Pearls by Colin Falconer Read Free Book Online

turned away, thrusting his fists deep into the pockets of his trousers.
    Kate gave a small shrug and went back into the dining room where Flynn was regaling Henry and Elizabeth with the story of how he had once eaten a live cockroach for a bet. She supposed they would both be thankful they need never have her father's knees under their dinner table again.
     
    ***
     
    'You ... you ... you refused him?' Flynn was almost speechless with fury. The polished jarrah floorboards shook as he stalked the living room of their bungalow. 'But he's the most eligible man in Broome!'
    'Yes, that's what he said.'
    'Then why did you turn him down for God's sake? I had to endure four hours of Henry Niland droning on about his dreary book-keeping methods! Why in God's name did you say no?'
    'Because I don't love him.'
    A vein in Flynn's temple formed itself into a hard, bulging knot. 'What's that got to do with anything? Marrying George Niland would assure a future for both of us! I'd become a partner in one of the biggest pearling companies in Australia and you'd be the wife of the man who owned it! What more do you want, you stupid girl?'
    'There's more to life than money,' Kate said. She turned on her heel and went into her bedroom, slamming the door.
    'No there isn't!' Flynn screamed after her. Then he took off his shoe and threw it.
     
     

Chapter 9
     
    Her secret life.
    He came every night, an hour after dark. If her father was home - and that was rare enough these days - she would not come out. If Flynn wondered why she no longer berated him for spending every night at the Bosun's Regret he never said.
    She would see the glow of his cigarette in the darkened garden from her bedroom window as he waited for a while and then left. But most other nights they talked in low whispers on the darkness, the smell of tobacco on his shirt and frangipani in the air. She could talk to him about anything, the way she had never talked to anyone in her life.
    He had seen worlds she longed to know about - Glasgow London Inverness Singapore Hong Kong and Manila. She loved to listen to him; it didn't matter what he said. She loved the rich music of his voice and his accented brogue.
    He brought the world alive for her, from the cold dark lochs to the green and shadowy deeps of the Lascepedes. Listening to him, she could almost feel the scratchy wool of the jumpers they wore under their diving suits, the drag of lead boots on her feet, the hiss of bubbles in the helmet valves. She was in awe of his courage.
    She once asked him if he ever felt afraid. 'Afraid? Aye but a man cannae afford to feel afraid.'
    'But isn't everyone afraid of something?'
    'What are you afraid of, lass?'
    'I'm afraid of being trapped in a marriage with a man I don't love. I'm afraid that if I love someone I'll lose them.'
    He rolled a cigarette one handed. A match flared for a moment in the dark. 'That's always the risk with loving. Loving too much and not loving enough. It's a fine piece of balance and it seems to me not many manage it.'
    'It seems that way.'
    'So you want to love and be loved back. It does nae seem much to ask of life, does it?'
    'I've not known many who have done it. What about you Cam?'
    'You know what I want.'
    'A pearl.'
    'And the respect it will bring me.'
    'Is that why you risk your neck up here in the middle of nowhere?'
    'Kate, I was born in a slum. My father cannae read nor write. I know what I was meant for and I will nae have it. I know I was born for better things and I mean to have them but not because I'm in love with money. I want ...'
    'Want what?'
    'To be as good as anyone else.'
    'But you are.'
    'Aye? Tell that to George Niland and the like.'
    'Is there place for a woman in this picture?'
    'A woman like you, Kate? Flynn would call the police if he knew I was even talking to you.'
    'Well you did break his nose. Not that he hasn't had it broken before. But you could bury the past if you wanted.'
    'Why would I do that?'
    'For my sake.'
    She