“We could have a look,” Mark suggested.
Andrew nodded. “That’s what I thought,” he agreed.
Carmen was horrified: “Oh no you don’t Andrew! You’ve been in enough trouble today. You are going home and to bed. You look very shaken to me.”
Andrew made a face but he had to agree. He did feel dizzy and groggy and his head hurt. However he did not drop the idea. He waited till the girls went into Jill’s room again then said to Mark and Martin: “I reckon we should do a recce of the other bank to find this hideout of theirs.”
“So do I,” Mark agreed.
“When should we go?” Martin asked.
“Now, straight away,” Mark replied. “I want this business over so that Jill can relax and be allowed out.”
“I agree,” Andrew added.
CHAPTER 19
ACROSS GLEESONS WEIR
“What are you boys whispering about?” Mrs Cooper asked.
The three boys looked around guiltily. They had not heard her come into the room. Mark answered: “How we can keep Jill safe Mrs Cooper.”
Mrs Cooper gave a sad smile and shook her head. “She won’t be safe till these horrible youths are arrested. Now, what do you want for lunch?”
The boys could not think of a reasonable excuse to not have lunch. Besides, Andrew discovered that he was very hungry. “Can I have my clothes back soon Mrs Cooper? I feel pretty silly in this dressing gown.”
Mark laughed. “Or do you just feel pretty?” he teased.
Andrew blushed. Martin smiled. Mrs Cooper said she would look. His clothes had been rinsed and placed in the tumble drier. A few minutes later she returned to tell him that they were not yet dry. She then ushered them into the dining room and seated them. The girls were then called, including Jill. She came into the room rather shyly.
For a while they were all self-conscious and unsure how to react but the arrival of food helped them to relax and return to normality. Martin helped by saying: “I was in deep trouble this morning.”
“Oh yes? Why?” Andrew asked.
“A bloke from the City Council came around and warned me about using the hovercraft. Someone had complained and it seems that stretch of the river is reserved for canoes and swimmers. He said that if I wanted to use the hovercraft it had to be registered as a power boat and I needed a proper operator’s licence; and the only part of the river I could use it on is above the Black Weir at Pioneer Park.”
“Where the water skiers go?” Letitia commented.
Martin looked surprised. “Yes. How do you know about them?” he asked.
“I’ve been waterskiing with Frank,” Letitia replied.
Martin curled his lip. “Oh him!” he said with a sniff. Andrew felt a sharp jab of jealousy. Who was Frank? And how friendly was Letitia with him? From Martin’s reaction it would seem he did not approve of him. It was worrying. Once again Andrew wondered how he could get Letitia on her own.
After they had eaten Mrs Cooper brought in Andrew’s clothes. Andrew thankfully took them and hurried off to change. Mr Cooper said a hostile farewell and returned to work, after cautioning Jill and her mother on security. Jill went back to her bed. Andrew moved to sit on the sofa. He had a splitting headache and wondered how they could get away without Carmen stopping them. He knew that if he told her she would forbid it.
No plan presented itself and after a time the boys became restless. Carmen noted this and asked: “What’s bothering you lot?”
“Nothing.”
“Oh there is so!” she snorted. “You are all sitting there like the original cats on a hot tin roof. What is it you want to do? You want to be out chasing the ‘Killer Turtles’ don’t you?”
Andrew made a face and tried not to look guilty. “Something like that,” he admitted.
“Well forget it. I think you should go home to bed. You look quite pale and I think you should have a doctor look at you after those whacks on the head.”
Letitia agreed and added: “I want to go home anyway, but I’m not going on my own. Come on Martin, you take me.”
Martin shrugged and looked helplessly at the other two boys. “OK,” he muttered.
Carmen stood up. “Let’s say goodbye to Jill.”
Andrew stood but waited as she and Letitia went into Jill’s room. “It will have to be tomorrow then,” he whispered. As quickly as they could the boys concocted a plan to meet near Martin’s. Then they went in to say goodbye. Mark was staying so only four of them said goodbye to Mrs Cooper and left on their bikes.
As they reached the Charles Barton Bridge Letitia asked: “When are we meeting again?”
“Tomorrow afternoon, at your place,” Andrew replied.
“Alright. What are we doing?”
“Whatever you want,” Andrew replied, meeting her eye. She giggled and grinned and Carmen and Martin both frowned.
Letitia replied: “Why don’t we all go out tomorrow night? There’s a beaut new movie on at the ‘Warrina’.”
“OK,” Andrew agreed. He looked at Carmen and she nodded.
“We will ask Aunty Bev, but I wouldn’t be surprised after today’s incident that we are grounded for the rest of the holidays.”
Carmen was not far wrong. When they arrived home and Aunty Bev was appraised of the mornings actions she was horrified. She insisted that Andrew see the doctor and that took up two hours. The doctor cautioned that he might have some mild concussion and should go to bed and take things easy for a few days. After that Aunty Bev drove them both to the Mundingburra Police Station and had them give their statements and sign them (“to get them over and done with.”). They were then driven home and Andrew was ordered to bed.
He made no objection to this as he felt quite queasy and had a splitting headache. A couple of pain killers were gulped down with water and he lay down, to quickly fall asleep.
In the evening Uncle Mel had to be told the whole tale as well and he wasn’t impressed. He made a long telephone call to their parents and explained the trouble they were involved in. He then held the handpiece up to Carmen. “Your mother wants to talk to you both.”
Mrs Collins spoke at some length to Carmen who replied frequently: “Yes mum.”, “No mum.”, “Yes mum. Yes we will.”
The phone was then handed to Andrew and his mother asked how he was and told him to be more careful and to keep out of trouble. Andrew was bothered by that and went to some lengths to avoid promising anything. He badly wanted to see the gang captured and did not want too many restrictions on his actions; but nor did he want to stoop to deceit.
Later he lay in bed and pondered the events of the last week. The two things that stood out in his mind were the drowning of the urchin and his fierce lust for Letitia. That bothered him deeply as he thought of himself as a moral person and he had a traditional Christian view of sex out of wedlock. What hurt the most was the knowledge that, if the opportunity arose, he felt sure he would give in to temptation.
Just thinking about that made him aroused and he lay and fantasized for hours, before he slipped into an uneasy sleep.
On Thursday morning Andrew woke with a splitting headache. Because of the plan to search the area beyond Gleesons Weir; and because of his desire to see Letitia, he said nothing of this. When he was asked by Aunty Bev how he felt he replied ‘fine’. At breakfast Aunty Bev asked them what their plans were for the day.
To Andrew’s surprise Carmen said she was going to the ‘Willows’ Shopping Centre. Aunty Bev looked very worried. “Don’t you go on your own till the police arrest those thugs. You might be one of their targets.”
“I’m going with Letitia and a friend of hers,” Carmen replied.
That was unwelcome news to Andrew but when he was asked what his plans were he hid his disappointment and said: “I’m going over to Martin’s. We are going to work on his hovercraft.”
Aunty Bev frowned and said: “Don’t you go near that river. You are not to go swimming or canoeing. Is that clear?”
“
Yes Aunty Bev.”
So at 9am Andrew mounted his bike and set off alone. Twenty minutes later he was at the Palmetum near the turnoff to the university. Martin was already there, sitting under a tree.
“Any problems?” he asked.
Martin shook his head. “No. And I got the map.” He held up the map of Townsville.
Andrew leaned his bike against a tree and sat to study the map. “Where is the area we are going to?” he asked.
Martin opened the map and pointed. “We are here. The river curves south, then west to Gleesons Weir, then there is a short stretch which curves around to the Black Weir. Here, where the river curves again off to the south. This road here goes towards the uni, then bends and goes around the foothills of Mt Stuart. The area is in between the road and the river.”
Andrew studied the area. It was about two kilometres wide and the same long and was shown as undeveloped bush. “What is it like?”
“I’ve only been along the road once,” Martin replied. “But from memory it is just dry bush with lots of dirt tracks running through it. Kids go there to ride trail bikes, and to do things.”
“What kind of things?” Andrew asked.
“Oh you know, smoking, and drinking, and stripping stolen cars and things,” Martin replied.
Mark came riding along and joined them. Andrew said: “How is Jill? Have you seen her this morning?”
“Yes. I’ve just come from there. She is OK, but she is scared. She hasn’t said so, but I can tell.”
“Have the police caught the gang yet?” Martin asked.
Mark shook his head. “No. They called this morning while I was there to tell her mother that.”
“Do they know where we are going?” Andrew asked.
Mark shook his head. “No. I just said I was going over to Martin’s,” he replied.
“Then let’s get moving. It is nearly ten o’clock and I don’t like the look of those clouds,” Andrew said. He had no desire to be drenched and have to explain why to Aunty Bev.
The three boys mounted their bikes and rode along Angus Smith Drive until they came to the turnoff to the University. Up till then there were houses beside the road, but once the road passed the university and the bitumen ended there were no more houses. On both sides was dry bush:- savannah woodland- made up of waist-high grass and scattered trees, mostly black-trunked ironbarks.
As Martin had said the bush was criss-crossed by dirt tracks and it was not a particularly attractive area. The friends pedalled along until the road started climbing a long slope to a bend. At a side track Martin stopped and got off. He pointed to the right.
“See that hill with the houses on it? That is on the other side of Gleesons Weir. Jill’s place is just to the right of it. Those trees there are the river.”
Andrew looked. The line of darker trees looked to be at least a kilometre away. They were just visible through the bush. A deeply rutted vehicle track wound off in that direction. “Is that the track we follow?”
“I think so,” Martin replied.
“What do we do with our bikes?” Mark asked.
“Hide them here in the grass,” Martin answered.
There was no-one in sight so the three boys wheeled their bikes into the long grass and lay them down. Satisfied the bikes were not visible the boys set off down the track. By then Andrew was sweating freely, partly from the blazing tropical sun, but also from fear. His heart had begun to beat much faster than normal and he looked nervously around. In his mind they were sneaking into enemy territory. It annoyed him to admit, even to himself, that he was scared.
Both Mark and Martin appeared relaxed and that annoyed him even more as he did not want to be a coward. He tried to pretend he was not worried and even managed a couple of joking comments. All the same his eyes kept flicking in all directions to detect any movement. When a vehicle went past along the gravel road behind them he looked back at it anxiously but it showed only briefly as a flash of white and a cloud of dust. It continued on.
It took the boys ten minutes to walk to the weir. The track took them straight to it. Several side tracks led off on both sides and there were places where cross-tracks made by trail bikes went across. The boys passed several burnt out and rusting car bodies and the whole distance was littered with rubbish: empty beer cans, bottles and paper. A powerline ran in a clearing most of the way, the powerlines crossing the river just below the weir.
Gleesons Weir was no more impressive from that side. Water was flowing over it, but only a few centimetres deep. The boys stood at the end and looked across. Andrew studied the end of the drain, just visible as a tiny black spot in the shadows of the other bank. He pointed it out.
“I wonder if the police actually went along it to search it?” he said. He had no desire to do that himself but conceded it might be necessary.
“So which way do we go?” Mark asked.
Andrew looked in both directions. There was a stand of trees and undergrowth down to their right, and another along to the right. “This way first,” he said, leading them along a well worn track to the right.
The track was made by trail bikes and was very obvious and clear. They walked along it in single file, Andrew leading, then Mark. Martin came last. After a hundred paces they were in amongst the trees. A clearing of sorts showed where people had turned their bikes. The place was right on the bank of the small backwater which Andrew remembered exploring in the canoe. The whole area was a mess of litter and stank of unburied turds and other noxious smells.
“I don’t think this has anything to do with them,” Andrew commented. “This is not a hideout. Every kid for miles must know about it.”
“I agree,” Mark said.
Andrew pointed west across the powerline clearing. “The man I spoke to yesterday said he thought the gang had a hideout upstream. We will go that way,” he said. The others accepted his leadership without question so he led them back to the end of the weir. Two tracks went on along the river bank from there. One went down amongst the weeds and tall guinea grass beside the water. The other led around behind the trees and thorn bushes which grew thickly on top of the bank.
Because the right hand track seemed to just lead to the water Andrew took the left track. This was easy to follow. After a hundred metres the track split. The right fork went in under a stand of large green trees. The other skirted around on the edge of the open country. Just at that point it dipped across a small gully. As the boys started across the gully the sound of voices was heard.
Andrew stopped and held up his hand. They stopped and listened. Male voices. Young male voices! Andrew pointed. Over to the right. The ground rose to a low ridge which was the top of the river bank. The thorn trees grew thickly on it but there was not much undergrowth, just lots of prickly bushes and weeds with burrs on them. Andrew turned, held his finger to his lips, and made his way up through the weeds to the top of the bank.
As he reached the top he heard a youth laugh. ‘Was that one of the gang?’ It sounded like it. His heart now beating very fast he crept forward from tree to tree to try to get a better look. The voices were down beside the water under some overhanging branches. A person came into view, a youth of about their own age. Not one of the gang. He was cat-calling and teasing other boys who were further along.
Andrew shook his head. “Not them. Go back.”
He saw movement and a second boy came into sight, walking so fast amid the long grass that Andrew realized that the track along the river bank must be easy to follow. He was also struck by a strong desire not to be seen. Being called a Peeping Tom was not something he relished.
In his desire not to be seen Andrew went so fast that he did not take enough care. He snagged his leg on a young thorn tree. An involuntary yelp escaped and he stopped and backed up, then eased the thorns free. They stung and blood sprang to the surface in a dozen places, tiny red drops. Several thorn holes began to trickle blood but Andrew knew it would soon stop.
Martin pointed at his leg. �
�You are bleeding,” he observed.
“It’s nothing. It won’t kill me,” Andrew replied.
“No, but tetanus or blood poisoning might. When did you last have an injection?” Mark asked.
“At the hospital the other day when the doctor sewed this up,” Andrew replied, pointing to his leg. While they stood there mosquitoes arrived in dozens and they were voracious. The boys all slapped at them as they landed.
“Holy Moses! These mozzies are hungry!” Martin cried in exasperation as he squashed another couple.
The boys made their way back to the track they had been following. Andrew led them on along it. He chose to go in under the trees and came to a very deep gully with steep sides. The whole area was a criss-cross of trail bike tracks and the creek banks were worn and greasy from the rain. The bottom of the gully was wet and slushy. Having no real option Andrew slithered down, followed by the others. The track then wound along the bed of the gully under the large trees before dividing again.
The right hand track went up onto the river bank again and the left hand one went on along the gully, which now seemed to be running parallel to the river. Andrew chose the right hand track. The boys climbed up onto a flat area covered with burrs and bush which was about a hundred metres wide. The trees gave the impression of a sort of forest. The track wound through this till it linked with another which came in from the right.
“This must be the track those other kids are on,” Andrew suggested. It was also deeply worn and rutted by trail bikes and was quite muddy from the rain. They walked along it. After about a hundred metres the track turned abruptly right and dropped down under more large trees onto a swampy flat bounded by a thick belt of tall reeds and green bushes. The whole place was gloomy and made up a real jungle.
“This is more like it,” Andrew muttered. “This is the sort of place where the gang might have a hideout.”
The track wound along through the tangle, the bottom mostly mud and slush. Numerous tyre marks and boot prints indicated it was frequently used.
Ross River Fever Page 23
