Then the test he dreaded began. With mounting apprehension Andrew watched Carmen partially flood her mask, then blow to clear it. Then it was Muriel’s turn and she did it with apparent ease. ‘Oh no!’ he thought, aware that his heart was racing and that he was gulping breaths much faster than he should. Through a mist of rising apprehension he saw PO Walker give Muriel a congratulatory clap, then move himself sideways to face him. In a state close to panic Andrew saw PO Walker signalling to carry out the partial mask flood.
‘I must do it!’ he told himself. His rational mind told him he could easily swim to the surface if he had to but that wasn’t much help. Knowing that PO Walker was one of his cadet instructors was more helpful. ‘I don’t want him to think I am a coward,’ Andrew told himself. Driven by that thought he took a deep breath and put his hands up to the top of the mask. Even then it took a deliberate act of will power to break the seal and allow water in. He hated it. As the water squirted in he shut his eyes and held his breath. The salt stung his eyes and some water went up his nose, making him splutter and sneeze. On the edge of panic, but trying to appear calm and unruffled, Andrew opened his eyes and saw that the water now half-filled his mask. Breathing as steadily as he could manage he tilted his head back, pressed his fingers to the top of the mask, and blew strongly through his nose.
He was only partly successful in expelling all the water and had to try a second time, leaning back, holding the top of the face mask to press it against his forehead while blowing hard. This time he managed to expel most of it. Through eyes that were watering he saw PO Walker give him a clap and he sighed with relief.
‘Now act as though it was all just a boring chore,’ he told himself, aware that Muriel would be watching. He turned to her and grinned, then pointed to her pressure gauge and did a check, thus taking both their minds off his efforts. Then he nodded and turned to watch Blake flood his mask. Blake did it without any apparent effort, causing Andrew mild jealousy. Shona on the other hand made a real drama of it, blowing half a dozen times to clear the water out. She appeared to be on the edge of panic but PO Walker calmed her and she managed it at last.
Through all of this Andrew was still trying to get himself under control, blinking and telling himself to calm down. He knew he was alright but the sound of water snuffling in his breathing equipment was no comfort either. As soon as he could Andrew looked around fearfully, to check that no monster of the deep had come sliding up while he could not see. None had but he remained anxious.
The test of using another diver’s alternate air source was much less of a problem. Andrew was confident he could swim up. Just in case, he fingered the valve that inflated his BCD, telling himself that, if worst came to worst, he could just inflate and go up. He even toyed with the quick release on his weight belt. However when the test came he did it easily. Apart from getting a couple of signals in the wrong order he was able to exchange his regulator for Muriel’s alternate. That put them very close together and he looked, as instructed, straight into her eyes. ‘Is she laughing at me?’ he wondered. Her eyes certainly seemed to be twinkling.
During all this they had remained kneeling on the bottom, held down by their weight belts. Even so he and Muriel had bumped against each other a lot. Most of the time her knee was touching his and he suspected she was doing it deliberately. However it had no effect in stimulating him. He was too scared for that and really just wanted to get the exercise over and get out of the water.
Thus he was very relieved when PO Walker signalled to surface. They did this in pairs, practising an ascent using their buddy’s alternate air source. In this case it was Muriel using his. They rose easily and broke apart at the surface. Andrew quickly inflated his BCD and then lay back with a huge sigh of relief. Only after a few minutes did he remember to look around for sharks.
The dive had lasted nearly half an hour and Andrew found it a real relief when Sub Lt Sheldon indicated they should swim ashore. In the shallows they removed fins and face masks, Andrew being chided for pushing his up onto his forehead.
“That is the sign of a diver in trouble,” Sub Lt Sheldon reminded. Blushing at his mistake Andrew hastily pulled the face mask right off.
They then walked up the beach. Andrew found this a real effort, weighed down as he was by weight belt and SCUBA gear. Glances at his companions showed they were all finding it a strain as well, which was some comfort. He was surprised at how tired and weak he felt, as he considered himself to be fit.
Once under the trees they helped each other off with tanks and BCDs and then loaded all the diving equipment into the van and ute. Wet suits were peeled off and they then picked up their clothes and followed Muriel up to the house. This time they went in through the garage door. Inside was not only space to park two cars (a gleaming silver ‘Mercedes’, and a lovely maroon ‘Jaguar’- ‘his and hers’, Muriel explained), but also for a laundry, workshop and downstairs bathroom and toilet. A passageway led off under the house to other rooms.
“We can all have a shower to wash off the salt,” Muriel said.
“What? All together?” quipped Blake.
“Oh poo to you!” Muriel said with a laugh. “You and Shona can if you like.”
That got Andrew’s imagination racing. He had a vivid flashback to the previous January when he had been joined in the shower by Letitia after he had tried to find the drowned boy. It was the first time in his life he had been alone with a naked girl and it had been a glimpse of heaven which gave him hot memories. For a few seconds he remembered sliding his hands over Letitia’s lovely smooth skin, and of fondling her ample breasts while she had held him. They had come so close to having sex that Andrew trembled with emotion every time he thought about it. He was sure that only the interruption by others had stopped them and that troubled him badly. This was because he liked to think he had good self-control. It was also one of his beliefs that sex was a very special and intimate thing that should only be done with a person during a state of mutual love. He did not want to openly admit that he was of the opinion that sex should only be between people who were married but he knew that idea lurked deep in his sense of morality.
Thus it troubled, yet excited him, when he found his thoughts straying to contemplate having a shower with Muriel, of his hands sliding over those lovely breasts, of her....
‘Stop it!’ he told himself, aware that he was torturing himself, and was worried lest he expose himself to be a weakling and a hypocrite. To push these thoughts out of his mind he stood and talked boats with PO Walker while the others took turns at having a shower.
Carmen got a bit anxious about how long Shona was taking and asked Muriel, “Won’t we use up all the water?”
Andrew pictured the relatively dry bush on the surrounding hillside and also wondered.
Muriel shook her head. “No, there is a little dam up the creek,” she replied. “We swim in it sometimes. There is plenty of water.”
Andrew wasn’t sure which creek, as he could not remember seeing one, but he was reassured and quite happily took his turn in the shower. As he stripped off to rinse himself he had more thoughts of Letitia, Muriel and of sex. He examined himself and was satisfied he was quite normal but the thoughts and touch got him stiffening up so he hurried his shower, quickly dried and dressed in dry clothes, then went up to the patio via an internal stair well.
On arrival on the patio Andrew found Carmen talking to Old Mr Murchison. Andrew seated himself and at once inquired of the old man how he was. On being assured he felt fine- ‘as fit as a flea’- Andrew said, “I’m sorry for upsetting you sir.”
Old Mr Murchison smiled and shook his head. “That’s alright boy. You weren’t to know. It was a long time ago. Tell me, how old are you?”
“Fourteen sir,” Andrew replied.
Old Mr Murchison nodded and pursed his lips, then said, “I’d say you will be the spitting image of your grandad when you are a bit older. Now that I know who you are I can really see the resemblance.”
> “It must have been a bit of a shock,” Andrew replied.
“Yes, a sort of ‘ghost from the past’ thing,” Old Mr Murchison replied. “So tell me about your family. I haven’t seen any of them for twenty years at least.”
Andrew and Carmen proceeded to describe how their father, Cuthbert Collins, ran a tourist business, while their mother owned a small but very trendy ‘boutique’. It was while trying to explain the family history that Andrew realised just how little he actually did know about his own family background. He resolved to remedy that by talking to his parents as soon as he got home.
However such thoughts were thrust from his mind by the more immediate problem of what to say to Muriel as they said farewell. She and her family were staying over at the house so he would not see her until the following Saturday at cadets. ‘Unless I can organise something for Friday night,’ he thought.
As they all said goodbyes and made their way down to the lawn Andrew paused and met Muriel’s eye. He was sure now he was really in love and he badly wanted to see her again. “Can we meet again?” he asked.
“I’d love to,” Muriel replied. “What did you have in mind?”
“Oh....er... maybe the movies on Friday night or something?” Andrew suggested.
Muriel made a face. “Maybe, but only in a group. Mum and dad think I am too young to be going on dates yet.”
“With Blake and Shona then?” Andrew replied.
“Yeah, OK. Phone me tomorrow night at home and we will discuss it,” Muriel said.
Andrew wanted badly to kiss her but restrained himself. Instead he smiled and then hurried down the steps to the driveway. As the van drove up past the house he saw her waving from the terrace and waved back, his spirits soaring. ‘She wants to see me again!’ he thought happily. All the way home he sat in a haze of romantic euphoria, day dreaming of wonderful things they might do together. To give him hope were the thoughts that she would be at cadets the following Saturday afternoon, and that there was another dive trip planned for the next Sunday.
Only when he and Carmen were dropped off at home did Andrew remember the old photos and think to ask his mother. She nodded and said there were several old albums around, and to ask his father. Andrew did this at once. His father had just got up from his Sunday afternoon snooze and was a bit grumpy but became interested when Andrew described the photos at Old Mr Murchison’s.
Mr Collins led the way downstairs to the storeroom. On the door being opened Andrew’s hopes nose-dived at once. The room was a jumble of boxes, bags and assorted junk. Mr Collins snorted with annoyance and gestured in. “Now, there is a job long overdue! Instead of sailing around the bloody bay you might clean up the house.”
“Yes Dad,” Andrew replied, his hopes sinking even further. “Would you know where the photo albums are?”
“No, but they are in an old brown leather suitcase I think. So, if you really want to find them, get to work, but only after you have done your homework.”
“Yes Dad,” Andrew added with a sigh. His father insisted he show him his completed homework before school every day and he knew there would be no escape from this. Reluctantly he made his way back upstairs.
Thus it was four hours later, at 9pm that Andrew returned to the storeroom. For a while he stood in the doorway, all but overwhelmed by the magnitude of the task. ‘This is hopeless!’ he thought, but even as he began to turn away, his stubborn streak took over and he stopped. ‘There must be a smart way to do this,’ he mused.
So he began to systematically clear a path in through the room so that he was able to see what was stacked on either side. The displaced articles were taken out to the workshop area, to be re-stowed later.
An hour later his mother called him from upstairs, “Time for bed Andrew. Give it up and come up for your Cocoa. You’ve had a long weekend and you don’t want to be tired for school.”
“Yes Mum,” Andrew called back without conviction. He backed out along the ‘gully’ he had cleared in the junk and reached for the light switch. Then, just as his finger closed on it, he saw the brown leather suitcase.
CHAPTER 4
FAMILY ALBUM
Andrew seized the brown suitcase and dragged it out of the storeroom. From upstairs his mother called again and he muttered with irritation. His problem was to open the suitcase. It had old snap catches that were stiff and took some working on. At last they flicked open and he was able to lay the suitcase on its base. With some difficulty he prised up the lid. Inside were numerous books, papers and folders.
As he leafed through these, wrinkling his nose in disgust at the musty smell and scuttling of numerous silverfish, Carmen came down the back stairs and called to him, “Come on Andrew. Your cocoa’s getting cold- and Mum’s getting annoyed.”
Feeling frustrated Andrew closed the lid and went grumpily upstairs. He drank his cocoa and cleaned his teeth, then said goodnight to the others and took himself to bed. Here he lay and thought about the events of the day. At the top of his consciousness was Muriel. To his mild annoyance his daydreams about her were tinged with images of sex. Through his mind flitted memories of her in her swimsuit, then of Letitia- in the shower with him, and nude on the beach at Endeavour Island during the family holiday in April. That got him all jealous and aroused.
More memories came to heighten his arousal: Letitia sunbathing nude; Letitia and the Naked Painter having sex on the beach in the moonlight. That one really hurt. Andrew became both very aroused and anxious. Worry about Letitia harming herself by such activities, and his own self-knowledge of desire and jealousy all combined to make him quite emotional. The uncomfortable thought that, if he was given the chance, he might succumb to temptation made him feel confused and hypocritical.
It was a mixed-up and unhappy boy that slipped into sleep- a restless sleep disturbed by dreams. The dream that stuck in Andrew’s mind when he woke, feeling tired and strained, was about diving. He had swum out with the others to where the safety boat waited and they had gone diving. Down in the dark water, which was so deep he could not even see the bottom, he lost touch with Carmen and the others. In his anxiety he turned to look at Muriel to check she was there. She was but he was stunned to see her eyes blazing with anger. Suddenly she reached out and snatched off his face mask. Panic had welled up and he had been sure he was drowning and had swum quickly to the surface, ignoring the threat of decompression sickness. But on reaching the surface he was dismayed to find that the safety boat was nowhere to be seen. On looking around he had found that he was much further offshore than he had realized. Nor were any of the others in sight. Then the waves and current had increased and he had found himself being swept out to sea. Dark shadows had begun to flit around under the water but he had been too scared to put his head under to see if they were sharks. Sweating with panic he had woken up.
‘Oh I wish I had never said I would go diving!’ he thought, shaking his head and feeling drained. How to get out of any further dives without loss of dignity occupied his thoughts as he showered and dressed. He knew there were three more to complete the diving course- and each one of them required fully flooding the face mask under water!
Thus he thought no more about the old photos until he returned home after school that afternoon. Even then he forgot about it until his father came home from work. He came and stood over Andrew’s desk, on which was spread his homework.
“You might have put that suitcase back when you finished with it,” he said.
“Suitcase?” Andrew echoed foolishly. “Oh yes!”
He hurried down stairs and set to work sorting the contents. Most of the papers in the case appeared to be old accounts, invoices and bills but there were also numerous old letters and postcards. Andrew picked one up that had a hand- tinted photo on the cover. “Brampton Island- Playground in the Sun,” he read aloud.
The photo albums were there, two of them. There was also a large brown envelope full of loose photos. They were all ‘black and white’. The very first one was
a stern view of a schooner or lugger tied up at a wharf. After studying the background Andrew muttered, “Taken in Cairns, but what ship, and when?”
Turning the photo over revealed part of the answer. ‘Manahaki ready for lay-up’, read the ink handwriting on the back.
At that moment Carmen and her friend Jennifer Jervis joined them. Jennifer was a trim blonde who went to the same school as Muriel. She was English and her father was a Royal Navy Lieutenant Commander on exchange with the RAN. Andrew was a bit wary of him, so was shy with his daughter, even though he thought her very pretty.
Carmen leaned over to look. “What are they?” she asked.
“Grandad’s old photos,” Andrew answered, holding up one that showed the tug Wallaman Falls running at speed on Trinity Inlet.
He passed her the photo. Soon all three were seated on the concrete floor looking at photo after photo. To Andrew’s annoyance many of the photos had no writing on them to say who, where or when. Even so he found them fascinating. So engrossed did the three become that they did not notice the passing of time.
It was Andrew’s mother who reminded them. “What are you children looking at?” she asked.
“Old photos of Grandad’s, Mum,” Andrew answered.
Mrs Collins peered at them and then nodded. “Very interesting. Now, Jennifer, it is nearly six O’clock. You had better get home. And you children need to tidy all this up and then have a wash ready for tea.”
This was done. Andrew packed the suitcase away but kept the photo albums and packet of photos. These were taken upstairs. After tea, and after the TV news, he spread them out on the dining room table. Carmen joined him and then both parents. Andrew found a head-and-shoulders photo of a man in an old-fashioned diving suit but without the helmet. The man was standing on the deck of a small sailing vessel and the people in the background looked to be Melanesians. Andrew glanced at the back, found no writing and grimaced, then said, “Who is that Dad?”
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