The Cadet Corporal

by Christopher Cummings

  “Yes Miss,” Graham replied, but so concerned was he that he ignored her advice and headed straight for where a group stood in the darkness near the far bank of the river. Once again Peter followed.

  As they approached the group, who were all standing, Graham heard Capt Conkey say in a very angry voice, “So if you didn’t give her the condom how come I have it here? She gave it to Lt Standish and said you gave it to her! How do you explain that?”

  To Graham’s surprise Sgt Yeldham answered, “I didn’t give it to her sir. She is making it up!”

  ‘Hello!’ Graham thought, ‘Yeldham has put the hard word on Lucy!’ As this thought crossed his mind a powerful torch came on and shone on him. Lt Hamilton snapped, “Go away!”

  Graham stopped but stood his ground. “Sir, I need to speak to Capt Conkey,” he said.

  “Go away! Come back later,” Lt Hamilton ordered gruffly.

  Graham stubbornly stood there and shook his head. “This is very important too sir.”

  Capt Conkey spoke next, his own torch lighting up both Graham and Peter. “Yes, what is it?” he asked irritably.

  Peter answered, “Cadet Carnes has gone missing sir.”

  “Oh damn and blast! That’s all I need!” Capt Conkey cried angrily.

  Graham said, “I think I know where he has gone sir.”

  “Yes? Where?” Capt Conkey asked, lowering his torch beam.

  “To the railway bridge,” Graham replied.

  “The railway bridge!” Capt Conkey cried in astonishment. “Why would he go there?”

  “I think he is going to commit suicide sir,” Graham replied.

  There was a moment’s silence, broken by Capt Conkey muttering “Oh Christ!” Then he asked, “Suicide? What makes you think that?”

  “Just a few things he said sir,” Graham replied. “He went to the bridge this afternoon.”

  “This afternoon! Are you sure?” Capt Conkey asked.

  “Yes sir,” Graham replied. “I saw him brought back by the OOCs from St Michaels.”

  Lt Maclaren spoke from the darkness beyond Capt Conkey. “That’s right. I was there when they did. I meant to tell you about it.”

  “Bloody hell!” Capt Conkey cried. He stepped closer to Graham. “What makes you think he is going to commit suicide?”

  Graham tried to remember exactly what Carnes had said but could only give a general idea. “He seemed to have an obsession about the bridge sir,” he said. He then explained how Carnes had frozen up and said he was afraid during the raid.

  Peter agreed with this, describing how Carnes had stood staring up at the rail bridge during his recon patrol. Graham then said, “Carnes told me he hated his parents and that he wasn’t going back to them. I don’t remember the exact words sir, but I thought they were odd at the time. Now I think he meant he was not going back because he was going to end it all. I am sure he has gone to the bridge.”

  Capt Conkey ground his teeth and shone his torch on his watch. As he did so Graham saw the stricken look on his face and he experienced a surge of sympathy for him.

  “When was he last seen?” Capt Conkey asked.

  CSM Cleland, who had been standing quietly at the back, answered that, “I saw him just after we had everyone seated for the campfire sir. I had the platoon sergeants do a check and he was here then.”

  Capt Conkey glanced at his watch again. “Twenty past ten. And he was last seen at about nineteen hundred. That is nearly four hours!”

  “He could certainly walk to the bridge in that time sir,” Graham said. “It is only two and a half kilometres.”

  Capt Conkey bit his lip, then nodded and said, “We must look for him.” He turned to Lt Maclaren, “This business must wait. You take command here. Get the CSM to have the CUOs and sergeants check every person here. Get them all up and on parade. Then organize search parties to look along the river bed and tracks. Look up Dingo Creek too.”

  He then turned to Lt Hamilton. “Hamish, get going and drive all the roads, then come back to check within half an hour. Go both ways along the highway for ten minutes. Check at the army camp and warn Major Ross. If you haven’t found him drive to the bridge and contact me. I will take the other Rover and go to the bridge.”

  The group dispersed. As Capt Conkey made his way up the bank Graham followed. He did not wait for orders or ask. He just felt he had to be there. Once again Peter came with him. Capt Conkey glanced at them as he reached the Land Rover but made no comment. Graham climbed into the passenger seat, while Peter clambered into the back. The engine was switched on, then the lights. A moment later they were grinding up the steep, dusty track to the top of the bank.

  As they accelerated along the better track up on the flat Capt Conkey said, “Tell me more Cpl Kirk. Tell me everything you can remember.”

  Graham did so. Capt Conkey drove fast, the vehicle bouncing and rattling over the bumps and corrugations. In their trail of dust the headlights of Lt Hamilton’s vehicle followed. As he talked Graham leaned forward, craning to see better through the windscreen. The Rover’s headlights lit up a rapidly shifting cone of road and bush. At every second he hoped to catch a glimpse of Carnes. His main worry was that Carnes might try to hide.

  At the junction of the Canning Road Capt Conkey turned the Rover right. Lt Hamilton went left, back towards the Canning Causeway. As they drove up onto Sandy Ridge and then along Bare Ridge Graham recounted the bullying and misery that Carnes had experienced and as he did he became more and more certain that the boy was going to try to do away with himself. He began to berate himself for not doing more to help.

  “Not your fault,” Capt Conkey replied gruffly. “It is mine. I should have taken more notice of the warning signs.”

  With every passing second Graham became more and more anxious. He kept hoping to glimpse Carnes in the headlights but they reached the highway with no sign of him. There was no other traffic so Capt Conkey turned right onto the highway, accelerated, braked, turned left and then drove as fast as he dared along the gravel road leading to the railway bridge. Ignoring the bumps and shuddering he drove across the flat through the scattered thorn trees to where the road divided on top of the river bank.

  Ahead through the windscreen Graham could see the black outline of the bridge girders. He stared hard at them, biting his lip in anxiety and unknowingly drawing blood as they hit several potholes very hard. The road went along the top of the bank for 200 metres before dipping down to end on a grassy shelf fifty metres wide right under the bridge. Capt Conkey drove down onto the flat and braked to a stop with the headlights facing out across the river bed. The beams lit up the huge concrete pylons, making them look like a row of stark monoliths.

  As soon as the vehicle stopped they jumped out. To Graham’s great concern there was no sign of Carnes. Graham ran to the edge of the grassy flat and looked down. The bank dropped down through a thin belt of trees to where the stream of shallow water flowed under the bridge.

  ‘I wonder if he has drowned himself?’ Graham thought. Then he shook his head. That didn’t make sense. ‘He could have done that back at the camp easily. If he came here he means to jump.’ With that he looked up.

  The gigantic steel structure stood out starkly against the stars. It was so high above his head he had to crick his neck back to see it. Even where he stood it was a good thirty metres above him and he knew it was at least ten metres higher out over the sandy river bed. He scanned the dark latticework anxiously but could see nothing.

  Capt Conkey turned on his powerful ‘Big Jim’ torch and swept the beam along the actual bridge. Graham caught a glimpse of white. “There he is!” Peter cried.

  Graham stared upwards in dismay. High above his head, leaning over the side of the railway line, was a tiny white face. It was Carnes staring back down at them. Carnes was out on the next section of the bridge, over the sand and at the place where the drop was longest.

  As Graham watched Carnes moved. Graham gasped, fearing Carnes was jumping. “Carne
s! It’s me, Cpl Kirk! Don’t do it!” he shouted.

  “He’s going to jump!” Peter cried.

  “No he’s not,” Capt Conkey said, his voice torn with anguish. “He’s trying to tie a noose on to the rail. He means to hang himself.”

  Instantly Graham remembered his comments exhorting Carnes to ‘hang in there’ because it would soon be over. ‘Oh my God! I put the idea in his head,’ he told himself. Before he realized what he was doing he had started running across the flat towards the end of the bridge.

  Peter ran with him, the friends arriving at the base of the slope together. A washed-out and overgrown vehicle track went up the slope. Graham ran up this, stumbling frequently. He skinned his hands and collected a dozen burs but ignored the pain and ran on, brushing at them. Once on top he and Peter still had to run 50 metres to the embankment that carried the railway out across the flood plain.

  The end of the bridge was built up on a steep sided embankment overgrown with long grass and prickly weeds. There was a barbed wire fence across the base of this. Graham hurled himself flat to wriggle under but in his haste snagged his shirt. Peter scrambled under the bottom strand of the next panel beside him and went on climbing the slope.

  Graham swore and struggled then felt the barbs dig into his flesh. He swore again and eased back to try to unhook himself. Peter heard him swear and paused to look back. Seeing Peter hesitate Graham shouted, “Keep going Pete! I’ll get myself free. Go!”

  Peter continued climbing, his feet scrabbling in loose gravel. Graham swore again, his mind noting that Capt Conkey was shining his torch on him to help. In its beam he saw he was caught because the bottom strand was very close to the ground. He slid back, lowered himself and tried again. Again the barbs snagged him. This time his anxiety and sense of dread made him keep going forward. Heedless of the pain and ripping of cloth he tore free and scrambled up the slope after Peter.

  By then Peter was up on the top of the embankment and Graham heard him shouting to Carnes as he raced off along the railway. His back stinging from the scratches, Graham dug his boots in to get a grip on the slithering gravel and forced his way up. A few seconds later he arrived at the top, gasping from the effort but all but oblivious to his own condition. Without hesitation he turned right and dashed along the railway.

  The first fifty metres of bridge had high steel sides but it was still dangerous as the actual rail bridge consisted of the wooden sleepers bolted to the steel girders underneath, then the two steel rails fastened to the sleepers. Between the rails were two planks, each about 20cm wide. A miscalculation on this section would mean a leg down between the sleepers, or between the girders.

  It was the next section that mattered. Here the rails were still bolted to steel girders underneath but the girders had no sides close to it. Every five metres or so a steel cross-beam led out to the criss-cross of the ‘through-truss’ girders. In between these cross beams was just thin air. Below was an ever-increasing drop. Ahead of him Graham could see Peter running along the two planks. He did likewise, his heart pounding with fear. That a slip could be fatal was all too obvious. The height was only too apparent as he got glimpses of Capt Conkey and the Land Rover’s lights below.

  “You boys take care!” Capt Conkey shouted anxiously.

  Graham ignored him and so did Peter. After a single glance which showed Capt Conkey talking on his mobile phone Graham hurried on. It was so obviously dangerous that he knew it was best to run and not think about what might happen if he stumbled or slipped. What really made it hard was the sense of being trapped by a prison of girders. The bridge was so long it seemed to vanish into the darkness. Their boots thudded on the boards with a hollow, thumping sound.

  By the time Graham was half way across the first main section Peter was past the first pylon and still running. Then Peter stumbled, causing Graham to gasp in fright, but he recovered and ran on, yelling to Carnes not to jump. Graham could not see Carnes at all because Peter was in the way. Then Capt Conkey’s torch beam found them and Graham glimpsed Carnes leaning over the side. His face was towards Peter and he was calling something which Graham could not hear because his own laboured breathing and thumping heart interfered.

  As Peter got closer Carnes, who had been kneeling and looking down, turned his head and put up his hand. He screamed, “Keep away! Don’t come near me!”

  Peter slowed down and called back, “Don’t be silly! It will be alright. Don’t jump.”

  In the torch beam Graham glimpsed Carnes’ expression. It was one of frantic resolve. To Graham’s dismay he saw that Carnes had the rope tied around his neck. The other end of the rope was tied around the steel railway line. As Peter walked forward Carnes shouted again, “Don’t come near me!”

  Peter stopped and tried to reason with him but Carnes just shook his head and looked down. In the torchlight Graham clearly saw him swallow. His eyes looked very large and glistened in the light. He opened his mouth to say something to Peter, then stepped back and stumbled. For a second Carnes tried to regain his footing, then he fell.

  Carnes screamed and so did Graham, who was still twenty metres away. Carnes dropped straight down but then came to an abrupt stop, his body still above the railway line. ‘His foot has slipped through between the sleepers,’ Graham thought. His own heart hammered frantically with anxiety as he hurried on forward. Fear had now slowed his progress as he could clearly see what a huge drop lay below. Now he was out past the shallow water and was over the sand of the main river bed.

  Peter called, “Wait Carnes! Don’t move! I’ll help you.” He began walking towards Carnes.

  “No! Get away!” Carnes screamed. He began to struggle frantically to haul his leg free. In the process he squirmed so that he was hanging out over the edge.

  Peter kept moving and reached Carnes. “Stop moving so I can help you,” he cried.

  Instead Carnes began hysterical shouting and struck at Peter. “Leave me alone! Leave me alone! I want to die!”

  There was a smack and Graham saw Peter stagger, then heard him cry out. To Graham’s horror Peter suddenly toppled sideways and fell off the bridge. One second he was there, the next he was gone. There was a thud and the bridge shuddered. A metallic clang sounded and Graham saw that Peter had landed across one of the cross beams. Then he slid over the side, his hands clawing desperately for a grip.

  Unaware that he was screaming in despair Graham dashed forward and looked down, seeing only the struggling black shape that was Peter. Far below was the sand, floodlit by the Land Rover’s headlights. Somehow Peter had grabbed on but he was hanging by one hand from the bottom flange of the cross girder and could slip and plummet to his death at any second. And in Graham’s way was Carnes. He had managed to get his leg free and was crouching on the sleepers staring down at Peter in shocked dismay.

  “Help him Carnes! Don’t just sit there!” Graham shouted.

  Carnes shook himself and stared at Graham. “I didn’t mean to! I just wanted him to keep away,” he wailed.

  Graham clenched his fists and grated his teeth. “I don’t care what you meant! Grab hold of him! Quick!”

  But Carnes just knelt there babbling it wasn’t his fault.

  “Help me!” Peter gasped. “Hurry! I can’t hold on much longer!”

  “Hang on Pete! Hang on!” Graham cried as he hurried the last few steps. It was only then, as he knelt down to reach for Peter that he realised what the distant glow and the growing vibration meant- a train was coming!

  CHAPTER 36

  HANG ON !

  “Hang on!” Graham shouted to Peter. Peter had managed to get his other hand up to grab hold of the cross beam but it was a poor grip as only the fingers were over the lip of the steel girder.

  “Help!” Peter gasped. “I can’t hold on much longer.”

  Graham dithered for a second, looking frantically around to try to work out the best way to help his friend. Carnes was in his way so Graham stood up and moved around to his other side. Then he took h
old of the rail and lowered one boot down over the end of the sleepers till it reached the cross beam. With his heart hammering from fear he turned himself around and slid backwards down, ignoring the scraping on his chest and stomach from the ends of the rough wooden sleepers. Trembling and sweating and on the brink of paralysing terror he reached down and grabbed the top of the beam. Carefully he stood side on and then lowered himself until he was sitting astride the beam with his back to the railway.

  As he sat down the vibration through the rail told Graham that the train was now on the bridge. It was coming from the far end and he hoped he had time. By now the headlight of the approaching locomotive was lighting everything up in brilliant black and white. That helped Graham as he looked in under the sleepers.

  The main beam was about half a metre deep, with flanges twenty centimetres wide. The cross girder he was sitting on was similar in size. There were huge bolt heads but nothing to actually hang onto. Far below was the river bed. Graham broke into a sweat of fear and trembled, feeling very insecure. ‘One slip and I am a goner,’ he told himself. For a few seconds he was paralysed by vivid flashbacks of when he had clung to the slippery face of Stoney Creek Falls. Then he shook his head and gritted his teeth.

  There was nothing for it but to take a risk. Shaking with fear he lay down and locked his legs together around the girder. The hard steel edges cut painfully into his flesh but he ignored this. Holding on with his left hand he leaned out and down and grasped Peter’s left wrist. To his dismay both his hand and Peter’s skin were slick with sweat. Above him Carnes was still leaning over and crying that he hadn’t meant it.

  Suddenly Carnes became aware of the train and began to scream and jibber, “A train! A train!” In his agitation he began clawing at Graham, almost pulling him off balance. Graham knew that there were small safety projections for bridge maintenance workers to use so he pointed to one and screamed, “Get onto that!”

  Carnes either did not hear him or did not understand as he kept screaming. He leaned over and grabbed at Graham. Graham swore and tried to ignore him. What was taking up most of his consciousness was Peter’s terror-filled face as he dangled by his hands below him. By now the roar of the approaching train had become a deafening thunder. This was drowned out as the engine sounded its air horn, the blast seeming to shake the whole structure.