Page 11 of Sisters Under The Rising Sun
Several of the women begin to cry; the men extend their hands to shake those of their rescuers.
‘What ship are you from?’
‘TheVyner Brooke.’
‘Ah, sorry to hear that. Pass the little one over first,’ the older airman says, pointing to June, who is still clinging on to Ena.
Ena attempts to untangle June’s arms from around her neck, but the little girl holds on tighter and buries her face in Ena’s neck.
‘It’s all right, June. I’m just passing you to the kind officer. I’ll follow, don’t worry.’
‘Can we hurry this up?’ one of the women says, as she attempts to clamber on board the launch.
‘Stay on the raft, madam, we’re taking the child first,’ the airman tells her.
June allows herself to be lifted and placed into the launch and the others quickly follow. With a gentle push away from the raft, the launch fires up and heads towards land. Norah watches their plank of wood disappear. It has saved them from the sea; its job is done.
‘Water?’ John croaks.
‘I’m so sorry,’ says the airman, handing him a canteen. ‘Do pass it round.’
John takes a gulp, and the canteen is hastily passed around the group, barely quenching their thirst.
‘Have you found any other survivors?’ John asks.
‘Not from theVyner Brooke.’
‘Where are you taking us?’
‘We don’t have much of a choice, I’m afraid. Muntok is not far away, and we will take you to the pier. I’m sorry to say this, but we’ll be delivering you to the Japanese.’
There are cries of fear and anger amongst the group. How can these men be delivering them into the hands of the enemy, the very army which destroyed their ship and machine-gunned civilians from the air?
‘Can’t we come with you? You can’t just abandon us to the Japanese,’ Norah says, aghast.
‘We’re surrounded. If you’re caught with us, then you’ll really be in trouble. This is all we can do, I’m sorry, I …’
The airman doesn’t need to finish his sentence. The group falls silent. At least there is some relief in finally escaping the water.
‘There’s the pier ahead. We’re going in hard and fast, please disembark as quickly as you can so we can get away.’
The launch slows down as they approach a bend in the Strait. Peering around, they see a long pier reaching into the sea from the land.
‘Go, go, go!’ the older airman tells his young colleague who is steering the launch.
The survivors are thrown back into their seats as the boat lurches forwards at top speed. They hit the pier with a thump, just beside the wooden ladder for disembarkation.
‘Quick, quick.’ The airman points to a young man. ‘Up you go, I’m sending June after you; that’s your name isn’t it, sweetheart?’
The little girl nods.
‘Help her and then the others as I send them up. We must move very fast now.’
The man clambers up the ladder, and June makes her own way up with shaking legs but a courage and determination beyond her years. Ena follows, stumbling on the steps, her legs also like jelly after hours in the water. Her lacerated hands are agonisingly painful as she grips each rung. As the last survivors struggle up the ladder to the pier, they hear shouting and feet pounding towards them.
‘Go, go, go!’ the airman yells, pushing the remaining survivors onto the ladder.
As the last one places his hands on the bottom rung, the airman guns the engines. A hail of bullets chases them away. When they are on the pier, Ena, Norah and John stare at the Japanese soldiers, still running towards them, rifles firing at the departed RAF men. Beyond the soldiers, they see that the pier is littered with other survivors, sitting on their suitcases, on boxes, watching in horror, terrified the newcomers are about to be shot. The launch disappears around the bend. The Japanese soldiers turn and walk back the way they came, leaving the survivors from theVyner Brooketo wonder what happens next.
