Our Australian Girl (7 page)

Daisy selected an éclair from the top of the stand and took a bite. It burst, smooth and sweet in her mouth, the richness of the custard coating her tongue. Heaven, she thought.

Edith was munching happily on a chicken sandwich and chocolate cake at the same time. Her mouth was ringed with chocolate crumbs and her eyes were glowing with happiness.

The girls ate happily for half an hour, washing their food down with hot, sweet tea.

‘Oh dear,' Daisy said at last, as she leaned back in her chair and patted her belly. ‘I don't think I can fit in one more mouthful.'

Edith nodded as she finished the last of the ice cream. ‘I know what you mean, but there's still that half a scone there, and some cream. It would be a terrible shame to waste it.'

Daisy chuckled. ‘Eat it, you goose – it's all yours.' She watched as Edith happily smeared jam and cream on the scone. She looks just like her old self, Daisy thought.

‘Right then,' Edith said as she wiped cream off her face with her sleeve. ‘Hadn't we better find Harry, watch this race and get moving?'

‘Oh goodness, yes,' Daisy said. ‘I'd almost forgotten.' She stood up and pushed in her chair. ‘Let's go.'

The girls paid their bill, thanked Rose for her kindness and wandered out into the sunshine and crowds. They walked back to the spot next to the garden and looked for Harry.

‘Oi, where on earth did you get to? I've been running around looking for you everywhere. Actually, never mind that,' Harry said, puffing hard as he ran up to them. ‘I've got bigger fish to fry.  You'll never believe it, girls.' He was too out of breath to speak properly and had to bend and rest his arms on his legs for a few seconds.

‘What on earth, Harry?' Daisy said. ‘What's all the commotion about?'

Harry stood up, took a deep breath, then turned to the girls with an enormous grin.

‘I went over to the stables, like I said, and I had a look at the horses and a chat with some of the strappers there, and then one of the horses started to get a bit tetchy, so I went up and started talking to him and rubbing his nose and that and he calmed down . . . ' He paused and Daisy wondered if he might be about to cry.

He ran a hand over his face and continued. ‘And then the strapper comes up and says to me that I'm a natural for sure, and that if I wanted, I could work for him. No pay to start, but I can bunk with the horses and he'll feed me while I learn the game. What d'you think of that, girls?'

‘That is the most wonderful news,' Daisy cried, and clapped Harry on the shoulders.

‘You're a champion, Harry Waller,' Edith said, and punched him playfully in the belly. ‘Good for you.'

‘Oh golly,' Harry said as trumpets rang out again across the course. ‘The race! Let's go.'

They ran down the hill, joining a surge of people fighting to get close enough to see Phar Lap. They pushed into a spot near the fence and Daisy felt a flood of elation as hooves thundered toward them. Suddenly the field of horses, glistening and graceful, flew past, their jockeys resplendent in their multi-coloured silks. The horses were so close Daisy could see their flaring nostrils and the slick sweat on their chests. ‘Phar Lap, Phar Lap,' she chanted with the crowd, craning to see the finish line.

‘And it's Phar Lap breaking away from the pack now,' the commentator called. ‘This classy four-year-old is making all the right moves, and he's out of danger now; it's Phar Lap. Phar Lap has won the Melbourne Cup of nineteen hundred and thirty.'

The crowd erupted in cheers. Daisy reached over and hugged Harry and Edith.

‘What did I tell you?' Harry said, glowing. ‘Didn't I tell you he was a wonder horse?'

‘I'm so pleased we stayed to see that,' Daisy said. ‘But now I have to get to Flora.'

‘Of course,' Harry said. ‘And I'd better get over to the stables before that strapper changes his mind about me.'

‘Wait,' said Daisy. ‘We had some good luck, too.' She handed him four pence. ‘Take this. It's your share of the money that we found.'

‘Wow, that's brilliant!' Harry blushed.

‘Good luck, Harry,' Edith said. ‘You're a good egg.'

‘Bye Edith, bye Daisy,' Harry said. ‘Good luck to the both of you. Who knows? Maybe you'll see my name in the paper one day, riding a Melbourne Cup winner past the post.'

‘I hope so,' Daisy said with a smile. What a perfectly delicious day, she thought, feeling drowsy and content. And soon I'll be with Flora.

As Harry disappeared into the crowd, Daisy looked around to work out how to get back onto the street. ‘That's where we came in,' she said, and pointed to metal gates behind them. ‘We'll just hop another tram, a fifty-seven I think we need, and that will take us almost all the way to Gertrude Street.'

As they headed toward the gates, Daisy saw something in the crowd that made her stop suddenly. It was a familiar face . . .  or was it? Could it possibly be him?

‘What? What is it?' Edith asked.

‘I think . . .  But I'm not sure . . . ' Daisy stared hard, but the man had disappeared in the crowd.

‘Dad?' she yelled, jostling her way desperately toward the spot where she'd seen him. Was that his hat – over there by the railing? ‘DAD!' she screamed desperately, not caring that people were looking.

‘Daisy!' Edith cried behind her. ‘Wait!'

But Daisy couldn't wait. Where had he gone? Was it even him?

She couldn't be sure, but there was no way she'd risk losing him – not after everything that'd happened. ‘Stay here,' she panted over her shoulder at Edith. ‘Wait for me – I'll be back.'

‘You'll never find me!' cried Edith, and followed as Daisy plunged back into the crowd, dodging and sprinting and dodging again. She ducked under the arm of a lady holding a parasol, almost slamming into a man with a top hat who was peering through some binoculars. ‘I say – watch it!' he called, but Daisy could barely hear anything above her rasping breath and Edith's footsteps, which were still behind her. ‘Dad!' she shouted hoarsely. ‘Daddy?'

There! Over there by the bookie's table. Was that him? Come on – faster, she willed her legs, which were trembling with the effort.

‘Careful there, girly,' a man cried as she ran straight into him.

‘
Daisy?
'

Daisy looked up in shock as Edith banged into the back of her.

‘Aren't you the girl I took to the orphanage not two months ago?' It was Bluey, the policeman who had found her at Dudley Flats.

‘Run!' Daisy yelled back to Edith. She tried to bolt but Bluey grabbed her by the shoulder. Another policeman took hold of Edith.

‘Looks like we've found us some escaped orphans,' the policeman said.

‘Let go,' Edith cried, struggling to break free.

‘We're not doing anything wrong,' Daisy implored. ‘We're just trying to find our families.'

Bluey shook his head. ‘Nothing I can do about that, I'm afraid. I have to follow the rules.' He led the way to the carpark, holding firmly to Daisy's arm, and soon she and Edith were bundled in the back of a police car and on their way back to the orphanage.

‘But Bluey, please, you've got to take us back to the track!
Please
. I think I saw my dad there and he can explain everything. He'll tell you I don't belong in an orphanage. I told you before – I'm not really an orphan. My sister's living in Gertrude Street with my aunt and uncle, and I was just on my way there, honest.'

‘Oh, really, is that so?' Bluey answered, and turned from the driver's seat to look at her. ‘So what the devil were you doing at the Melbourne Cup all by yourselves? And what do you mean you
think
you saw your dad? Surely you know your own dad when you see him?'

‘It was just for a second and I couldn't be sure, but if you take us back I can find him.'

‘And I want to find my brother,' Edith said, her voice tight. ‘Please don't make us go back to the orphanage. If I go back I'll never see him again.'

‘Sorry, girls,' Bluey said. ‘Daisy, we can't go wandering through thousands of people at the Cup in the hope that one of them might be your dad. It's my job to follow the law and that means taking you back right now.'

To have been so close and not to know if she really had seen Dad was too much for Daisy. She rested her head back on the seat and began to cry, quietly at first, but then louder. She wasn't just crying for Dad, and Flora, and Jimmy, and Amelia, and the life she would never get back. She was crying for Edith, and Freddy, and all the children whose lives were so sad and loveless.

Half an hour later, the car pulled up outside the orphanage. Daisy and Edith stumbled up the stairs.

‘She's going to murder us,' Daisy said quietly, wiping her eyes.

‘Yep,' Edith sighed.

Miss Dunham met them at the door. ‘Well, if it isn't our little runaways,' she said, her voice as cold as steel. ‘And where's the other one?' She looked over at the police car. ‘There was a boy as well.'

‘We just found these two,' Bluey said. ‘But I don't think they've done any real harm, Miss. They just wanted to find their families.'

Daisy shot him a grateful look.

‘Thank you, Officer, but I will be the judge of that,' Miss Dunham snapped.

Bluey gave Daisy a rueful look and went back to his car. Daisy and Edith followed Miss Dunham back to their dormitory.

‘Now,' she said, ‘here are your toothbrushes to scrub with. As you can see, the washroom floor is a disgrace. The lavatories also need a thorough clean. You will not go to bed until you're finished, and you can forget about having any dinner. You will be on double chores for the rest of the month and you will not be allowed to leave this dormitory except for meals and chores.'

‘What about school?' Daisy asked.

‘You will no longer go to school,' Miss Dunham answered. ‘From now on, you will both do the work of Day Girls. An education would clearly be wasted on you.'

With that, she stomped out of the room. Daisy and Edith reluctantly picked up their toothbrushes and started cleaning.

D
AISY'S
bottom had gone numb on the hard wooden bench. Her eyes were drooping and she had to keep shaking herself awake. She'd only had a few hours sleep after yet another long night scrubbing the washroom floor. My hands are still as wrinkly as prunes, she thought, looking at her aching red fingers. She felt Edith's body start to slump beside her and wiggled in her seat to wake her friend up.

Another stupid Sunday morning waiting for visitors who never come, Daisy thought. I know Mabel and Elsie won't be here, not after the last time when Miss Dunham refused to let them see me. She sighed loudly.

Two weeks had passed since their failed escape attempt. Christmas was just over a month away, and then Flora would be leaving for Sydney. I can't bear to think of her alone in another strange city, Daisy thought. She shifted on the wooden bench again. How I wish Dad would just fling open that door, burst in and tell me he's got Flora and we're going back to the farm. That would be perfect. She knew now that it couldn't have been Dad at the Cup. There was no way he would have been in the city and not come to see us, she thought.

The front door opened and a couple stood in the doorway before a Day Girl showed them into the Superintendent's office, but Daisy was so caught up in her own thoughts that she barely noticed them. The Cottage Mothers will be watching Edith and I more closely now I suppose, she thought, but surely there must be another way to escape?

Edith started to snore, resting her head on Daisy's shoulder. ‘Wake up,' Daisy hissed.

‘Daisy Sanderson,' a stern voice called.

‘Oh, for goodness sake! All I said was two little words.' Daisy looked up expecting to see the angry face of Miss Dunham, but instead Miss McCracken was beckoning to her.

‘Ummm,' Daisy said in confusion and pointed to herself. ‘Me?'

‘Are there any other Daisy Sandersons here?' Miss McCracken said.

‘Ah . . .  no,' Daisy answered and got up slowly from the bench, trying to stretch some life back into her tired legs.

‘Hurry up then, girl, we don't have all day.'

Daisy stumbled up the hall, the stares of the children following her slow walk.

‘Come in here, Daisy,' Miss McCracken said, pushing her into the Superintendent's office. ‘Come and meet your new parents.'