Ross River Fever

by Christopher Cummings

  Within another dozen strokes Andrew knew he was in real trouble. His breath was coming in hot gasps and his arms felt like lead. He knew he was rapidly tiring and after another five strokes his right foot scraped painfully against the rough concrete of the weir. He glanced over his shoulder and noted that he had been swept back against the weir by the current, but not in the same place. About ten metres away were Mark and Carmen helping Jill to her feet.

  Andrew now braced his feet against the concrete wall and half-walked, half swam towards the bank. Clumps of reeds and guinea grass ahead appeared closer with each step and that gave him heart. ‘I’m winning! Keep fighting!’ he told himself. He struggled on and found the current weaker. After a few more strokes he was in amongst the long grass and knew he was safe. Now he had something to grab. A few more strokes had him at the end of the weir and he scrambled out, skinning his knees in the process.

  The effort had exhausted him so all he could do was sit on the end of the weir and watch as Jill was helped back to the safety of the bank. All three joined Andrew and flopped down. Andrew was trembling and gasping for breath. He wiped water from his eyes.

  “That was close! We won’t cross there again,” he said.

  Jill flopped down, pale and trembling. “I thought I was dead!” she sobbed. She began to weep. Mark took his cue and held her.

  Carmen shook her head and stared at the water. “This river is deadly,” she muttered. “That is nearly three drownings in one day!”

  “Four. I thought I was a goner then too,” Andrew replied. With that he began to shake and tears streamed down his cheeks.

  Carmen knelt and hugged him. “Oh yes! And that was wonderful, grabbing Jill like that. You saved her life.”

  For a moment Andrew could not speak. He was too upset. He shook and shivered and tried to stop the tears. To save his pride he managed to say: “I’m getting sick of falling in that river. That is the third lot of clothes I have soaked today. And I’ve lost my gym boots!” He had dropped them as he had grabbed at Jill.

  Carmen soothed him and he shrugged. “Come on. I’m getting cold. Let’s go home the other way, across the bridge.”

  Carmen took note of his blue lips and goose bumps. “Back to the Schipholl’s for another hot shower I think,” she said firmly. Andrew protested but Mark agreed. They rose and set off, walking quickly as the wind had a real chill in it and more rain could be seen heading their way.

  It was a very surprised Mrs Schipholl who answered the door bell but she at once whisked them inside and called Letitia from her room. She ran to Andrew, the front of her dressing gown flowing open to reveal a tantalizing glimpse of long, smooth thighs. She took Andrew’s hand and led him straight through to the back shower while Carmen and Mrs Schipholl took charge of Jill.

  Half an hour later they all sat in the lounge room, Andrew and Mark again dressed in some of Martin’s old clothes. Martin had been called in from out in the shed where he had begun cleaning his hovercraft. The incident was discussed at length.

  Mrs Schipholl was angry. “You children should know better! When the water is flowing over those weirs they are far too dangerous to cross. Water is always stronger than it looks and it is quite unforgiving.”

  Andrew blushed and nodded. He knew they had been taking a silly risk but had badly underestimated it. Mrs Schipholl knelt to dab iodine on his scratches. Andrew winced as the antiseptic stung the cuts.

  “Did that hurt?” Mrs Schipholl asked. “Good! That will remind you not to take silly risks. Now, I think you had all better get home and into bed or you will end up sick. I will drive you this time.”

  “Can I come too?” Letitia asked.

  “No! There isn’t room. You go to bed too young miss!” Mrs Schipholl ordered.

  The friends were shepherded out to the garage and into Mrs Schipholl’s car. As they drove out the rain began again. Andrew was squeezed in between Carmen and Jill. Jill gave him a grateful smile which set him speculating again. Mark was dropped off first, then Jill, and Carmen and Andrew last. Mrs Schipholl came in with them and described their day’s adventures to Aunty Bev, who was horrified.

  The upshot was that the two were bundled into bed with hot water bottles and hot drinks. They both protested this and were allowed to lie in front of the TV with rugs and quilts to keep them warm- which led to a dispute over what they would watch- settled by Aunty Bev who set the TV on the channel she wanted.

  “If you don’t like it you can go to bed!”

  When Uncle Mel came home the whole story had to be told again. By then Andrew had recovered somewhat but he still felt very depressed over the drowning and was very tired. Uncle Mel heard the story and said: “I think you kids had better keep away from that river. It sounds very dangerous; and you are liable to get sick, even if you don’t drown yourselves.”

  “Yes,” agreed Aunty Bev. “You will end up with Ross River Fever or Dengue Fever or something.”

  Andrew didn’t argue. His attention was now focused on Letitia and the river did not figure large in that fantasy. That night he lay awake for hours, brooding over the drowning and death- and fantasizing about having sex with Letitia. Repeatedly he remembered those couple of heavenly minutes in the shower.

  To him the memory was marvellous- and also very adult and frightening. The idea of doing ‘it’ began to dominate his mind, driving the gloom of death into the background. That raised the moral issues of whether he should do it before he was married or not. At least he felt sure Letitia was not a virgin so he did not feel too bad about that aspect of it.

  In fact, when he faced up to it, he realized she was a bit of a tart. That saddened him but he still told himself he loved her, that it wasn’t just lust. He went to sleep very aroused and dreamed of Letitia; the usual sort of dream where he was just about to succeed but something happened to stop it.

  CHAPTER 16

  FRUSTRATED !

  When Andrew woke the next morning he felt feverish and exhausted. For about half an hour he just lay in bed listlessly. Only when Carmen came in to call him for breakfast did he sit up. She gave him a worried look.

  “Are you OK Andrew?” she asked.

  Andrew nodded. “Yes. Just a bit down.”

  “You thinking about yesterday?” Carmen asked.

  In truth Andrew had not been but now that she reminded him the horror of the drowning and near drownings flooded back. He bit his lip but shook his head. “Not specifically. I just feel worn out and depressed.”

  “Then I think we should have an easy day today, no strenuous activity or running around, and definitely no swimming.”

  “What did you have in mind?” Andrew asked.

  “We could just stay home and read or watch TV. Did you have anything in mind?” Carmen replied.

  Andrew did, all centred on Letitia. The thought made him blush but he said: “I would like to go over to the Schipholl’s.”

  Carmen smiled, then looked serious. “Now Andrew, don’t get serious about Letitia. She is not really interested in you. You will just get hurt.”

  “I won’t!” Andrew insisted, blushing even more furiously.

  Carmen made a face and said: “You be careful. Don’t do anything silly.”

  “I don’t know what you mean,” Andrew protested, going even redder.

  “Oh you do so! She is under age and don’t you forget it. I don’t care how much of a come on she gives you, you resist,” Carmen replied angrily.

  Andrew wanted to deny that such a thing was on his mind but knew whatever he said would sound unconvincing so he just blushed and did not reply. Instead he got up and went to have breakfast. But just standing up brought home to him how worn out he felt as he had a short giddy spell and broke into the shivers several times. He made light of these however as he did not want Aunty Bev to ‘ground’ him.

  As they ate breakfast heavy rain began. It was a real tropical downpour which gushed from the downpipes and quickly flooded the gutters and turned the lawn into a sodden g
reen mush. Andrew looked gloomily out the window at it.

  “I thought Townsville was a dry place.”

  Aunty Bev laughed. “It is usually but this is the wet season,” she replied.

  “No canoeing today,” Andrew muttered.

  Aunty Bev shook her head. “I should think not! I wish you children would keep away from that river. One drowning is enough!” she snapped.

  “Have... Have they found the body yet?” Andrew asked.

  “Yes they have. The story is in the paper there,” Aunty Bev replied, indicating the newspaper on the table.

  Andrew bit his lip and brooded. The awful memories flooded back and he felt even sicker. That quite ruined his appetite but Aunty Bev insisted he eat a good breakfast. With an effort he forced the food down. Then he took himself to the bathroom to wash.

  Standing in the shower brought back memories of being with Letitia and that made him very aroused. He stood and fantasized about what they might do together. This made him even more frustrated. Later he lay with a book and looked out at the drizzle, dreaming of how he could get Letitia alone. A phone call revealed that she had gone shopping with her mother and would not be home till after lunch.

  Martin was at home alone and said he was working on repairs to the hovercraft. “I should have it done by lunchtime. Would you like to come over after lunch to see how she goes?” he asked.

  “I’d like to. I’ll ask Carmen,” Andrew replied.

  “Thanks. Could you ask Mark and Jill too?” Martin asked.

  “If you want.”

  “Yes please,” Martin replied.

  Feeling considerably happier Andrew put this scheme to Carmen. She looked doubtful but had no other plans. “We’d better take our bathers and towel this time in case we get wet,” she added.

  Andrew cheered up a lot and went to his bed and lay down to read. To his surprise he fell into a deep sleep from which he surfaced into a hot flush followed by a bout of shivering.

  After lunch Martin phoned to say that he had repaired the hovercraft. “I’ve given both engines a test run in the shed but I would like some help to take her out for a trial run,” he explained.

  Andrew answered by asking: “Are you allowed to?”

  “Mum says I can if I have you and Mark there in case of problems,” Martin replied.

  “What about the rain?” Andrew asked, looking out of the window. The rain had eased to occasional showers but there were still plenty of threatening grey clouds off to the east.

  “I think it will ease up. It won’t matter will it? Just wear a raincoat, or your bathers,” Martin said.

  “Do you still want me to ring Mark?” Andrew asked.

  “Yes please.”

  So it was arranged. Andrew phoned Mark and he said that he and Jill would come over. Carmen asked Aunty Bev to drive them over to the Schipholl’s and organized bathers, towels and other oddments into a carry bag. By 2pm they had all gathered at the Schipholl’s and the rain was holding off.

  Letitia gave Andrew a big smile when he arrived, but so did Jill. Letitia wore her bikini with a T-shirt over the top and looked very curvy. Jill wore white, tight shorts and a cotton shirt over her one-piece swimsuit. To Andrew she looked very sexy. Mark still did not look happy, especially when Jill spoke to Andrew.

  Andrew’s main ambition now was to get Letitia alone so they could have ‘a bit of a pash’, but they were not given any opportunity. First they had to play with Snoopy the dog, then Terry the Tortoise, then feed the fish and admire the now repaired model of the Cutty Sark. During all of this either Carmen or Jill, or both, were always with them. That put Andrew into a grumpy mood but he could not think of a plan to get Letitia away on her own that was not very obvious.

  Mrs Schipholl was not happy about them going near the river, or about the hovercraft and she insisted that a canoe and life jackets be carried down to the river first. Once that was done they all went back up to the shed.

  This time another canvas shrouded machine right at the back of the shed caught Andrew’s attention.

  “What is that Martin? Is it another of your secret inventions?”

  Martin looked and nodded: “Yes. It is my ‘submercycle’.”

  “Your what?”

  “My ‘submercycle’,” Martin replied. He stopped fiddling with the main engine of the hovercraft and made his way into the back of the shed. With a theatrical flourish he lifted the canvas cover. This revealed a large transparent plastic ‘bubble’ secured over the top of a bicycle. Closer inspection by a curious Andrew revealed that the ‘submercycle’ had a propeller at the stern which was driven by the bicycle chain drive; plus a rudder and elevators (‘Hydroplanes,’ Martin insisted). These were linked to the handlebars by thin steel wire ropes.

  “What on earth does it do?” Mark asked.

  “It is a simple submarine,” Martin explained. “You pedal and the propeller pushes it along. Then, by turning the hydroplanes into the down position it will dive under the water. The plastic bubble acts as a diving bell and keeps enough air in it to breathe and for buoyancy.”

  “Does it work?” Jill asked.

  Martin looked hurt. “Of course it does! I am going to make a bigger two-seater version next and add a few refinements like lights and an oxygen bottle and so on.”

  “Can we try it out too?” Andrew asked.

  Martin shook his head. “No. Too dangerous in the river. I tried it once and it just gets all tangled up by the weeds.”

  Andrew had a vivid mental picture of the ensnaring weeds and of murky, black water and shuddered. “Yes, I can imagine that,” he agreed.

  Martin replaced the cover over his submercycle and went back to the hovercraft. After a few more checks he put on a life jacket, then climbed aboard and waved them all out of the shed. At the flick of a switch the main engine burst into smoky life.

  This time Tiptoe the cat sprang out from behind some boxes in the shed and streaked off into the garden. The watching group burst into laughter. Snoopy started barking and backed out of the shed, obviously not happy with the monster. Martin grinned and started the small engine. By then the air pressure had built up underneath and the hovercraft had lifted itself off the concrete and was blowing dust and blue smoke in all directions.

  This time the exit from the shed was controlled by two ropes tied to the seat which were held by the others. The speed was also held down as they went along the driveway to the street. Andrew could not help being impressed as he watched the machine bump and slither across the road and up over the concrete kerbing.

  Once they had it on top of the grassy slope leading down to the river Martin had them turn it around until it was stern on to the river. Then he allowed it to slide slowly backwards downhill by easing the propeller’s thrust. The four friends held the ropes and helped to steady and slow its backwards motion. In this way it was eased down to the small beach and then out onto the water.

  The stern dipped as it reached the water but only briefly. Within a minute the hovercraft was riding on the water just out from the shore. Spray showered out in all directions. Martin gave them a huge grin and called on them to get the rescue team into their canoe. Andrew, Carmen and Mark took this role, leaving Letitia and Jill on the shore. As soon as the canoe was afloat and ready Martin called on Mark to throw in the tow ropes. These were rolled up and shoved under the seat.

  “You need a bag or container for those,” Mark yelled. “They could end up wrapped around your engine or propeller otherwise.”

  Martin nodded agreement but said: “OK, push the bow around so she is facing the river.”

  Mark did this. The hovercraft only needed a good shove to send it spinning and sliding off across the surface of the water. As soon as the bow had turned to face the open river Martin opened the throttle of the propeller motor. Blue smoke billowed as the motor roared. The stern dipped and the hovercraft began to move forward.

  Andrew watched in astonished admiration as the hovercraft roared out across the rive
r. It drove across the low waves with hardly a ripple, although spray was hurled up and out in large quantities. As Martin opened the throttle further the hovercraft increased speed until it appeared to streak across the surface.

  “We’d better follow,” Carmen suggested as the hovercraft rapidly drew away from them. Suiting actions to her words she dipped her paddle in and drove it back.

  Andrew also started paddling. As he did he watched the hovercraft with some misgivings, then said: “He’d better turn soon or he will be in trouble.”

  The hovercraft was angling across the river in the direction of Aplins Weir and the reeds and long grass on the far bank appeared to be getting closer by the moment. Martin obviously thought so too as they saw the rudder put over to turn the hovercraft to starboard. The result was astonishing. The hovercraft turned on its axis but did not change direction. It went sliding sideways across the water at full speed.

  Martin tried to correct this by waggling the rudder but this merely had the effect of making the hovercraft start to rotate on its axis, still slithering across the surface at an astonishing speed. Before he could get the hovercraft under control it drove into the reeds along the other shore.

  To the watchers it looked as though the reeds had parted and swallowed it up. The hovercraft vanished from sight into a mass of tall grass, only the trail of flattened reeds showing where it had entered. The engine faltered and died, then spluttered and picked up again. They heard it rev and roar. Blue smoke rose from the reeds.

  “Paddle! Martin’s in trouble!” Carmen cried. They increased their rate of paddling, but were still at least two hundred metres from the place. Then, before their incredulous eyes, the hovercraft burst into view, laying flat another swathe of reeds as it surged back out onto the open river.

  As soon as the hovercraft was free of the reeds Martin turned the rudder and this time eased up on the throttle. Once again the hovercraft turned side on and slid across the surface. Andrew now appreciated the problem: the craft had no keel, or contact with the water, so its resistance was minimal.