Cockatoo

by Christopher Cummings

  After that the exercise became a bit boring as nothing happened and apart from a few routine radio checks every half hour the time just dragged. It was only at about 1600 hours that the first report of army cadets came in. It was from Team 6 who reported that six army cadets had just walked past their position and were heading for Stewarts Head. Tina had to study the map to find the Grid Reference. She saw that Team 6 were on a high point on a long ridge that ran all the way from Stewarts Head to the hills overlooking Herberton.

  Soon after that there was a report from Team 7 which was on Saint Patricks Hill, which overlooked Herberton. They reported another six army cadets walking past them near the very top of the hill. They were also heading east.

  Team 3 reported next. “Five army cadets have just walked past along the road heading towards HQ,” they reported.

  That sent the excitement up and radio messages went out from the HQ to ensure that the guard team at the gate at the bottom of the hill had heard this report and were on the alert. A small patrol of four 2nd Year air cadets was sent off down the road to reinforce them. Another team, including Willy and Stick, went past along the road towards the Old Dam, which Tina’s map told her was about a kilometre away along a side road.

  It was from the Old Dam that the next report came in at 1710hrs. These were only air cadets and they reported that they had captured a team of five army cadets who had tried to cross the gorge there by walking across the dam wall. An air cadet patrol was instructed to bring them to HQ.

  These reports all got Tina thinking about Graham, wondering if he was in one of the groups who had been spotted. Once again she looked around and carefully studied the surrounding scrub.

  A message from Stewarts Head then told them that a group of five or six army cadets was moving in the valley between them and HQ. On hearing that both Tina and Sarah walked across through the grass to see if they could see anything. But they couldn’t. The ground curved away in such a fashion as to make it hard to see and in the floor of the valley the tree tops hid much of the ground.

  The two girls strolled back to join Blake. As they did Tina saw a group coming walking down the road. It included air cadets with blue shoulder slides and army cadets with light green ones. For a second Tina’s heart thumped harder as she thought she saw Graham among the prisoners. To check she hurried to the side of the road to get a better look.

  But Graham wasn’t one of the army cadets. She felt quite guilty when she realized she was being disloyal by hoping he wouldn’t get caught. She saw that Willy and Stick were among the grinning guards and then realized she even knew most of the army cadets. They went to her school. She recognized CUO Ian MacAistair and his pretty female sergeant from Year 11, Sheila Sherry.

  A group of officers including Capt Conkey came out to meet them. Capt Conkey was in a bad mood and Tina at first thought it was because his cadets had been caught. Then she realized it was over a safety issue.

  “Why were you crossing the top of the dam wall?” Capt Conkey growled at CUO MacAlistair.

  “Because the lake has jungle all around it sir and downstream of the dam the gorge is too steep to safely climb down into,” CUO MacAlistair replied.

  “But that wall is only half a metre wide and twenty metres high! It has water flowing over it. If you had slipped you would have been killed,” Capt Conkey cried.

  “Not if we fell into the water sir,” CUO MacAlistair replied.

  “No! Then you would only have been drowned!” Capt Conkey retorted.

  CUO MacAlistair looked embarrassed but shook his head. “We took our packs and webbing off and carried them in each hand sir,”

  “Well, that’s something,” Capt Conkley replied. “Anyway, full marks to the air cadets. Now hand over a green slide to them and get going to your night location.”

  Tina watched as the army cadets undid one of their two green shoulder slides and handed it to an air cadet. The army cadets then refilled their water bottles from the nearby jerry cans. They then pulled on their packs and webbing again and set off back up the road. The air cadets had to be restrained from following them.

  “But we won’t to see where they camp sir,” Stick said.

  “Be fair Cadet Morton. Give them ten minutes start,” said an air cadet officer.

  Tina watched the army cadets until they were out of sight before Blake called her and Sarah back. There was another report and he needed them to copy it down and mark it on the map. As she did this Tina wondered where the army cadets were going to spend the night. She also studied the dams for the first time. She had heard them mentioned during the safety briefing but now she saw there were two, an Old Dam, and half a kilometre upstream, a New Dam. Both had lakes marked above them.

  For a few seconds she wondered if the bird smugglers might use the lakes for their floatplane but then she shook her head. Both lakes were in among tall trees and surrounded by mountains- and low cloud. ‘I’m getting phobic,’ she told herself.

  She looked around to see if any army cadets were creeping up- and got a shock. Visibility had dropped to only a few metres. She saw that dense wafts of drifting mist were swirling past through the trees. The low cloud even obscured Stewarts Head for minutes at a time.

  Blake laughed and pointed at it. “It won’t do our Morse code exercise any good if the cloud hides it tonight,” he commented.

  A report came in that an army cadet group had been contacted down near the gate and that they had run away to the east. That put them somewhere down the ridge from where Tina and her team were and again she and Sarah walked twenty five metres across to try to spot them. But they saw no-one. As they made their way back to the radio Blake called to them excitedly.

  “Army cadets are attacking the signal station on Stewarts Head!”

  Tina and Sarah joined Blake and sat listening to the radio reports and looking towards the distant mountain top. The low cloud had gone and the rocky knoll was clear to see. It was only 2 kilometres away but without binoculars Tina could not see anyone. The reports said that six army cadets were being held off down on the ridge to the west of the signal station. Then more radio reports came in of army cadet groups attacking the signal stations on Saint Patricks Hill and Mt Ida and on the ridge west of Stewarts Head. For the next ten minutes there were confusing reports and several call signs cutting into each others messages.

  Then Team 5 on Stewarts Head came on the air to report that a second army cadet group had snuck up behind them and captured them. They were staying on the air for safety. The air cadet group who were guarding the signal station had been drawn off by the first attackers and did not want to surrender but Tina heard the officers negotiating. Sub Lt Sheldon was there and he arranged for all the cadets on Stewarts Head to move in to get a water resupply and for safety during the night. Tina knew they had a safety vehicle just near Stewarts Head and now learned that the army cadets had another one up on Saint Patricks Hill and that the three signal stations there were to claim they had beaten off their attackers.

  Blake looked excitedly around. “I hope we get attacked. I would like a bit of a battle,” he said.

  Sarah scoffed. “How can we have a battle? We haven’t got any guns.”

  “Nor have the army cadets but we can still pretend and go bang, bang!” Blake answered.

  Tina also looked around, hoping to see Graham. Instead she noted that the air cadets had put several groups of guards out around the camp. The low cloud and mist still drifted through in patches but mostly it was clear.

  Nothing further happened and Blake told them to have their tea while it was still light. “You first Tina, then Sarah. We need two here on duty at all times.”

  Tina took her food and cooking gear and made her way across to the clearing near the jerry cans as they were ordered not to cook in the long grass. As she settled herself and began preparing her food Andrew came out of the HQ tent and carried his gear over to join her. She nodded a greeting and felt both excited and embarrassed. ‘He shouldn’t aff
ect me like that,’ she told herself, but it did leave her wondering if she still loved him. ‘Or do I love Graham?’ she thought.

  Instinctively she knew the answer. Graham was fun and exciting but she wasn’t in love with him. That got her casting surreptitious glances at Andrew and regretting her earlier actions. But she could not bring herself to make any overt peace moves so she ate quickly without speaking and then packed up and hurried back to relieve Sarah.

  The sun was going by then and the evening shadows began to quickly spread. Sarah moved over to sit near Andrew and Cadet Midshipman George. Blake looked around as more drifting cloud billowed in. “I had better eat while it is still daylight,” he said. “Will you be alright on your own for a few minutes Tina?”

  Tina said yes and Blake hurried over to start cooking his food. More low cloud drifted in, the cold air making Tina shiver and think about a pullover. She settled lower and looked at the map and signals log and then around her. She saw that the air cadet guard groups were moving back in and settling to have their evening meal.

  Then she looked around again. ‘I wonder where Graham is at the moment?’ she thought.

  And there he was!

  Grinning at her from behind a tree, his face a camouflaged mask.

  CHAPTER 33

  MORSE AND MISCHIEF

  Tina’s mouth fell open in surprise. Graham! And only ten paces away! A surge of excitement swept through Tina and she went to speak. As she did Graham shook his head and placed a finger to his lips. He then glanced sideways toward where the other navy and air cadets were sitting having their meal.

  Tina’s eyes followed his gaze and when she saw Andrew sitting there happily eating she felt a stab of guilt. ‘I should warn them,’ she thought. But she didn’t and that made her feel even more guilty. As a compromise she whispered, “Don’t you dare say you have blown us up or something or I will call out.”

  “What if I kiss you?” Graham whispered back. That made Tina squirm with delighted anticipation and at the same time blush.

  She shook her head and cast another guilty glance across the road. “Not now! We might be seen,” she hissed.

  “Later then. The exercise goes until twenty one hundred,” Graham replied, his eyes twinkling and his face alight with a mischievous grin.

  That idea excited Tina but she again shook her head. “You won’t get a chance. There are usually two of us on duty here.”

  “I know,” Graham replied. “But I’ll bet you two kisses that I do.”

  His answer gave Tina an uncomfortable hint that he had been watching her from under cover for some time but she accepted the dare. “If you can sneak in without the others knowing I will give you a kiss,” she agreed.

  At that moment a rustle in the grass nearby made her glance and she saw another camouflaged figure raise its head behind a tree. She had known in her mind that Graham would be part of a patrol but she had not thought the others were so close. ‘Oh dear! I hope he didn’t hear,’ she thought, now recognizing the black and green camouflaged face as belonging to a Year 11 boy from her school.

  That person softly clicked his fingers to attract Graham’s attention and then made a signal to withdraw. Then he also gave Tina a grin before lowering himself back into the long grass. Tina saw the tops of the grass moving as he crawled away. Graham smiled and hissed, “See you later.” Then he was also gone, slipping away on his belly in the grass.

  Tina shook her head at that. ‘I wouldn’t like to crawl around in the long grass,’ she told herself, anxious worries about snakes and spiders flitting through her mind. But it only confirmed in her mind how brave Graham was and how determined he might be. It made her glad she was a navy cadet. ‘I wouldn’t like having to get dirty like that,’ she thought.

  The encounter made her feel very guilty. ‘I should have cried out and yelled bang!’ she told herself. She resolved to do so next time, even if it meant going without a kiss. ‘I shouldn’t be disloyal to the Navy Cadets,’ she told herself.

  Her guilt returned when Blake and Sarah came back. ‘I have let the side down,’ she thought. ‘Now the enemy know how our camp is guarded.’

  The others seated themselves beside her and they started talking. As they did Tina began to worry that one of them might walk around and notice the crushed grass where Graham and the other army cadet had crept forward. But they didn’t and it was something else that caught Sarah’s attention.

  “You seem happy,” she commented.

  “Er.. I am,” Tina replied. She groped for a suitable answer and could only lamely add that she was enjoying the exercise. To escape from the conversation she said she needed to go to the toilet. There was a portable toilet parked over at the vehicles so she stood up and made her way over to it.

  As she came out of the toilet the group of air cadets which included Willy and Stick came back from their search for the army cadet’s night location. Andrew called to them as they arrived, “Did you find them?”

  An air cadet sergeant shook his head. “No,” he replied. “But we found where they left the road. They are hiding in the bush somewhere around near the Old Dam.”

  At that moment an army vehicle arrived from down the road. Tina saw that Lt Hamilton was driving it. He called to Capt Conkey, “I’ll just take them some water and come back.”

  The army Land Rover was driven on up the road and Willy said, “If we follow that we will find their camp and we might even catch them while they are refilling their waterbottles.”

  Images of Graham being caught came to Tina and she wanted to say no but Lt Cdr Hazard saved her. He said, “Fair go! We need to keep the water up to everyone for safety. Give them half an hour and then you can go looking.”

  “Oh sir! But it will be dark by then!” Willy answered.

  “You can use a torch,” another officer added.

  The grumbling air cadets moved to start cooking their tea and Tina made her way back to the signal station. By then twilight was almost over and she wished she had her torch. She dug this out of her pack and then rejoined the others.

  Wondering if Graham could still see her she settled and looked around. As it got darker she found herself listening and staring into the dark bush. The exercise orders allowed the army cadets to creep in during the night and she knew from overheard conversations that the army cadets practiced this on their weekend bivouacs. But the thought of walking or crawling through the scrub in the dark made her shudder with fear.

  Air cadets went off in groups to set up guard posts at road junctions and to patrol the roads. Sentries were posted around the camp and Cadet Midshipman George came and cautioned them to be on their guard. That made Tina blush with shame and she was glad it was dark.

  At 1900hrs another signals exercise began. They were joined by all the navy cadets and both Lt Cdr Hazard and Sub Lt Mullion. That caused Tina very mixed emotions. ‘Graham won’t be able to sneak up on me now,’ she thought, then felt ashamed at being both disappointed and relieved. What really niggled was the suspicion that the relief was only because it meant she would not have to be disloyal to her own team again.

  The signals exercise was the sending of messages by Morse code using flashing lights. To do this the big torch was turned on but with a piece of thick cardboard held over the front. One cadet would then raise and lower it to make the longs and shorts for the dots and dashes.

  “You don’t try to turn the torch on and off,” Lt Cdr Hazard reminded them. “All that does is blow the bulb or break the switch mechanism.”

  The messages were to be sent to the signal station on Stewarts Head who would relay it on to Saint Patricks Hill and then to Herberton. Blake pointed at Stewarts Head and said, “But sir, weren’t they captured by the army cadets this afternoon?”

  Lt Cdr Hazard nodded. “They were, but the signals exercise is still going ahead,” he replied. “There are about twenty army, navy and air cadets grouped up there for safety tonight,” he added.

  ‘But not Graham,’ Tina thought.
‘He is somewhere near here.’

  At that moment they were engulfed in swirling mist and Andrew chuckled and added, “We won’t see much if this cloud keeps up!”

  Having Andrew near her made Tina feel uncomfortable and doubly guilty but perversely she was glad he was there. She peered into the fog, looking for lights on the distant knoll and around for any sign of Graham.

  Then the mist cleared and they began flashing the torch. An answering flicker of light told them that the people on Stewarts Head were ready to receive their message. The exercise began, interrupted from time to time by more drifting low cloud. First Lt Cdr Hazard gave each message a number and then he had two cadets convert it from letters into Morse dots and dashes and then one of them read it to the torch operator who made the ‘shorts’ and ‘longs’ by lifting the cardboard over the front of the torch.

  It all went much slower than Tina had expected and she began to appreciate just how skilled the navy signallers on ships were. She had been on navy ships and watched the rapidly flashed signal lamps sending messages from one ship to the other, the signallers spelling the letters as fast as they were sent and doing it with almost no apparent effort.

  When it was their turn to receive a message it was even worse. They were all told to write it down on their notebooks and then to turn the dots and dashes into letters. Almost none of them knew the Morse code well enough to just watch and write the correct letter but to Tina’s satisfaction both Andrew and Cadet Midshipman George had this skill. She didn’t and she kept making little mistakes.

  The messages were all short and apparently easy, such as: ‘Weigh anchor’, ‘Set sail’, ’20 knots’ or ‘Enemy battleships’ but it took them about fifteen minutes just to get one of them right. This was made harder by more cloud drifting across Stewarts Head or by an occasional drifting of fine drizzle.