Читать книгу Lady E - Jeanette Walker - Страница 6

THE LOW DRONING of a plane in the distance indicated to Norma James that her journey was beginning. She rose from the wicker chair which many years ago had been placed in the window opening facing the sea. Absent-mindedly she half-filled a kettle and turned it on before returning to the chair. She knew there was plenty of time for a cup of tea before she had to head out the door.

The chair was never moved. It was perfectly placed to catch cooling breezes passing through the house. More importantly, it allowed her to enjoy the view of an ever-changing expanse of waves.

The plane was much closer now and she heard it fly low over the island to announce its arrival before banking and lining up the runway for its usual perfect landing.

She sighed as she reminisced. While her life on the island had certainly changed since the death of her husband, this had been her home for so many years that she couldn’t imagine living anywhere else.

Alan’s employment had been a lighthouse keeper, and after their marriage they’d lived at a few different postings before accepting a transfer to Lady Elliot Island more than 40 years ago.

They arrived on a supply boat, the main means of transport back then. A boat still docked regularly as it brought supplies for the occupants of the island, before continuing on to several islands further north.

Standing at the bow of the supply boat, they’d sighted the white lighthouse standing tall on the horizon. Knowing nothing of the area before arrival, they were surprised to see from the boat that the island sat low, with no hills. Over many years, layer upon layer of sand on top of coral had gradually built up to a reasonable height above sea level - but there was nothing on the island that could be called a hill. Sparse vegetation included scrubby trees just above head height in places, and a few spindly casuarinas. Enough grass holding it all together made an ideal nesting area for the abundant birdlife.

As the boat had moved closer, two white lighthouse-keepers homes came into view below the lighthouse. Unlike most Queensland homes at the time, these were built low on the ground. At water’s edge, they were designed to take advantage of cooling breezes in summer, but were reasonably sheltered when the weather turned nasty.

An airstrip running the full length of the island was then used occasionally. Now, after extensive upgrading, daily planes brought tourists to and from the island resort.

Early in their marriage they knew they would never have children, and by the time they were assigned to Lady Elliot they were both comfortable with this fact.

Norma never really felt she had missed out. Her new neighbors were the McCafferty’s, the other lighthouse keepers family. They were to become more family than friends. Heather and John had three children and Norma had spent an extraordinary amount of time with these children, loving and laughing with them, crying when they went off to boarding school, and rejoicing on their return for holidays.

During her first weeks on the island the children had taken her exploring, teaching her how to locate the bird rookeries. She soon became fascinated by the majestic flights of the birds that called in to rest while migrating. Many hours were spent, mainly at low tide, wandering over the coral reef and exploring all the rock pools, examining and trying to identify hundreds of species of fish and coral.

Norma and Heather soon became firm friends while the children were at school. Heather had been an art teacher prior to her marriage, so they took the children's pencils with them while they wandered and there began Norma’s first drawing lessons.

From the first lesson, Heather realized Norma had amazing talent, and what had begun as just a bit of fun soon became a serious business, progressing quickly from pencil sketches to dramatic oil paintings. Norma had the gift of capturing on canvas the very spirit of the island and its wildlife.

Over the years she became an artist well known among naturalists, many visiting the island just to observe her at work while delving into her secrets of bringing life to so many different scenes. The majority of these works had been admired and bought by tourists hungry for life-like souvenirs of their holiday at Lady Elliot.

Norma still kept in touch with the McCafferty’s, even though they had long since moved to live on the mainland when the lighthouse had been automated.

The supreme feature of Lady Elliot was an amazing expanse of coral on the eastern side of the island. Easy to explore on foot at low tide, it proved extremely popular, leading to the establishment of an outstanding Eco-Friendly Tourist Resort, now world-renowned.

She laughed to herself as she compared the resort with her recollection of the small huts, called dongas, that were the only accommodation for casual visitors when she first arrived on the island.

It was several years before Alan’s death that the lighthouse had been automated and the mechanism controlled from the mainland, ending the need for permanent keepers. Alan and Norma were allowed to continue living in one of the houses. The other, attached to the lighthouse, was now used as a tourist feature through which Norma had sold many of her paintings.

Then there was her niece Jillian, who spent many holidays with Norma, and whose wedding, Norma reminded herself with a smile, she was flying out to attend. While thinking back, Norma had filled the teapot and now poured herself a cup of tea. As she did, her hand moved to the side of her neck where an aggravating itchy spot had developed. That was another reason for her trip. She’d made an appointment with a specialist to coincide with Jillian’s wedding. In her heart she knew she had a skin cancer growing there, and only the specialist would be able to tell her how serious.

Norma heard the plane’s wheels thud slightly as it touched down on the runway, then engine noise reduced as it taxied toward the resort before shutting down. She knew it would be some time before the plane returned to the mainland.

Leaving the island today would also give her a few days in Brisbane to catch up with Heather and to discuss some other issues with authorities before taking part in the wedding festivities the following week.

Oh well. For now, she would sit and relax while waiting to hear the pilot restart the engines, signaling it was time to leave.