The Cadet Corporal (35 page)

3 Platoon arrived on the truck and debussed. 1 Platoon climbed aboard and were shuttled back to the bivouac area. That caused a few grumbles from Halyday and Andrews about not eating at the army camp. It was obvious that St Michaels were going to as they began forming up for a mess parade with their ‘dixies'.

“They are just a mob of sissies,” Pigsy commented.

Graham knew he was supposed to stop any sexist put-downs but he agreed with Pigsy and said nothing.

Then his emotions were snapped into top gear by Kirsty returning. She smiled and sat next to him while she brushed her hair. She seemed so innocent that Graham could not credit Pigsy's allegations. All he could do was be nice in return, while anxiously wondering how to keep the situation under control that night. ‘It is the last night and she is sure to put on the pressure,' he thought. ‘I must be strong,' he told himself, still clinging to a faint hope that he might be selected for sergeant.

The truck returned with 4 Platoon. 2 Platoon was then ordered aboard. As they did Graham noted that Kirsty had taken the opportunity to go and talk to Sgt White. ‘Maybe the rumour is true?' he thought anxiously. It was very demoralising and hurtful.

Ten minutes drive had the platoon back at the Canning junction. As they made their way down the steep slope past HQ Graham again raised the question of what act to put on at the campfire. To his surprise Pigsy answered.

“What about ‘The ugliest monster in the world' ?”

“That's a great idea Pikey,” Graham answered. “What does everyone think?”

The others all enthusiastically adopted the idea and began haggling over who got the jobs. Graham had to intervene and allocate tasks. “It was Pikey's idea so he can pick what job he wants,” he said. He was still amazed at how docile and co-operative Pigsy was.

Pike chose to be the ‘ringmaster' and narrator. Waters was chosen to be the monster, with Moynihan and Milson as the ‘handlers' to control him. Halyday and Graham were picked to be the first ‘volunteers' to view the monster. That left Andrews and Bragg without a job but they seemed happy enough with that.

On arrival back at the bivouac area wet clothes were hung over branches and the section then moved off behind the line of small trees in mid-stream to rehearse for the skit. Andrews and Bragg were posted as sentries to keep others from observing. Even so several other sections saw what they were doing, as they were busy with similar practices. Graham found he was really laughing and enjoying himself. It seemed to him little more than miraculous they way the section was all working together as a team.

One by one the other platoons returned from the shower. The sun sank lower and the evening calm settled on the river. While they waited for the evening meal Graham took the opportunity to walk out along the bed of the Canning to the edge of the water in the Bunyip. He stood on the bank of the deep pool he had fallen into the night before and relaxed, drinking in the beauty of the sunset. To him it was a magical moment to be savoured and remembered for all time: the pinkish tinge on the white river gums and paperbarks; the wide stretch of sand across to the line of ruddy bluffs on Ruin Island; the shadows and cool breeze; the distant highway bridge and beyond that the criss-cross pattern of the rail bridge.

That had now become a symbol to him of something very special, a real achievement, almost a coming of age. For long moments he stood alone, relaxed but pleasantly excited. Romantic thoughts flitted in his mind but he pushed them aside. One reason was that he found it was not Kirsty's face that he pictured when he did think about love.

“She might be more trouble than she is worth,” he thought.

There were birds drifting peacefully on the river: swans, pelicans and ducks. It was all very delightful and memorable. He sighed and watched the sky turn red out tot he west. Then distant shouted orders ended his reverie. Mess parade. He had to get back. With a sigh of pleasure he turned and strode back along the sandy river bed. ‘It's wonderful to be alive,' he decided and he again wished the camp could go on for another week or two.

The evening meal was fresh rations delivered by ‘hot box' from the army camp. Lt Hamilton and his Q team set up the feeding point on the river bank near the vehicles and the platoons filed past and were given their food. After that they sat in groups on the sand. By then the sun had gone but there was still plenty of light, the sky clear and blue. Graham sat down with his section and felt that they had seemed to meld into a group by some sort of magic. Most amazing was how Pike, Waters and Moynihan appeared to be happy to be with the section. They even made cheeky comments to tease 4 Platoon.

By the time the washing up had been done it was dark. Light was provided by several lanterns and by the lighting of the campfire. There was a lot of laughing and high-spirited calling out as the cadets began to prepare for the campfire. Graham packed his mess gear away and then found Kirsty next to him. ‘Uh oh!' he thought. ‘Here comes more pressure.'

“Hi Graham,” Kirsty said. “Are you looking forward to the campfire?” “Yeah, it should be good,” Graham replied.

“What about after it?”

“What about it?” Graham asked, his heart sinking. “You and me. We could sneak off and meet somewhere,” Kirsty suggested.

It was that word ‘sneak' that finally did it. The idea of breaking his word again and acting deceitfully burned at his conscience. He shook his head, “No. Sorry. I will be happy to go out with you after camp, but I'm not sneaking off anywhere.”

Kirsty was silent for a moment while she absorbed this. Then she sniffed and tossed her head. “Oh well, if that's how you feel!” she cried. She spun on her heel and walked away.

Graham made no attempt to call her back. ‘That's it then,' he told himself, knowing in his heart that was the end of the relationship. To his own surprise there was more relief than regret. He shrugged and went off to round up his section.

By 1930 all the cadets were seated in section rows on the sand in a semi-circle facing a large bonfire. This had been lit out in the middle of the sandy river bed where there was no danger of it causing a bush fire. As he checked that all the members of his section were there Graham caught Kirsty's eye but she turned her nose up and looked away.

‘Over alright,' he told himself.

The campfire began. Capt Conkey said a few words to thank them for their efforts during the camp then sat to one side to act as the judge for the competition. Lt Hamilton then took over as MC. He told a couple of jokes and then called on 6 Section to put on their act. To a chorus of jeers and laughter Stephen led his section out. They had chosen to do the ‘Fortune Teller'. The cadet they picked on to be their victim was Percy. When it came to the punch line and Stephen, acting as the swami, said that he could see from the sole of Percy's boot that he was going on a long walk there was a loud aside.

“He'll be going to jail if he keeps acting the way he has,” said CUO Mitrovitch.

This caused such an outburst of laughter that the actual throwing of the boot off into the darkness lost much of its impact. Even so the skit got the show off to a good start. Graham relaxed and laughed with the rest. Lt Hamilton then told a couple of jokes before calling out 7 Section. They did a skit which showed the recon patrol being spotted by Heatley.

More jokes followed then 8 Section got up and sang a song. Many jeered and made unkind comments till the sheer quality of the singing silenced them. Graham was impressed in spite of himself. ‘I didn't know Fiona could sing that well!' he thought in astonishment. ‘And she is very pretty.'

That got him looking around for Kirsty. At first he could not see her, but then he spotted her sitting beside Sgt White. Jealousy and regret coloured Graham's feelings during the next act; 9 Section doing the trained elephant. They picked on Bragg as their victim and Graham could only shake his head and wonder how any person could be so dumb as to not realize something was going to happen to them; in this case the ‘elephant' ‘peeing' on them.

When the laughter had subsided and another couple of jokes been told 10 Section got up and did a teasing skit called ‘The Lost Patrol' which was obviously at Dimbo's expense. 11 Section followed that with a series of poems about various people on the camp. Some of these lampooned particular characteristics of people like Capt Conkey, however he laughed and seemed to take it well.

12 Section put on a silly joke which was stopped by Lt McEwen when it started to become crude. The section was ordered off and Lt Hamilton went on to tell some more jokes while HQ prepared. While they were doing this Peter came over to Graham, looking quite agitated.

“Have you seen Carnes Graham?” Peter asked.

“No, why?”

“He's supposed to be part of our act,” Peter replied. He looked around the circle of faces in the firelight, then shrugged as Lt Hamilton called out to the signal section to move on stage. Graham also looked but soon forgot about Carnes as Peter's skit got under way. Peter did ‘Bomber over Germany' with a cast from his own section, plus volunteers from the audience. The volunteers provided the four engines. Halyday was talked into being Number Four engine. After much play acting about incidents during the flight a cadet raced in from the darkness pretending to be a German night fighter. There was a lot of stuttering machine gun noises and engine noises.

Peter suddenly looked over his shoulder and shouted, “Number Four engine is on fire! Hit the fire extinguishers!”

Whereupon several cadets took out cups of water and thoroughly doused the unfortunate ‘Number Four Engine'. Halyday got angry and chased after Cadet James but then calmed down and sat near Graham looking sulky.

The HQ girls performed next by doing a song and dance act. This was enthusiastically received, with a few suggestions about taking clothes off until Lt McEwen silenced the comments. Graham found it very arousing and wondered briefly if he should try to make it up with Kirsty. A glance at her seated beside Sgt White killed that idea. She was laughing up at him and giving him adoring looks.

#x2018;Oh well, plenty more fish in the sea,' Graham told himself- but it still hurt!

Capt Conkey and Lt Maclaren did a skit about the two retired colonels which put Graham back in a good mood. After that 1 Section had to get up. That got Graham all anxious as he knew it would be his section's turn soon. 1 Section sang a song so poorly they were booed off the ‘stage'. 2 Section did a ‘David Jones' skit about people wearing various items of clothing they got from David Jones, till the last person came along in a towel and said he was David Jones. Then it was 3 Section's turn and the tension increased.

3 Section did the mime of the bobsled team. Then it was time. Graham moved his section to the rear and checked they had all their stores and that everyone knew their lines. On call they went on. Pigsy made the skit. His style as a raconteur had the audience in stitches and the whole thing went off very well. Feeling immensely relieved Graham resumed his seat on the sand to watch 5 Section do the fire engine. This time Roger was selected as the victim for a dousing but he took it well and laughed.

All too soon it seemed the campfire was over. Capt Conkey stood up and thanked them for their good behaviour and ordered them to bed. “Don't forget you have a long day tomorrow,” he reminded.

As Graham stood up he felt a wave of sadness. That was the last real activity of the camp. All that remained was the long drive home and admin. He tramped back to his section area with the others and set about making his bed. It was only 2130 and many cadets did not want to go to bed but platoon sergeants came around snapping and ordering them to lie down. Having unrolled his sleeping bag Graham sat on it to unlace his boots.

A person came along and shone a torch on him. Graham shielded his eyes and was about to snarl angrily when the person spoke. It was Peter. “Graham, have you seen Carnes?”

“No,” Graham replied, but he felt a stab of anxiety. “I'll help you look.”

Talking his torch he stood up, leaving his hat on his bed. Sgt Grenfell shone his torch on them and demanded to know where they were going. Peter told him and Sgt Grenfell said they could go. The two friends then walked along the line of platoons, shining their torches on the groups of people sitting or lying on the sand. They were sworn at repeatedly but as the minutes went by Graham became more and more anxious.

Having checked the platoon areas the two friends walked on along the sandy river bed to the big pool at the junction with the Bunyip. “Where the hell could he be?” Peter muttered, plainly worried.

Arriving at the water's edge the two friends stopped. Graham shone his torch around and asked where else Peter had looked.

“Just about everywhere,” Peter replied, biting his lip with anxiety. “I've searched the HQ area, and up around the vehicles, then around the campfire.”

At that moment Graham became aware of the sound of a train crossing the bridge. He looked down the bed of the Bunyip and saw the faint flicker of the train's headlights as it crossed the distant bridge. Then some instinct in him stirred and he felt a wave of uneasiness.

“The bridge,” he said. “I'll bet he's gone to the bridge.”

“The bridge! Why?” Peter asked in astonishment.

“He's going to commit suicide,” Graham replied with certainty.

There was a chilled silence for a moment then Graham turned and began striding back towards the bivouac area. “Come on, we must tell Capt Conkey!”

CHAPTER 35

CARNES

As Graham strode anxiously back towards the camp his feelings firmed to one of certainty. Peter did not argue, having known and trusted him for many years. By the time they reached the bivouac area Graham had become so worried that he felt nauseous. So intense was his concern that he unconsciously walked as fast as he could. Thus the friends arrived back at 2 Platoon panting and starting to perspire.

“We must tell Capt Conkey,” Graham said.

“I'll just check if Carnes has arrived back at HQ,” Peter replied, adding, “We will look bloody silly if we hit the panic button and he is sound asleep in his bed.”

Peter detoured over to where HQ was settling down. While he did that Graham stood waiting. Beyond the stream he could see figures sitting near the remains of the campfire. Among them he recognized Lt Standish and Lt McEwen. Nearby in the darkness was a smaller group.

Peter came striding back. “He's not here,” he said.

Graham had guessed that and started walking towards the group at the fire. He splashed across the stream, barely noticing it. Peter hurried after him. As he drew closer to the group at the fire Graham saw that the two female officers were comforting a sobbing female cadet. So pre-occupied was he with worry about Carnes that Graham did not think about intruding. Only when he saw the annoyed looks on the officer's faces did it occur to him that he should have stayed away.

Lt Standish called to him, “Go away Cpl Kirk.”

Only then did Graham see that the sobbing girl was Lucy and that Gwen Copeland and Barbara were both there comforting her. ‘Uh oh!' he thought. ‘Trouble here!' But he was determined and replied, “We need to see Capt Conkey Miss. It is very urgent.”

“He is over there but you should wait. He is busy,” Lt Standish replied, shielding Lucy from his gaze as she did.

“Yes Miss,” Graham replied, but so concerned was he that he ignored her advice and headed straight for where a group stood in the darkness near the far bank of the river. Once again Peter followed.

As they approached the group, who were all standing, Graham heard Capt Conkey say in a very angry voice, “So if you didn't give her the condom how come I have it here? She gave it to Lt Standish and said you gave it to her! How do you explain that?”

To Graham's surprise Sgt Yeldham answered, “I didn't give it to her sir. She is making it up!”

‘Hello!' Graham thought, ‘Yeldham has put the hard word on Lucy!' As this thought crossed his mind a powerful torch came on and shone on him. Lt Hamilton snapped, “Go away!”

Graham stopped but stood his ground. “Sir, I need to speak to Capt Conkey,” he said.

“Go away! Come back later,” Lt Hamilton ordered gruffly.

Graham stubbornly stood there and shook his head. “This is very important too sir.”

Capt Conkey spoke next, his own torch lighting up both Graham and Peter. “Yes, what is it?” he asked irritably.

Peter answered, “Cadet Carnes has gone missing sir.”

“Oh damn and blast! That's all I need!” Capt Conkey cried angrily.

Graham said, “I think I know where he has gone sir.”

“Yes? Where?” Capt Conkey asked, lowering his torch beam.

“To the railway bridge,” Graham replied.

“The railway bridge!” Capt Conkey cried in astonishment. “Why would he go there?”

“I think he is going to commit suicide sir,” Graham replied.

There was a moment's silence, broken by Capt Conkey muttering “Oh Christ!” Then he asked, “Suicide? What makes you think that?”

“Just a few things he said sir,” Graham replied. “He went to the bridge this afternoon.”

“This afternoon! Are you sure?” Capt Conkey asked.

“Yes sir,” Graham replied. “I saw him brought back by the OOCs from St Michaels.”

Lt Maclaren spoke from the darkness beyond Capt Conkey. “That's right. I was there when they did. I meant to tell you about it.”

“Bloody hell!” Capt Conkey cried. He stepped closer to Graham. “What makes you think he is going to commit suicide?”

Graham tried to remember exactly what Carnes had said but could only give a general idea. “He seemed to have an obsession about the bridge sir,” he said. He then explained how Carnes had frozen up and said he was afraid during the raid.

Peter agreed with this, describing how Carnes had stood staring up at the rail bridge during his recon patrol. Graham then said, “Carnes told me he hated his parents and that he wasn't going back to them. I don't remember the exact words sir, but I thought they were odd at the time. Now I think he meant he was not going back because he was going to end it all. I am sure he has gone to the bridge.”

Capt Conkey ground his teeth and shone his torch on his watch. As he did so Graham saw the stricken look on his face and he experienced a surge of sympathy for him.

“When was he last seen?” Capt Conkey asked.

CSM Cleland, who had been standing quietly at the back, answered that, “I saw him just after we had everyone seated for the campfire sir. I had the platoon sergeants do a check and he was here then.”

Capt Conkey glanced at his watch again. “Twenty past ten. And he was last seen at about nineteen hundred. That is nearly four hours!”

“He could certainly walk to the bridge in that time sir,” Graham said. “It is only two and a half kilometres.”

Capt Conkey bit his lip, then nodded and said, “We must look for him.” He turned to Lt Maclaren, “This business must wait. You take command here. Get the CSM to have the CUOs and sergeants check every person here. Get them all up and on parade. Then organize search parties to look along the river bed and tracks. Look up Dingo Creek too.”

He then turned to Lt Hamilton. “Hamish, get going and drive all the roads, then come back to check within half an hour. Go both ways along the highway for ten minutes. Check at the army camp and warn Major Ross. If you haven't found him drive to the bridge and contact me. I will take the other Rover and go to the bridge.”

The group dispersed. As Capt Conkey made his way up the bank Graham followed. He did not wait for orders or ask. He just felt he had to be there. Once again Peter came with him. Capt Conkey glanced at them as he reached the Land Rover but made no comment. Graham climbed into the passenger seat, while Peter clambered into the back. The engine was switched on, then the lights. A moment later they were grinding up the steep, dusty track to the top of the bank.

As they accelerated along the better track up on the flat Capt Conkey said, “Tell me more Cpl Kirk. Tell me everything you can remember.”

Graham did so. Capt Conkey drove fast, the vehicle bouncing and rattling over the bumps and corrugations. In their trail of dust the headlights of Lt Hamilton's vehicle followed. As he talked Graham leaned forward, craning to see better through the windscreen. The Rover's headlights lit up a rapidly shifting cone of road and bush. At every second he hoped to catch a glimpse of Carnes. His main worry was that Carnes might try to hide.

At the junction of the Canning Road Capt Conkey turned the Rover right. Lt Hamilton went left, back towards the Canning Causeway. As they drove up onto Sandy Ridge and then along Bare Ridge Graham recounted the bullying and misery that Carnes had experienced and as he did he became more and more certain that the boy was going to try to do away with himself. He began to berate himself for not doing more to help.

“Not your fault,” Capt Conkey replied gruffly. “It is mine. I should have taken more notice of the warning signs.”

With every passing second Graham became more and more anxious. He kept hoping to glimpse Carnes in the headlights but they reached the highway with no sign of him. There was no other traffic so Capt Conkey turned right onto the highway, accelerated, braked, turned left and then drove as fast as he dared along the gravel road leading to the railway bridge. Ignoring the bumps and shuddering he drove across the flat through the scattered thorn trees to where the road divided on top of the river bank.

Ahead through the windscreen Graham could see the black outline of the bridge girders. He stared hard at them, biting his lip in anxiety and unknowingly drawing blood as they hit several potholes very hard. The road went along the top of the bank for 200 metres before dipping down to end on a grassy shelf fifty metres wide right under the bridge. Capt Conkey drove down onto the flat and braked to a stop with the headlights facing out across the river bed. The beams lit up the huge concrete pylons, making them look like a row of stark monoliths.

As soon as the vehicle stopped they jumped out. To Graham's great concern there was no sign of Carnes. Graham ran to the edge of the grassy flat and looked down. The bank dropped down through a thin belt of trees to where the stream of shallow water flowed under the bridge.

‘I wonder if he has drowned himself?' Graham thought. Then he shook his head. That didn't make sense. ‘He could have done that back at the camp easily. If he came here he means to jump.' With that he looked up.

The gigantic steel structure stood out starkly against the stars. It was so high above his head he had to crick his neck back to see it. Even where he stood it was a good thirty metres above him and he knew it was at least ten metres higher out over the sandy river bed. He scanned the dark latticework anxiously but could see nothing.

Capt Conkey turned on his powerful ‘Big Jim' torch and swept the beam along the actual bridge. Graham caught a glimpse of white. “There he is!” Peter cried.

Graham stared upwards in dismay. High above his head, leaning over the side of the railway line, was a tiny white face. It was Carnes staring back down at them. Carnes was out on the next section of the bridge, over the sand and at the place where the drop was longest.

As Graham watched Carnes moved. Graham gasped, fearing Carnes was jumping. “Carnes! It's me, Cpl Kirk! Don't do it!” he shouted.

“He's going to jump!” Peter cried.

“No he's not,” Capt Conkey said, his voice torn with anguish. “He's trying to tie a noose on to the rail. He means to hang himself.”

Instantly Graham remembered his comments exhorting Carnes to ‘hang in there' because it would soon be over. ‘Oh my God! I put the idea in his head,' he told himself. Before he realized what he was doing he had started running across the flat towards the end of the bridge.

Peter ran with him, the friends arriving at the base of the slope together. A washed-out and overgrown vehicle track went up the slope. Graham ran up this, stumbling frequently. He skinned his hands and collected a dozen burs but ignored the pain and ran on, brushing at them. Once on top he and Peter still had to run 50 metres to the embankment that carried the railway out across the flood plain.

The end of the bridge was built up on a steep sided embankment overgrown with long grass and prickly weeds. There was a barbed wire fence across the base of this. Graham hurled himself flat to wriggle under but in his haste snagged his shirt. Peter scrambled under the bottom strand of the next panel beside him and went on climbing the slope.

Graham swore and struggled then felt the barbs dig into his flesh. He swore again and eased back to try to unhook himself. Peter heard him swear and paused to look back. Seeing Peter hesitate Graham shouted, “Keep going Pete! I'll get myself free. Go!”

Peter continued climbing, his feet scrabbling in loose gravel. Graham swore again, his mind noting that Capt Conkey was shining his torch on him to help. In its beam he saw he was caught because the bottom strand was very close to the ground. He slid back, lowered himself and tried again. Again the barbs snagged him. This time his anxiety and sense of dread made him keep going forward. Heedless of the pain and ripping of cloth he tore free and scrambled up the slope after Peter.

By then Peter was up on the top of the embankment and Graham heard him shouting to Carnes as he raced off along the railway. His back stinging from the scratches, Graham dug his boots in to get a grip on the slithering gravel and forced his way up. A few seconds later he arrived at the top, gasping from the effort but all but oblivious to his own condition. Without hesitation he turned right and dashed along the railway.

The first fifty metres of bridge had high steel sides but it was still dangerous as the actual rail bridge consisted of the wooden sleepers bolted to the steel girders underneath, then the two steel rails fastened to the sleepers. Between the rails were two planks, each about 20cm wide. A miscalculation on this section would mean a leg down between the sleepers, or between the girders.

It was the next section that mattered. Here the rails were still bolted to steel girders underneath but the girders had no sides close to it. Every five metres or so a steel cross-beam led out to the criss-cross of the ‘through-truss' girders. In between these cross beams was just thin air. Below was an ever-increasing drop. Ahead of him Graham could see Peter running along the two planks. He did likewise, his heart pounding with fear. That a slip could be fatal was all too obvious. The height was only too apparent as he got glimpses of Capt Conkey and the Land Rover's lights below.

“You boys take care!” Capt Conkey shouted anxiously.

Graham ignored him and so did Peter. After a single glance which showed Capt Conkey talking on his mobile phone Graham hurried on. It was so obviously dangerous that he knew it was best to run and not think about what might happen if he stumbled or slipped. What really made it hard was the sense of being trapped by a prison of girders. The bridge was so long it seemed to vanish into the darkness. Their boots thudded on the boards with a hollow, thumping sound.

By the time Graham was half way across the first main section Peter was past the first pylon and still running. Then Peter stumbled, causing Graham to gasp in fright, but he recovered and ran on, yelling to Carnes not to jump. Graham could not see Carnes at all because Peter was in the way. Then Capt Conkey's torch beam found them and Graham glimpsed Carnes leaning over the side. His face was towards Peter and he was calling something which Graham could not hear because his own laboured breathing and thumping heart interfered.