The Cadet Corporal

by Christopher Cummings

  Graham and Roger did as they were told, then set off for HQ. As they walked up the slope from the latrine Graham asked the question that had been nagging at him. “Where were you Roger?”

  “About to stop you being silly,” Roger replied. That sent a rush of shame through Graham, but he was also peeved. “You don’t have to be a Peeping Tom you know!”

  “Maybe not, but I thought you might have needed a bit of help to stay on the straight and narrow,” Roger replied.

  “You mean with Kirsty?” Graham asked, appalled that his intentions were so transparently obvious.

  “And with any other nice little bit that takes your fancy,” Roger replied.

  “Thanks very much!” Graham cried indignantly. “But I don’t need you to be my conscience. Anyway, we were only talking.”

  “Funny way of talking,” Roger replied equably. “So I thought I’d better save you from yourself.”

  “Mind your own bloody business!” Graham cried in outrage.

  “No. I will not. I am your friend, and I know your weaknesses, so I will help look out for you,” Roger replied calmly.

  Roger’s good intentions and strong sense of purpose quite deflated Graham’s anger. “Is it that obvious?” he asked.

  “You may as well carry a bloody sign,” Roger replied.

  ‘Strewth! I’d better be much more circumspect in future,’ Graham thought with dismay. He then felt a real rush of affection for his friend. “Thanks mate,” he muttered.

  By then they had arrived at the officer’s fire. CUO Masters was there as well. Capt Conkey ordered them to sit separately, then began questioning them one at a time, writing down their answers. It took over an hour to do and by then Graham’s bruises were throbbing. Headlights appeared along the track but the vehicle was an army staff car. The staff major responsible for all cadets in North Queensland came over to the fire.

  Capt Conkey turned to the cadets. “You people can go back to your areas now. Thanks for your help.”

  The group walked back to 2 Platoon’s camp in relative silence.

  “A cup of coffee is what I need now,” Roger said. To this Graham agreed, so he and Roger collected their webbing when they reached their hutchie. The campfire there was still going but only a couple of people were sitting around it. The friends seated themselves and set about heating water. Kirsty came and sat beside Graham and then Stephen and Gwen appeared and wanted to know what had happened.

  For a while they discussed the greasing and its possible outcomes. “Capt Conkey is really angry,” Graham commented.

  “Yeah, but Carnes is a real dope,” Stephen replied.

  “Maybe, but that was over the top. It was straight out vicious bullying,” Graham replied. “And it will now harm the rest of us.”

  Sgt Grenfell appeared. “Come on you people, time for bed.”

  The friends packed up and moved back to their hutchies, still talking. On the way Kirsty brushed against Graham. “What do you want?” he whispered.

  “Just a good night hug,” she replied.

  “Fair go Kirsty! We were lucky tonight,” he replied. He glanced around to see where Roger was and could see no sign of him.

  “Oh poo!” she muttered. Then she gestured to where two dark figures could just be seen standing at the end of a hutchie. “There’s Thomo giving Krissy a good smooch.”

  “When everyone’s asleep then,” Graham replied. Secretly he was hoping she would go to sleep and he would be safe.

  “Oh alright then,” Kirsty replied. She went off to her hutchie and knelt down to unroll her bedding. Graham crawled into his and did likewise. Then he sat to unlace his boots, watching Kirsty do the same. Roger returned and crawled in. The two friends then gossiped as they took off their boots and prepared for bed.

  Sgt Grenfell walked around shining his torch and urging people to bed, and then to be quiet. Graham was happy to lie back in silence and try to relax. He found, to his frustration, that he couldn’t stop thinking about Kirsty and that kept him very aroused. Roger just seemed to roll on his side and go to sleep but Graham found he could not drop off. Frustrated he lay and let his thoughts wander between fantasizing and brooding. Determined on sleep he undid his waistband then stretched out to relax. Still sleep would not come.

  An hour went by and the camp settled into silence. At 2315 a vehicle came driving in so Graham sat up to look. It was the Land Cruiser returning from Charters Towers hospital. People got out and Graham heard voices but could not tell if Carnes had come back with them or not. Curious to know he got up and crouched to look out. While he was peering out of the end of his hutchie he saw movement in Kirsty’s and her head turned to look at him. ‘Oh bugger!’ he thought. ‘She’s awake and she’s seen me.’

  Kirsty first sat up, then moved into a crouch facing him. He wanted to move back out of sight but could see that she was looking at him. ‘I won’t go to her,’ he told himself. ‘Be strong Kirk! Stay here.’

  To his consternation she got up and padded across to him. She bent over close to him and whispered, “I’m scared. Come and sit with me please.”

  Near panic and disbelief warred in Graham. So did lust, which surged in his veins. ‘Does she mean that or is it a ploy?’ he wondered. In a feeble attempt to stop himself giving in he whispered, “What are you scared of?”

  “The Hutchie Men, and things. I keep seeing things out in the bush,” she replied.

  Graham got anxious then lest Heatley have a raiding party sneaking in. ‘Or the Hutchie Men might be up to mischief,’ he thought. Unsure and very anxious he crawled out and stood up next to her. Not wanting Roger to see them together he moved to the side of the hutchie. For a minute or so they stood in silence and he stared into the dark bush down in the gully and then around the bivouac. But he could not see or hear anything other than the normal night noises of the bush. “I don’t think there is anything,” he replied.

  To his delight and surprise she moved to touch him, their arms rubbing together. That sent his heart rate shooting up and he looked around in alarm. ‘I hope nobody is looking,’ he thought. Graham fervently hoped Roger was sound asleep. He also listened very carefully for sounds that might indicate that Sgt Grenfell of CUO Masters could still be awake. He found it hard to hear because his heart was now thudding so loudly the blood seemed to swash in his skull.

  Hearing nothing and now impelled by powerful physical forces he stood while desire and fear battled for control. He badly wanted physical contact with her and thought she would not object if he tried to kiss her. But there were those gnawing doubts. ‘If I do and she objects I am done for,’ he thought. Just as frightening was what might develop if she did not object and let him do other things. Self knowledge of his own strong passions and urges warned him that once he started it would be difficult to stop. That they might lose control and go too far was a strong possibility. Legal, moral and medical consequences rose to cool his enthusiasm and to help him keep control.

  But how to end it without upsetting her? Graham decided to play along with the scared story but even as he thought this he was disgusted with himself for being such a coward. ‘What a weakling you are!’ he told himself.

  In a last desperate effort to regain control and to do the right thing he stepped away from her.

  “What’s wrong” she whispered huskily.

  “We shouldn’t be doing this. You should go to bed,” he croaked back.

  Kirsty pouted. “But I want to be with you.”

  As Graham opened his mouth to reply a powerful torch came on, its beam slashing through the trees. Capt Conkey’s voice called out.

  CHAPTER 17

  CAPTAIN CONKEY GETS ANGRY

  Graham felt a rush of pure fear as the torch beam stabbed the night. Then he saw that it was aimed at two other people. Transfixed by the light were Cadet Mal Thompson and Cadet Krissy Dunstan. Both were standing near Krissy’s hutchie, arms around each other. Krissy appeared to be wearing only a shirt, her white legs glowing in the tor
ch beam.

  “Stop that and get to bed you pair!” Capt Conkey snarled, his voice tense with anger.

  By then Graham had recovered from the initial shock. ‘He hasn’t seen us!’ he thought. With that he ducked down, hauling Kirsty down with him. “Back to your hutchie,” he hissed, giving her a push. At any moment he expected to hear Capt Conkey get really mad at Mal and Kristy but all he heard was another growl to ‘get to bed, your own bed, and behave yourselves or I will phone your parents and send you home tomorrow!’

  As quickly but quietly as he could Graham crawled around the far end of his hutchie, keeping it between himself and Capt Conkey, who he could hear walking towards him. Kirsty did the same thing, scuttling across to her bed and sliding onto it. With his heart hammering rapidly and his mouth dry with fear Graham slid into his hutchie and onto his sleeping bag. Trembling with anxiety he tried to drag it over him. ‘Mal and Kristy might have gotten away with it,’ he thought but he felt sure that if Capt Conkey caught him and Kirsty he would be very angry. ‘They are the same rank but I am a corporal and Kirsty is only a cadet. At the very least I could lose my stripes,’ he thought anxiously.

  By then Capt Conkey was very close and Graham froze. At every second he expected to be called out, or to have the torch shone on him. Neither happened and Capt Conkey walked on towards the officer’s camp. It took a while for Graham to accept that he had not been seen and wasn’t in trouble. Then he lay back and sighed, closing his eyes and feeling his heart still hammering.

  After that he did not dare budge. He wriggled into his sleeping. As he lay there and tried to relax he could only shake his head at the closeness of the escape. Sleep came in a mix of emotions and doubts.

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  Day 5 began as usual with a check parade. Graham woke up feeling light headed and alert. He was surprised he didn’t feel tired but noted that Kirsty looked a wreck: hair all messed up and eyes puffy and bleary. Unsure if she regretted their actions the night before he anxiously met her eye and forced a smile. To his relief she smiled back.

  Sgt Grenfell bellowed to get out on parade so Graham hurried, unable to meet Roger’s eye because of his guilty conscience. To hide this Graham went and roused at Halyday and Andrews to hurry them out. This time 4 Section was the first ready. Stephen’s was last. He heard Stephen calling, “Hurry up Cadet Dunstan!”

  Krissy called back, “I can’t find my pants.”

  “Ask Thomo!” called LCpl Lucas.

  That caused a ripple of laughter from the rest of the section, quelled by Sgt Grenfell’s angry bellow. Graham met Kirsty’s eye and blushed fiercely with guilt. To his annoyance she smiled and her eyes laughed. At last Krissy found some trousers and the platoon marched to the parade area.

  CSM Cleland was in a savage mood too. He barked his orders and bawled out anyone who made mistakes. This got them all doing good drill very quickly. When he called for reports CSM Cleland even rebuked Sgt White for poor drill. That was so unusual that Graham stared in surprise. He knew the CSM should not correct the sergeants in front of the troops. CSM Cleland then called, “Cadet Thompson; Cadet Dunstan, after parade report to the OC.”

  ‘They are in trouble for fraternizing,’ Graham thought.

  From behind him Stephen whispered, “Storms today!”

  Gwen replied, “After last night I’m not surprised.”

  “Silence in the ranks!” growled Sgt Grenfell out of the side of his mouth.

  When the sergeants gave their reports Graham listened intently, curious to know what had become of Carnes. He heard Sgt Gayney say, “Posted strength eleven, on parade ten, one sick.”

  ‘Does that mean Carnes isn’t in hospital?’ he wondered.

  CSM Cleland then reminded the company that they were moving that day and were to have everything packed by 0730. He then handed back to the sergeants. As they marched back to their area past HQ Graham noted a person lying in a hutchie. It was Carnes. ‘He’s still here, poor bugger! He should be sent home.’

  After being fallen out Graham strode straight over to the 4 Platoon latrine for a pee. He was in such a mood that he did not care who was there. In fact he met LCpl Telford who told him that the Hutchie Men were about to head off on patrol as soon as they had eaten breakfast.

  Mess parade followed. Kirsty stood behind Graham and then sat next to him while they ate but she looked tired and did very little talking. Afterwards they walked back to the hutchies in relative silence. Roger walked with them so there was no chance for a private conversation. The next thing was to pack up. Graham and Roger dropped their hutchie and dragged it aside, then folded it. Next the bedding was rolled up into their packs and everything needed for three days transferred from their kit bags to their packs. Graham was then kept busy walking around the section ensuring they were packing the right things in the correct places.

  By 0730 the section’s packs were placed in a neat line and the section was busy filling waterbottles. While they did they saw Thomo and Krissy come walking back from a meeting with the OC and CSM. Both looked unhappy. Roger pointed and said, “What did they do?”

  Before he thought about it Graham answered, “The OC caught them kissing after lights out.”

  Roger gave Graham a very sharp look and said, “How do you know that?”

  Graham realised he had made a mistake but he decided not to lie to his friend. “Because I saw it. I was talking to Kirsty.”

  Roger shook his head. “You be careful or you will be demoted and spend the rest of the camp digging dunnies.”

  “I will be careful! We didn’t do anything,” Graham replied. But he blushed and thought of the classic excuse of ‘We were only talking’ and knew it was not what he was thinking of doing.

  Roger just made a face and shook his head, then went to ask Thomo what had happened. He then told Graham. The pair had been reprimanded, reminded of the rules and been given the job of digging latrines or filling them in for the next two days.

  After that the platoon was moved on parade. As they did Graham noted a miserable looking Carnes sitting in the CP beside an army radio. CSM Cleland ‘right dressed’ the company and checked the number on parade, then handed over to a grim-faced Capt Conkey.

  That Capt Conkey was deeply angry was evident from both his body language and the tone of his words. And he did not mince them. “Last night,” he shouted, “Three cowardly bullies attacked and greased Cadet Carnes. He was so badly burned by the liquids they used that he had to be taken to hospital for treatment.”

  He paused, glared and pointed, then bellowed, “Wipe that smirk off your face Cadet Poschalk! If you think it is funny then go and get your bags and we will send you home now! And that goes for any of you. I have spoken to Cadet Carnes’ parents and they are considering asking the police to investigate. That could mean criminal charges of assault! I am really angry about this. There has been too much nonsense already but this is just cowardly and stupid.”

  He paused and ran his eyes over the company. The anger in them made Graham feel like flinching, even though he was innocent. Capt Conkey went on, “Worse still we have had to report the incident to Cadet HQ in Townsville and they have reported it to AAC HQ in Canberra. The whole affair makes the unit look very bad. When we find out who carried out this attack I will give them a dishonourable discharge and send them packing within the hour, and I will pass their name to both the army and the police.”

  There was a shudder of dismay through the ranks and Graham shook his head but then nodded it in agreement. Capt Conkey waited to give time for his words to sink in, then said, “And I warn you, if there is any more of that sort of harmful nonsense the persons involved will also be chucked out of cadets. I will not have the good name of this unit destroyed by malicious fools! Remember that the officers have given up their holidays to be here so don’t make things harder. And remember you have all promised to me personally to behave.”

  Graham flushed with shame at that and felt su
re that Capt Conkey had been staring straight at him when he had said these words. He berated himself for being so weak and resolved to do better in future.

  Capt Conkey then handed back to the CSM and told him to sit the company in section lines. When that was done new photocopied maps of the area were handed to the corporals and Capt Conkey organized and briefed them for the orienteering exercise. This was run as a ‘treasure hunt’ and the results counted as part of the annual section competition. Graham had not thought much about the section competition and realised with a jolt that he probably had a lot of leeway to make up. ‘If I want to get to be a sergeant it might help to have the best section,’ he thought.

  The treasure hunt was also a race that required a team effort because all the clues were in some sort of code. Capt Conkey handed out code sheets and an Instruction sheet explaining the various codes used. That made Graham anxious as he knew he was competing with Peter. ‘He is a whiz at this sort of thing,’ he thought unhappily. What made it difficult was that there were a dozen messages to decode but at least seven of them all appeared the same: letters in groups of three as ‘Trigrams’ but all arranged by different methods.

  Having handed out all the necessary stores Capt Conkey then nominated a CUO or sergeant to each section. These came from a different platoon and were there for fairness and safety. The rules also insisted that sections move together and that no work could begin on a new clue until every member of a section was there. The ‘DS’ for 4 Section was Sgt Yeldham. That did not please Graham because he did not particularly like him.

  By the time Capt Conkey read out the first clue in the ‘phonetic alphabet’ Graham was sweating with anxiety. It was also becoming warm and promised to be another hot day. Certainly there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. As soon as he had the message copied down Graham called on the section to get up and follow him. He moved them 25 metres away and then sat them down.