Kitty now knew the condition and the symptoms as thoroughly as she knew the common cold. She had been intrigued to catch a glimpse of a diver for the first time, a young Japanese man who was being fitted into a new diving suit that Andrew had ordered from England. The slight man had climbed into the enormous beige canvas suit and a heavy spherical bronze helmet had been lowered over his head and screwed on tightly at his collar. His feet were weighed down by leaden boots and his crewmates supported him as they checked that the airflow through the slim pipe was working correctly.
She’d shuddered at the thought of all those tons of water pressing down on the man’s frame as he dived twenty fathoms below, protected only by flimsy canvas and the precious air that flowed through his lifeline. The intense pressure could severely damage the ears and joints and, if a diver persevered, it could lead to paralysis and death, a condition known as the bends.
‘God rest his soul.’ Kitty crossed herself. ‘They are brave men.’
‘Who are paid a fortune to be brave,’ Andrew pointed out. ‘I’ve had another request to up their wages, and still I hear talk of this ridiculous “no blacks” policy actually being implemented in Broome. Can you imagine whites ever signing up to do the job?’
‘No,’ she replied, ‘but then no matter what their skin colour, I cannot imagine anyone risking death every day simply to earn money.’
‘My dear, you have never known starvation, or the responsibility these men feel to earn as much for their families as they possibly can.’
‘You are right,’ she said quietly, irritated at how Andrew could encompass both avarice and morality in a few short sentences. She stood up. ‘I think I’ll retire for a nap.’
‘Of course. Shall I send for Dr Blick to call on you this evening?’
‘I doubt he can tell me more than that the baby is not yet ready to make its entrance into the world, and I know that all too well.’
‘Mother told me that most first babies are late.’
But most of their mothers were not living in Broome, with the wet season approaching, Kitty thought to herself as she nodded at him and left the room.
Camira woke her later that evening and placed a cup of something noxious-smelling on her nightstand.
‘Missus Boss, baby nottum come. Not good. We helpa little fella, yes?’ She proffered the cup to Kitty. ‘My women drinkum this. Missus Boss, it is time.’
‘What’s in it?’
‘Natural. From the earth. No harm. Drinkum now.’
And Kitty, desperate as she was, did as she was told.
The pains started a few hours later, and as Kitty rose to use the privy, a splash heralded the breaking of her waters. Calling for Andrew, who was currently sleeping next door in his dressing room, Kitty walked back to the bedroom and lay down.
‘The baby is coming,’ she told him as he arrived at the door.
‘I will send for Dr Blick immediately.’
‘And Camira,’ Kitty said, as a contraction surged through her. ‘I want Camira with me.’
‘I will get her now,’ Andrew promised as he dressed hurriedly and shot off.
Throughout that long feverish night, as the thunderclouds gathered above Broome, Kitty could remember little, apart from the pain and the soothing voice of Camira.
Dr Blick had arrived – from the look of his rolling countenance, straight from a drinking den on Sheba Lane.
‘What is a black doing in the birthing room?’ he’d slurred to Andrew.
‘Leave her!’ Kitty had shouted, as Camira hummed under her breath and rubbed Kitty’s back.
Andrew shrugged his shoulders at the doctor and nodded. After a fast examination, Dr Blick told her there was plenty of time to go and that she was to call if she needed him. Then he left the room. So it was Camira who encouraged her to stand up, to pace the floor ‘and walka the baby outta there, as I singa it here’.
At four in the morning, the clouds finally burst and the rain started to pelt on the tin roof.
‘He’s-a coming, he’s-a coming, Missus Boss, very soon now . . . dunna you worry.’
And as the lightning flashed above them, illuminating the garden outside and Camira’s trance-like expression, with a huge push and a crash of thunder, Kitty’s baby arrived into the world.
Kitty lay there, unable to do anything but pant with relief that the pain was over. She raised her head to see her baby, but instead saw Camira between her legs, biting on something.
‘What are you doing?’ she whispered hoarsely.
‘I’m-a settin’ him free, Missus Boss. Here.’ She swept the baby up in her arms, turned it upside down on her palm and slapped its bottom hard. At this indignity, the baby gave out a loud shriek and started to cry.
‘Here now, Missus Boss. Holdum your baby. I get docta fella.’ Then she stroked Kitty’s forehead. ‘He big strong boy. You clever woman.’
And with that, she left the room.
Dr Blick, who had obviously been sleeping off last night’s entertainment in the drawing room, staggered through the door.
‘Good Lord! That was a fast labour,’ he commented, as he tried to wrestle the baby out of Kitty’s arms.
‘He is well, Doctor, and I wish him to stay with me.’
‘But I must check him over. It is a “he”?’
‘Yes, and he is perfect.’
‘Then I shall tidy you up down below.’
She watched as Dr Blick lifted the clean sheet that Camira had placed over her.
‘Well now, I see there’s no need.’ Dr Blick had the grace to blush as he realised he’d slept through the entire event.
‘Would you ask my husband to come in to see his son?’
‘Of course, dear lady. I am glad for all that it was such a smooth and fast process.’
Yes, it was, because Camira was here and you were not, thought Kitty.
As Andrew entered the bedroom, Kitty thanked all of the stars in the sky that Camira had returned to her.
Broome, Western Australia
December 1911
16
‘My dear, I need to discuss something with you,’ said Andrew, folding his copy of the Northern Times and putting it neatly by his breakfast plate.
‘And what might that be?’
‘Father wants me to sail to Singapore in the new year, and from there travel with him to Europe. He wishes me to meet his contacts in Germany, France and London, because he has finally had enough of travelling and wants me to take over the sales side of the pearls too. We will be away for nearly three months. I had thought of asking you to accompany me, but it will be an arduous trip at that time of year when the seas are so rough. Especially for a child not yet four years old. I presume you wouldn’t be prepared to leave Charlie behind with Camira?’
‘Good Lord, no!’ replied Kitty. Charlie was the sun in her morning and her moon at night. She missed him after an hour, let alone three months. ‘Are you sure he couldn’t come with us?’
‘As you know yourself, life on board ship can be dull and unpleasant. We shall not be stopping at any port for longer than a day or two. I must be back by the end of March for the start of the new season.’
‘Then perhaps I could sail on from London with Charlie and travel up to Edinburgh? I would very much like my mother, and the rest of my family, to meet him. My new brother, Matthew, is almost five, and has never yet met his big sister.’
‘Darling, I promise that next year, when I am finally master of my own timetable, we shall travel back to Scotland together. Perhaps for Christmas?’
‘Oh yes!’ Kitty closed her eyes in pleasure.