After that Thursday and Friday went more easily. Thursday evening Andrew packed and finished his schoolwork. That meant that when he came home on Friday all he had to do was put his toiletries in his kitbag and change out of his school uniform and he was ready. As usual his mother fussed and kept warning him about various perils of the deep. Andrew barely noticed and just gave her tolerant replies. His mind was taken up with Muriel and how he might get to win her affections even more during the weekend.
Thus, when the mini-bus driven by Sub Lt Sheldon pulled up outside at 5:45pm, he got a shock. Muriel was in the bus and she gave a friendly smile and waved, but she was sitting next to a youth and made no move to shift next to Andrew. It took him a few minutes to realize what the situation was, and it left him worried and upset. Sub Lt Sheldon took his gear and Carmen’s and stacked it in the rear of the mini-bus, then introduced the people already on board. Andrew knew that the dive company would be taking strangers, to help pay their bills, so he wasn’t surprised to see that the back two seats were filled by two Swedish girls named Kareena and Inge, sun-tanned backpackers in their early twenties. The next row forward were two English male tourists in their mid-twenties. Tod was solid and sun-tanned. Geoff was thin and pale skinned. Then there was Muriel and the youth.
She introduced him. “Hi gang! This is Doug. He’s a Master Diver and works as a motor mechanic. He is training to be a dive instructor.”
“Hello,” mumbled Andrew, eyeing the youth with jealous resentment, as it was obvious that Muriel liked him. Doug was slim but muscly and had well-tanned skin and a shock of curly fair hair. His freckled face was lit up by a grin and he was busy telling jokes. Andrew at once sensed he was real competition.
When it became apparent that Muriel was going to stay seated next to Doug Andrew climbed into the empty seat in front of them. Carmen joined him and Sub Lt Sheldon introduced Michael, another local diver, who was travelling in the front.
Andrew tried to pretend that everything was normal and alright but inside he felt a sick sense of unease. Did Muriel not like him after all? How long had she known this Doug character? And how much did she like him? It was all very sobering food for thought and as they pulled out and he waved goodbye to his mother he felt deeply anxious.
‘How can I win with Muriel?’ he wondered.
Map 2: The Reefs
CHAPTER 16
JEALOUSY
From the moment Andrew sat down in front of Muriel he was in emotional turmoil. Horrible suspicions bristled in his mind and he felt sharp stabs of jealousy. These were made worse by hearing Doug talking softly to Muriel and her gurgling laughter in reply. Having them behind made it even worse as Andrew felt extremely self-conscious, thinking that they were looking at him and that they were laughing at him behind his back.
‘He must be ten years older than her. Surely she isn’t interested in him?’ Andrew fretted, remembering how friendly and passionate she had been with him only a few days earlier. Trying to tell himself that it was all nothing, that his imagination was making the situation into something it wasn’t, he tried to relax.
The mini-bus drove south along Mulgrave Road and out of the city. It was a drive Andrew had done dozens of times before so hardly noticed until they were past Gordonvale. For a time he admired the huge bulk of Walsh’s Pyramid, remembering the time he had climbed it with a Scout group two years earlier. In the russet glow of the last of the sunset it looked a most impressive mountain.
After that it was fields of sugar cane and hillsides covered with jungle as the highway and railway led southwards along the coastal corridor. Andrew thought this was a very pretty drive and even now, in the gathering dusk, he tried to take his mind off Muriel by looking across the flat fields to the jungle-covered coastal mountains.
The bus passed through the tiny settlement of Fishery Falls and a few minutes later the even smaller one of Deeral. It was just getting dark by then but Andrew was able to read the sign at the railway siding and knew where he was. Seeing that name ‘Deeral’ got him thinking about shipwrecks and about how his grandfather had died.
Darkness closed in and hid most of the scenery outside the windows but that made it worse for him because he could see Muriel and Doug reflected in the windows by the dim interior lighting. She seemed to be very attentive to everything Doug said and that twisted the dagger of envy even more.
Andrew had been to Townsville by road at least a dozen times before so paid no particular attention to where he was after that, merely noting the small towns as they passed through them: Babinda with its sugar mill right beside the highway, Mirriwinni, the bridge over the Russell River, then the jungle of the Eubenangee Swamp and Waughs Pocket before more open farmland: bananas as well as sugar cane, then the North Johnstone River and the larger town of Innisfail. They did not stop but drove on, across the South Johnstone River and through more canefields to the town of Mourilyan and on across more kilometres of sugar cane farms.
By 8:20pm they were stopped at Tully (another sugar mill town) at a Service Station and Road House for a snack. As they got off the bus Andrew hoped that Muriel would transfer her attention to him and was considerably hurt when she kept talking to Doug. Andrew was even more dismayed when he saw Doug buying Muriel a softdrink and snack. She allowed him to do this and kept chatting away, apparently oblivious to Andrew.
‘Maybe I can organize it so that I end up with Muriel sitting beside me when we get back on the bus?’ he thought. But he could not think of a plan to make this happen and knew that he was too hurt and too cowardly to make an issue of it. The best he could do was be first back on board, in the hope that Muriel would sit next to him. When she just smiled at him but made her way past him to her previous seat he was gripped by a cold feeling of despair. When Doug slid into the seat beside her and she resumed talking happily to him Andrew’s jealousy grew to misery.
For the next two and a half hours he sat hunched up and pretending to sleep, hoping that Carmen had not noticed his unhappiness. Turning his head to the side and snuggling into his pillow he stared out the window at the dark fields and bush and tried to tell himself he was imagining it. ‘She is just being friendly,’ he told himself, in an unsuccessful attempt to cheer himself up.
They arrived in Townsville, at the end of the 350km drive, at about 11:00 pm. As they drove into the city Andrew sat up and cheered up a bit. His questing eyes picked out the lights marking the tops of Castle Hill (on his left) and Mt Stuart (a long way off on his right). Having stayed in Townsville for several school holidays and a Navy Cadet camp he knew the place reasonably well and now had some vivid memories. These were most particularly of the naked girls of Sheena’s gang, and of the curvaceous and sexy Letitia. Just thinking about her made him squirm with desire and feel guilty at having thoughts unfaithful to Muriel.
There were other, less pleasant memories too- of the boy nicknamed ‘Maggot’ drowning; of the bullies being swept to their deaths from the flooded Black Weir. These thoughts made Andrew shudder and feel even more anxious about diving.
The route to the charter boat went past the rear of the local Navy Cadet depot, TS ‘Coral Sea’. As they drove by Andrew felt quite excited and remembered the locals with warm affection. They had been very welcoming and helpful. The bus turned left to the Marina near the Casino and pulled up in a large, poorly-lit car park.
As Andrew and the others climbed out they were met by a cheerful, solid looking man in his early forties. He was one of the diving instructors from the local company and Andrew liked him on sight. His name was Dave and he led them with their gear down a sloping ramp and out along a narrow floating pier to where several large motor launches were moored at floating ‘finger piers’ set at right angles to the main one.
Their boat was named Reefmaster and Andrew liked the look of her. She was a large motor launch with a small focsle deck, then a cabin that ran for three quarters of the main deck aft to a dive deck. Above the cabin was a sun deck with a wheelhouse and rubber dinghy.
Dave led them up the gangway and forward into the saloon to meet the trip director, an ex-navy warrant officer with a very efficient manner, who had them sit. He then checked their names and looked at their diving certificates.
While he was doing this, and discussing with Sub Lt Sheldon the training already done, Andrew kept looking around. There were people busy on the dive deck setting up gear, mostly young and looking like European backpackers (he was wrong, two were Canadian girls). Across at the next pier to starboard was an even larger dive boat which was also preparing to sail. Visible in the bright lights on its dive deck were a dozen people, all sorting out wet suits and air tanks and so on.
While he sat there Andrew’s morale had gone up a notch because Carmen had sat on his right and Muriel on his left. The fact that Doug was sitting on the other side of Muriel was irritating and worrying but even so his hopes went back up. They went up even more when they were moved aft to the dive deck to check the fit of their gear and to set it up. While they did that Muriel stood next to Andrew and chatted happily to him.
Aft of the saloon on the dive deck were two long benches, one on either side of the aft companionway. On these were rows of air bottles held in place by elastic straps. Inside on the coaming were boxes of fins, snorkels, weight belts and so on. Hanging overhead were wet suits and BCDs.
Sub Lt Sheldon explained, “It is most important you get gear that fits properly now. If it doesn’t then we can send a vehicle back to the dive shop and get some that does, but once we sail you are stuck with what is available.”
Having spent a couple of hours with fins that were too tight Andrew knew how important that was. At the time he had not been able to credit just how agonizing those fins had become in such a short time. On another occasion he had picked a face mask that did not fit properly and he had spent an hour with water leaking in and a headache starting from a strap that was too tight. So now he pulled on a wet suit and made sure it did up easily, checked the fit of a BCD and secured it to a tank in the place allocated to him, then checked the fit of face mask, fins and snorkel. These were made up in a bundle for him. Then he set to work and made up his weight belt, aided by Dave and Sub Lt Sheldon. It restored his confidence to find that the equipment was familiar and that he could actually remember how to set it up and check it.
That was just as well because close alongside was the dark water and Andrew was having to fight down deep anxieties about diving into it. Fear of that night dive began to overlay his jealous anxiety about Muriel.
Having set up their equipment they were allocated sleeping accommodation. Forward of the dining table on the port side of the saloon a short set of steps led down to a small platform deck. From this gangways went down forward into the focsle and aft into a companionway. On the starboard side of the small deck was the galley and pantry. Andrew was directed to Cabin Number 3, aft on the starboard side. Carmen and Muriel were sent to Cabin Number 4, aft on the port side.
Andrew made his way down the short flight of steps and opened the narrow cabin door. Inside were two bunks, one above the other. A small porthole was set in the hull just above the top bunk. It was a tiny cabin and smelt of salt and stale air but he was satisfied, pleased he hadn’t been put in the focsle. Opting for the top bunk so that he could look out the porthole he placed his gear in a small locker and swung himself up onto the bunk to try it out.
As he was wriggling to get comfortable, the cabin door pushed open and a head poked in. It was Doug. He tossed his duffle bag on the lower bunk and said, “Hi. I guess we are sharing. What was your name again?”
‘That’s all I need!’ Andrew thought as he told Doug his name. Doug nodded and said, “What do you do?”
“I am still at school,” Andrew replied.
“Oh yeah?” Doug answered, obviously neither interested not impressed. He then turned and made his way back out, leaving an irritated Andrew to lie there and feel hurt. The pain was exacerbated within a minute when he heard voices out in the companionway: Doug’s and Muriel’s. She laughed at something he said and Andrew heard her say, “I am in that cabin just there.”
“Oh good!” Doug replied. He then said something that made Muriel giggle and which set all of Andrew’s jealous thoughts in train again. Muriel then followed Doug up to the saloon. That sent Andrew into another bout of doubting and jealousy and he felt compelled to get up and to follow them up.
He found them in the saloon sitting on the benches aft of the cabin doors. Several others were there as well, including some of the people who had joined the trip in Townsville. Feeling shy and anxious Andrew sat and smiled. Inside he was annoyed and upset. What was particularly peeving him was that he had been really looking forward to being at sea and it was being spoilt. From the moment he had walked up the gangway he had been trying to savour the sights, smells and feel of being aboard a vessel. Even the small movements as the launch shifted with their weight and the tiny rippling waves made him feel better.
His interest in the boat was increased when he noted a small black and white photo of it before it was a tourist launch. Dave saw him looking at the photo and explained, “She used to be an RAAF crash launch.”
“What’s that?” Muriel asked.
“A rescue boat for the air force, to pick up aircrew who ended up in the sea. They use helicopters now so she was sold,” Dave explained.
Doug joined them. “How would that happen here?” he asked.
Dave pointed to a chart on the bulkhead. “Just north of Townsville is the Halifax Bay Bombing Range. The air force practice attacking ships and things by bombing Rattlesnake Island and the rocks near it.”
Muriel looked worried. “Rattlesnake? Are there rattlesnakes there?”
Dave shook his head. “Nah! It was named after a British gunboat which surveyed the area in the Nineteenth Century, the HMS Rattlesnake.”
Andrew found all of that very interesting and he now devoted ten minutes to walking around along the narrow deck outside to the focsle and then back to the dive deck via the port side. As he did he sniffed the cool sea air and looked at the moored yachts and launches and watched the preparations on the neighbouring dive boat. It was all very interesting and enjoyable.
Then he got another rude shock. As he made his way forward again along the starboard side the door of the saloon slid open and Doug came out, followed by Muriel. They did not see him and made their way forward into the darkness on the focsle. That really hurt Andrew and he could only swallow and make his way back inside, pretending that everything was fine.
Carmen asked him if he wanted supper and insisted he drink some hot chocolate. Andrew was sure she was aware of the situation and that made him even more embarrassed. They were then instructed by Sub Lt Sheldon to take themselves to bed to get as much rest as they could. It was well after midnight by then and Andrew knew he was tired. Even so he did not want to go, his mind squirming with maggots of doubt about what Doug and Muriel might be doing outside.
Unable to relax Andrew stayed up until they returned. As they came back in Muriel met his eye and seemed to him to blush with guilt. Then she chatted happily and went to make cocoa. All Andrew could do was make his unhappy way down to his cabin and lie on his bunk in silent misery. It was a relief to him when he heard Muriel and Doug saying goodnight outside the cabin door. The sounds did not indicate any kissing or intimacy but it still hurt as she made no attempt to say goodnight to him. Doug then came into the darkened cabin and lay down without a word to Andrew.
That left Andrew to lie staring at the deckhead, brooding and wondering. Over and over he thought of all the times she and Muriel had been together, of the kisses and smiles, and it left him wondering what he had done wrong. The misery grew until tears of self-pity prickled in his eyes.
After a time he dozed off. Sleep was rudely interrupted by the sharp whirring noise of a starter motor, followed seconds later by the deep rumbling of the main engines starting. The huge diesels burst into life, making the whole launch vibrate. The move
ment of the hull and thudding sounds of footsteps overhead indicated that the lines were being cast off.
‘We are getting under way,’ Andrew thought happily. He was tempted to get up and watch but decided he should try to sleep. As the boat began to move he lay back and closed his eyes. A minute later he opened them again as Doug rolled out of his bed and quietly opened the cabin door. Out of half closed lids Andrew watched him slide out. The cabin door was then eased closed, the only sound the faint click of the catch locking. To him the movements seemed furtive. Horrible suspicions swirled in his mind. ‘Is he sneaking out to meet Muriel?’ he wondered. The thought made him both sick in the stomach and angry.
For another couple of minutes he lay there in jealous misery before he sat up. “I have to know,” he told himself. With that he slid out of the bunk and moved to the door. For a moment he paused, listening. Hearing nothing he opened the door and stepped out, pulling it shut behind him. In the companionway he paused again. ‘Which way?’ he wondered. Had Doug gone up on deck or aft?
Three metres aft were three doors. The one directly in line led down to the engine room. The one on the port side led into Cabin Number 4- Muriel’s. The one opposite it led to the shower and toilet. With his stomach churning with jealous uncertainty Andrew walked aft. For a moment he stared down the short flight of steps at the big yellow painted diesels. Then he stood and looked at the girl’s door.
‘Is Doug in there with Muriel?’ he thought, feeling ill at the idea. Then Andrew shook his head. ‘No. Carmen is in there too. They wouldn’t risk anything like that.’ Having decided that Doug must have gone on deck Andrew turned to go forward.
As he did the door of the toilet suddenly opened. Andrew spun round in surprise. Through the door came Doug. He merely nodded at Andrew and said, “Sorry. Didn’t mean to wake you.”
Feeling both incredibly silly and relieved Andrew seized on this. “You didn’t. The engines did. I need to go too.” He pointed into the toilet.
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