Free The Other Side of Paradise by Margaret Mayhew Page A

and I hoped they’d put me to some good use but, so far, all I’ve done is fill in forms. The sort of thing any fool could do.’
    ‘There’s been a lot of that, I’m afraid: valuable men being wasted. And there’s another problem: Singapore’s a polyglot hotchpotch of races who don’t seem to mix with each other or have any special allegiance to the British Crown. I can’t see them pulling together under attack.’
    ‘Even so, Lawrence, I still can’t believe the Japs capable of taking Singapore.’
    ‘Let’s hope you’re proved right. But if you want my advice, Tom, you’ll send your wife and daughter away. Get them a passage on a ship sailing for Australia – they’d be reasonably safe there.’
    ‘They wouldn’t think much of the idea.’
    ‘Better than falling into Jap hands. They have a very uncivilized way of dealing with prisoners. And if they treat Europeans anything like the way they treated the Chinese in Nanking, it’s going to be very unpleasant indeed. Jap soldiers have been conditioned not to value any life except for that of the Emperor. They’re not troubled by a conscience and they’ll have no mercy.’
    Another silence.
    Her father said, ‘Well, thanks for the warning, Lawrence … I’ll certainly bear it in mind. How about another
stengah
?’
    Susan stopped listening and went back to her room. The
amah
had put the mosquito netting in place and sprayed round with the Flit gun. She undressed and lay down on the bed, limbs draped over the bolster to keep cool. Lawrence Trent had seemed rather nice at first but he wasn’t. He was one of those people who took a delight in scare-mongering, and there were quite a few of them in Singapore. Her father would take no notice, so there was no need for panic. The idea of sailing off to Australia, of all places, was ridiculous. She’d say so at breakfast if it wouldn’t give away the fact that she’d eavesdropped.
    Better than falling into Jap hands … they’ll have no mercy
. No need to think about that because it would never happen.
    A mosquito must have somehow escaped the Flit gun. She could hear it whining and dive-bombing the netting again and again, keeping her awake. She rearranged her legs round the bolster to get cooler and tried to ignore the maddening sound.

Four
    ROGER CLARK WAS very sweet but it had been a mistake to encourage him. He took her to the cinema in the Cathay Building to see a rather boring film and to dinner afterwards at the restaurant above, which he probably couldn’t afford. During dinner he talked about Esher and his home in Esher Park Avenue. Apparently there was a pub called the Star on the green and another called the Bear in the High Street. There was also an Odeon cinema and a place called the Moor Place Hotel which was rather good for dinner. And a racecourse.
    ‘Sandown Park,’ he said enthusiastically. ‘I expect you’ve heard of it. It’s rather well known.’
    She stifled a yawn. ‘Sorry, no.’
    ‘Of course, you’ve got a marvellous racecourse here. And Esher’s nothing like Singapore – not nearly as exciting. But, actually, I find I miss it rather a lot. There’s still a lot to be said for dear old England, isn’t there?’
    She thought of the grey skies and the bone-chilling cold, of foggy London and the grandparents’ tall and silent house in Kensington.
    ‘I wouldn’t really know. I’ve never spent much time there. I’ve always lived in Malaya.’
    ‘Gosh, that must be rather odd. I mean, you’re English but you don’t know England.’
    ‘It doesn’t worry me. I love Malaya.’
    ‘Yes … it’s an amazing place. But I don’t think I’d want to stay here for ever. I’ll probably be jolly glad to get home in the end.’
    ‘And I expect your parents will be jolly glad when you do.’
    She could picture the scene: a motherly mother at the doorway of the house in Esher – mock-Tudor perhaps, like some of the black and white colonial ones in Singapore. She would be