Evan's Gallipoli (8 page)
More soldiers in carts. They came up quickly and we had nowhere to hide so we stood and watched them. Father bowed his head and began praying but not too loud. Another officer on a fine horse flung a paper-wrapped coin to Isaiah. He caught it. He is very fast when it comes to coins, which Abdul says is a Jewish trait. Then he told me that only Jews are allowed to lend money on interest so how can he be so rude about them being good at money? Sometimes I really do not like Abdul.
We had a stroke of luck today. A carriage came past and drew to a halt when the driver saw Isaiah. He called out to us and offered us a lift into the next village. Father is finding walking hard so we accepted. It was very bouncy and uncomfortable but so fast! The miles flew by. Soon we were in Kadikoy. It is a nice village with stone houses and the driver took us into the stable and said we could stay there for the night. Isaiah gave him some salt wrapped in paper. The driver seemed very pleased with this. Perhaps salt is valuable here. The driver says he is not Muslim and invited us into the house attached to the stable. There was a crucifix on the wall of the dining room. We were offered water to wash inâI accepted, Abdul did notâand a meal with luxuries like oranges. The driver is called Ezekiel. He is much younger than Isaiah, a jolly man with curly hair and white teeth. He has three little daughters and a wife who is a very good cook and he says that he is happy. We all sat down around the low table and I ate too much. It was all so good. Lamb cooked on skewers and rice with cinnamon. Father said grace and we all bowed our heads. The stable had a good load of hay for so late in the season. I am full and sleepy.
We must take the paths to the sea now; the road goes inland to Erikli. Isaiah urged Father to rest for the day until his feet heal a bitâhe has blistersâand tomorrow we might be able to hitch a lift some of the way to the sea with the carts that carry fish from the fishing villages. They must be pretty smelly by the time they reach the inland. In Australia we say that three days out of the sea and the fish should only be fed to cats. Bit harsh on the cats, I say. I have nothing to do and I really don't want to leave Father. He seems to be a bit feverish and wandering in his wits today. Isaiah has gone out to sell things and Abdul has vanished and there is just Father, me and the horses in this stable. I wish I had a book to read. I wish that thief Mehmet hadn't stolen my
Iliad
. I'm still angry with him. It is a fault over which I must pray. I must forgive Mehmet.
LATER I tried really hard to forgive Mehmet but I still hate him. I am a flawed soul. But I already knew that.
Got to some unnamed village by fish cart. I am so bruised and I stink to heaven. More later, after I have a wash.
LATER That's better. I have also washed my shirt and trousersâwith soap, in hot water! We are staying in the garden pavilion of a lady called Rachel. Isaiah gave me a message to deliver for him and she asked us to stay. This is a beautiful garden. There are lots of climbing plants, flowers, even a patch of green lawn. When I was all clean again I lay down on it and breathed in the scent of green. I was so happy that I almost fell asleep. Father just murmured that it was the Garden of Eden. He is sitting on the garden bench staring at the budding plants. The air smells of water. I hope that we might stay here tomorrow too. It is Sunday, after all. Abdul vanished into another house. It is still Ramadan so I expect that he has gone to his mosque. These people are very devout. I was sorry to say goodbye to Isaiah but he said that we might meet again.
Rachel said that we could stay until tomorrow. No one has asked after us in this village. She said that one should not travel on one's holy day. I think that she is Jewish, so her holy day is Saturday, not Sunday. She sent her servants, who are Turkish, to bring us food. They told me that she is a great lady and kind, but not to be crossed. I am surrounded with the scent of flowers. Father is right: heaven is like this. As a great treat Rachel sent us some sherbet. It is like little ice crystals flavoured with lemon and rosewater. Sort of like ice cream without the cream. I have never tasted anything so delicious. I repaired and washed all our clothes and put a patch on Father's boot. Abdul did not come back to us. I am afraid that we have lost him. My Turkish is good enough to ask for directions so I suppose we do not need him but I am sorry, anyway.
Out on the road again. The lady of the house gave me a message for a man in the next village which I will deliver and we can get a lift in a cart. This one was carrying hay, which was an improvement on fish. Abdul joined us at breakfast. He is sulking and won't talk to me. I can't imagine what is wrong with him.
LATER After a very hot and bumpy journey we got to this village. I saw Father into the barn where we are staying and went to the house of Mr Rahman. I was shown into a small sitting room while Mr Rahman was fetched. He was a fat, busy man and the room stank of tobacco (which he wasn't supposed to be smoking because of the fast). I gave him Rachel's message. It was a simple one, asking about the price of oranges. He behaved very strangely. He took my hand in his fat paws and whispered, âHow goes the struggle?' and when he saw that I did not know what he meant, he slapped me on the shoulder, told me I was a good boy, gave me a silver lire and another message to deliver in the next village. Then he practically shoved me out into the street. I went back to the barn very puzzled. I wouldn't have thought that the price of oranges was so important. I said so to Abdul. He was odd too. He told me never to mention the price of oranges to anyone. I hope we get to the border soon.
Father seems better after our rest in the garden pavilion. He actually called me Evan today. We travelled in another hay truck. This was mechanical rather than horse-drawn. It was just as hot and bumpy, however. This is another village just the same as the others. White houses, red roofs, olive trees, sunflowers. But we are approaching the sea again. I can almost hear it. In my bones, perhaps. We were lodged in another barn. It was fine after I herded the goats to one side and swept the floor. This is a rich family. They have two horses, as well as the goats. I love horses. These are well fed and shiny and very friendly. Abdul does not like horses and says the future of transport is in mechanical vehicles like trucks and cars. After I bought food for Father and myself I was allowed to currycomb the gelding. He nuzzled me. I wished I could ride him. I wonder if I have forgotten how to ride? Then I went out for a little walk. I wandered into the market. Not much for sale. Not even oranges. Something is going on, but I have no idea what it is.
We are getting near the sea. Today's conveyance was a very black and shiny motor car which belongs to some bey or other. I have no idea how we are being moved around and I don't know if I like it, but it is getting me and Father closer to the border. I wish I had paid more attention when Major Western was telling me about the situation in Thrace. He said that there was a war between the Balkan League in 1912 or '13, I remember that, and that Greece kept Salonika and Bulgaria has Thrace. I don't know anything about Bulgarians except a rude joke that the soldiers used to tell. I think it was Bulgarians. Bulgarians are no friends to Turks, said the major. Also, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. I wish I could talk to him again. He'd be able to tell me what is happening. But whatever it is, we are covering much more ground than we could on our poor feet. The car went past several army trucks and ambulances full of wounded. We are not staying in a village tonight. We are in the garage of a big villa. It has a wonderful garden, with fountains. The sun has gone down and a servant has just brought a tray with our dinner. I'm starving.
LATER Abdul says we are in the house of an important man. I could tell from the food. The chicken dish was highly spiced and there was a lot of oil in the beans and the eggplant. Father ate a good dinner and actually started talking to me as though nothing had ever happened. He said, âEvan my dear boy, where are we?' and I told him we were escaping across Turkey to get a boat to go home. He thought about this and then said, âBut why don't we just go and see the ambassador?' and then he drifted off while I was trying to explain that we were in the lands of our enemies. After that he opened his Bible and started reading. He never listens to me. Abdul looked sad and gave me a hug and said that my father was a truly holy man,
bu adam kutsal
.
Bu adam deki
, he said, meaning âthat man is mad'. And he is. He is. Now I've written it down, it's real. I don't know how I am going to get him home. Perhaps if he is back in Australia he will recover. Abdul urged me to eat the rest of the chicken and get some sleep. He is right, of course.
No one offered to take us anywhere this morning. So today we started walking towards the sea. We can hear it now. There was a frightful noise behind us and we got off the path. A bicycle with an engine came roaring past. I never saw such a thing. Abdul was delighted and says that he is going to have one of them. I would rather have a horse. You can reason with a horse. It was hot and we went slowly. Father will walk for a while, but then he says he is tired and sits down for a rest. In the middle of the road. So I have to keep hold of his sleeve all the time. This country is all fields of sunflowers. Nowhere to hide. We were passing a farm gate when we were bailed up by a ferocious guard dog. Abdul was about to kick it when Father just dropped a gentle hand onto the snarling head and bade it peace, and it shut its mouth so suddenly that I heard its teeth snap together. It wagged its tail and then it licked Father's hand. Then we went on. Abdul went ahead of us and was out of sight when we were stopped by a patrol. They were soldiers. Father just smiled at them and held out his Bible. They surrounded us and searched through our baggage. They flung all my things out onto the dust and rootled through them as though they were looking for something. Whatever it was, they didn't find it. The officer slapped me and yelled questions about where we had been and where we were going. They formed up and marched off. I was scrabbling around picking up my goods and trying to shake the dust off my clean shirt when Abdul came back. He seemed very scared. He says the only reason we weren't arrested when Father held out his Bible is that it has a green cover and so has the Koran.
I am writing this in the lamplight in a little tavern in a fishing village. My silver lire has got us a room for the night. There is a big feast going on now that night has fallen. I will slip away soon. Abdul has gone out to see someone who might be able to get us papers for Bulgaria. He wants to move on quickly. He has had no news of his father for months. On the front they think Abdul is dead. A shell landed on him, and he left his soldier's papers in the mud when he dug himself out. I think Abdul hopes that he can write to his father to tell him that he is aliveâ maybe from Thrace, if we ever get there.
LATER I have agreed with a fisherman to go out tomorrow. Perhaps we can get to an island and thence down to Alexandria. A long and weary way.
Still in this village. Abdul cancelled my arrangement with the fisherman because we must have papers. I wanted to take Father and walk to the next village, closer to the border, but Abdul said that there will be more soldiers the closer to the border we get. He is right. His forged papers will not stand close inspection. I left Father in the kitchen of this inn. The cook is a Christian and thinks having Father is an honour. His name is Nehemiah. He is a big fat man with several gold teeth. His kitchen smells glorious even though it is Ramadan. I suspect that he is a very good cook though he says that only having fish on the menu is cramping his talents. He speaks English! He said we should see Ibrahim to get papers and he gave us directions. Abdul scowled at him but we went anyway. We don't know anyone in this place. To my surprise, the man we were sent to see was very polite. He said that he would send the papers to the inn and to give his regards to Nehemiah. He was a small thin nervous man with bad teeth and a moustache which whiffled. He hustled us out of his house through the back door and bade us run away. We didn't run but we went. He wants 1000 lire. I will have to give him another one of my gold sovereigns. Abdul hasn't any money.
Nehemiah dealt with the demand for money by saying that he would arrange something. Turks are always arranging things. You would think they were Australians. I was glad to save my sovereign. He said that we should take a boat from the next village and told us to see his friend Jeremiah. Jeremiah supplies him with fish. He gave me a message for Jeremiah about the price of oranges. I haven't seen an orange in any of these places. Father's feet have healed. We can walk. We have papers. And I don't like this place.
We were walking out of the village when we saw a lot of soldiers driving into it, so we just kept going. I don't know if they were looking for us but there was a lot of shouting and some shots. Every time we heard a gunshot Father jumped and trembled. We had to lead him by the hand. Luckily it wasn't far to the next village. Here the landscape is all mudflats. The path threaded its way along the edge of the mud. The sun was hot and the mud stank. But we got to the village. It was small and dirty. Even the goats looked hungry. We asked after Jeremiah. He lives in a little hovel almost on the edge of the sea. He said he would take us out on the tide and we should sleep while we could. He has a boat. It is battered and old but does not look like sinking just yet. I'm trying to sleep but there are bugs. If this is Thrace I'm surprised that the Bulgarians wanted it so much.
The little boat did float. We are out on the sea and it all seems so peaceful. We saw two big boats in the distance. Jeremiah is a swarthy man, quite young. He has a massive moustache. He put out his nets but didn't catch much, only an octopus and a few small fish. He says that the sinking of the battleships has poisoned the fishing. Otherwise he doesn't say much. He just grunts.