Ross River Fever

by Christopher Cummings

  The warmth was bliss. He turned around and around, letting the jets play on his body. All the while his mind was tormented by the thoughts of the cold body in the river. Would it be stiff yet? He had heard that was what happened to bodies, but he did not know how quickly rigour mortis took to set in.

  While he was absorbed by these morbid thoughts he hardly noticed that the door had opened and shut. Only when Letitia spoke from outside the shower curtain did he realize it was her, not Martin.

  “Are you alright Andrew?”

  “Yes. Bit upset, that’s all,” he replied.

  “Do you want me to come in with you?”

  For a moment Andrew’s mind did not comprehend what she had said. Then his imagination exploded. A girl! In the shower with him!

  “We.. we might get into trouble,” he replied as instant desire warred with fear of consequences.

  “No we won’t. I won’t tell and nor will Martin. Do you mind?”

  Andrew's mind raced. His heart rate shot up dramatically and he knew he wanted her to; but he was scared. “I.. I don’t want to offend you,” he stammered.

  “You won’t,” Letitia replied, her voice a low, musical chuckle. He heard her moving and before he could make any reply she drew the curtain aside. She was quite naked and she stood and looked him up and down. He could not help himself. His eyes also ran over her body. To his adolescent gaze she was the most beautiful and desirable thing he had ever seen. The word ‘voluptuous’ swam through his consciousness.

  And then she was in with him, her arms around him and her lips on his. He was too stunned to react for a while, could only stand in the hot shower and feel her nakedness against his. Then she made him move. “Give me some hot water, I’m freezing,” she said.

  And she was. He realized that her skin was like ice and she was covered in goose bumps. He was also urgently aware of her femaleness. As she turned she rubbed against him he could not help reacting. For a minute she rotated under the warm shower, brushing against him and sighing with the pleasure of it. Then she turned and embraced him again.

  By then he was hard with desire. He flamed, with embarrassment as well as lust, unsure what to do. Letitia solved that by hugging him and moaning softly. Letitia sighed and gently stroked Andrew. Desire flooded through him and he responded. Blood pounded in his temples. He was dimly aware that he was losing control and that he was starting to feel an intense urge to do more.

  Never having done it before Andrew was scared of doing the wrong thing, of hurting Letitia through ignorance. He was also amazed and more than bit frightened by the apparent effect on her. Letitia moaned and murmured, further encouraging him. They kissed with increasing passion.

  Voices at the door- Jill’s and Mark’s!

  For a moment Andrew was unable to stop himself. He squeezed several times, amazed by Letitia’s willingness, and shocked by his own urgent desire. Then fear and shame welled up as he also heard Martin’s voice and then Carmen’s. They were all outside- and so was Mrs Schipholl!

  Panic suddenly laid its cold grip on Andrew. Into his imagination flooded nameless fears of the trouble he would be in. Letitia muttered in frustration and annoyance and tried to keep kissing but it was no good. His desire had gone.

  “What will we do?” Andrew whispered, trying to hide his voice in the sound of the shower. He thought of waiting till they went away but something about their voices suggested the people outside were sitting down and likely to stay. He groaned and felt sick. Letitia shrugged and embraced him again. Her face was suffused with a mixture of lust and frustration which Andrew found nearly as frightening.

  Several minutes dragged by. Andrew struggled to think of some plan but could only feel trapped. He listened and heard men’s voices as well. Once again he whispered: “What will we do?”

  “Just go out,” Letitia replied.

  “But we can’t!” Andrew replied. By this he was in an agony of conscience as well as being gripped by shame.

  Someone pounded on the door. Andrew’s heart leapt in fright. Carmen’s voice sounded. “Hurry up you two. Turn the shower off and come out before you use all the hot water!”

  Up till this time Andrew had hoped that no-one knew that they were in the shower together but now that hope was dashed. Then Martin called out and added another dimension to Andrew’s fear by saying: “Come on Sis, hop out. The coppers are here to talk to you.”

  The police! Andrew felt sick with fear. He knew Letitia wasn’t sixteen. She was underage- ‘Jailbait’ as his dad had warned him- and he was caught in the act!

  With trembling hands he turned off the shower. Letitia released him and stepped back. Her face registered a smile and she let out a mischievous giggle. That annoyed Andrew. It was all right for her! She would only have her reputation tarnished. It was him who would be in deep trouble! Feeling sicker and sorrier than he could ever remember he dried himself and pulled on the dry clothes that Letitia had brought. Outside he heard more voices- the police. He recognized Constable Fort’s voice.

  ‘What can I say? What should I do?’ he wondered. Finally he decided all he could do was step out and face the music. He checked that Letitia was also dressed, squared his shoulders and opened the door.

  Everyone was out on the back patio seated in the outdoor chairs: Mrs Schipholl, Martin, Mark, Jill, Constable Fort and another policeman. Andrew stepped out, aflame with embarrassment and shame. His eyes met Carmen’s but he was unable to meet the gaze of anyone else.

  Mrs Schipholl spoke first. “I thought you two would dissolve if you stayed in there any longer,” she said. To Andrew’s surprise she did not sound angry at all and he saw that she was smiling. ‘She’s making a joke of it! I don’t believe it!’

  Andrew expected the policemen to immediately arrest him or something but to his surprise they barely even looked at him. Constable Fort was busy talking to Carmen and the other was writing in his notebook. Letitia came out and Mrs Schipholl said: “Letitia dear, go and get the police a cold drink, fruit juice with ice.”

  Andrew walked unsteadily over to a chair. As he lowered himself into it Mrs Schipholl spoke to him and he had to meet her eyes. “Feeling better dear?” she asked.

  Andrew’s mind raced. ‘She must know we were in the shower together! Why doesn’t she get angry?’ he thought. After swallowing to moisten his throat he answered with a mumbled ‘Yes’ and slumped down, a hot flush coursing through him. He did not dare look at Jill but he did detect a smirk on Mark’s face.

  To his further embarrassment Carmen came over and handed him a cup of hot chocolate and he noted she had a peculiar smile on her face. He sat back and sipped the drink and looked around, his heart rate slowing down as it became apparent there was not going to be any trouble, no dreadful scene. Letitia returned with drinks for the policemen. To Andrew’s bemusement she seemed quite unfazed and gave them both dazzling smiles.

  The police asked all the questions again and Andrew had to describe what had happened. That took his mind off sex and placed it firmly back on death. Constable Fort said: “We’ve found the body. He is drowned. Sorry.”

  For half an hour the awful incident was relived. Then the police closed their notebooks and stood up. Constable Fort said, “That will be all for now thanks. We will ask you to come in tomorrow to sign these statements when we have typed them up. Well, thank you for your help. We will go and look for your friends the bullies now.”

  “I hope you catch them!” Carmen said savagely.

  Carmen and Letitia went to the front door to see the police out. Martin went to get another drink. Andrew sat back feeling even more confused and miserable. He looked up and met Jill’s gaze but could not determine what she was thinking.

  When Carmen and Letitia returned Mrs Schipholl said: “Well, I think you children had better keep away from that river from now on.”

  Martin cried out: “Oh mum! Fair go! We are always careful. Besides I’ve nearly finished my hovercraft now. I wanted to give her a test run tomorr
ow.”

  “Your what?” Mark asked.

  “My hovercraft. I’ve been working on it for three months now,” Martin replied.

  “Is that what your secret project out in the shed is?” Carmen asked.

  “Yes,” Martin replied. “I was going to surprise you tomorrow.”

  “Can we see it?” Mark asked.

  “I suppose so. Come on.”

  They all stood up. Andrew was still too absorbed by his guilty conscience to be really interested. He hung back as the others filed out, then went over to where Mrs Schipholl was collecting glasses and cups.

  “I’m sorry Mrs Schipholl. I... I..,” he muttered. He tried to look her in the eye but tears misted his vision. He felt thoroughly ashamed with himself.

  To his surprise Mrs Schipholl reached up and patted his shoulder. “Don’t worry about it. You were very brave Andrew, and it was just what you needed after such a shocking experience,” she replied.

  “No. I.. I meant about Letitia and me in the shower just now,” Andrew replied miserably.

  Mrs Schipholl squeezed his arm. “I know. Don’t worry. I know my own daughter. She’s no angel; and I think it was quite natural. Now go out and see Martin’s latest crazy invention and don’t get all upset about little things.”

  Andrew stood in confusion for a moment. Mrs Schipholl just smiled and went off to the kitchen. Unable to believe what had happened Andrew shook his head, then turned and followed the others out.

  The rain had stopped for the moment but had soaked the lawn. Andrew walked quickly across the soggy grass to the open door of the shed. Inside he found the others standing looking at some sort of machine which filled half the space. Martin had just pulled a canvas cover off it and was grinning at them. As Andrew came in Letitia looked at him, then moved over to stand beside him. That took half his attention off the hovercraft. His mind instantly went back to those glorious moments in the shower and he knew with a terrible certainty that he wanted to do it again; and this time to do it properly, to go all the way.

  With an effort he dragged his thoughts away from Letitia’s promise and studied the hovercraft. The ‘machine’ was built on a wooden frame and base. It was, so Martin told them, 5 metres long and 3 metres wide. The base was painted marine plywood with several longitudinal beams to give it strength. Right in the centre was a half metre wide circular hole with a metal cylinder mounted in it and a fan blade inside. There was wire mesh on top.

  The metal cylinder looked like a galvanized steel rubbish bin and Mark said so. Martin grinned. “You are right. It is. This is the no-frills version.”

  The fan and cylinder were to blow air down under the base to provide the lift. A ‘skirt’ of stiff rubber had been nailed and glued on around the outside of the base. At the corners, which had been rounded, the skirt was made of old car tyres cut to match.

  “They also provide buffers for when it sits on the ground,” Martin explained. Andrew saw that the rubber along the sides was secured to these by wire and was thick and curved inwards. In front of the vertical fan was a seat with some simple controls beside it. On the floor in front of the seat was a wooden cross bar with a screw through the middle. Two steel wires led back on either side of the seat to a rudder which was mounted vertically on a steel bracket at the stern.

  Behind the vertical fan were two motors, a four cylinder car engine to provide power for lift; and a two cylinder motor mower engine to drive the propeller which gave forward thrust. A horizontal drive shaft led out of it to two cog wheels (clearly from old bicycles). A bike chain led from the upper one to the axle of the fan. A second cog wheel led another chain aft from the smaller engine to where a large propeller about 1 metre in diameter was mounted in a wire safety cage on a welded steel bracket. The rudder was secured to a steel upright at the rear of this bracket.

  “Does it work?” Carmen asked.

  “I think so,” Martin replied. “I’ve only ever started it in the shed and it lifted off the floor but I’ve never taken it out for a test run. I’ve only just finished putting it together.”

  “Give it test run now,” Mark suggested.

  Martin looked doubtful. “I haven’t checked everything properly yet.”

  “Oh go on!” Letitia cried. “If it doesn’t work it won’t crash. It will just flop down on the ground won’t it?”

  “I made it to go along the river,” Martin replied.

  “On the river!” Jill exclaimed. “Won’t it sink?”

  Martin shook his head. “It shouldn’t. Real hovercraft work better on water than on land. They don’t like slopes or obstructions.”

  “What on earth would they use them for?” Jill asked. The boys all turned and looked at her in surprise.

  ‘How could anyone be so dumb!’ Andrew thought.

  Mark answered. "They have really big ones they use as car ferries across the English Channel. They’ve been doing that for fifty years at least.”

  Andrew nodded and agreed. “We saw two on board the USS Germantown. She is a Landing Ship Dock. The hovercraft are for carrying troops and vehicles from the ship to land them on the beach during amphibious assaults. The marines like them because they cope with waves a lot better than landing barges. Also it doesn’t matter what the state of the tide is as they work just as well over mud and soft sand as over water.”

  Jill looked at him and made a face. “Thank you for that lecture,” she said sharply.

  Andrew blushed and cursed himself. ‘You noddy! Now you have upset her.’

  Carmen said to Martin: “Please give it a test run Martin. We’d love to watch.”

  Martin nodded. “OK. You’d better all go outside. She’s a bit noisy, and I don’t know how easy she will be to control.”

  They all went out onto the driveway while Martin put on his glasses and bent to fiddle with the engines. After checking the fuel and oil and setting two levers on either side of the seat (The clutches, he explained), he started the smaller motor. He did this by the usual method of adjusting the fuel then pulling sharply on a wire which turned the motor. It spluttered, then roared into life. Snoopy, who had been examining the proceedings with interest, yelped and sprang back yapping.

  After adjusting the fuel again to get it to run smoothly, Martin bent to the other motor and checked the electrical connections from the battery to the starter motor. Then he climbed onto the seat and tested the controls. That done he pressed a switch. The big engine burst into life. Noise and exhaust fumes filled the shed.

  The group outside cheered and laughed. Snoopy increased his barking and ran from side to side excitedly. Martin grinned and waved them aside. Then he moved the lever beside his left side. This engaged the clutch of the main motor. The vertical fan began to whirr. The whole machine shook and moved. Spurts of dust blew out from under the skirts which bulged and grew larger. Andrew had been sceptical about whether the contraption would work but now he saw that it was actually lifting off the concrete.

  Martin grinned again and waved them aside. Once they were all off the driveway he gripped the lever beside his right knee and moved it. The levers had a hand-brake and were notched into a ratchet. As soon as the lever was released the drive chain moved and the propeller began to spin. Carmen whooped with delight and clapped her hands. Letitia jumped up and down, dividing Andrew’s attention between the hovercraft and her bouncing breasts.

  The hovercraft started to move. It came diagonally forward, knocking over several boxes and tins along the side of the shed. The watchers sprang back in alarm as the machine bumped its way out of the doorway. Martin wrestled with the controls, trying to steer it. The hovercraft slid off the driveway and across the lawn to bump into the side of the garage. Then it slid along the wall with increasing speed towards the street.

  Mrs Schipholl came rushing out of the house behind them as they ran along the driveway after the hovercraft. Martin could be seen doing things with the controls. The small engine spluttered and died, then surged into full power and the hovercra
ft ran forward, slewing across the driveway to slide across the garden beside the fence. Tiptoe the Cat suddenly sprang out of the flowers and streaked across the driveway, to vanish around the front of the house. The teenagers burst out laughing and Snoopy increased his frantic barking. Andrew ran after the hovercraft with the others, wondering if Martin had it under control.

  The hovercraft ran into the gatepost, bounced back so that its stern dug into the lawn, then shot forward and out across the street. A car screeched to a halt, narrowly missing it. The teenagers raced out after the hovercraft, followed by Snoopy, who was now beside himself with excitement.

  “I think it’s out of control!” Mark yelled.

  “I think so too,” Andrew agreed. “Try to grab it.”

  But where to grab it? There was only the vertical plywood rudder and then the propeller in its cage. As Andrew ran and tried to grip the rudder the hovercraft bumped up over the concrete curb and onto the grass of the park beyond. Abruptly the main engine note changed and the hovercraft slid to a stop on top of the grassy slope leading down to the river. Snoopy dashed forward, yapping and growling. Martin turned his head and grinned at them as they crowded around.

  “She doesn’t steer very well,” he shouted.

  “Can you fix that?” Carmen shouted back.

  “Yes, but it doesn’t really matter. She is for use on the open river, not driving along roads.”

  “What are you going to do now?” Mark yelled as Martin bent to engage the lift drive again.

  “Give her a test run on the river. She works OK on land,” Martin replied. He moved the lever and the engine note changed. The hovercraft lifted and began to slither and drag across the lawn.

  “Martin!” Andrew yelled. “What about the slope?”

  Martin may not have even heard him. In fact he was already absorbed with trying to steer the moving machine. It scraped the side of a tree and began to slither down the slope towards the river at a rapidly increasing pace, Snoopy yapping along behind it.

  It was instantly apparent to Andrew that the hovercraft was out of control. “Switch off! Switch off!” he shouted; but all the others were yelling too and Martin could be seen struggling with the steering and controls. The hovercraft slewed and went racing down the riverbank sideways. Andrew saw the rudder swing from side to side as Martin tried to correct the lateral movement.