At the Foot of the Cherry Tree by Alli Parker

Author:Alli Parker
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollinsPublishers
Published: 2023-06-15T00:00:00+00:00

Gordon raced through the dormitory buildings, searching for Toby. He could barely contain his excitement. There was no sign of Toby or Yoneko at the raucous party, the soldiers taking advantage of the absent COs to smuggle Japanese girls onto the base. Before Gordon headed to the creek, he doubled back to check Toby’s dorm, in case he was getting ready to head out for the night.

Gordon burst through the door but there was only one man inside. Matthews was lying on his bed reading a book.

‘You know where Westy is?’ Gordon asked.

‘Probably halfway home by now.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘The bloke married a Japanese girl and then tried to get the Army to sign off on it.’ Matthews inclined his head towards Toby’s bed. It was empty, no sign that anyone had slept in it, no photographs taped to the wall above. Gordon’s heart sank. ‘I dunno what the bloke was thinking. There’s the anti-fraternisation policy for a start. It’s bullshit but it’s there. And no Japanese is ever going to be allowed to set foot in Australia. What does he think the White Australia policy is for?’

‘The White Australia policy?’

‘Stops anyone who’s not British coming into Australia. Well, anyone who’s not white. The clue’s in the name.’

‘But war brides wouldn’t count.’ Dread crept through Gordon’s body. ‘I know blokes who met their wives in France in the Great War. They were allowed to move home with their husbands.’

‘Yeah, but girls from France don’t look all that different to us, do they?’ Matthews said. ‘Lots of soldiers bring home their war brides but I only know ones from England or America, maybe Canada. Dunno if you’ve noticed but we’re definitely not in Canada.’ Matthews stretched his neck from side to side. ‘West obviously figured the chips would fall his way, but as soon as he mentioned his Japanese wife, the COs packed him up on the first boat back to Sydney. I don’t blame them. You don’t want to mix yellow and white. It’s not pretty.’

Gordon stumbled from the dorm, panic whirling, breathing hard in the cool night air. In the distance, the not-so-secret party echoed through the buildings around him. He pressed his hands into his knees, almost as though he’d been punched in the stomach.

He had to be smart about this. Toby had always rushed into things without thinking about them and now he was on a ship in the middle of the Pacific. Gordon needed time to consider his options, to figure out the best way forward. They’d be married one day; he’d made his promise to Cherry. The wedding didn’t need to be tomorrow.

At this thought, Gordon started laughing, delight and relief flooding through him. It seemed impossible that so much had happened so quickly.

Toby was gone. Cherry was back.

Now he needed to work out how to do this right.

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