No Sugar (11 page)

MATRON
: Beg your pardon, but I thought you might—

NEAL
: [
interrupting
] The bloody secession referendum. In favour, one hundred and sixty three thousand six hundred and fifty three, against seventy thousand seven hundred and six.

He stands and walks to the door, thrusting the paper at
MATRON
.

MATRON
: Where are you going?

NEAL
: Moora.

MATRON
: What, holding a wake?

NEAL
: I'm not staying here to listen to you gloat all bloody day.

MATRON
: Well, before you go off to commiserate with your cronies in the hotel, you'd better do something about the runaways.

NEAL
: What bloody runaways?

MATRON
: [
looking him in the eye
] Mary Dargurru, and Joe Millimurra.

NEAL
: Since when?

JIMMY
: Mary wasn't in the dormitory last night, or at breakfast this morning.

NEAL
: Jesus, they'll be miles away. Why didn't you say something last night?

MATRON
: I thought she might have been somewhere else.

NEAL
: [
yelling
] Billy!

MATRON
: Apparently you told her she was going to work at the hospital and stay in the nurses' quarters.

NEAL
: Who told you that? [
Yelling
] Billy!

BILLY
: [
off
] Comin', boss.

MATRON
: It seems she was terrified at the prospect of working in the hospital.

NEAL
: They're all scared of the dead.

MATRON
: I think she was scared of the living.

BILLY
enters, buttoning up his jacket.

NEAL
: Two runaways, Billy! You know Joe Millimurra, Northam native?

BILLY
: Yeah, boss.

NEAL
: And Mary Dargurru?

BILLY
: That one Dargurru, my countryman. [
Pointing with his chin
] She got go back Oombulgarri.

NEAL
: You better get movin'! They'll be at the railway line by now.

BILLY
: Ne'mine boss. I find 'em. Take 'em whip?

NEAL
: Yes, take your whip, and pick up some tucker from the store. Here!

He throws a stick of tobacco onto the floor.
BILLY
picks it up.

BILLY
: Thanks, boss.

BILLY
exits.
MATRON
turns to follow him.

MATRON
: As matron in charge of the hospital, I thought it was my job to allocate nursing aides.

NEAL
: I was only trying to help you.

MATRON
: Or yourself.

She exits.
NEAL
collapses into his chair.

A clearing near the railway line at Mooloombeeni, early morning.
MARY
is curled up asleep under a blanket.
JOE
appears with a billy can of water and his hat full of quandongs. He gently wakes
MARY
. She wakes in fright.

JOE
: Look, quandongs.

MARY
: Oooh, my feet still hurt.

JOE
: Let's have a look.

JOE
washes and rubs her feet. She flinches.

They're a bit skinned. [
Nodding at the quandongs
] Eat 'em.

MARY
: Oh, that feels good. [
She bites into a quandong.
] Aagh! They're sour!

JOE
: They're nice with sugar on 'em.

MARY
jumps up and begins to vomit.
JOE
supports her. A magpie warbles
.

You all right?

MARY
: Gawd! Oh! I've never been sick like that in my life before.

She retches again.

JOE
: You'll be all right once we get on the rattler. We'll get a nice cosy truck.

JOE
sits her down and puts a blanket around her. She rests against him and recovers. A magpie squawks and
JOE
, immediately on his guard, jumps up and grabs his doak.
BILLY KIMBERLEY
appears and rushes at him with a stockwhip in one hand and handcuffs in the other.
JOE
dodges him.
MARY
is sick again as
BILLY
advances slowly and menacingly on
JOE
.

BILLY
: You two fella, silly fella. Everyone run away. Wait here for the choo choo. [
Swinging the whip at
JOE
]

Choo, choo, choo, choo.

JOE
dodges the
w
hip and threatens him with the doak.

JOE
: Go back, old man. I don't want to hurt you.

BILLY
: [
pointing with his chin to
MARY
] She got to come back, she my countryman.

MARY
vomits.
BILLY
drops the handcuffs and the two men crouch and circle each other.

JOE
: She's comin' with me.

BILLY
: She give girl. Mitjer Neal says she gotta come back.

JOE
: Fuck Mr Neal!

BILLY
: You bad boy,
Tjenna Guppi
gunna git you!

JOE
: And fuck the
Tjenna Guppi
too!

JOE
grabs the end of the whip and wrenches it from
BILLY
, sending him tumbling forward.
JOE
leaps on him and twists the whip around his neck.
MARY
staggers across to them. The train whistle blows in the distance.

MARY
: Joe, Joe you choking him!

JOE
: I'll kill the old bastard!

MARY
: Get up off him. Please! Please, for my sake!

JOE
: Gimme them handcuffs! Handcuffs, quick!

MARY
throws him the handcuffs.
JOE
handcuffs
BILLY
's hands in front of him, releases the whip and throws it down. He starts to go through
BILLY
's pockets.

[
To
MARY
] You run, run, ru–un flat out to the hill! I'll catch you up!

MARY
starts to pick up their possessions.

Leave them! Just run… Run!

MARY
runs, hopping painfully on bruised and lacerated feet.
JOE
finds the keys to the handcuffs and throws them away. He picks up their gear
.

You shouldn't fight young fella, old man. Here, tucker.

JOE
thrusts quandongs into
BILLY
's pockets, pushes his hat down over his head, and runs after
MARY
.

BILLY
: Thas awright, thas awright.
Gudeeah
politjman git you bye and bye, you see.

BILLY
picks up his whip with his handcuffed hands, pokes it in his belt and walks off slowly. The train thunders past.

The Superintendent's Office, Moore River, day.
BILLY
, still handcuffed,
limps past the Long Pool Camp followed by
DAVID
,
CISSIE
and
TOPSY
, all shouting ‘Black crow, black crow'.
MR NEAL
reads the paper at his desk as
BILLY
approaches.

BILLY
: Mitjer Neal, Mitjer Neal! Eh boss!

NEAL
: Come in.

BILLY
enters.

Jesus, what the bloody hell happened?!

BILLY
: He bin chuck me off my 'orse and he bin knock me silly fella with a
waddi
.

MATRON
walks in briskly with an arm full of linen. She stops in her tracks when she sees
BILLY
.

MATRON
: Goodness me, what happened?

NEAL
: Well, he never caught Millimurra, Millimurra caught him.

MATRON
: [
putting the linen on
NEAL
's desk
] Oh, you poor man, where's the keys?

NEAL
: Listen, Billy, where did you catch up with them?

BILLY
: I bin find 'em Moolambeenee.

NEAL
: Where were they heading?

BILLY
: And that fella bin say he gunna hang me from Christmas tree like that.

He demonstrates.

Eh boss, you bin take 'em off handcuffs now?

MATRON
: Where are the keys?

NEAL
: All right, which way did they go?

BILLY
: They bin run along train line. Train comin', whoo, whoo!

NEAL
: All right, which— way— was— the— train— going?

BILLY
: Goin' along train line.

NEAL
: I know that, you blithering stone-age idiot!

MATRON
: [
pointing left and then right
] Billy, was the train going that way or that way?

BILLY
: [
pointing with his chin to her left
] He bin go that way,
Kaggardu
.

NEAL
: You bloody fool of a man! What did you let him jump the bloody train for?

BILLY
: He bin knock me silly fella, with a big stone. [
Indicating his back and then ribs
] He bin kill 'em me here, here, and in the guts. Aw, he bad fella. [
Desperately, almost in tears
] Eh boss, you bin take 'em off handcuffs now?

NEAL
: [
to
MATRON
] Get the keys out of his pocket.

BILLY
: No key, boss.

NEAL
: Where are they?

MATRON
starts to find quandongs.

BILLY
: Dunno, boss… that one, he bin—

NEAL
: [
interrupting
] You bloody incompetent savage. Where are the fuckin' keys?

BILLY
: He bin chuck 'em away. He bad boy that one!

MATRON
has a handful of quandongs but no keys.
NEAL
puts his hat on and prepares to leave.

NEAL
: Come on, looks like a blacksmith's job.

MATRON
: Then you'd better send him down to the hospital. I'll examine him and give him some dinner.

MATRON
looks at them and at the quandongs.

BILLY
: They good tucker, missus.

She laughs.

NEAL
: I can't see anything funny about this.

MATRON
: I know you can't.

NEAL
and
BILLY
walk off.
MATRON
bites on a quandong but it's bitterly sour. She picks up the linen and leaves.

END OF ACT TWO

Government Well Aboriginal Reserve, Northam, day. A few burnt out relics of the camp remain.
JOE
and
MARY
stare about blankly.

JOE
: Grass ain't burnt.

MARY
: What d'ya mean?

JOE
:
Manatj
… [
Bitterly
] Burned everything, those bastards! [
He looks at the rubble.
] We camped just 'ere.

He leads
MARY
to the spot.

[
Pointing up and off
] See them rocks up there? Me and Cissie used to slide down them on pieces of tin when we was little. Magpies used to nest in that white gum tree.

MARY
: Probably still do.

JOE
: Yeah, s'pose so.

He sifts through the rubble and unearths a rabbit trap.

One a' Dad's.

He finds a wine bottle.

One of Uncle Jimmy's.

He puts it down carefully and continues the search.

MARY
: Where did you get water?

JOE
: Soak, down the creek.

MARY
: Good
kaep
?

JOE
: Sometimes. Mum used to always growl about it. She used to reckon it was harder than Uncle Jimmy's head. She'd be real upset if she saw the place now. Gran too. 'Specially Gran.

He sees something, off.

Oh, no!

He drags on the burnt remains of
DAVID
's bike.

MARY
: Whose was that?

JOE
: Bastards! They reckon they was gunna look after everything we left behind.

MARY
: Never mind, it's all over now.

JOE
: It'll never be over!

He throws the bike down viciously.

MARY
: Come on,
dubakieny
.

JOE
picks up a rabbit trap and inspects it. He is pleased with it and they walk off.

A street in Northam, day.
JOE
and
MARY
carry their swag, billy can and the rabbit trap.
SERGEANT CARROL
approaches.

SERGEANT
: Hey… You're one of the Millimurras, aren't you?… Joe?

JOE
: Yeah.

SERGEANT
: What are you doin' back in Northam?

JOE
: We're livin' here.

SERGEANT
: Who's this?

JOE
: Me missus.

SERGEANT
: Where are you staying?

JOE
: Not at the Shamrock, that's for sure!

SERGEANT
: You can't camp at Government Well.

JOE
: What did you burn everything for?

SERGEANT
: We're simply following orders.

JOE
: What, to burn a push bike? I thought you were meant to look after our stuff till we come back.

SERGEANT
: Look! I don't know nothing about no push bike.

JOE
: What about rations?

SERGEANT
: I can't help you there. Since all the natives have shifted out, Northam is no longer a ration depot.

JOE
: We never shifted out, we was booted out. Anyway, what happened to the horses?

SERGEANT
: They were in terrible nick. We had to shoot one, the other one's down at Martin's, I think.

JOE
: Trust him to grab one.

SERGEANT
: He didn't grab it, it just wandered onto his property.

MARY
grabs
JOE
's sleeve and tries to lead him away.

MARY
: Come on, Joe!

SERGEANT
: Where's the rest of your lot? Not here, I hope.

JOE
: You oughta know where they are, you dragged 'em there.

SERGEANT
: All right, all right. Look, I don't care where they are so long as they're not here. Just make yourself scarce and don't go campin' anywhere you're not s'posed to be—and that includes Government Well.

JOE
: Yeah, you made sure of that!

The policeman exits.
JOE
watches him go.
MARY
tugs at him and they exit.

Northam Police Station, day.
SERGEANT CARROL
enters. At the Protector of Aborigines' Office, Perth,
MISS DUNN
steps in briskly and settles to typing.
SERGEANT CARROL
picks up the phone.

SERGEANT
: Hello. Hello, operator, a Perth number: B-M-nine-seven-oh-seven. Nine-seven-oh-seven. Yes, thanks Sybil, can't complain. Yourself?

He hangs up as
MR NEVILLE
enters his office, carrying a briefcase.

NEVILLE
: Good morning, Miss Dunn. You're bright and early.

MISS DUNN
: Good morning, Mr Neville. I thought I'd get a few pages of your Royal Commission submission typed before the telephone starts for the day.

Her telephone rings. She answers it.

Hello, Aborigines Department… yes… [
To
NEVILLE
] It's Sergeant Carrol, Northam.

The phone rings in the police station.
SERGEANT CARROL
answers it.

NEVILLE
: Thank you. Would you mind having a look at the mail when you have a moment?

NEVILLE
goes to his desk and takes the call.
MISS DUNN
hangs up.

SERGEANT
: Hello, Northam Police. Hello.

NEVILLE
: Hello. Hello, Sergeant. Neville, Aborigines.

SERGEANT
: Hello.

NEVILLE
: Hello, Sergeant. Are you on the line?

SERGEANT
: Hello, Mr Neville. It's a crook line.

NEVILLE
: There's an appalling cracking noise, but I can hear you. Did you find out how many—

SERGEANT
: [
interrupting
] As far as I can ascertain, the only natives here are Joe Millimurra and girl who he claims is his wife—Mary, I think. They're not actually camped in the town.

NEVILLE
: Dargurru.

SERGEANT
: Pardon?

NEVILLE
: The girl. Mary Dargurru. Rhymes with kangaroo. D-A-R-G-U-double R-U.

The
SERGEANT
fumbles for a pencil and writes on the desk.

SERGEANT
:… Double R, U. Yeah… Haven't had any bother with them. Millimurra's working at Lockyers, they're not collecting rations.

NEVILLE
: Well, I've had two letters from the Town Clerk. The Council's still adamant that no natives remain in the Northam area.

SERGEANT
: I know, I had a yarn with the Town Clerk last week; they're putting something into this Royal Commission, apparently.

NEVILLE
: Well, you'd better apprehend them, anyway.

SERGEANT
: What about warrants?

NEVILLE
: Dargurru's a minor, and Millimurra's guilty of absconding with her: it carries a mandatory six months. You can hold him on the existing warrant; the girl can be sent down here under escort. I'll organise to have her met at Midland. Can you pick them up today?

SERGEANT
: Yeah, I suppose so.

NEVILLE
: Good, and let me know if any more natives return to the district. I've written to the Town Clerk letting him know that any Northam natives released from the settlement have undertaken not to return to the Northam District.

SERGEANT
: Good-oh, Mr Neville.

NEVILLE
: And let me know which train you're putting the girl on.

SERGEANT
: Good-oh, sir.

NEVILLE
: Thankyou, Sergeant.

They hang up as
MISS DUNN
puts a thick pile of typing on
NEVILLE
's desk.

MISS DUNN
: That's the section on settlements completed.

NEVILLE
: [
taking a pile of notes from his briefcase
] Oh thankyou. Here's the next lot, keep you busy for a while. Did you get a chance to do the mail?

MISS DUNN
: Yes; a couple of accounts and a letter from the Western Australian Historical Association.

NEVILLE
: What do they want?

MISS DUNN
: They'd like you to present a paper at their next meeting. Shall I write and tell them you're too busy at present?

NEVILLE
: No, I'm very interested; I'll reply myself.

He begins drafting a reply while she commences typing.
CONSTABLE KERR
enters the police station and begins to remove his hat and coat.

SERGEANT
: Leave them on, your coming with me.

CONSTABLE
: Where's the fire?

SERGEANT
: Picking up a couple of natives, Joe Millimurra and Mary…

He reads the desk and copies the name onto a scrap of paper.

Darg… something.

CONSTABLE
: What for?

SERGEANT
: Absconding. Council, George Withnall and Ray Brew and so on have been getting on the Chief Protector's back. [
Starting to search
] Do you know where those warrants for their removal are?

CONSTABLE
: Haven't seen them for months. What's the panic? They've been here for weeks.

SERGEANT
: Oh, you know all this Royal Commission business. Some mob of do-gooder women are kicking up about them being shifted out before the election.

He finds the warrants.

You can stop looking now, Constable… [
reading
] ‘Lawrence'… ‘Lawson'… ‘Millimurra'. Come on. Royal Commission on Natives; they had one about thirty years ago. A waste of bloody time, like the bloody referendum; they'll just stick it in some government filing cabinet and forget about it.

A street in Northam, day.
JOE
is approached by
SERGEANT CARROL
and
CONSTABLE KERR
.

SERGEANT
: G'day, Joe. Where's the girl?

JOE
: What girl?

CONSTABLE
: Don't be smart, just answer the question.

JOE
: Don't have to be smart to answer your questions.

SERGEANT
: Where is she?

JOE
: What do you want her for?

CONSTABLE
: Listen, you cheeky bla—

SERGEANT
: [
interrupting
] I'll handle this. Come on, Joe, where is she?

JOE
: Out at Lockyers.

SERGEANT
: You are under arrest under Section Twelve of the Aborigines Act for absconding from the Moore River Settlement with, urn…

He takes the piece of paper out of his pocket and peruses it.

JOE
: What for? We're not livin' in town.

SERGEANT
:… With Mary Dargurru.

JOE
: Why are youse worryin' about us now? We been back in Northam for nearly two months.

SERGEANT
: Because Mr Neville only contacted me this morning.

JOE
: What about Mary?

SERGEANT
: The girl? She'll be returned to the settlement.

JOE
: Back to that bastard.

SERGEANT
: What do you mean by that?

JOE
: It's my business.

CONSTABLE
: Hold out your hands.

He produces handcuffs.

JOE
: You ain't puttin' them on me.

CONSTABLE
: Are you resisting arrest?

JOE
: No I'm not… I just don't want them things on me.

SERGEANT
: [
to the
CONSTABLE
] Don't worry about them. If he runs he'll only get an extra couple of months.

JOE
: I'm not gunna run.

SERGEANT
: Take him down the lock-up.

JOE
: Sergeant, will you tell Mary where I am? She's out at Lockyers, on the York Road.

SERGEANT
: Yeah, I know. I'll tell her.

The
SERGEANT
exits.

CONSTABLE
: Come on, get movin'.

JOE
doesn't move.

Get movin'!

JOE
: I'm not walkin' in front of you.

CONSTABLE
: Why not?

JOE
: You're not the sort of bloke I want to turn me back to.

They walk off slowly, side by side.

AUBER OCTAVIUS NEVILLE
, groomed and dressed smartly, addresses the Royal Western Australian Historical Society. Behind him is a portrait of the King, the Union Jack and the Western Australian flag. He nears the end of a long speech.

NEVILLE
: Ladies and gentlemen of the Historical Society, it has been a great privilege and pleasure to address you here tonight at a time when, with Mr Mosley's Royal Commission, the welfare of our Aboriginal and coloured folk is somewhat more than usually in the public arena. If I may beg your indulgence for a few more minutes, I shall conclude with a brief word about those early years when that little band of pioneers, fewer than one hundred souls, led by Captain Stirling, laid anchor in the Swan River, little knowing that they faced in the fertile valleys of the South-West alone some thirteen thousand savages. Stirling's first acts was to issue a proclamation regarding the treatment of the native inhabitants.