The Cadet Corporal (6 page)

“That's because it usually is Four Platoon,” Capt Conkey replied.

“We might be able to find something if we looked sir,” CSM Cleland suggested.

At that Lt Maclaren chuckled. “We could rush the shovel to the police and have it checked for fingerprints.”

Capt Conkey shook his head. “This is potentially serious Mel. If Carnes complains and we do nothing then it will look bad.”

“From the quantity of shit thrown around a sniffer dog might be more use than fingerprints,” Lt Standish said, her face forming an impish smile. Graham was astounded. ‘I didn't know she had a sense of humour!' he thought.

“Hmmm. I wonder if a kit search would reveal anything?” Capt Conkey mused. He checked his watch. “Twenty three ten. Bit late, but I think we had better look into this business of the Hutchie Men straight away. It will settle the issue about Four Platoon's guilt or innocence. Now, what are we going to do about Cadet Carnes?”

Lt Standish said, “I will take Cadet Carnes over to the army camp. He can use the shower while I put all his clothes through the wash. We will be an hour or so.”

“That's a good idea Jill. OK, off you go,” Capt Conkey replied.

“Did you find Cpl Doyle's section?” Lt Standish asked.

Capt Conkey snorted. “Yes we did. They were just waiting beside the road down at the Highway turn-off.”

“How the hell did they get there?” CSM Cleland asked. Then he shook his head.

Graham chuckled. “This is Dimbo we are talking about,” he said.

At that Capt Conkey turned on him. “That's enough of that talk! You are only a corporal too! Now you get back to your section Cpl Kirk.”

Abashed, Graham fled. ‘Bloody drongo!' he told himself. ‘Learn to keep your mouth shut!'

As he walked away Graham heard Lt McEwen ask why Dimbo hadn't answered his radio. Lt Maclaren answered. “He didn't have it turned on!”

The officers groaned and Graham shook his head. He made his way back to his platoon Graham heard movement and voices and saw a line of cadets come walking in along Sandy Track- Dimbo's ‘Lost patrol'. ‘Some unhappy cadets there too,' he thought.

As he arrived back at the section hutchies Graham found Sgt Grenfell, Stephen and Roger standing to one side in the darkness. Naturally they wanted to know the outcome. As Graham arrived Gwen got up from her hutchie and joined them. Graham then related all that had passed, with the injunction not to talk about it.

Stephen chuckled. “Hutchie Men! I like that. I'll bet it was Porno and Ziggy.”

“I'll bet it was too,” Graham replied, “and I'll bet it was Pigsy who put them up to it.”

“It certainly scared the crap out of Halyday and Andrews,” Roger said.

They all laughed at that but then Sgt Grenfell got serious. “This is no good. We might have a problem if the little cadets aren't game to go to the dunny for fear of the Hutchie Men.”

Stephen gave another chuckle. “We will know after a few days when they look very full in the face.”

Sgt Grenfell laughed with the others but then said, “It wasn't constipation I was worrying about. The little buggers might just start to crap anywhere and then we will have a hygiene problem.”

CUO Masters came over to join them from the fire. “What are you lot talking about?”

“The dreaded Hutchie Men sir,” Sgt Grenfell replied.

“Then keep it quiet. Lt McEwen can hear you from there. In fact get to bed, it's nearly midnight.”

They moved off to their hutchies. Roger crawled straight in but Graham realised he now needed a pee. He looked in the direction of the latrine and felt a distinct reluctance to go back there. He told himself the Hutchie Men would not be there because the distant sound of voices indicated that 4 Platoon was being searched by the officers. But it was still a long way in the dark. ‘One little leak won't matter,' he rationalised. ‘I'll just nip into the gully.'

Even so he went carefully, worried about snakes more than Hutchie Men. Thus, when the bushes in front of him suddenly erupted he leapt back, heart hammering, and let out a cry of fright. Then he swore. “Bloody wallaby!” he muttered.

Glancing around to check he was out of sight of the hutchies he stopped and did a pee, then walked quickly back up to the camp. As he passed Kirsty's hutchie he got another fright when she sat up and spoke to him.

“Did the Hutchie Men give you a scare then Graham?” she asked, giving a chuckle.

He meant to rebuke her for not calling him Corporal Kirk but didn't. ‘We are alone,' he rationalised, even as he named it his weakness for what it was. Instead he stopped and knelt down. In the starlight he saw white skin extending down from her face to her neck, and then on down past her shoulders. ‘Holy Mackerel!' he thought. ‘Is she wearing anything?'

By staring hard he was reassured that she had her sleeping bag held across her chest. Then he whispered, “How do you know about the Hutchie Men?”

“I could hear you talking just now,” she replied.

“Well don't say anything to the other cadets about it,” Graham replied, feeling guilty at having done so himself. “And don't you get a chill,” he added.

“It's not cold,” she said, shrugging her shoulders. “Now tell me what happened?”

“I can't tell you,” Graham relied.

“Oh spoil sport. I won't tell!”

Graham snorted. “Humpf! That's what all the girls say!”

“Do they?” Kirsty asked. Graham wasn't sure if it was because she was whispering or not but he thought her voice sounded very sultry and sexy. He began to get aroused.

Sgt Grenfell's voice ended any speculation on his chances. “What are you two doing?” he called from his own hutchie.

“Just telling Kirsty about the Hutchie Men,” Graham answered.

“Well don't! And get to bed,” Sgt Grenfell called back.

Kirsty smiled and giggled. “I'd like a man in my hutchie,” she whispered. Graham's heart began to hammer rapidly and his mind raced with possibilities and hope. ‘Maybe?' he thought. ‘Is she giving me the ‘come on'?'

For several seconds he stayed, looking into her eyes. He noted that they seemed to sparkle with the reflection of the stars and that her lips were slightly parted. She was breathing rapidly. The temptation to ask for a kiss was almost overpowering but, fearing a rejection and not trusting his senses, he stood up. ‘I might be reading the signs wrong,' he thought. ‘Then I will be in real trouble when she complains.'

Regretfully he said, “Good night,” and walked away.

As he did Kirsty smiled again. “Sweet dreams,” she murmured.

‘Oh bloody hell!' he told himself. ‘Don't be tempted. Be strong!'

He crawled into his hutchie, hoping Roger hadn't noticed any of that. To Graham's relief he hadn't. He was lying on his side asleep. Graham unrolled his bedding, his gaze continually diverting to Kirsty's hutchie. From the end of his bed he could just see the top of her head. As he looked he saw her twist around to look at him. Then she turned away and let the sleeping bag drop so that Graham was granted a fleeting glimpse of white skin in the starlight. That set his imagination working and he became almost instantly aroused. She fidgeted a bit, apparently adjusting her bed then slid down into her sleeping bag.

Graham took off his boots and stretched out fully clothed, feet towards Kirsty. He was very conscious of his aroused state, and of her. From where he was lying he could he could only see the top of her head and part of her shoulders but it was enough for his adolescent imagination to seize on. ‘Oh hell!' he mentally screamed.

Then a terrible temptation rose to torment him. ‘Will I risk sneaking back over to ask her for a little kiss and a cuddle?'

Even as he thought this he saw her roll over and twist her head around to look at him. ‘Does she want me to?' he wondered, his heart hammering frantically and his mouth dry with lust and excitement. ‘Do I dare?'

CHAPTER 6

TEMPTATION

Graham stared from the shadows of his hutchie at Kirsty. He could see she was looking in his direction but still wasn't sure if it was an invitation. ‘She said she wanted a man in her hutchie. That must mean she wants it?' he reasoned.

Voices over at the officer's fire caught Graham's attention and he moved to poke his head out to look. He saw that Capt Conkey, the officers and CSM Cleland were standing in a group deep in conversation. Movement from Kirsty's hutchie attracted his attention. She half sat up and looked toward the officers. As she did Graham thought her sleeping bag would slip off her front but she held it on. Then she turned her head to look at him and he saw her lips move.

‘What is she saying?' he wondered, although he thought he knew. ‘No,' he decided. Too many years of not succeeding with girls made him shake his head in disbelief. ‘No, it is too good to be true,' he told himself. ‘She's not offering surely?'

But she did seem to be giving him a smile. Graham smiled back and felt his desire press harder. ‘I could just creep over and ask her what she wants,' he thought.

But that took real courage and he found his mouth dry and his palms sweaty. His breath came in gasps as though he had run a race. He had only really misbehaved with a girl once in his life and been caught in the act. As a result he had got into terrible trouble. That memory now flooded his consciousness to further confuse him. ‘Ooh it was wonderful!' he remembered. But not what followed!

‘Come on coward,' his naughty imp urged him. ‘Faint heart never won fair lady! Opportunity knocks but once.' The urge to go was now strong in him and he felt his pulses racing. With a tiny sob he plucked up the courage and moved to the end of the hutchie. As he went to stand up a noise nearby caused him to freeze in fright. Someone was coming! As quietly as he could Graham hunched back inside his hutchie as the footsteps came closer.

It was CUO Masters. He walked through the gap between the two hutchies and on towards the officer's fire. Graham sank back onto his sleeping bag, his heart thudding. ‘Bloody hell, that was close!' he thought. He saw that Kirsty had also subsided into her bed. After CUO Masters had gone she again raised her head and looked towards Graham. He crept to the entrance and put his head out and shook it. ‘Too risky,' he mouthed.

Kirsty made a face but nodded. She then lay down, seeming to toss her hair in annoyance. Graham also lay back, his mind and emotions racing. ‘Is she just teasing me or does she mean it?' he wondered.

He lay there in frustration, wondering and fantasizing while his mind roved over Kirsty's possibilities. It was a terribly tempted and torn young man who slipped into sleep.

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“Wake up! Out of bed! Boots and hat! Check Parade!” called Sgt Grenfell.

Graham groaned and opened sleep-gummed eyes. Then he realised it was daylight. Rubbing his eyes he sat up. As he did he noticed that Kirsty was sitting up buttoning her shirt. She had her back to him but he broke into a sweat of anxiety over what to do about her.

As quickly as he could Graham hauled on his boots and then found his hat. Urged on by more calls by Sgt Grenfell, Graham crawled out and stood up. As he did Kirsty turned and their eyes met. Graham forced a smile. To his relief she smiled back but she looked tired and grumpy.

At another bellow from Sgt Grenfell, Graham went to ensure the remainder of his section were all awake and moving. Dianne and Lucy were and Graham was careful not to look into their shelter in case they thought he was perving. Instead he walked on to roust Andrews and Halyday out. He saw with satisfaction that Pat was already up.

“Come on you pair! Get up and out,” Graham snapped irritably. He was very conscious that Gwen's section all seemed to be lined up already. Stephen went past with several of his cadets to join the platoon.

“Mob of dozy slugs,” Stephen commented with a grin as he did.

Graham was not amused. He grunted a greeting, then turned and snapped angrily at Andrews and Halyday. “Get a move on you pair! We are last now.”

He looked in and saw that Andrews was lacing his boots up and that Halyday was trying to pull on a sock. At that he exploded. “Don't waste time putting on socks Halyday! Just get your boots on; and don't lace them up. Just shove the laces inside so you don't trip on them!”

Sgt Grenfell added to Graham's discomfiture by calling, “Hurry up Four Section! We don't want to be the last platoon on parade.”

Urged on by a shamed Graham the two cadets crawled grumbling out and made their way to join the ranks. It was apparent that all of 5 Section and 6 Section were already there. A quick head count assured Graham that all members of his section were now present.

“All here Cpl Kirk?” Sgt Grenfell queried.

“Yes sergeant,” Graham replied, hotly aware that CUO Masters was looking towards them as he walked past towards the officer's fire.

The platoon was then marched over past HQ to line up along the vehicle track. Despite the delay they were not last on check parade. 3 Platoon was. As they arrived CSM Cleland muttered his annoyance, then called the company to attention, right dressed them and stood them at ease. “Platoon sergeants, call the roll!” he ordered.

That done CSM Cleland called for reports. Next he told them when to be ready for work and which platoon would be first for breakfast. The sergeants were then told to ‘carry on'. Sgt Grenfell marched the platoon back to their bivouac area and fell them out.

Needing a pee urgently Graham immediately made his way towards the latrine in the gully beyond 3 Platoon, reasoning that he did not want to go to the one near 4 Platoon where the Hutchie Men had struck. On the way he passed close to 3 Platoon and called hello to several cadets he knew.

As soon as he topped the rise at the head of the gully Graham realised he had made a mistake. Down in the dip were a dozen male cadets including Corporals Crane and Costigan, and Cadets Moynihan, Rundle, Waters and Franks. They were smoking, something which was strictly forbidden, both by State Law and the Cadet Regulations.

For a second Graham considered veering away, pretending he was going somewhere else but by then he had seen their eyes on him. ‘If I don't keep going they will think I am scared of them,' he thought. The nub of the situation was that he was feeling scared of them. Despite this he continued walking down into the dip.

Waters spoke first. “Well, if it isn't little Mister Brown Nose himself! Did ya shit yerself last night Kirk?”

Graham wanted to ignore Waters but managed to meet his eye and shake his head, even though his heart had begun to hammer hard. For a moment he thought Waters and Moynihan were going to block his path but he managed to keep walking and went past within arms reach.

As he did Costigan snarled at him, “Don't you bloody well dob on us Kirk.”

At that Graham gave a wry smile. “Don't worry, I won't. You aren't in my section. It's your conscience.”

“Conscience!” jeered Cpl Crane. “Bloody ‘goody-goody' weakling.”

Graham flamed at the insults but held his tongue. There were a couple of cadets from 3 Platoon at the urinal but they left as he arrived so he was now alone with the gang standing twenty paces behind him. Feeling very self-conscious and afraid Graham stood with his back to them to urinate. Then the emotional turmoil made it hard for him to start and he burned with shame.

As he tried Waters called out, “Kirk can't find his dick!”

“That's ‘cause it's so tiny!” Moynihan added, his voice full of contempt.

To Graham's relief Franks said, “How do you know Lew? Have you been looking?”

“Get stuffed!” Moynihan snarled.

By then Graham had managed to get started. Even so he feared the gang would do something to him while he was so vulnerable. To his relief they did not. After zipping up his trousers he turned and walked back past them. Once again Costigan glared at him and said, “You tell on us and you'll regret it.”

Graham made no reply but walked on up out of the dip. By the time he reached the top his heart was once again hammering as though he had run a race. Almost immediately he was presented with a dilemma. Not twenty paces away was the 3 Platoon sergeant, Sgt Yeldham. ‘I could tell him,' he thought. But he shook his head and tried to tell himself that the smokers were none of his business. That left a sour taste in his mouth and he walked on back to his own platoon area wondering if he really was a coward.

The business of getting himself and his section ready at once claimed all Graham's attention and he had no more time to worry about troublemakers in other platoons until breakfast time. During the mess parade Graham found Kirsty behind him in the line and she seated herself next to him when he took his food to the area allocated to the platoon.

‘She must like me,' he mused as he walked over to the table where the bread and cereal was placed. After collecting some cereal and milk he went to his platoon area. Kirsty came with him and sat beside him. The main topic of conversation in the platoon was the ‘Hutchie Men' and Graham was asked several times to give his account of what happened.

“They reckon Carnes was rolled in his own shit,” Bert Lacey commented.

Graham just grunted and pretended to have a mouthful of food.

“Carnes is a useless idiot!” Cadet Lucas observed.

At that Graham reacted. “Leave the poor bugger alone!” he cried. “He's on his first camp and is being bullied by Pike and his slimy mates. He doesn't need us picking on him as well.” That effectively ended that conversation but Graham sensed he wasn't very popular for shaming them into silence.

The next half hour went by in a rush for Graham. He had to get himself ready and at the same time ensure the section was as well. Adding to his feeling of tension was the need to go to the latrine to do a crap but he put this off. ‘I'll go later when I've got time,' he told himself, then doubted whether he was just trying to rationalise his own fears. ‘Am I coward?' he wondered, ‘Am I actually scared of the Hutchie Men?'

In the end he did not have time as both Andrews and Halyday were not ready for inspection at 0730. Nor were Dianne and Lucy anywhere to be seen. Both had gone to the toilet and only returned after Sgt Grenfell had been waiting five minutes to inspect. Sweating with anxiety and annoyance Graham snapped at the late cadets to get a move on. To add to his feelings of poor performance his section was then left till last. This was because both Stephen's and Gwen's sections were lined up ready.

“See what you've done!” Graham fumed.

“Aw keep yer shirt on Kirky,” Halyday retorted.

“Don't back answer me Cadet Halyday; and call me corporal. This is the Army Cadets!” Graham snapped. He glanced around and saw that his outburst had drawn a frown from CUO Masters, who had just begun inspecting Gwen's section. That made Graham feel even worse. ‘I'm not handling this very well,' he thought unhappily.

Aware of rebellious muttering by Halyday, Graham ordered the section lined up with their gear laid out. Halyday kept giving him sulky looks but Graham pretended to ignore this. To ensure everything was ready he went along and inspected them himself. While doing this he found himself looking into Kirsty's eyes.

It was as though they just grew in size and somehow drew him in. ‘They are pretty eyes!' he thought, marvelling again at the tiny flecks of gold in the blue of her irises. ‘I wonder?'

She smiled and he tried not to smile back, and failed. Then his eyes travelled down over the front of her shirt. ‘Not much in there,' he thought with regret. He really liked larger bosoms. Then he blushed at his own thoughts and hastily looked on down at her boots and then her mess gear.

A few minutes later CUO Masters and Sgt Grenfell came over to inspect and Graham was sure it was a disaster. CUO Masters found a dozen things wrong which Graham had not noticed. He said, “This section needs to lift its standards Cpl Kirk.”

That left Graham burning with shame and he glowered at the line of cadets, who stood and sullenly glowered back. It was a relief to be called on parade.

During the company parade CSM Cleland handed over to Capt Conkey. Capt Conkey then ordered the platoon commanders to ‘fall in'. Once they had done so he proceeded to lecture them about the previous night. “If I find out who these Hutchie Men are they are in for a miserable camp,” he threatened. “Now stop the bullying and teasing and get on with making the camp work smoothly.”

After that the company was seated in the shade of the big ironbark. The CUOs and sergeants went over to the officer's fire for a briefing while Capt Conkey gave the remainder their instructions for a day navigation exercise. This was to be a slightly longer version of the night exercise they had done, but all sections following a different route from the previous exercise.

By the time the briefing was over Graham was feeling quite uncomfortable. He now badly needed to go to the toilet but was absorbed in calculating his first ‘leg'. As he did the OOCs, CUOs and Sgts moved off with vehicles and radios to set up the check points. With an effort Graham kept his bowels under control and concentrated on the mathematics.

Satisfied he was correct he stood in line behind Cpl Bannister. Bannister showed his workings to Capt Conkey and was told to go away and check them. At that Bannister scowled at Graham as he stalked off. Heart fluttering with anxiety Graham stepped forward to present his calculations. Capt Conkey scanned them then nodded. “That's fine Cpl Kirk. Off you go.”

That earned Graham another scowl from Bannister, who had stopped to talk to Cpl Brown. Graham ignored them and called 4 Section to join him. He set the compass. “You first Kirsty,” he said, holding it out.