The Silent Country
Di Morrissey
The Silent Country
First published in Macmillan in 2009 by Pan Macmillan Australia Pty Limited
1 Market Street, Sydney
Copyright © Lady Byron Pty Ltd 2009
The moral right of the author has been asserted.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted by any person or entity (including Google, Amazon or similar organisations), in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, scanning or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.
National Library of Australia
Cataloguing-in-Publication data:
Morrissey, Di.
The silent country / Di Morrissey.
ISBN 978-1-4050-3939-0 (pbk.)
Northern Territory – Fiction.
A823.3
Typeset in 12.5/15 pt Sabon by Post Pre-press Group
Printed in Australia by McPherson’s Printing Group
Internal illustrations by Ted Hutchinson © Ted Hutchinson
www.tedhutchinson.com
The characters in this book are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
Papers used by Pan Macmillan Australia Pty Ltd are natural, recyclable products made from wood grown in sustainable forests. The manufacturing processes conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin.
These electronic editions published in 2009 by Pan Macmillan Australia Pty Ltd
1 Market Street, Sydney 2000
The moral right of the author has been asserted.
All rights reserved. This publication (or any part of it) may not be reproduced or transmitted, copied, stored, distributed or otherwise made available by any person or entity (including Google, Amazon or similar organisations), in any form (electronic, digital, optical, mechanical) or by any means (photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise) without prior written permission from the publisher.
The Silent Country
Di Morrissey
Adobe eReader format | 978-1-74198-655-6 |
EPub format | 978-1-74198-767-6 |
Mobipocket format | 978-1-74198-711-9 |
Online format | 978-1-74198-599-3 |
Macmillan Digital Australia
www.macmillandigital.com.au
Visit
www.panmacmillan.com.au
to read more about all our books and to buy both print and ebooks online. You will also find features, author interviews and news of any author events.
Di Morrissey is one of the most successful bestselling writers Australia has produced. She began writing as a young woman, training and working as a journalist for Australian Consolidated Press in Sydney and Northcliffe Newspapers in London. She worked in television in Australia and Hawaii and in the USA as a presenter, reporter, producer and actress. After her marriage to a US diplomat, Peter Morrissey, they were posted to Singapore, Thailand, South America and Washington, DC. During this time she worked as a freelance journalist, TV and film scriptwriter and radio broadcaster, appeared in theatre productions and had several short stories published. Returning to Australia, Di continued to work in television before publishing her first novel in 1991.
Di has a daughter, Dr Gabrielle Hansen and her daughter, Sonoma, is Di’s first grandchild. Di’s son, Nick Morrissey, is a Buddhist scholar and lecturer.
Di and her partner, Boris Janjic, divide their time between Byron Bay and the Manning Valley in New South Wales when not travelling to research her novels, which are all inspired by a particular landscape.
Also by Di Morrissey
in order of publication
Heart of the Dreaming
The Last Rose of Summer
Follow the Morning Star
The Last Mile Home
Tears of the Moon
When the Singing Stops
The Songmaster
Scatter the Stars
Blaze
The Bay
Kimberley Sun
Barra Creek
The Reef
The Valley
Monsoon
The Islands
There has come a time when we can no longer remain silent, but speak up for our country which is being sold, abused, mined, depleted, drained, over-worked, over-loved, its plants and animals becoming endangered and exterminated faster than we can know them.
Our country is silent. So we must speak and act to save it.
This novel is set prior to the Federal Government’s intervention in 2007 into the Northern Territory.
DM
July 2009
To Sonoma Grace . . . my first grandchild.
With the hope that you will experience the natural
beauty of Australia and know a country which has been
cared for, respected and left for generations to enjoy and
appreciate. And that you too, will fight to keep it so
.
To Lloyd Wood, (and lovely Margaret) who shared the story of his outback expedition which inspired the idea for this novel.
To my family who share my days and to those we remember with love.
Special love to my children Nick and Gabrielle (and all their extended families who love them too).
Darling Boris, thanks for being there for me every minute of every day. I love you.
Elizabeth Adams. Thanks for all your advice (even that unasked for!) and being a shoulder and a friend through life’s daily tribulations. And for being such a fantastic editor. Your input is invaluable and I even enjoy our arguments!
There are so many kind and helpful people who took time and trouble to answer questions, show me places, share knowledge:
My friend Susan Bradley for sharing her passion and knowledge of the North. Graeme Sawyer, Lord Mayor of Darwin and fighter for the environment. Ian Morris, Ecologist and Conservationist who shared his deep understanding of the landscape of Kakadu, Arnhem Land and its people. Françoise Barr, Archivist, Northern Territory Archives Service for her help in the Darwin Archives. Keith Adams (see
www.crocodilesafariman.com
) and my good friend, the Honourable Malarndirri (Barbara) McCarthy, M.L.A., Member for Arnhem.
To everyone at my publisher, Pan Macmillan – James Fraser, father of the lovely Casey, for being supportive, understanding and always ready with a laugh; Ross Gibb, our fearless leader; my great buddy Jane Novak who is a tower of strength when we hit the road and whose awareness and sensitivity to indigenous issues has been helpful; Roxarne Burns, Jeannine Fowler, Elizabeth Foster, Katie Crawford, Jane Hayes and Maria Fassoulas and all the phenomenal sales team; everyone at the warehouse and the fabulous reps; and Rowena Lennox for her meticulous copy editing.
And of course, the wise and wonderful Ian Robertson, gourmand, raconteur, family man and friend who also happens to be my lawyer.
I
T WAS A SHORT
, dead-end street lined with small white cottages. Years before, children had ridden bikes and scooters along the quiet road in safety. Now cars lined it, or were parked on the grass and double parked at the rear of the houses in a small laneway. Children’s laughter was absent. Men and women came and went in a hurried, sometimes harried, manner. Lights frequently burned late into the night.
Behind the tiny street rose a large tower spiked with aerials, antennae and metal dishes. Around it were large grey cement studios surrounded by a bitumen parking lot filled with trucks, vans and a helicopter landing pad. The shadow of the Network Eleven tower fell across the red rooftops, a sentinel that dominated the surrounding residential suburbs.
A car pulled up and double parked outside the cottage with number 8 on its letterbox. A girl jumped out and hurried up the path, opening the front door where a small stencilled sign said ‘Our Country’. The noise inside contrasted with the silent street. Chatter, people calling to each other, ringing phones and, from what was once a bedroom, voices on a tape that was being rewound forwards and backwards to edit.
She tossed her car keys in a bowl on the table inside the front door. Like all the other key rings there, it had a tag attached to it for identification. She strode into the kitchen and poured herself a cup of coffee from the large coffeemaker. A man was making himself a piece of toast.
‘Morning, Stu, I’ve parked behind you. You must have got here early.’
‘I’ve been editing all night. What’ve you got on this week, Veronica?’
‘Chasing stories. We’re a bit thin on the ground. Everything seems a bit too peaceful and dull.’