Airship Over Atherton

by Christopher Cummings

  Willy was surprised at the Doctor’s accent. German? Possibly. European anyway. He made no reply.

  The bull-necked man reached forward and struck Willy a stinging slap to the face. “Ven der Herr Doktor asks a qvestion you answer junger!”

  “Enough Klutz!” snapped the Doctor. “So boy, you build yourself der airship and it flies ja?”

  Willy looked the man in the eye but again made no answer, bracing himself for another blow.

  The Doctor looked sad. “You do not answer? Vell, nefer mind. You told der story last night and ve know it ist true. It is der headline news. Your airship, it has flown over Atherton,” he said.

  Willy was amazed. Over Atherton! He forgot his own predicament and asked: “Is Roger alright?”

  “If he is der boy on der airship, ja. He vos rescued this morning. The police still search for you but in der mountains. I do not sink zey vill find you there,” the Doctor said. He gave a humourless smile which made Willy’s blood run cold. “So, how did you find out about us and who else knows?”

  Willy shook his head. “I didn’t know anything until he climbed up the tree I was stuck in,” Willy replied, indicating Hank.

  “So vot ist der story? Tell us how you kom to be in zat tree,” the Doctor asked.

  Willy did so. The Doctor listened intently then turned to Hank. “So, how kom ist it zat you go to zat tree?”

  Hank looked uncomfortable but then gestured to his partner. “We was drivin’ up the mountain and we saw what we thought was our airship at that tree so we went to it.”

  Bill nodded. “That’s right. We were puzzled as to why our ship might be out in daylight and even more puzzled when we got there and couldn’t see her,” he explained.

  The Doctor gave them a withering look and snapped, “So vy do you not on der radio call?”

  “We did,” Bill insisted. “But we got no answer. Anyway, you keep on about maintaining radio silence except for the actual lift so we stopped trying.”

  Hank agreed. “We just assumed the airship had gone off to be out of sight in one of the valleys until it was dark,” he said.

  Bill nodded. “But we thought that was the tree you wanted so we went to it,” he added.

  “And found this damn kid up it,” Hank said sourly, scowling at Willy.

  The Doctor now turned his attention back to Willy, who had been following the conversation with interest. The Doctor bent close to Willy. “So? Den vot ist dis about Hank murdering your Onkle?” he hissed.

  Willy looked at Hank while wondering what he should say. Then shook his head. ‘What’s the use,’ he thought. ‘They will kill me anyway. I know too much.’ So he said defiantly: “He did. I was at the farm that night and was awake. I heard your vehicle and your chainsaw. I was the one who discovered Uncle Ted’s body.”

  Hank flared into anger. His eyes blazed and he lashed out with his heavy boot. The blow struck Willy on the left thigh and he cried out in pain. Tears misted his vision and he bit his lip.

  The Doctor held up his hand: “Zat ist enuff Bradshaw!” he ordered. “Now boy, tell me how you found our airship.”

  Once again Willy told his story, concluding with: “Just coincidence. Bad luck I suppose.”

  “Bad luck for all of us; but especially for you I think,” the Doctor snarled. “Ve haf had der police come to our gate asking about airships. Zey vill be back to search perhaps. So how did zey know to come here?”

  “Probably your airship was seen. People would have been out looking for one,” Willy replied.

  “Zat ist possible,” the Doctor replied, nodding and stroking his chin speculatively.

  The thin American then spoke up: “So what do we do now Dr Eckenheim?”

  “Ve must from zis place be gone,” the Doctor replied. “Ve vill go as soon as it ist dark. Klutz, go and prepare der airship for flight. Burmeister, you find Meyers and both of you help. Hurry. Ve vill be along within der hour.”

  The bull-necked German nodded and left the room followed by the thin American.

  “What about this interfering brat?” Hank asked.

  “I am much afraid he must be disposed of. He knows too much,” the Doctor replied, with what sounded like genuine sorrow.

  Willy winced at having his worst fears so coldly and brutally confirmed. He lay there utterly appalled as the men discussed his ‘disposal’.

  Hanks cowled at Willy. “Will we shoot him?” he asked.

  “No. Zen ve haf der body to dispose of and der police zey find it,” the Doctor replied.

  “Take him in the airship and chuck him out over the sea,” Hank suggested.

  The Doctor shook his head. “No. Too much extra weight. Ve vill need all off der benzine ve can carry for zis flight,” he replied.

  “Jack could take him in his truck and bury him beside the road somewhere,” Hank said.

  The Lumberjack objected strongly: “Pigs bum! Too bloody risky. If the cops are suspicious they’ll be onto my truck like a ton of bricks. I want it clean. No way is this kid coming with me, dead or alive!”

  Hank clicked the fingers of his right hand. “I know,” he said. “Leave it to me Doctor. There’ll be no body. We will stick him through the woodchip pulper, then set fire to the pile.”

  The Doctor’s lips curled faintly with what Willy took to be disgust but he said: “You are a revolting man. But yes. Zat ist a gut plan. Do it at once. Zen pack up and get going. Ve vill see you at Raralofa Atoll as planned.”

  Willy was stunned. “You can’t do that!” he cried. He began to tremble and suddenly vomited, just a dribble of saliva from his empty stomach.

  Lumberjack smacked him hard behind the ear. “Don’t puke on me kid. Die like a man.”

  Willy shook his head in stunned disbelief as Lumberjack and Hank grabbed him under the arms and dragged him through the door. It couldn’t be true! ‘I must be having a nightmare,’ his mind said. But he knew he wasn’t a bad dream. In desperation he tried to struggle but suffered a punch to the side of his head for his troubles. He began to quietly pray, as much for courage to see him through the next few minutes as for salvation.

  Willy was half-carried, half-dragged down the ‘street’ between the rows of large poultry sheds full of cackling hens to the clearing where the huge tree still lay on the rails leading into the open sided shed. Willy saw that his surmise had been correct. It was a sawmill. The building was against the edge of the rainforest and was similar in size and shape to the poultry sheds. On the downhill side a conveyor belt ran up to a large steel hopper bin which was supported by steel scaffolding and steel ladders. At the bottom of the hopper was a large machine from which led a long pipe which was supported by steel legs out over a huge mound of woodchips and sawdust.

  Willy was so utterly revolted by the thought of what was to come that he was on the verge of collapse. The men dumped Willy on the ground at the bottom of the conveyor belt.

  “Start her up Jack. I’ll chuck a few of these branches on first. Then we will feed him through with a bundle of these saplings,” Hank instructed.

  Lumberjack walked over to a control panel on the machine. The machinery whirred to life. Hank began piling branches which had been lopped off the tree onto the conveyor belt. Willy watched with fascinated horror as the first one was carried up to the top. It toppled from sight. The machinery suddenly rattled and emitted a grating grumble and sawdust and woodchips began spewing from the far end of the pipe.

  Willy licked dry lips. Stubbornly he resisted the urge to plead. Bugger them! He wouldn't give them the satisfaction!

  Lumberjack walked back. Hank reached down and gripped Willy’s shirt. “OK, hoist him on, then help me feed on more logs,” he ordered. At this Willy did moan “No!” He was lifted up and dropped onto the moving conveyor belt. Almost frantic with terror he felt himself being carried up towards the hopper.

  CHAPTER 31

  IMPATIENT YOUTH

  “Come on! Let’s go!” Stephen cried. “We know where the airship is. It lande
d at that egg place.”

  “Take it easy Stephen,” Mr Williams said. “We aren’t that sure and even if it is right it is a job for the police. I will go and talk to them.”

  Mr Williams left the room. There was a buzz of conversation around Roger’s bed as the others discussed the idea.

  “We should get moving and meet the police there,” Marjorie said. “It is getting late.”

  They glanced at their watches- 4:00 pm.

  “I want to hear what Mr Williams says,” Graham said. “See you later Roger. See you at school tomorrow or the day after. Goodbye Mrs Dunning, Mr Dunning.”

  Led by Graham the other teenagers also said goodbye to Roger and his parents and trooped out of the hospital to where the Range Rover was parked in the hospital car park. Mrs Williams followed them out after talking to Roger’s parents.

  Mr Williams had made his phone call by then. He looked at them and said: “Sergeant Carmody is on his way to town already. He should be here in a few minutes. We will wait. While we do each of you children phone your parents and see whether they want you to come home now.”

  “Aw sir!” they wailed. None wanted to go home. Each in turn had to call, watched over by Willy’s parents. Each had a different technique. Graham just told his mother that Willy was lost and that he was staying with the search party to help look for him. He did not ask for permission. Mr Williams took the phone from him and queried this. To Graham’s relief his mother said it was alright if he stayed. Peter used the same technique and so did Stephen. Marjorie just told her parents that she wasn’t coming home until Willy had been found and she didn’t care what they said. She was very determined.

  Stick and Noddy weren’t so lucky. Their parents weren’t used to them going off on expeditions and adventures and said they must come home to go to school the next day. They both argued but it was no use. Shona’s mother just ordered her home at once. That presented a problem of how to transport them the 90 km back to Cairns. This was solved by the appearance of Roger’s parents who said that they were going to take Roger home that evening and would be leaving as soon as they had eaten some dinner. They offered to take the ones who had to go home.

  A police car pulled up and Sergeant Carmody and Senior Constable Grey got out. They joined them and listened to the explanation. As soon as it was finished Stephen again cried: “Come on! Let’s go!”

  “Hold on son,” Sergeant Carmody replied. “Let’s think this thing out and do some checking first.”

  “But Willy might be in danger,” Marjorie cried. “And it’s getting late. It is nearly half past four now. It will be dark in an hour.”

  “A few minutes won’t hurt. I’ve got to check with my senior sergeant first. Come over here Grey.” Sergeant Carmody led Senior Constable Grey to one side. The two policemen then stood, deep in conversation.

  Stephen looked sideways at them. “They don’t believe us,” he said.

  “I can’t say I blame them. It is a bit far fetched,” Peter replied.

  After a few minutes Sergeant Carmody came back. “We will do some checking on this egg corporation and get things organized,” he said.

  “Are you going there now?” Stephen asked.

  “No we are not. We are going to the station to use the computer,” Sergeant Carmody replied.

  “That’s no good,” Stephen said. “We need to go there.”

  “And do what? If we go there and ask to come in and they say no we have to go and get a search warrant and that will give them time to hide things or to get away. We need to have more than just a theory to go on.”

  Stephen threw his hands in the air. “It’s not just a theory! We saw the airship land there last night; four of us. It’s not some sort of hallucination,” he cried.

  “Perhaps not. Calm down son. We are doing things,” Sergeant Carmody replied testily.

  “Could you get the helicopter to fly over and have a quick look,” Peter suggested. “I mean, an airship is a big thing. It must be hard to hide. There must be a whopping great shed for a hangar.”

  A look of annoyance crossed the sergeant’s face. “The chopper’s gone back to Cairns to refuel. I’ll call them up and see if we can get them back up.”

  “They’d better arrive, or I’ll want to know why,” said Willy’s father grimly.

  “We don’t have to wait here,” Graham said. “We can drive there and wait. It must be half an hour’s drive. The sooner we go the better.”

  Sergeant Carmody looked alarmed. “Now slow down! I don’t want you going there at all, much less rushing in and spoiling things. If we go at all it will be a proper police job.”

  “We will park back out of sight. That way we could be there within a few minutes,” Graham answered.

  Sergeant Carmody gave him a hard look, then said: “Come on Grey. Let’s get back to the station.” The two policemen climbed into their car and drove away.

  Marjorie watched them go, almost dancing with frustration. “Come on!” she cried again. “Let’s go. We are wasting time. It will be dark soon.”

  Willy’s parents exchanged glances and were obviously undecided.

  “Please!” Marjorie wailed.

  “Alright. We will go to the road junction before the egg corporation road,” Mr Williams answered.

  “Ripper! Let’s go!” Stephen cried.

  Mrs Williams shook her head. “I will stay here with these other children and will follow with the police,” she said. A map was hastily produced to agree on the rendezvous.

  The teenagers scrambled into the Range Rover: Graham in the front with his map, Stephen, Peter and Marjorie in the back. The others stood in the car park looking unhappy. The vehicle was started up and they headed towards Malanda. As they drove along the teenagers reviewed all the evidence they had and chewed over it.

  Stephen spoke first. “The police don’t believe the story,” he said.

  “Maybe not but it is all they have to go on so they will have to do something,” Mr Williams said. “Peter is right. A real airship is a huge thing so there must be a giant shed to hanger it in. Surely we can see that.”

  Peter looked out the window. “They’d better hurry. It will be dark in an hour,” he said.

  Just after 5 O’clock they parked under a tree near the T-junction on the road to the egg corporation. With the motor turned off the minutes seemed to really drag. Conversely the sun appeared to sink with alarming swiftness, the shadows increasing rapidly under the influence of a cloud bank rolling in from the west.

  Suddenly Graham sat up. “I’ve just had a dreadful thought. These men have been warned that they are under suspicion. They could fly off as soon as it is dark, and take Willy with them.”

  Marjorie clenched her fists and beat them on the seat. “Oh where are the police? What is keeping them?”

  “I reckon we should do a quick recce,” Stephen suggested. “If there is an airship there it must be hard to hide.”

  “I agree,” Peter added.

  “What about the dogs?” Marjorie asked.

  Graham shook his head. “The place must have a perimeter fence several kilometres long. They can’t patrol all that. It is a fair risk.”

  Willy’s father looked anxiously at his watch. “We had better wait for the police. We don’t want to cause any trouble.”

  “But it is getting dark fast,” Stephen pointed out.

  “That is because of those clouds coming,” Graham observed.

  Peter looked at the mass of dark clouds visible to the west. “I think we might be in for a storm,” he said.

  “But it is half past five. It gets dark just after six at this time of year,” Stephen insisted.

  “What if we drive up that side track and see if we can see into the valley from there?” Graham suggested.

  Peter added, “We will be less obvious too, if any of the crooks drive past.”

  Marjorie nodded. “That’s a good idea. Please Dr Williams,” she asked.

  Reluctantly Willy’s father ass
ented. “Better than just sitting here doing nothing I suppose.”

  They drove quickly to the front gate of the egg corporation. The gate was still locked and there was no-one in sight. Graham opened the side gate into the field and they turned off along the rough vehicle track there. It was easy enough driving and they went as fast as was safe. After half a kilometre the track turned right and went up a long slope, still with open pasture on the left and a wall of jungle beyond the fence on their right.

  “This fence looks like it goes all the way around the property,” Graham said.

  “I think that’s suspicious,” Stephen said. “Why have such a high fence around the place if you’ve got nothing to hide?”

  “To keep out dingos, foxes, wild pigs and so on,” Peter suggested. “It is supposed to be a poultry farm after all.”

  “Maybe,” Stephen grumbled.

  Marjorie suddenly pointed. “Stop Dr Williams; here’s a spot,” she cried.

  They pulled up and climbed out. Through a gap in the trees they could just see across the valley to the silver painted roofs of several long sheds.

  “Nothing big enough there to hide an airship,” Peter said.

  “It might be hidden lower down the valley,” Graham suggested.

  “I’m going to have a look,” Stephen said. He walked forward and gripped the chain-wire netting.

  Willy’s father called out: “That’s not a good idea. We can’t just barge in as trespassers. We said we would wait for the police.”

  “You did. I didn’t,” Stephen answered. “It is my fault that Willy is in trouble. I persuaded Noddy to go for the flight; and I was the one who let go of the rope. And I saw an airship land here last night. I’m going in. Who’s going to help me over?”

  For a moment nobody moved. Then Marjorie stepped forward. “I will; and I’m coming too.”

  “Don’t be silly Marjorie! I forbid it!” Willy’s father snapped.

  Marjorie ignored him and walked to the fence. Willy’s father again ordered her to stop but she shook her head. “No. I’m going. If you want to stop me you will have to tie me up,” she said.