Cockatoo

by Christopher Cummings

  ‘Danny has got away and will come back to get his revenge,’ she thought miserably. She was so unhappy she just brooded for the remainder of the trip. She barely noticed the 16km of winding mountain road as they descended into the Mulgrave Valley. Even though she thought that places like Little Mulgrave and the Ross and Locke Picnic Area were among the prettiest places she knew she just stared at the scenery without really seeing.

  Only when they arrived back in Cairns at Andrew’s did another unhappy thought surface. ‘I still haven’t got Andrew to ask me to the dance and it is only next weekend,’ she thought. But despite being annoyed with him she gave him a smile and tried to pretend that she was alright.

  It was when she was at home with her mother and father and was recounting the story that she finally unravelled emotionally. Suddenly the bottled up fear became too much and she began to sob uncontrollably. It took her parents a good twenty minutes to calm her.

  “You will be fine Little Baby,” her mother said soothingly.

  That just annoyed Tina even more. “It may not be mum. Those men are still on the loose. Now I am really scared they will come and get me out of revenge.”

  “Oh they won’t. They wouldn’t even know you were involved,” her mother said.

  That was a ghastly doubt Tina had. ‘Did Danny recognize me?’ she worried. She said, “Do you think we should shift; you know, go to another town to live, even change our names?” She had seen such things on TV crime programs and now wondered if it was an option.

  Her parents were visibly shocked. Her mother shook her head emphatically. “Of course not! Well, not unless the police advise it. We will ask. But I am sure things will be alright.”

  “Oh, I hope so,” Tina replied. “I don’t want to go around looking over my shoulder all the time.”

  CHAPTER 24

  BOYS!

  Tina had a feverish and exhausted sleep that night and felt so ill the next day that her mother allowed her to stay home. Her mother insisted on staying home as well. That comforted Tina but upset her even more as it meant her mother could not go to work. Her mother cleaned and bandaged Tina’s hand but seemed satisfied. It was healing well and only weeping a tiny amount of pus.

  For much of the day Tina lay in bed and dozed. But even when half-asleep she could not stop being scared. Worry about Danny and Marco dominated her thoughts and she felt ill and helpless. ‘The police won’t be able to protect me,’ she reasoned. ‘They can’t guard the back of the house and the front at the same time; or keep me safe while I go to school, or to the shops or whatever. And even if they tried it would only be for a few days.’

  Anxiety over the future kept her in a fever of worry all day and far into the night. She did hope that her friends might call. ‘Or Andrew, and I could tell the silly boy to take me to the dance,’ she thought, with the dreadful concept of ‘If I am still alive’ lurking on the edge of her conscious thoughts.

  The other thing she hoped for was learning that the bird poachers had been caught by the authorities. But there was no phone call from the police and no mention of them on either the TV or radio. That depressed her even more.

  She also had the very uncomfortable experience of going out to feed her own birds and having doubts about whether it was right to keep them in cages. Images of the struggling crimson rosella in the mist net flooded in as she fed Beaky and she bit her lip and felt bad. ‘Would Beaky really like to be free?’ she wondered. Intellectually she understood that birds reared in captivity had trouble surviving in the wild but that did not ease her gut feeling that she might be being cruel.

  On Tuesday she went to school. Her mother drove her and promised to pick her up. That made Tina feel a bit more secure. When she had woken up she had felt so ill and sick in the stomach that she had not wanted to go but nor did she want to be the reason her mother lost another day’s pay so she had lied and said she was well enough.

  As she walked through the school looking for her friends Tina regretted that action and began considering spending the day at the sick room- until she saw Andrew. He came hurrying across to her and asked how she was. Suddenly Tina could not control her emotions. She burst into tears and stepped forward. To her great comfort he met her and put his arms around her. She held him tight, pleased that he had acted so spontaneously and regardless of the looks and comments from the many watching students.

  Andrew patted her and then gently wiped the tears from her cheek. “What’s the matter Ti?” he whispered.

  With an effort she controlled her sobbing and told him, between sniffles, of her fears. Andrew nodded and looked serious but shook his head. “I think you are OK. I don’t think that Danny bloke recognized you, or that we were navy cadets. I heard the officers saying to the police that they thought that Danny had the idea we were police in their blue work clothes.”

  “Oh I hope so!” Tina cried. Then there were more tears and she held him tight. He patted her and murmured soothing words and for a moment she thought he was going to kiss her. But he didn’t and she rested her head on his shoulder and wiped away the tears.

  Then she saw Barbara Brassington walk past with her friends and some of the Year 12 boys. That jolted her. ‘The dance,’ she thought. But she could not just ask. The words seemed to stick in a throat that suddenly constricted. She burst into tears again.

  “What’s the matter?” Andrew asked.

  “You,” she croaked.

  “Me! What have I done?” Andrew asked.

  “It’s what you (sob) haven’t (sniffle) done,” Tina replied.

  Andrew looked surprised and then worried. “What’s that?” he asked cautiously.

  That exasperated Tina. “Oh boys!” she cried. “I’ve given you enough hints! Saturday night.”

  For a few seconds Andrew looked puzzled and slightly foolish. Then the light bulb came visibly on and he turned to look into her eyes. “I would love to take you to the dance on Saturday night- if you would like to come of course,” he said.

  ‘Oh at last!’ Tina thought. She sobbed yes and then grabbed his head and kissed him full on the mouth. That conjured up cheers, catcalls and cries of advice from the watching students. Tina saw Marjorie grinning at her and another girl named Naomi holding her hand to her mouth in delighted surprise. It all made Tina feel good. ‘I am not such a frump after all!’ she told herself.

  Andrew kissed her back and then went all tense. He eased his head away. “We are breaking the school rules. We will get into trouble if a teacher comes along,” he said.

  Tina could not have cared less. To her school was unreal and she knew that there was a much bigger world out there, one with love and hate. But she was suddenly happy and she smiled as he reluctantly released her. Andrew turned to answer a smart jibe about coming up for air from Stephen. Tina saw that Stephen, Graham and Peter were there.

  Graham spoke first. “What happened to your hand Tina?”

  That jolted Tina. Vivid images of those terrifying moments in the jungle swamped her and threatened to turn her into a blubbering wreck. But she managed to shrug and say, “A bird bit it.”

  Stephen curled his lip. “Serves you right for keeping them locked up,” he said.

  That hurt and tears prickled but Tina managed to say, “No. I was freeing one from a mist net.”

  She did not really want to talk about it but Graham said, “Was that during your hike?”

  “Yes,” Tina replied. They then discussed the incident. Graham was very interested and she sensed that he was even jealous that he had missed out on an adventure. He said, “So are you going hiking again Andrew?”

  “Nope. You can have the jungle. No more for me thanks.”

  The army cadets laughed and the conversation turned to hikes and jungle adventures the boys had been on then to the weekend army cadet bivouac. As they talked Tina found she was studying Graham. ‘He is very handsome,’ she thought. Then she experienced a guilty jolt. ‘I shouldn’t be looking at other boys,’ she told herself. But she had
to admit there were some very handsome males around. ‘And some gross grots!’ she added as a group of grubby Year 8 boys went by.

  In class Tina found it hard to concentrate. Her mind and emotions were in a whirl, a mixture of happiness and fear that left her feeling worn out by lunch time. By the time the day finished she just wanted to lie down. But when her mother took her home she hurried to her wardrobe and took out her dress and held it against her in front of the mirror.

  Later she did some adjustments and then tried it on. When she studied her image in the mirror she bit her lip and wondered if it was the right dress. ‘I still look a bit tubby,’ she mused unhappily. ‘And heavens, it emphasizes my bust!’

  Turning side on did not change her opinion. She was very aware of how the dress caused her bosom to jut out. She shook her head and then bent to straighten the hem. As she did she glimpsed herself in the mirror and was at first appalled at how that action revealed her cleavage. ‘Good heavens! I nearly spilled out then,’ she thought. But even as she straightened up an impish thought crossed her mind. The idea made her blush with shame but would not go away so, feeling very daring she deliberately bent over a few times to study the effect. “That will keep Andrew’s attention- I hope,” she murmured.

  Still hotly aware she was being very naughty she removed the dress and went to make a small adjustment to the waist. She wanted to discuss her dress with her mother but was too embarrassed. ‘I hope it will be alright,’ she worried.

  That night she slept better. Her dreams were a mixture of romance and anxiety but in her waking moments she was able to push the dark shadows of fear aside by fantasizing about being with Andrew at the dance. She pictured herself as a princess and he as her ‘Prince Charming.’

  Next morning her mother examined her wound and decided that it no longer needed a bandage. “Healing well. You are lucky,” she said.

  The next three days went by slowly. Tina wanted to be with Andrew every second of the day but did not push herself to do this. Instead she watched him from afar while sitting with her own friends. She was still afraid he might resent her if she was pushy or clingy. Her anxiety about the bird poachers abated slowly and she even forgot about them for hours at a time as preparation for the fete and the dance came to dominate her thoughts.

  As a fete task Tina’s class had been allocated the running the ‘White Elephant’ stall and a quite astonishing quantity of bric-a-brac and otherwise useless objects had been donated. These were sorted during school time on Friday and very little class work was done. Tina thoroughly enjoyed helping sort, clean and carry the objects to where benches had been set up under the main building. She was one of the students who had volunteered to staff the stall, but only on Saturday.

  That was because Navy Cadets was on Friday evening. Tina was keen to go but it also revived her memories of the previous weekend and got her all anxious again. Because of the fete numbers were down a bit but the training went ahead as normal. There were more practice lessons on sending signals in Morse code by signal lamp and another one on the destroyers of the RAN; their characteristics, weapons and likely roles and tasks. There was also a period during which the Duke of Edinburgh teams did more planning and wrote up their reports.

  During this Blake showed them his photos of the birds caught in the mist net and that got Tina all emotional and upset. Seeing the photo of the crimson rosella latched onto her hand made her rub the scab and then struggle to hold back tears. For a few seconds she was deeply angry at the people who were so cruel to birds but this was soon replaced by the nagging fear.

  This only remained at an intense level for a few minutes before subsiding to be like a dull, niggling ache. Tina consciously pushed it down by thinking about the fete and the dance. Another worry came to take its place: would Andrew be with her at the fete during the afternoon? Tentatively she hinted at this by mentioning that she was going to be working on the stall from midday onwards. “What are you doing tomorrow Andrew?” she queried.

  “I have to work at home in the morning and we are going to visit Aunty Ida after lunch. I won’t get to the fete until after tea,” Andrew replied.

  That was a sharp little disappointment for Tina but she managed to hold her smile and to prattle on in apparent cheerfulness. Andrew then smiled and said, “Don’t worry. I haven’t forgotten the dance. I will be ready on time- and suitably dressed.”

  “What do you mean by suitable dressed?” Tina asked as suspicious anxiety sprang up.

  “Oh, you know, the usual old shorts, torn singlet with holes in it and rubber thongs,” Andrew replied airily.

  “Oh you won’t! Don’t please,” Tina cried.

  Carmen had overheard this and she said, “He’s teasing you Tina. He will be respectable- or else!”

  Tina hoped so and she went home to lie in her bed and fantasize about whirling around the dance floor in the arms of her handsome prince with all the other girls looking enviously on.

  Saturday morning dawned clear and cool and Tina felt very refreshed and happy. Only when she went out to feed the birds did the nagging worry resurface. This was added to when she saw that Neville now had several black cockatoos in his aviary and that the coloured finches were gone. She bit her lip and wondered if she should report this to someone but then hurried inside lest he come out and see her. She did not want to remind him she existed.

  After an early lunch the whole family went to the fete. Tina wore a skirt and bright cotton top and took her dress on a hanger. On arrival at school she took the dress and her bag to the ‘cloak room’ being run as stall by 10D. Then she made her way downstairs and helped her parents to set up their ‘Lucky Frog’ stand. This was a small plastic wading pool full of water on which floated polystyrene frogs. To win people had to toss coins. If they landed on a frog they won a chocolate frog. If the coin went in the water then the school got the money. Raising money for the school was one of the main aims of the fete but Tina wasn’t interested. At the first opportunity she walked off with Fleur, the first girl in her class to wander past.

  For the next half hour the two girls wandered around looking at the fete. Various school groups had set up displays: Folk music, Drama club, Bushwalking club, Marine Studies, and so on. There were also displays of academic work: maps, essays, photo sets and the like.

  The photography display held Tina’s interest for a time.

  “Some of these are really good,” she commented, bending forward to read who the photographer was. “Stephen Bell,” she read.

  That caused Fleur to give a scandalized giggle. “Remember those photos he took earlier in the year?”

  Stephen had become notorious a few months earlier by taking several sets of photos of teachers and students. Some of the photos had been of people with no clothes on, taken without their knowledge of permission. He had also taken some of a girl named Elli, posed nude, which had been a sensation. Something had then happened and rumour had it that Stephen had been in trouble with the police over them. Whatever it was Stephen had been much quieter since then.

  While Tina and Fleur were studying the photos Stephen actually appeared. Tina was surprised to see he was holding the hand of Marjorie Morton. ‘I thought she liked Willy Williams,’ Tina thought. ‘Oh dear! I wonder what happened? Poor Willy!’

  A few minutes later Tina saw another pair that made her shake her head. It was Barbara Brassington with Nigel Cressly. He was strutting around with a very smug look on his face and Barbara was glowing with pleasure and snuggling up to him. Tina wasn’t impressed. For no apparent reason she did not like Nigel. ‘But at least Barbara has her boyfriend to hold hands with,’ she thought, wishing Andrew was there.

  Later Tina and Fleur reached the army cadet stall. There were a dozen cadets there including Graham and Peter. Graham gave her a big smile and teased her about being a navy cadet. “You should transfer to the army cadets,” he said.

  ‘He is a spunky hunk,’ Tina thought, as she teased him back. As they talked she glanced at th
e stand. It was a mock camp with camping gear spread around and tubby little Roger lying on a sleeping bag. On the walls were several coloured diagrams of badges and so on, plus photos of the cadets at some of their activities. She was interested enough to go and study these and Graham came and stood close beside her to explain them.

  His obvious interest in her made her feel a warm glow of satisfaction and she wasn’t even nettled when he kept glancing at her boobs. ‘They’ve at least got his attention,’ she thought. ‘And he is nice.’ But she wished it was Andrew she was with. That thought caused her a twinge of guilt at being unfaithful so she gently disengaged from the conversation and strolled on to look at the next stand, a display of floral arrangements and hand crafts.

  After walking around for another half hour Tina had seen everything so she went to the class stand. Even though she was rostered on there was no need for her as several mothers had also arrived and were busy bustling around running the stall. So Tina and Fleur sat outside in the quadrangle where rows of chairs had been set up. They watched the groups performing on the stage in the quadrangle. She found that interesting enough to amuse but all the time she kept looking around for Andrew.

  Instead it was Graham who came and sat beside her. “G’day,” he said. “You look a bit bored. Can I cheer you up?”

  Tina felt a surge of emotion: warm pleasure at being flirted with (She was sure he was flirting) and anxiety lest Andrew saw them; then guilt that she was enjoying the company of another male. She said, “I am waiting for Andrew.”

  In reply Graham laughed and said, “Never mind him. I am better looking.”

  Tina was surprised but pleased at the obvious attention. “Watch out the wind doesn’t get up and blow those tickets off you,” she replied, but she said it with a smile.