Airship Over Atherton

by Christopher Cummings

  They agreed that was worth a try.

  “It wasn’t far,” Peter said. “Be easier to look on foot.”

  The Range Rover was parked and they got out and set off walking. Around the first bend they came to a place where there were clear wheel marks and oil stains right over against the low cutting beside the jungle.

  “There! This is the place,” Graham cried.

  “Maybe a search vehicle stopped here this morning,” Peter cautioned.

  “No. It fits,” Graham insisted. “Remember, we came over the crest and saw all the lights of the Tablelands, then came around the bend and saw the parked vehicle.”

  “I think you are right,” Dr Williams agreed.

  “He is right,” Marjorie insisted. “I remember it clearly.”

  “What will we do?” Peter asked.

  “Nothing until we tell Sergeant Carmody,” Dr Williams said.

  Graham studied the map in his hand. “You go back and do that sir. While you do we could do a quick recce.”

  Dr Williams looked worried. “You won’t get lost?”

  “Sir!” Graham said in a pained voice.

  “Alright then. Don’t go far.”

  Dr Williams walked back along the road. The others looked at Graham. He held up a hand to keep them back.

  “We don’t want to obliterate any tracks,” he said. “Look, you can see boot prints there. Two men. They climbed up into the jungle there. See where that moss has been scraped off?”

  Graham walked over and climbed up, being careful not to disturb the marks. The others followed him. His eyes searched for minute tell-tale signs- and found them: scuff marks on exposed tree roots, snapped twigs, and bent branches, disturbed undergrowth.

  “See there? Sap on that root,” he pointed. “And there’s a leaf bent over.” He stopped and looked back. “Pete, you take a compass bearing and write it down. I reckon these guys will have walked on a bearing.”

  Graham wasn’t worried about getting back to the road. He knew that it curved along below them for several kilometres and that by simply going downhill and south they would find it easily. He noted that the trail he was following was heading up a gentle slope towards the crest of the range.

  When Peter had taken a compass bearing Graham resumed his tracking. Slowly he made his way deeper into the jungle, his eyes searching for the tiny clues. It was hard work because the light was poor and the ground was covered by a thick, spongy matt of leaf-mould and rotting deadfall. This did not lend itself to retaining tracks. But he was patient and moved slowly but surely from one tiny mark to another in the half-light.

  As he found each sign Graham pointed it out: a slight abrasion on a tree trunk, a bent twig, a bleeding vine cut by something sharp, a ‘Wait-a-while’ tendril cut off, overturned lichen, a rotting log with scuff marks on it. It took them over half an hour to move about 200 metres. From time to time Graham checked with Peter.

  Peter nodded and said: “Nearly a straight line. Whoever they were they used a compass or GPS I reckon.”

  They went on. After a few minutes Graham looked up, his eyes attracted by a brighter patch of jungle. He said: “There’s a bit of a clearing ahead.”

  They walked forward and stopped in amazement.

  “A tree stump!” Graham said.

  “It has only just been cut down too,” Peter added. “Look how fresh the cut is; and at all this new sawdust.”

  For a minute they all stood and looked at the tree stump. Graham sensed it was both important and odd but could not work out what it was that puzzled him. “This is peculiar,” he muttered.

  “Why? It is a forest isn’t it?” Stephen said.

  Peter spoke first: “It is. But I thought it had been closed to logging for many years. Ever since the area was declared World Heritage.”

  “That’s right,” Graham agreed. “But that is not what is odd. Where is the tree?”

  “At the sawmill?” Stick suggested.

  Marjorie suddenly gasped. “I see! How did they get the tree out of here? There is no road.”

  They looked around in puzzlement. Peter scratched his head. “The jungle isn’t even touched! How can you cut down a huge tree without it falling over and smashing other trees around it?”

  “A crane?” Stephen suggested.

  Peter scoffed. “Need to be a bloody big crane to reach two hundred metres into the jungle,” he replied.

  “A sky crane then!” Stephen quipped.

  Marjorie clicked her fingers. “Yes! A sky crane. I just thought of something that Willy said one day. He had read that they use airships in America for forestry. I didn’t understand what he meant then, but I do now.”

  Stephen stepped up onto the massive stump and looked up. “An airship, to winch a tree straight up so as not to damage the surrounding forest. That is what they do.”

  “Willy’s airship couldn’t lift a tree this big. It could barely lift Roger,” Graham replied.

  There was a moment’s silence. Then Stephen spun round to face them, his arms flung wide. “An airship! Yes! Not Willy’s airship. Another one! And we saw it! It landed at that place we went to, you know, the egg company. We weren’t following a small airship low down. We were following a big airship that was high up. That is why it went so fast, it had motors.”

  “And the thing we saw underneath was a huge tree,” Noddy added.

  “This tree,” Stephen said.

  “With Willy in it,” Marjorie added.

  There was another silence. Then Peter said, “That’s a bit far fetched isn’t it? It would be a real coincidence.”

  Graham was sceptical too. “We would have heard the motors surely?”

  “Not if they were electric,” Stick answered

  “There is certainly something odd here,” Peter said, tugging at his chin thoughtfully. “We had better tell the police.”

  “Come on,” Graham said. He set off as fast as he could back the way they had come. Four minutes took them to the road and another three had them back at where Dr Williams stood talking to Sergeant Carmody.

  Graham acted as spokesman and explained their theory. Sergeant Carmody scratched his head and puckered his lips in disbelief. “What you are saying is that your airship got caught in this tree, then blew away leaving young Willy stuck in it, then another airship came along and took that very same tree away, presumably with Willy still in it.”

  “Yes, I suppose so,” Graham replied. He blushed. It did sound a very unlikely story.

  Marjorie spoke next: “That is why we couldn’t find the tree from the helicopter. The tree is gone.”

  “The stump is in exactly the right place,” Peter added.

  Sergeant Carmody shook his head. “It’s a bit too far fetched for me.”

  “But the tree stump is there and the tree is gone!” Marjorie cried.

  Sergeant Carmody shrugged. “OK, I suppose I’d better have a look at this tree.”

  Sergeant Carmody and Dr Williams followed them back into the jungle, but with a marked lack of enthusiasm. When they reached the tree stump Sergeant Carmody took off his cap and scratched his head. The teenagers explained their theory again, Marjorie taking the lead this time.

  Sergeant Carmody looked around and shook his head again. “Well, the tree’s gone alright; or at least this tree is anyway. It’s got me stumped.”

  Stephen had to suppress a snicker at that as Sergeant Carmody had just leaned on the stump and looked up.

  Dr Williams then suggested: “Willy may not have been in it. He may have climbed down.”

  “Or have fallen off,” Noddy added.

  Sergeant Carmody looked around. “Yes. Did you kids search around this area?”

  They shook their heads and looked embarrassed. “No. We went straight back to you,” Graham said.

  Sergeant Carmody lifted up the hand held radio he was carrying and called on the searchers to move to their location. Graham gave him a Grid Reference. Then Sergeant Carmody asked: “Which way did this air
ship fly?”

  “That way. South,” Graham said.

  “OK, let’s search around here. I’ll call in the forestry blokes and see what they think about the tree. When the search party gets here we will search to the south.”

  The group searched the immediate area within about fifty paces. They even looked up in the trees as well as on the ground. Marjorie began calling out but her voice quickly choked up with emotion. Twenty minutes later they were all back at the tree stump, feeling more depressed and puzzled than before.

  Two Forestry Department Officers joined them and stood discussing the missing tree with obvious astonishment. The airship theory was explained to them and they looked up and around and scratched their heads.

  “Well the tree has been pulled straight up, that is for sure,” one of them agreed.

  “And it’s been cut within the last twenty four hours,” the other added.

  “How much would a tree like that weigh?” Peter asked.

  “Oh, tons, fifty tons easily,” one of the Forestry Officers replied.

  “I don’t know of any helicopter that can lift fifty tons,” Stick said.

  “Can airships lift that much?” Peter asked.

  “Yes they can, big ones,” Stick replied.

  “An airship!” the chief Forestry Officer echoed. “Well, I don’t know. But then again, that might explain a few other funny things we’ve had reported recently.”

  This began a spirited argument about the probability of there being a second airship. This was interrupted by the arrival of more police and the SES search party. These were briefed, formed in a line and set off on a slow search over the crest of the mountain and down the southern slope. The group joined the left end of the line and Sergeant Carmody and the Forestry Officers followed.

  Two O’clock came and went as they struggled through the thick jungle. Nothing was found. It was nearly 3pm when the line straggled out of the jungle onto the road lower down the mountain.

  “This is hopeless,” Sergeant Carmody said disgustedly, wiping sweat from his face. Marjorie picked a leech off her arm and bit her lip. She had trouble holding back the tears.

  “What do we do now?” Dr Williams asked. He looked positively haggard and had blood on his face from where a ‘Wait-a-while’ had snagged him.

  “We should have lunch and then plan this in more detail,” Sergeant Carmody said.

  “We need to question Roger again too,” Stephen suggested.

  “That is a good idea,” Dr Williams agreed. “We will do both. We will drive down to the Search HQ and let the others know what we have found, have lunch, then go and talk to Roger. Also we had better think about getting you children home.”

  “Not us,” Graham replied, nettled at being called a child. “We are staying until Willy is found.”

  “It is school tomorrow,” Dr Williams reminded.

  “Bugger school! Willy is more important; and a couple of days won’t make any difference,” Graham replied. The others growled agreement.

  It took fifteen minutes to walk back up to where the vehicles were and nearly half an hour to drive down the mountain. They could not all fit in the Range Rover so Peter and Graham went in a police car. Back at the Search HQ they immediately sought out Mrs Williams and Shona and told them what they had found, and then went to tell Senior Constable Grey in the control tent. He listened in obvious disbelief.

  “It sounds mighty unlikely,” he said.

  “We are going back to Atherton to talk to Roger again if that is alright,” Mr Williams said.

  “Yes. Sure. But keep in touch,” Senior Constable Grey said. He gave Willy’s father a mobile phone number to call to keep in contact with the Search HQ.

  As they moved to return to the vehicles Peter pointed to the refreshment caravan. “I need a drink.”

  “But we are in a hurry,” Marjorie objected.

  Peter shook his head. “A few minutes won’t matter and we need energy.”

  Willy’s father nodded and said, “I agree. It will do us all good.” So they walked over to the caravan and asked for hot coffee or Milo.

  While they were standing there drinking a dark green 4WD came along the Danbulla Road. Graham idly noted that the yellow jacketed SES member who was directing traffic to keep the sightseers moving allowed it to pull over and park. Then he saw a door open and girl scramble out. It took him a moment to recognize her. ‘Tina Babcock!’ he thought delightedly. Tina was a girl in Peter’s class and she had a very large bosom that always excited his interest when he saw it. He had even considered asking her for a date, only desisting because she was Andrew’s girlfriend.

  Now, as she ran across the grass towards the group, her eyes meeting his, he had the feeling that she was going to throw her arms around him. It sparked a similar desire in him but just in time he stopped himself. Instead he grinned and said, “Fancy meeting you here. Are you just passing through?”

  “No. We’ve been camping here all weekend. I just wanted to know how the search for Willy Williams is going,” Tina replied as the others crowded around.

  Graham looked puzzled. “How did you know Willy was missing? Did you hear about it on the radio?” he asked.

  Tina shook her head. “No. It was on a portable TV, but it was me who first reported seeing the airship here,” she said.

  “You! You saw it?” Graham asked.

  “Yes,” Tina replied, obviously puzzled by his answer.

  Peter now moved forward. “Where were you camped Tina?”

  “At the Fongon Bay Campground. We had been sailing and canoeing all day,” she replied.

  “You must have been lucky to spot it last night. It was pretty dark,” Peter said.

  Tina frowned and shook her head. “No. It was quite visible. There was still enough light to see it clearly,” she answered.

  “Still enough light,” Peter echoed. He frowned and glanced at Graham, then turned back to her. “What time did you see the airship?” he asked.

  “Just before sunset,” Tina answered. “It came drifting across the lake from this area and went south after passing across the pine trees on the end of the peninsula at Fongon.”

  Stephen now pushed forward. “You are sure? You really saw the airship in daylight down over the lake?”

  “Yes,” Tina replied. She looked a bit annoyed at not being believed. She also looked mystified.

  Peter turned to Graham and said, “What time was it when we saw the airship up on top of the mountain do you reckon?”

  Graham bit his lip ad then said, “About eight thirty I think. We hadn’t even got down from Lambs Head to the road before it got dark.”

  Peter nodded. “That’s right. And then we drove for hours to get up there.”

  Willy’s father, who had been listening, now said, “That is right. My mobile phone will tell me what time I made the call from up on top near Mt Edith.” He took out the phone and began checking the call times.

  Stephen turned to his friends. “You know what this must mean, if Tina really saw Willy’s airship at Fongon at sunset?”

  “Yes,” Peter said. His mouth formed a grim line. “The airship we saw wasn’t Willy’s. So your theory might be correct Steve.”

  Willy’s father now bit his lip and showed the phone screen to Peter and Stephen. “You were right. It was eight forty nine.” He then turned to Tina again and said, “Thank you. Your report made the search much easier. My wife was able to get to Lake Eacham area in time to see the airship drift overhead.”

  “But where is Willy? Why wasn’t he on the airship?” Tina asked.

  It was explained to her that the airship had become snagged in a big tree, an emergent that stuck up out of the jungle canopy up near Mt Edith but while he was trying to tie the airship to the tree a gust of wind had blown it away and he had been left behind.

  “So he is still in the tree?” Tina said.

  “We hope so, but we can’t find the tree,” Graham replied. “We have flown around by helicopter and
even walked through the jungle. They are searching that bit of jungle now in case he has fallen off and is lying on the ground. We did too.” He explained in detail how he and Peter had taken compass bearings to pinpoint the exact position of the tree.

  Tina was puzzled. “So where are you going now?”

  Graham suddenly looked anxious and glanced at his friends. “We ..e r.. we are going to look somewhere else. We ..er .. have a theory that the police don’t agree with.”

  Peter interrupted, “We found the stump of a huge tree that had just been cut down, but no sign of Willy, or of how the tree was removed. We have an idea we want to check. And what you have just told us seems to confirm it. Sorry Tina but time is important. Come on Graham. We have to get moving.”

  Tina frowned but the boys exchanged glances and Graham decided not to say any more. That obviously nettled her a bit as she looked puzzled and peeved. “Can I help?” she asked.

  “Thanks for offering but we will check our idea first. Come on Graham,” Peter said.

  Graham would have been happy to have Tina along but he could see her family in the 4WD and suddenly felt embarrassed. He said, “We have to go. See you tomorrow at school.”

  They walked away towards the vehicles. Tina was left standing there looking puzzled and distressed.

  The group then climbed into the two vehicles. As they did Graham waved a goodbye to Tina. By then she had gone back to her parent’s 4WD and was talking to them. They then drove off around the north shore of the lake towards Tinaroo.

  “Where to?” Mr Williams asked as they crossed Robsons Creek.

  “Atherton,” Stephen answered. “We have to check with Roger what time he was over the lake.”

  “OK,” Mr Williams replied. He concentrated on driving then while the boys discussed what Tina had told them and their theory.

  Half an hour later they were in Atherton. At the hospital they were allowed in.

  “Is Roger awake? Can we see him?” Marjorie asked the nurse on duty.

  “He was asleep a few minutes ago,” the nurse replied. “I wouldn’t want to wake him without a doctor’s approval.”