Stephen nodded. Annalisa then said, “But do you have any proof, or is all this just speculation?”
“There was the briefcase that Jorgenson took,” Stephen replied.
“So you can’t be certain that the German plane was trying to contact spies. It might just have been on a bombing mission or something,” she said.
Stephen shook his head. “No German plane ever bombed Australia. Anyway, I do have some evidence that it was flying in something that only a spy would use.”
“What?” Annalisa demanded.
“I don’t want to say. Jorgenson tried to get it off me so I hid it,” Stephen replied. She looked annoyed at that and he doubted if she believed him.
Annalisa fixed him with a gaze so intent that Stephen found it hard to meet her eyes. She then asked, almost in a sob, “And you think someone here killed that boy Tom’s grandfather?”
“Great grandfather,” Stephen corrected. “His name was Lieutenant Bellamy.”
Annalisa looked very distressed and stared off into the distance for a minute. A tear trickled down one cheek. “Oh I wish you had never found that plane crash!” she cried. “Now it will all have to be investigated. But why are you hiding from Mr Jorgenson? He is a Federal Police senior sergeant.”
“Because we thought he was trying to cover things up, not investigate them. I thought he might be protecting his own grandfather or father,” Stephen replied.
Annalisa shook her head and wiped away another tear. “His father is dead. Died of lung cancer years ago. His mother’s dead too, but I don’t know about his grandfather. His grandfather lived here for years but not in my lifetime. They had gone to live in Mareeba by then,” she explained.
“It just struck me as too much of a coincidence that a man named Jorgenson was at Black Mountain in nineteen forty one, and another was confiscating the documents and trying to collect any other proof,” Stephen said. “I thought he might be protecting his own career in the secret service.”
“He’s not in the secret service,” Annalisa replied. “He and Keller are just plain clothes Federal Police assigned to protect Daddy.”
“He and who?” Stephen asked.
“Henry Keller, the man who took your friend away,” Annalisa replied.
“What about a man named Walters?” Stephen asked.
“I see him sometimes. He isn’t here now,” Annalisa replied.
“What about men name Robert and Rolf?” Stephen asked.
Annalisa looked at him in a curious way. “There is a stockman named Robert, Robert Eysson. He’s at the North Gap Outstation, and the man who services the pumps and so on is called Rolf. Why?”
“Are they policemen?” Stephen queried.
“No. They are just station hands,” Annalisa replied. She was now staring at him very hard.
Stephen explained about the men who had been blocking off the Black Mountain Road and who had then taken Peter and Tom away from the wreck on the mountain. Annalisa listened intently, slowly shaking her head. “They were away for a few days,” she said. Her shoulders seemed to sag. Then she looked directly at him again. “That’s why I wanted to know what was going on. There had been lots of ...well... well lots of little things, and nobody would explain. They just fobbed me off, but now I can see why you were suspicious.”
She began to sob quietly. Stephen felt very uncomfortable, unsure of what to say next. It was just as well he said nothing as he heard the sound of approaching footsteps. Annalisa looked around as a man spoke. Stephen could not see him but recognized the voice as belonging to the old gardener.
“You alright young missy?” he asked.
“Yes thanks Karl,” Annalisa replied. “I just got a fright.” She began polishing the saddle again.
“Don’t worry missy, ve catch dem,” Karl replied.
“Thank you Karl. Did you come back to get something?” she asked.
“Nein. Der Sergeant Jorgenson he say to come back as I slow dem down. He is right too. I am too alt fur chasing through der bush. He say I guard you in case der man kom back.”
“Oh thank you Karl. But I’ve got my gun,” Annalisa replied. She patted the shotgun. “I’ll be alright here. You go and see how Grandad is please, then have a drink. You look very flushed. You shouldn’t be running about in the heat at your age.”
“I do zat,” Karl answered. “I haff der drink and den sit on veranda and keep watch. You der care take,” He added.
Karl walked past the end of the shed and went through the side gate to the house. As he did Stephen got a glimpse of him. “Karl, is he the gardener?” he asked.
“Yes,” Annalisa replied. “He’s a lovely old man, as gentle as can be. He’s had a very unhappy life and isn’t quite right in the head unfortunately.”
“What’s his name?” Stephen asked.
“Karl Kriesel,” Annalisa replied. Then she gasped and shook her head. “You are just looking for excuses now to justify your actions.”
“Maybe, but you have to admit there are an amazing number of German names around this cattle station,” Stephen replied.
“So what? Australia’s full of migrants,” she snapped angrily.
“When did Karl come here?” Stephen persisted.
“Oh I don’t know! He was here long before Daddy was born. I know that because he often talks about when Daddy was a little boy.”
“Did you know your family name used to be Potke?” Stephen probed.
At that Annalisa’s head came up and her eyes blazed. “That’s not true!”
Stephen shrugged. “Suit yourself, but I read that your great grandfather changed the name back during World War One,” he said.
Annalisa shook her head in distress. To divert her Stephen asked, “Do you live here?”
“Yes I do. It’s my home. I was born here,” she replied. At that she looked around and he saw her face soften.
“Shouldn’t you be at school?” he asked.
“I finished last year,” she said. “I had five years at boarding school in Sydney. Mum and Dad wanted me to go to Uni but I said no. I’ve had enough of that stuff for a while. I want to work here,” she said.
“Is your mother here?” Stephen asked.
“Mum! Heavens no! She likes the social life in Sydney and Canberra too much. We have a house in Canberra and another at Vaucluse,” Annalisa replied, her voice mimicking an ‘upper class’ accent as she did. There was such bitterness in her voice that Stephen felt sorry for her.
“I thought that lady with the white hair might have been her,” he said.
At that Annalisa snorted. “Old ‘Vinegar Puss’! Not likely. She’s the housekeeper and cook.” Then she made a wry face. “Now that you mention it she would be good at running one of those Nazi concentration camps. She’s a bossy old bitch!”
Stephen was about to speak when Annalisa suddenly resumed polishing vigorously. Instead he squeezed as far back into the corner as he could. These footsteps came from the house. Mr Potts spoke from just near him. “Are you alright Smoochy? Why don’t you come inside?”
Stephen could just see Annalisa’s face and he saw her colour at the use of her pet name in front of a stranger. For a moment he feared she was going to confront her father and demand to know the truth. Then she shook her head. “I’m alright Daddy. I just got a terrible fright. I’ll be alright.”
“I was worried about that man still being around,” Potts replied.
“I’ve got my gun,” Annalisa replied. “No-one can sneak up on me here.”
“You’d be safer inside,” Potts said.
Annalisa shook her head. “I don’t want to be inside. I’m happy here. You can keep an eye on me from the house can’t you?”
“I can, but I am busy and all the men are away,” Potts replied. “I’ve called Doctor List and he is bringing a couple more men, but it will be an hour or so before they arrive.”
“What about the police? Did you ring them?” Annalisa asked. Stephen thought he detected a real note of cha
llenge in her voice and tensed himself for capture.
“Not the state police, no,” Potts replied. “This isn’t a matter for them. Senior Sergeant Jorgenson has been in touch with his own organisation. So, until more men arrive I’d rather you were inside.”
“Karl and Mrs Philp can look out for me,” Annalisa replied.
“No they can’t! Mrs Philp is looking after your grandfather and I don’t know where old Karl is,” Potts replied.
“Karl was just here a minute ago,” Annalisa replied. “He went into the house.”
“Well he’s not there now,” Potts replied.
“I’m alright Daddy. If there is another boy he will be miles away by now.”
“Boy! Why do you say boy?” Potts snapped.
“Well the one I found hiding under the house was only a boy. He looked only about my age,” Annalisa replied.
“Dangerous criminals!” Potts snapped. “Don’t be taken in by their looks.”
“Who are they Daddy? And what do they want?” Annalisa asked.
Stephen heard Potts snort and feared the man would move so that he could see into the shed. He could hear Potts breathing heavily. For a moment he thought he wouldn’t answer. Then he said, “They are political activists who want to blackmail me and were trying to kidnap you. I didn’t want to frighten you and it is all ‘hush hush’ security stuff so let’s drop it till I am able to tell you the whole story.”
“I really would like to hear the whole story,” Annalisa replied and Stephen thought he detected sarcasm and annoyance in her voice.
“Well keep your eyes open,” Potts replied. Stephen heard his footsteps recede across the lawn and he sighed with relief.
“Who’s Mrs Philp?” he asked.
“Old Vinegar Puss, the housekeeper,” Annalisa replied. “And don’t you try anything,” she added, placing her hand on the shotgun.
“If we really were dangerous political terrorists wouldn’t we be armed?” Stephen asked.
Annalisa didn’t answer for a minute. Then she said, “You think my father is involved don’t you?”
“Yes,” Stephen replied. “He seems to know what is going on.”
“And you think my father has tried to have you killed?” she asked. Now she was angry and there was real accusation in her voice.
“I don’t know for sure,” Stephen said.
Annalisa looked away and he saw that there were tears in her eyes. She shook her head miserably. “I know Daddy is very ambitious and he can be ruthless at times but I don’t believe he would have anyone killed.”
Stephen did not answer. ‘She isn’t arguing very hard,’ he thought, ‘so she must accept some of this story.’ He said, “It’s because we didn’t want to hurt him that we dropped the investigation, until Graham got nearly run over and I got knocked off my bike.”
Annalisa bit her lip and more tears came. “Oh yes! A story like this would absolutely wreck his political career. He’d never be Prime Minister then, and he’d have to resign from being Defence Minister. Oh God! This is awful!”
“I know,” Stephen replied. “We thought of that. We could just forget it all I suppose,” he suggested.
“On no we couldn’t!” Annalisa cried. Her wail of anguish was so loud Stephen feared it would be heard in the house. She gestured with her hands and said, “Now that you’ve told me this story I have to know the truth. I won’t ever be able to go past the Green Swamp Dam without being torn apart by doubts and curiosity.”
“A lot of people are going to get hurt,” Stephen said unhappily.
“It sounds like they already have been,” Annalisa replied. “That poor old lady wondering all these years what happened to her father, and that young man Tom feeling upset at the doubt that his grandfather was a coward and deserter.”
The mention of Tom nettled Stephen. He felt very anxious now and tried desperately to think of some way out of the dilemma. “Perhaps we could trade,” he suggested. “Your people let my friends go and we agree to say nothing?”
“No fear!” Annalisa snapped. “I have to live with a clear conscience and peace of mind too! Now I want to learn the truth.” She gave a bitter laugh, then went on, “What is it that I read once, that the truth will out?”
“And the truth hurts,” Stephen agreed. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be,” Annalisa replied. “Suddenly a lot of little things that never made sense are all fitting into a pattern.” She paused, then went on, “And it looks like a very ugly pattern.”
“So what will you do?” Stephen asked.
“I don’t know!” Annalisa cried. Tears had begun again and Stephen felt even more guilty. “I can’t just rush in and confront Daddy can I?” she added.
“I have to help my friends,” Stephen said. “I need to find them and set them free.”
Annalisa sat in unhappy silence for several minutes. “This is really going to destroy Dad,” she said, twisting the knife in Stephen’s conscience. Then she gave it a further twist by adding, “And poor old Mum! No more high society for her!”
Stephen now felt that she at least had sufficient doubts about whether his story was true or not to make her at least some sort of ally. Thoughts about females being ruthless to defend their family gave a tinge of anxiety to these hopes but she seemed to be genuinely shocked and torn. “So what do we do?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” Annalisa replied. “I need time to think this out.”
Stephen was now feeling cramped and uncomfortable. He was also very anxious. “Well while you do, I will locate my friends,” he said. “Where are they being kept?”
“I don’t know,” Annalisa replied.
“Not in the house?”
“No, definitely not,” she replied.
“What about in those other buildings?”
“Oh I doubt it!” Annalisa answered. “One is the head stockman’s house and his family are there. But there are a couple of sheds.”
“Could we find out?” Stephen asked.
“I could, but you would be spotted for sure. I can hear the Winter kids playing somewhere now,” she replied.
For some time now Stephen had been wondering how he could get away from the shed without being seen. He now broached this. “I need to get somewhere safer,” he said. “How can I get away from here?”
Annalisa shook her head. “I don’t know. You wait here while I have a look around and try to think of something. I’ll try to find out where your friends are while I’m at it.”
That put Stephen in a real spot. He knew she could just go and get the men to arrest him but short of trying to grab her and using her as some sort of hostage he couldn’t think of anything. ‘Besides, if I do that she won’t believe me or help, and it will give those coppers an excuse to shoot me,’ he thought.
Annalisa stood up. “I’ll be back,” she said. She picked up the shotgun and walked away, leaving Stephen feeling very alone and unsure.
Over an hour went by. During this time Stephen was torn by conflicting thoughts: trying to trade silence for his friend’s safety, trying to sneak away and find them. ‘I could crawl back down beside the fence to the lagoon and scout around that,’ he considered. But he discarded that idea for the moment. ‘The dog will quickly track me. I need to break the scent trail somehow,’ he thought.
Just before 3pm he saw the small helicopter come in. It landed just beyond the sheds. Twenty minutes later it took off again and flew away to the south. Stephen sat and waited. His doubts and anxiety grew minute by minute. ‘She has probably told her father and they are waiting till Jorgenson and his men can be brought back,’ he worried. He was also very tired and thirst became an increasingly insistent problem. So was the need to pee. The afternoon sun began shining into the open side of the shed, heating it till it was stifling.
Just when Stephen was deciding that he had better try to escape by crawling back down to the lagoon Annalisa returned. “Sorry I took so long,” she said. “Bad news I’m afraid. They have
found your car, and Robert is now hiding near it to catch you. They have sent for some of that Thermal Imaging gear to try to locate you.”
“What about Graham and Peter?”
“I don’t know where they are. I am sure they aren’t in any of the buildings here. I even looked in the house the police use and in the men’s quarters,” she said.
“You weren’t seen?” Stephen asked anxiously. He was relieved that she seemed to be helping him.
“No fear! Daddy would have a fit if he saw me go into the men’s quarters,” Annalisa replied.
Stephen considered this new information. “Where else might my friends be kept?”
“The only other place on the property is the outstation at North Gap,” she replied.
“What’s there?”
“The usual: a hut for the stockmen, a shed and some yards,” Annalisa replied.
“Then I’ll go and look there,” Stephen replied.
“I can help,” Annalisa replied.
“You believe me then?” he asked.
“I didn’t say that. But I wouldn’t like your friends to get hurt,” she said.
“How can you help?”
“I have to drive a car to the airstrip in a minute. My Dad is driving another. We have to pick up some men and their gear,” Annalisa explained. “The car is in the garage around at the front of the house. If you can crawl around beside the fence without being spotted I will reverse the car out so that it will shield you from the houses across the road and the shed will hide you from the homestead. You can get in and then I can drop you off on the way.”
“That will be great!” Stephen said, experiencing a real surge of hope. “Where’s Karl?”
“I don’t know. No-body’s seen him,” Annalisa replied.
“Why do they call you Smoochy?”
Annalisa blushed bright red. “None of your business!”
“Did you get caught kissing someone?”
“No I didn’t!” Annalisa replied. “I got called it when I was a toddler, because I used to always kiss my pet puppy.”
“Lucky dog,” Stephen commented.
“Don’t get cheeky!” she retorted. “Now get crawling. We will be off in a couple of minutes. The plane is due at four fifteen.”
Secret in the Clouds Page 33