“That must have been hard on you Gran,” Muriel said.
“It was dearie, but people thought it normal for husbands to go away for long periods in those days.”
“Not my husband,” Muriel said firmly.
“Then don’t get married,” Grandma Murchison replied. “Till death us do part is what you swear to; and ‘for better or for worse’; so you choose well and stick by your promises.”
“Yes Gran,” Muriel replied, looking slightly annoyed at the lecture. Andrew felt sorry for her but agreed with Grandma Murchison- a promise is for ever.
“So when did you come to live here Mrs Murchison?” Carmen asked.
“Oh about twenty years ago- nineteen eighty four it was,” Grandma Murchison replied.
“It’s a lovely house, and a wonderful view,” Carmen added.
“Yes it is,” Grandma Murchison replied.
Blake gestured with his hand. “Must have cost a bit,” he added, looking around at the spacious patio and quality furniture.
“We were lucky,” Grandma Murchison agreed. “Joshua made some investments that returned a good profit so we were comfortably well off. So when the boys had all left home we moved here.”
“It’s a long way from town,” Shona commented, “don’t you get bored?”
Grandma Murchison shrilled with laughter. “Heavens no dearie. At our age you don’t need the shops and theatres to keep you entertained. Anyway, we have TV and radio.”
Muriel nodded. “It’s only about half an hours drive to Edmonton,” she added.
“It’s a nice spot,” Andrew agreed.
Mrs Murchison now cut in. “We had better have lunch if you young people want to do any more swimming this afternoon. It is nearly one O’clock.”
Sub Lt Sheldon glanced at his watch. “Oh heavens yes!” he agreed.
The party moved to where a long table was loaded with covered plates and bowls. These were uncovered to reveal cold meat, salad, fruit, bread and biscuits. Andrew suddenly felt very hungry and was only too glad to ‘tuck in’ as he was bid. For the next half hour he sat and ate, happy just to be beside Muriel.
After eating lunch Sub Lt Sheldon said that they were all to lie down for a rest. Muriel objected strongly. “Oh sir! We are fourteen, not four! We aren’t kindergarten kids.”
“Too bad,” Sub Lt Sheldon replied. “You should never swim just after eating, and diving is harder work than you realize. Half an hour’s rest will do you good. Besides, PO Walker here certainly needs his beauty sleep.”
At that PO Walker snorted indignantly then burst out laughing. He said, “I certainly need my ‘kindy’, so let’s all have a little nap, and no arguing.”
Muriel and Blake both grumbled but had to give in. Andrew was glad as it postponed the moment of having to go back under water again. He took the opportunity to go to the toilet and had another big drink, cordial this time: Mango and Orange.
He then helped clear the lunch plates and carry them to the kitchen. Carmen helped and cried with delight at the kitchen, which was large and airy and overlooked the patio and sea from the back windows. “It is certainly a lovely house,” she said.
Andrew usually didn’t notice such things but had to agree. The walk along the tiled corridor to the toilet was sheer pleasure in his bare feet and the toilet and adjoining bathroom were both spotlessly clean and smelt of pine and lavender.
By then the others had made their way downstairs. Andrew and Carmen thanked Grandma Murchison and followed them. Back down at the beach they made their way over to where the others were spreading towels and blankets in the shade of the paperbarks and cottonwood trees which lined the foreshore. Muriel was already lying down and gave Andrew a smile as he unfolded his towel.
‘Will I lie next to her?’ he wondered, ‘or is that too obvious?’ For a moment he pondered this, before walking over to her. ‘Faint heart never won fair lady,’ he quoted to himself, ‘and anyway, the others all know I like her.’
As he spread his towel and lay down he looked around. Carmen was making herself comfortable beside him and the two Instructors lay nearby. “Where are Blake and Shona?” he asked.
Muriel giggled. “They went off around the other side of those rocks.”
“Why?” Andrew asked, then blushed at the thought of how silly the question must have sounded.
“What do you think?” Muriel whispered with another giggle. As Andrew stretched out beside her she looked into his eyes and set his heart pounding and thoughts racing. ‘Is she trying to give me a message?’ he wondered. But he did not dare ask. Instead he lay back and closed his eyes.
He had not wanted to lie down but now that he had he was glad. Tiredness seemed to sweep through him and he deliberately relaxed his muscles and tried not to think about Muriel lying beside him. This proved impossible and she wriggled to try to get comfortable. Once her knee touched his. To Andrew it was like an electric shock and caused his heart rate to shoot up.
‘Was that accidental?’ he wondered. He risked a glance but saw that her eyes were closed. Not having gained any clue Andrew moved slightly further away and rolled on his side. ‘I don’t want her to think I am hassling her,’ he told himself.
For perhaps ten minutes he lay resting, his mind exploring options to help him speak to Muriel. She then provided it by rolling over and resting her arm on his back. This got his mind racing and he became even more hopeful.
To his surprise she began to tickle his ear with a piece of grass. Not sure what was happening he sat up and turned to look at her. Her face crinkled into a mischievous grin.
“Stop it,” he whispered. “I’m trying to rest.”
“Don’t you want me here?” Muriel whispered back.
“Of course I do, but there are others here,” Andrew replied. By ‘others’ he particularly meant Carmen. Having his big sister present was a real cause of anxiety. ‘If I try anything she will frown disapproval or tease, or tell Mum,’ he thought.
Carmen made her presence even more noticeable by saying, “Stop whispering you two. I’m trying to sleep.”
Muriel giggled aloud and this drew a muttered grumble from PO Walker. She lapsed into silence and snuggled against him, her bare arm just touching his. This caused Andrew to get even more aroused and he was glad he was dressed in the baggy old shorts and shirt and was able to lie so that it wasn’t noticeable. He badly wanted to be alone with her and to kiss her but contented himself with taking the daring step of touching her arm with his finger tips.
That caused Muriel to murmur with pleasure and to snuggle even closer. Andrew lay on his back and stared at the leaves moving gently in the breeze. ‘I might be in luck,’ he thought hopefully. After a while he closed his eyes and gave himself up to the sensual pleasure of feeling Muriel’s bare skin and the soft caress of the afternoon sea breeze.
CHAPTER 3
UNDERWATER
Andrew was more tired than he realized and slipped into a deep sleep. He was roused from this by PO Walker calling out. As he opened ‘gummy’ eyes Andrew realised that Muriel was snuggled right against him with her head on his pillow. She was so close he could detect her very pleasant scent and see the details of her skin: the pores, the tiny hairs. It made him sigh with longing and sent his hopes up.
‘Has she just done that by accident in her sleep?’ he wondered as he tried to move without disturbing her. He decided she must have. ‘She wouldn’t be that forward,’ he reasoned. But he wasn’t sure. What he was worried about was that the two cadet Instructors could see them. It wasn’t a cadet activity so the usual strict rules on ‘fraternisation’ did not apply, but Andrew did not want to give them the wrong impression. He sat up, moving to one side as he did.
Muriel opened her eyes and blinked sleepily up at him, then stretched. “Oh I needed that,” she said, “and I had such a good dream.”
Andrew had too, but he did not want to ruin his chances by being too pushy. Instead he stood up and rubbed his eyes. Carmen met his eye and winked
and that caused him to blush furiously. ‘I hope she didn’t see,’ he thought. He had no wish to be teased by his sister.
PO Walker stood at the side door of the van while drinking water from a plastic bottle. He turned and called out, “Where are Blake and Shona?”
“Don’t know P.O.,” Andrew replied. “I think they may have gone for a walk.”
“Well go and find them. We are supposed to be diving, not snogging,” PO Walker called back.
“Yes P.O.,” Andrew replied. He hurried off along the beach to the left.
“Hang on, I’ll come with you,” Muriel called. She hurried after him.
Andrew wanted her to but didn’t want to make that too obvious so he nodded and kept on walking, skirting an outcrop of rocks at a slow stroll. As Muriel caught him up Andrew spotted Blake and Shona. They were walking along the beach towards them and were holding hands and conversing happily. That was exactly what Andrew wanted to do with Muriel and he experienced a spurt of genuine jealousy. ‘Lucky Blake,’ he thought, wondering how his friend had managed to make so much progress.
What made it hurt even more was the obvious way the pair were engrossed in each other. Shona’s face was alive and her eyes seemed to sparkle. When Blake said something to her she laughed and clung to his arm. ‘How do I get Muriel to do that with me?’ Andrew wondered.
At that moment Blake saw them. He grinned and Shona waved. “What’s happening?” Blake asked.
Andrew pointed behind him and said, “The instructors sent us to get you. It’s time for our next dive.”
Andrew turned and led the way back around the rocks. As he did Muriel caught his eye and smiled. He was so surprised he stubbed his toe, then tried to pretend it hadn’t happened as he didn’t want to look a fool. Hiding the tears in his eyes he led the way.
Back at the vehicles the two adults were laying out SCUBA tanks and equipment. Carmen was helping. The teenagers were told to suit up. Now all romantic ideas were driven out of Andrew’s mind by anxiety about the test he was about to face. Feeling decidedly scared he hurried to prepare for the dive. Wet suits were tugged on and then air cylinders secured to BCDs. Andrew’s anxiety was now a help as it made him concentrate on the equipment and the drills. He turned on his air and checked the pressure, then helped Muriel to hoist on and secure her tank. After sorting out her air hoses he checked that her air was turned on and then made sure the tank was secure, plus all the straps. She then helped him on with his gear and did the same checks. They then both checked their regulators and alternate air sources and did a quick practice of breathing from each other’s alternate.
Next they walked down the beach and helped push the safety boat out into knee deep water. Sub Lt Sheldon climbed in. The outboard motor was started and the boat puttered out into the little bay, its bow lifting gently to the small waves. The group, now joined by PO Walker, Blake and Shona, waded into waist deep water carrying their fins and face masks. Here Muriel stood beside Andrew and adjusted the straps on the tanks, then tested the valve before sitting to pull on her flippers.
As she did she whispered, “Shona and Blake must really like each other.”
“I think they do,” Andrew replied. For a second his eyes met Muriel’s and his mind raced. ‘I wonder if I have a chance?’ he thought.
Feeling puzzled and anxious he turned his attention to the diving. He spat into his face mask and rinsed it, then pulled it on and adjusted the fit. Satisfied, he placed his snorkel in his mouth and slid forward to begin swimming, his mind now dominated by the fears of underwater swimming. The water was only a metre deep at that point so he swam with half his face mask above water and half below. The split picture intrigued him and it was something he enjoyed doing. He liked to check on the sky and on where the safety boat was at the same time as seeing below the surface.
He also kept glancing around to see if there were any triangular fins slicing through the waves towards him. He knew it was most unlikely he would ever spot any shark in time as they mostly swam underwater and he tried to tell himself that shark attacks on divers were very rare. But the rational mind could not completely conquer the fears and he kept glancing around in spite of himself.
Several small, striped fish suddenly flitted into his vision, causing his heart to miss a beat. A moment later they vanished in a flash as Blake came swimming past. His flippers churned up the surface and the silt on the bottom and obscured Andrew's view. He moved aside and found Muriel swimming up alongside on his left. Shona and Carmen were splashing along beyond her.
PO Walker stopped them when the water was too deep to touch bottom. He instructed them to keep swimming but to practice a snorkel/regulator exchange. By this time Andrew’s heart was beating fast with anxiety but he knew he had to try or be shamed so he swapped the snorkel for the regulator. Andrew allowed himself a minute or so to get used to breathing through the regulator. As always he felt anxiety tightening his chest and he had the feeling that he was struggling to breathe, that the valve was not giving him enough air, even though he knew it was a demand valve and would give him as much as he needed, and at the pressure of the surrounding water.
To calm himself he deliberately kept his face in the water looking down at the sandy bottom. He also enjoyed the view. But it could drive out that nagging fear that soon he would have to dive and then would come the ordeal of deliberately flooding that face mask!
PO Walker led them out until they reached the safety boat, which had anchored in water about ten metres deep. Here they hung onto a large, orange polystyrene float with handles on it. A blue and white diver’s flag fluttered above the float. To Andrew, looking fearfully around, they seemed to be a long way from the shore- right out in deep, spooky, dark green waves.
PO Walker detailed what he wanted them to do: “We will dive and wait on the bottom in a line,” he explained. “I will then get you one at a time to do a regulator recovery and clearance. Then you will do a partial mask flood and clear it. When everyone has done that you will do a stationary alternate air source use. Finally we will ascend. All understand? Good. Now, let’s have a practice of recovering your regulator on the surface.”
They did that. Andrew had no problem and was confident he could do it, but the mask flood began to loom ever larger in his mind. Secretly he wished something would happen to delay or prevent the dive. But nothing did and with a sick feeling of near panic he saw PO Walker give the signal to dive. Reluctantly, but on cue, Andrew lifted the release valve and began letting air out of his BCD. In spite of his fear he even managed to return Carmen’s smile before slipping under.
To his annoyance Andrew found he could not seem to go right under. He bobbed about with his face half submerged. Annoyed, he pressed the release valve again and this time went down- too fast. Almost at once he felt the squeeze of pressure and had to quickly blow air into his BCD to stop the descent then pinch his nose and blow to try to equalize the pressure in his ears. This worked and he was able to get his descent under control. Having the anchor line of the raft to cling to helped as well, keeping him from becoming disoriented. Only after he had his breathing and pressure under control did he look around, noting Carmen near the bottom, Muriel sinking steadily below him and Blake and Shona still above him.
Releasing air from his BCD in tiny amounts got Andrew sinking again. The sandy bottom seemed to rise to meet him and he settled on the points of his fins, then tucked them behind him and sank down on his knees beside Muriel. PO Walker swam down in front of them and indicated that they should move sideways to make room for Blake and Shona. Having successfully reached the bottom Andrew felt better. He even looked up and noted with some satisfaction that both Blake and Shona seemed to be having trouble coming down. In Shona’s case it was obviously an equalization thing and Blake appeared to be staying with her. PO Walker rose to help and slowly coaxed Shona down.
Andrew now tried to calm himself even more, telling himself to relax. Despite that his anxiety remained high and he kept glancing around in
to the green murk and shadows. Even just breathing was a challenge and he had to continually fight down the desire to pull the regulator out of his mouth and swim to the surface.
‘I hope they can’t see I am scared,’ he thought, noting that Shona was looking quite wide-eyed and worried.
Then the testing began. PO Walker moved slowly along the line, kneeling in front of each diver and watching while they carried out the test of skill. Carmen was first in line and Andrew watched her take out her regulator and toss it away from her without any apparent concern. Then she calmly swung her arm back, recovered the regulator and put it back in her mouth. As she vented to clear it Andrew’s eyes followed the rising bubbles.
‘I can easily reach the surface if I have to,’ he told himself, again trying to calm the fluttering nerves while Muriel did the test.
Then it was his turn. As PO Walker signalled Andrew kept telling himself what to do. To his own surprise he did it all quite easily, only being ashamed that PO Walker had to remind him, by signalling, to keep his mouth open and not to hold his breath. Nodding with embarrassment Andrew emitted a gentle flow of bubbles while he recovered the regulator. After that it was easy and he quickly purged the regulator and resumed breathing.
‘Phew! One done,’ he thought. But the anxiety kept rising because that mask flood was next!
Andrew disliked this exercise very much. He had done it several times in the swimming pool and knew it was important for safety, but here in the ocean it all seemed quite different. While he waited he was unable to stop himself glancing to his left to where the seabed sloped away into deeper water; a murky green and purple that could contain anything. He tried to comfort himself by estimating the visibility at about 15 metres.
‘I might just spot a shark before it attacks and be able to fend it off,’ he thought. ‘Besides, there are six of us. It might go for one of the others.’ That reminded him of the sardonic joke that said: swim with a friend, it reduces the chance of shark attack by 50%.
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