Free Pobby and Dingan by Ben Rice Page A

McNulty in the crowd. He was frowning and looking at his watch. But at least the preacher was doing a good job. He was pretty sober and he was still going around welcoming people and saying hello and handing out sheets with some songs printed on them. I reckon he wasn’t keen to lose all these people. Because if they stayed it would be the biggest congregation he ever preached to in his life. At one moment he looked up and gave me a thumbs-up sign as if to say: “Don’t worry, mate, Kellyanne will be here soon.”
    And then suddenly she came. I recognized the sound of the ute as it came in the gate, and there was Dad at the wheel. And everyone turned around and stood watching as he climbed out and walked to the back and began to take out a fold-up wheelchair and assemble it on the grass. I ran down to meet him. Through the back window I could see Kellyanne’s pale face. I ran to the back door and opened it and Kellyanne turned and gave me a twitch—because she had no strength for a whole smile. She was as thin as I have ever seen a person get, and Mum came and helped me lift her into the wheelchair which Dad had assembled. And there were tears in Mum’s eyes and the funeral hadn’t even started. Well, then Mum gave Dad a big hug and a kiss right on the lips and I did a yuck sign to Kellyanne by sticking my finger down my throat, and then I pushed Kellyanne up the slope through the crowd and up to the grave of Pobby and Dingan. And most people I think were pretty shocked to see my sister looking so sick. And some of them said nice things to her on the way up, like “Good on yer, gal,” and “She’s a brave one.” And somebody else’s mum put flowers on her lap. And then, when she got to the top, everyone suddenly started clapping and everyone was cheering and people were slapping my dad on the back. It took a fair while for everyone to settle down and listen to the preacher, who was now standing up at the front and looking like he wanted to speak.
    He shouted out: “G-day, everybody! And welcome to the funeral of Pobby and Dingan, friends of Kellyanne Williamson and members of the good honest Williamson family!” Well, at that point Humph let out a huge cheer, but he was the only one and I think he felt a bit of a drongo for doing it. But my dad had a little smile to himself. And then the preacher told us we were going to sing from our song sheets and everyone rustled their papers.
    Well, Kellyanne had chosen the songs, and first we sang the Australian National Anthem, “Australians all let us rejoice for we are young and free,” and all that, and then Fingers Bill played a Cat Stevens song on his guitar and those who didn’t know the words sort of just hummed it, and it went “Oooh baby it’s a wide world,” or something like that. And Kellyanne had chosen it because it was Pobby and Dingan’s favourite song. And it was quite amazing hearing all these people singing together. And I wouldn’t say it was too tuneful or anything like that. But it was loud as hell and I reckon the emus out on the Moree Road didn’t have no trouble hearing it.
    Well, then the preacher coughed and took out a piece of paper and said: “I would now like to say a few words about the deceased.” And this is how his speech went:
    People of Lightning Ridge, g-day. We have come
together here today to celebrate the lives of Pobby and
Dingan, two close mates of Kellyanne Williamson. They have brought much pleasure to our hearts and
what a sad loss it is to say our final goodbyes to
them—whom many of us never even saw, but only
felt. We recall with pleasure Dingan’s calm pacifist
nature, her opal bellybutton and her pretty face, and
many of us will remember Pobby’s limp and his
generous heart, and let us give thanks for their lives,
which, whatever anyone says, they most certainly lived.
    Well, people were sniffing and taking out handkerchiefs already. And even some of those real legend, tough miners were weeping onto the backs