Chapter 66

Sarah left for Perth. I think she had a final tryst with Henry. I know she hadn't made up with mum. And I also knew that everyone (save mum) thought that Sarah was being the adult here. I had no notion of what might be done – so I did nothing. I didn't even ask dad about it.

Henry had catalogued the contents of the first two boxes and I helped him wrangle the heaviest carton onto the table. When he opened it, there was a lot of packing and a large roundish stone.

"A cap!" Henry exclaimed.

"What?"

"From Guam north there are pillars of stone that are topped by round stones – actually natural coral heads or conglomerate coral. No one's quite certain just what purpose they served, though I recall at least two different theories. If this stuff proves sufficient, I'll have to do research on this."

"Anything else?"

Henry felt around the padding. "Feels like a few hard things." He brought out one, then another. "There might be another one. I'll have to unpack everything."

"This looks like a primitive adze." He rubbed the edge. "Basalt with a convex edge." He rubbed the other one. "Maybe another adze, maybe a crusher or a grind stone. Interesting."

"It looks like you'll have a lot to do just to list and categorize what you've got."

"Yes. You missed some of the pottery fragments and another animal."

"Another animal?"

"Yes. It looks like a small lizard. The pottery is interesting in itself. These islets are the very north and eastern extent of pottery. Most of polynesia has none. The Carolines, the Marshalls, the Gilberts are all pottery-free."

"I hadn't realized." My phone rang. I recognized the number. "Excuse me."

I stepped outside the door. "Hey, mum ... Just a moment, let me walk a few steps ... OK ... Yes, I'm at the Museum. Of course. Lunch? ... Sure. Mother Chu's? On Pitt Street? ... I'll find it. A few minutes before noon? Right. Bye." I walked back. "I'm going to have to leave you, Henry."

"That's OK. I'm going to try track down the naval info today and look at the Tost stuff."

"Tost?"

"The Tost and Rohu Collection consist of about 130 ethnographic objects acquired by purchase and exchange between 1886 and 1925 from Jane Tost and her daughter Ada Rohu, professional taxidermists who worked in Sydney, and sold natural history and ethnographic material in their Sydney studio."

"Does Sarah know about this?"

"I don't think so. But if it seems of interest, I'll tell her. I'll be at the Gallery tomorrow, but back here on Thursday."

"Right. I'll see you then. But, remember I've only two more weeks before my academic term starts."

I walked through the park on William towards Pitt. It wasn't 11:30 yet, so I sat for a while on a bench. I wasn't sure why mum was meeting me for lunch. In fact this might be the first time I was meeting her alone. I walked over to Pitt and stopped to get some cash. Then I strolled to the restaurant – where I learned that it was vegetarian. Well, I could live with that.

Mum arrived soon and we were seated right away.

"I need to talk to you about Sarah," she began.

"Wait!" I interrupted. "First, let's order. Second, I'm not going to be the intermediary between you two – I'd just end up alienating both of you."

"Fine, let's order; but I was going to consult you. I've been wrong. I've been dreadful to Sarah. And I don't know what to do."

"Well, try not to cry. Have you been here before?"

"Yes."

"What's really good?"

"Everything I've had. I liked the sesame noodles and the pea leaves with garlic. The tofu with oyster sauce was good, too."

We placed our orders. I looked at mum and said, "I can see you're not happy."

"I don't know what to do about Sarah."

"Why should you do something about Sarah?"

"What?"

"How old is she?"

"Nineteen; nearly twenty."

"So, she can do anything she wants."

"But I'm her mother."

"I'll refrain from asking about yours."

Mum stared at me. He eyes brimmed with tears. She dabbed at them with a paper serviette. Our food was served.

"So you think I should let her do as she wishes?"

"I think you should try to walk in her shoes. You decided on her school. You pretty much decided on her university. Did you ask her what she wanted to do? What if she had married that acrobat?" I looked up at her. "You do realize why she went off with him, don't you?"