Meet Poppy Read online

  Meet Poppy

  It’s 1864 and Poppy lives at Bird Creek Mission near Echuca. Poppy hates the Mission, especially now that her brother, Gus, has run away to search for gold. What if Poppy escaped, too? Would she survive alone in the bush? And would she ever find Gus, whom she loves more than anything in the world?

  Meet Poppy and join her adventure in the first of four stories about a Gold Rush girl who dreams of a better life.

  Puffin Books

  I would like to thank the following people for their invaluable assistance: Koorie Elder, Uncle John Sandy Atkinson O.A.M.; Koorie Liaison Officer, State Library of Victoria, Maxine Briggs; Koorie Heritage Trust Librarian, Judy Williams.

  For Yullarah –

  the beautiful face of Poppy

  With illustrations by Lucia Masciullo

  Puffin Books

  Contents

  1 THE SPIRIT TREE

  2 THE TEAR JAR

  3 THE DISCOVERY

  4 THE MYSTERIOUS LETTER

  5 POPPY’S ESCAPE

  6 RED BEARD

  7 THE SECRET STOWAWAY

  8 THE FISHER DOG

  9 THE BUSHRANGER

  10 FISHER TO THE RESCUE

  ‘POPPEEE!’ came Mother Hangtree’s voice from below. ‘You are to come down immediately. Do you hear?’

  ‘Not unless you let my brother out of the Darkling Cellar,’ Poppy replied.

  The Matron paced backwards and forwards under the tree.

  Through the leaves Poppy could see the schoolroom below and hear the children practising the chorus of ‘The Bellbird Song’. Their clear voices sounded like the wind rustling through the eucalypt forest at night.

  Mother Hangtree spoke again. ‘All right,’ she said crossly. ‘I will let Augustus out. But you make him promise never to run away again. He is a bad influence on the other children.’

  Poppy smiled. ‘I will, Mother. I’ll tell Gus.’ Then she scampered down from branch to branch as nimble as a brushtail possum.

  ‘Do be careful, Poppy,’ Mother Hangtree said, anxiously stretching out her arms. ‘I need you in one piece for the concert.’

  ‘Stand clear!’ Poppy yelled and jumped to the ground.

  Mother Hangtree brushed leaves and dirt from Poppy’s pinafore. ‘Goodness me, where are your shoes and stockings, child?’

  ‘You can’t climb trees in shoes,’ Poppy said.

  Even on the hottest days, when the hens lay panting under the bushes and the cows kicked refusing to be milked, Mother Hangtree made the children wear lace-up shoes and stockings. ‘It is not proper, running around like little savages,’ she would say, making a sour face.

  She untangled a piece of bark from Poppy’s hair and sighed. ‘Go quickly now. The children are all waiting.’

  Poppy picked up her shoes and stockings from behind the tree and skipped to the schoolroom. When Blossom saw her she rushed up and grabbed her best friend’s hand. The other orphans gathered around, full of questions.

  ‘Is Mother letting Gus out of the Darling Cellar?’ Daisy, the smallest, asked.

  ‘It’s the Darkling Cellar, not the Darling Cellar, Daisy,’ Bartholomew laughed.

  Daisy looked hurt.

  ‘You should have seen her,’ said Poppy, grinning. ‘She was so mad her face puffed up like a bullfrog and turned bright purple.’

  The children roared with laughter, then quickly turned silent when Mother Hangtree entered the room with Gus following behind.

  He looks tired, Poppy thought.

  Gus was tall and slender with a mass of thick, dark brown hair. At fourteen, he was the oldest child in the orphanage. Everyone looked up to Gus, especially Poppy.

  He flicked a lock of hair out of his eyes and winked at her as he took his place in the back row of the schoolroom. Poppy couldn’t wait to talk to him.

  ‘Come along, children. Don’t stand around gawking at Augustus. Let us continue our rehearsal,’ the Matron said sternly.

  The annual concert was very important to Mother Hangtree. This was the day government and church people from Echuca were invited to Bird Creek Mission to hear the children sing. But Gus said the real reason they came was to see if Mother Hangtree was doing her job properly. These people gave her money to run the orphanage. Still, it was an exciting day for everyone – hardly anyone visited Bird Creek, except the bullockies who dropped off supplies of flour, sugar, tea and other necessities.

  Mother Hangtree tapped her stick on the floorboards and sat down at the harmonium. ‘Ready, Poppy?’

  Poppy nodded.

  Mother Hangtree played the introduction to ‘The Bellbird Song’ and Poppy began to sing.

  After the rehearsal the children marched off to lunch. The kitchen where they ate their meals was attached to the dormitories. There was a long wooden table with benches on either side, and a big stove. Alice, the cook, had made a pot of soup with vegetables from the garden and loaves of crusty bread.

  ‘Did the strapping hurt?’ Bartholomew asked Gus as he sat down. Bartholomew was often in trouble, too, for wandering into the bush in search of wild animals. He loved all creatures and would save even a tiny ant if he could.

  Gus shook his head. From the look on his face, though, Poppy could tell he was acting brave.

  ‘Next time I run away, I’m gonna make it out of here,’ he whispered to her.

  ‘But Mother Hangtree said she’s going to lock all the doors and windows at night so nobody can escape ever again.’ Poppy glanced across at the matron sitting at the head of the table.

  Gus leaned towards her. ‘That won’t stop me. I found a secret door, Kalinya.’

  Kalinya was Poppy’s Aboriginal name. It meant ‘pretty one’. Gus’s name was Moyhu, which meant ‘the wind’. When each child was brought to Bird Creek Mission they were given an English name. The girls were named after flowers; the boys were given names from the Bible. What Mother Hangtree didn’t know was that sometimes Poppy and Gus still used their Aboriginal names even though it was strictly forbidden.

  ‘A secret door! Where?’

  ‘In the Darkling Cellar. I’d never seen it there before because it’s hidden behind some old sacks. I was moving them around so I could lie down. That’s when I saw light coming in through a crack.’ Gus noticed Mother Hangtree glaring at them. He put his head down. ‘Tell you more later,’ he whispered.

  After lunch, the children marched back to the schoolroom. The lesson was arithmetic, and while Mother Hangtree wrote numbers on the blackboard Poppy looked at Gus in the back row. He was scribbling something on his slate, which he handed to Bartholomew, who handed it to Blossom, who then passed it to Poppy.

  When Mother Hangtree turned to face the class, Poppy quickly hid the slate on her lap under the desk.

  The message was in secret code, a code Gus and Poppy had made up themselves.

  Po3 Po1 D2 Ka6 D2 P14 Pa6 Ka6 El El

  Poppy was proud of her idea to use the names of animals. It had taken weeks to learn the list off by heart:

  Echidna

  Dingo

  Possum

  Wallaby

  Kangaroo

  Platypus

  Weevil

  Emu

  Quoll

  Wombat

  Crow

  Parrot

  Galah

  Koala

  Lizard

  Frog

  Poppy smiled as she deciphered the message.

  Po3, third letter in Possum ‘S’

  Po 1, first letter in Possum ‘P’

  D2, second letter in Dingo ‘I’

  Ka6, sixth letter in Kangaroo ‘R’

  D2, second letter in Dingo ‘I’

  P14, fourth letter in Platypus ‘T’

  Pa6, sixth letter in Parrot ‘T’

&n
bsp; Ka6, sixth letter in Kangaroo ‘R’

  E1, first letter in Echidna ‘E’

  E1, first letter in Echidna ‘E’

  POPPY walked between the rows of cabbages and tomato vines to the Spirit Tree. Its trunk still held the sun’s warmth. Placing her ear against its marbled skin, she listened for the ebb and flow of the sap through the woody veins.

  It was Gus who had given the gnarled old red gum its name. ‘The spirits of our parents are inside this old tree, watching over us,’ he had told the children. ‘All you gotta do when you feel scared is put your cheek against its trunk and your worries will disappear.’

  He came up behind Poppy. ‘Follow me.’ His voice was like a splash of sunshine, warm and soft.

  She walked with him across the paddock to the duck pond. On the way, he stopped. ‘Do you see them tracks?’ He pointed to a set of large paw prints in the sandy soil. ‘That’s a dingo. Big fella, too. Looks like he was ’round here this morning. Probably after that old wombat who lives in the hole by the log.’

  ‘Is he dangerous?’

  ‘He’s more scared of us than we are of him.’

  Poppy smiled. Gus was the smartest person she knew. He was even smarter than Mother Hangtree with her room full of books and her head full of manners.

  Mother Hangtree only knows about faraway things, Poppy thought. She doesn’t know why wombats have such strong claws. Or why kangaroos thump the ground with their back feet. Or what echidnas eat for supper. She doesn’t know the different bird calls and the smell of distant rain. And she calls wild animals ‘filthy beasts’ because they don’t bury their droppings like her cat, Ebenezer, does.

  Gus and Poppy sat on the bank looking out over the pond. Ducks dived, feeding from the bottom, curly white tails bobbing on green water.

  ‘What about the secret door, Gus? I’m bursting to hear more.’ Poppy leaned forward, propping one elbow on her knee.

  Gus took the wheat stalk he was chewing out of his mouth. ‘Well, like I was saying before, I was crawling around not able to see a thing in the dark. But when I pushed a sack away, I saw a crack of light coming from a little trapdoor.’

  ‘Did you open it?’ Poppy held her breath.

  ‘That’s what doors are for, aren’t they?’

  ‘So what was on the other side?’

  ‘It was like being at the bottom of a well looking up to the surface. It had a wooden lid. It must have been covered with creepers on the outside. That’s why no one saw it before. I pushed the lid hard and it lifted off. Then I peeked out.’ Gus sat back and laughed. ‘That old witch will never keep Moyhu locked up.’

  Poppy bit her lip, drawing her knees up to her chest. ‘When are you leaving again?’

  ‘My back still hurts so I’ll wait for that to get better first.’

  Poppy sat up. ‘Please take me with you, Gus. I’ll be good, I promise …’

  Gus sighed. ‘I’ve told you before. It’s wild out there … no place for a girl. There are bushrangers and escaped convicts. And those gold diggers are the roughest bunch of men you ever could lay your eyes on. What if we ran into that Harry Power? Worst outlaw in the land. He’d have you for breakfast.’

  Poppy had to admit that the thought of bumping into the famous bushranger Harry Power terrified her. But never seeing Gus again would be worse. ‘I’ll be turning twelve soon …’ The words caught in Poppy’s throat.

  ‘Don’t worry,’ Gus said, laying a hand on Poppy’s knee. ‘No one’s going to send my little sister away to become a servant girl. Stay here until I return. I’ll head for Beechworth, buy us a home, then come and get you.’

  ‘Do you think it’s true what they say? That there’s so much gold there they even shoe the horses with it?’

  ‘Bill the tinker said he saw it with his own eyes. Listen, Kalinya. I’m going to leave the Tear Jar with you. I want you to look after it until I get back. All right?’

  Poppy knew Gus was only saying this to make her feel better. The Tear Jar was their most treasured possession. When Gus was three and their mother lay dying, he fetched a jar to collect her tears. After she was buried, Gus looked inside the jar, but the tears had magically turned into fine silver dust. Now this small jar with the silver dust was all they had left of her.

  ‘Don’t be sad, Kalinya. Just think, when I’ve found enough gold, we’ll build that house we’ve always talked about.’

  Poppy pictured it in her mind. It was a lovely cottage perched high on a hill overlooking a beautiful valley. It had one big room and lots of beds all covered with patchwork quilts. ‘And we’ll ask the others to come live with us, won’t we, Gus?’

  Gus nodded.

  ‘And no one will tell us what to do or send us away ever again.’

  ‘That’s right. No screaming, no strapping, no Darkling Cellar, no school and no books.’

  ‘Oh, but I love books, Gus. I’m going to have a room full of them.’ Poppy thought a moment, and looked out over the pond, across the paddocks towards the hills. The wind blew, making the water on the pond shiver.

  ‘Tell me again about Napu and Father,’ Poppy said. Napu was the word for mother in Bangerang, the language of the tribe they belonged to. Even though Poppy had heard the story as many times as there are quills on an echidna’s back, she never tired of it.

  Gus’s eyes held a faraway look. Then he began. ‘I remember Napu’s voice.’

  ‘What did it sound like, Gus?’

  ‘Soft as a whisper.’

  ‘And her skin, what did that feel like?’

  ‘As smooth as a river stone.’

  ‘And her hands, were they strong?’

  ‘Very strong, with long fingers, too.’

  ‘And what about my totem, the echidna? Tell me how it was chosen, Gus.’

  ‘You know the story. I’ve told you a thousand times before.’

  ‘I want to hear it again,’ Poppy said.

  Gus leaned back on one elbow and began.

  ‘One day, when Napu was walking to the stream with you inside her belly, you gave her a big kick. When she looked down, there was a little echidna walking across the path in front of her.’

  Poppy laughed. ‘And tell me again about our father. Did he look like Johnny the Chinese peddler?’

  Gus shook his head. ‘He had a long plait down his back like Johnny. But he was taller with eyes that crinkled at the corners. He carved furniture for our hut and smoked a small pipe.’

  Poppy closed her eyes. It was time for the sad part.

  ‘Everything happened so quick after that,’ Gus went on. ‘It was like the wind flipping through the pages of a book …’

  ‘… without having time to read the words,’ Poppy whispered, finishing the end of Gus’s sentence.

  Gus nodded. ‘Father went away then …’

  ‘Why did he go? Did he go back to China?’

  Gus shrugged. ‘I don’t know, Kalinya. But one day I’m gonna find out.’

  ‘You haven’t finished the story … the really, really sad part.’

  Gus picked up a stone and skipped it across the pond. The ducks quacked and scattered. When he spoke again his voice was tight. ‘After Father went away, you were born. Then … Napu died. I remember strangers taking me away from Napu when I didn’t want to go. I remember you crying. And voices shouting.’

  Poppy wiped the tears from her eyes. She remembered the shouting, too. It was as if she could hear it now. Then she realised she was hearing it.

  ‘Gus, Poppy, hurry!’ Blossom screamed, running down the path. ‘It’s Bartholomew! He’s been bitten by a snake!’

  When Poppy and Gus arrived at Mother Hangtree’s residence, the other children had gathered around the parlour window and were peering in.

  ‘He didn’t wear his shoes,’ Daisy said, tears streaming. ‘We was looking for old Wombie under the log. I didn’t see the red belly black. But ’tholomew did an’ he pushed me out of the way. It bit him here, right on his foot.’

  ‘It’s not your fault
,’ Poppy said, putting her arms around Daisy and wiping her tears with her pinafore. ‘Everything will be all right.’

  Through the muslin curtains, dark shapes moved. Poppy could see Bartholomew lying on the couch. Other figures hovered. One was Mother Hangtree. The other was Charley, Alice’s husband.

  All afternoon the children waited in silence. Even Tobiah, usually the chatterbox of the group, couldn’t find a word to say.

  When the door finally opened, everyone turned. Ebenezer, the grey cat, trotted out first. He stretched his back then rubbed himself against the doorframe. Next came Charley. His face was like ash from a dead fire.

  ‘How is he?’ Gus asked.

  Everyone held their breath. But Charley shook his head.

  Mother Hangtree came out looking tired and ragged, clutching a white handkerchief. ‘Bartholomew has gone to God,’ she said slowly.

  The children stared at each other in shock. Then some began to cry. Daisy wailed and Poppy hugged her tightly. Blossom sat on the step beside Tobiah, resting her head on his shoulder.

  Mother Hangtree clapped her hands. ‘Let us pray for Bartholomew. Wipe your eyes and bow your heads, children.’

  But Poppy didn’t hear the matron’s prayer because she was making up a prayer of her own.

  Dear God,

  Please look after our Bartholomew. I hope there are no loud noises in Heaven because he’s scared of loud noises. He’s scared of heights too, but I suppose you can’t do much about that. I just want to say in case you were too busy to see that Bartholomew was very brave today. He pushed our little Daisy out of the way so she wouldn’t get bit by the red belly black. So if you can, could you give him a bed of angels’ feathers to sleep on? That’s all. Thank you for listening.

  Amen.

  Nobody felt like eating dinner that night. They were invited into the parlour to be with Bartholomew one last time, and sat on the floor listening to Mother Hangtree read passages from the Bible. Poppy glanced across at Bartholomew’s body. He looked as if he was sleeping.