The night was dark and still and there were even hints of mist as Tina walked slowly forward along the old bitumen road. She was very glad that she had been there before as her objective was clear in her mind. ‘That place where the bitumen road goes back into the water would be an ideal place for the smugglers. They could easily drive to there with a boat and the floatplane could land in one of those sheltered bays where nobody lives,’ she reasoned.
There was some concern that she might encounter cadets from the Control Group but that was a minor worry compared to her very real fear of meeting the smugglers. It took her an effort of willpower to keep walking. In a few minutes she was at the place where the dirt vehicle track that led up to the Danbulla Road joined the bitumen. After stopping there to listen for a minute she continued on around the curving bitumen road.
Another three minutes of silent but steady walking had her at a point where she could again see the lake- or would have been able to if there hadn’t been thick fog. Tina stopped and gaped in surprise at the dense woolly mass that had rolled in across the water. It was cold and felt clammy and visibility dropped to a fifty paces within seconds.
‘But the fog will hide me too,’ she reasoned. Knowing that her twenty minutes were rapidly running down she continued on, eyes and ears alert for any hint of danger. But there was no vehicle and no men. She reached the place where the road went down into the water and stopped. Straining her eyes to try to penetrate the fog and darkness she looked for the floatplane.
There was no sign of it. Several times gaps opened in the drifting mist and she was able to take in the whole of the starlit bay and still she could see nothing that resembled an aircraft. ‘But I am sure I heard it,’ she thought. Biting her lip with anxiety and frustration she stayed a couple more minutes to be sure.
Then a sound off to her left attracted Tina’s attention and she moved right down to ankle deep in the water to see better in that direction. A light came into view and her heart at once leapt and began hammering. Then she realized she was looking at the anchored HQ houseboat.
‘I must have been wrong,’ she told herself, reasoning that no floatplane would land if it saw the riding lights of the houseboat. ‘Maybe it landed in the next bay over?’ she wondered. That got her trying to remember if there was another similar bay or just the big one with Fongon Campground on its north shore.
But she could not remember well enough. What she could remember was paddling across in the canoe and then images from her nightmare coming to her: of the dark shapes under the water and of the grasping hand reaching up out of the lake. That got her trembling with self induced fright and she hastily backed out of the water and away from the lake, her eyes scanning frantically for signs of the horrible things.
Thoroughly scared now, and also very ashamed of being so, Tina turned and walked quickly back along the old bitumen road. As she walked she kept glancing back at the fog and dark water. Even as she did this she berated herself for being silly. But part of her mind still conjured up fears of things in the water. It took her an effort not to break into a run.
Then she did break into a run but only because she heard Andrew’s voice from the darkness ahead. He had no sooner spoken than other voices started calling out: “Bang! Bang! Gotcha!”
Tina had opened her mouth to call back but now shut it and ran. ‘Andrew has run into the enemy,’ she thought. Now she had new worries: that Andrew might be captured; and that they might be in trouble for leaving the bivouac area.
There was more shouting ahead and Tina clearly heard Andrew yelling ‘Bang! Bang!’ in reply. Then she was rounding the bend and saw several dark shapes ahead of her. They were between her and Andrew and she decided that the best tactic was to run past them in the darkness before they realized who she was. To add to the confusion she also shouted loudly, “Bang! Bang!” as she came up behind the figures.
The enemy were surprised by this attack from behind them and they ran back up the dirt vehicle track, almost tripping over themselves in their haste. Tina took the opportunity and dashed past, still pretending to shoot. A few seconds later she was with Andrew.
“Are you alright Ti?” he asked.
“Fine. Let’s get out of here before they realize there are only two of us,” she said.
So they retreated back along the road at a quick walk. The enemy made a half-hearted attempt to follow up but when the army cadet sentries joined in the firing they withdrew. Tina and Andrew identified themselves and then boarded the ferry and crossed back to the island.
As they waded ashore Andrew asked, “Well, did you see anything?”
Tina shook her head. “No. Just fog and the HQ houseboat.”
“So there wasn’t a plane.”
“No. But I thought I heard one,” Tina replied.
“Just the wind in the trees or something. You are starting to get obsessive about those people Tina. Now, let’s get to bed, I’m cold,” Andrew answered.
Tina did not reply but went with him back to their bivouac. ‘I am sure I heard something,’ she told herself. But she did not discuss it. Instead she went reluctantly to her own shelter (She really wanted to join Andrew in his), took off her wet socks and boots and slid into her sleeping bag.
But then she could not sleep, wondering if she really was becoming obsessed with the smugglers and if she had only imagined hearing an aircraft.
She was shaken awake by Carmen while it was still dark. “Get dressed, get packed and get up quietly,” Carmen whispered.
“Why? What’s happening?” Tina queried.
“The army cadets are doing their ‘stand-to’,” Carmen answered. She then explained how the army cadets, when doing a tactical field exercise, always got up in the dark and packed everything so they were ready to ‘march or fight’ before dawn.
Stella really grumbled. “More fool them! I’m glad I’m not an army cadet.”
It was not well done. Many of the navy cadets began using torches and this drew hisses and rebukes from the army cadets and from the adults and senior ranks. With some difficulty Tina pulled on her socks and boots and then rolled up her bedding in the dark.
She was just finishing this when an eruption of shouting back along the road announced an enemy attack. The only navy cadets involved were a gun crew for the cannon and as Tina was not among their number she could only listen and watch. As a result she only got fleeting glimpses of figures flitting from tree to tree and then splashing into the water towards the island. The gun crew did a lot of shouting and all yelled ‘Boom!’ in unison to indicate they were firing. That amused Tina and she wished she was with them.
The cannon helped split the attack but two groups of enemy made it across to the island. Major Wickham had a section of army cadets sitting on their packs nearby as his company reserve and he called them to reinforce the platoon defending the ferry area.
The attack was beaten off and the enemy withdrew except for one who remained as a prisoner. The battle was then ended and everyone on the island was called in for a roll call and briefing. They were seated on their packs in section lines and once Major Wickham was satisfied that nobody was hurt or missing her had the Intelligence Section question the prisoner. He informed the cadets that the French were calling in more tribes of Indians and some couriers du bois, plus regular French troops to contest their advance.
“The French have started building a new timber fort at the north east end of the lake,” the prisoner replied. But no, he could not show them where it was on a map as he had not paid attention in school. What he was sure of was that it blocked the roads which went around the north shore of the lake.
Major Wickham then took over. “We must destroy this new fort before it can be completed or it could delay our advance badly. Then the enemy could concentrate a superior force against us and wipe us out.” He showed on a map how other British forces (notional only) were advancing on other routes into the area.
Then he indicated the local area on the map. “First we wi
ll move as a company to the Danbulla Road. Then we are going to advance on two axes. 4 Platoon will advance north along the Danbulla Road while 5 Platoon advances along the old Boar Pocket Road and connecting timber tracks to come in on the enemy’s flank. The cannon is to move by water to RV with us at this creek just north of School Point Campground.”
That was the bit that interested Tina and she studied the map with interest. Then she recognized the place.. It was just near the small island she had mentally nicknamed ‘Swallows and Amazons’. “Oh, I know that area. We went canoeing there during the holidays,” she commented to Andrew.
Breakfast followed and then an Orders Group. By then the first army cadet recon patrols were moving. Graham was in one of these and he gave Tina a cheerful grin and wave as he went. Then the shelters were pulled down and packed, despite showers of gentle drizzle that were starting. The main body of the army cadets was then ferried across to the mainland. Once they had moved off the navy cadets set to work to rig the sheer legs and then to load the cannon and its parts back on the rafts and into the canoes.
Navigation was then worked out and communications checked. The wind was only a stiff breeze but it was enough to push up a lively chop which made the canoes difficult to handle. The rafts were in no danger of capsizing but the small waves threw up a lot of spray so Tina and her friends were soon very wet. Having a raincoat and Souwester helped keep her warm but not dry.
It was 09:30 when they set off and nearly 10:00 when they rounded the next point and headed for Fongon Peninsula. As they did Tina studied the town of Tinaroo which was only 2 kilometres to the west. It looked closer across the choppy water.
As part of the exercise the navy cadets landed on the south shore of Fongon Peninsula about 500 metres east of the tip and recon patrols were sent ashore to check whether the French had built a fort or had any cannons on the tip. “If they have we couldn’t sail past,” Lt Ryan explained.
‘This is where Willy’s airship drifted overhead,’ Tina thought. She was then sent in one of the recon patrols along with Carmen, Stella and a girl from Mackay. Her patrol had to scout the north shore so they pushed their way through a pine plantation along an overgrown fire trail. That was quite unpleasant as the grass was long and wet and there were lots of waist high ferns. The result was soaked trousers and boots.
There was a small group of enemy but Tina only got a fleeting glimpse of them as they pulled back from the tip when Cadet Midshipman George’s patrol attacked them. The patrols were then recalled to the boats. The enemy withdrew inland along the road through the camp ground and were picked up by a vehicle.
The whole activity took nearly two hours so they stopped for lunch as soon as they had moved the boats to the lee of the peninsula. The HQ houseboat joined them and they were able to get hot cocoa or Milo.
During the lunch break orders for more patrols were issued and four canoes moved out ahead. They were to check the headlands on both sides of the eastern arm of the lake, plus the campground at School Point and a headland near the Kauri Creek Campground which was visible only a kilometre away on the north shore of the lake. Tina and her team stayed on their raft to move the cannon.
The rafts and HQ houseboat waited for half an hour and then followed the canoes. In the lee of the peninsula the waves were minimal and as the afternoon went on the wind died down, even as the rain increased. By the time they passed the narrows into the eastern arm of the lake the waves had died away to almost nothing and the rain had stopped. It was still overcast and quite cold but the hard work of paddling the raft kept Tina warm.
They were rejoined by the canoes which then hurried on ahead again. This time they were to check the small island (Swallows and Amazons Island as Tina had nicknamed it) and their landing site at the end of a headland near it. Tina enjoyed paddling up that stretch of the lake as she had good memories of it from the holidays and she thought it was very pretty.
The HQ houseboat moored itself to a tree on Swallows Island and the rafts came alongside and they waited until all the canoes had reached the shore. That was on the point at the north east corner of the lake where a road ran up from the lake into an extensive pine forest. As the canoes neared the shore they were fired on by a small group of enemy. The canoes spread out and fired back and then pushed in to beach themselves. As soon as the canoe crews were ashore and skirmishing the HQ houseboat and rafts set off to join them.
Half an hour later Tina was also ashore but by then the enemy had withdrawn back up into the forest. The navy cadets set to work erecting the sheer legs to unload the cannon. While they were doing this a sentry post of three was placed 100 metres up the vehicle track at a track junction in the pine forest. Half an hour into the task one of the sentries came walking back with Lt Hamilton of the army cadets.
“We need four girls to play a female role for the Control Group for a couple of hours,” he explained.
Tina did not really want to be a girl. She wanted to be part of the gun crew. But she was detailed for the task along with Carmen, Stella and Dimity. They left their gear in the canoes and followed Lt Hamilton back up the track. It was easy walking and from the track junction onwards the road was almost straight and clear of grass. As they walked Tina noted two more track junctions where other roads went off through the pine trees. ‘Fire breaks?’ she wondered.
At the second one of these they found a group of four enemy waiting under cover to contest the advance of the cannon. Lt Hamilton spoke to them and they grinned and promised to make a good battle of it. The girls were led on past them along the vehicle track.
They came to a large clearing. In the middle were several stacks of logs placed there by timber cutters. Lt Hamilton said they were the new French fort under construction. Several members of the Control Group were there wearing black tricorne hats with fluffy white trimmings. They were supposed to be French regular troops and a French flag flew from a pole inside the ‘stockade’. Inside the fort were parked four vehicles and a portable toilet and there was a ‘west wall’ just inside the tree line. It was made of hutchies draped over ropes tied at chest height from tree to tree and from a distance looked quite realistic.
“This is good,” Tina commented to Carmen.
Carmen nodded and said, “I am really enjoying this exercise story. It gives us navy cadets lots to do.”
Lt Hamilton led them on past the fort to a road junction fifty metres further along. As they crossed a good gravel road at a bend Tina recognized it as the Danbulla Road. To her surprise they plunged into the jungle on the other side of the road. For a few moments Tina worried that she might be in for another jungle experience and was not happy. But then she saw that they were now following an old, partly overgrown road. “An old timber track,” Lt Hamilton explained.
A hundred metres along this, in a grassy clearing surrounded by jungle, the group came to an ‘Indian village’ consisting of three tepees made of sticks and hutchies and some more of the Control Group. There were seven ‘Indians’. All were boys and four of them had no shirts on. Two wore only breech clouts- cloths hanging down from front and back. All wore war paint and had feathers attached to their headbands and to sticks they were carrying.
Stella giggled, then turned and whispered behind her hand, “I hope we don’t have to dress like those boys!”
Tina imagined herself wearing only two tiny pieces of cloth and a few feathers and went hot with embarrassment. But then she began to fantasize. ‘That would get Andrew’s attention,’ she mused.
But that was not the costume they were required to wear. Lt Hamilton held up a long, old fashioned dress. “You girls are to wear these clothes. You are to play act that you are white women who have been captured by the Indians so the British can rescue you.”
“Where do we change?” Stella asked, looking first at the flimsy ‘tepees’ and then at the surrounding rainforest.
“Just pull the dresses on over your uniforms or go back along the track a bit if the shelters aren’t good enough
,” Lt Hamilton replied. He then handed them each an old fashioned bonnet with ribbons.
The girls pulled on their costumes and as Tina placed the bonnet on her head she had to smile. Watching Dimity tie the ribbon under her chin looked so charming she had to compliment her. “You look really pretty Dimmy,” she said.
Dimity blushed but was obviously very pleased. Not so Stella who scowled and said, “Have you become a lemon then?”
“No, why?” Tina replied, hurt by the catty comment but also aware she had probably hurt Stella’s feelings by not complimenting her.
It was Carmen who kept the peace and the girls were then positioned at trees on the side of the clearing. The ‘Indians’ pretended to tie them to the trees and then began a war dance around a pretend fire. One of them began to beat a drum and the others did a lot of whooping and shrill yelping. From time to time they came over and made threatening gestures with plywood tomahawks and knives. Tina did not enjoy that and wondered how she would cope if she was ever tied up by men who really meant to harm her.
As she thought about this images of Danny, Neville and Marco formed in her mind. Fear made her look into the jungle in case they were there. But instead of seeing bird smugglers she saw army cadets. They had crept forward and now called on the Indians to surrender. The Indians refused and began a battle. For the next five minutes there was a lot of shouting and banging and the Indians either pretended to die or ran away. Tina found a grinning Graham crouching behind a tree facing the way they had gone.
“How are you Ti?” he asked.
“Good. Are you enjoying yourself?” Tina answered.
“Too right! This is a great exercise,” Graham answered.
Tina expected to be set free but Lt Hamilton again appeared and the girls were ‘recycled’. “You can be hostages in the fort as well,” he explained.
So while the army cadets re-organized and checked the Indians the girls were led back along the old road to the ‘fort’. Here they were again tied to trees at the back of the clearing. A few metres away was the west ‘wall’ of the fort. By then the action had begun. To start with the navy cadet team fought their way up from the lake and as they got closer Tina was able to recognize some of the voices.
Cockatoo Page 48