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"

I

suppose

so

.

"

"

Justine

,

you

bring

out

the

worst

in

me

,

you

always

have

,

"

Meggie

snapped

,

losing

her

temper

at

what

she

took

for

ingratitude

.

Just

this

once

could

n't

the

little

wretch

at

least

pretend

she

was

sorry

to

be

going

?

"

Stubborn

,

pig-headed

,

self-willed

!

You

exasperate

me

.

"

For

a

moment

Justine

did

n't

answer

,

but

turned

her

head

away

as

if

she

was

more

interested

in

the

fact

that

the

all-ashore

gong

was

ringing

than

in

what

her

mother

was

saying

.

She

bit

the

tremor

from

her

lips

,

put

a

bright

smile

on

them

.

"

I

know

I

exasperate

you

,

"

she

said

cheerfully

as

she

faced

her

mother

.

"

Never

mind

,

we

are

what

we

are

.

As

you

always

say

,

I

take

after

my

dad

.

"

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They

embraced

self-consciously

before

Meggie

slipped

thankfully

into

the

crowds

converging

on

gangways

and

was

lost

to

sight

.

Justine

made

her

way

up

to

the

sun

deck

and

stood

by

the

rail

with

rolls

of

colored

streamers

in

her

hands

.

Far

below

on

the

wharf

she

saw

the

figure

in

the

pinkish-grey

dress

and

hat

walk

to

the

appointed

spot

,

stand

shading

her

eyes

.

Funny

,

at

this

distance

one

could

see

Mum

was

getting

up

toward

fifty

.

Some

way

to

go

yet

,

but

it

was

there

in

her

stance

.

They

waved

in

the

same

moment

,

then

Justine

threw

the

first

of

her

streamers

and

Meggie

caught

its

end

deftly

.

A

red

,

a

blue

,

a

yellow

,

a

pink

,

a

green

,

an

orange

;

spiraling

round

and

round

,

tugging

in

the

breeze

.

A

pipe

band

had

come

to

bid

the

football

team

farewell

and

stood

with

pennons

flying

,

plaids

billowing

,

skirling

a

quaint

version

of

"

Now

Is

the

Hour

.

"

The

ship

's

rails

were

thick

with

people

hanging

over

,

holding

desperately

to

their

ends

of

the

thin

paper

streamers

;

on

the

wharf

hundreds

of

people

craned

their

necks

upward

,

lingering

hungrily

on

the

faces

going

so

far

away

,

young

faces

mostly

,

off

to

see

what

the

hub

of

civilization

on

the

other

side

of

the

world

was

really

like

.

They

would

live

there

,

work

there

,

perhaps

come

back

in

two

years

,

perhaps

not

come

back

at

all

.

And

everyone

knew

it

,

wondered

.

The

blue

sky

was

plumped

with

silver-white

clouds

and

there

was

a

tearing

Sydney

wind

.

Sun

warmed

the

upturned

heads

and

the

shoulder

blades

of

those

leaning

down

;

a

great

multicolored

swath

of

vibrating

ribbons

joined

ship

and

shore

.

Then

suddenly

a

gap

appeared

between

the

old

boat

's

side

and

the

wooden

struts

of

the

wharf

;

the

air

filled

with

cries

and

sobs

;

and

one

by

one

in

their

thousands

the

streamers

broke

,

fluttered

wildly

,

sagged

limply

and

crisscrossed

the

surface

of

the

water

like

a

mangled

loom

,

joined

the

orange

peels

and

the

jellyfish

to

float

away

.

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Justine

kept

doggedly

to

her

place

at

the

rail

until

the

wharf

was

a

few

hard

lines

and

little

pink

pinheads

in

the

distance

;

the

Himalaya

's

tugs

turned

her

,

towed

her

helplessly

under

the

booming

decks

of

the

Sydney

Harbor

Bridge

,

out

into

the

mainstream

of

that

exquisite

stretch

of

sunny

water

.

It

was

n't

like

going

to

Manly

on

the

ferry

at

all

,

though

they

followed

the

same

path

past

Neutral

Bay

and

Rose

Bay

and

Cremorne

and

Vaucluse

;

no

.

For

this

time

it

was

out

through

the

Heads

,

beyond

the

cruel

cliffs

and

the

high

lace

fans

of

foam

,

into

the

ocean

.

Twelve

thousand

miles

of

it

,

to

the

other

side

of

the

world

.

And

whether

they

came

home

again

or

not

,

they

would

belong

neither

here

nor

there

,

for

they

would

have

lived

on

two

continents

and

sampled

two

different

ways

of

life

.

Money

,

Justine

discovered

,

made

London

a

most

alluring

place

.

Not

for

her

a

penniless

existence

clinging

to

the

fringes

of

Earl

's

Court

--

"

Kangaroo

Valley

"

they

called

it

because

so

many

Australians

made

it

their

headquarters

.

Not

for

her

the

typical

fate

of

Australians

in

England

,

youth-hosteling

on

a

shoestring

,

working

for

a

pittance

in

some

office

or

school

or

hospital

,

shivering

thin-blooded

over

a

tiny

radiator

in

a

cold

,

damp

room

.

Instead

,

for

Justine

a

mews

flat

in

Kensington

close

to

Knightsbridge

,

centrally

heated

;

and

a

place

in

the

company

of

Clyde

Daltinham

Roberts

,

The

Elizabethan

Group

.

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