Coasts of Cape York (42 page)

“Our aeroplane!” Willy cried, his anger rising along with his suspicions.

“Willy!” his father called warningly.

“It is ours! He's tricked us out of it,” Willy cried. He turned to Capt Kirk and said, “You shouldn't take it sir.”

“Why not?” Capt Kirk demanded. “I have been contracted to carry cargo for Mr Jenkins today and his money is as good as yours.”

Willy was stunned. Several comments he had heard now fitted into place. “He has contracted you? Or was it Mr Jemmerling?” he demanded.

Capt Kirk looked annoyed and replied, “I am not at liberty to disclose information that is ‘Commercial-in-Confidence'. As long as the cargo is legal then I will carry it. I have a business to run.”

Mr Jemmerling held out his folder. “We have a permit to remove the wreck Captain.”

Willy felt really betrayed and let down. He cried, “Maybe, but I'll bet you don't have a permit to bulldoze all that bush in the National Park there!”

Mr Jemmerling gave Willy a hostile look but did not reply. Willy turned to Capt Kirk and cried, “Oh sir! You are helping our enemies! You are letting us down.”

This time Capt Kirk frowned. “Don't you talk to me like that boy! I am just running a shipping business. As it is I am going out of my way to help, giving your group special rates. If you speak to me like that I will charge the full charter cost, even if you go back early.”

Once again Willy's father called on him to be quiet. But Willy was really upset. “But it's not fair!” he shouted.

Capt Kirk scowled and snapped back, “Listen lad, it costs thousands of dollars a day to run a vessel like the
Wewak.
I have a family to feed and a business to look after so I can't do this as a charity. If you keep on like this you will not be welcome on my ship. Then you can find some other way to get back to Cairns. And you can find another ship for your next trip.”

Willy's mother now pushed forward. “Willy! That is enough talk like that! Capt Kirk is right. He is only doing his job and he has employees to pay. So stop this silly talk.” She turned to Capt Kirk and said, “I'm sorry Mr Kirk. It is just that Willy has been looking forward to finding the wreck and is now very disappointed.”

Willy was, but he was also appalled at what he had said. The thought that he might be responsible for his parents and the Becks paying many thousands of dollars to hire the
Wewak
for several more days- and that the LCT might not be available for the trip after Christmas- quickly calmed him. He swallowed and bit back tears, then said to Capt Kirk, “Sorry sir. I'm just a bit upset.”

“Humpf! Well, yes. Thank you. Now, let's get things moving. Mr Beck, you said you would like to have your party transported back today?”

“That's right,” Mr Beck said.

“You will have to travel with Mr Jemmerling's driver,” Capt Kirk said.

“That's alright,” Mr Beck replied. He gave Mr Jemmerling a hard look and then turned to check that the others had no problem with that.

Willy wanted to say that he would rather be marooned than travel in the same ship as Mr Jemmerling but he managed to hold his tongue. Instead he turned and walked away, deeply embarrassed and upset. One of the reasons for leaving quickly was that tears had sprung into his eyes and he did not want anyone to see them. Marjorie hurried after him and he quickly wiped his face and tried to pretend he was alright.

The group returned to their camp and packed up. Capt Kirk went back to the
Wewak
and conned the LCT in to the beach on the incoming tide. By 10:00 the barge was ashore and the truck was driven aboard. By then the camping gear had been loaded on the 4 Wheelers and they were driven along the beach and up the ramp onto the LCT. The others walked along, carrying their bags.

By the time they arrived at the landing craft they were all sweating and Willy was getting a headache from the fierce glare off the sea and sand. He saw Mr Jemmerling talking on a radio in the white 4WD and looked away, still feeling deeply angry at the man. He made his way up onto the tank deck and walked aft past the truck. In the tank deck it was like an oven and he found it a relief to climb up to the main deck level.

As Willy dropped his bag under the canvas awning just forward of the superstructure his ears detected the unmistakeable hum of aero engines. He moved to the rail and looked out. Into view from the south came a dark, twin-engine aircraft. Willy recognized the distinctive silhouette of a ‘Catalina'. ‘The
Pterodactyl
. Maybe Jemmerling isn't travelling with us?' he thought.

He wasn't. The ‘Catalina' landed, sent a boat crewed by Mr Hobbs ashore and picked Mr Jemmerling up, took him out to the flying boat which then took off. Mr Jenkins drove off in the white 4WD and only one of Mr Jemmerling's men, the truck driver, a solid looking middle-aged man name Al, boarded the
Wewak
.

As soon as the truck was secured by chains and turnbuckles the
Wewak
reversed off the beach. This time Willy noted that the LCT had dropped a stern anchor on the way in and a winch attached to its cable helped haul the barge off the sand. But Willy wasn't really interested. He just stood at the port rail and sulked.

Once well clear of the shallows
Wewak
started moving slow ahead and turned to port. Once she was facing east and parallel to the beach the engines were moved to cruising speed and the homeward journey begun. Willy stood staring out to sea but hardly noted the distant islands and clouds. Only when he was called inside for lunch did he move.

The voyage back was not a happy cruise. Willy brooded and mostly stood at the starboard rail and watched the coastline slide by. He was annoyed that both of his parents quite happily spoke to Mr Jemmerling's man. Willy knew that he was being churlish about the situation and that fuelled his anger. The man was only doing his job and had not even been aware of any rivalry so was blameless. But Willy still thought of him as being a member of the enemy camp and ignored him.

In the evening, as the
Wewak
came south past Cape Flattery, Willy sat outside with Marjorie. She snuggled up and tried to comfort him but he wasn't in the mood. Not only did he intensely dislike the feel of sticky skin on sticky skin but he did not want the ‘We-know-what-ya-doing!' looks from the others. His rejection put her in a bad mood and she also began to sulk.

“It's not the end of the world!” she cried, clearly miffed. Then she went off inside, leaving him to his dejection.

What didn't help was being able to look at the truck and its tarpaulin covered cargo. It was almost as though it was being flaunted as a trophy to irritate, although he knew this wasn't so. What was also worrying Willy was the thought that Mr Jemmerling might also beat them to the second wreck, the ‘Beaufighter'. He was deeply bothered by the fact that Capt Kirk had said in Mr Jemmerling's hearing that the group planned a second trip. Now he was sure that Mr Jemmerling knew that there was another wreck.

 

 

CHAPTER 27

 

ANXIOUS HOLIDAY

 

For Willy the journey back to Cairns was a time of anxiety and dejection. During the night he slept badly, experiencing dreams of pushing endlessly through scrub and swamps only to always arrive too late. By daylight the
Wewak
was abeam of Cape Tribulation, having by-passed Cooktown. For the next eight hours Willy grouched and brooded until both his mother and his father separately told him to snap out of it.

“But Mr Jemmerling might beat us to the ‘Beaufighter' too!” Willy snapped back.

“So what?” his father replied. “Just think of it as a race and enjoy the competition.”

Willy knew that was sound advice but he found it hard to do. At the back of his mind was the constant niggling worry that it would not be a fair competition; that Mr Jemmerling was spying on them. ‘He may even have a paid spy in our ranks,' he thought unhappily, Stick's face flitting across his mind.

At 2:15 pm the
Wewak
turned into the main shipping channel at Cairns. Willy stood with his friends at the starboard rail and watched the city grow larger as they got closer. The weather had been building up and the bow of the barge was thumping into waves continually, making her shudder, as well as roll and twist. That got Marjorie feeling woozy and Stick looked unhappy. For Willy it merely meant hanging on. Now he just wanted to get home.

Andrew came past and smiled. “Won't be long now,” he said cheerfully.

“Can't be too soon for me,” Willy said.

Andrew shrugged. “I think it's great. I'm really looking forward to next week.”

“What happens then?”

“We are taking cargo to Thursday Island,” Andrew replied. Then he grinned and added, “The mate tells me it will mostly be a load of beer. He says the nickname for T. I. is ‘Thirsty Island'.”

Willy knew that both Carmen and Andrew were staying on as crew members of the
Wewak.
He asked, “Will you be home for Christmas?”

Andrew nodded. “Just. We are due back on the twenty third. That will give us time to do some Christmas shopping,” he said.

“Oh! Christmas shopping!” Willy groaned.

Marjorie squeezed his arm and snuggled against him. “Ooh! I like shopping. What are you giving me for Christmas Willy?” she asked.

Willy felt trapped. He had not yet decided. “What would you like?” he asked.

“You know what I like,” she said with an impish grin.

“Apart from that!” Willy cried. Then he blushed when the others all laughed and teased them. “You know what I mean!” he said in exasperation.

“We know alright!” Stick teased, causing Willy to blush some more.

Andrew shook his head and moved on aft. The conversation moved to what else they could do during the holidays seeing they were finishing the expedition five days early. Carmen came past and heard this. She grinned and said, “You could always go looking for that crashed plane in the jungle up behind Castor.”

This suggestion drew cries of mock horror. More sensible suggestions followed: swimming, picnics, parties, shopping. The conversation continued in a desultory way until the
Wewak
had passed the main wharves, navy base and bulk sugar terminal. Off the mouth of Smiths Creek the
Wewak
was met by a tug and manoeuvred so that its bow ramp was placed on a concrete ramp. The tug was necessary as the tidal flow would have otherwise kept swinging the LCT's stern around.

While this was going on the lashings securing the truck carrying the ‘Kittyhawk' were cast off. As the driver climbed into his cab Willy's father said, “He is driving it all the way to Mr Jemmerling's museum in New South Wales.”

When the bow ramp was lowered the first person Willy saw standing on the shore was Mr Jemmerling. He had several photographers with him and that peeved Willy even more. ‘He is big-noting himself with the press,' he thought sourly.

The 4 Wheelers and the truck were driven off and then the bow ramp winched back up. The tug, which had been pushing sideways against the stern, tooted and backed away, then the LCT reversed back out into Trinity Inlet. A few minutes later it was heading up Smiths Creek to Portsmith, proceeding slowly against the outgoing tide. As they came opposite the wharf at Portsmith Willy saw Graham, his sister and mother standing there. Graham waved and he gave a half-hearted wave back. The
Wewak
did some manoeuvring with one screw pushing forward and the other aft until the vessel had done a 180 degree turn and was facing back down the creek. She was then edged in against the wharf and tied up.

As soon as the gangway was in place farewells were said. Willy now felt so ashamed of how he had spoken to Capt Kirk that he avoided him but he did thank the other members of the crew. As he made his way down onto the wharf he hoped his omission had not been noticed but inside he did not feel good. ‘I should have been brave enough to do the good-mannered thing,' he told himself. Despising himself for being a weakling he made his way back aboard and sought out Capt Kirk.

“Thank you sir, and sorry for my rudeness,” he said.

Capt Kirk gave him a hard look, then nodded and accepted the outstretched hand. “Don't be so quick to rush to judgement young man,” he said. Then he smiled and said, “See you next voyage.”

Feeling much better Willy made his way ashore. “Hello Graham, how are you? How did your promotion course go?” he asked.

“OK,” Graham replied.

Kylie snorted. “OK indeed! He topped the warrant officers course Willy.”

“Hi Kylie. Well done Graham. How did your mates do?” Willy asked.

“Pete topped the sergeants course; Steve came ninth, and Roger came seventeenth out of two hundred on the corporals course,” Graham replied.

Willy really wanted to ask how Barbara had done but Marjorie had now joined him so he did not dare. Instead he said, “We didn't get the plane. Mr Jemmerling beat us to it.”

“I know,” Graham answered. “Dad told us.”

The reference to Capt Kirk made Willy feel embarrassed. To keep the conversation going he said, “What are you planning to do for the holidays?”

Graham made a face and so did Kylie. Graham gestured to the
Wewak
and said, “Acting as voluntary unpaid crew on the
Bounty
with Captain Bligh,” he grumbled.

Mrs Kirk heard this and said, “Graham, don't speak about your father like that. You know it is necessary.”

Graham made a wry face. Willy said, “Unpaid?”

Graham nodded. “That's right. The whole family is going to sea. Mum takes over from the cook and us kids become deckhands. Alex is already at sea on the
Malita
.”

Willy was surprised. “Is that necessary?” he asked.

Graham's mouth tightened into a grim line. “Yes. It is the only way dad can afford to allow the crew to take annual leave. It's getting worse every year. As the roads in Cape York Peninsula get better there is less trade for the coastal shipping. So the family have to help out.”