Chapter 17
Restlessness and discontent are the first necessities of progress.
-Thomas Edison
Zac walked inside and looked around for Hope. He smiled at the sight of her lounging alongside Pedro on a mattress. He located Maya and Jake - they were sitting on another mattress surrounded by a sea of photos.
“We’ve been helping Dutchy and Katja sort their photos.”
“Looks like organized chaos!” laughed Zac.
“For that comment you can help us... If it’s a colour photo and it’s got people in it, put it in this box because it’s probably their family... And if it’s scenery it goes in this box, because it’s somewhere they’ve been... And if it’s black and white it goes in this pile because most of those photos are of their old friends after the war...”
Zac plonked himself down on the floor between Jake and Maya. Dutchy tossed down some more photos for sorting and eyed Dave.
“John called while you were outside. Use the office.”
Dave nodded. Zac picked up the sense of familiarity between the two men and looked up at Dave curiously.
“How did John Cunningham know to ring you here?” he probed.
Dave paused.
“I guess he rang Gordon,” he replied, as he walked towards the office area.
Zac’s eyes followed Dave into the office. He glimpsed the array of communication equipment through the door and gasped in realization. He made tense eye contact with Hope.
“Dave and Dutchy know each other well,” he whispered in Yupik.
“But they pretended they’d never met!” I said with alarm. “Maybe Dave’s a spy too! Zac - we’ve got to leave tonight while they’re asleep!”
“Stay calm Sis. I’m trying to get to the bottom of it.”
“Dutchy’s looking at you Zac.”
“I know. But he can’t understand us Sis. It’s okay.”
Zac redirected his gaze towards Dutchy and picked up a flicker of amusement in his grey eyes. Dutchy broke off the eye contact and stretched noisily.
“Time to make some hot chocolate for our young guests,” he announced in English, extending his hand towards Katja and pulling her to her feet.
Ω
Dutchy and Katja walked off towards the kitchen area... Zac drew a deep breath and pushed away his nagging sense of bewilderment. He desperately wanted to talk to Gordon in private. And ask him about John. And Dutchy and Dave. And the list...
Last year Gordon had given Zac a list of Safehouses. Zac had memorized the list at Gordon’s request. He’d even taught some of the addresses to Hope as well... Having no need to use them however, he’d gradually forgotten about the list...
Until Dutchy had told Dave to contact John...
It was like the lights had gone on as he glimpsed inside their office moments later... Dave and Jen’s B & B was also called Banja Station on the Laverton-Leonora Road... The hostel at 1023 Rockingham Beach Road was Dutchy’s old address... And both addresses were on Gordon’s list of Safehouses. That had to be more than a coincidence.
Zac’s focus shifted to Pedro and Hope as they got up and headed off to check on Petrina. Zac watched them meandering together hand in hand. Back at Farliga Pass, John Cunningham had joked that his sister was Pedro’s informant. And he was right... What were the chances of a guess like that being correct? Had John known all along because of a tip off from Dutchy?
There is was again... That strange feeling that the boundaries between family, work and leisure were becoming blurred. Intertwined.
Maya’s voice broke through his silent introspection.
“Hey, check out the hunk in this photo! He looks just like you with black hair, Zac.”
“Well it isn’t me,” replied Zac. “My hair’s always been blonde. And I wasn’t an adult during the black and white film camera era either.”
“Well I still think he looks like you.”
Maya passed Zac the photo. Zac looked at it and raised his eyebrows with surprise.
“You’re right. He does look a bit like me.”
“Here’s another photo of him... With his arm around a woman’s waist. Are you sure you’re not two timing on me?”
Zac laughed warmly. He glanced down at the second photo and only just managed to hide his astonishment as he recognized the woman.
“Where are you getting all these old photos from anyway?” he asked, trying to mask his astonishment.
“They’re in this envelope together. Here. Put them in the box in front of you. The one with all the old black and white photos in it.”
Zac diffidently thumbed through the other photos in the envelope. He slowly absorbed the story they told... The young man and woman climbing the same cliff-face he had just climbed out at Farliga Pass... the couple - scantily clad - embracing each other in a pristine thermal spring... the young man - wearing just G-strings - diving into a water-hole with a huge grin on his face...
Zac’s jaw dropped as he looked at the final photo. It was a head and shoulders shot of two bare-chested men - their arms draped over each other’s shoulders. The scars on the forearms of one man made him easy to identify. The other man had not appeared in any of the previous photos but time had hardly changed his soft eyes and accepting smile. The men’s beaming expressions allured to the depth of their friendship. Zac struggled to make sense of the latest bombshell.
His father and Dave knew each other really well...
Ω
Maya stretched noisily beside Zac.
“Is the shower-room free of fellas?” she asked no one in particular. “I need to go to the loo.”
Zac looked around.
“Everyone seems to be out here... Want me to check with you in case?”
“I can check with her,” offered Jake. “I might have next shower anyway.”
Zac nodded and pushed himself to his feet.
“I might just go over and see if Dutchy and Katja want help bringing the drinks through.”
“Okay. See you in a minute.”
Courage is knowing what not to fear.
-Plato
Zac walked over towards the kitchen area deep in thought. His dad had always been reticent around him. ‘Culturally restrained’ his mother called it. But the people he had met in the past twenty-four hours apparently knew a very different Kiviuq. A living legend among his friends. Brave and quick acting in a crisis... transparent about his weaknesses... A forerunner who had left his imprint on Farliga Pass. And now Dutchy’s photos revealed a gregarious, outgoing side of to his father which Zac had never encountered either...
The photos suggested his father was decidedly ‘culturally unrestrained.’ Even his mother was wearing a bikini in the photos. Which suggested there was a very different side to his mother as well as the prim one he knew too... It all seemed so surreal.
Zac reached the kitchen area and stopped dead in his tracks. Dutchy was holding a handgun to Katja’s head.
Ω
Reece walked into the bathroom and went to reach for the light switch. He paused as he caught sight of the dim glow of a pocket torch and a towel clad body standing under the running shower. Reece left the light off. Jake visibly jumped as Reece approached him.
“W...What are you doing?”
“Having my shower!” laughed Reece, as he stripped off his clothes.
“Oh. Sorry. I thought everyone else had already showered and I was the last one. I’ll get out now. So you can turn the lights on.”
“No. The torchlight is nice to shower by for a change...” replied Reece, as he stepped into the shower alongside Jake.
Ω
Zac dived for Dutchy’s legs in an alarmed attempt to spoil his aim. To his astonishment Dutchy nimbly avoided the tackle. Zac slid past the elderly couple on his stomach, narrowly avoiding collision with the kitchen cupboards. He hurriedly spun around to see what was happening. To his bewilderment Katja now held the handgun.
Surreal no longer aptly described what was happening aro
und him.
Katja motioned Zac to his feet with the gun. Zac tried to hide his terror and meekly complied.
“Our guest seems rather tense,” observed Katja casually.
Dutchy eyed Zac and grinned amicably.
“Sometimes sleepers wake up grumpy!” he replied, in fluent Yupik.
Ω
Jake timidly tightened his grip on his towel.
“Are you scared of being seen naked?” asked Reece nonchalantly.
“Yes. Aren’t you?”
“No. I think the human body is beautiful all over... Intricately designed inside and outside.”
“S’pose.”
“Are you scared of seeing other people’s bodies naked as well as being seen naked?”
“I’m not as scared as I used to be. But it still makes me feel awkward.”
“Then I’ll wear a towel in the shower like you’re doing. So you feel less awkward...”
Ω
Zac reddened with chagrin as he realized Dutchy could speak his native tongue.
“Sit!” ordered Katja.
Zac sank jelly-legged into the nearby kitchen chair.
“This time don’t get in the way. Your mother would tell me off if I wounded you.”
Zac watched with dry-lipped fascination as Katja held the handgun to Dutchy’s head and Dutchy disarmed her. They repeated the manoeuvre several times on each other in turn.
“You try,” announced Dutchy, nodding in Zac’s direction.
Zac warily complied.
“You tackle like a nervous woman! Again. Come at me...”
Zac repeated the manoeuvre more aggressively.
“Better. But still not fast enough. You still would have been shot in the rescue attempt. Again. Come at me...”
Ω
Maya peered cagily at Zac and Dutchy from behind the sea container door. She startled as Dave draped his arm gently around her shoulder.
“He’s okay... The old Schoolmaster’s just teaching him a few tricks.”
“Why?”
“You never know when he might need to protect you, eh?”
Maya drew a deep breath.
“I might go pick up some tips from the Schoolmaster myself.”
“Why?”
“You never know when I might need to protect him, eh?” retorted Maya, as she walked over to join Zac and the others.
Ω
Jake risked looking at Reece.
“Did you feel awkward about Prada seeing you in the nuddy, when you first got married?”
Reece chuckled warmly.
“No... I was having so much fun exploring her body and enjoying her touch that I didn’t have time to be self conscious.”
Jake cleared his throat.
“I’ve always worried that my thing might not be big enough to make a girl feel nice when I get married.”
“Why?”
“Coz it’s littler than other men’s things.”
“How do you know it’s littler?”
“I’ve seen pictures on the internet.”
“Pictures can be doctored. Made to look like reality when they aren’t.”
“Maybe some of the pictures on the net are fake. But I glimpsed Zac’s the other day when he was having a pee. It’s much bigger.”
“Zac’s much bigger than you all over!” laughed Reece. “If you’re gonna compare yourself to someone, at least compare yourself to someone your own build and height. Like me...”
Ω
Pedro and I joined Dave. We watched Maya stealthily approach Dutchy then tackle him from behind.
“Ouch!” groaned Pedro, biting his lip.
“She shouldn’t have done that...” breathed Dave, rubbing his creased brow with his fingertips.
“Why not?” I asked casually.
Pedro and Dave exchanged pained expressions.
I watched Dutchy turn around slowly and break into a surprised grin.
“You tackle like a trained soldier,” he said with a hint of admiration. “Come and help me teach Zac how to do the same, eh?”
Ω
“C... Compare myself to you?” stammered Jake.
“Well you’ve been comparing yourself to unrealistic pictures on the internet and to people who are bigger than you. Go ahead. I don’t mind you looking at me.”
“I couldn’t! It’s...”
“...gay?” finished Reece breezily.
Jake nodded cautiously.
“Do you think it’s gay for girls to do it?”
“Maybe not girls.”
“Well boys like us were called girls in the fourteenth century. And girls were gay.”
“Huh?”
“Girl was a term to describe any young person. Young women like Hope and Prada were called gay girls and young men like us were called knave girls.”
Jake chuckled.
“I must ask Zac if he knows that. Seriously though, wouldn’t you think I was weird if I looked at you there?”
“No it’s not weird. I’m just being your brother, since you’re an only child and don’t have a brother to talk things through with. Prada and I used to do it at the orphanage all the time. We answered all the kids’ questions... Look here... Let’s compare hands. See our palms are about the same size. So are our fingers. And see our chests are both about the same size. Your turn now. You compare us down there now. But I won’t look at yours. See I’ll shut my eyes. And open my towel so you can look properly. Then you can stop worrying about something you’ve always worried about...”
Ω
Maya let out a shriek of alarm as Dutchy unexpectedly held the gun to her head. Zac forcefully dived at Dutchy and knocked the weapon flying from his hand.
“Much better. Love is a powerful motivating force, isn’t it?”
Zac refused to reply and scuffled with Dutchy until he had him pinned down.
“If you ever point a gun at anyone on my team again I’ll punch your lights out!” he seethed with tight-lipped anger.
Dutchy’s wrinkled face broke into a toothless grin. Dave and Pedro simultaneously shook their heads.
“Double ouch!” groaned Pedro, clapping his hand on his forehead.
“He really shouldn’t have done that...” sighed Dave.
“He’ll be alright. Dad’s taught him to fight,” I shrugged casually.
Ω
Maya glanced at Dutchy and Zac with a hint of concern.
“Um... He’s old Zac. Maybe you should get off him.”
Zac redirected his gaze momentarily towards Maya, but before he had time to reply, he found himself rolling on the floor and then pinned down underneath Dutchy.
“Losing your focus can be fatal. Let’s reinforce that principle.”
Zac gasped in horror as Dutchy produced a knife.
“Disarm me,” he ordered, holding the knife to Zac’s throat.
Zac responded instinctively and sent the knife sailing. Dutchy rolled onto his feet then produced another knife. He held it to Maya’s throat.
“Disarm me!” he repeated.
Zac lunged swiftly at Dutchy and knocked him roughly to the ground, then patted him down in search of further weapons.
“Get the other side of the table, Maya!” ordered Zac.
“Kiviuq has trained you well after all!” chuckled Dutchy.
“Who’s Kiviuq?” asked Maya.
“My dad.”
“Your dad’s into self-defence?”
“Later,” puffed Zac, keeping wary eye contact with Dutchy.
To Zac’s disbelief, Dutchy curled into a ball and somehow slipped from his grip again. They rolled again, then Dutchy pinned Zac down.
“Oh no you don’t! I’ve worked out how you do that now!” growled Zac, breathing heavily.
Dutchy laughed shrewdly as Zac twisted and turned then pinned him to the ground.
“Good... now we learn to do this!” chuckled Dutchy, hurling Zac through the air.
Zac landed with a sickening thump near Katja.
“You’re crazy! You’re gonna get hurt, old man.”
“You need to learn to fall properly or you’ll get hurt,” replied Katja. “Roll like this.”
Zac fought off his confused exhaustion as he watched the elderly woman roll across the hard floor like she was a teenager.
A moment later Dutchy tackled him again.
“Now strike me... Roll... Kick me... Good... Roll... Hit me... Much better. You’re a natural. Like Helen.”
“Who’s Helen?” asked Maya.
“My mum...” replied Zac, gasping for breath.
“Your mother’s into martial arts?”
“Apparently.”
Katja and Dutchy laughed congenially. Zac finally managed to smile.
“Okay... You call the shots old man. How do we put an end to this crazy teaching session of yours, before I get hurt?”
“You have to defeat me,” replied Dutchy.
“How can I defeat you when you know every move I know?” gasped Zac.
“Try something your parents haven’t taught you,” suggested Maya from the sidelines.
Zac thought briefly then at lightning speed, restrained Dutchy in a fireman’s lift. Dutchy laughed jovially.
“An unconventional restraint manoeuvre which I have never taught your parents. I accept defeat Ataniq!” he chuckled.
Zac fired Dutchy a stunned-mullet look and carefully placed him back on the ground.
“You let me win. We both know you could have wriggled out of that easily.”
“Why’d he call you Ataniq?” asked Maya.
“Dad calls me Ataniq.”
“It means fearless leader,” explained Dutchy. “Like father like son,” he added in Yupik.
Zac was unsure what to say in response. Katja sensed his ambivalence.
“Time you boys stopped play-fighting. Here. Drink up,” she said handing Dutchy and Zac their warm drinks.
Ω
Jen lit the scented candles at the dinner table.
“I can’t believe you’ve gone to all this trouble to welcome me!” purred Fiona. “You picked me up at the airstrip... and while I was freshening up you turned the dining room into a 5 star restaurant.”
“Hospitality’s our livelihood these days. Pour yourself an ice tea... I’ll just be a moment.”
Jen clandestinely pressed the buzzer in the kitchen which sounded down in Dave’s den. Fiona’s eyes widened as the pantry door opened and someone stepped out.
“That casserole smells scrumptious...” said a dignified male voice.
“Have a seat. I’ll just be a moment.”
Gordon ambled towards the candlelit table and froze mid-stride. Jen came up behind him and gently pushed him down into the closest chair.
“Gordon!” exploded Fiona.
“Fiona!”
“It’s so good to see you!” they said in unison.
Joyful laughter tinged with self-consciousness.
“Jen said she had to pick up a guest, but I never dreamt it might be you!”
Gordon reached forward and grasped both of Fiona’s hands in his and squeezed them. Simultaneously he noticed the cutlery on the table.
“Jennifer... Why are there only two places set?”
Jen laughed breezily and picked up an apple out of the fruit bowl.
“Goodnight you pair. See you in the morning!” she smiled, closing the door behind her.
Ω
Zac finished his hot chocolate and nodded at Katja.
“Thanks... That touched the spot.”
Katja smiled affably.
“Here. Let me take the drinks over to the others for you,” offered Zac, taking the tray from Katja.
“I can take the biscuits,” added Pedro with an impudent grin as he bounded up to the group.
“If you take the biscuits they won’t make it over there!” retorted Katja, handing the plate to Maya.
“Trouble brewing Vader?” asked Pedro softly, when Zac and Maya were out of earshot.
“Our young friend is running on adrenaline, so I thought I’d tire him out a little.”
“Hope no longer seems relaxed around me either. Why are they both upset?”
“Don’t worry. They’re both just being vigilant now they’re together. As Kiviuq and Helen have taught them to be.”
“They’re part of Kiviuq and Helen’s team?” echoed Pedro, breaking into a surprised smile.
“Very much a part!” replied Dutchy. “But for now, pretend that you don’t know...”
Ω
Pedro returned to the group and plonked himself between Zac and Dave.
“Is Jake still in the shower?” he asked.
“I think so,” replied Zac. “Do you need to speak to him?”
“Nah, but he might need rescuing. Reece joined him in the shower-room when you and Dutchy were scrumming earlier.”
“Oh.”
“And Prada joined Reece a moment ago. They always shower together after they’ve settled their kids.”
“What!?”
“Well I’m sure Prada will discover her mistake and walk out again,” said Dave, holding back his grin.
“I doubt it!” laughed Pedro. “Reece and Prada still behave like they’re kids in a Romanian orphanage whenever they hit the showers.”
Dave’s eyes sparkled. Zac looked at Pedro blankly.
“As in the let’s-compare-genitals institutionalized behaviour?” asked Dave, when Zac said nothing.
“As in the let’s-pet-each-others-genitals-and-who-cares-if-someone-sees-us post-institutionalized behaviour!” grimaced Pedro.
Zac’s jaw dropped. Dave doubled over with laughter.
“The first time I accidentally walked in on them, I didn’t know whether to feel embarrassed or fascinated...” continued Pedro. “I just stood there stunned.”
“Maybe they didn’t bother to stop petting because you’d previously been married,” smiled Dave.
“I should go and rescue Jake,” murmured Zac, tiredly pushing himself to his feet.
Dave tugged Zac back down again.
“You need to unwind mate. Give Jake another five minutes... He’ll probably come tearing out any moment anyway...”
Ω
“You were right,” said Jake softly. “We are about the same size. And you’ve fathered three kids.”
“And Prada says I make her feel nice!” added Reece with dancing eyes.
“So mine will be big enough...”
“I think what matters more than size is finding out how your wife likes to be stimulated as early on in your marriage as possible. Prada reaches orgasm through gentle stimulation on her clitoris. Whereas some women prefer stimulation inside their vagina.”
“Oh.”
Reece glanced quizzically at Jake.
“You don’t want to continue our conversation?”
“I want to continue it. I just get embarrassed very easily. By words. Like names of body parts.”
“I understand. Actually, talking of body parts, yours is peeking out a little bit and you might get embarrassed if it peeks out any more. Here... Let me help you... There... If you wrap a towel around yourself this way it doesn’t come off as easily when it’s wet.”
“It does too!” giggled Prada, stripping Reece’s towel off his waist.
Reece laughed with pleasure and swung around and kissed Prada passionately. Jake’s eyes widened with terror as he grasped his towel tightly.
“You look frightened new friend,” smiled Prada. “Haven’t you seen a woman strip her husband’s towel off before?”
Jake just managed to shake his head.
“Have you seen a man gently remove his wife’s bathrobe and sensuously pet her shoulders like this?” grinned Reece.
“Never,” replied Jake, shaking his head vigorously.
“Well I saw something interesting before,” chortled Prada. “I saw a man peeking at you when your eyes were shut. So I peeked too!”
“I know! I heard you come in.”
“B
ut if you saw me peeking at him, that means you saw him adjusting my towel!” groaned Jake.
Prada and Reece laughed infectiously.
“I didn’t see much. My eyes were still adjusting to the dark,” replied Prada. “But I heard what Reece was telling you though and he’s right... Size isn’t important. Understanding where to stimulate a girl is what really matters. Since you are too embarrassed to talk about it, why don’t Reece and I show you?”
Ω
“Prada’s been in there at least five minutes,” ventured Zac. “And Jake hasn’t come tearing out as we expected.”
“Want me to go check up on him for you?” asked Dave.
Zac nodded tight-lipped.
“Well I’m not going to. You can’t hire someone else to do your push-ups for you Zac... Now get in there yourself.”
Zac reluctantly pushed himself to his feet.
“Alright. But if I’m not out in one minute, come in and rescue me.”
“You’ll be right,” said Dave confidently.
Ω
Maya and I wandered over to join Pedro and Dave. Dave was watching Zac walk off towards the bathroom. His stern expression devolved into restrained amusement as I plonked myself down next to him.
“What?” I smiled.
Dave’s eyes danced.
“Sorry. I’m just intrigued at how different you two Canney kids are... Actually that expression he’s wearing reminds me of the look on his face the first night we met.”
“Why?”
“Remember the other night, when I was telling you about the Professor that sprung Jen and me having a midnight romp on our tramp...”
I broke into a huge grin. Maya looked at me and started giggling.
“Zac caught Dave and Jen out? He didn’t tell me!” she squealed.
I bit my lip to stifle my amusement.
“You’ve got to tell me the whole story!” pleaded Maya, drawing me closer. “We’re still besties. Even if I’ve been calling you Heidi instead of Hope all these years!”
Dave smiled and pushed himself to his feet.
“Well while you two giggling girls gossip, I might just have a quick chat with Dutchy... See you both shortly.”
The Codetalkers (The Rebelutionaries Series: Book 2) Page 19