Cockatoo

by Christopher Cummings

  Small British red ensigns of the 18th Century design were issued to each sailboat and this was hauled up on a halyard rigged for the purpose. The navy cadets then rigged the single mast and sail and launched their boats. Only when they were afloat did they raise their ensigns. Andrew thought this should have been done with more ceremony but it was raining heavily by then and blustery gusts were whipping the lake into small whitecaps.

  As soon as the safety boat was afloat and the radios had been tested the flotilla set off. The wind was blowing from the south west so the boats had a good run. All the way down the lake the conditions were challenging but none of the boats capsized. Tina enjoyed it immensely despite the showers of rain and cold spray and the wind that cut in around her collar. She was also cheered by seeing how much Andrew was enjoying it. He laughed frequently and his eyes seemed to sparkle.

  Two kilometres and twenty minutes sailing had them at the point where they changed course to NNE. In that area the Barron River emptied into the lake and the change in water colour was very obvious. The boats then ran with a stern wind for another two kilometres to where another long, indented arm of the lake came in from the North East. Ahead of the boast was the rain shrouded mass of jungle covered hills around Python Hill and Tina looked at it and wondered how the army cadets were getting on.

  ‘They are hiking down the Python Road through the jungle,’ she thought. ‘It must be miserable in this rain. It will be all mud and slush.’ She was very glad she wasn’t with them, even though the story was that they were dragging the cannon along that road to Python Point.

  The rain eased as they changed course again to run north up through the narrowest section of the lake. On the starboard side were the jungle covered hills and peninsulas and to port open farm land and the dominating height of Tobacco Hill. According to the original story line the French had a fort with cannons on Tobacco Hill and they controlled the narrows but for safety reasons that reality had been glossed over. So the flotilla sailed past the bare grassy hill in watery sunlight and Tina appreciated just how such a place must have dominated in the old days.

  She pointed this out to Andrew and he nodded. “A couple of cannon dug in up there would certainly control all this part of the lake,” he agreed.

  Blake looked around and then said, “What about at night. It should be easy enough then.”

  Andrew shook his head. “If they were efficient they would have guard boats down here and some form of illumination ready to light.” Suddenly he sat up and pointed off to port. “Sail ho! Enemy in sight on the port beam!” he cried.

  Tina looked and felt a pulse of pleasurable excitement. Coming out of the bay behind Tobacco Hill were four sailboats flying white flags with gold fleur de lis on them. “The French fleet,” she commented.

  Blake looked and frowned. “They aren’t flying French flags. That is red, white and blue isn’t it?”

  Sarah answered that. “Blue, white and red, but no, that was only the French flag after the French Revolution. The flag before that was that one.”

  Cadet Midshipman George began shouting orders and the four sailboats swung around into line abreast and sailed directly towards their opponents. For the next half hour it was all rapid sail handling and dexterous sailing. Spray and rain soaked the cadets and Tina found herself laughing with enjoyment and excitement. Twice they came within a whisker of capsizing and only frantic shifts of balance and easing of sheets (Her job) saved them.

  Three times the little flotillas manoeuvred into line astern, the two ‘battle lines’ sailing parallel and only metres apart. Tina knew that the officers in the two motor launches were marking them on how well they kept the distance between boats and how well they steered in line so she concentrated on doing her very best.

  The boys kept yelling out ‘Bang!’ and ‘Boom!’ to pretend they were firing cannons. This elicited similar shouts from the enemy who also jeered and made derogatory comments about their seamanship. Then the enemy flagship suddenly veered out of line and cut across between the lead boat and Tina’s. A glance showed Tina that the cause was an attempt to avoid capsizing and a momentary loss of control by the enemy.

  “Lookout!” Blake shouted.

  “Hard a starboard! Jibe!” shouted Andrew. He put the helm over and the boat’s bow swung round. Just in time Tina pulled in the sheet to hold the boom steady until it had swung through the eye of the wind. Then she gripped it with her free hand and passed it over her head, calling a warning to the others as she did. Then she eased the sheet out.

  They narrowly avoided both a collision and capsizing but then found themselves right alongside the enemy flagship. The enemy were all in a fluster and still trying to get under control and before they knew it the hulls of the two boats bumped and then ground together. Tina had an impression of anxious and scared looking faces turning in their direction.

  Suddenly Andrew called, “Sarah, take the helm. Tina, hold this course. Quick!”

  Sarah scrambled aft past Tina and took the tiller from him. As she did Andrew stood up and only then, as he shouted to Blake to join him, did Tina understand what he intended. She opened her mouth to say don’t but was too late. Andrew sprang across the gap between the two boats and pushed hard at the enemy captain. Blake followed, also crashing into one of the crew.

  The enemy captain went tumbling over the side, still pulling on the tiller as he did. The enemy flagship swung into a vicious turn that nearly capsized it. The bow jerked round and for a moment Tina thought it would ram into her boat and crush her. But it missed, merely bumping into the stern and then sheering off. It ended up facing into the wind, its sail flapping wildly as the cadet holding the sheet tried to stay aboard.

  Tina saw that the enemy flagship was now cut off from its fellows by the British battle line. She yelled to Sarah to come about and in two smart manoeuvres they wore round and came head to wind close alongside the enemy captain. He was bobbing in the water shouting angrily and at first did not want their help and tried to swim away. By then the safety boat was heading towards them so Tina let him go and got Sarah to ease them up alongside the enemy flagship.

  By the time they reached it Andrew had untied their halyard and he quickly pulled down their flag. “Captured her!” he shouted.

  It led to quite an argument of course and the other side claimed they couldn’t do that. Andrew’s retort was that it was how they did it in the old days and anyway, they were only responding to the ramming attempt. This was disputed as a simple mishap which Blake loudly labelled poor seamanship. This earned him scowls and a rebuke but the point was gained. The sailboat was counted as captured.

  To Tina’s surprise it was only 10:30 and she wondered what they would do for the remainder of the day. Both teams, plus the safety boats, then sailed across the lake into the lee of Tobacco Hill. Here, in a sheltered little bay, they beached the sailboats and made their way to a houseboat tied to a jetty. The houseboat had been hired by the adult staff as the HQ Afloat and the cadets were given morning tea on board. They were then briefed for a navigation exercise which was orienteering afloat.

  Tina was glad of the chance to get out of the wind and rain, particularly while they got out their maps and calculated what to do. It was a typical orienteering exercise with more check points than they could possibly reach in the allotted time. Each check point was allocated a number of points and those with the most marks were upwind.

  After some argument about which check points to try for the magnetic bearings were worked out for the desired course. At 12:00 the signal to start was given and the teams raced out to their sailboats and set off. For the next three hours they zigzagged across the lake, mostly in drizzling rain. At least the wind had died down so the waves were much smaller. Even so it was all wet and fun. The check points turned out to be notes in plastic bags that were taped to poles driven into the bank of the lake. Each note had a letter and a secret message to prove that the boat had actually been to it. These were noted and then they immediate
ly set out on the next leg.

  By 1515 all eight boats were back at the start. Tina’s team did not win. They came third but she did not mind. It had all been a lot of fun. They were then told to unrig the sailboats and load them on trailers. That took half an hour and then they unloaded their canoes and gear and launched the canoes. The rafts were lashed together and the gyn erected to reload the cannon and its parts aboard. Lt Ryan told them to pretend they were actually doing this on the other side of the lake. By the time they stepped aboard the wind had died almost completely and the rain had eased to a misty drizzle.

  The rafts, canoes, motor boats and houseboat then set off due north down the lake. It was easy going with the gentle wind behind them and Tina told herself she was still enjoying it, despite goose bumps, wrinkled skin, chafing and blisters on her hands. To add to her pleasure she even knew where they were going- to Secret Island at Python Point. It was visible to her all the way.

  The flotilla arrived at 1630hrs, the motor boats beaching on the bitumen road where it vanished into the lake and the canoes along the inland shore of the small island. The HQ boat moored itself just off the north shore of the island in its lee. Tina felt very proud to show off ‘her’ island but was surprised at how much the water level had risen. ‘At least half a metre,’ she calculated. Where the road dipped down into the water and it had been only ankle deep and 25 metres wide it was now waist deep and 50 metres of water. The whole island appeared to have shrunk and instead of 150 metres from end to end was less than a hundred.

  The cannon was unloaded and the rafts prepared for ferrying the troops. When the army cadets arrived, tired and muddy from their 14km march at 1715hrs they were ferried across to the island on the rafts and canoes. This provided the navy cadets with another opportunity to show off their special skills as ropes were secured from trees on the mainland to trees on the island and single blocks with pulling ropes looped onto these. The navy cadets were then able to haul the rafts back and forth with the minimum of fuss.

  Tina had the pleasure of helping Graham aboard her raft. He was soaked and splattered with mud but was still smiling. “Did you have a good day?” Tina asked.

  “Great! We have had some really good battles in the jungle,” Graham answered.

  At the mention of the jungle Tina shuddered. “You can have all the jungle to yourself,” she said.

  The raft was pulled across by Andrew and Blake and Tina saw Andrew give Graham a wary greeting. She was tempted to make a comment to set Andrew’s mind at rest but was interrupted by shouts and yelling back along the road. It was the rearguard battling some French and Indians and the navy cadets had to quickly move the canoes and rafts back across to pick them up. During this part of the exercise Tina saw several of the ‘enemy’ flitting from tree to tree and pretending to fire so she pretended to shoot back.

  “Bang! Bang!” she shouted.

  “Boom!” added Andrew. “Cannon,” he explained.

  Then Blake went: “Tat-atat-atat-atat-a-tat!”

  At that Major Wickham laughed and yelled at him, “No machine guns! They hadn’t been invented then.”

  The good natured little battle ended with the whole British force on the island, the canoes and rafts hauled up on the bitumen roadway. For a time they ‘stood to’ but then Major Wickham detailed a section for outposts guard duty and they were ferried back across to the mainland. They deployed a hundred metres forward and the others were all told to eat while it was light.

  The navy cadets were grouped near the western end of the island and Tina and her team found cleared places among the small trees where they could sit on their packs and cook their food. She was in a good mood, made better by Andrew sitting beside her. Several times she was tempted to hint to Andrew that she wouldn’t mind a bit of loving but then guilt at even thinking of breaking the cadet fraternization rules held her tongue.

  Tents and shelters were erected and the cadets prepared for the night. The navy cadets were rostered to keep guard on the boats and the ‘seaward’ sides of the lake, leaving the army cadets to guard the landward approach. Dusk set in. As the last of the sun set below the band of dark clouds off to the west the wind had died completely and the rain had stopped.

  Just on last light the ‘enemy’ attacked again. The outpost was driven back and rescued by ferry. Then a group of ‘painted’ Indians, boys wearing only shorts, boots, feathers and paint, made an ‘attack’, splashing through the shallows. They were all ‘shot’ or retreated. They obviously had a good time getting wet and falling over but Tina was glad it wasn’t her. ‘Not in water that cold,’ she thought.

  As soon as the enemy retreated another section was ferried across to set up the outpost again. Then girls who wanted to use the portable toilet were also ferried across. Two navy cadets were rostered to operate the ferry. They were kept busy by people going to the toilet or by patrols being ferried across as the army cadets kept up the action far into the night. The other navy and army cadets were sent to bed. This gave Tina a chance to change into dry clothes and to take her wet boots off.

  The action settled down by midnight, which was when Tina was rostered to start duty. She found it cold, dark and very still when she went to the raft. Pulling on a pullover she sat next to the male navy cadet from Mackay who was the other ‘ferryman’.

  For the next hour she sat there listening. From time to time one or the other made a comment or they heard the army cadet sentries nearby being changed but otherwise the only sound was the soft sighing of the light breeze in the leaves and the lap of tiny waves.

  At 0100 Andrew was woken and came on duty so that Tina found herself alone in the dark with him. ‘This should be my chance,’ she told herself. ‘It should be romantic.’ But she would not put him in a position that might compromise his sense of duty or his conscience. ‘It would not be fair to tempt him.’

  So they sat quietly side by side. Ten minutes ticked by, Tina’s attention divided between the nearness of Andrew and doing her duty as a guard. Then he surprised her by nudging her and whispering. “Tina. er.. ..er.. You were great today. I.. I have really come to admire you over the last few days. You are tough, and brave and strong, and you are really intelligent.”

  ‘Say I am beautiful,’ Tina thought hopefully.

  But Andrew said, “And you are really good looking and desirable.”

  “Thank you,” she managed to croak, her heart hammering with hope.

  There was a pause and Tina thought he had finished but then he said, “I would like to ask you out again, if you want that.”

  “I do,” Tina replied, leaning against him and giving his forearm a squeeze.

  She half expected him to put his arm around her and to do things like kissing and she wasn’t sure if she would break the rules or not. To her relief he muttered, “Good. Thanks for that. But sorry, no frat at cadets.”

  That increased her respect for him even more and she again squeezed his arm and whispered, “After camp.” She nearly added that he could enjoy as much as he liked but was then shocked at her own thoughts and stopped talking. She took her hand away and sat in happy silence.

  And it was into that silence that she thought she heard a sinister sound that sent a shiver of goose bumps up her spine. ‘Was that an aero engine?’ she wondered. She cocked her head and looked in all directions but could not be sure.

  “What’s the matter?” Andrew whispered, sensing her tenseness and movement.

  “I thought I heard a plane coming in to land,” Tina replied.

  “A plane! Fair go. I didn’t hear anything,” Andrew replied.

  But now Tina was certain. “But I did. It came down over there.” She pointed to her left front.

  “But why would a plane land here at night?” Andrew queried.

  A shiver of apprehension went through Tina. Into her mind flashed the image of the grey painted floatplane. She whispered back, “The bird smuggler’s floatplane.”

  Andrew was silent and also listened. “I can’
t hear anything,” he said.

  Tina stood up and stared into the night. “I am going to have a look,” she said.

  CHAPTER 43

  WRONG TURN

  Andrew stood up beside her. “You can’t. We are on duty,” he reminded her.

  “I know. I will go as soon as I have been relieved,” Tina replied.

  “You will not! You are not going on your own,” Andrew said fiercely.

  But Tina got stubborn, “I will, but I will be very careful. Anyway, you are just here and I can yell if I need help.”

  Andrew argued some more but Tina was adamant. At last he relented and agreed. “If you aren’t back in fifteen minutes I will tell the officers.”

  “Twenty, and don’t wake them until we have some definite information,” Tina agreed.

  So they sat and waited until 0150 came around. Tina went off to wake Stella and then returned with her to the sentry post. When they got back there Tina asked Andrew to ferry her across. Stella wanted to know where they were going. Tina blushed, thinking that Stella suspected them of sneaking off for a pash but she said, “Andrew is just taking me across so I can go to the toilet.”

  It was the work of a minute or so to climb onto the ferry and haul it across the water gap. On the other side Tina stepped off and waded ashore. Andrew wished her luck and then sat there waiting. Tina first told the army cadet sentries she was going to the toilet and not to shoot her when she came back. Then she set off along the bitumen road into the night.

  She did go to the toilet too. Fear made it an urgent necessity as soon as she was on her own. Memories of being chased by Danny and Neville got her feeling really anxious and she had to talk herself into continuing on past the portable toilet.