And up
This time the mother leads Billie by the hand to her daughter's room.
She speaks to her little girl in foreign words and leaves the room
and returns with a tray of hot chocolate and biscuits. Then both the girls
are bathed, dressed in pajamas and put to bed inside clean, wonderful
smelling sheets.
The next morning when the two little girls arrive at their school,
they are immediately surrounded by Police who had been lying in wait for
them to arrive, (very much afraid they would not do so.) Identifying
which one was Billie, she is scooped up, put on the police motorbike;
another policeman hops up on the back behind her; and sandwiched between
the two, Billie was taken home.
Billie did not really want to go home. The only time she was really, really
scared was when she walked into the black-fellas camp. There was a great
big fire and a lot of black faces that stared up at her; the flames of the
fire reflected and danced in their eyes.....with an unmistakable sense of fear....
Billie recognized that look, she has seen it in her father's eyes.
It is always there when he is cross. Sometimes he gets so angry, especially
with big brother Jimmy and little sister Miriam. Her father has bashed up
all the kids at some time.....he's been like that since he came home from the war....
NO, Billie did not really want to go home.
