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I’d never really thought about dad being young once just like me. He’s always seemed the same, at the wheel of Annabelle cruising up and down the river. Dad and Annabelle, they never seemed to alter. I suppose they’ve both aged very gradually so you don’t notice, like the tide creeping quietly out. The town has changed too, but in jumps that you can’t miss. We used to have a butcher, baker, dairy, and two general stores in town, but they were all put out of business one after another by the supermarket down at Hornsby. Each shop that had always been there suddenly had a ‘CLOSED’ sign in the window, the empty shop looking all sad and forlorn. The road from our house to the wharf used to be a bumpy dirt road that doglegged across the railway at a level crossing, but suddenly a concrete bridge was built over the railway and the road is now all smooth bitumen. Then the old wooden boatshed on the harbour was sold to a developer, and now it’s a posh marina, with pontoons for rental boats and visiting yachts and holiday flats for rent. One thing that has crept in almost unnoticed is the rising flood of cars bringing in more and more visitors, which is good for dad’s income, but the town is now congested on weekends and public holidays. I preferred it like it was.
A few days after applying for my mortgage, and signing tons of papers I became the proud owner of my own boatyard! As soon as I’d signed the contract I couldn’t wait to walk around my boatyard again. I grabbed Lizzie and tore over there at top speed. I’d never been so excited before. My balloon burst as I came up to Bob’s Point and I saw a strange yacht tied up to the jetty. I slowed down. There was nobody on the yacht, and I couldn’t see anybody in the yard. I tied up to the jetty too and went ashore. Suddenly two men came out of the house. They looked Chinese or Vietnamese or something, both short, with black clothes, black greasy hair, mean faces, and lots of tattoos on their arms. “What you want?” one of them said. “This is my boatyard. I just bought it.” “Get lost." "Are you looking for Eric and Johno?” I asked. “Where are they?” “Well Johno’s dead. The police fished his corpse out of the river a few days ago. Someone had stuck a knife into him.” They talked together in a foreign language, Chinese or something. “Where is Eric?” one of them asked. “Him and Maria went off in that last yacht that was here. I heard the cops found the yacht later and Eric and Maria had disappeared.” I was careful not to mention my involvement in the affair. “Where is yacht now?" "As far as I know it’s up at Burton Waters where the cops left it”.
The two talked together again; well it was more of an argument really. Suddenly they closed in on me, one grabbed my arm, and the other one pulled out a knife. “Take us there in your boat.” They pushed me into Lizzie and stepped in behind me. I nearly filled my pants, my knees felt like jelly, I didn’t know what the hell to do. For once I wished Jack was there to help. “Get going. No tricks or we kill you.” I had no option but to head up the river and along Burton Waters to the marina. I stopped by the stolen yacht. “This is it,” I said. The one with the knife stuck it in my back said, “Get in”, and half shoved me over into the cockpit. They came onboard behind me. The one with the knife guarded me while the other one went into the cabin. I heard him searching around. After a time he came out again. He said to me “Where is key to engine?" "I don’t know, Eric probably took it with him.”
The two had another long argument. “Get back in boat” they said. “Take us back to other yacht. ” I had no choice but to take them back to Bob’s Point. They were obviously planning to get away on the yacht they’d come in on, and I had a sickening feeling my life was about to end with a quick slash of the knife. I cruised down the river, desperately trying to think how to get away. Then a miracle happened, I saw Annabelle coming round the bend on our side of the river. These Asians didn’t know about her! I set a course so we would go close by but on the wrong side for passing, like a bunch of amateurs, so I knew dad would be keeping a close eye on us. At the last moment I opened the throttle wide and swerved towards Annabelle to put the Asians off balance. I yelled out “Dad! Jack!” and dived into the river. Dad and Jack had been watching us. Dad reversed the propeller to slow Annabelle down fast, and Jack grabbed my arm and pulled me up over the rail. The two Asians had got Lizzie back under control and they were coming back towards us. “Quick,” I yelled to dad, “they're going to cut my throat!” Dad opened the throttle wide and the engine roared into action. Jack ran to the hold and came back with a cricket bat and a piece of wood. “If they try to come aboard don’t mess about," he said, " just hit them as hard as you can before they have a chance to get over the rail.” The two Asians saw we were moving fast and we were armed and waiting for them. They turned Lizzie around and shot off back towards the boatyard.
There were some white-faced passengers looking at us. “Sorry folks”, said Jack cheerfully, “the entertainment’s over. We will now resume our normal cruise”. I sat down on a bench. I couldn’t stand up anymore. Dad called Nicky on the CB radio, “Nicky, can you find that business card Sergeant McFarlane gave me again please.” “Oh no! Not again Ted!”
As we went back down river we saw the water police coming fast upstream in their launch. “Slow down dad” I called out, then I waved to the police to slow down too, and I saw Angus McFarlane. I called across to Angus “I know the yacht you’re after, better take me with you.” He thought about it for a minute. “Good, that’ll save us a lot of mucking around.” They turned the police launch around and came alongside and I jumped across from Annabelle. I checked my watch and thought about it. I reckoned the Asians would be just about passing the Island. “Ok” I said,” if you hurry you can just catch ‘em round the other side of the Island.” The police didn’t waste any time, they went full throttle round the Island. I kept a sharp lookout forward, but there was no sign of the yacht. Angus said “The must have slipped past us. Still, we’ll soon catch up with ‘em.” The launch ran fast down the river. We got right down to the mouth of the river but there was no sign of the stolen yacht. They scanned Broken Bay with their radar but no yacht showed up. “That’s impossible” I said. “Maybe they’re slower than we though. We’ll go back up the river for another look.” We raced back up the river, but I couldn’t see the Asians anywhere. then as we came up to the old boatyard I saw the stolen yacht still moored at the end of the jetty. “There they are” I said, ”they haven’t moved yet.” The two Asians were in the cockpit, and they looked pretty desperate when they saw the police coming. Angus said, “Prepare to board constables. Stay out the way Tim” The police stopped alongside and grabbed the yacht with a boathook. Four constables went over the side, and after a brief scuffle they had the Asians in handcuffs and bundled into the police launch.
“Leave me behind” I said to Angus, “That’s my dad’s runabout tied up to the yacht. I’ll take it home.” “Ok Tim, thanks for helping out.” I climbed across onto the yacht and the police took off at high speed. The engine key was still in the lock. I tried the starter but the engine wouldn’t start. That’s why the Asians hadn’t been able to escape, the engine was out of action! Out of curiosity I went into the cabin for a look round. The logbook was still there, and I saw the owner’s name and phone number in it. He was a Hugh Mortimer of Ballina. I noticed a mobile phone on the galley table. I fiddled with it and it seemed to be working, so I dialed the number in the logbook and a man answered. “Hullo, Mr. Mortimer? I’m Tim Farley. I’m calling from my boatyard on the Hawkesbury River. I just wanted to let you know that your yacht’s turned up here safe and sound, and the police have just arrested the thieves.” Mr. Mortimer was very pleased. “The engine on your boat won’t start so it’ll have to be fixed before you can come and collect it. I can take a look at it if you like. I’m very good and cheap.” “That’s a good idea. I can’t come down for several weeks to get her. It’s a bit of a nuisance, I was about to put her in for a repaint when she was stolen.” “Well, if you like, I’ll winch her up on my slips and give you a quote for doing the job. That way when you come down she’ll
be all perfectly painted ready for you.” “Well that sounds very convenient. Why don’t you do that, and phone me with your price?”
I ran the cradle down into the water, I used Lizzie to maneuver the yacht into the cradle, and winched her up the slipway. Good job I’d taken the trouble to repair the winch! Dad isn’t going to believe this, I thought, but on my first day as a boatyard owner I’ve got a customer’s yacht up on the slips! It was getting late so I headed for home in Lizzie, but I couldn’t resist stopping and looking back, nearly bursting with pride. “So,” Jack said, “one dead body found, Tim gets kidnapped and would have got his throat cut but for a miraculous rescue by the alert crew of Lady Annabelle, two criminals arrested, and two stolen yachts found. Tim buys his own boatyard and gets a nice paint job on the first day. Not bad for a week’s work Tim! Come round the pub and I’ll buy you a beer. You must be thirsty after all that!”
Laughs, Corpses... and a Little Romance Page 40