Read Online Pearlie's Pet Rescue by Lucia Masciullo - Free Book Online

Chinatown to scare away the evil spirits. But they weren’t powerful enough to scare away the Japanese war planes. Cavenagh Street looked like a ghost town.
    â€˜I just heard on the wireless!’ Dad said. ‘Japan has invaded Singapore and more than fifteen thousand Australian soldiers have been taken prisoner!’
    â€˜Oh God,’ Mum said. ‘I’m so glad we’re leaving. Pearlie, are you ready? The truck will be here any minute.’
    Pearlie just had one more thing to do, and she’d left it until the very last moment. ‘I’ll be right there, Mum,’ she said as she ran down to the shed in the yard. She opened the door. Tinto jumped onto her shoulder, excited to see her.
    The night before, Pearlie had told her parents that she’d given Tinto away with the other animals. They had said they were proud of her, which made her feel even more guilty for lying. ‘Shhh . . . I know this is going to be hard, little man,’ Pearlie said, stroking Tinto’s mane. ‘But you have to be good, and not make any noise just until we’re out at sea, all right?’
    Tinto blinked and moved his little mouth as if he understood. She put him inside his pouch. He snuggled down with only his little head showing. Then she slipped a loose shirt over the dress she was wearing so that he would be covered completely but still able to breathe. Satisfied that he was hidden, she joined Mum, Dad and Joey out on the street.
    Dad took one last look inside Sing Chan Tailors and locked the door.
    Not long after, a big army truck pulled up to take them to the wharf. There were already other families standing on the back. Dad climbed up first, but he was still too weak to lift the small suitcase that contained their belongings, so Pearlie held Joey while Mum hauled it up onto the truck. The only thing Pearlie had packed was the precious scrapbook with the stories of her friendship with Naoko. She didn’t care about her clothes.
    They said hello to the other families. They knew them all but there was none of the friendly Darwin feeling between them today. As the truck bumped over potholes and splashed through puddles, everyone was too sad and too worried to chat. Nobody knew what was going to happen to them.
    In the sombre silence of the wharf, Pearlie waited with her family behind a gate. The
Koolinda
loomed above them, its one funnel belching grey smoke. She kept close to Mum and Dad as she looked back at the foreshore – at Lameroo Baths, where she and Nao used to swim, at the Esplanade and the township behind. How she loved Darwin. Will I ever come back? she wondered. At least it’s Perth we’re sailing to. That was the only good thing about being evacuated – she would be closer to Reddy. There hadn’t been time to say goodbye to anyone, though most people they knew had already left. Pearlie hadn’t even had the chance to thank Hazel for all her help.
    The women and children were crying now, hugging and kissing their husbands and fathers, who had to stay behind. Pearlie looked at Dad. It would be terrible to be separated from your family.
    She put her hand on the small warm mound at her waist. They’d been standing around for hours in the heat but there was not a sound from Tinto. So far he’d been a good boy. I wish they’d let us board though, Pearlie thought nervously.
    At last the gate was raised and the evacuees shuffled through.
    But at the bottom of the gangplank there was another wait as each family’s evacuation orders were checked and double-checked.
    It was nearly their turn. Pearlie began to sweat. Please don’t make a sound, Tinto. Be as quiet as can be.
    And then, before she knew it, they were waved through.
    Pearlie breathed out with relief as she walked up the gangplank and onto the deck. The air was fresher up there. It was as if the wind was telling her that it was going to be all right. Now all she had to do was