny’s were yellow, we also put our bras back on and stuffed the socks back in the cups again.

Mummy saw us walking into the kitchen to make our breakfast and said, “Good morning girls, did you have a nice sleep in?”

We both said “Yes Mummy.” and then Jenny said, “Oops I mean Aunty Donna.”

Mummy replied, “That's alright Jenny darling, but you do have a mummy of your own you know!”

“Yes Aunty Donna, but you are my second mummy and I love you as much as my own Mummy.”

“Well you're welcome sweetheart, but make sure you tell her that you love too won't you?”

“Yes Aunty Donna I will.”

Just then Rita and Daddy came in and Rita said, “What’s for breakfast Mum?”

Mummy replied, “What ever you lot can find, I’m off to the shops to do some grocery shopping and 'bye.” and she was gone.

Daddy then said “Rita, can you make some porridge to warm us all up?”

Rita responded with, “Yeah that’d be right. What am I the slave around here?”

We all nodded and said “Yep.”

She then said, “Right, as long as you all clean up after, I will oblige but that's only because I have to have breakfast too.”

Daddy said, “Thanks luv. Next time I see Peter I’ll tell him you'll make a good wife.”

Rita replied “Yeah whatever” and started to make the porridge.

We had our breakfast and cleaned up the kitchen and went to clean up the bedroom and put the weekly washing on. Rita said she was going to do the ironing while Jenny and I did the vacuuming. We had two vacuum cleaners because one was Daddy's and the other one Mummy brought with us from River Downs so it didn't take us long to get it done.

When we were putting the cleaners away, Daddy came in where we were and said, “Here you are girls.” and handed each of us a ten shilling note and added “Just a bit of pocket money. You've both earned it.”

Jenny and I kissed Daddy on the cheeks at the same time and said, “Thanks Daddy.”

Daddy walked away and said to himself 'Did I just gain another daughter?' and shook his head and kept walking.

It was nearly ten o'clock when Mummy came back from doing the shopping and she yelled out to us to come and give her a hand to carry it all into the house. Once the groceries were all packed away and Mummy had a cup of tea she said, “We will go and see Brad's mum to see how she is getting on.”

After we had morning tea Mummy, Jenny and I got into Mummy’s car and she drove to the other side of town to where Mrs Blake lived. Mummy pulled up outside of an old dilapidated cottage with an overgrown garden. There was no car in the tin shed at the side of the house, so Brad's mum would have to walk to the shops in town to buy her groceries.

We got out of the car and made our way to the front porch of the house and knocked on the door. There was no answer and we knocked again but still no one answered the door.

Mummy said, “I hope she is alright. I think we should go around the back and see if she is in the back yard hanging out washing or something.”

We made our way through the high grass at the side of the house to find her asleep in an old squatter's chair. She must have gone out into the sun to get warm and fallen asleep in the chair. Mummy touched her gently on the shoulder and she jumped with a start.

Mummy said, “Sorry Mrs Blake, but we came to see if you were ok and to see if you needed a hand with anything now that you are all by yourself?”

Mrs Blake seemed to be a timid sort of person and almost looked frightened by our presence and she said, “What do you people want with me, haven’t you done enough already?”

Mummy replied, “Mrs Blake, my daughter didn't ask to be attacked by your out -of-control son. Carla was not responsible for your husband's gambling with my ex-husband, and he had no right to hurt Carla the way he did. That is why he is now in a boys' home to try to sort his anger problems out.”

Mrs Blake now had tears running down her cheeks and said, “Carla, I’m sorry Bradley hurt you, but ever since his father left he's been uncontrollable and he even started hitting me. But the part I don’t understand is why he thought you were a boy?”

I decide to play dumb, {which I must admit isn't too hard for me), and replied, “I don't know either. Do you think I look like a boy?”

She replied in a shaky kind of voice, “All I can see is a pretty little girl, so where he got the idea from that you were ever a boy is beyond me.”

Mummy then said, “That would have been my ex-husband doing some shit stirring to your husband and Brad took it the wrong way.”

'Well' I thought 'that was half true anyway.'

Mummy then went on and said, “We have come to see if we could help in any way to make life a little bit easier for you.”

Mrs Blake said, “Well, when that no-good husband of mine took off, he took the car and that has left me pretty isolated and it makes it hard to get about because I have a bad hip which I broke in a fall a couple of years ago. It has never healed up properly, so it is hard for me to walk any long distance, and I can't afford a taxi fare because I am on a disability pension.”

Jenny said, “Aunty Donna, what if Carla and I ride our bikes over here once a week and get Mrs Blake to give us her shopping list? We could do the shopping for her and you could bring it back here with your car one afternoon a week.”

Mummy looked at Mrs Blake and said, “How does that sound Mrs Blake?

Mrs Blake said, “Call me Jane, and that sounds really helpful. If the girls are willing to do that, it would make things much easier for me.

“Donna, call me Donna” Mummy said.

“Thanks Donna. I must admit Brad wasn't much help but he did do the shopping for me, but I think he also stole a lot of the shopping money. Maybe where he is now will straighten him out.”

Mummy said, “I wouldn't hold my breath on that one.”

Anyway Mummy went to the shops before they closed at midday because it was Saturday. Jenny and I stayed and cleaned up inside the house and put a load of washing on and generally tidied up around the place. When Mummy came back we put all the groceries away and said we would be back next Saturday to do the same.

We went back home and it was lunch time. Daddy had been to the restaurant with Rita and brought back left-over food from last night, so lunch was an easy fix. Daddy's small dingy was out of the shed and it looked like he was going to go fishing the on Bulloo River later today. It was winter fishing season and the river was full of yellow belly which is an Australian fresh water Bass.

Daddy said, “Girls, do you fancy going fishing with me this afternoon?”

Jenny and I both looked at each other and nodded.

Daddy said, “What does that mean?”

“It means 'yes' Daddy, but we wont stay after dark will we?”

“No sweetheart, we want to use our catch for dinner tonight.

Rita was not into fishing so she and Mummy were going to do some sewing to make some new dresses for when summer came. I could sew now too, and would start making some for myself with a little help from Rita. I wanted to make some nice summer dresses because they are really girly and I think Ricky would like me wearing them as well.

Anyway we helped Daddy hook up the boat to the Land-rover and got the smelly worms out of the freezer so that they would be defrosted by the time we had to put them on the hook.

Daddy drove down to the river where the boat ramp is and asked Jenny and I to get out and give him a guide so he doesn’t go too far back with the Land-rover.

I said, “Stop! The back of the boat is touching the water Daddy.”

He got out and undid the straps that hold the boat on the trailer and the boat slipped into the water. Jenny and I held the rope that is attached to the front of the dingy. All the fishing gear was already in the boat so Daddy drove the car and trailer up and away from the ramp because there was another man and his son wanting to use the ramp after us.

The three of us climbed in and and pushed ourselves out away from the ramp.

Daddy said, “Ok girls, sit down and I will start the outboard and we'll be on our way.”

We didn't go very far and Daddy threw out and anchor when we were about mid stream because there was a little bit of a run in the water.

We used hand lines and not rods because if you fish with a hand line you can feel the fish take the bait more easily than with a rod and reel.

Daddy said, “This is the spot where I usually sit so I can still see the car and trailer in the distance, because there are some little shit-heads that will vandalise the cars given half a chance if they cant see any one about to catch them at it.”

I said, “We should have brought Ginger and left her with the the car.”

Daddy replied, “Yeah, I guess.”

Anyway we all baited our lines with the smelly worms and dropped the line in over the side of the boat. Nothing happened and Daddy said “We'll give it two hours and if we don’t catch anything by then there is probably still too much dirty water from the last run off.”

Well, it wasn't long when I got my first tug on the line, but I fought the urge to pull on the line because the yellow belly has a real soft mouth and you have to wait to let the fish take the bait down into its gullet before you can pull and hook the fish. I waited and very gently gave the line a slight tug and I had hooked the first fish of the day.

Daddy said, “Shit Carla, it's my job to show you how it's done not the other way around!”

Jenny started to giggle because she also has a fish on the line and I said, “Jenny be gentle or you will lose it.”

Daddy said, “Who taught you to catch fish like that Carla?”

I replied, “An aboriginal worker on River Downs Daddy. I spent a lot of time with him. He is the one that taught me how to survive in the bush.”

I started to pull my catch up and and asked Daddy to get the landing net ready to put under the fish so I wouldn't pull the hook out of its mouth when I lifted it out of the water and lose it.

Daddy said, “Yes ma'am.”

I got my fish in the boat and then helped Jenny land hers. She had caught a really big one and had trouble pulling it up so I had to give her a hand with the line. It was twice the size as mine and would have weighed at least two pounds.

Daddy said, “Bloody hell kids what is this, bush week and I'm the sucker?”

Just then he had a big tug on the line and he played the fish like I did only slower and he said to me, “Ok smarty pants! Get the landing net and I will put you both to shame with this one.” I got the shock of my life when he pulled up a Murray cod which would be at least a five pound fish. It took myself and Jenny to handle the net and get this monster before he could shake himself off the line.

Daddy said, “Right girls, that's two hours and we have our fish for dinner, so we will leave the rest in the river for next time.”

Daddy was pulling the anchor up when we heard someone yelling “Help me! Help me!”

Daddy looked around to see the boat that came into the river after us and was about five hundred yards up-stream from where we were, and the young boy was waving his hands in the air with his hat to attract our attention.

Daddy said, “Where is his Dad? I can't see his dad. Carla, Jenny, you two get this anchor in and sit down and hang on, I don't want either of you falling out of the boat.”

We hung on and when we got closer we could see the boy's Dad laying on the floor of the boat. Daddy pulled the two boats together and got a rope and tied them together so we wouldn't start drifting apart.

The boy was frantic and said, “Don’t let him die. Please help him!”

Daddy asked the boy what happened and the boy said, “Pain in his arm and then he collapsed.”

I said Daddy, “I was taught to do CPR on River Downs.” I almost yelled at Jenny to give me a hand and get in the other boat.

I said, “Jenny,' I want you to push down on his chest and say one thousand' and push again until I tell you to stop. Hurry!!”

I then made sure that there was nothing in the man's mouth or throat and held his nose closed and started to blow air into his lungs while Jenny kept up the chest compressions. I felt Jean give me some sort of strange energy which made me feel a lot stronger than I really am, and she was in my mind saying, “Sis, you have to save this man. He will be in our future.”

Daddy kept the boy quiet so he wouldn't get in the way. The man started to breath after a couple of minutes and I asked Daddy to help me roll him on his side so he wouldn't swallow his tongue.

Daddy said, “Wow Carla, I think you just save this man's life.”

I replied, “Daddy, he needs to get to a hospital or he could still die.”

Daddy then asked the boy if he knew how to drive a boat and the boy replied, “Yes”, Daddy then untied the two boats and pulled up the anchor on the man's boat and started up the two outboards and we headed to the boat ramp.

When we got there Daddy told the boy to hang on to the two boats and stop them from drifting away, and he ran to the car and undid the boat trailer and drove off to the nearest public phone box to call for an ambulance. We heard the siren of an ambulance before Daddy even got back to where we were.

By this time the boy was in tears and and was trying to talk to his Dad but I said, “Don't try to make him talk. He just needs to breathe and nothing else ok?”
He just nodded his head and held his Dad's hand and looked like he was praying. The ambulance arrived with two people which wasn't normal for out here on a weekend so the guy must have picked up his mate on the way.

They both jumped out of the ambulance and asked me a heap of questions about what I did with him and then we got him out of the boat and on to an ambulance stretcher and into the back of the ambulance.

The boy said to Daddy, “What about the car and boat mister?”

Daddy replied, “Get the keys out of your Dad's pocket and I will look after that for now.”

The ambulance men knew Daddy, so there was no need for the boy to worry about where the car and boat would be taken. The ambulance took off but did not put on the siren because I guess there is not a lot of traffic in town on a Saturday afternoon. When I asked Daddy why they weren’t using the siren he explained that it causes the patient more stress to have it going.

After our boat was pulled up on to the trailer and secured, Daddy said, “You girls wait here while I take our car and boat back home and pick Tony up to drive me back here to collect the other car and boat.”

We had to secure the mans dingy at the ramp so it wouldn't drift off and while we were doing that we discovered they had quite a nice catch of fish in a bucket in the boat, so we decided to gut and clean the fish before Daddy came back with Uncle Tony. Jenny wasn't too keen on gutting the fish but I learned to do it on River Downs and was quite good at doing it. Once I had cleaned the fish, I washed all the gear in the river and stowed it back in the boat. The fish I put in the washed out bucket and I would put their catch in the freezer when we got home so they could enjoy their fish later sometime.

I said to Jenny, “I hope that man is going to be ok.”

Jenny said, “Well I think you probably saved his life Carla, you were amazing!”

I replied, “But it took the two of us to do the CPR so you are just as responsible for saving him.”

Jenny said, “Yeah, I guess so.”

It wasn't long before Daddy and Uncle Tony were there and they got the second boat out of the water and put it on the trailer. I told Daddy what I had done with the fish, and he said, “Carla you are not just a pretty face are you? First you go and save a man's life and the you even clean his fish for him.”

I replied, “Jenny is a pretty face too Daddy, she helped me as well.”

Uncle Tony said, “And what was your Daddy doing to help?” with a grin on his face.

Daddy said, “Yey!! Watch it Bagla, someone had to supervise the whole operation.”

Uncle Tony then said “You girls can come fishing with me any time you like.”

Anyway Tony got in his car and went home and we did the same.

When we arrived home I said, “Daddy, Jenny and I will get the fish cleaned so Mummy can get dinner under way”

Daddy replied, “Carla, I saw the fish you cleaned and filleted in the bucket. That's a better job than I could do. I'll leave you to it and clean up the boats.”

Rita and Mummy came out to collect the fish so they could go in the oven to be baked and also put the other lot in the freezer for when the guy in hospital recovered.

Mummy said, “Carla the hospital rang and said Mr Jackson is doing ok and his wife is at the hospital and will come to see you and bring young Kenny with her to thank you for what you did.”

Daddy finished cleaning the boats and put them and the cars in his shed and came out and said to Mummy, “Donna you have got an incredible daughter. You should have seen her in action. She saved that man's life!”

I said Daddy, “I got help from Jenny and Jean so it's not all down to me.”

Rita came and gave Jenny and I a hug and said, “My two heroes, I love you both.”

After that we all went in inside. While dinner was being prepared, Jenny and I went and had a shower to get rid of the fishy smell we both had from the day's fishing.

It was about seven o'clock when we heard a car pull up outside and Daddy said, “That will probably be Mrs Jackson to pick up their car.”

We all went outside and saw the police car and Jim the Sargent got out and said, “Ok where is our little hero?”

I replied, “Two heroines.” Jenny and I were holding hands when the lady and the boy got out of the police car and the lady had tears in her eyes when she knelt down and hugged us and just said, “Thank you girls. You have save my husband's life.”

Jenny and I said at the same time, “You're welcome.”

We all went inside and Jim the Sargeant asked Daddy to explain what had occurred on the river. Kenny the boy was apparently still too upset to give a proper account of what happened.

An hour later we gave Mrs Jackson the fish out of the freezer and she got her car out of Daddy's shed but left the boat and trailer there because she isn't used to towing anything be hind the car. She thanked us again and said she would come back tomorrow to take us to see her husband if that was alright with Mummy.

Mummy replied, “That is not a problem.”

Jenny and I talked till late into the night and even communicated with Jean before we drifted of to sleep.

To be continued.

Next time: Meeting the man that Jenny and I saved, and back to school with the choir

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