Chapter 64

Thursday morning I was back at the Dean's Office.

"Good morning. I know you've been to UNSW because I received a call from Sean Brennan."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Have you anything to say?"

"About any specific topic, ma'am? You told me to visit Dr. Brennan."

"Are you being snarky?"

"No more than usual, ma'am. Permit me: I saw you a week ago; you got me an interview with Dr. Brennan; you told me to return here. I'm here. What do you want me to say?"

"I expected you to petition me."

"For?..."

"For whatever you want."

"I don't know what I want. Well, that's not true. I know I want a degree. I came to see you ten days ago for advice on course fulfillment. I'm open to your recommendations."

"And if I tell you to select three courses from among those offered?"

"I'll register for them and most likely earn distinction in them."

"No argument?"

"To what purpose? You're the Dean. I'll serve from March to December. I have my Rachel and will work through the months for her."

"You see yourself cheated?"

"I've not slept with Leah."

She laughed. "Except that the story is in Genesis, I'd consider the discussion Jesuitical."

"I've been told that even the Devil can quote scripture, ma'am."

"Hmmm. Sean wants your mind and labour."

"And?..."

"He said that he'd phoned Craig Ardler, who spoke highly of you."

"Kind of him."

"He apparently wants you as an intern once you've completed your degree."

"Yes, ma'am."

"You're not going to make this easy, are you?"

"Pardon me, ma'am. You began this interview asking me whether I had anything to say. You've not been very forthcoming."

"No. I suppose not. You were most likely a problem before you got here. You entered in a five year programme. You prised your way past two years through careful reading of the regulations."

"That's what the law teaches, ma'am. Close and careful reading."

"I'll not have you teasing me in my own chamber!"

"No, ma'am."

"Have you been reading since I saw you last?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Kindly divulge some of your readings."

"I read a book by Alistair Paterson on cultural contacts in colonial Australia and, after meeting Dr. Brennan, I read several issues of the Australian Indigenous Law Review."

"No entertainments?"

"We go to the opera. And to art galleries."

"Sean wants you to work on the Review, he said."

"He said so to me, as well."

"Very well." She opened "my" dossier and pulled out a sheet of paper. "Get three copies of this. One comes back to my secretary. One is for your files. One goes to Sean. The original goes to the Registrar. Get a receipt. Things have been known to go astray." She signed the sheet and handed it to me.

"Thank you, ma'am."

"You're most welcome. What did you mean that you had your Rachel?"

"My wife's name is Rachel."

"Good luck. I'll see you in a few months."

"Ma'am?"

"You'll need a second letter."

"Of course. Thanks again."

Outside the office, I asked about copies.

"How many?"

"Three."

"I'll do it for you." She took the sheet, walked two steps and came back a few moments later. "Here you are."

"Thank you. One is for my file. It's on the Dean's desk."

I registered, giving the woman the original and an enormous cheque and receiving two receipts. I then walked home and phoned Sean Brennan.

"This is Patrick Hollister. I have written permission from the dean for this session ... Three courses ... Yes. I read several issues of the Review online ... Yes, sir ... Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays? ... Certainly ... February 17^th? Fine... 10 am? No problem. See you then, sir."

Rachel had been watching. "What was that?"

"Sean Brennan at UNSW. The Dean OKed my working on the Australian Indigenous Law Review this coming term."

"You must be thrilled!"

"I am. It'll be work, though. Fifteen hours on the Review each week for three course credits: 1000 to 1600, three days a week, minus lunch. But I've a month's free time. I'll get that new novel by Murray Ball."

"Will you drive there?"

"If I can locate parking. It won't be cheap. At $3 per hour it would be at least $60 per week; and that would be over $700 for the term. If they consider me 'staff', it would be $500. But a zone pass would run about $600 a quarter, anyway. Isn't what your pass runs?"

"I've got a yearly. It was under $2000."

"As you say, 'only money'."

"Right. Give me a kiss and I'll take you out for lunch!"

Hanini Kanakealamaula was waiting for me at the Museum the next day. "Do you think I could talk to Dr Mandy Reid?" was his greeting.

"Who is she?"

"Oh, sorry. Hello. She's the current Collection Manager for malacology here."

"Probably no problem at all. I gather you're excited."

"Well, so far I've several dozen cowries and a dozen conchs. And a few shells I can't readily identify. So I want to ask an expert."

The Australian Museum Malacology collection is one of the world's largest of its kind, covering all groups of recent (up to 1.6 million year old) and tertiary (65-1.6 million year old) molluscs. Many of the specimens are dry shells, but there is also a large collection of preserved molluscs. The collections date from the 1860s and include marine, terrestrial and freshwater molluscs. They are predominantly from Australia and the south-west Pacific.

"Do you know where the department office is?"

"No."

"Well, find out; go there; ask about Dr. Reid. Come on! Have confidence!"

"'Never disgrace the generations of your fathers.'"

"What's that?"

"The instructions of a father to his son. In the Iliad."