That afternoon when he got home he found a large package waiting for him. It had come in the post and when opened revealed a dozen A4 pages of photocopied ship plans and specifications.
“It is the plans of the Merinda!” he muttered. He spread the pages out on the table and sorted them, then fell to avidly studying them. Once again all his horrible suspicions and theories swirled in his head. What he was particularly interested in was where a shipment of gold bullion might have been secured in the ship for safe transport. He saw that she was a steel vessel of 550 tons gross, and 275 tons deadweight. For a while he puzzled over the difference and had to look it up in a reference book.
‘Ah! Gross is enclosed cargo space, measured by volume, not weight, and deadweight is the actual weight of water the ship displaces,’ he read. He noted that there were several types of deadweight such as normal and full load and so on. Having satisfied himself he understood he went back to the plans. The Merinda was 195 feet long with a beam of 40 feet and a draught of 16 feet. These dimensions he had to convert to metres to better imagine them (60m X 12m X 4.9m). He saw that she had a raised focsle with three decks below it, a main deck which was open for a cargo hatch aft of the focsle. The superstructure took up about half of the main deck, extending almost right to the stern. The superstructure was only one deck high with a small wheelhouse on it, a single funnel and two lifeboats. Under the superstructure was the engine room and coal bunkers and water storage. This took up about half the space. Aft of that were two lower decks. The lowest one was fuel storage and the shaft tunnel. Above that was the tiller flat, steering engines and three cabins.
Andrew’s attention then focused on the writing. It was all in old fashioned running writing and he had trouble deciphering it but at last made out the names of the various compartments: captain’s cabin, saloon and so on. Then his eye lighted on the words ‘strong room’. It was on the lower deck aft below the saloon and was next to the purser’s cabin. ‘There!’ he thought. He knew that the purser was responsible for stores and finance. Seeing that word fired him with a sharp wish to actually find the wreck, to check if the gold was still there or not.
Carmen, when she came home, joined him and he put this notion to her. “It’s a good idea,” she agreed. “But first we have to locate the wreck. Then we can dive on it.”
Only when Carmen mentioned diving did Andrew realize what he might be letting himself in for. Intense feelings of anxiety coursed through him as the memories of diving came back to him. Having told himself he would never dive again he now found himself torn. ‘Maybe I might have to,’ he conceded, but it was an ordeal he wasn’t looking forward to. ‘Anyway, the chances of us finding the wreck are so small it is not worth worrying about,’ he told himself, even though one of his theories was even then niggling at the back of his mind.
That night he settled to redrafting his assignment on the Merinda. He also began work on the Geography assignment. While he worked he was gnawed at by a hope that Muriel might phone. He even considered phoning her but vivid memories of her angry father and his legal threats soon killed that idea. He went to bed both depressed yet somehow hopeful.
Tuesday presented no solution to the problem of ever finding the Merinda. Even just thinking about the practical difficulties soon depressed him. ‘We would need a good seagoing boat and I have spent nearly all my money doing the diving courses,’ he mused. He could not imagine his parents providing the large sums of money he was sure it would cost to hire a big launch, possibly for days. Having thought that out Andrew reluctantly pushed his hopes to the back of his mind.
At school the only event of note was a discussion between the army cadets and navy cadets about their upcoming camps. “Only eleven days to annual camp,” Peter commented.
“Ten for us,” Andrew answered. “When do you go?”
“On the first Saturday of the holidays,” Peter replied.
“We go on the Friday night,” Andrew answered. “By ship.”
“Ship?” Stephen asked. “What ship?”
“HMAS Tobruk, a Landing Ship Heavy,” Andrew answered. As he said this he saw Graham lift is head and look at him for the first time. A look of bitter regret (or was it envy?) crossed his face, making Andrew feel sorry for him. ‘Poor old Graham, he is wishing he had stayed in the Navy Cadets,’ he thought. It made him feel a bit guilty while he described the Tobruk and what he expected to happen.
Blake added to this and said, “I’m really looking forward to camp. I’m going to train as a quartermaster gunner.”
“Gunna train as a quarter of what?” Stephen teased.
“Phffft!” retorted Blake. “You are just jealous. We will get to fire rifles at the range.”
Stephen sniffed and said, “So will we!”
“Where are you going for your camp?” Andrew asked.
“Some place in the bush west of Townsville,” Stephen replied.
Peter supplemented this by saying, “Speed Creek it is called.” Then he turned to Andrew. “Where is your camp?”
“Mackay,” Andrew answered.
“How long for?”
“Nine days, including the travel to and from,” Andrew replied. “How long is yours?”
“Eight days I think,” Peter answered.
“More than that for me,” Stephen Bell answered morosely.
Andrew asked, “Why is that?”
“Graham and I have to go on the Thursday as part of the advance party,” Stephen replied.
“Advance party? What do they do?” Blake asked.
“Load trucks with stores and put up tents and things,” Stephen answered. “I’m not looking forward to it.”
“Why not? You are getting two days off school,” Andrew replied. He was intrigued by the mention of Graham going as well and glanced at him. Graham just nodded and looked unhappy. To satisfy his curiosity Andrew asked, “How come you and Steve are going in the advance party Graham?”
Graham made an attempt to smile and replied, “Ordered to.”
When he did not amplify it there was an embarrassing silence. This made Andrew suspect that there was in fact some other reason but he could not think of a tactful way to divert the conversation.
To his relief Peter changed the topic by asking him, “Are we going to have any sailing races these holidays?”
During the previous school holidays in June they had raced almost every day during the second week while competing for the ‘Mudskipper Cup’. Andrew smiled at the memory but shook his head. “Sorry. Don’t think so.” He did not explain but he still had secret hopes that somehow he could spend that week looking for the wreck of the Merinda.
That night he finished his History assignment. To add to it he scanned in the ship plans and also several photos, including the last one of the Deeral. Next day during History he handed it in. By then the pressure of impending exams had most of the students in its grip. Andrew isolated himself during the breaks so that he could study without interruption. The only gossip of interest he picked up was more intriguing news about Graham. Apparently the night before he had travelled to the local Army depot, Porton Barracks, with Warrant Officer Howley and had attended the Army Reserve weekly training parade, training with the soldiers.
‘So how come this Warrant Officer Howley is treating him like this? Is it punishment of some sort?’ Andrew wondered. It certainly puzzled him. Then another thought came to shock him. ‘Maybe Graham has made Amanda pregnant and he is going to be forced to marry her?’
There was no easy answer, short of asking Graham directly, and as it was really none of his business Andrew did not. Instead he kept on studying and puzzling how to solve his own problems. To dull the ache of his broken heart Andrew threw himself into study and assignment writing- Geography this time.
Exams began on Thursday. History was first and Capt Conkey supervised, again reminding those who had not yet handed in their assignments to make sure they did on Monday. That night Andrew finished his Geography assignment. To add to his
mix of emotions both he and Carmen made sure that their mother had filled in the permission forms and medical forms for the cadet camp. That got Andrew all keen in anticipation but then he found he was having trouble sleeping and when he did drop off to sleep he had bad dreams. These were all similar to the ones he had been having recently- sailing on a boat which unaccountably shrank in size until he was swimming in the sea- deep sea with a strong current and large waves- and in which lurked shapeless monsters.
The Geography exam was first up on Friday. Andrew handed in his assignment and was pleased to note that Graham also handed his in and looked a lot happier. That made him feel a bit better. ‘If he is getting his schoolwork done then things can’t be that bad,’ he reasoned. During the day he became more and more anxious, wondering how Muriel might treat him at cadets that evening.
She wasn’t there, which was both a relief and source of sadness. ‘I hope she isn’t going to drop out of cadets just because off me,’ he thought. There was a lot of regret and mulling over the might-have-beens and wondering if he had done things differently whether they might not still be friends. It was very depressing and he slept badly, again suffering several nightmares.
The weekend was a real drag. Andrew did not go anywhere. Instead he stayed home and did chores around the house and studied. He finished an English essay and worked his way through his mathematics text book. Thinking about Muriel got him all dejected but he forced himself to do things, so as not to think about her.
The following week followed a similar pattern. Exam followed exam. Nights were spent studying and having bad dreams and bouts of bitter regret. On the positive side Andrew noted that Graham seemed to be a lot happier, and that he was obviously in good health and looking forward to his army cadet camp.
Wednesday came and with it the last exams. By then Andrew was becoming excited at the prospect of going to cadet camp. A general sense of excitement gripped the groups of friends. There was also the relief that the exams were over and that holidays were upon them. This was marred by the fact that Andrew had not managed to me up with any sort of plan to try to find the wreck of the Merinda and he was sadly resigning himself to the probability that he would never manage to do so. ‘Nor win back Muriel either!’
Then, during History on Thursday, Capt Conkey said something that opened up a glimmer of hope.
CHAPTER 24
COINCIDENCE
History was first period after lunch. Andrew had already confirmed that Graham and Stephen had gone early that morning with the army cadet advance party so was not surprised to note that their seats were empty. When Capt Conkey came in he first handed back the exam papers. To Andrew’s relief he had scored very well- 92%. That cheered him up as he knew he needed to aim at consistently high scores in all subjects to hope to be selected at the end of Year 12 for entry to the Australian Defence Force Academy. Despite the recent failures in his personal life his ambition to become an officer in the navy was still burning strongly.
Capt Conkey then sat and thumbed through a bundle of assignments. Having extracted two and placed them side by side he looked up. “Andrew, Luke, would you two come out here please?” he asked.
Mystified Andrew walked to the front of the room. Luke joined him, the two friends standing side by side next to the teacher’s desk. Capt Conkey looked at them with a quizzical expression. He then said, “Now, I know you two are friends, but I have to ask if you have been in collusion over your assignments.”
A cold liquid seemed to seep into Andrew’s lower stomach. ‘Mr Conkey thinks we have been cheating!’ he thought in dismay. He knew that plagiarism and the copying of other people’s work were dishonest and that Capt Conkey held very strong views on the subject. Equally, he himself was firm about it. A feeling of guilty shame started to engulf him even though he was mystified.
He shook his head. “Sorry sir. I don’t understand. We haven’t discussed our assignments at all,” he said.
“Nor me,” Luke added, also looking worried.
“I believe you but I will show you why I asked,” Capt Conkey said. He opened Andrew’s assignment to a page of photos. Then he opened Luke’s. “Three photos the same,” Capt Conkey said. “And no reference to their sources. I think that is a real coincidence.”
Andrew stared at the photos in Luke’s assignment on Pearl Diving. There was the photo of the Pearl Reef at the Cairns wharf. Next was a photo of a helmet diver standing on the deck of a lugger in his diving suit and holding his helmet and assisted by several Torres Strait Islanders. The third was the last photo of the Deeral, the one that showed his grandfather, Old Mr Murchison and the two ‘T.Is’. Amazement replaced apprehension.
“These are from my family album,” Andrew exclaimed.
Capt Conkey looked at a surprised Luke. “Where did you get yours Luke?”
“From my family’s photo album,” Luke answered. He pointed to the photo of the Pearl Reef in Cairns. “My grandad and my great uncle, they both sailed in this lugger for a coupl’a years. And this one,” He pointed to the lugger with the diver standing on deck. “That my grandfather Solomon, and that other fella there, the one holdin’ the air hose, he a man named Francis Sailboat.”
Andrew stared at Luke and then pointed to the diver in the photo. “We have this photo in our album and the writing on the back says that the diver was my grandfather, Herbert Collins in nineteen fifty six.”
Luke went wide eyed. “No kidding man! These fellas here (He pointed to the two Torres Strait Islanders on the Deeral), they my grandad and Francis Sailboat.”
This time Andrew shook his head in amazement. He pointed at the same photo. “That man there is my grandfather, and the man next to him is Joshua Murchison, Muriel’s grandfather.”
“So our old folks knew each other,” Luke cried. “Hey man, ain’t that grand!”
“Do you know what happened to your grandfather?” Andrew asked.
“Family story say he die at sea when some boat he was on go missing,” Luke answered.
Andrew looked hard at Luke’s photo of the Deeral. The caption only named the men, not the ship. He pointed to it. “This ship is the Deeral,” he explained, his mouth settling into a hard line. “She went out to look for the wreck of the Merinda and she allegedly sank in a storm out on the Barrier Reef. But that is the wreck we dived on two weeks ago at Cape Upstart. And it is mighty strange how she came to be where she is.”
“You sure it is the same ship?” Luke asked.
“Certain,” Andrew replied. He then described how his father had checked the details taken from the wreck with the Port Authority.
“What you sayin’ man?” Luke queried.
“That something doesn’t add up,” Andrew answered.
Capt Conkey now interrupted. “You hint at that in your essay Andrew. Just be careful you don’t make any accusations in writing without any real proof.”
Andrew nodded. “No sir, but the whole story is mighty fishy, and I’d like to try to find out what really happened.” He meant Murchison’s story but managed to change it as he spoke.
“So would I,” Luke added. “My ma, she always wondered what happened to her dad.”
“What was his name?” Andrew asked.
“He that fella there,” Luke answered, pointing to a large Melanesian in the middle photo. “His name was Solomon Tapau.”
Capt Conkey held up the two assignments. “This seems to be a remarkable coincidence. I am sure you want to discuss it, however there are other people in the class so I will give these back to you and you can compare notes later. They are both very well done by the way, excellent research.”
Andrew noted that he had a very good mark but at that moment all he wanted to do was talk to Luke. However they sat on different sides of the room and had no chance to talk until the end of the period. During the break Luke asked if he could borrow Andrew’s assignment. “I’d like to take it home for Poppy to read,” he explained.
A strong temptation to tell Luke all of
his suspicions gripped Andrew but he managed to resist it and instead just asked if he could take Luke’s assignment home. ‘I don’t want to start a wild goose chase,’ he thought. He said, “I will bring our family album tomorrow and you can see the other photos.”
“Thanks man. I’ll do the same,” Luke answered.
That afternoon and evening Andrew could hardly think straight. As soon as he got home he took out the family album and carefully studied the old photos. Then he read Luke’s assignment. When Carmen came home he showed her and explained the coincidence. She had to hurry off to her part time job but was very interested. So were their parents when they returned home. That evening there was a lot of discussion and speculation, in between which Andrew had to pack for camp. That got him even more excited.
Not only excited but decidedly anxious. Would Muriel be coming to camp? How should he act towards her? How would she treat him? It was all very worrying. As he placed each item of clothing or equipment in his kitbag and ticked it off on the ‘What to take’ list he felt the thrill of possible adventure growing.
Next morning Andrew remembered to take the photo album when he went to school. As soon as he saw Luke he gave him back his assignment and the two sat to look at the photos. Luke also had his album but as he opened it he said, “Sorry but most of the pictures have no names. Nobody wrote on them all them years ago and now nobody can remember much who they of, or where. That’s why we did not know the name of that little ship, the Deeral.”
Andrew smiled and then said, “We had the same problem. Carmen sat with our Gran and asked her, and then wrote down the things Gran could remember. Now we write on the back of all photos as soon as we get them.”
“Good idea,” Luke agreed. “But you gotta remember to do it eh?”
“And find the time,” agreed Graham. “Gee, this is a great photo of a diver getting ready.”
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