by Mark Stewart
ANNELI TOOK the initiative to go the one step further and kissed her hero. The kiss on the bridge felt amateurish compared to the kiss they shared in the cave in the middle of a cyclone. The wind seemed to heighten the sensation.
Finally, she moved to pull back. Wade trapped her to prolong the kiss. Anneli surrendered, allowing him to kiss her even longer. She felt weak in his strong arms. She needed her hero to look after her. She craved the thought but wanted it known she wasn’t a weak female.
Anneli gently broke the kiss.
Wade released his hold. For a few moments, they stood gazing into each other’s eyes.
“There’s something I need to say.”
“I’m listening,” whispered Wade, giving her his undivided attention.
Anneli broke free of his grip only to lean her back seductively against the wall of the mine.
“Whatever it is you’re thinking about just say it.”
“I’m not sure how,” she confessed on a sigh, kicking at a clump of dirt.
“It’s okay. If this helps in any way; you have an inner strength which enables you to be strong when the need arises.”
“How did you sum me up so easily?”
“I’m a lawyer. I’ve taught myself to find out how innocent the person is by the slightest inkling of a twitch which might be out of place.”
Anneli pouted. “The instinct will be priceless to learn. What am I thinking?”
“I have decided to put my ability aside only for you. I feel it’s my duty.”
Anneli fell quiet. She looked outside at the wind, a distant look in her eyes. Slowly she peeled her gaze from the storm to focus on Wade.
“You’re right, what I’ve been thinking has to be told.”
Wade stood his ground waiting to listen to every word.
“I want to reveal you’ve pegged me correctly. I’ll also tell you I’m no weakling. I will not tolerate you or any man taking advantage or ordering me to do anything against what I believe. I walk a narrow path. I will not wander away from it either in thought or actions. I’d love to take our relationship further. If you can’t accept who or what I am, the moment this storm’s over, we’ll part and never see each other again.”
“I’m happy you made your thoughts crystal clear,” advised Wade. “Seeing how I know your ideas about the future, I think it’s only fair I should lay out mine.”
Anneli looked sheepish at what he might say. An idea entered her mind she came on too strong and might have scared the man away. Did she say her thoughts in a too harsh a tone? She wanted to kick herself for being so blunt. Could Meredith have been right all along; ‘give in and let the current take you on a ride.’
“I also want to take our relationship to the next level. I will never order you around. I love the fact you are a strong individual. I expect it to stay the same. Your strength attracted me to you in the first place,” confessed Wade.
“How, I didn’t do anything?”
“It’s not what you said it was the way you looked at me the night we met on the bridge. Your body language spoke directly to me.”
“Interesting theory,” hinted Anneli.
Four lightning flashes, four thunder claps in the space of a few seconds interrupted the conversation. Another round of rumbles soon followed. Water poured over the mouth of the cave. The hill above them trembled violently. Wade and Anneli ran towards the back of the cave. A dirt avalanche slid down the hill. Mud covered rocks covered the mouth of the cave. Wade forced Anneli onto the ground, grabbed hold of the cabinet pulling it over on top of them.
When the trembling above their heads eventually subsided, Wade slid out from under the cabinet. Squatting in the dark, he righted the frame.
“I can’t see a thing,” stammered Anneli. “The cave mouth must be completely blocked.”
“Don’t move. I’ll have a light on in a minute.”
Wade opened the cabinet door. His hands swept the inside cavity. When his fingers touched, what, he started to search for, Wade swiped up the narrow tube and moved the switch on the torch to the on position.
The area remained the colour of ink after they heard a click.
“Let me guess what’s happened. The batteries are flat,” stated Anneli.
“Hold your thoughts. The last time I came here I placed one of the batteries in the slot the wrong way around. I didn’t want them to go flat. Hopefully, they’ll still be good to use.”
Wade fumbled in the dark, turning the first battery, around so they could be connected in series. They heard a click. The beam of light highlighted Anneli’s torso.
“Are you okay? No broken bones?”
“I’m fine on both questions. What about you?”
“I’m okay,” reported Wade.
Anneli glanced towards the mouth of the cave. “I reckon this storm might form into a destructive cyclone. The only thing we can do now is to dig our way out.” She looked at Wade’s smiling face. “Don’t tell me there’s a back door to this place.”
“To tell you the truth, there is. Let’s make a move. It’ll take a while to get to the there.”
After picking up the long rigid bag, Wade led the way.
“What about the motorbike,” Anneli quizzed.
“It’ll be fine. When the area has dried, we can return to dig it out.”
A wave of warm emotion swept through Anneli. The epicenter of the feeling came from her heart. She loved the term, ‘WE.’ For the first time in her life, she felt like she belonged to something important.
The rear of the cave abruptly stopped at the entrance to a long narrow tunnel. The air smelt stale.
Several steps along the tunnel Wade stopped to look over his shoulder.
“There’s nothing to be afraid of. I’ve been this way a couple of times.”
Anneli hesitantly entered the tunnel. She caught him up, grabbing hold of his arm.
“The dark tunnel looks extremely inhospitable,” she groaned choking on her words.
“Trust me; it’ll be okay.”
Anneli nodded when Wade took hold of her hand.
They walked through the tunnel at a tediously slow pace. Anneli studied the walls closing in on them. In a few extra narrow sections, they needed to sidestep their way through. Not once did Wade let go of Anneli’s hand. She felt reassured by his touch. In the future years when she looked back on, this moment in time, holding Wade’s hand and realizing she never wanted to let it go, she felt positive it will always place an unshakable smile on her face.
“Wade, are we nearly there?” whispered Anneli.
“Yes, it isn’t too far now.”
“If you didn’t insist on bringing the long canvas bag we might have been at the back door sooner. Why did you bring it anyway?”
“We’ll need it.”
“At the moment, the only thing I can tell is it’s hindering our progress.”
“You’ll see soon enough.” Using the fading torch beam, Wade checked his watch. “It’s nine forty five,” he reported.
“Almost mid-morning,” answered Anneli, sucking her breath in to squeeze past yet another extra narrow section. “It’s getting harder to breathe.”
“Yes, it is, and I don’t know why,” replied Wade. “I’m sure the back door isn’t more than thirty steps ahead.” He stopped, reached for the box of matches in his back pocket and struck one of the magnesium covered match heads against the side of the box. A yellow flame flickered to life. Wade held the match perfectly still to see if the flame moved sideways in the direction they were going.
“The flame is supposed to move in the direction of the airflow,” explained Anneli, recalling the exact trick she learnt in the science lesson at primary school.
“Yes, it is. I have no idea why it’s not,” stated Wade. “The only thing we can do is press on.”
The narrow tunnel broke into a small cave no wider than a single lane road. Wade walked to the wall directly in front of him.
“This has to be a fresh wall, probab
ly from a collapse due to the storm.”
“Breaking free should be an easy thing to do,” announced Anneli. She stepped up to the wall and started digging.
“Hold it, before you injure yourself let’s take a look in my pockets for anything useful.”
In the fading torch light, Anneli called out the items Wade placed onto the ground. “There’s a wallet and a box of matches.”
“One torch,” added Wade. He stepped over to the wall and dug the butt end of the torch into the soft mud. A small quantity of dirt fell away.
“It’s too blunt,” Anneli advised. Glancing at the long canvas bag containing the five poles she wondered why Wade had been so careful in handling them. “What if you used one of the poles in the bag for a battering ram? If the wall isn’t too deep the tip of the pole might make a hole.”
A wave of hurt moved across Wade’s face.
Anneli easily picked up on the emotion. “Surely a pole isn’t too priceless that it shouldn’t be used to help us to escape.”
Wade lifted his hand to gently cup Anneli’s face. “I love the idea.”
He handed Anneli the torch and picked out a long pole from the bag. Wade gently pushed the pole into the dirt, swiveling his end around in circles. Almost immediately the wall started to crumble away.
The more times Wade pushed the pole into the soft mud and pulled it back the louder the wind sounded.
In a few minutes, a hole formed in the wall. It appeared to be the same size as a lady’s hat she wore to the Melbourne Cup.
The rain started pouring through the hole. Wade kept up his hacking. The mudslide measured four feet at its thickest part. Once the hole looked wide enough to scramble through, Wade stepped back to view the outside. Both he and Anneli watched the sky in amazement.
“This is one massive storm,” grumbled Anneli.
“I’d say she’s a bad arse cyclone. I heard a few weeks back the bureau of meteorology decided the next cyclone was going to be named; Tracy.”
“The way the wind’s picking up, Tracy might have enough strength to destroy Darwin.”
“You could be right on the money. I have a feeling when Tracy has blown herself out there won’t be much left standing,” quoted Wade.
“This is just a random thought. When the experts name a cyclone, they never use a man’s name.”
Wade placed his arm around Anneli’s waist so he could give her a quick reassuring kiss. For fifteen minutes, he cradled her in his arms waiting for Cyclone Tracy to move off.
The moment the wind dropped to zero knots the sun came out.
The two crawled out of the tunnel. Standing at the entrance, Anneli and Wade took in the view. The warm sun shone on the sides of the hill. The trees were again standing straight. There wasn’t a tell-tale sign the storm might have been any stronger than a heavy band of rain.
“This must be the eye of the storm,” Anneli reported.
Wade slowly nodded. He certainly didn’t want to be close to the temporary entrance to the cave when the wind restarted. He looked into the distance at the turbulent sea and where Darwin should have been. He could plainly see the central business district. He could also see numerous small fires erupting. Where complete buildings and houses had been built, he couldn’t count how many were missing walls or roofs. Rubble littered every street. Cars looked like they had been parked haphazardly. Some were even sitting precariously on house roofs. The image the whole of Darwin looked graveyard quiet burned in his mind.
Turning his back on the outside world, Wade heard the wind returning. Grabbing Anneli by the hand, he pulled her towards the tunnel. They dived through the hole in the nick of time. In seconds, the wind returned. The noise started howling through the entrance, threatening to suck them out and upwards towards the heavens. Anneli gripped onto Wade’s shoulders to stop from being airborne.
Wade spied a metal ring embedded into the wall. He untied his belt, threading it through the ring. He just managed to re-clip it before the wind returned to gale force, sweeping Anneli and Wade off their feet. He clutched Anneli around the waist helping her to hang on.
“The wind must be moving close to one hundred and fifty miles an hour,” stammered Anneli planting her feet into the mud.
“It might even be two hundred,” replied Wade, forcing his feet back onto the ground. He dropped to his knees, pulling Anneli down under his arm.
Wade and Anneli had heard the noise before they felt it.
The whole side of the hill started sliding, collapsing the small entrance to the cave. Their haven quickly disappeared due to the fact the entrance kept collapsing. As it did so the mouth of the cave closed in on Wade and Anneli. Halfway through the second part of the storm, Wade estimated the cave mouth to be wider than a single lane road. In minutes, the length of the cave shortened considerably. At first, Wade didn’t concern himself. In less than a minute the walls where they were standing started to crack, making him change his mind. Deep fissures soon followed. The avalanche quickly picked up speed turning the dirt into mud; soft, suffocating mud.
The hill directly in front of the cave dwellers began to erode. One minute they were ten feet from the entrance, the next, they were down to a few feet. There didn’t seem to be any letup. Wade unclipped his belt from the ring to move Anneli further into the cave. He wanted to be ready for a hasty retreat. He unearthed the cloth covered poles, clutching them in his left hand.
“Wade, we can’t go any further,” Anneli screamed. The tone of her voice sounded full of despair.
He turned to face the entrance. “The tunnel has collapsed. We’re trapped in this cave till the storm’s gone.”
“If the edge of the avalanche comes too much closer we’ll be surfing back to Darwin,” hinted Anneli nervously.
Wade pushed her back to the rear of the tunnel. He watched the cracks in the walls spread towards the metal ring. They were less than two feet away when he decided they needed a backup plan. He turned to Anneli, talking over the sound of the wind.
“I’m fresh out of ideas of what to do. Any input will be gratefully accepted.”
Anneli stood shaking her head. “The only thing I can think of is to pray.”
Wade gave an agreeing nod.
“God, if you can hear me over this wind I ask you save us from this storm. Thank you.”
Wade estimated the crack in the wall closed the gap between them by a further two feet in as many minutes. He tested his theory by pulling on the metal ring. It felt loose. The brightening sky evaporated his worried look. Wade noticed the wind abating, dropping to a stiff breeze.
“The storm’s gone,” he reported confidently. “Stay where you are, I’ll take a look.” He took a few tentative steps towards the edge of the cliff. “The ground feels firm almost to the edge before the mud starts to give way,” he reported. Standing at the entrance of the short cave he looked over his shoulder. “Anneli, come over here you need to have a look at this.”
Anneli carefully walked over. She stood next to Wade, staring gob-smacked at the scene.
“Nothing has been left intact. Not one house or building made it through the storm unscathed. The whole area is a war zone. Where Darwin once stood in all her splendor has been blown away. Devastation is the only thing remaining.”
Wade squinted in the sunlight and the dying wind. He pointed to his left towards the sea where the light industrial area once stood.
“I can see a few fires raging, probably from broken gas pipes. Anneli, you’re right, there’s nothing left. I have no doubt this cyclone will go down in history. I can only imagine what the media will say in tomorrow’s newspaper.”
“The year Cyclone Tracy destroyed Christmas,” Anneli reported.
Wade didn’t respond to her one line statement; he appeared to be captivated by the humus clouds. The sky looked to be an inviting blue.
Anneli didn’t realize Wade was focusing all his attention elsewhere; she busied herself studying the hill. Shaking her head, she spoke in a whisper.
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“Wade, do you have any ideas on how we might be able to get down?”
“I’m happy you mentioned it. I have the perfect solution,” Wade boasted. Looking directly at Anneli, he grinned mischievously.
“Let me guess; the long pole you brought along is part of a flying fox?”
“Not quite. Come on; I’ll show you the contents of the bag.”
Wade picked up the long rigid canvas bag, took hold of Anneli’s hand and carefully led the way over the soft mud to the only patch of grass left on the hillside. Placing the bag on the ground, he set to work.
The long poles were first out of the bag.
“I don’t believe it!” exclaimed Anneli, her jaw falling open at his secret.
Wade built an aluminum triangular shaped frame and tightened the joints using wing nuts. He rolled out the material, clipping the whole sheet across the back of the structure. Wade unraveled the straps from around the poles. Next, he tied off the harness.
“You’ve been carrying a hang-glider!” Anneli shrieked.
“It’s our ticket out of here,” answered Wade. “I’d planned to ask if you were interested in seeing the sights of Darwin after climbing down from the radio tower. I didn’t plan on a cyclone or the hang-glider to be used to rescue us.”
“I’d love to go for a scenic flight. Will it hold both of us?”
“Sure, it’s not a problem.”
Wade lifted the hang-glider into the correct position then helped Anneli into her harness. “The only thing we have to do is run down the hill as one. When you feel the front of the glider rise, I’ll signal for you to jump. Once we’re in the air, push one leg at a time through the strap behind you. Lying prone will stop the drag on the glider. I’ll steer for the thermals. If we need the glider to circle to the left or right the only thing you have to do is move your hands. Don’t panic over anything, relax and enjoy the flight.”
“This sounds so exciting,” remarked Anneli, almost breathless. “I have to confess I’ve never done this before.” She looked sideways at Wade hoping he couldn’t tell she might vomit at any moment. She felt scared and excited at the same time. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she tried to dam her adrenaline rush. Keeping her voice steady, she said. “How soon can we start?”
Wade again searched the sky for an updraft. He pointed to an eagle gliding close to the hill searching for food. It slowly circled several times before flying off.
“Now seems to be a perfect time. After we’re airborne, we’ll make our way towards Darwin. The bird’s eye view will give us a great insight into the damage. Once we’ve lost some height, we’ll make our way to the beach so we can land on the sand.”
They hoisted the glider onto their shoulders. In unison, they started walking downhill. Even though the warm breeze seemed to be steadily dropping it was still strong enough to make the material that was strapped to the hang glider flap violently. Anneli tried to analyze how fast the wind might be blowing when she heard Wade’s voice.
“Start running.”
Anneli’s legs felt like steel. She needed to use her entire strength to keep her feet moving. The soft squelching mud underneath her runners acted as a resistance hindering their velocity. The ground quickly steepened. The hang-glider seemed to be growing heavier. In a few more seconds the mud from the avalanche looked too thick. Panic gripped Anneli’s mind. Her lungs ached from breathing too rapidly. If she didn’t force herself to relax she’d start to hyperventilate.
Alarming thoughts gripped her mind. ‘What if they fell into the mud before the hang-glider lifted them off the ground? What if they were running too slow? What if she did everything wrong? What will happen if she failed to complete the few basic instructions Wade had said?’ She bit her bottom lip to mask her feelings of exhilaration and extreme nervousness. Horror wrinkled her brow. At this critical time, why couldn’t she remember what to do? For the first time in her life nerves got the better of her. She looked sideways at Wade. His face seemed relaxed. Didn’t he understand the danger?
The glider’s nose lurched upwards. Anneli felt the wind move the ends of her hair.
“Now, jump,” called Wade.
The tone of voice he used sounded totally calm. He acted like he’d done this hang-glider thing every day for years.
Anneli felt too nervous to know whether she completed the command or not and Wade seemed too busy studying the air to notice her wild gaze glued on him.
The glider’s nose rose steadily.
Anneli pushed both her feet into the loop made out of the same strapping material which gripped her around her waist. Watching the mud slip away, she quickly estimated they were ten feet above the ground and climbing. Starting to relax she ordered her brain to enjoy the ride, determining next time she’d insist on her very own glider.
“You can breathe now,” advised Wade.
His one line statement shocked Anneli into breathing again.
“We’re now at the height of twenty feet,” reported Wade, confidently.
“The breeze feels warm,” whispered Anneli.
“We’re right in the middle of a thermal.”
The hang-glider rose steadily before leveling off at one hundred feet. Wade steered out of the thermal, navigating the glider towards Darwin.
Anneli felt she was looking through the eyes of an eagle. Staring at the destruction below them her heart fell deeply troubled. The enormity of the situation made her feel helpless.
When the glider approached suburbia, they were close enough to see the grief on the face of a young pregnant woman who started to venture outside. The longer they floated towards Darwin’s CBD, the more of Cyclone Tracy’s destructive power became evident.
Anneli shed a private tear.
Cyclone Tracy had successfully wiped Darwin from off the map. Christmas 1974 will go down in Australian history as the storm which stopped Darwin from having Christmas.
Small fires were popping up everywhere. People of all ages were leaving their hideouts and starting to move about searching the rubble for missing neighbors. In the fifteen minutes since they left the ground Anneli didn’t see a house still intact.
“I want to check on Charlotte,” Wade advised.
Anneli helped change course by shifting her hands towards the right side of the crossbar. The glider gently banked. The craft quickly rose to two hundred feet when it entered another thermal before breaking free and changing direction towards the sea.
Looking at Anneli, Wade said seriously. “Are you sure you’ve never flown a hang-glider before?”
She gave a cheerful shake of her head. “No. Why?”
“The way you handle the craft I thought you were an expert.”
“Thank you for the compliment. Your words mean a lot.”
Crossing over the sand Anneli saw at least two dozen boats of various sizes strewn around the sea. Most had been beached; damaged beyond repair. Tears formed in her eyes when Charlotte came into view. Her white broadside glistened in the warming sun. The tip of the mast was buried in the sand. The Cyclone had left the yacht high and dry. Their cursory study of the hull revealed she seemed intact.
“Charlotte must be at least forty feet from the water,” Anneli reported.
“She must have broken free of her mooring, ending up near the restaurant on the beach. Nice place to eat. They did have a superb wine list. Margarita’s used to be their specialty. It’s a shame the building’s gone.”
Anneli smacked her lips together. “My taste buds are craving for a nice wine. I’m sure the liquid will go a long way to quench my thirst. I’m drier than the Simpson Desert.”
Wade chuckled. “The idea sounds good to me too. We’ll land and grab a drink. If Charlotte’s fridge door is still closed, we’ll have a cold one for sure.”
Anneli’s pupils danced at the thought. Already she could feel the cool liquid sliding down the back of her throat.
The sea breeze quickly dropped away forcing the glider to slowly come back to the earth.
Wade expertly navigated the glider parallel to the water’s edge. He waited for a clear stretch of flat sand before slowly dipping the nose.
Anneli felt slightly disappointed their flight ended so abruptly. She’d certainly treasure the journey in her heart till the day she died.
Wade brought the hang-glider in for a graceful, smooth landing. They came to a stop thirty feet from Charlotte.
CHAPTER TEN