Coasts of Cape York (61 page)

Andrew just grunted, then went to the side and began climbing into the rubber boat. “Come on Sis, pass down that diving gear. We've only got about an hour of daylight left.”

Willy now moved. He was determined not to be left behind so he climbed down into the boat. Carmen said, “Where are you going Willy?”

“You are taking Mr Jemmerling and me to the ‘Catalina' first,” he said. “Come on Mr Jemmerling.”

To Willy's relief Mr Jemmerling did as he was told. Five minutes later Willy clambered into the ‘Catalina' and sat himself in the small saloon, feeling very anxious but also very pleased. Mr Jemmerling joined him and called Harvey to get them some coffee and biscuits. Then he laughed and said, “You are a pretty determined chap aren't you young William?”

Willy could only nod and smile. ‘I am,' he told himself. ‘When I think it matters.'

 

 

CHAPTER 39

 

WILLY IS BRAVE

 

By 5:45pm Andrew, Carmen, Mr Hobbs, the diving gear and the rubber boat were all on board the ‘Catalina'. As soon as the door was locked the engines were started and the plane took off. Willy again sat behind the pilot with Mr Jemmerling beside him. Jacob sat with Andrew, Carmen, Hobbs and Harvey in the cabin.

The ‘Catalina' flew low and fast, not bothering to climb above 1000 feet. Once again they sped across Princess Charlotte Bay and then over the Flinders Group and out to sea. As they flew along Mr Jemmerling sent several long radio messages to the authorities, describing the situation and what they were doing about it.  He also checked the latest weather warnings.  To Willy's relief the weather forecast for their area was for light northerly winds. The cyclone was now right across near the western side of Cape York Peninsula and was likely to go out into the Gulf of Carpentaria. ‘It won't bother us anymore at least,' he thought.

By 6:10pm they were over Crab Reef.  Five minutes were spent circling, to allow Andrew and Carmen a chance to see the wrecks and also to check the lagoon for obstructions. Willy also had a good look for sharks but did not see any. The pilot then put the aircraft down.

Inside the lagoon the water was almost flat calm and the landing was very smooth. The ‘Catalina' taxied to near where the bow of the
Saurian
was just visible. It was awash, with only a few centimetres sticking out. 
Pterodactyl
was anchored as close as they dared to the wreck of the launch but well clear of the coral.

Down in the cabin Andrew and Carmen prepared to dive. Willy went down but kept out of their way by sitting in the cabin. Mr Hobbs inflated the rubber boat and launched it, then went aboard and held it ready. Jacob peered out of the saloon door, looking miserable. Mr Jemmerling stood at the bottom of the flight deck steps and fussed.

“Don't you children get caught up by something and drown,” he said.

Carmen looked at him with a look of annoyance. “We won't! We do have a good idea of what we are doing. If there is any possibility of getting snagged we won't go in.” She returned to testing the pressure gauges on the tanks. “Hmm. We only have enough air for about fifteen minutes anyway.”

“Twenty minutes,” Andrew said.

As they sorted out weight belts and ropes Willy noted that they were both still wearing their clothes. “Aren't you going to wear wetsuits?” he asked.

Andrew shook his head. “They were a poor fit. We will be alright. The water won't be that cold. But we do need some gloves,” he explained.

Harvey found them some gloves- gardening gloves from the look of them- that had been used when digging out the ‘Kittyhawk'.  Two waterproof torches were dug out of a locker and tied to their weight belts. It was obvious to Willy that Andrew was having to force himself and he felt sorry for him and also a bit guilty. ‘I hope I am not placing them at risk,' he thought. He also felt guilty at the possibility they might see horrible sights that would haunt them.

Carmen obviously felt the same way as she said to Andrew, “You don't have to come Andrew.”

“I do! I am not going to let my sister take risks without me there to help,” he muttered fiercely. Picking up his gear he passed it down to Mr Hobbs, then climbed down into the rubber boat. Carmen followed. The motor was started and the boat puttered off out of view around the tail of the ‘Catalina'.

To be able to watch the dive Willy moved to one of the cabin portholes. The others did likewise, or went up to the flight deck. The rubber boat was soon beside the wreck and a shotline was thrown in. Willy saw Carmen and Andrew each struggle into a buoyancy control device with its attached air tank, then test their regulators again. Face masks were rinsed and fins adjusted. Then, with both hands holding their face masks on, they rolled backwards out of the boat into the water.

As the two heads bobbed in the water while final adjustments and checks were made Willy felt really anxious. He looked around the surface of the lagoon for any sign of a shark fin and saw none. He hoped there weren't any. The image of the shark tearing the corpse to shreds filled his mind and he began to breathe very fast from apprehension.

Mr Jemmerling looked at his watch and muttered, “Half past six. It will be dark in half an hour. They had better get a wriggle on.”

Even as he said this the two heads sank below the surface amid a flurry of bubbles. Then all Willy could do was watch and hope. Minutes ticked by and apart from the tiny stream of bubbles from beside the upturned launch there was no clue as to what was happening. Willy tried to imagine them groping their way into the shattered structure and had images of horrible things lurking there: dead bodies, moray eels, an octopus. Just thinking of such things gave him goose bumps and he realized he was breathing so fast he was almost hyperventilating. With a conscious effort he slowed his breathing and tried to act calm.

A head broke the surface and Willy sighed with relief. One safe! Then a second head appeared. He saw the diver's face masks pulled down around their necks. Both spoke to Mr Hobbs for a minute. Willy saw Mr Hobbs nod and then the two swimmers moved away and clung to the hull of the launch. ‘What is going on now?” Willy wondered, as he saw the boat start moving and then turn towards the flying boat, leaving the divers behind.

A minute later Mr Hobbs was at the door. Mr Jemmerling leaned out to talk to him and Willy and Jacob crowded in behind. “What is it?”

“They've found one dead body. Gator Smith they think it is. There is no-one alive in the wreck but Carmen wants another rope and a net or bag. And Andrew said Willy is to come over to look.”

“Willy?” Mr Jemmerling queried. “OK, get in Willy while we find a rope and a bag.”

Willy was both puzzled and scared, but he was also curious. ‘What do they want me to see?' he wondered. Very gingerly he lowered himself into the tiny boat, clinging tightly to the door frame as long as he could to counteract the slithering and bobbing motions of the rubber boat. Once he was seated he looked anxiously around the lagoon, very conscious that he was now almost at water level. No triangular fins were visible but that did nothing to calm him.

Mr Jemmerling passed down a coil of rope and then a canvas kitbag. “The sun is nearly down. Tell them to hurry please,” he said.

Willy nodded and glanced around, noting that Mr Jemmerling was right. The sun was now a huge orange disc sitting on the western horizon. Mr Hobbs shoved off and opened the throttle. As the boat surged and seemed to flow over the small waves Willy found he was fascinated by the close up sight of the flying boat sitting on the sea. ‘I should have brought my camera,' he thought.

As they approached the launch and the two divers Willy's curiosity overcame his fear. “What is it?” he called as they surged to a stop at the floating buoy secured to the shotline.

“You'll see,” Andrew said. “Now, wait while we do this. Tie one end of that rope to the bag and the other end to the dinghy, then give it to me.”

Mr Hobbs did this. By then Carmen had submerged and Andrew followed her. This time Willy was able to look down into the water and watch. He could see the bottom and also the dark figures that were the two divers. There were a couple of anxious minutes while both vanished in under the upturned hull and then one reappeared and began ascending.

It was Andrew. As his head broke surface he removed his regulator and said, “Pull up the bag, but do it carefully.”

He then clung to the side of the boat while Willy and Mr Hobbs hauled in the rope. This led to Willy getting splashed but he was too interested to care. Looking down he saw the bag coming up, held by Carmen.  The bag contained a soggy, rotten case that looked like it was an old suitcase of the brass-bound, metal steamer trunk variety. The case was too big for the bag and half protruded from the top. It was covered in marine growths and was very heavy and leaked water. As soon as they tried to lift it aboard it split and more water cascaded out of the cracks.

Carmen took out her regulator and said, “Don't try to lift it into the boat. Mr Hobbs, tie it so it hangs underneath and take it back to the
Pterodactyl
. Tell them to lift it aboard very carefully. Willy, you get in the water and come with us.” She then retied the rope to the boat so that the bag and case were just under the water.

Willy had all his attention focused on the mysterious case. It took several seconds for Carmen's request to sink in. “Get in? In the water?” he asked disbelievingly.

Andrew grinned. “Yes Willy, in the water.”

“But.. but why?” Willy asked. He felt a sudden surge of fear and doubt.

“You will see. Now be brave and get in. Quickly please, we are running out of time and this is a once in a lifetime moment,” Andrew said.

‘It will be if I get eaten by a shark,' Willy thought. He was a good swimmer but did not like the ocean at all. “But I'll get wet,” he mumbled in a feeble attempt to avoid their request.

Mr Hobbs said, “What's going on? Why do you want him in the water?”

Andrew pointed at the ‘Catalina' and said, “Mr Hobbs, please take the case to the flying boat and then come back to get us. Oh come on Willy! You'll regret it if you don't. Wet clothes don't matter. You will like this, now be brave and get in. Stop worrying about sharks.”

Willy had an inkling of why they wanted him in the water but it still took a conscious act of suppressing his fears to make himself move. Very cautiously he lowered his legs in, gasping with surprise at how cold the water felt. Then he slid down until only his head was sticking out. Carmen and Andrew moved in, one on either side.

“Let go Willy, we've got you. We've got buoyancy control devices on. We won't sink,” Andrew explained.

Reluctantly Willy let go of the rope looped around the outside of the rubber boat. Breathing fast from fear he allowed himself to be towed away from the boat. Mr Hobbs looked doubtful and shook his head but then started the boat moving towards the ‘Catalina'.

As he watched that boat go away Willy experienced a real spasm of terror. All he could see in any direction were rippling waves and the half-sunk red disc of the sun. For the first time he really appreciated the awful situation that Graham and Andrew had been in when they had survived a floatplane crash and were left floating in the sea for eighteen hours. He had to control a spasmodic urge to draw his legs up. They seemed to tingle as they dangled there. At every second he expected a shark to rip them off and he tensed in anticipation.

‘Be brave!' he told himself as the two divers towed him backwards across the lagoon. They swam for fifty metres past the barnacle and weed-encrusted hull of the launch and then stopped. Carmen then took off her face mask and handed it to Willy. ‘Here Willy, put this on,” she ordered.

“You aren't going to take me under are you?” Willy cried. Then he swallowed a mouthful of water as a wave struck him in the face. Coughing and spluttering and stinging eyes kept him busy for the next couple of minutes.

“Trust us. Just do it please,” Andrew said. He spat in the face mask and rinsed it, then half pulled it on to Willy's head. The strap tangled in Willy's hair, pulling and hurting but his cry of pain was ignored. Willy helped and managed to get the face mask on. Andrew then pointed down and said, “Now put your face in the water and look down.”

Cautiously Willy did so. Then he mentally gasped. With the face mask he could see quite clearly and there it was- the wreck of the Dornier!

Fascination at once drove out the fear. Willy stared in wonder. The wrecked aircraft lay on the bottom with its tail stuck on the coral reef and the nose lying out in the lagoon. He could not really tell how deep it was but guessed at about ten metres.  One wing was completely missing and all the vertical fins were also gone but the other wing was there and so were two of the three engines.  Much of the surfaces were thickly encrusted with coral and weed growths but to Willy's delight there were still several pieces of Perspex in the cockpit windows.

He lifted his head to breathe and cried, “This is amazing!” Taking another big breath he again put his head down. This time he could focus on detail, on the bent propeller blades, the small fish flitting in and out of the missing cockpit window, the glimpse of the rusting seats for pilot and co-pilot, the open side door.

Seeing that door and the crumpled, torn hull half buried in sand, caused him to experience vivid images of the crash. He remembered Jacob's grandfather's story- the screaming women, terrified young Dutch children drowning. The horror of it caused him to shudder. For a few anxious seconds he looked around, half expecting to see white skulls amid the wreckage. Then he shook his head. ‘Don't be silly. The sea creatures would have consumed them long ago,' he told himself.

Once again he came up for air. This time he wanted to talk but Mr Hobbs was returning so all he did was take another long look before the boat arrived. Mr Hobbs was terse. “Get aboard!” he yelled. “The boss isn't happy.”