Ross River Fever

by Christopher Cummings

  Martin nodded. “Jill’s nice isn’t she? I like her. And.. and I like your sister too,” he said.

  Andrew looked at him and grinned. “Do you? That’s fine. Good luck to you then.”

  “You don’t mind if I like her then?” Martin asked.

  “No. It is just what she needs; except she is a year older than you of course.”

  Martin shrugged and looked up at where Carmen stood on the low branch. Adoration shone in his eyes. They both watched while she swung out and fell with a shriek. Then it was back to climbing the tree again and more jumps. Time flew as they enjoyed themselves immensely.

  Suddenly Andrew felt cold drops on his bare shoulders. He looked out and saw that the surface of the river was being lashed by rain drops. A dark grey cloud had snuck up unnoticed and was deluging them. There were cries and laughter.

  Mark laughed. “Rain! Quick, into the water before we get wet!” he called.

  “The towels, the clothes!” Jill cried. She and Carmen ran to grab the clothes and bolted for the house, followed by a bedraggled Snoopy who did not enjoy the rain at all. Mark and Martin scooped up the remaining clothes and followed. Andrew was in the tree behind Letitia. She laughed and swung out. Andrew followed. They both swam to the bank. By then the rain was really pouring down, lashing the surface of the water to a foam. The others had all vanished up to the house.

  Letitia stood up in the shallows and Andrew took a sudden sharp intake of breath. To her she appeared as a vision of pure desire and his pulses raced. He became aroused and flamed with embarrassment and desire.

  Letitia knew he was looking but just stood on the bank and smiled. “Come on, you’ll get cold,” she called. She bent down and helped him up the bank and they both ran, hand in hand, up the wet lawn. As he ran Andrew glanced down and hoped his arousal wasn’t too obvious (it was to him!). He was also very aware of Letitia’s bosom bouncing beside him and he found the sight very stimulating and unsettling.

  They ran onto the back porch to find the others there. Letitia kept hold of his hand. Andrew flamed red again as he noted Carmen’s grin. When everyone looked at them Andrew was sure they could all see his physical state and that made him even more self-conscious and embarrassed.

  Letitia seemed not to notice. She said, “Come along to the main bathroom. I’ll find you a towel.” She didn’t wait but led him past the others and along the corridor. At a very pleasant, tiled bathroom she led him inside. Before Andrew realized what was happening he found her pressed against him and her arms around his shoulders.

  “I think you are very nice,” she murmured huskily, her eyes gazing searchingly into his. Andrew felt his heart pound and knew he was becoming very heated. That both scared and worried him. What bothered him was that he didn’t want to offend Letitia. He could only croak a reply. Letitia didn’t wait for more encouragement. She leaned forward and kissed him.

  To Andrew it was a revelation and a delight. He had never been really kissed by a girl before, much less by one as attractive as her. He placed his arms around her smooth, bare waist and responded. She tightened her grip and pressed against him. Then she stopped kissing and leaned back.

  For a minute or so she just looked deep into his eyes. Andrew could only stare back in wonder. Letitia then leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. Holding her cheek against his she whispered: “Do you like me?”

  Andrew nodded and croaked, “I think you are fabulous.”

  Letitia smiled and reached forward, pulling his face to hers. Once again she kissed him, pressing her body against his as she did, setting him on fire. Andrew couldn’t believe his luck. After all those years of drought:- the flood! He held her tightly, revelling in the touch of her smooth skin and the feel of her body against his.

  Footsteps. Mrs Schipholl’s face appeared around the door. Andrew looked out of the corner of his eye and managed to pull his lips away from Letitia’s. ‘Oh no!’ he thought anxiously. ‘I hope we don’t get into trouble!’

  CHAPTER 5

  THE URCHINS

  Andrew froze in fright. He saw Mrs Schipholl’s eyes take in the scene. Then, to his surprise, she smiled and said: “Oh there you are. I wondered where you two had got to. Now Letitia dear, stop teasing poor young Andrew and come out and help me in the kitchen.”

  Andrew’s mind raced in confusion but he saw that Mrs Schipholl was still smiling. She did not stay, but turned and went back along the passage.

  Burning with embarrassment he let go of Letitia but she kept her arms around his neck and did not appear at all fazed.

  “Give me another kiss,” she said huskily, leaning forward and opening her lips slightly.

  “But.. but.. won’t we get into trouble?” Andrew gasped.

  Letitia giggled. “Mum doesn’t mind. ‘Enjoy it while it lasts. You are only young once,’ she says. Come on.”

  She hugged him to her again and pressed hard against him. Once again he began to get aroused. It was wonderful and sent fire surging through his veins.

  But then he heard more voices. Damn! Quickly he pulled his hands away and stepped back. Mark and Martin came along and looked in. Martin gave a wry grin but Mark looked both curious and peeved.

  Martin spoke first: “Come on Sis. Mum wants you. Let poor old Andrew go before he burns himself up.”

  Letitia poked her tongue and pouted but walked out, brushing past the boys as she did. Mark raised his eyebrows but Martin shook his head and said casually: “She is a real vampire! Watch out she doesn’t get her fangs into you Andrew.”

  Andrew mumbled in embarrassment and pushed past them into the passage. As he fled along it he heard Mark give a short, snickering laugh which added to his shame. Worse was to follow. He hurried back to the patio where Jill and Carmen were seated. Guilt again assailed him, then embarrassment.

  Carmen raised her eyebrows. “What’s wrong with you little brother?”

  “Nothing,” Andrew mumbled. He dropped hastily into a seat.

  As he did Martin answered from behind him. “He’s all hot and bothered because Sis got him in a corner. I think she fancies him.”

  Andrew blushed fiercely again and met Jill’s interested eye. Carmen laughed and said: “I told you to watch out little brother.”

  For Andrew the worst aspect was that Jill was there and listening. ‘How can I possibly win on to her if she thinks I like Letitia?’ he puzzled.

  Mark returned and joined them, followed by Letitia and Mrs Schipholl. Letitia had slipped on some sort of short top which barely came down to her mid-rif and it bobbled in such a tantalizing way that it was most erotic. Yellow, Andrew noticed, ‘and it suits her.’

  The rain was still deluging outside so they sat in comfortable chairs and talked while drinking cordial and nibbling biscuits. Andrew sat back in his chair and tried to be inconspicuous. To his relief his body calmed down but he found he could not stop looking at Letitia; or at Jill. That both were aware of this he was sure. Letitia gave him frequent smiles, which he resented. He began to feel hunted and it made him quite uncomfortable.

  As a distraction he picked up Terry the Tortoise who came toddling out from behind a pot plant. The tortoise looked at him with interested eyes and even nibbled some of the biscuit Andrew offered it. Mark played with Snoopy and the girls took turns at stroking Tiptoe the cat. The conversation turned to what they would do the next day.

  “What day is it?” Carmen asked. “I lose track of days during the holidays.”

  “It will be Wednesday,” Martin said.

  “What about going for a canoe trip right along the river?” Mark suggested.

  Letitia sat up and nodded. “That would be good. I’ve never been right up the river, not in a canoe.”

  “Fair go Sis,” Martin cautioned. “We couldn’t do it all in one day. It is too far.”

  “Then we could do as much as we can comfortably manage,” Letitia replied. “I want to do that. I’m bored lying around here.”

  The plan was agreed to, if only for
lack of any other. Letitia then said: “What about doing something tonight?” She looked hopefully at Andrew in a way that made him blush and Carmen smile.

  Reluctantly Andrew shook his head. “Sorry, we are going to Jill’s tonight,” he replied. Once again he blushed. Letitia looked appealingly at Jill but she shook her head and said: “Mum and dad have organized a games night.” She didn’t say so but the implication was that she wasn’t going to invite Letitia or Martin, even if she were allowed to.

  Carmen pulled her towel tighter about her and said: “I am feeling cold all of a sudden. I think it is time we got dressed and went home.”

  The rain had eased now but she was right; a cool wind was blowing in off the river, a pleasant change from the sweltering humidity of an hour before. Carmen stood up and began to pull on shorts and T-shirt over her bathers. Jill did likewise so Andrew and Mark had no option but to comply. Letitia made a sulky pout but said nothing. She stood up and took the kitten from Jill. Martin stood up to see them out.

  As they walked to the door Letitia manoeuvred herself to be near Andrew. While Mrs Schipholl was being thanked by Jill and Carmen she stood close to him, holding the kitten to her bosom and gently running her fingers through its fur. “She you again,” she murmured.

  Andrew nodded but inside he felt uneasy. There was something about her forwardness that scared him. He wasn’t very experienced with girls. He managed a smile and replied: “Yes,” then fled over to where Mark and Martin were discussing the repair of the sailing ship.

  Andrew found it a relief to be out of the house and walking along the footpath but even so he was in turmoil. Most of his mind was back there. He noted that Letitia stood in the doorway waving until they were out of sight around the corner.

  As soon as they were Jill let fly: “What a brazen show-off she is, flaunting herself like that!”

  Andrew felt very uncomfortable but said nothing. He just went red at the memories and secretly wished for more.

  Mark chuckled. “Looked pretty good to me,” he said with a grin.

  Jill turned on him fiercely: “I saw the way you’ve been ogling her all afternoon. You should be ashamed of yourself!”

  Mark went red. “Fair go! I can’t help looking. The way she was dressed a man couldn’t help noticing.” Then he chuckled again before adding: “And she's certainly got plenty to throw around.”

  Jill flared up again: “You are disgusting Mark! If that’s all you think about a girl I’m not impressed. She was acting like a real tart the way she was making eyes at Andrew.”

  “He didn’t mind!” Mark retorted angrily. He was red with embarrassment. “He seemed to be enjoying it in the bathroom.”

  Andrew went even redder but his mind registered the fact that Jill had sounded more than just angry. Was she jealous? ‘Do I have a chance?’ he wondered.

  Carmen tried to calm them down. “Let’s not argue please. She can’t help the way she is; or who she likes.”

  That gave Andrew an opening: “Martin likes you,” he said.

  It was Carmen’s turn to go red. “Oh he does not!”

  “He does so. He told me.”

  Jill smiled. “He’s a nice boy and he has good taste then,” she said.

  Carmen blushed again. “Pity about those bullies breaking his model,” she said in an obvious attempt to divert the conversation.

  It worked. They discussed the bullies again and then the conversation languished. Their route now led them along the river bank on a bitumen walking track where they had to go in pairs. Andrew found himself beside Jill with Carmen and Mark in front. The thought crossed Andrew’s mind that Jill was angry with Mark but he could not think of any way to capitalize on this. They walked along past some very nice houses and across a small park, the river still on their right. Then they came to a wide concrete footbridge which spanned a lily-choked creek.

  As they crossed Andrew glanced down at the water and then came to a sudden stop. “Look at all the tortoises!” he cried. To his astonishment he saw that there were dozens of them. The tortoises were all sizes from babies that would fit into the palm of his hand to full grown ones the size of dinner plates. They began clustering under the bridge in a milling crowd.

  Mark leaned over the railing. “They are hoping we will throw food,” he explained.

  Jill nodded. “People do. They come here with old loaves of stale bread and so on and throw it in for them,” she added.

  The friends watched the tortoises for a few minutes and Andrew wished he had some food to offer. Then they strolled on past a lovely park on their left. A curving path led down into it.

  “The Palmetum,” Jill explained. “It is lovely walking in there.”

  “The what?” Andrew asked, looking at the dense growth of tropical vegetation.

  “The Palmetum. It’s an artificial rainforest and a park full of all types of palms.”

  Andrew nodded. He wasn’t particularly interested in plants but it did look like a pleasant place. The group walked on past more buildings: the Good Shepherd Hospice. On the opposite bank was the swimming pontoon with a dozen kids playing on it. The bitumen track continued on along the top of the bank to the Charles Barton bridges.

  As they walked Andrew noticed that Jill was not talking to Mark, and that she walked beside him most of the time. She even smiled on several occasions when their eyes met. ‘Is she making eyes at me?’ he wondered. He shook his head. It couldn’t be possible- but there was no doubt that Mark was in the doghouse. This became quite pointed when they had crossed the bridge to the north bank. Here Jill said goodbye and turned off to walk across Cranbrook Park without even consulting Mark. He looked uncertain and hurt but said nothing as he followed her.

  Carmen watched them walk of across the park side by side but not talking and not holding hands. “I think Jill is a bit put out,” she observed.

  Andrew shrugged. “I think she is being a bit unfair. She is probably just jealous.”

  “What? Of Letitia!” Carmen cried. “You boys are all the same! You make me sick. Just because she’s got tits like a moo cow doesn’t make me jealous. I feel sorry for her.”

  Andrew opened his mouth to reply then wisely shut it again. Instead he concentrated on crossing Nathan Street without being run over. The pair walked the few blocks to their house in relative silence, Andrew pondering how their day had changed from good to bad so easily. By the time they reached their Aunt's house the sun had come out again and both were lathered in sweat. It was a relief to get inside and have a cool shower.

  For Andrew the evening brought hot memories. He felt an urge that was like a physical itch to be alone with Letitia again. Perversely that served to make him aware of how attractive he found Jill. At the games night he spent most of the time watching her and talking to her, much to Mark’s annoyance.

  Mark expressed this rather forcefully when they were alone for a few minutes. “Hey Andrew, I don’t want to have to punch you on the nose but Jill is my girl, so back off!” he said.

  Andrew blushed. “Sorry. It’s just that she is so pretty,” he replied. But privately he thought: ‘If she wants to talk to me she can. Mark doesn’t own her.’

  Soon after that Jill actually sat next to Andrew and talked cheerfully about her sports trophies for netball. This brought glares from Mark but Jill ignored these and Andrew wondered if she was doing it just to spite Mark, or whether she really liked him. It was a puzzled boy who dropped off to sleep that night.

  The arrangement the next day was for them to walk to the Schipholl’s. This was because Andrew and Carmen had to come from Aitkenvale while Mark and Jill had to come from the other direction, from Cranbrook. Andrew suggested that they walk along the river bank to reach the bridge. Carmen agreed to this so they followed a side street to where the pleasant walkway led along the park-like river bank. The brother and sister turned right and began walking along it.

  Even at 8:30am it was already hot. A few dark clouds hovered in the distance and the humidity
was sweltering. Perspiration poured out of them with no breeze to cool it. The surface of the river was like glass so that all the movements by fish, tortoises and birds showed up instantly. Andrew was particularly intrigued to see several tortoises perched on a small floating log.

  “Terry’s cousins,” he said with the laugh. The noise disturbed the tortoises and they slid into the water and vanished among the floating weeds and lilies.

  Several cormorants swam off, their long, snake-like necks protruding half a metre out of the water. Two ducks floated quietly and ignored their passing. A pelican flapped into lumbering flight and sailed off along the river.

  The pair passed through a stand of large paperbarks, then walked along an open stretch for a hundred metres. A line of mango trees crowned a low rise on their right. Across the river to their left they got glimpses of the Schipholl’s house through the trees.

  The swell of the ground closed with the river so that the path was cut out of the river bank. Carmen indicated how this had exposed the roots of several large trees which clung to the lip of the bank above them. “This wasn’t very well planned. What a pity. The bank is going to erode and those trees will die or topple into the river.”

  Andrew nodded and agreed. Carmen had become increasingly ‘Green’ of late. They walked around the bend and another vista opened before them. Now they could see all the way to the bridges. About a hundred metres ahead the path went under several very large, overhanging trees. This was where the swimming pontoon was. Several bicycles lay on the path and on the grass beside it and people could be seen.

  For a moment Andrew squinted to confirm his first impression. Then his heart sank. “Those bullies are up ahead,” he said.

  Carmen looked up from watching two ducks paddle by. She bit her lip and muttered: “Oh dear!”

  Now the sound of raised, angry voices carried to them, followed by a splash and cruel laughter. Andrew saw one of the bullies- he thought it was Troy but at that distance he wasn’t sure- pick up a bicycle and toss it into the river. A chorus of yells greeted this from down in the water. Troy bellowed with laughter.