The Cadet Under-Officer

by Christopher Cummings

  It was very detailed and contained a lot of the numbers and abbreviations, most of which didn’t make sense but there were what appeared to be flight times from Vanuatu to Brendan Creek Mine and a place called ‘Fossicker’s Reward’ - presumably another mine with an airstrip. There were names in each case - the pilot and ten or twelve passengers. ‘The story could be genuine,’ he decided. He couldn’t imagine why Elizabeth would invent such a story and be running through the bush with such a briefcase if it wasn’t true.

  He looked up from his reading and saw with a shock that the man Bargheese, with another man in a blue shirt who was carrying a rifle and ‘walkie – talkie’ radio, were coming down the ridge from the direction of the bivouac. There wasn’t time to do anything but fold the paper and shove it in his map pocket.

  Softly he muttered, “Here he comes Liz. Lie still and keep quiet.” He suddenly felt very nervous and afraid and his hands went slippery with sweat. Wiping his sweaty hands on his clothes he walked a few paces to meet the men at the creek bed.

  Bargheese was clearly angry and worried. He and his companion were sweating freely. Again he asked. “You are sure you have not seen any girl?”

  “Yes, positive,” replied Graham, relieved that they hadn’t seen him bending down at the groundsheet, which was in clear view only ten paces behind him. “If she came this way she must have seen me or my cadets and gone in some other direction, or gone to ground and hidden,” he added.

  “Gone to ground?” Bargheese queried.

  “Hidden somewhere, in some bushes or in a gully,” Graham answered, gesturing back up in the direction Elizabeth had come from.

  “Yes, but where?” Bargheese asked. He looked around, grinding his teeth in vexation. His companion, a very fit looking man with a hard face under a short ‘crew cut’, looked worried and irritated.

  “Can I help?” asked Graham, eager to divert them away.

  “How could you?”

  “Well, I’ve got a platoon of twenty five cadets. We could do a search of the whole area for you. Is this girl dangerous?”

  Bargheese answered at once: “No, she is not dangerous. She is a thief. She has stolen some valuable industrial secrets. She is not armed.” He was pleased at this offer which at once gave him the manpower for a systematic search, and which freed his own few men to maintain a cordon.

  “Who are you sir?” asked Graham again.

  “I am Superintendent Bargheese. The documents were stolen from the NORMAC mine and this man is one of their mine security officers.” He gestured to the man beside him. Graham glanced and noted the NORMAC Security badge sewn to the sleeve of his blue shirt. Bargheese went on, “I appreciate your offer very much er...er.”

  Graham again gave his rank and name. As he did Corporal Kenny arrived to report his section had finished the Observation Course. Graham nodded and said, “Corporal Kenny, go and get Sergeant Dunning to bring the rest of the platoon down here as quick as you can. We are going to help the police search for this girl they are looking for.”

  Corporal Kenny’s face lit up with interest and he set off up the creek at a fast walk. Wanting to edge away from where they stood Graham turned and pointed down the creek to the highway a hundred metres away. “Could she have cut back down there and crossed the road?” he asked.

  Bargheese looked worried but shook his head. “No. I have a car up there to the left on top of the rise, and a Landcruiser off to the right at the road junction and they have not seen anyone cross the road. Besides, the other side of that ridge is very bare and open,” he replied.

  Graham felt pleased with learning that. It put four ‘enemy’ vehicles on the ‘tactical plot’. He said, “There’s a fair bit of grass where these two creeks come together near the fence, and along the roadside. Sure to be a drainage ditch there too.” At that the two men looked worried and walked that way a few paces so that the small bush obscured the groundsheet. Graham tried to will them to go further and realized he was in a sweat.

  “Do you have a map?” Bargheese asked.

  “Yes, here,” Graham replied. Thankfully he led them ten paces down the creek so that the ‘hutchy’ and log hid the groundsheet. He picked up a 1:50,000 scale ordnance map and gave it to Bargheese, then took care to point out where they were and the features around. Then he fished in his map pocket and pulled out a photocopy of a 1:25,000 scale enlargement of the area they were in.

  “You can have that. It’s only a photocopy and I’ve got some more,” he said.

  Bargheese nodded his thanks, then took a pen and began noting where his four vehicles were. He then got on the radio and began moving them to establish a chain of men to form a cordon, at least visually, around the area.

  Bargheese was just finishing that when Graham saw his first section, Corporal Margaret Lake’s, coming down from the ‘Rocks’. He walked over and stood on the log and directed them around the big bush to stand on the other side of the log. “Sit in the shade and have a drink,” he said. As they did he asked: “Where is Lieutenant McEwen, Corporal Lake?”

  “She’s gone back to the bivouac sir,” Margaret replied. She was a cheerful, freckle-faced second year and was in Year 10 at the same school. For years she had been in love with Graham and was also his sister’s best friend.

  The cadets sat in the shade and drank from their waterbottles. The two men talked quietly and studied the map and kept looking around impatiently. It gave Graham time to make a plan and to screw up his determination. It was another fifteen minutes before Sergeant Roger Dunning appeared with the other two sections but seemed longer.

  Again Graham stood on the log and loudly directed them around via the creek to sit with the first section on the other side of the log. He silenced them and without giving Bargheese an opportunity to say anything went on: “These men are looking for a girl in a white blouse and purple skirt who has stolen a valuable briefcase. She ran into the bush over there, from the road,” he pointed. “We are going to help find her. We will form an extended line along the highway and walk up to the track on Sandy Ridge. Sergeant Dunning, you take Corporal Kenny’s section and move astride Bare Ridge. Be sure you look in those gullies going down the western slope. Corporal Lake, your section will search up the centre along these two creeks and Corporal Sheehan, you will go with these two gentlemen and search up the spur between here and the gravel pit. Go as far as our camp. Keep in a line and search every little hollow and bush and look up in the trees.”

  Bargheese had been about to try to butt in to take control but the boy spoke with complete confidence so, as they were his command and it was a good simple plan, he said nothing. He was mildly impressed, especially at the mention of looking in the trees. That hadn’t occurred to him. ‘But then, it is a forest of sorts and certainly some of the trees, especially the Burdekin Plum trees, offer good hiding places,’ he pondered.

  After a few more words on what to do if they saw the girl Graham got the platoon moving. The three groups separated as they moved. Graham walked at the rear of Corporal Lake’s section as they trooped along beside the little creek. Bargheese and the security man walked with him. That pleased Graham as he was relieved at getting the man away from Elizabeth’s hide. He also felt sure Bargheese suspected nothing, although he was plainly puzzled over where Elizabeth had gone.

  When the cadets reached the barbed wire fence near the road Graham did not roll under but stayed worrying over the next bit - how to make sure Corporal Lake’s section didn’t find Elizabeth. The others all rolled under the fence, then spaced out, searching the grass beside the road as they did. Graham got them all about twenty paces apart then watched while Sergeant Dunning extended his group further along. They had to be much more widely spaced apart to spread across Bare Ridge. Corporal Sheehan’s section was lined up by Bargheese who raised his arm when he was satisfied. It looked (and should have been) a very thorough searching arrangement.

  Graham signalled with his arm and the search began. The cadets were very thorough. B
y the time they had come back through the fence the line began to get ragged and that gave Graham a reason to divert them all by worrying the corporals over spacing and alignment. He walked slightly in front of the line heading for the log.

  In this way Graham made sure the cadets searched every other log and small hollow in the two creeks. As they got closer to Elizabeth’s log he diverted the nearest cadet, ‘Cactus’ Carleton, to go and look up in a nearby Burdekin Plum tree. Two others joined him out of curiosity and they all walked around peering up into the branches until Corporal Lake got them back in line.

  All the while Graham kept an eye on Bargheese’s white shirt up through the trees. When Graham reached his shelter he sent the next nearest Cadet, Anderson, to look up the little gully while he stood on the log and appeared to search thoroughly around it. Next, while still standing on the log, he called out to Corporal Kenny to keep his people in line and to Corporal Lake to be sure to follow every twist of the other creek.

  Graham waited till they were about twenty paces in front then said quietly without looking down, “Keep still Liz, I may be half an hour or more but wait here and stay hidden.”

  Then he stepped down over the groundsheet and walked quickly to catch up with the line. As he did a police car drove north along Bare Ridge, followed a few minutes later by a NORMAC utility. The sight of the police car gave Graham cause for serious concern. ‘Suppose Elizabeth really is wanted by the police?’ he worried. ‘Am I a fool to believe her and to hide her?’ It was obvious to him that this man Bargheese had a lot of power and was dangerous but to openly disbelieve him and to ask to see his credentials would make him suspicious. Graham felt he had no option but to go on as they were.

  Fifteen minutes later the line reached the vehicle track along the crest of a low, flat ridge at the head of the little creeks. It was nicknamed Sandy Ridge and extended from Bare Ridge east for 500 metres to a gravel pit. The top was open, knee length dry grass with a few large trees and a scattering of small thin eucalypts in the top ends of the creeks.

  A NORMAC Landcruiser was parked at the track junction with the Canning Road. More worrying to Graham was the sight of a police car at the platoon bivouac. Graham halted the line and signalled the cadets to turn right and they walked to the bivouac. This consisted of a dozen drab camouflaged plastic shelters tied between small trees at the top end of the creek he’d been in. The shelters were in four distinct groups, one for each section and one for the platoon HQ.

  It was hot now and the cadets were tired from their morning’s work. The novelty of the search had begun to wear off. Lieutenant McEwen was talking to a police sergeant and Bargheese when Graham walked over to them. Graham gave Sergeant Dunning instructions for the cadets to have lunch. Bargheese wanted them to keep the search going. He was clearly a worried man.

  Graham summoned up his courage and shook his head. “No. The cadets are hot now and they’ve been working all morning and they’ve just walked an extra two kilometres for you. They need a rest and a drink. They’re only kids you know. Anyway it’s lunch time and they need a break.”

  Lieutenant Sandra McEwen backed him up. She was not at all keen on the cadets taking part in a police search and was quite worried, being something of a worrier by nature. Bargheese and the policeman bent to the map and looked on across the 100 metres of open grass on Sandy Ridge to thicker timber and bigger gullies which extended off northwards towards the Canning River, 2 km further on.

  Bargheese pointed. “Could the girl have come up this gully and got across here?” he asked.

  Graham said possibly but didn’t add that Corporal Kenny had been here with half his section and that Corporal Sheehan had been another 200 metres east near the gravel pit. Pointing north he said, “Those gullies lead down to the Canning River. You need to watch that area. It’s very thick scrub down there - lots of rubber vines. Lots of places to hide.”

  Bargheese looked even more worried. He replied that he had two vehicles down there, one at the Canning Junction turnoff and one at the crossing of the Canning. “I have also sent a vehicle on along this Sandy Track here to Quigleys Mill beside Scrubby Creek,” he added, pointing to these places on the map.

  Graham continued, “We will be doing an exercise down those gullies after lunch. We can help again then if you like.” He wanted to placate the man and to appear helpful.

  “When do you start?” Bargheese said.

  “Thirteen hundred - oh - sorry. That’s one o’clock,” Graham replied.

  The man looked at his watch. It was only just coming up to noon. “She could be far away by then.” Turning to his tough looking security man he snarled, “Come on!” The pair set off northwards leaving the police senior sergeant to sit in his car. The two men vanished into a gully.

  Graham talked to the police sergeant for a minute and asked who the girl was but the policeman was vague and just said, “A girl, a thief.” He didn’t seem to know.

  The cadets were refilling their water bottles from plastic jerry cans beside the army station wagon Lt McEwen had as a safety vehicle. Graham refilled his as well. He didn’t want to talk to Lt McEwen yet as he wasn’t sure himself and was having great difficulty deciding what he should do next.

  Pointing back down the gully he said, “I’m going back down the creek to pick up all the items we used on the observation course. Sergeant Dunning is in charge.”

  Sgt Roger Dunning looked up form the meal he was eating. “Do you need a hand sir?” he asked. Roger had been Graham’s friend for years and the two had shared many adventures. Roger was only a few months younger but this was sufficient to put him a grade behind at school; and a rank lower in cadets. When Roger had been younger he had been quite chubby and was still a bit overweight, something he was very sensitive about. In private the two friends had an easy familiarity.

  “No, thanks,” Graham replied. “It’s all my stuff and I know where I put it. It all goes in my pack.” Before Lt McEwen could say anything he set off alone down through the bush. As he went down into the head of the gully he glanced back and heard Lt McEwen ask the red-faced police sergeant if he would like some tea.

  CHAPTER 6

  HOW TO HIDE THE GIRL

  Graham walked quickly down the five hundred paces to where Elizabeth lay hidden. As he got close he slowed down and looked carefully around to ensure there wasn’t anyone else in the area. In his own mind he was convinced that Elizabeth was telling the truth but he couldn’t work out how the police came into it.

  He reached the log and stopped. “Liz, I’m back,” he said quietly. There was no response from under the groundsheet. For a horrible few seconds he feared that she had been found or had gone. He bent down and pulled a corner back. She was there, asleep, lying on her side with her head on the briefcase. She looked exhausted and dishevelled.

  At that moment she awoke. Fear flooded across her face and Graham found himself staring into two widely dilated hazel eyes and the black muzzle of a pistol!

  “It’s me Elizabeth, don’t shoot!” Graham said in alarm.

  Elizabeth dropped her hand and seemed to slump. “Sorry,” she said, “I was asleep. You gave me a fright.”

  “Careful with that gun! Is it loaded? Where did you get it?”

  “Yes, it’s loaded. Uncle Jack gave it to me. I don’t know how to use it. I’d forgotten I had it till I rolled over and it dug into me.”

  Graham knelt and held out his hand. “You’d better give it to me,” he said.

  To her own mild surprise Elizabeth handed the pistol over at once and as she did she realized she was placing her life in Graham’s hands. She also knew that she felt complete trust in him.

  Graham studied the gun for a moment, then carefully pointed it away from them. He had not been trained to use a pistol so all he knew was from reading and TV. After studying the various knobs and catches he slipped out the magazine. The pistol was an eight-shot automatic. He cocked it and checked the pistol clear and safe, then put the magazine back into th
e butt and placed the pistol into his left basic pouch.

  Graham then told Elizabeth what he had done, while passing her some chocolate, biscuits and a waterbottle. “Liz, do they know who you are?” he asked.

  “I don’t think so. I’ve never seen any of them. Uncle Jack just picked me up from the bus depot. But I suppose they can find out from Aunty.”

  “That gives us a bit of time. I’m going to hide you, then read all this stuff in the briefcase. It...it’s not that I don’t believe you,” he faltered and had trouble meeting her eyes.

  Elizabeth gave a wry smile. “That’s alright. I find it hard to believe myself and you are taking a terrible risk. It puts you in... in trouble too,” she said.

  “Yes, well, I have to be sure so that I can make the right decision about what to do next. I’m going to get you to change into a cadet uniform. I’ve got girls in the platoon and you can pretend you are a cadet. If they don’t know who you are that might throw off any casual search. Do they know what you look like?”

  Elizabeth shook her head. “No, not close up, except that man Bargheese. The others have never seen me properly.”

  “Good. Put these on and I’ll take you up closer to our bivouac. Later I’ll slip you across into the area we will be training in this afternoon. Jacket first,” Graham instructed. He pulled a cloth hat, a pair of camouflage trousers and a jacket out of his pack and took some socks and sandshoes out of the field pack on the back of his belt.

  He then stood up and turned his back to keep watch while Elizabeth took off her blouse and slipped the camouflage shirt on. As quickly as she could she did up the buttons, hotly aware of Graham’s presence. Then she unzipped and slid off the skirt and pulled on the DPCU trousers. When she had the uniform on she stood up to zip up the trousers, feeling both hidden and exposed by turn but glad to be in a disguise.

  “What will I do with these?” she asked, holding up her clothes.