© Ian Dolby-2018- this 3rd Edition May 2022
CHAPTER 1...Monday pm…Eden…Harry
CHAPTER 3...Eden...Monday, early evening
CHAPTER 4...Eden mooring... Firebird...Monday evening
CHAPTER 5... Firebird... Eden harbour...Tuesday – early am
CHAPTER 6... Firebird...Tuesday
CHAPTER 7...Firebird...Tuesday...at sea
CHAPTER 8... Firebird... Tuesday...at sea – am
CHAPTER 9...Luke...Melbourne...Wednesday morning
CHAPTER 10... Firebird... At sea...Flinders Island...Wednesday AM
CHAPTER 11... Firebird...Flinders Island...Wednesday
CHAPTER 12... Firebird... Flinders Island...Wednesday evening
CHAPTER 13... Firebird... Flinders Island...Thursday
CHAPTER 14... Firebird... Flinders Is – Three Hummock Is...Friday am
CHAPTER 15...Luke’s car en route to the city...Friday evening
CHAPTER 16... Firebird... Three Hummock Is...Saturday am
CHAPTER 17... Firebird... Three Hummock Is...Tuesday pm
CHAPTER 18... Firebird... Three Hummock Is...Tuesday to Friday
CHAPTER 19... Firebird... Three Hummock Is...Friday 09:00
CHAPTER 20...Three Hummock Is to Wynyard...Friday 12:00
CHAPTER 21... Firebird... Wynyard...Friday 21:00
CHAPTER 22... Firebird...Wynyard to Three Hummock Is...Saturday am
CHAPTER 23...East Telegraph Bay/Three Hummock Is...Saturday
CHAPTER 24...East Telegraph Bay to Three Hummock Is...Sunday am
CHAPTER 25...Melbourne...Sunday morning – Luke’s mobile
CHAPTER 26...East Telegraph Bay – Three Hummock Is... Sunday AM
CHAPTER 27... Firebird... East Telegraph Bay/Three Hummock Is...Monday
CHAPTER 28...Wynyard Harbour – Firebird... Tuesday morning
CHAPTER 29...Hillary Jones...Narre Warren East...Tuesday 17:00
CHAPTER 30...Luke’s mobile...Tuesday afternoon
CHAPTER 31... Firebird... Wynyard...Wednesday morning
CHAPTER 32...Canberra...Annette De Silva...Friday evening – 19:00
CHAPTER 33... Firebird... Hunter Is/Wynyard...Friday pm/Saturday am
CHAPTER 34...Jimmy...Wynyard Airport...Saturday am – 10:00
CHAPTER 35...Wynyard...Angie & Zoe...Saturday morning
CHAPTER 36...Robert Jameson...Canberra – Yass...Saturday
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CHAPTER 37...Robert Jameson...Yass...Saturday
CHAPTER 38... Firebird... Wynyard...Saturday morning
CHAPTER 39... Firebird... Wynyard...Saturday
CHAPTER 40... Firebird... Wynyard/Shepherds Bay...Saturday
CHAPTER 41...Burnie Hospital & Luke...Monday morning
CHAPTER 42...Luke at home...Monday pm
CHAPTER 43... Firebird... Shepherds Bay, Hunter Is...Sunday
CHAPTER 44...Offices of Steel Associates...Monday
CHAPTER 45... Firebird... Shepherds Bay, Hunter Island...Monday am
CHAPTER 46...Shepherds Bay, Hunter Island...Tuesday
CHAPTER 47... Firebird... Erith Island...Wednesday am
CHAPTER 48...Steel Associates Offices – Melbourne...Wednesday
CHAPTER 49... Firebird...Thursday
CHAPTER 50... Firebird... East Cove, Erith Is...Saturday
CHAPTER 51... Firebird... East Cove, Erith Is...Saturday pm
CHAPTER 52... Firebird... East Cove, Erith Is...Sunday
CHAPTER 53...East Cove, Erith Is...Sunday
CHAPTER 54...Erith Is / Snake Is / Pt Welshpool, Victoria...Sunday
CHAPTER 55... Firebird... Snake Is/Lakes Entrance, Victoria...Sunday
CHAPTER 56... Seeker... David...Slip C12, Blairgowrie Yacht Squadron, Mornington Peninsula
CHAPTER 57... Seeker... David & Corrine – Lakes Entrance...Monday
CHAPTER 58... Seeker... David & Corrine...Lakes Entrance – Monday
CHAPTER 59... Seeker... David & Corrine...Lakes Entrance...Tuesday
CHAPTER 60... Firebird... Bunga Arm...Sunday
CHAPTER 61... Firebird...Bunga Arm...Tuesday
CHAPTER 62... Seeker...David & Corrine...Bunga Arm...Wednesday
CHAPTER 63... Firebird... Bunga Arm...Wednesday
CHAPTER 64... Firebird & Seeker... Bunga Arm...Thursday
2
On a warm, late summer day, the tall, green-clothed trees surrounding the beautiful old Victorian house were buzzing with the sound of male cicadas frantically calling females, while inside, all was quiet. The ponderous ticking of the grandfather clock in the marble-tiled entry hall was by far the loudest noise.
That was until Janice loudly and very forcibly said, ‘Fuck it!’ as she once again cursed her aching wrists and tried to ease the stiffness caused by the numerous, week-old bruises adorning her arms and shoulders. She’d just discovered that typing on her computer was a lot more difficult than she’d imagined, but despite the waves of despair which washed through her with depressing regularity, she was determined to finally finish setting down a dispassionate record of the violence she’d endured from her husband over the past eighteen months.
She’d started this task several times, but her publicly charming and quietly-spoken husband, Luke Emery, always managed to discover her records and to gleefully delete them. She’d then cop another savage beating which he made sure left few visible marks, but usually managed to confine her to bed for a day or two at a time.
One smart thing she did was to always take photos of the injuries with her mobile phone. Either she took them herself or got Jill, their pretty 22-year-old housekeeper to do it.
Despite the profound depths of her own predicament, her greatest concern was for the safety of her beautiful twin girls, soon to turn 19. By good luck or perhaps due to Luke’s intentions, they saw none of his insane rages, although Janice felt, with a prickle of dread, that the day was fast approaching. The girls thought the sun shone out his fundamental orifice, and for some strange reason, he tried hard to maintain that delusion. So, for their sake alone, Janice tried to conceal her injuries as best she could, assisted by the hopelessly intimidated Jill.
However, with Luke’s rages becoming more frequent and severe, Janice sensed that he was about to lose it completely, so before then, she wanted the girls, Jill and herself away from this man who’d become a raving lunatic.
Although Janice had a comfortable private income, courtesy of a doting grandfather, her husband was a well-connected, multi-millionaire. He’d made the bulk of his fortune in the earth-moving business, but had lately branched out into property development.
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He bought up old inner-city industrial sites and warehouses at suspiciously low prices, from near-bankrupt owners, then converted them to upmarket, trendy housing. The enterprise did extremely well, with an endless supply of yuppies anxious to move in from the leafy and tranquil outer suburbs, to bury themselves in the joyless concrete canyons of CBD Melbourne.
Unfortunately, both her accountancy training and gossip in the local town, told her that Luke’s income from these projects fell well short of his very extravagant outgoings.
She shared her concerns about possible financial discrepancies with her father, a well-respected Melbourne barrister, to whom she'd become much closer since her mother had died eight years ago. So far, she thought she’d managed to hide Luke’s violence from him.
Her father confirmed the rumours about Luke’s dodgy dealings, where stubborn building owners suffered painful midnight visits from Luke’s bully boys. Additionally, there were hints of huge kickbacks to politicians and local council planning department heads. However, Dad correctly pointed out the need for Janice to find some hard proof of wrongdoing, before trying to make a case against her lunatic husband. Otherwise, it was just her word against the power of Luke’s shady connections with nearly everyone in high places!
Janice had a small, pretty room on the ground floor, where she kept her computer and large collection of books, with a lovely view over the extensive gardens and expensively-manicured lawns. In happier times, it had been one of her favourite pleasures to curl up in a comfortable chair and read, with the beautifully-tended gardens to gaze at occasionally.
These days, she was too stiff to curl up anything bigger than her little finger, and by his Lordship’s decree, her door had to remain open all the time. Conversely, Luke’s private study, just two rooms away, was always locked with a thumbprint-operated deadlock, whether occupied or not.
This particular day, with the monster in residence, the silence was forcefully broken by a hammering on the front door which was next to Luke’s study, and as usual, Jill answered the imperious summons.
Janice heard the door open, and immediately a loud, aggressive male voice demanded to see Luke.
‘Mr Luke is busy, sir’, Janice heard Jill’s frightened tone, ‘he can’t be disturbed.’
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‘I’ll bloody well disturb him,’ the voice yelled, ‘get the stupid fucker out here now. We’ve got things to discuss!’
Before Jill had a chance to reply, Luke had ripped his door open and stormed out, instantly in a towering rage.
‘What the fuck’s going on?’ he demanded loudly, glaring at a terrified Jill and the belligerent visitor in turn, ‘What part of ‘I’m busy’ don’t you fuck-wits understand?’
Jill started stammering an apology, but was violently swept aside by Luke’s arm as he charged through the front door, roughly shoving his visitor out in front of him. Just before the massive iron-banded, oak door crashed closed, Janice heard him yelling,
‘How dare you come to my house, you ignorant prick! I’ve told everyone there’s never to be any.........’
Janice quickly walked up the hall, gave a trembling Jill a quick hug of comfort and sent her back to what she had been doing. Shaking her head at yet another example of her husband’s uncontrollable temper and decidedly odd business dealings, she was walking slowly back to her sitting room, when she noticed Luke’s study door was open.
With a quick look over her shoulder and a mental coin-toss, she stepped inside and looked around, however nothing seemed out of the ordinary, until her gaze locked onto his computer, still running with a letter displayed on the screen.
With a flash of inspiration and an unfamiliar surge of daring, she darted back to her room, grabbed a portable HDD from her drawer, and returned to Luke’s study. She glanced out the window and was reassured to see the two of them, still shouting and poking each other in the chest. With trembling hands, she plugged the drive into a spare USB port, then started a copy of all the desktop folders and documents, including a copy of the main Documents folder itself.
Even with the super-fast USB3 format, it seemed to take a terrifyingly long time to copy everything, although she kept a close watch on the continuing drama out front, ready to stop the process and run if it came to a premature conclusion.
She fought an almost overwhelming desire to pee, at the thought of Luke’s reaction if he caught her in here, let alone copying his private files. A surge of panic almost pushed her to the verge of aborting the copy run, when finally, a soft chime announced completion, so she hastily ejected the drive, restored the desktop to as-found condition and left the room.
She knew Luke would be less than happy when he came back inside, and even more so when he found he’d left his study door unsecured. However, as he hadn’t seen her 5
when he charged out of his office, she thought she might get away with pretending to have been absent all the time by going rowing on the river.
An hour later, pleasantly sweaty, and with some of her muscular pains in temporary abeyance, she returned, and went to her room to shower and change.
Which was where Luke found her.
What followed was the mother of all beatings, where he didn’t bother to give her a chance to confirm or deny any wrongdoing – instead, he blamed her for the bloke who came unannounced to the door, as well as for somehow making him forget to lock his study door. As usual, he became aroused during the beating and as he got ready to have sex with her, she kicked out and landed a perfect blow right on his nuts.
Once he had recovered his breath, and un-curled himself from a foetal position on the floor, he limped away, threatening all sorts of retaliation, leaving her naked and bleeding on the floor of her bathroom. They’d been living in separate bedrooms for some time and hadn’t had consensual sex for years, so his fumbling, ineffectual attempts at penetration had become the final act in the more severe beatings.
On this occasion, once Luke had retreated to his study with several packs of frozen peas, Jill took more photos of Janice's injuries, then helped clean her up before the girls came home. Together, they concocted a story about tripping over the vacuum cleaner and falling downstairs.
That night, as she lay in bed, too sore to sleep, she had a disturbing thought. ‘ When Luke was beating her up, why was he so upset about the stranger turning up at the door? It would’ve been more logical if he’d asked whether she’d been in his study.’
Over the next few days, they had no contact of any sort, with Luke out of the house at odd hours, presumably busy with work. That gave her time to partially recover and plan for her and the girls’ escape. Screwing up her courage, she finally told the incredulous girls the whole sordid story and gratefully accepted their unqualified expressions of support. She activated her master plan when Luke told Jill he’d be away for the day on business. Firstly withdrawing a large bundle of cash from her bank account, then with packed bags, she had Jill drive them to the train station for stage one of their disappearing act.
She advised Jill to take her car and do the same, although she knew the girl wouldn’t take that advice.
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That evening, when he returned from work, Luke's meltdown was of truly epic proportions! From some unrewarded sense of loyalty, Jill hadn't left, so she became the new number one target. Luke hadn't really bashed her before, but this time she copped the full treatment.
He dished out what he would have lavished on Janice, including ripping off all her clothes and attempting to have sex with her. That part, at least, she found to be a bit of a joke as he proved to be so short-changed in the erection department, she could barely even feel him, let alone be hurt by his grunting efforts! It was his weight on her and the gusts of foul breath washing over her face which were much worse than the little she could feel further down. The beatings were a totally different matter however, as Luke was a master at that, and she was thankful that he didn't break any bones.
After letting her clean herself up, he secured her hands with handcuffs, then tied a short rope to the linking chain, before leading her, still naked, after him wherever he went. When he stopped in one place for a while, he'd tie the rope to any handy, heavy piece of furniture, leaving her to kneel or sit awkwardly on the floor.
The Offer
She was also present when, later that evening, Luke received a phone call. It came just after he’d arranged for his foreman, Jimmy Fitzroy, to make a late-night visit to the daughter and her husband of the owner of a derelict building in the old docks area.
Luke had been trying to buy the place for a pittance, but the old guy just wanted a fair price for his property – a concept Luke found quite ridiculous.
Luke’s advice to Jimmy that they should wear condoms this time, fell on deaf ears!
Luke was calculating what this latest acquisition would do to his bank account, when the phone rang.
‘Hello? Who's this?’
‘Mr Emery, I presume?’
‘Speak up, for Christ's sake! You sound like Darth Vader! Ha, Ha. What've you got a cold or something?’
‘Never mind what I've got, Mr Emery. It’s what you’ve got which is the subject of this call. Can you confirm you have two blonde, 18-year-old daughters?’
‘I guess that's common knowledge, so yes, I have... but what's the age and hair-colour of my daughters got to do with you?’
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‘Listen carefully, Mr Emery. I have a proposition which could be worth a lot of money to you.’
That grabbed Luke's attention like nothing else.
‘Okay, but go slow! You're still very hard to understand and I don't have one of those robot translator things. Ha, ha!’
‘Very droll, Mr Emery. Now pay attention. I represent a gentleman who resides in another part of the world and is offering a large sum of money for two blonde, Caucasian, virgin females, under the age of 20. He has seen photos of two such girls on your, ah... group's website, and wishes to know if these girls meet his specification and can be made available for a suitable price.’
‘Holy crap! Are you offering to buy my daughters?’
‘Not at all, Mr Emery. I am merely acting as the agent. It is my client who is offering to do just that.’
Luke was quiet for a minute, thoughts whirling around his head. It was one thing to trade nude photos of his daughters with like-minded deviates, but a huge step up to actually selling the girls. Where would he find another pair like them? Blonde, beautiful and happy to be photographed naked. Even with all his resources, it would be a difficult search.
Naturally, the concept of being concerned for the safety and future of his offspring didn't enter Luke's calculations for one moment. However, the dangled prospect of converting the girls into some serious money was of far greater interest. And so the negotiations began.
‘Just how seriously are we talking here, Mr Vader? I mean – they are my daughters.’
‘From what I hear, Mr Emery, you couldn't care less about them, except as a continuing source of naked photos for a bunch of twisted old men to masturbate over!’
Luke made a show of spluttering indignantly, ‘Listen you fucking robot. You watch what you say!’
The cultured, yet distorted voice suddenly took on a hard edge. ‘No! You watch what
you say, Mr Emery. You're the one who needs the money, since you are teetering on the verge of a bankruptcy abyss. In this instance, you are simply the most convenient source of these items, but by no means the only source. So be very careful what you say, or the offer of all that lovely money will disappear like a drop of water in the desert!’
That shut Luke up immediately. ‘Okay! Okay! Don’t get your knickers in a twist! Let's suppose for the moment that I'm interested. What's the deal?’
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‘That's better. Upon production of the two girls, in perfect health, with no marks or bruises, and with their virginity physically intact, at a place and time to be advised, I am authorised to offer the sum of one million US dollars. Each!
The money will be transferred to your bank account upon hand-over of the items and medical verification that they meet the required specifications.’
Luke thought quickly. Two million US translated to about $2.8 Australian and would keep the banks off his back for a while longer.
‘Very well. That’s agreeable. But when do you need them?’
‘I will contact you shortly, once I’ve spoken with my client, but expect my call within 10
days.’
‘Right! Ah... look. The ah... items have gone away for a few days.’
‘I don't see a problem, Mr Emery, provided you produce the items within the ten-day time frame I suggested. Will that be an issue?’
‘Ah...no. No, I'm sure that'll be fine. They'll be ready.’
‘Excellent, Mr Emery. I'd like to say it's been a pleasure doing business with you, despite my natural dislike of persons of your peculiar persuasion . Still, business is business, as the saying goes and we can't always choose.’
There was a definite 'click' as the Darth Vader voice hung up, leaving Luke sitting slightly stunned, as the import of the deal sunk in. There was still no remorse over the morality of the 'deal’, just that a near three-million-dollar payday was sufficiently rare in Luke's world to warrant serious thought.
Now he just had to get the long-legged, blonde moneybags back from wherever that stupid bitch Janice had dragged them off to. His next action was to hit a speed dial number on his phone.
‘Jimmy. I've got a job for you.’
‘...Yes, I know you're on a job. This is different.’
‘...I don't care what time of night it is. Don't argue with me, you fucking idiot! Who pays your outrageous salary? And who makes sure you've always got plenty of girls – and the right sort of boys as well? Don't you forget it because I won't.’
‘...Okay. That's better. Now, I want you to put a team together and find my family.’
‘...No, of course they're not here! Would I be asking you to find them if they were here?
Christ! What a moron. Get your thumb outta your bum and zip your fly! You've got work to do.’
With that, Luke passed on details of Janice and the girls' disappearance and authorised spending as required to find them.
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CHAPTER 1...Monday pm…Eden…Harry
Around 16:00 Monday afternoon, the summer sun was just starting to lose its heat as I wandered up from the wharf where I’d tied my dinghy, a Rigid Inflatable Boat, or RIB. I stopped at the newsagent to buy a paper, and chatted briefly with the owner, a very pleasant, friendly lady who always asked after my cat, Jasper. She was quite attractive as well as friendly, so any time with her was good value. However, with more customers lining up, I reluctantly left, stepping just next door to the small bar and grill.
Most afternoons, I met with Johnny, the boat refueller and Harbour Master for a beer or two. I also ate there most days, since while I quite enjoyed cooking, it was a pain doing it just for myself. The only other alternative was a hike up the steep hill into town to the Fisherman’s Club, although the quality of the feed and the friendly, happy staff made it worth the walk.
I’d been in Eden for four weeks now, taking my time about cleaning up my 60ft catamaran, Firebird, as well as resting myself and Jasper, my 25kg, black, Chausie/jungle cat cross. We'd taken a battering from an east-coast low which had suddenly developed off the coast, and which gave the parachute anchor a good workout in the 30 to 40ft seas whipped up by 50 to 60kt winds. The boat didn’t sustain any real damage, just a few annoying leaks in the deckhouse joints where they shouldn’t, and a big crack in the rear deck hardtop by something very heavy landing on it.
That something had long disappeared by the time I’d carefully ventured out into the spray-lashed cockpit, to find that it had broken a solar panel, left a smear of blood and some very large scales which didn’t come off any fish I’d seen before. By the time the wind had settled down and the waves dropped to a less intimidating height, Eden was the nearest decent port, as well as a very pretty place. With no firm schedule, I was happy to be able to have the time to appreciate the peace and beauty of this lovely part of Australia.
Jasper also appreciated the rest, having retired to his bed on a spare bunk at the onset of the storm, regularly voicing his displeasure at the screeching wind noise and unusually violent motion with mournful yowls.
Now that I’d been in Eden a while, I quite fancied staying longer, although my eventual goal was to explore the west coast of Tasmania before winter set in. Macquarie 10
Harbour and the fascinating remote wilderness of Port Davey further to the south, held an attraction like few other places had.
This Monday afternoon, however, since Johnny was already waiting, it wasn’t long before we were sitting at our usual window ledge, sipping cold schooners of beer and perving at the surprising number of wandering female tourists.
‘How’s that mini black panther of yours?’ Johnny asked, ‘you haven’t brought him ashore for a few days.’
‘Nah,’ I chuckled, ‘not after that silly bloody Dutch woman freaked out when I was walking him around the wharves. Since the rotten bitch wanted to report me to the cops for keeping a dangerous animal, I’ve decided to take him elsewhere for his walks.’
Johnny laughed, ‘Yeah. But you must admit, it was hilarious. All the time she was screaming and yelling, Jasper just sat and looked at her. Tell you what though, he’s scored a big hit with Molly at the newsagents. She reckons he’s the duck’s guts!’ He gave me a sly grin, ‘She reckons you’re a bit of alright too.’
‘Ah, turn it up,’ I chuckled, feeling slightly embarrassed, ‘she’s always asking after him and she’s a really nice lady, but I think you’re stretching things a bit. Still, she’s pretty and very nicely built. I reckon she must work out.’
Johnny gave me a flat look. ‘Yeah, right. And of course you hadn’t noticed that she’s got great tits as well.’
I didn’t encourage him further with a reply, and got back to Jasper’s exercise program, a much safer subject.
‘Anyway, as I was saying, to keep Jasper happy, I’ve been taking him over to Aslings Beach and letting him have a good run around that sand spit. He really likes the sand and it’s a safe place for him. I’m not too keen on either of us swimming off the boat.
There are too many bitey things lurking in this particular bay.’
He nodded, and after a few sips of beer, Johnny said, ‘How did things go with that woman and her daughters?’
I looked at him blankly, ‘What woman and what daughters would that be, Johnny?’
He looked annoyed with himself. ‘Oh. Sorry. I must’ve forgotten to tell you.’
‘Yeah, mate. I think you just might have.’ Sometimes Johnny can be so vague, I don’t know how he stays in business.
‘Well anyway, last Saturday this woman, who's also a pretty good sort by the way, with two chicky-babes in tow, comes into the office and asks if there are any yachties heading out in the next few days who’d be willing to take on some crew. So I mentioned 11
the Yanks as a long shot, but having three decent-sized kids, they hardly need extra crew. There’s also the fact they only just arrived, so they won’t be leaving soon.
Then there’s the Danish couple, but since she seems to like lying around naked most of the time, they probably wouldn’t want anybody else around. Their boat’s a bit small for another three anyway, although I sure Henk would love to have more females aboard!
Course there’s Doris and Albert, but I doubt they’re going anywhere in the near future either, and although they’ll need crew when they do, they probably wouldn’t take amateurs.
Then, when I mentioned that you were heading off to the Tasmanian west coast sometime soon, she looked interested, but then just said thanks and wandered off.
I guess she hasn’t been to see you yet?’
Like most re-fuelling persons in ports, Johnny is a chronic gossip and busybody, and was always trying to get information to add to his trading stock.
‘No, mate. I haven’t seen or heard from them.’
‘Oh. Okay. They must have buggered off then.’ We drank and chitchatted for a while, then as we started our second round, he nearly knocked my beer over as he suddenly pointed past me and quietly said, ‘Hey! There they are. That’s them. The three ladies.
That’s Mum in front.’
As befits a fully paid-up member of the Female Appreciation Society, I slowly turned my head and saw a woman of medium height, mid-thirties, dressed in baggy shorts and a loose bright-orange top, walking along the footpath. She was flanked by two tall, lanky teenage girls wearing the obligatory just-sprayed-on short-shorts, complete with what looked like razor slashes, and brief tops with lots of bare, tanned skin in between.
‘Yeah, that’s them,’ Johnny repeated. ‘See? I told you Mum wasn’t bad looking. The chicky-babes are a bit of alright too.’
‘Christ, Johnny. What are you? The local dating service pimp? Look after your own sex life.’
Unoffended, he grinned, ‘Just helping, Harry, just helping. You know me.’
He was right, however. She wasn’t bad looking at all – rather pretty really, with short, blonde hair and a pleasantly rounded body in welcome defiance of the current anorexic standard of attractiveness. She had really nice legs and moved with a feline grace the baggy clothes failed to hide. Her daughters were also blonde and pretty.
Because of the dark fly screen over the open window in front of us, we could watch without getting sprung, but then they conveniently stopped at a café table just a couple 12
of metres from our vantage point, where the two girls parked themselves, while Mum went inside to order.
They were close enough for us to hear some of what they were saying.
One said, unhappily, ‘Oh Ange, even though Mum explained why we’ve been dragging our sorry arses around from motel to motel these last three weeks, I’m really getting sick of it!’
Her sister replied in an equally frustrated tone, ‘Yeah, I know. Every time we think we’re clear of dear deviate Dad’s goons, they pop up again.’
‘What I don’t understand is how the rotten buggers keep finding us,’ her sister said miserably. ‘Some days I forget where we are.’
‘I know,’ Ange comforted her, ‘the only bright side is that he must really have the shits now we’ve left. I just hope Mum’s idea of a boat ride somewhere works out.’
‘Yeah. It’s a loopy idea, but it might be a good place to hide for a while.’
‘I agree,’ Angie replied, ‘but I’m not sure just jumping on a boat with strangers is going to be easy. I mean, it’s not like catching a bus or something. There’s no scheduled service outta here.’
‘True,’ the other replied, ‘and there aren’t many yachts anyway. But I’m starting to really miss our friends and hanging out at the mall. Like, it’s only been three weeks, but it seems like forever and it’s not over yet!’
Angie nodded sadly, ‘Yeah. I know, sis.’
Her sister said hopefully, ‘Maybe we can stay in one place long enough to get to know some good-looking boys our age! I’m getting a bit tired of us being the only two 18-year-old virgins in town.’
‘Yeah! That’ll be fun.’ Angie giggled. Which started them both giggling, but quietened down when Mum returned, carrying a tray of drinks.
‘I’m glad to see you can still laugh.’ Mum said, eyeing them both as she sat.
‘Yeah, sorry we’ve been a bit down, Mum,’ Angie said. ‘It’s just all this travelling and shifting motels every couple of days. We’re missing our friends.’
Mum nodded. ‘I’m really sorry things happened like this, but running away seemed to be the only thing to do at the time. Being selfish, I was getting tired of being the resident punching-bag!’
‘Oh Mum! We’re sorry about that too and do understand. But what’s the plan now?’
‘Well,’ Mum replied to the first girl, ‘I've pretty well run out of ideas. Apart from this wild idea to jump on a boat and disappear for a while. That would give your Grandad time to deal with the legal stuff and maybe stop your dad chasing us.’
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‘Got all that, Mum,’ Angie replied, ‘and we’ll help all we can, but it won’t be like catching a plane or a bus. How do we hitch-hike a ride on a boat? Or more importantly, how do we convince the skipper to help us? I mean, we’d have to tell all, surely?’
Mum grinned, ‘You’re right. I’m sure it’s not just like catching a bus, but otherwise I don’t know how it works. I asked around the wharves to see if there was anybody willing to take on three crew members with minimal boating experience, but nothing has popped up so far.’
The second girl replied, ‘Get a grip, Mum. Our ‘boating experience’ was just messing around the bay in Dad’s power boat. There’s nothing like that here apart from the fishing boats and they’re no help. They live here! Everything else that floats seems to have bloody great masts poking up, and that means sails and rope and stuff which we know nothing about!’
‘Yeah. You’re right, Zoe!’ Mum replied, ‘but someone might help us if we keep asking. If not from here, then maybe at another port with more private yachts. We really need to break our trail for a while.’
‘Yeah Mum,’ Zoe replied, ‘I’m sorry and we do understand. It’s just so frustrating, but don’t worry, we’re with you.’
Mum smiled. ‘Thanks girls, I know you are. I just want to try to make the best of this crazy situation.’
They sipped their drinks in silence for a while, before Angie said, ‘So who have you asked about a boat?’
‘Well,’ she replied, ‘apart from the trawler guys, the best one seems to be the refueller fella down on the main wharf. He said he’d ask around for us, but out of several possible, he suggested there’s a single guy with a catamaran who’s maybe leaving in a few days.’
CHAPTER 2...Eden...Monday pm
I looked at Johnny with raised eyebrows, my curiosity stirred by their tale.
‘How does that sound to you?’ I asked quietly.
He frowned. ‘I don’t know, mate. Sounds legit, but jeeze, they’re carrying a shit-load of heavy baggage. You might find yourself in the middle of a real dust-up with a pissed-off husband chasing them.’
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I grinned back. ‘True. But I’m a sucker for helping damsels in distress.’
‘Yeah,’ he smirked, ‘especially if they’ve got tits and look good!’
I scowled at him. ‘How can you say such a thing? My intentions are pure!’
‘Yeah, sure! Purely depraved!’
I stood and drained the last of my beer. ‘Okay, enough of your insults. Come and introduce me and I’ll see if they can convince me.’
‘But seriously for a moment,’ I looked carefully at him, ‘if I do take them on, you have to keep quiet. Like really, totally, I-know-nothing-boss type quiet. You can’t tell anybody that they even spoke to me, let alone where we’ve gone. It sounds like some heavies may come around asking questions, especially because she’s spread the story of wanting a boat ride, so you have to say that nobody wanted to take them on and they left town heading north on a bus or something. Okay?’
Johnny looked thoughtful, which maybe was a bit of a stretch for him.
‘Yeah. You’re right, that’s what I’ll have to say. No problem mate, I’ll handle it.’
I clapped him on the shoulder with a show of more confidence than I felt, and said,
‘Good man. Let’s see if I can learn more about their story face-to-face.’
As we walked outside, I hung back a bit so that hopefully Johnny was recognised.
Luckily he was and the mother’s face lit up. ‘Hey! There’s Johnny now,’ she said to the girls. ‘Hi, Johnny!’ she called out as he pretended to walk on past their table.
‘Remember me? Janice. I was asking you about boats leaving Eden.’
Although Johnny’s acting wasn’t exactly NIDA-standard, he still managed a passable double-take and pasted a sappy smile on his dial as he stopped and said, ‘Oh, yeah.
Sure, Janice. Course I remember. In fact, I was just inside having a beer with my mate, Harry here. He’s the one I mentioned.’
Three sets of assessing female eyes swivelled like lasers in my direction. They saw an average height guy, about 5’11’’ or so in the old measure, in his late 30s. Clean-shaven with pleasant but un-remarkable features, or so I’ve been told, with vivid blue eyes and shaggy, sandy hair. The lean body was thanks to good genes, my former occupation and the lifestyle of living on a boat. Not wanting to scare them too soon, I hoped they missed the hard, sometimes haunted look I’ve been told lurks just under the vague gaze of a dedicated boat-bum I preferred to show the world.
Her initial scrutiny complete, Janice jumped to her feet with a huge smile on her face, and stuck out her slim hand, unadorned with any jewellery.
‘Hi. I’m Janice Emery and these are my daughters, Angie and Zoe.’
15
I shook hands with them, pleased that the girls responded immediately and had genuine smiles and firm grips, the same as Janice.
‘Hi, I’m Harry Stevens. Johnny says you’re looking for a bit of a boat trip.’
Janice sat down and waved to the fourth chair at the table. ‘Well. It’s a bit more complicated than that, Harry, but if you’d join us I’ll try to explain. Johnny, do you want to sit as well?’
Johnny shook his head. ‘No thanks Janice. Now I’ve found Harry for you, I’ve got to get back to the wharf. I’ve got three trawlers due in the next couple of hours to refuel. Talk to you later, Harry. Bye girls.’
He sketched a loose wave to everyone and headed for the wharf diagonally across the road from where we sat, as I pulled out a chair and parked my bum. Up close, Janice was still pretty, but her bright green eyes were almost mesmerising, and fixed me with that intense gaze, which I suppose was very natural under the circumstances. At the same time, I was doing my own assessment, hopefully less obviously, and decided it would be best to pretend I’d not heard anything of their previous conversation – just to see if the story stayed straight.
I also reminded myself not to let my current lengthy drought of female company unduly influence my decision to take on crew – something I normally avoided like the plague.
After Janice finished explaining the events leading up to the present, with the girls listening carefully and watching for my reactions, I accepted she wasn’t trying to snow me with some bullshit. She told it like I’d heard before, although with many more useful details tossed into the mix. For instance, her husband, Luke Emery was a very wealthy man with connections at all levels of industry and government. He had mobilised a search with his own thugs to comb the country looking for them. She and the girls were puzzled why her husband was trying so expensively hard to find them.
‘I mean, we understand he’d like to have us under his control again, but this search must be costing him a fortune,’ Janice said, ‘and I know for certain that he’s financially over-extended, so money is very tight at the moment. Much too tight to be wasting hundreds of thousands of dollars on this wife and daughters hunt!’
She also explained that although her mother had died of cancer eight years ago, she still had her father, family and friends, who just needed time to put together the case against Luke, get a DVO, and file for divorce. Meanwhile, she and the girls needed to buy time for that to happen, which explained why they were trying to stay off the radar and out of the clutches of Luke’s so-called investigators.
16
‘Every time we change motels and jump on a train or bus, they seem to be able to find us again within a few days. We’ve really been lucky to escape them each time, but that can’t last. I thought this crazy idea might break the trail for a while.’
She fixed me with a level gaze, thankfully without pulling the sad, teary look. ‘So,’ she said, ‘do you think you can help? I do have money, cash, which friends have been posting to me. I had to stop using plastic since it left a trail, but it’s getting harder to find motels which will take cash. Still, I want to, and can pay our way. The main thing is, since we've been here way too long already, we really need to leave as soon as possible.’
I sat back and thought while I looked at each in turn. Janice radiated a mix of impatience and fear – the girls seemed more interested in the new environment they were possibly getting into, and were carefully and openly checking out the bloke in charge of that environment.
I had no problem with the scrutiny.
Despite my earlier flippant comments to Johnny, I did have a lot of concerns about the size of the mess I was potentially getting into. An angry husband with his own goon squad could make formidable foes. Still, I could always dump the ladies somewhere safe, then bail out and sail away if things got too hot. Whether or not I stooped that low to cop-out, depended on how well they fitted in and behaved.
I was far from being a saint, and as Johnny suggested, ‘if it was pretty and had tits’, I’d prefer to have all three ladies close by. The opportunity to get to know Janice better had a lot going for it, since she seemed highly intelligent, was very attractive and it’d been quite a while since I had a female crew member who might just be persuaded to share my bed.
All this heavy thinking must have taken longer than Janice was prepared to sit still for, since she kicked me in the shin. Not too hard, mind, but still not the behaviour I’d expected.
‘Oy!’ I said, in surprise, as the girls giggled at my reaction. ‘What’s that’s for?’
‘For taking so long to answer me!’ she said in exasperation. ‘Are you going to help us or not?’
‘Bloody hell woman, you're impatient, aren't you?’ I snapped in annoyance. ‘You'd better not do that when we're at sea. I'm supposed to be the Skipper! That means I’m allowed to toss you overboard if you misbehave!’
17
It took a few moments for that comment to sink in, but then her face sudden ly softened and a tear or two glittered greenly in her eyes.
‘So you will help?’
‘Yes. But it’s to be done totally my way or we don’t do it at all. Not negotiable. Okay?’
They nodded, waiting for the other shoe to drop. ‘In that case, this is what we have to do.’ I looked at the girls in particular. ‘If there really are some serious guys looking for you, your trail has to end here and right now. You all have to do exactly what I say, at all times and without argument. I wasn’t totally joking about kicking the Skipper.’
They nodded nervously, hopefully impressed by my newfound intensity that matched Janice’s. While I had their total attention, I held up my hand, fingers spread and ticked off the list.
‘There must not be any contact with family or friends by phone, internet or carrier pigeon, until you can do so without concerns of being traced.’
I looked at the girls again, ‘I need you to turn off your mobile phones right now, take the batteries out and give them to me. This is a big part of breaking your trail.’
I saw the doubt and anguish in their eyes at being deprived of their social lifeline and vital entertainment system.
‘No, don’t look at me with those puppy-dog eyes! There can't be any last-minute chat with your best friends. These people have almost certainly been tracking you by your phones. And I can guarantee your friends wouldn't be able to keep it secret that you called. Therefore, you don't call.’
I paused while they produced two small, slim phones from somewhere, popped the batteries loose and pushed the pile of pieces across the table. I shovelled them all loosely into several pockets.
‘Thank you. But just to repeat, you either accept this deal without reservation, or we forget it. Don’t even think of sneaky ways to phone a friend! If that’s what you’re planning, you might as well catch the next bus back home and save everyone's time and money. Especially mine. You either agree to follow all my rules without reservation or I say goodbye right now.’
Janice nodded immediately, and after a moment the girls did too, although they were obviously devastated at the, 'no phones whatever', rule.
‘Now that's settled, we have to start laying a false trail. Please go back to wherever you’re staying and check out. Tell them you’ve just spoken to friends who are driving to 18
the Gold Coast, and will be passing through town this evening. Say that you've decided to go with them and they’re going to pick you up from the Fisho’s Club after dinner, so you’d like to check out now. You might have to pay for the extra day – if so, do it without arguing.
Collect all your gear – don’t try to make any phone calls – and go to the Eden Fisherman’s Club. It’s in the main street toward the harbour from the motel.’
Janice nodded, ‘We ate there once. The food’s good.’
‘Yeah. It is,’ I replied, ‘so you get to wait there, without making any phone calls!’
The girls rolled their eyes at my insistent repetition, and Angie groaned theatrically,
‘Got it, Harry. No phone calls!’
I grinned, ‘Good! The receptionist will let you park your gear if you say you’re waiting for friends to pick you up and take you to the Gold Coast. But have some drinks and a decent meal. The restaurant opens at 17:30.'
‘That suits me,’ Janice nodded. ‘It’s been a long day and we’re hungry!’
‘Have a good feed,’ I advised, ‘because I don’t want to be messing around making meals later. It won’t be dark for a while, so have a few games of pool or play the pokies.
You girls look old enough.’
They nodded, ‘Yes. We're 18 – nearly 19.’
‘Excellent. Then at 20:30, get your gear, and go to the carpark....’
‘Um...excuse me, Harry. But what's 20:30 mean?’
I suppressed a slight surge of exasperation before smiling. ‘Sorry. Old service habits.
It's the 24-hour clock system and means 8.30 PM.’
Janice nodded, so I continued. ‘Wait by the harbour-side wall of the Club, but close to the entrance as though you’re waiting for your ride. Don’t try to hide or you'll just look suspicious. Act natural, but keep a low profile so people don’t remember you. Try not to win a jackpot on the pokies!
Girls, put your hair up and wear caps all the time, even inside. It’s expected of young persons and will make describing you more difficult. Okay so far?’
All three nodded, so I continued.
‘If someone in the carpark asks if you need help, just stick with the story that your friends are about to pick you up, and how excited you are to be going to the Gold Coast for the first time. When you see an old, dark-blue Holden Commodore come in, be ready to get in with as little fuss and delay as possible. You can trust the person driving the car.’
19
‘Now, it’s important you follow these instructions and the timing exactly. Is there anything so far that any of you don’t understand?’
All three shook their heads, which was a real advance. I was serious in wanting to stop their trail dead and spread as much misdirection as possible.
‘Okay then. I’ll see you later and we’ll plan further from there. Alright?’
‘Thanks for helping us, Harry. We really appreciate your efforts,’ Janice said quietly,
‘and we’ll do exactly what you ask. It’s so good to finally have a plan to follow which has a chance of working.’
‘Yeah, thanks Harry,’ Angie echoed. ‘You’re being great.’
I smiled at them. ‘You’re welcome, although you may regret taking the boat option later if you aren’t used to small boats.’
‘Ah. Speaking of that, how small is your boat?’ Janice asked with some trepidation in her voice, ‘I mean, is it really big enough for four people?’
I grinned, my smart-arse alter-ego unable to resist the temptation of a bit of a wind-up.
‘Yeah, just. We should be able to squeeze in, although things will be tight. But you don’t have a lot of choice at the moment, do you?’
‘No,’ Janice looked downcast, ‘we truly don’t.’
I kicked myself for treading on their fragile feelings a bit hard. ‘Okay. Don’t worry too much,’ I offered, ‘we’ll make things work out.’
On that slightly more upbeat note, we parted, the ladies to walk back up the hill, and me to organise a quick re-provision, refuel and plan. I needed to see Johnny, then make out some provisioning lists.
CHAPTER 3...Eden...Monday, early evening
By hustling, I managed to beat the trawlers to the fuel dock, although the refuel didn’t take long. I moved back out to the mooring, figuring loading passengers out there would attract less attention than doing so at the main wharf. What people didn’t see, they couldn’t gossip about.
The same reasoning made me shop for supplies myself instead of having them delivered, so I borrowed Johnny’s old car. That task didn’t take long, either, since the boat was already quite well-stocked. I did have to buy a few cases of girl-type drinks like vodka coolers, though, as stocks were very low.
20
With twilight deepening and 20:30 fast approaching, Firebird and I were ready. Johnny had agreed to stay back after dark so I could use his car again, and offered to make the pickup, but I preferred to keep his involvement to a minimum. Trusting him to mislead the goon squad when they arrived was enough of a worry.
With full dark settled in, I took the dinghy ashore, where Johnny was still refuelling the last trawler, so I hadn’t delayed him after all.
‘Keys on the desk, Harry,’ he called out from the trawler’s deck, where he was wrestling with a fuel hose the size of a Queensland scrub python. I waved, kept moving, and five minutes later wheeled into the Fisho’s Club carpark. I drove slowly around to see who might be coming or going, but as it was quiet, I headed to where I’d told my new crew to be waiting.
I didn’t see them at first, but then Janice appeared out of the shadows and bent down to peer through the passenger side window.
‘Oh. Hi, Harry,’ she said nervously. ‘You were right. I guess we can trust the person driving this old car?’
I grinned as I hopped out, ‘Yup. Hope so, anyway!’
They had what seemed to be a large pile of bags holding their stuff.
‘Bloody hell!’ I exclaimed. ‘You’ve brought enough!’
‘Well? We had to!’ Janice immediately burred up. ‘This is all we have left. There’s only two suitcases plus a small carry bag each!’
I instantly felt bad that I’d stepped on her feelings once again, and it made me think how she must be feeling – on the run and having to put all her trust in a total stranger who appeared to be a prickly-tempered boat-bum, and a control-freak.
‘Sorry, Janice,’ I apologised as I helped the girls stow the bags in the boot and back seat, ‘I didn’t mean to be rude. That was uncalled for.’
She nodded acceptance, but in the dim carpark lights, I again saw a gleam of unshed tears in her eyes.
‘Come on. We’ll all squeeze in. It’s not far.’
‘It’s a bloody sight further when you’re walking uphill,’ Angie panted, heaving a final suitcase into the stack on the back seat since the boot was full.
I chuckled. ‘Yep. I’ve nearly worn a track up that hill over the past couple of months.
Still, you won’t have to do it again.’
‘Halle-bloody-lujah!’ Zoe said.
As the last small bag was stuffed in, I said, ‘That’s it. Let’s get going before somebody recognises Johnny’s car with strangers in it.’
21
The girls had a brief argument about who sat where, but Angie prevailed, grabbing the only rear seat space left, with Zoe on her lap.
‘Why do I always have the last choice?’ she muttered.
‘Because Mum popped me out first, so I’m older,’ Angie triumphantly returned.
‘Yeah. By what, about ten seconds?’ grumped Zoe.
‘Actually, it was about sixty seconds, as I remember,’ Janice said with a chuckle that raised a general laugh as I swung quietly out of the car park and headed left for the highway. ‘Ah..... Aren’t we going the wrong way?’ she asked with a worried tone.
‘Absolutely,’ I replied, ‘but in case someone notices you were picked up, I’d like to reinforce the idea that you’re heading out of town. By the way, did you have any trouble at the motel or in the Club?’
‘No,’ Janice said, sounding pleased with herself, ‘it went just like you said. The motel people didn’t mind at all, and since the room had been fully serviced this morning and we’d been hanging around the wharves all day, they didn’t charge for the extra day.
They’re such nice people – they were just pleased we'd found a lift with friends. The Club people were also great, especially when we said we wanted to eat. They looked after our gear and wished us a safe trip to the Gold Coast.’
‘Well done,’ I said, ‘that’s just what we wanted them to think. It should help throw the trackers off your scent for a while at least.’
‘I certainly hope so,’ Janice replied quietly. ‘I’m sick of peering over our shoulders all the time.’
I glanced over at her, sitting scrunched up in the corner against the door, ‘Well, you certainly won’t have to do that for a while. And, if your friends can sort out the charges and Court stuff quickly, maybe never again.’ That statement brought on a minor flood of quiet tears, so the rest of the ride was in silence as I turned off the highway on the northern outskirts of town. After a couple of rights and lefts, we made the steep, twisting descent downhill to the wharves, where I parked Johnny’s car in its usual spot.
I spoke quietly, ‘Unload everything as quickly as you can, and double-check nothing is left behind.’
I pointed to the wharf almost in front of us. ‘Carry your stuff out to the first little landing on the right of the wharf. There’s a small black Rigid Inflatable Boat tied up there, hopefully with an outboard still screwed to the stern, but wait until I’m there before you load up.’
I left the ladies to get on with it, while I found Johnny in the office, writing up the fuel accounts for the trawlers. Thankfully, nobody else was around to see the activity.
22
I tossed the keys on the desk. ‘Thanks for that, mate, and for everything else you’ve done. You’ve got my phone number, so let me know immediately if anything unusual happens or if strangers turn up asking the wrong questions.’
He stood to shake my hand and gave a big wink.
‘No problem at all, Harry. Hope you enjoy the sail up to the Whitsundays. The chicks should be flashing their bare boobies and waggling their bums when you get there.’
We’d become good friends and shared a laugh as I left him to his paperwork. Being also the Harbourmaster, my departure for the Whitsundays was now on the official record. Of course, there was nothing to stop me from changing my mind about my destination once I sailed.
I checked Johnny’s car, making sure it was totally empty.
‘Don’t trust me?’ asked Janice, drifting out of the darkness, a wry grin on her face.
‘Yes, I do,’ I replied, ‘but from here on, we must double-check each other. We can’t afford any slipups.’
‘Fair enough,’ she replied quietly. ‘I think we found your RIB, but where’s your boat?’
‘It’s out on a mooring away from curious eyes. I’ll take Angie and the gear first, then come back for you and Zoe.’
She just nodded as we walked to the little side jetty. They’d stacked everything neatly on the platform beside the RIB, ready to go.
‘Good job, guys,’ I said. ‘Angie, if you get in the boat, we’ll start passing stuff. There shouldn’t be any water in the bottom, but check before you put anything down.’
Loading went smoothly and shortly Angie and I were motoring quietly across the calm water toward my darkened boat. It wasn’t until we were almost at the port stern platform that Angie realised this was the one.
‘Oh, wow! Fuck! Is this it?’ she squealed.
‘Sure,’ I replied with a chuckle, ‘but keep it quiet, if you would. We still don’t want to attract attention and sounds carry very well across water.’
‘Oh. Yeah. Sorry, Harry. I just got a bit of a shock. I mean, like this thing is freaking huge! I was looking for something maybe twice the size of this dinghy.’
I killed the motor and climbed out, taking the bow rope with me. ‘Well, just so you know, it’s a catamaran called ‘Firebird’ and it’s 60ft long and 26ft wide. There are three dedicated sleeping cabins and a saloon with tables and chairs where the galley and navigation station are as well. The cockpit just forward from here has the outside 23
steering station, a table and seats and that platform sticking out above us is a king-sized daybed, with the RIB stowage under it. Up the pointy ends are more seating spots and a pair of trampolines for sleeping, sun baking or whatever takes your fancy.
It’s a cool spot to sleep on a hot night, and fun to lie on while we’re sailing, to watch the water rush past.’
By now I’d tied the RIB off, but Angie was still a bit gobsmacked, trying to look everywhere at once, so I reached out to a waterproof touch panel and turned on the dim, blue boarding lights.
‘Far out!’ Angie exclaimed again, as a series of dim blue LEDs lit up the stern boarding platform and steps leading up. ‘Everything just looks so fucking fantastic!’
‘I presume that your mother doesn’t approve of you swearing,’ I commented drily.
‘What? Oh, no, she doesn’t. But what the... we’re old enough and more mature than she likes to think. I mean, this whole thing with Dad bashing her up, and us having to run away has been terrible for all of us, but Mum’s had the worst of it Harry, so she’s become very protective.’
I let it go without comment, but said, ‘If you pass your gear out, I’ll stack it in the cockpit until we get the others aboard.’
‘Okay,’ she replied happily, starting to pass stuff out. Before long, I had everything stacked neatly, although I left the cabin locked.
‘Right,’ I said to Angie, ‘now here’s the go. I need you to sit and wait quietly until I get back. Please don’t explore – don’t leave the cockpit, or turn on any more lights. I have a cat around here somewhere, and he’ll be a bit spooked by having a stranger aboard without me being here.’
I chuckled to myself at the thought of Jasper being spooked. I also knew precisely where he was at this moment – in his favourite spot on top of the cockpit roof, peering over the edge at Angie, his all-over black coat blending in perfectly with the night, and only his large, bright green eyes to maybe give him away.
She had perched happily on the edge of the comfortable daybed and looked around in the blue dimness, but saw nothing, although Jasper could have reached down and batted at her head with a forepaw.
‘Okay. I’ll just sit here and behave. I won’t scare kitty.’
I thought of the fun I’d have later when they met my big pussycat.
‘Thanks for that. I won’t be long.’
24
After loading the other two, we made the return trip without attracting attention and Angie helped them out. They were also surprised with the boat, but more restrained with their language.
Janice chuckled, ‘You really jerked my chain on this, didn’t you Harry? So much for,
‘we should be able to squeeze in’!’
I chuckled, ‘I guess I did, but I didn’t like to brag, you being a wealthy Melbourne socialite. You might have thought I was a tosser or something.’
‘I was a good girl, Harry,’ Angie said smugly, once the others were safely up in the cockpit. ‘I didn’t move around at all, but I haven’t seen your cat.’
‘Oh, great! Have you got a cat?’ cried Zoe, apparently the main cat person of the trio.
‘That’s so cool! A real ship’s cat!’
‘Yeah,’ Angie drawled, ‘but if he’s hiding from us, he must be a real pussy!’
The girls broke into giggles at the lame joke, while I smiled and held my tongue.
‘Right there then,’ I said to them, ‘I’ll open up, then give you the housekeeping briefing and a quick tour. You can choose your cabins before we move all your stuff inside and get it stowed.’
The three nodded and waited until I’d unlocked the main doors but left the dim cockpit lighting as it was.
‘I won’t turn the main lights on, because it might be too obvious I’ve got guests. We don’t want to advertise if possible.’
‘No problem,’ murmured Janice, as I led them into the spacious saloon and turned on the floor-level lights which still lit the area well enough to see everything, but didn’t highlight anything higher up.
I pointed them to the dining table seating, ‘Grab a seat while I play tour guide, but first up, I do have a cat, so I hope no one’s allergic. He doesn’t shed much fur, so long as I brush him occasionally. His name is Jasper, he’s very protective of the boat and me, and acts as a guard cat. I need to introduce you properly so you don’t have any problems.’
The girls giggled and Janice looked both puzzled and amused by my description, so I quietly called, ‘Jasper. Here boy.’
There was a soft thump from the cockpit and a very large, jet-black cat, as long and tall as a Labrador dog, but much leaner and weighing around 25 kg or so, stalked silently into the dimly lit saloon. He sat beside me, leaning his considerable mass possessively 25
against my leg, so I was forced to brace myself on the nav desk. Sitting down, his head was level with the top of the dining table.
‘Holy crap!’ Angie exclaimed in a soft voice. ‘Is that what you said was watching me when you went back for Mum and Zoe?’
I grinned at her discomfort.
‘Yep. That’s why I told you not to explore. He wouldn’t have hurt you because I brought you aboard, but he watched you constantly. He tolerated you being alone without me here, but would have become a bit upset if you’d wandered around.’
Angie frowned at the daunting thought of Jasper being ‘a bit upset’ about anything, but Janice asked, ‘What breed is he?’
‘He’s supposed to be a Chausie-jungle cat cross, which is a cross between an Indonesian jungle cat and a large domestic breed, and that’s what’s on his registration papers. I acquired him as a kitten from a Korean cook on a cargo ship, but a vet thinks somehow his breeding got a bit buggered up since he’s grown a great deal bigger than he's supposed to. He’s only young, weighs 25 kg and seems to be still growing, although it might be just because he eats so much.’
‘He'll be fuckin' ginormous I reckon, if he does keep growing,’ Angie said very respectfully, slowly getting over her initial concern, although Jasper kept his startling green-eyed gaze firmly on her.
Under the circumstances, Janice even forgot to chip her about swearing.
‘Will he be friendly?’ asked Zoe, way too fascinated to be apprehensive.
‘Hell yes. I’ll introduce you and he’ll be fine. Just treat him like a normal cat.’
I called them each by name and let Jasper sniff their hands and then stroke his head.
Disconcertingly, he then shoved his nose into their crotches for even better identification, so I found myself apologising for his rather intimate ID check. Fortunately, no one was offended. They were curious when I told Jasper they were friends who would be living with us for a while.
‘Do you think he understands you?’ Janice asked.
‘I’ve come to believe so. He always behaves as though he does, so I just keep talking to him. He’s good company and it’s great to have someone to talk to when I’m sailing alone – which is usually the case.’
Angie was the most hesitant, but once she’d stroked the soft, black fur on his head and he immediately purred loudly at her touch, her concern turned to total delight.
‘His fur feels absolutely beautiful,’ she exclaimed, ‘and he seems happy with me as well!’
26
I waited until Zoe and Janice had gone through the same routine, before I said, ‘Now that he’s noted your scent, you won’t have any trouble with him whether I’m here or not.
You’re all part of his family now.’
Jasper promptly padded over and parked himself beside Zoe, leaning against her leg to her delight and Janice’s mild concern.
CHAPTER 4...Eden mooring... Firebird...Monday evening
‘Anyway, back to what’s where. Behind me is the nav station and my work desk. It holds the computer, navigation displays, radar, sonar, engine instruments and the radio stack. We also have a satellite phone and full-time Internet connection.’
That got the girl's interest, until I added with a grin, ‘But it’s not for Facebook or making contact with any friends. That application is permanently banned on board. Also, as satellite bandwidth can be quite limited at times, there won’t be any big downloads either.’ The girls grimaced, looking even more unhappy when I added, ‘I don't want you using the boat's phone either, unless I say so. I’ve already said why you can’t call anybody and that’s the way it has to be.’
Janice nodded and spoke for all of them, while giving the girls a hard look. ‘I promise we’ll do what you say. Now that we’re here, this really seems the perfect way to lay low for a while, so we won’t do anything to jeopardise it!’
‘Anyway,’ I continued, after nodding appreciation, ‘back to the tour. Behind the nav station is the electrical switch panel for the whole boat and the gauges for the fuel, water and holding tanks. Remember it well, since that’s where we can turn anything electrical on or off, especially in an emergency.
The galley is completely electric with an induction cooktop. There’s no oven as such, but for toasted sandwiches or small grills, there's an electric griller stowed in the locker near the sinks. Plates, cutlery, etc are in the usual places, same as at home, except here they’re in fixed racks to stop noise and breakages at sea. Mugs and glasses are in the racks underneath the overhead lockers. Please stow everything away after you use it, or put it in the sink in case the boat moves unexpectedly. It won’t always stay calm like this.’
27
‘There’s a gas BBQ outside for grilling and baking, which keeps all gas connections in the open in case of leaks.’
I waved at the small dining area where we sat. ‘This table has foldout sections for extra guests should we have any, although the cockpit tends to be the main living area in good weather.
There are two companionways or stairs down to the hulls from here, plus access through any of the deck hatches when they’re unlocked.
In the left hull are two separate cabins, one forward with a decent queen bed and one right aft that’s a large double. There’s a shared shower and toilet between the two cabins at the foot of the stairs. There’s not much room, but everything works well.’
‘The forward cabin has a dressing and storage cabin further forward again, while the aft cabin has restricted storage under the berth, with a small hanging space. Whoever has that cabin will be able to stow and hang extra gear in the forward dressing room.
I have the whole right hull as my sleeping and sometimes work area, but if you need the laundry or urgently need another toilet, you can use mine. Turn right at the bottom of the steps.’
‘Now, you need to know and understand about the boat systems.’
They looked at me silently and intently, and I realised I’d slipped into lecture mode and smiled apologetically.
‘Forgive my lecturing tone. We rarely have visitors, let alone new crew, so I’m not used to spelling things out.’
Janice smiled, ‘No problem, Harry. It’s all important stuff we need to know, so no apology necessary. Please continue.’
I gave her a grateful look.
‘The boat is almost a 'stand-alone eco-system,’ whereby we only need the engines for getting in and out of port safely, and sometimes not always then. If the wind blows, we can sail. I don’t mind running the engines when it’s calm, but not if we can sail.
Apart from the BBQ, everything is electric, with power coming from solar panels, wind generators, and water turbines when we're sailing. A large, light-weight battery bank stores that power.
We make our own, very pure water, and can make a lot of it, but the storage tanks aren’t big to save weight and space, so please don’t waste it. Showers must be short, toilet flushes minimal – and don’t run the tap while brushing your teeth.’
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I paused to look at each in turn. ‘Although you are very welcome to be aboard, please remember you are guests and that this boat is Jasper’s and my only home. The boat keeps us alive in a potentially very hostile environment. Treat it with respect and there won’t be any problems – with the boat or with me.’ I threw in the last as a bit of a joke, but they chose to take it very seriously, which was good.
‘Nearly done,’ I continued, noticing some yawns. ‘However, I must mention the toilet system. Even though I’ve installed proper flushing toilets instead of the usual electric ones which can clog easily, the golden rule is that apart from the supplied toilet paper, nothing goes in the toilet which hasn’t passed through you first. No hair trimmings, no tampons, no pads, no cotton-buds, no makeup stuff or tissues. No cigarettes or matches either for that matter, since this is very strictly a non-smoking boat. Only body waste, the supplied toilet paper & bum wipes go in the toilet. If you clog a pump by forgetting the warnings, you’ll be the one to help me unclog it.’
That thought wrinkled a few noses before I continued.
‘There are two inside toilets and showers as I’ve described, and the laundry is aft of my bathroom. There’s another hand-held shower outside on the right-hand stern steps. It’s stowed in a locker just under the second step and is also the location of the outside toilet.’
Noting their blank looks at that, I continued, ‘Hanging one’s bum over the side to go to the toilet is traditional on any small boat where tank size and water can be limited, although it’s not a good idea in most public harbours, or under way if the sea is rough.’
I saw all three girls poking faces at the thought of hanging their bare bums over the stern, but they’d learn.
‘Nevertheless,’ I continued, ‘it’s a very useful alternative and there are good handrails to help and a roll of toilet paper in the dry locker where the shower head stows.’
The looks on their faces suggested that it might rain frogs before any of them relieved themselves over the stern, but time would tell.
I had also noted their surprise at mention of the laundry. ‘Yes. We have a washing machine and you can use it when you need to, but you must minimise how often you wash stuff. Hourly or daily clothes changes are definitely not on! You don’t have to wait until you get smelly, but be sensible when water and power are limited.
It’s best to hang stuff up to dry or air either under the boom, on the lifelines, or under the cockpit canopy if it’s raining. There are plenty of lines to hang stuff on, but use the 29
big pegs you'll find under the kitchen sink and secure them tightly or your stuff will blow overboard.’
‘Underwear is best washed in the shower with you each day. If I wear any, which I must warn you is rare, I just drop mine on the shower floor and stomp on it a few times.
Other items can last for several days before a wash happens.’
‘Clothing can be as minimal as you like in the warmer weather, and that helps you stay cool and cuts down on the washing bit. However, remember that it’s very difficult to preserve modesty while living in such a close environment.’
I grinned to lighten up the talk, although for some reason the girls were already grinning happily at each other and even Janice wasn’t looking upset at the thought I might be trying to incite her and her daughters to wear less clothing.
‘Since I’m used to being alone, I’ll try to remember to wear something most of the time, but you’ll have to make up your own mind about what level of modesty you’re comfortable with. There are no rules on that one. It’s the way of life on small boats.’
As I give this briefing to the occasional lady intending to share my bed, the modesty thing isn’t an issue. This was the first time I’d delivered it to three strangers, particularly a mother with her two teenage daughters.
‘If you’re sandy after being ashore, or salty after a swim, please use the stern hand-shower for a brief wash-off. The stern platform where we unloaded is the swim platform.
It has a fold-down ladder securely bolted to the rear edge to make it easy to get out. A dip over the side and a quick outdoor shower is a good alternative to using the ones down below, and there’s no wastewater going in the holding tanks.
However, please don’t go swimming without letting someone else know. It’s too easy to get swept away by the currents, and nobody will hear your screams.’
‘We’ll have to call into different ports occasionally to collect supplies, but we probably won’t stay long. So we don’t stand out too much, it will be best if we can look like a normal boat family – Mum, Dad and two daughters – hopefully that suggestion doesn’t offend you too much. But we only have to bung on the act while we’re around other people.’
That earned a serious nod of agreement.
‘I realise this is a very different environment to what you’re used to, but you must adapt to it as quickly as you can. I’m not apologising for that, since you asked me for the ride, but I’m still pleased to have your company.
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Bear in mind we don’t know how long we’ll be living together, so please try to make the best of it. I chose this life and really love it. Other visitors haven’t had a problem adjusting, provided they accepted that everything is very different afloat.’
Janice nodded, ‘We understand and appreciate what you’re doing, Harry. We’re partially familiar with boats – my husband has a 45-foot power cruiser and in happier times, we spent several holidays afloat.’
‘Great,’ I smiled, ‘that’s definitely a help. Does anyone get seasick?’
Three heads shook.
‘Good. However, you’ll find that a cat’s movement on the water is very different to a top-heavy powerboat. Cats sit on top of the water and being relatively light, react to waves with a lively, dancing motion, while staying flat. They hardly roll and don’t lean over like a monohull sailing boat does, but you must hang on if you’re moving around.
I’ll talk more about safety matters tomorrow when we head to sea.’
I felt all talked out, and the ladies were drooping, so I led the way below and showed them their quarters and facilities. I’d made up the two beds with fresh sheets and doonas earlier.
‘If anyone uses my facilities, just close the connecting door so I know it’s occupied.
Otherwise, you must always leave all bathroom, cabin and other doors open and latched back for ventilation and safety.’
As I expected, the two girls decided to share the forward queen cabin, while Janice chose the smaller aft double. They envied the amount of room I had all to myself in the starboard hull.
‘I’ll let you settle in now and get some sleep. We'll be sailing at dawn and there’s a lot to learn about travelling on and operating big cats at sea.’
That was enough, so I handed out towels and washers and showed them where extra blankets were stowed. I requested all cabin lights be turned off when they were ready, except for the few dim blue LED night-lights that showed the way to the toilet and saloon, then left them to sort things out. Janice took over directing operations, so I locked the main cabin doors, showered quickly and went to bed.
I heard some giggling on and off for a short while, but since no alarms went off and nothing blew up, I presumed my instructions were followed, and went to sleep.
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CHAPTER 5... Firebird... Eden harbour...Tuesday – early am I was up, washed and nursing a mug of tea before dawn the next morning. There’d been no excitement overnight when I’d checked in the small hours. My new crew slept dead to the world, experiencing the deep, peaceful sleep a boat at anchor usually generates, as well as perhaps feeling safe and relaxed for the first time in weeks.
They were still asleep when the sun poked its golden rim above the eastern horizon, just as I dropped the mooring line, allowing the buoy to surge away. With the dawn, a light westerly land breeze had sprung up, making Firebird lie to the mooring pointing west. I’d made the inner staysail ready for unfurling, and unrolled it as soon as we were free. As we drifted backwards with the breeze, I spun the wheel to the right, which swung the bows left letting the breeze fill the staysail, allowing us to smoothly and silently gather way.
I always got great pleasure from this simple manoeuvre of leaving a mooring or dock, in silence, with no engines running. Not always possible, but highly satisfying when it was.
Even with a light breeze, we still moved at 2 to 3 knots, which gave enough steering to avoid the other boats around us. I steered close by one of three occupied sailing yachts in the bay, a 50ft steel ketch owned by an elderly and delightfully dysfunctional couple, Doris and Albert from the UK. They were both real characters and as usual, I could see Doris sitting in the cockpit sipping her morning coffee.
‘Good morning Doris,’ I called cheerfully as we approached, ‘looks like a lovely day.’
‘Bound to be, laddie,’ she called back, ‘where are you heading?’
‘Up to the Whitsundays,’ I replied, adding another piece to the misdirection plot, ‘even though it’s still a bit warm, there’s a Sail Carnival on that should be interesting. I’m going to meet another couple of boats at Brisbane and we’ll head up together.’
‘Ah. You just want to look at some bare tits and bums, that’s what you’re going to do. In fact, what you should do, is get a few bare-bummed girls to help you sail that bloody great thing. Do you the world of good! You spend too much time alone for a young chap.’
I spoke more quietly, since Firebird was ghosting past less than two metres away from her boat’s side, ‘Actually, Doris, that’s not a bad idea at all. I might take your advice and go live a little.’
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‘Good boy,’ she replied with a cheeky grin, ‘I’d volunteer for the job, but Bert won’t let me. Reckons if I took my bra off, I’d trip over my tits and fall overboard! ’
I chuckled dutifully, but she cackled so hard, she slopped her coffee over the deck.
‘Bugger it! Look what I’ve gone and done. Anyway, keep moving dear boy, and look after yourself. We’ll see you again.’
I waved. ‘Cheers Doris, take care of each other,’ pressing the button which made the mainsail rise magically out of its hibernation home in the boom and started yanking the appropriate ropes that made it actually do work.
Once it was set, I heard a soft giggle and looked down to see a tousled, blonde mop of hair poking out of the saloon doorway down at cat level, wearing the same baggy clothes as yesterday.
‘I heard all that,’ Janice grinned, crouched on hands and knees to avoid being seen,
‘the cheeky old tart! Just where does she think you’re going to get these crew members who’ll be flashing their tits and bums?’
I grinned back. ‘You heard Doris. Up at the Whitsundays, of course. But it’s a pity we’re not going there, I could set you up with a good mate of mine. He’s a real stud! But for me? Well... a single bloke with a boat has to beat the ladies back with a big stick, or so people tell me.’
Janice reached out and whacked me on the calf, ‘Behave!’ she grinned. ‘I’m a happily, newly-separated woman!’
I chuckled with her for a moment, then said, ‘Thanks for staying down like that. Doris wouldn’t be able to hold back from telling half the world if she saw me with three pretty ladies aboard.’
Janice sat on the floor. ‘You say the nicest things sometimes, but do you mean that it’s been so long since you had a girl on board that the neighbours would find it remarkable?’
I shrugged, ‘Well, you know how it is, or maybe you don’t, you being an unhappily almost-not-married old stick. It’s either a feast or a famine for us sailors.’
She gave me an odd look and poked her tongue out, but didn’t elaborate, so I continued with the task of making our conveyance get a bit more of a move-on in the light breeze.
Once clear of the moorings, I pointed us toward the north headland and reached over to turn on the autopilot, which happened with a click, a hum and a whirr of the toothed drive belt which turned the wheel.
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‘What’s that you just turned on?’ Janice asked, ‘I can see the wheel moving.’
‘That’s my mate George, the autopilot. He does nearly all the steering in open water.
Never wanders off course, never complains and never gets tired. ’
She looked intrigued. ‘Can you trust him to keep the boat off the rocks?’
‘Sure,’ I said, ‘so long as I tell him where to go. George has built-in redundancy – talks to the chart plotter for details of where to go, and if there’s any disagreement, an alarm sounds.’
‘But what if another boat gets in the way?’ she wanted to know.
‘Ahh! That’s when George’s other mate, the radar steps in. If an object, moving or otherwise is on a course to hit us, or vice versa, another alarm sounds in plenty of time for me to do something about it.’
She smiled, ‘I’m reassured, but what’s that rope you’re pulling on now?’ she asked.
I dutifully pointed. ‘This one with the red stripes is the mainsail sheet, it controls the position of the sail depending on the wind direction. I use a powered winch with an endless loop to raise and lower the sail because of its weight. When it’s down, it’s rolled up inside the boom out of the weather, and I can roll up as little or as much as I want very easily and quickly. I’ll be showing you and the girls how to do all this stuff in the coming days, just in case I’m busy with something else at the time.’
She looked a bit alarmed by that thought, so I added, ‘Not that I’m planning to be, but redundancy on the water is always prudent.’
‘You seem to take safety and the sea very seriously,’ she said.
‘Yes, I do,’ I replied. ‘Fifteen years in the SAS and the Middle Eastern desert taught me to be serious about anything that can hurt or kill me. I do try to have as much fun as I can along the way, however,’ I added to lighten the mood, making note-to-self to try to lighten up around the crew.
Janice nodded. ‘I guess that explains a few things. What exit rank?’
‘Major,’ I replied.
She nodded approvingly, ‘Well. I’m very glad we happened to meet up with a professional. We seem to be in good hands. I’ll let the girls know your background since it might make them follow your instructions more carefully.’
‘Well. Remember that I’m not a soldier any more, but I’ve had the training and ‘been there – got the T-shirt’, as the saying goes, so old habits don’t go away.’
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‘But,’ I added in a serious tone, ‘I must warn you – I’m not really a very nice person. I’m no knight in shining armour charging to the rescue of damsels in distress. I mean – with my training and background, I'm more likely to be the one ravishing the damsels in the first place! In your case, however, I don’t like to see nice ladies being hurt by bad guys.’
‘That's very complex, Harry, but doesn't one cancel out the other?’ she asked innocently. A comment I wisely chose to ignore.
So she sat and watched in fascination as the huge expanse of mainsail unrolled out of the boom and climbed slowly up the mast. I then let the screecher unfurl from its rolled-up position on the head stay. It was an enormous mass of fabric, purple with a horizontal lemon band, and always gave the boat a real speed boost, espe cially in light winds.
By now, we were well away from prying eyes, so I said to Janice, ‘You can get up and move around the saloon and cockpit if you want, for a short time, but don’t go on deck until we’re well out to sea.’
‘Okay,’ she said, standing and stretching, ‘that’s better. Can I get you a mug of tea?’
‘That would be great,’ I replied. ‘Standard NATO – milk and two, please,’ as she ducked back into the galley.
As we made our rather stately way across one of the finest harbours in Australia, the light westerly land breeze barely ruffling the sparkling water, pleasant domestic sounds came out of the galley.
One of the twins stuck her head out of the doorway, careful not to show herself too much, ‘Good morning, Harry. Mum wants to know if you’d like some vegemite toast with your tea?’
I smiled at her, ‘Yes please. That’ll be a real treat. And you’re all allowed out into the cockpit for now.’
She grinned and disappeared back inside. Shortly, the lovely smell of fresh toast drifted out, followed by who must have been the other twin, since she also wished me good morning, bearing a mug of tea and a plate of toast.
‘Now that’s service,’ I said as I took the offerings. ‘Do you want to sit out here? It’s safe for now and you can share the driver’s seat if you want.’
She grinned, ‘Yes, please! I’ll just grab my cuppa.’ Within moments she was happily seated, copying my habit of propping my feet up on the expensive instrument panel, but with her long, tanned legs, looked a lot more graceful and attractive abou t it.
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‘How do I tell you two apart?’ I asked the most important question of the morning.
‘Easy,’ she replied with a big grin, ‘I’m Zoe, the one without any freckles. Angie has a spray of them either side of her nose, just under her eyes. They darken a bit if she’s out in the sun a lot, but even if she stays indoors, they’re still there.’
She blushed a bit, ‘I’ve also got a small birthmark on my left bum cheek, but most don’t get to see that.’
I chuckled at that, ‘I look forward to that treat, if I’m so honoured.’
Zoe grinned back. ‘We’ll see,’ she said, as Janice and Angie brought their breakfast out, and sat around the cockpit table.
‘This is extremely pleasant travelling, Harry,’ Janice said, glancing around at the verdant hills and glittering water sliding past, ‘but I presume at sea it’s a bit different?’
I smiled, ‘Yes, usually there’s at least some movement, although even the ocean can be pretty flat at times. But we’re heading out into one of the roughest areas of water on the planet, the Tasman Sea. But before you get worried, the forecast is for light to moderate northerlies and a low swell, so we’ll sail faster and move around more than this, but will still be comfortable running with the swell.’
Angie chipped in. ‘On Dad’s 45-footer, we didn’t leave Port Phillip Bay, but it still got a bit choppy at times and the boat rolled a lot.’
‘Yes, most power boats will do that,’ I replied, twisting the knob controlling George’s heading bug to make a small adjustment to our course, ‘but because cats sit flat on top of the water, they hardly roll at all. It’s an unusual motion which can be quite lively, but it rarely seems to make anyone sick.’
She nodded and continued looking around the boat and the beautiful area we were sailing through.
Soon, we were approaching the North Head with the usual cluster of small fishing boats taking advantage of the rough bottom and swirling currents which attracted so many fish to the area.
‘You’d all better get back inside now,’ I suggested. ‘I’ll be expected to pass quite close to some of these boats to have a quick chat, since I know some of the fellas quite well.
You’ll be okay in the saloon, so long as you stay seated and don’t move around. It will only be until we’re well clear of them out to sea.’
They all nodded, gathered up all plates and mugs and trooped inside where the reflective tinting on the cabin windows made seeing inside impossible in the daytime.
36
I furled the screecher and let out the main and staysail sheets to slow down and five minutes later, eased close by a 25ft half-cabin tinny with a pair of 150hp Mercury outboards strapped to its stern.
‘Where’re you off to now, Harry?’ called Brian.
‘I got a call from a mate in Brisbane,’ I replied easily, as we were only a few meters apart by now. ‘He wanted me to join him in a run up to the Whitsundays. There’s some sort of Sail Rally going on soon. It sounded like fun. Girls, booze, sailing. All the usual crap.’ What I told him was perfectly true, but I didn’t add I had no intention of heading north.
He laughed as we swept past, ‘Good on you mate. Are you coming back soon?’
‘Count on it, Brian,’ I replied. ‘I want to get amongst more of those beaut snapper.’
He waved as I sheeted in the other two sails and re-set the screecher. I set course to clear the other boats and head up to the east-northeast. I needed to make it obvious that we were heading north, but needed to head seawards for some distance to clear the off-shore wind-shadow of the headland.
The offshore breeze stayed light until we cleared the wind shadow, then it started to back around nicely to the north and freshen a little as forecast, although the water stayed fairly smooth.
When the fishing boats were small dots astern I was able to call the ladies out of confinement.
‘Okay, ladies,’ I announced. ‘Welcome to the Tasman Sea. We’ll hold this course for a while longer, then turn south and run for about sixty km or thirty-two nautical miles until we pass Gabo Island. Once clear of that, we turn southwest to head straight for Flinders Island in Bass Strait. We should be off Flinders by tomorrow morning.’
‘Are we going to stop there?’ asked Angie.
‘Yes, but it won’t be at a town. We’ll anchor up for a day or so in a quiet cove, probably in the north end of Marshall Bay. There’s no hurry now, so there's time for you three to adjust to boat life and we can push on from there when we’re ready in day-sailing stages.’
Janice looked a bit concerned. ‘Will it be alright sailing across there at night? I mean, we won’t be much help to you yet. We don’t even know which strings to pull to make things happen.’
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I chuckled at her description. ‘We’ll be fine. I’ll do the whole watch to Flinders Island, but it would help if one of you, perhaps in three-hourly rotations, can share the watch through the night stretch. It makes it easier to keep a lookout.’
The girls looked excited by the adventure, but Janice, who seemed to be having trouble relinquishing control asked, ‘What’s the plan from Flinders Island onwards? Is there somewhere we’re actually going, or are we just wandering?’
‘Sorry,’ I smiled, ‘I do have a sailing plan – I just haven’t got around to telling you yet.’
She smiled acceptance of the apology.
‘Before I knew about you three, I'd planned to go down the west coast of Tasmania and explore Macquarie Harbour, where Strahan is, then to explore Port Davey a bit further south, a very remote and protected harbour on the south-west coast. It’s a hundred and fifty kilometres south of Strahan and not as big as Macquarie harbour, but it’s much more remote. There’s only a very few isolated farms there and certainly no towns or even villages.
I’ve always wanted to explore the area, so it’s no real change of plan, except that now I have attractive company. Being remote is a bonus, of course, under the new circumstances. We may even hear or see a Tasmanian tiger! ’
That drew some smiles and Janice looked pleased at my compliments that they we ren’t being a burden.
‘We might call in at Strahan on the way to top-up our food and booze supplies,’ I added,
‘since at Port Davey, we have to be totally self-sufficient.’
‘So, with that in mind,’ I looked at Janice, ‘I’d like you all to go through your own stuff, as well as what supplies I have aboard, to see what additional things you need, or would like, or think that we should have. I’ve got a small stock of wine, beer and some rum, but you can list whatever you’d like. Just remember there’s no corner store to get more milk and bread.’
‘Speaking of that, what do we do about milk and bread?’ asked Angie, who seemed to be the more practical twin.
‘I sometimes freeze fresh bread and milk, although they take up a lot of freezer space, but what’s much better is to make our own bread. I have a bread-maker with all the ingredients, so without much extra work, we can have beautiful, fresh bread as often as we like. Milk is the long-life variety which I keep in sealed plastic bags in the bottom of the bilges, below the waterline. It stays quite cool there, even in summer and lasts a very long time.’
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‘When we spend time in Macquarie Harbour, you’ll see that it’s a huge and fascinating place to explore, and has several rivers we can get a fair way up with the boat, including the famous Gordon and King Rivers. If we do spend any time in Strahan, we can enjoy a few shore-side luxuries like cafes, restaurants and pubs. The local fish and chip shop has fantastic grilled scallops.’
While the girls mulled over those thoughts, I decided we were far enough away from land that a course alteration to the south, rather than the north , wouldn’t be noticed.
Therefore, I dialled George’s heading bug around to 180º, and set about resetting sails while George took care of the course.
Obligingly, the breeze had picked up and backed even further to the northeast, so we didn’t have to gybe, merely ease all sails out until our speed and the apparent wind stabilised.
Our speed picked up to around 10-12kts, with a low swell out of the north and small wind waves. Perfect sailing conditions to settle newbies down.
‘What happens now?’ asked Janice, looking around as if expecting more things to happen.
I shrugged. ‘Nothing much. This is it. We stay like this until we reach the south-east corner of Australia at Gabo Island around 15:00,’ I replied. ‘Easy travelling.’
She smiled, which was a much more pleasant look than her usual worried frown.
‘Okay, I might go below and finish cleaning up. It’s been a busy morning so far.’
‘Goodo. But, before you do, just a word about safety. When conditions are light like this, there’s very little danger of falling overboard, but please remember that the boat can still lurch unexpectedly. When you’re moving around outside the cockpit, please hold on to something solid with one hand at all times. There are plenty of handrails or the rigging for just that purpose. But when the weather gets rough, we all must wear a lifejacket with a safety line, even in the cockpit. They are the auto-inflatable kind with built-in harness and are quite comfortable.
But for now, you’re welcome to go forward. The trampoline is a great place to lie and watch the water rush past.’
‘Sounds great!’ said Angie. ‘We’ll do that, but I’ll clean up first as well.’
With that, the three girls went below, while I played with sail trim and checked the radar, while contemplating what human-generated storms might be heading our way, which even the best radar would be powerless to reveal.
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CHAPTER 6... Firebird...Tuesday The morning passed peacefully and for me, most attractively, as the twins appeared in miniscule bikinis and headed for the foredeck. It always amused me that the cost of female swimwear seemed to be in inverse proportion to its size.
Based on that theory, I guessed the twin’s bikinis were very expensive indeed!
Janice reappeared in a T-shirt which would be cooler than the baggy shirt she had on earlier, but more importantly from my perspective, was also pleasantly tight across her bra-less chest.
She joined me on the steering station chair and we watched the girls have a heap of fun laying on or bouncing around the trampoline and sitting on the little seats right up on each bow, squealing when the bows dipped deeper into the trough between waves and showered them with cooling spray. They ended up sprawled out on the tramp, soaking up the sun.
I chuckled and bravely said to Janice, ‘They’re very pretty girls in those bikinis they’re almost wearing – the trampoline has never been so well decorated! ’
Janice jammed an elbow into my ribs and said with a giggle, ‘You’re just a dirty old man, but they are over eighteen, and more mature and sensible than most the same age, just don't tell them I said that!’
‘Fair enough. They do look younger, but hey, steady on with the ‘old man’ bit. I reckon I’m a few years short of earning that title. But seriously, they really do seem like great girls,’ I added, ‘and this bit of nonsense with your about-to-be-ex-hubby doesn’t seem to have affected them too much.’
Janice said proudly, ‘You’re right, it hasn’t too much, although they get a bit depressed at being away from their boy and girl friends. Still, this is by far the most fun they’ve had since this whole mess started, and it’s good to know that it’s not going to be forever. They’ve been very supportive of my wild scheme to run around until my family can get some restraining orders and divorce proceedings in place.’
I nodded agreement. ‘Unfortunately, it’s really all you can do for now. Who’s looking after your DVO application and all the legal stuff?’
‘That’d be my Dad,’ she replied. ‘He’s a barrister, but my husband is trying all sorts of dirty tricks to prevent the divorce by telling everybody what a nutcase I am, so naturally he wants custody of the girls.’
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‘That’d be a bloody disaster! I mean, the custody thing’s a no-brainer, isn’t it? I’m not sure how family law works, but as they’re over eighteen, there shouldn’t be any custody arguments anyway. Can there be?’ I asked. ‘Plus, with a history of him bashing you like that, how can he argue against a divorce?’
She didn’t answer for a few moments. ‘Quite apart from losing face among his peer group, there might be some other issues I’m not sure about yet, but since you’re directly involved, perhaps you should be aware of them, because I really need some help and advice.’
I shifted around on the seat to look directly at her, instead of looking at her reflection in the cockpit window in front of us.
I silently cursed weird feminine logic, but maybe understanding her reluctance to tell everything to a stranger straight away. ‘Absolutely. As Luke’s goons are still trying to pick up your trail, I need every bit of information about anything that’s likely to affect us.
That in turn, will affect my decisions about where we go and what we need to do to protect ourselves. So, tell me all, holding nothing back.’
‘Well,’ she said hesitantly, ‘understand there’s not a lot I know for sure, except that for some time now, my father and I have been increasingly unsure of how Luke makes so much money. I mean, he has a very successful earth-moving business, and is now into property development, but Dad reckons he’s spending many times what the business could possibly be earning.’
‘Yes, the bottom line on a balance sheet is always a big give-away,’ I commented dryly,
‘but you need a lot more than that if you want to nail him with something criminal.’
She looked a bit uncomfortable for a moment as if she was going to hold something back, but then she said, ‘Luke has a study in our house which he always keeps locked.
The housekeeper isn’t even allowed in to clean. But one day, someone came to the front door to see him and he was so angry, he rushed out without closing it properly.
They went out to this guy’s car in the driveway and were arguing for ages, so I took a chance and went in. His desktop computer was still on with a document open, so on impulse, I grabbed an empty portable hard drive from my work station in the next room and copied all the files on the Desktop and in the Documents folder. Luckily the lead and drive were USB3, so the download was fast, but it still took a long while. There must be an awful lot of stuff on it.’
‘Wow! That was taking a risk!’
Janice looked miserably lost in thought for a few moments, before agreeing. ‘Yes. I 41
suppose it was, but I was desperate to find anything I could to prove he was into something criminal.’
‘Okay. That’s understandable, but what was in the files?’
She shrugged, ‘I don’t know. I haven’t had a chance to look at them yet. Based on his violent reaction to finding that he’d left the door open, I got the feeling he suspected the files had been opened, but because he hadn’t seen me all morning, he wasn’t sure if I’d been in the room at all. It still didn’t stop him from giving me a bit of a work -over that night.’
I shuddered to think what her version of a ‘bit of a work-over’ entailed, and the casual way she said it made the episode even more frightening.
‘I hope you’ve left the drive in a safe place?’ I asked.
‘Ahhh... well, I think so. I’ve got it with me,’ she said quietly.
I closed my eyes. ‘Oh shit! I suppose you want me to go through them?’
‘Yes, please. I was hoping you would. Whenever you want.’
‘Not now,’ I replied hastily, ‘and not with the girls around in case we find something nasty. Let’s start going through them tonight when you share a watch with me and the girls are asleep. Perhaps if you take the first watch, I’ll be more awake.’
‘Okay, thanks,’ Janice nodded, ‘that’s a plan.’
We were about halfway to Gabo Island when I commented to Janice, still companionably perched next to me. ‘The girls have a good tan but they’re copping the reflection off the water as well, and as much as I like seeing them enjoying themselves, perhaps they should get under cover for a while.’
Janice had been half-dozing. ‘Hmmm. Yes. Good idea.’ Raising her voice, she called to them to come aft out of the sun.
After a bit of good-natured grumbling, they complied, and were soon contentedly sitting around the cockpit table, chatting with us, where they proved to be good company, smart, and articulate.
Shortly after, Janice offered the girls’ services to organise some lunch, a suggestion I didn’t mind at all.
‘There’s fresh bread, ham, tomatoes and cheese for sandwiches,’ I hopefully informed the cooks, ‘and you know where the tea and coffee stuff are hiding.’
‘Aye Skipper!’ Angie said, with a cheeky grin. ‘That’ll be ham, cheese and tomato sandwiches, with a NATO tea coming right up!’
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They were quick, obviously having done this before, but also showed they were adapting nicely to their new environment.
Shortly after the simple, but tasty lunch was cleared away, Gabo Island reared out of the slight sea mist to starboard, right where it was supposed to be, allowing us to make a course adjustment to the SSW on track for Flinders Island. This time, I set our destination of Marshall Bay on the chart plotter and slaved George to it. Once engaged, we swung right onto our new course, and as a precaution, I set a guard range of 10nm on the radar, with an audio alarm.
‘If you hear that alarm go off,’ I explained to Janice and Zoe, as I re-adjusted the sails,
'it means another boat or a solid object is within 10 nautical miles or about 19kms of us.
It could be something in front, or a fast container ship charging down on us from behind.
Either way, we need to get as much warning as possible of its approach, particularly with the big ships. They’re fast, and don’t always keep a good lookout.’
While the ladies hung around the cockpit, and Jasper hung about with them, enjoying the different company, I wandered around the boat checking on things like the tightness of shackles and fittings, and for any dangling ropes which could foul a prop.
The breeze had picked up a little more, but stayed steady out of the northeast, so there wasn’t any need for further sail trimming.
All gear and sails were in perfect condition, so I found myself slipping into my usual at-sea routine, except that there were three inexperienced crew to watch out for and fit into the routine.
Teatime came and went with little fuss as the crew settled in more, each doing a job generally directed by Janice and I let them do things their own way, so long as the boat or systems weren’t affected. Evening showers were thankfully brief, even though the batteries and the water tanks were full. I’d pumped the holding tanks when we were well offshore, so that wasn’t a problem, and I'd have to remember to pump them more often with the extra bodies aboard.
I set the watch roster to have Janice on until midnight, then Angie until 03:00, then Zoe to 06:00 and didn’t expect to make Flinders until 08:00 or so.
‘There’s one more thing,’ I said while they were all together after tea had been cleared away, ‘when we’re travelling at night, those on watch need to preserve their night vision.
The way we do that, is to have only red lights in the saloon and cockpit and I’ve flipped a switch so it happens automatically. No white lights at all, except in the cabins, the 43
stern nav light and the searchlight in emergencies. Please remember this rule and don’t come into the saloon with a white torch or we’ll be visually blind for at least fifteen minutes.’
They all nodded their understanding, so I let the girls watch some TV until 21:00 when Janice chased them off the bed.
‘No talking half the night again,’ she admonished, ‘Angie has to be up again at midnight to relieve me, so get some sleep!’
‘Yes, Mum,’ sounded as they trooped down below to their cabin.
We gave them fifteen minutes and then Janice went quietly down to check on them.
‘Fast asleep, both of them,’ she reported with a grin. ‘They didn’t realise how much being at sea takes it out of you. I’m surprised how much the body works, just moving around.’
I smiled, ‘Yeah. It’s a good workout all right. Now, how about you fetch that drive?’
She gave the ghost of a fragile smile and went below.
CHAPTER 7...Firebird...Tuesday...at sea
We sat at the nav station in the saloon, with Janice perched on a stool pulled over from the lounge and tucked pleasantly close beside me.
‘Before we look at this stuff, I’m going to make two copies on separate portable drives, as well as downloading another copy to my computer.’
She nodded agreement as the progress bars swiftly moved across the screen, and I had an image of Janice doing this in her husband’s forbidden study, while he argued with a confederate just outside the window.
Despite the 1.5 TB combined size of the two folders on the drive, the copying went quite quickly, thanks to USB 3.
‘Damn!’ I commented, half to myself, ‘most of these Documents folder files are enormous. There’s no way they’re just written documents. They must be jpeg or MP4
video files to be this big.’
When that task was finished, I unplugged and set Janice’s original HDD in front of her.
‘I’d like you to keep this in a safe place, but not necessarily with your gear, just in case we get searched – willingly or not.’
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She looked a bit alarmed. ‘I’m being careful,’ I said soothingly. ‘I have a bad feeling about this stuff – just going on how Luke was so protective of his computer and the size of the files.’
In fact, I already had a very strong suspicion as to the content of the folders, but kept my mouth zipped for now.
‘I’m also going to put my two hard-drive copies in waterproof zip-lock plastic bags, then in manila envelopes and seal them. We’ll both date and sign across the flaps and I’ll tuck one away at the back of the chart table drawer right here and the other in with the batteries.’
She nodded, and that’s what we did. With those copies tucked away and Janice’s original hopefully well hidden, at least one should be safe if we were burgled. And, of course, any intruder had to get past Jasper which I thought might be a major challenge, although his protective talents hadn’t yet been tested!
I opened the copied desktop folder which at first glance, appeared to be fairly innocuous. There were documents and spread sheets relating to the earthmoving and property development business, although one contract finalisation with a prominent national real estate company caught my eye. It was the figure of $12m which made it stand out, as well as the brief property description of an old mansion situated on prime land, right in the middle of one of Melbourne’s oldest and most prestigious suburbs.
It was dated some five years previously and a quick look at other documents around that time turned up an invoice from Luke’s development company for the sum of $1.25M in what was loosely described as ‘renovations as required by the owner’ at the same address.
‘But the owner is Luke himself,’ Janice said softly. ‘The seller is XYZ Investments and I think they’re Chinese, while it shows the purchaser as LE Investments P/L, and that’s Luke’s personal company. I helped him set it up and there aren’t any partners, not even me.’
‘Okay,’ I said slowly, my mind trying to connect a set of well separated, and at the moment, very fuzzy dots. ‘So why would he buy a very expensive mansion in his own name and officially pay himself to do it up? Then what is he doing with it to justify such a large payout?’
Janice looked equally puzzled, ‘Apart from it being a money shuffle, I don’t know. But unless there’s a sale record somewhere, it appears he still owns it, and that’s a lot of spare change he doesn’t have. It’s way too much money to keep tied up in a property 45
which apparently doesn’t make any income, and must cost a heap in property taxes and upkeep.’
She nudged me aside, ‘Can I get online? I’d like to have a look at where this mansion is.’
‘How about Google Earth?’ I replied, and quickly hooked up to the Internet via the satellite system, then slid the laptop over.
‘Yeah. That’ll do it. Thanks.’
Moments later, she had zoomed in on the prime suburb she wanted.
‘Ahh,’ breathed Janice in satisfaction. ‘It is an old mansion all right, but look, it’s surrounded by office blocks. Of course, being heritage-listed, it can’t be bulldozed. It has to remain completely as is. Therefore, it can only be used as a private residence, an up-scale guest house or a corporate entertainment centre.’
She looked at me with a predatory glint in her eye. ‘Knowing my soon to be ex-husband’s way of thinking, I’m betting that it’s neither of the first two choices. Now if you were setting up a ‘Corporate Entertainment centre’, what might you do to make the place pay its very money-hungry way?’
I looked at her and grinned, ‘I’d set it up as a very high-class brothel. Particularly with the surrounding area effectively deserted after hours.’
She leaned forward and in her excitement, kissed my cheek. ‘Good man! That’s the only way it could be lucrative enough. Makes no sense otherwise. Perhaps we can search for the currently listed owner through the Land Office records.’
I agreed, but said, ‘You can do that later when the girls are around. For now, I want to have a look at those big files in the Document folder.’
She nodded, excitement fading as the search turned serious again.
Soon we were looking at the list of sub-folders and files, where we quickly noticed that they were indeed, .jpg and .mp4 files. The sub-folders simply had a year as a name, and they went back thirteen years.
‘I’m going to dive into one of these .jpg files,’ I said quietly, ‘I think this is where the answer is.’
Janice nodded, as I opened the first one, which happened to be also the earliest, and showed a young, naked girl of Indian appearance, about seven or eight, with a scared look on her face, standing square on to the camera.
‘Oh, shit!’ I breathed.
‘Oh, fuck!’ was Janice’s succinct comment. ‘Kiddy-porn!’
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It quickly became apparent that this wasn’t just a few private porn pics, but that we had stumbled onto a paedophile ring! Very reluctantly, we scanned through random files and while most were Asian or Indian children, male and female, a number were Caucasian. They seemed to range in age from five or six, up to teenagers of thirteen or fourteen.
Suddenly, Janice gave a soft cry and slumped down on her stool. ‘That’s Zoe. I recognise the birthmark on her bum cheek and that’s the kids’ bathroom!’
Compared to the others we’d looked at, the photo was a fairly innocent one, of a young girl standing up in a bath. She had a cheeky grin on her face and was turned slightly to the side, showing the left side of her bum cheek where there was a small, pale red mark.
‘Oh, that rotten, filthy, depraved arsehole!’ Janice fumed. ‘The bastard has traded photos of his own daughters!’
That photo, and I was sure there were more of Zoe as well as of Angie, would seem to tie Luke well and truly into a paedophile ring, and confirmed we held dynamite in our hands. His position in the pecking order was the question we urgently needed answered.
A quick look at some of the later collections, as well as showing boys and girls alone, had mostly men with the kids, both boys and girls. Surprisingly however, there were a couple of women who repeatedly showed up in the same sort of environment as did many of the men, and in most cases had their faces clearly visible. Even I, who was generally ignorant of Australian politicians and celebrities, recognised a few faces.
Janice was devastated and could go no further. ‘I can’t look at any more,’ she sobbed softly.
‘I understand,’ I replied. ‘Go sit in the cockpit and I’ll make a cup of tea and bring it out.’
She did, and after shutting down the computer, I joined her with a mug of hot tea enhanced with a very healthy dollop of Mr Jameson’s finest.
Before sitting down, I checked our course, weather conditions and the radar, but we were proceeding very nicely on track at a fairly steady twelve to fourteen knots, and the chart plotter helpfully suggested we should be at our next waypoint off the top end of Flinders Island by 06:41.
I joined Janice on the cockpit settee, and as she wanted or needed to snuggle, I let her scrunch down against me and put an arm around her. Once she was comfortable, she sipped her Irish Tea.
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‘Would you mind seeing if there are any more of Angie or Zoe?’ she asked.
‘Of course not,’ I replied, giving her a gentle squeeze, ‘but I won’t do it now. I’ll wait until the girls are busy elsewhere. I also have a contact in the Federal coppers who might be very interested in Luke and all this porn stuff.’
She just nodded against my side and I felt the wetness of her tears soaking my sh irt.
After a while, she said in a more settled voice, ‘I noticed that many of those later photos showed a similar, rather old-fashioned room as background. Could we use that to find out where they were taken? I mean logically, it should be in that old mansion.’
I thought about that for a few moments. ‘That’s a good point. I should have thought of it sooner. But when I get the chance to go through them more carefully, I’ll see if anything is identifiable. In the meantime, are you happy for me to make contact with my friend in the Australian Commonwealth Police?’
Janice nodded against my chest, ‘Sure. It’ll be interesting to hear what they say.’
I thought that I’d also leave that phone call until the boat was clear of ears.
‘Tomorrow morning,’ I said to a now-sleepy Janice, ‘I’d like you to take the girls and Jasper for a long walk on the beach.’
She squirmed around and sat up. ‘Will Jasper go with us?’
‘He sure will,’ I replied, smiling, ‘he loves a ride in the dinghy and might even have a swim. But most of all, he loves a run along the beach, chasing the seagulls. ’
‘Okay,’ she said with a bit more life in her voice. ‘That sounds like fun. The girls will enjoy that.’
‘I doubt you’ll see anybody else,’ I added, ‘but where I’m planning to anchor, there’s a road paralleling the beach as well as an occasional farm along that stretch. There’s no chance of tripping over bad guys at this stage, so if you do bump into some locals, tell them we’re just passing through on the way to Geraldton. That should muddy the waters a bit more should Luke’s goons get this far.’
She nodded, then stood up to check the time on the saloon clock.
‘It’s just about midnight. I might go and stir Angie. She takes a while to get her mind functioning after just waking up. Are you alright?’
‘I’m fine,’ I said. ‘Thanks for the company. Go get some sleep if you can, once you’ve got Angie functioning.’
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She leant over and gently kissed my cheek again. ‘Thanks for what you’re doing and for just being here. I feel much better already having someone competent on our side,’
she said softly. ‘Goodnight, Harry.’
CHAPTER 8... Firebird... Tuesday...at sea – am The rest of the night passed quite quickly, with Angie, sleepy at first, then increasingly animated and chatty, followed at 03:00 by Zoe, who fairly bounced into the cockpit where I was half-dozing, fizzing with the excitement of sailing and living on a boat. As well as giving me a lot more information about their daily lives, it was obvious they’d had no idea what their father was up to, until Janice spilled the story. He’d rarely even raised his voice to them, and never his hand, so it was a bit puzzling how he could have been so violent with Janice. Still, that was a question for the shrinks at a later date.
Zoe was very keen to pet and play with Jasper, who always kept me company on night watch. As he didn’t always stay awake, his presence was a bit of a token gesture. Still, he could be awake and alert in a moment if trouble happened and I’d always appreciated his company.
She regarded Jasper’s apparently slumbering form, draped untidily across the steering station seat.
‘Will he wake up soon?’ she asked softly, ‘I’d love to pat him for a while if he’ll let me.’
I chuckled and called softly, ‘Jasper! Get your lazy arse over here. Somehow you’ve got an admirer.’
Instantly, he lifted his head, eyed Zoe and me sitting on the cockpit settee, and slithered silently off the raised steering station seat, to pad over to Zoe. To her utter delight, he hopped up onto the seat beside her and parked his sleek, slender head in her lap.
‘Does he like being scratched?’ she asked, ‘We’ve got cats at home, but Jasper’s four or five times their size.’
‘Try him at your own risk,’ I said dryly, ‘but he may not ever let you stop!’
So she gingerly scratched him behind the ears, and stroked the soft, black fur on his muscular neck.
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She jumped when he started purring, a sound which some have likened to a 4 -stroke generator with a dodgy exhaust, running under heavy load. He also brought one of his massive paws forward and laid it across her lap as well.
‘Wow!’ she exclaimed, still scratching and stroking, ‘He likes it – he’s beautiful!’
I agreed, ‘Yes. He’s a pretty special pussy. But I’m seriously concerned about my ability to feed him if he keeps growing!’ She laughed as Jasper rolled half onto his back so she could rub his belly.
‘You’re totally ruining your bad-arse-cat image, furball,’ I leaned forward to say sotto voce in his ear, ‘a pretty girl scratches your belly and you instantly turn to mush! ’
Jasper made a huffing sound and stretched his head back as an invitation for Zoe to scratch his throat.
‘Now that’s really bunging it on,’ I commented dryly. ‘He’s the perfect conman.’
Jasper looked at me and yawned dismissively, showing his large, sharp and gleaming white teeth.
‘Cheeky big pussy! Go on. Soak it up while you can, Bozo. You’ll get none of that namby-pamby stuff from me!’
‘But he’s still just a young cat,’ Zoe said. ‘He needs a bit of a scratch and some petting now and then.’
‘Wait till he decides to sleep on your bed and ends up pushing you out of it,’ I growled at him. ‘Just a young cat! Ha!’
The rest of the watch passed peacefully, since Zoe was totally smitten with Jasper and kept scratching him and asking about Firebird. We stayed nicely on course as the breeze picked up a little more, but as we were sailing on a broad reach, it was very un-dramatic and easy with the waves almost behind us - even surfing briefly at fifteen to seventeen knots. The occasional wave-top broke quietly, the softly hissing white necklace of foam showing briefly against the black water, before fading into streaks down the wave’s back as we left them astern.
Like Angie, Zoe gave me more background on the family and, inadvertently, some valuable insight into Luke’s character. It seemed that Zoe had been Luke’s favourite and he’d told her more about his business than he’d told Angie.
First light was at 06:22, so 06:00 came and went in the dark, but when I mentioned it to Zoe, she waved her free hand dismissively, the other one still engaged with s troking Jasper. ‘I’m fine. I’m awake now and this is more fun than lounging about in bed, as comfortable as it is.’
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I smiled at her enthusiasm. ‘I’m sorry you had to share with Angie, but when I had the boat built, I only wanted three cabins so there would be more space overall. The daybed or the trampolines are good for sleeping on a hot night, but they’re not exactly a separate cabin.’
‘Oh, no!’ she exclaimed, ‘we don’t mind sharing at all. In fact, it’s fun and even if you had a spare cabin, we’d probably share anyway.’
‘Okay. That’s good to hear. But in the meantime, if that great, black lump of fur will let you up, how about you make the Skipper a mug of tea?’
‘Oh sure,’ she replied happily. ‘Coming right up.’
She soon returned with two steaming mugs, just before first light and then experienced her first dawn at sea. It was always a rather magical experience as fingers of golden light probed slowly up from the horizon, steadily brightening until the brilliant orange edge of the sun heaved up out of the gently rolling ocean.
‘That’s so beautiful,’ she breathed in awe at nature’s casual display of grandeur.
‘It is rather special,’ I confirmed. ‘I’m glad you got to see it like this.’
She grinned, ‘I can’t wait to tell Mum and Angie what they’ve missed. We owe you so much for getting us away like this and giving us the chance to have an adventure on your lovely boat with your fabulous cat! We’ve been terribly worried about Mum, now we know how incredibly badly Dad has treated her.’
‘She does seem a very nice lady,’ I commented lamely.
‘Oh yes! She is. She’s always been a great Mum to us. But while she tries so hard to look after us, she really needs support herself. She’s never had anyone she can really lean on. Pops is also great and hopefully, he can make some good legal things happen, but we don’t know how long this is going to go on, do we?’
‘No, we don’t, I’m afraid,’ I replied. ‘We’ll just have to keep moving, not leave a trail and maintain a low profile.’
She grinned, excitement dancing in her eyes. ‘The keeping moving part is the fun bit.
We’ve never lived on a boat before. Have you had it very long?’
‘About three years,’ I replied. ‘I liked the basic design and talked with the designer about what I wanted in terms of layout and equipment. Normally a cat of this size needs a crew, but I found that needing casual crew is risky since they’re too unreliable.
They always seem to want to bail out somewhere you can’t easily get a replacement, so it seemed far better to design the layout of the boat so I didn’t need a crew in the first place.’
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She nodded. ‘That makes sense. If you don’t need them, then no problem – and if you have them, like now, you don’t need to depend on them.’
I smiled at her reasoning.
‘But,’ she added, ‘we might be with you for a while and we’d really like to be able to help properly with things. Mum wants to give you some money to at least cover our expenses, but what we’d like is to be a proper crew. It all looks so interesting. Angie and I certainly want to learn, and I’m sure Mum does as well.’
I nodded, remembering Janice’s earlier comment about ‘pulling the correct bits of string’.
‘Okay. You can start learning right now.’
She looked excited, ‘Can I? What can I do?’
I pointed to the steering station. ‘Hop up there, get comfortable and find the compass.’
She untangled herself from Jasper and relocated to the steering station.
‘Yep. Found it. It’s this big half-ball-shaped thing in the middle of the panel with white letters and numbers.’
‘That’s it,’ I replied. ‘There’s a vertical white line standing up called the lubber’s line.
That represents the centreline of the boat, or where we’re pointing. What number is lined up behind it?’
She peered at the compass. ‘It keeps moving a bit, but it seems to be mostly around 220.’
‘Good. That’s 220 degrees magnetic, which is southwest. That’s the course we need to steer to pass safely between the Sister Islands and Craggy Island. They’re all off the north coast of Flinders Island, so we need to reach a point where we can safely turn south for Marshall Bay.’
‘I’ve got that,’ she replied. ‘What’s next?’
‘Next, you look over on the left side of the instrument panel for a dial with a knob under it and a switch beside it, that’s marked A/P 1.’
She looked and said, ‘Found it. The dial looks like the compass, except that it’s just a flat circle with the numbers right around it, and there’s another one that looks the same right beside it. But it’s marked A/P 2.’
‘Good,’ I replied liking her enthusiasm. ‘Because I sail alone most of the time, I need the autopilot steering for me, so I have two. The second one is the backup and I run 52
them alternately to keep them working smoothly. If you move the switch for A/P1 up to the OFF position, you turn George off and you can steer manually with the wheel.’
As if expecting something dramatic to happen, she gingerly reached out and turned the switch off. Naturally, nothing appeared to happen.
‘There’s a red light showing above the switch,’ Zoe reported.
‘Good. That means that the autopilot is turned off. Now you have to steer with the wheel and you’ll have to hold a steady course of 220º, or we’ll run into Flinders Island.’
She gave me a brief, worried glance, saw that I was only half-joking, but quickly turned her attention back to the compass, grasping the wheel in a white-knuckled death-grip.
That called for some tips about watching the way the boat was being moved by the waves and when to counteract it, without moving the wheel too much.
After about ten minutes, our wake had straightened out considerably and Zoe had relaxed enough to look over at me in triumph.
‘How’s that, Skipper?’ she grinned.
‘Pretty good,’ I conceded. ‘Keep checking your course and look around from time to time as well… just in case that freighter off our right bow decides to speed up or slow down. As it is, he’ll pass well in front of us.’
Zoe gave a horrified look over the right bow and was appalled to see how close the ship was and how big it seemed.
‘Oh, fuck!’ she said, very succinctly. ‘How did I miss that?’
‘You were concentrating on just one thing, like keeping on course, but as you now see, you have to keep your eyes moving all around. Remember that a big ship is usually much faster than us, and can come up from behind without warning. Use the radar to assist your lookout.’
I showed her how to read the radar display and the chart plotter and all was quiet for a while after that, as Zoe got on with the concentration thing. By the time Janice, then Angie wandered sleepily out to the cockpit, Zoe was doing pretty well with her scan around the horizon and frequently checking the radar and chart plotter.
‘Meet the new first mate,’ I said with a wink to Janice, ‘hand-steering as well. Only had one near-collision with a freighter bound for Hobart, so things are looking up. ’
‘Oh, you dobber! You weren’t supposed to say anything about that,’ she exclaimed indignantly.
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I smiled at her to show that I wasn’t criticising, and said, ‘Seeing as the boat is in safe hands, I’m going below to have a shower, then I might have some breakfast.’
Zoe suddenly looked a bit worried about being left in charge, until I leant over and whispered, ‘You’ll be fine. Just keep on course and look around occasionally. I’ve set a radar alarm so that if something sneaks up on us, even from behind, it’ll let you know.
Besides, I’m not far away. If you need me, send your Mum down.’
She grinned nervously and returned to concentrating on her job. Janice and Angie looked a bit concerned, but I showed my trust in Zoe by casually going below.
CHAPTER 9...Luke...Melbourne...Wednesday morning
In the comfort of his now-deserted home, Luke hit a speed dial number, and moments later a gruff voice said, ‘Yeah, Boss?’
‘Progress, Jimmy? What’s happening? I’m not hearing anything from you.’
‘Ahh... well...at the moment, we’ve sort of lost the trail.’
Luke felt a familiar red rage rising, but fought it down.
‘You’re not meant to ‘lose the trail’ Jimmy. I’m paying out a great deal of money to a bunch of so-called experts who aren’t supposed to lose the trail.’
‘Yes, Boss,’ Jimmy muttered miserably, knowing he was in for a tongue-lashing, if not worse and wishing he’d never taken this job on in the first place. Fuck the money! It wasn't worth it!
‘Just where did you lose the trail, Jimmy,’ Luke asked in his quiet and dangerously mild tone.
‘Ah... well. We sort of lost them in Coffs Harbour, Boss.’
Luke took another deep breath. ‘Lost them in Coffs Harbour. Gee whizz! That’s a long way from Melbourne, Jimmy. What were they doing in Coffs fucking Harbour, Jimm y?
Can you at least tell me that?’
‘Yeah. I can tell you that, Boss. They were staying at a little motel on the highway, close to the centre of town.’
‘And then what happened, Jimmy?’
‘Ah... that’s where we lost them, Boss!’
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‘I know that now Jimmy, you useless fucking moron!’ Luke roared. ‘What I want to know, you useless turd-burger, is HOW did you manage to lose my dim-witted little wife and two air-headed daughters from that little motel in Coffs Harbour?’
‘Oh. Yeah. I see what you mean. Well, one of the guys spotted them leaving the train station, so we tracked them to the motel and took turns to watch, because they paid for three nights.’
‘Now that’s a funny thing, Jimmy. I seem to have forgotten about the phone call from you telling me that you had found them in Coffs Harbour. Can you refresh my failing memory as to just WHEN you called to pass on that rather important fact? ’
‘Ah... well... maybe I didn’t actually call you straight away, Boss. You see, when we checked, they’d booked for three nights, so I figured there would be plenty of time for you to get up here and grab them. But then they left sometime during the first night.
They just took all their gear, left the room on foot before dawn, and disappeared.’
‘Really, Jimmy. Is that what you figured? You didn’t think to call me straight away when your three targets were literally right in front of your dopey bloody eyes? Didn’t it occur to you that they might leave before the three-day booking was up? And didn’t it occur to you that just maybe, you useless, clumsy, flat-footed morons might have been spotted hanging around a small motel perving on three females?’
‘No, Boss,’ Jimmy whispered miserably.
‘I don’t suppose you thought to ask the taxi drivers who were on duty that morning if they’d picked them up?’
‘We did that, Boss, but nobody picked them up.’
‘Wow! Maybe you can think occasionally. It’s a pity you don’t do it when it counts!’
Jimmy knew when to keep his mouth shut.
‘Well, how about the train or bus? There’s also an airport there, if I remember correctly?’
‘We checked the airport and showed those fake ACP ID papers you gave us, but they weren’t listed. You said that the airlines have to see proper ID before someone can buy a ticket.’
‘Okay. So they didn’t fly. How about the bus or the train? Jesus Christ, Jimmy! This is like getting blood out of a stone. Do I have to do all the thinking for you?’
‘No, Boss. But the bus and train people sell tickets to anyone who can pay. They don’t need personal ID like the airline people, so we don’t know if they used either one. They could’ve hitched a ride instead.’
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‘I don’t suppose any of you mental giants, who, I might add, are letting three dopey females run rings around you, thought to ask around the bus and train stations in case somebody noticed three attractive blonde females with a pile of Gucci luggage catching a ride?’
‘Yes, we did that, Boss,’ Jimmy was grateful to be able to report something positive,
‘but nobody remembered them. I mean, they’d certainly stand out, but nobody has seen them.’
‘Okay Jimmy, then tell me their trail so far.’
‘But I already did that, Boss,’ whined Jimmy.
Luke lost it – as in, big time lost it. He howled with rage while he crashed the handset against the desk over and over, and when Mr Telstra’s finest product refused to break, he calmed slightly before raising it to his ear again and saying quietly, ‘Then tell me again, Jimmy. Humour me. For what I’m paying you, just pretend I’ve had a lapse of memory. Tell me before I crawl down this fucking phone line and strangle you with my bare hands.’
‘Sorry, Boss. After they left your place, they somehow got to Southern Cross Station, that’s in the city, then went to Albury by train. They then took the train back to Wangaratta the same day. They spent two nights in a motel in Wangaratta, and then jumped on a bus up to Wagga Wagga. What’s with these double names, boss? Isn’t one enough?’
‘Obviously not, Jimmy. They’re all over the place up there. Get on with it! ’
‘Oh. Sorry boss. Anyway, they spent three nights in Wagga Wagga, and then took the train again to Sydney. We lost them in Sydney, but had a really lucky break when one of the northern crew spotted them in Coffs Harbour. You know the rest. ’
‘Okay, Jimmy. Here’s the plan. Split the crew. I want half the boys working back down the highways toward Melbourne and the other half can work toward Queensland.
Check every little town as you go. I presume she’s stopped using her credit cards?’
‘Yeah. That’s how we lost her in Sydney. She must have a wad of cash now.’
‘Yeah,’ Luke replied, ‘she does, and can always get more. I think her arsehole barrister father is sticking his nose into it as well, and that makes me very unhappy. I’m trying to get him shut down, but he’s very high profile and that makes him a little bit bulletproof.
Anyway, move the boys out ASAP and try to pick up a sniff of their trail. I’ve got a very big deal riding on this, and I need them back in my control. Now!’
‘No worries, Boss. I’m on it.’
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CHAPTER 10... Firebird... At sea...Flinders Island...Wednesday AM
The next few hours went smoothly. I tried to relieve Zoe at the wheel, but she begged to be allowed to stay on watch, so after she batted her baby blue eyes a few times, I relented and left her there while I took Janice and Angie on an upper-deck tour, showing them how to check for chafing or damage. It was something I did daily, which helped avoid breakages at bad times when gear was under extreme stress. I also explained how the sails worked and what ropes did what. However, learning the functions of all the cordage on a modern yacht was a daunting task that would take time.
We were accompanied, as usual, by Jasper who was very happy to be around the girls and even let them feed him, which was a major step. I showed them his toilet, which was a section of artificial grass attached to the deck by Velcro straps which made it easy to either tip his doings overboard, or just hose the whole thing off with the deck -
wash hose.
At one point, I called out to Zoe, her head sticking up through the hatch in the cockpit roof as she watched and listened to as much as she could. ‘How far to run to our waypoint?’
‘Two miles,’ she replied after a quick check of the chart plotter.
‘Goodo,’ I replied, ‘once we get to the waypoint, hit the cancel button to stop the alarm, then turn onto a course of 123º for ten miles. That should take us between four small islands, right into Marshall Bay.’
‘Okay.’ I was ready to re-trim the sails at the course change, and was pleased when she smartly cancelled the waypoint alarm when it sounded and smoothly turned to the southeast. Our wake wobbled a bit until she got used to the different handling of the boat with the waves hitting us broadside on, but quickly adjusted. We picked up speed on the beam reach and it wasn’t long before the string of small islands protecting the northern part of Marshall Bay lifted out of the soft sea haze directly ahead.
I sat beside her at the wheel. ‘Aim right for the middle of the gap between the two islands on the left and what looks like two on the right, although there are actually three.’
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‘Good, but go right through the middle where it’s deepest. I’ll drop the sails in a moment and start the engines. That’ll make the boat easier to handle.’
Shortly after, I had wrapped all the fabric up, raised the dagger-boards, and with the engines at 50% RPM, Zoe steered us neatly between the tiny islets and into Marshall Bay.
‘Come left a little and steer east,’ I said. ‘Can you see that cluster of rocky bits poking up over there near the shore?’
She nodded, ‘Yep.’
‘Aim to the right of them. We want to anchor about 200 meters away, about thirty metres off the beach.’
I let her throttle back to idle, then take us most of the way in, but she was glad to hand over as the hard bits got closer. The water was very clear and the uneven bottom was a mixture of sand, weed and rock. It was clearly visible and looked much closer than it was, making the crew nervous, until I explained that we drew just 0.6m or two feet and the bottom was four metres below that.
Just in time for morning tea, we were lying peacefully at anchor, thirty metres off a deserted sandy beach, the north-easterly breeze sending little ruffled patches chasing themselves over the surface of the otherwise calm bay, stretching far away to the south in a smooth curve. The land beyond the beach was a band of green, open pasture, rising gently to low, darker-green hills. To our north, the hills were considerably higher, covered in scrub and trees.
‘Harry, this is absolutely beautiful!’ Janice exclaimed, visibly drinking in the peace and tranquillity of the scene.
‘Yeah, really, really great,’ echoed the twins, ‘We love the look of the beach. Is it safe to go swimming?’
I looked around. ‘Sure. It’ll be cold, but maybe go just between the boat and the shore for now – until we suss out the fish life around here.’
They sparked up immediately and raced off to change, while I looked at Janice, still sitting and patting Jasper.
‘Not swimming?’ I enquired, raising my eyebrows.
‘Not for the moment, I might just sit up top and watch,’ she smiled.
‘Okay. I’ll lower the RIB into the water. Later, maybe after lunch, you can take the girls over to those rocky outcrops if you like to have a look around. There should be good fishing there as well if you want to try your hand at catching dinner. ’
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‘That’d be great!’ she replied, ‘Fresh fish for dinner. Yum!’
I had just dropped the RIB in and tied it up to the left stern platform, when Angie called out, ‘Harry!’
I looked up, appreciating the sight of her in a different, but still tiny bikini which was delightfully barely decent.
‘Yo!’
‘Oh, there you are. Jasper is acting like he wants to come with us. Is that okay? I mean , does he really like swimming?’
‘Yes, he does and should go with you. He might even give you a tow if you hang onto his tail. Those huge paws are like paddles!’
‘Yay!’ she cried out. ‘Come on, Zoe. Jasper can come with us.’
I watched as the pair of them with their furry black companion, slid into the water off the right stern platform, gasping at the initial shock of the cool temperature, but then both immediately set off for shore with a strong stroke, Jasper trailing only slightly.
I went over and lowered the swim boarding ladder for their return, took the hand -held shower out of its locker and laid it out ready, then joined Janice on the foredeck where she was watching the girls.
‘That went well’ she commented, ‘I didn’t think Jasper would be so keen to go swimming.’
‘Yeah. He’s funny like that. Normally he won’t, unless I throw him in, but with me or someone else he likes in the water first, he’s happy to jump in.’
By now the girls were on the beach, running up and down chasing Jasper who behaved more like a medium-sized frisky dog with a very long, thick tail, dodging the girls’
lunges with ease, until he spotted some seagulls along the beach and raced off to chase them instead. With shrill cries, the girls set off in pursuit.
‘Bloody hell, he’s fast!’ she said, as Jasper stretched his stride and left the girls far behind. ‘He won’t run off, will he?’
‘No way!’ I said. ‘He’ll stop and wait for them any moment now. See how he turns his head a little even while he’s running? He’s making sure they’re alright.’
‘As you said, good guard cat,’ she said with a smile.
‘For those he considers are his friends? He's the best,’ I said proudly.
‘Well. They’re certainly having a great time at the moment. They deserve better than having to be on the run from my insane husband. None of this was their faul t.
‘From what I’ve learned so far,’ I commented mildly, ‘it wasn’t really yours either.’
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She frowned. ‘That’s something I’ve never been sure about. I think back to see if there was something I could have done better, or something which might have triggered the change in him, but I can’t think of anything.’
To keep her talking, I asked, ‘How were things in the early days of your marriage?’
‘Oh, great,’ she replied with a trace of enthusiasm, ‘We were both very happy and very busy. Luke was driven by his dreams of what he wanted to achieve, and worked really hard at developing his earthmoving business while I looked after the home. I’d been a bookkeeper before we married, so to be of more help, I studied accountancy. We used to talk about his business all the time – I was more like a partner than just a wife.’
‘When the girls arrived, I was kept busy with them and Luke suddenly stopped discussing his business like he used to. He went through a big expansion phase and spent a lot of time away with business meetings and trips. He got to know most of the important people in Victorian politics and business, and brought many of them home for dinner at various times. Luckily, we had a maid by then which helped, but he still didn’t want to discuss his plans or what he was doing. But even that level of contact faded quickly as he became very secretive and did all his work in his locked study.’
‘Being fully occupied with the girls, I didn’t notice how far we’d drifted apart until it was way too late. He had his businesses, friends and colleagues, while I had the house and the girls. Some of my girlfriends told me stories about the business trips, because their husbands were on them as well. Usual old story, but it took me a while to realise he wasn’t interested in me anymore, except as a trophy wife and very occasional sex toy. ’
She looked a bit embarrassed, ‘I mean, I was very inexperienced before we married, so I thought we’d had a reasonable sex life up to then. I tried to teach the girls that nudity and sex were healthy and normal, not something bad and dirty, like most of their moronic school teachers had been trying to tell them. Anyway, it seemed to work well, and they have what I think is a very healthy attitude toward sex and nudity. ’
She giggled unexpectedly, ‘That’s why I almost laughed two days ago when you gave your housekeeping speech. They weren’t embarrassed about the lack of privacy on board – quite the opposite.’
I kept silent, surprised she was revealing such intimate details to a person she’d only just met.
‘Anyway,’ she resumed, ‘to cut a long and horribly sordid story short, we quickly became two strangers sharing a house, so one day, he brought some workmen in to build separate bedrooms for each of us. He still seemed to dote on the girls, and I have 60
to admit that he’s always done the right thing by them – even making sure they didn’t know he was beating me. Those also became the only times we had sex, if that’s the name for it. It degenerated further when I realised he couldn’t get an erection unless he fantasised he was raping me – but soon he had difficulty even developing that fantasy.
Then he discovered that if he beat me until I struggled, the more I struggled, the more excited he became.’
‘He’d actually froth at the mouth during his attempt at sex, and could only grunt like an ape until he finished, which never took long. Anyway, even when I saw that photo of Zoe last night, I wasn’t upset by the fact he took it – we both took photos of the girls all the time and they were often naked or partly so, especially in and around the pool in summer. What upset me the most was that the prick had posted them on-line for all his sicko mates to look at! To me, that’s very unhealthy, and now I realise that he hasn’t truly cared about the girls for a long time. It’s almost like he’s got some other agenda for our or their future. There's no way he should be reacting this strongly just because we ran away! What the hell did he expect! Apart from loss of pride, why should he care? There wasn’t a happy family thing left to restore.’
She thought a moment, before adding, ‘I’m also puzzled as to why he went to so much trouble to hide the dark side of his nature from the girls, but then traded photos of them on-line? What’s the point of having just a few more photos of naked girls to share amongst his sicko friends? That’s why I feel there’s a lot more to this!’
She was silent after those revelations and I reserved comment on the tragic saga which had set the three of them on the run. I did consider the questions she’d raised, and the implications of the paedophile ring, something I’d only read about before. When combined with the acquisition of the old mansion, I didn’t like the hazy, foul picture which was starting to form. Particularly as the unhealthy focus of his attention seemed to be the two girls and not so much Janice. I didn’t voice those thoughts either.
Therefore, it was urgent that I look at more of those folders from Luke’s computer, as well as make a very private call or email to certain high-ranking persons in the ACP in Canberra. However, chasing hard on the heels of that thought, an alarm sounded softly in my head urging extreme caution regarding which person I contacted.
The reason I felt painfully impaled on the horns of this particular dilemma, was that although we’d only looked at a few photos in some of the file folders, among the few prominent faces I recognised, were two very senior members of the ACP, an organisation to whom I was required to make reports to on occasion.
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If Luke was prepared to turn over every rock around the three eastern states looking for his family, I shuddered to think of the hellfire and damnation which would descend on one Harry Stevens should I talk to the wrong person at ACP HQ!
This meant the web of corruption and filth had spread even wider and made my job much harder.
While I watched the girls chasing Jasper in and out of the water with shrieks of delight, and Janice stared morosely into the distance, lost in her own private hell of memories, a name popped into my head.
Greg James. He was a Queensland Police Inspector on the Gold Coast, whom I’d been involved with recently on another minor operation. I knew Greg well enough on a personal level to know that he was very firmly heterosexual and apparently had no leanings toward kiddie-porn or paedophilia. An Inspector should be able to make the right contacts for me, while keeping my name out of play until I knew whom to trust.
I moved closer to Janice and gave her a hug. She didn’t respond at first, but then briefly returned the hug with surprising force.
Sitting back, she smiled bravely through eyes sparkling with unshed tears.
‘You’re a good listener, Harry, and a good person,’ she said. ‘I’ve only known you a couple of days and already I’m telling you all of my intimate secrets!’
‘I appreciate your trust,’ I smiled, ‘and I’ll do all I can to help you sort out this mess. But I do have a request.’
She raised her eyebrows.
‘Would you mind taking the RIB and going for that walk with the girls I mentioned last night? You probably need their company more than you do mine at the moment.’
She smiled, ‘That’s not quite true, dear man. But I’ll do as you ask and we’ll deal with the other later. I know how to work the outboard. We had a similar one with Luke’s boat.
I’ll get going now.’
With that she went below, shortly reappearing in a lovely little bikini that gave me a funny feeling in the pit of my stomach. Well, maybe the feeling was a bit further south than that, but it was enough to remind me that my last live-aboard lady was many lonely months gone.
Janice grabbed a towel, waved, then competently untied the RIB and motored sedately to shore.
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The girls gave her a big welcome, and their happy chatter seemed to lift Janice’s depression almost immediately. Even Jasper did his bit and capered around them like a frisky puppy.
Eventually, they set off along the beach, so I went below and fired up the SatPhone.
‘Southport Police Station. May I help you?’ said a polite female voice.
‘Good morning,’ I replied, ‘Detective Greg James please?’
There was a slight pause... ‘One moment, sir. Ah, yes, he’s in. Putting you through.’
A few clicks and a buzz later, Greg’s gravelly voice sounded very official. ‘Detective James, may I help you?’
‘I bloody well hope so, It’s Harry Stevens.’
‘Harry!’ came a delighted cry. ‘How are you cobber? I haven’t heard from you for yonks.
What’re you up to?’
I chuckled at his dramatic change of manner. ‘Oh, a bit of this and a bit of that, old mate,’ I replied. ‘I've been trying to stay out of trouble.’
‘Ah,’ he said, ‘translate – that means you’ve failed to avoid trouble, and I’ll bet there are some lovelies involved! Am I right?’
‘Well. I hate to admit it, but yes, you are right, Greg. In fact, I need some help. ’
‘No problem is too great for the best bad-guy busting team afloat,’ he replied cheerily.
‘What’s going on dude, and what can I do?’
I took a deep breath. ‘First up, do you have access to an encrypted phone?’
It was a few moments before he replied more slowly and seriously. ‘Yes, oddly enough, I do. We have a Tactical Response Group stationed here now, with the Commonwealth Games only a month away, and they have a thing called a Thuraya SG -2520 that’s supposed to be pretty secure. Is it what you mean?’
‘Yeah. My gear can talk to it. Look, this is kinda sensitive and I can’t say any more like this, but can you get one of those things and call me soon as?’
‘Yeah. I can,’ he replied slowly, a million questions hovering in the tone of his voice.
‘Do you remember Sandy, the comms tech we had on our last job? Well, she’s just been trained on them and has a couple of units on trial for our own use. If things are that sensitive, I’d like to bring her in on this... as in, in case I need back-up.’
I thought quickly and did indeed remember Sandy, a pretty and very shapely, auburn-haired, General Duties Senior Constable with a bubbly personality, who did wonders for service recruitment anytime she appeared in a bikini.
Along with her looks, she was a very competent communications specialist and it would be a good thing if Greg had backup.
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‘Yeah. Good idea. Bring her in, but get out of the office before you call. Go somewhere you can’t be overheard.’
He replied dryly, ‘Yes Mum! I think we can cope!’
I chuckled, ‘Sorry, mate. Old habits! I’ll tell you more soon.’
I gave him my number before hanging up, made some changes to my bells-and whistles SatPhone courtesy of the Feds, and sat back to wait.
Surprisingly, it was only about ten minutes before my phone squawked, a sound that sounded like a castrated galah having a coughing fit, and could never be confused with a ring-tone.
I snatched it up, crossed my fingers and pushed the ‘Auto-encrypt’ button.
There was a small delay while a series of clicks, pops and buzzes sounded that were intended, I’m sure, to make the owner feel better about its ridiculous cost, then a husky, but tentative female voice, crystal-clear over the high-fidelity console speakers, said,
‘Hello?’
CHAPTER 11... Firebird...Flinders Island...Wednesday
‘Good morning, Sandy,’ I said in my suavest James Bond voice. ‘Stevens. Harry Stevens. I have you loud and clear.’
There was the usual delay, then she giggled . ‘Oh. Hi Harry, I'm glad you’re still an idiot, but you’re clear as well. Greg’s here, we have headsets and are in a park down on the waterfront. Say hi, Greg.’
‘Hi Harry,’ he said, ‘this all seems to work well, although I’m glad Sandy’s here. I’m hopeless with these bloody things!’
I chuckled, as Greg’s lack of affinity with the most basic electronic device was legendary.
‘So, Compadre,’ he went on, ‘what’s the rattle this time requiring us to sneak around with encrypted SatPhones, pretending to have a lunch-time nookie date?’
They had, in fact, had a bit of a temporary fling together on my boat during the last operation, so it followed that I heard Sandy giggle, followed by what sounded like Greg getting smacked on the arm.
I took a deep breath. ‘Just a quick question, with no offence intended, but what do you guys think about kiddy-porn?’
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There was a stunned silence from the other end, before Greg cleared his throat. ‘That’s a very weird question, but we both emphatically despise it!’
‘Good,’ I replied apologetically. ‘Sorry, but I thought it best to ask up front. Now, this is what has been going on.’
I explained to them as quickly as possible what had been happening, what I’d learned from Janice and what I’d deduced from the scanty information I had. I made sure they understood the implications of me identifying at least two high-level ACP guys. When I finished, there was a low whistle from Greg, while Sandy just said, ‘Oh, Harry! What a clusterfuck!’
‘Yeah!’ I agreed. ‘It is that!’
‘Okay mate,’ Greg said, ‘we’ve got that part and it sounds like real dynamite, even with just the dudes you’re identified so far, but what do you need us to do?’
‘Well. Obviously I don’t want to draw direct attention to myself or our movements, by asking questions of the wrong ACP person. What if you made a routine enquiry to the ACP, based on a tip-off from a trusted source, that a local rock-spider has been trying to flog some very high-grade kiddie-porn so he could score some dope? Really tiptoe with this because I don’t want you to draw too much attention either, but it would be very informative to know who responds, how quickly, and how much interest they show. ’
The Queensland crew were silent for a few moments, and then Sandy said, speaking to Greg as well as myself , ‘It could work if we tied the enquiry into one of our ongoing paedophile investigations. We’ve got a couple of them running, and there actually was a small bust last week. Because there's a case file, we could make it seem the tip-off came out of that.’
‘Yeah. That’s feasible,’ said Greg, ‘Okay, Harry, you’re on. We’ll work something out and see what shakes down from on high.’
‘Thanks guys,’ I said with obvious relief. ‘That’ll be a great help. You guys were the only ones I could think of to trust with this.’
‘No problem mate, we’ll get on it right away. Can we call you anytime on this number?’
‘Yes, anytime.’
‘Great. We’ll call soon.’
There were a series of clicks and odd tones as the devices decoupled from each other.
It was nearly an hour before Janice, the girls and a wet and sandy Jasper arrived at the stern boarding platform. In their absence, I’d used the time productively to scan through 65
more of Luke’s happy holiday snaps, and had indeed found more pics of Zoe, getting progressively older, as well as a series of Angie at various ages. All of them showed the girls naked, but were, obviously, quite innocent shots, either taken indoors or, as they became older, in or by the pool. In most of them, the girls knew they were being photographed and were smiling or laughing. Neither girl appeared seductively posed, and none of their photos could be classed as pornographic. They were just tasteful photos of pretty girls, who happened to be naked and showed they enjoyed it.
I also admit that I enjoyed looking at their photos, particularly as they became older, but then I always enjoyed looking at naked ladies. On the contrary, I took absolutely no pleasure at all in looking at the photos of the others or what was being done with, and to them.
After sorting through the masses of photos, I slowly realised the later ones of Angie and Zoe were the only ones of kids over the age of about twelve or so. All the really nasty ones were of younger kids, sometimes much younger , and most were of Asian or Indian appearance.
I identified several more prominent figures in State and Federal politics, quite a few self-styled social celebrities and a number of top business leaders. Against my better judgement, I wrote down a list of the names of every person I could identify, then hid it in plain sight by clipping it in with a bunch of notes, and left it in the drawer under the chart drawer with old shopping lists, radio messages, etc.
One of the folders I came across contained many short videos of professional quality, all set in the same ornate, old-fashioned bedroom. It was difficult to identify anything about the room, except the furnishings, pictures and wallpaper looked old or old -style, and might be identifiable in a future investigation.
About then, the ladies and a sandy cat arrived back, so I shut things down and hustled to greet them with the freshwater shower. The girls and Jasper were covered in sand and dried salt, but Janice had stayed dry and just needed to rinse her feet. Zoe held Jasper while I washed him off, and fortunately, he quite liked it. It was only when he shook himself dry that I got wet.
I retreated to the cockpit to finish him off with a towel, and reluctantly left the girls to mess around hosing each other.
While I dried Jasper, I still kept an eye on them, but they didn’t waste water and were soon drying off in the cockpit as well. Everyone, including Jasper, was in a very upbeat mood, so the long walk and play had been good therapy.
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I raised an eyebrow to Janice and scored a smile in return. When the girls went below to change out of wet bikinis, she asked, ‘Did you get any more done on the files?’
‘Yep,’ I smiled, ‘and there’s nothing bad on either Angie or Zoe. There were plenty more photos up to about a year ago, but all innocent stuff. Just normal, happy-snaps of healthy, naked teenagers.
She looked very relieved. ‘Oh, thank goodness! Thanks for checking for me.’
I grinned, ‘No problem, although I have to admit to you, that as much as I disliked wading through all the other photos, I really enjoyed seeing the girls’ photos. They were happy photos – they’re really lovely girls and so much like you. I’m very glad they aren’t intentionally involved in this foulness.’
She almost teared up, but instead, stepped over Jasper, never an easy task, and gave me a hard, full-body-contact hug which felt really good. Especially as she still had the little bikini on – in my female-deprived state it was really good!
Janice must have liked it too, since she stayed there even after Jasper eased himself out from between us. I’ve no doubt she could feel exactly how much I enjoyed it, and was glad the girls didn’t suddenly appear or I’d have had to sit down in a hurry.
Finally, she looked up at me, a strange grin on her face, ‘I don’t mind you appreciating the girls,’ she said softly, ‘I take it as a compliment and they would too, if they knew. I’m also sure you’ll always look after them.’
‘Yep,’ I replied, hoping the tightness in my shorts would hurry up and go away, ‘I will.’
She smiled, glanced pointedly at my somewhat distended shorts and giggled. ‘You either need two sizes up in shorts, Harry, or to do something about that thing. It can’t be good to confine yourself so tightly like that.’ She giggled again and went inside to put the kettle on.
I joined her when I decently could, and while the girls were still chattering in their cabin, I patted her lightly on her firm little bum, and said softly, ‘You’re a very cheeky young lady.’ She grinned, until I added, ‘Anyway, I also made contact with an old friend with the Queensland Police and passed on the whole story. He’ll make some very discrete enquiries which conceals our identities. I’ll give you the full story later this evening when the girls have gone to bed.’
Janice looked thoughtful, but smiled. ‘Okay, it’s really good someone else in an official position knows the story. So long as you can trust him.’
‘Yeah, we can.’
‘Alright,’ Janice replied, ‘tell me the rest later.’
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‘I will, but as a by-the-way, you don’t happen to have passports, do you?’
She looked a bit surprised, ‘Well, yes, we do and I’ve got them with me. Along with all our birth and my marriage certificates. But why would we need them?’
‘Oh. Just in case we have to run further afield,’ I suggested lightly. ‘We are on a boat after all.’
Janice looked thoughtful at that. ‘I see. So, if necessary, we could go to, say... New Zealand or the Pacific Islands?’
‘Yep, sure could.’
I left her looking thoughtful, and we ended up having a late lunch while the girls regaled me with stories about Jasper playing with them and chasing seagulls.
‘He’s just like a dog at times,’ Zoe enthused.
‘Yeah. And he really likes splashing around in the water,’ added Angie.
As it turned out, Janice and I didn’t have to wait until evening to have a private chat.
After lunch, Angie asked if they could borrow the RIB to go explore around the little rocky islets just to seaward of us.
‘Mum showed us how to work the outboard,’ she said seriously, ‘and we know not to get into shallow water with the engine running. We’ve got the oars for that.’
I looked at Janice for her approval and when she nodded, I said, ‘Alright. But please be very careful.’
Angie smiled, ‘Thanks Harry. We'll be good. Can Jasper come too?’
I looked at the big lump, discretely being fed some cheese by Zoe. ‘Sure. Go ahead.
But maybe keep him out of the water this time.’
‘No problem, we weren’t going in again anyway.’
So equipped with hats, towels, sunscreen and the cat, they puttered away, chattering non-stop.
With a contented sigh, Janice snuggled up against me on the cockpit lounge, forcing me to wrap an arm around her. ‘Thanks, Harry. They really seem to be relaxing properly at last. Jasper, especially, is turning out to be wonderful therapy.’
I grinned, ‘He’s enjoying himself too. He’s not had much company other than me for a while, and certainly not active, attentive young ladies! ’
‘Anyway,’ I said with a grin, ‘I know they’re okay, but is their mother relaxing yet?’
She looked up at me, from down against my chest, ‘Not yet,’ she replied frankly, ‘but it might help if I got a bit more of what I felt in the hug we had before lunch.’
I grinned, ’Really? Now?’
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‘Sure,’ she said looking up with a cheeky grin. ‘Plenty of time – they’ll be a while.’
With offer made and accepted, we hugged and kissed a bit, and although we’d only known each other a few days, one thing led to another, and before long, items of clothing littered the deck.
She was a very active little bundle of firm, delightfully female flesh, and while the first coupling between strangers was often not perfect, on this occasion, everything seemed to fit properly and work as advertised.
It was good we didn’t have to be quiet on account of the girls, as despite, or perhaps because of the circumstances, it was a very intense and supremely satisfying encounter for both of us. Afterwards, I was happy and relaxed, and Janice looked and acted even more so.
Knowing that the girls could return at any time, we reluctantly decided to forgo seconds, and make ourselves decent. Consoled by the knowledge that now one particular personal hurdle had been overcome, we could and would indulge again at the next opportunity that offered some privacy.
It wasn’t long before the purr of the outboard announced the girls’ return, and displaying a commendable degree of competency, Zoe parked the RIB alongside the boarding platform and Angie hopped out to tied it up.
Jasper jumped out, with what looked like a grin on his face and trotted up the steps, followed by the girls.
‘Hi guys,’ Janice said casually. ‘Was that fun?’
The girls looked at her, looked at me, then at each other, before bursting into giggles.
Janice just looked at them until their mirth settled a bit, then asked, ‘Are you two okay?’
That set them off again and it wasn’t until it died down that Angie said, between more giggles, ‘You did it! You really did. We were so hoping you would sooner or later, but you did it sooner! Oh, Mum. We’re so happy for you! We want to know all about it! ’
With that, they both went and hugged Janice who at least had the grace to blush a little.
I looked at Janice, raised an eyebrow, and waved a finger to indicate the two girls and then both of us.
She just nodded in reply.
‘Well, furball,’ I said to Jasper, ‘so much for keeping things a secret.’
Zoe looked at me. ‘Oh, come on Harry. There was no way Mum was going to be able to hide the fact that you two had been having nookie while we were gone. It’s so obvious, but we think it’s great. You both looked like you needed stress relief, and it must be the perfect way.’
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I held my hands up in mock surrender and grinned, ‘Okay. I give up. Yes, we did and it was great!’
The girls laughed with delight and I scored a big hug from each of them.
Angie grinned at my slight discomfort. ‘You don’t have to say any more, Harry. We’ll get a minute-by-minute description out of Mum before long.’
She rolled her eyes and drawled, ‘We need to hear the most intimate of details.
Therefore, Mum will tell we virgin sisters everything!’
I didn’t know whether to laugh or look horrified, but Janice just said, ‘Stop it you two teases! Poor Harry doesn’t know what he’s got himself into.’
‘No problem!’ crowed Angie. ‘He’ll soon find out!’
I did what any red-blooded male would do in the same situation – I retreated inside the saloon where I pretended to be measuring important nautical type things on a chart, leaving the three females in the cockpit.
As I chanced the occasional glance outside, I saw they already had their heads together – the girls listening to Janice with rapt attention and giggling excitedly. To make sure I couldn’t hear what they were discussing, I decided to go down and check the oil level in the starboard engine which is where Janice found me twenty minutes later.
‘You can come out now,’ she taunted with a chuckle, ‘I talked them into leaving you alone for a while.’
‘Did you really tell them what we did?’ I asked apprehensively.
Janice looked a bit uncomfortable, but only for a moment. ‘Well, yes. That’s the deal.
I’ve always been totally open with the girls about everything, and found it’s been the best way to earn and keep their trust. They might be virgins, but they know how everything works and always want to know more. So instead of hiding it like so many parents do, I tell them.’
She gave a sigh of frustration at my apparent lack of understanding.
‘When they were younger and Luke and I still had what I believed passed for a normal sex life, we got sprung a couple of times. It was just by accident, but while we didn’ t try to give them a practical demonstration, we also didn’t pretend we were just kissing and cuddling either. I explained to them that this is the way men and women who really care about each other show their love and affection, and was totally natural. I t seems my efforts worked as they seem to be pretty well-balanced to me.’
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I nodded. ‘I couldn’t agree more. I guess I’ve had very little experience with teenage girls, but your explanation makes total sense, and they have a good attitude toward sex and nudity.’ I grinned. ‘Obviously, I’ve spent my time around the wrong sort of ladies.’
Janice giggled and gave me a hug and a kiss. ‘Just go with the flow on this and trust the girls and me. Relax and enjoy what good times we can manage to have – maybe they’ll help balance out all the bad stuff that’s going on around us.’
I kissed her back. ‘Okay. I will, I promise.’
CHAPTER 12... Firebird... Flinders Island...Wednesday evening Even though Angie had told me she loved cooking and was perfectly happy to take over the galley, I cooked a bunch of sausages on the Weber BBQ, leaving her to organise vegies or a salad. We had vegies.
With the meal eaten and dishes washed up, we had a fun evening, with all three in a happy, upbeat mood and even played a game of Monopoly, with blatant cheating and many laughs.
Finally, the girls went to bed, Jasper tagging along with his new best buddies, leaving Janice and me alone to catch up on news.
A quick kiss and a cuddle, then I sent her to the cockpit while I made two Irish coffees.
‘Do you really trust your mate, the Queensland copper?’ Janice asked as I set the wonderfully aromatic coffees down on the table and sat beside her.
‘Yes. I do. He’s a very straight, down-to-earth copper. Plus, he’s developed some good contacts in the Service and the ACP. He also understands the need to keep us isolated from any involvement in the investigation.’
‘Okay, so long as you’re happy. I’d hate to bring Luke’s goons down on us now we’re finally in what seems like a safe situation.’
‘I’m actually more concerned with the senior guys in the ACP who are part of this filth,’ I replied, sipping at the tasty brew. ‘If they, or someone higher up tries to stifle or shut-down Greg’s line of enquiry, we’ll know it crossed the wrong desk and that maybe the corruption has spread lower down as well.’
She nodded, taking a large sip herself, ‘I guess it’s as good a red-flag test as anything else.’
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‘That’s the idea, but I received a message that Greg was going to run another, private query via one of his very discrete contacts, a lady called Annette DeSilva who’s the Human Trafficking deputy head. She’s a divorcee who Greg trusts and has worked with before. He plans to tell her the whole story, but he’s going to leave out your involvement with the files and photos for now, so there shouldn’t be any chance of us getting named.
She’ll be told not to ask questions, but to just search for the specific names and addresses Greg’s given her. Even if there’s a bad reaction from up top, she may still be able to let us know what's really happening.’
Janice smiled around the rim of her mug. ‘Sounds a good backup system. Almost like having a spy in the enemy camp, except that unfortunately, these are supposed to be the good guys.’
‘Well. Nearly all of them are,’ I pointed out. ‘We just don’t know who to trust, apart from Annette.’
‘Yeah. I know,’ she sighed, ‘it’s all rather sad when we can’t tell good from bad.’
I finished my coffee, put my mug down and slid my arm around her shoulders. She’d already finished hers, and happily snuggled into my side, as we stared out across the calm waters of the bay, where a low-set moon cast a long, silvery finger of light toward us. A light breeze took away any lingering heat from the boat and mosquitos were, for once, totally absent.
She had a hand resting on my thigh, and when my thoughts returned from afar, I realised that I was absently stroking the side of her firm right breast. The small sound s of pleasure she made alerted me, but since I couldn’t find a good reason to stop, I didn’t. Moments later, she was gently rubbing the front of my shorts.
‘Goodness me, Harry,’ she sounded surprised. ‘Is that really you? You seem to have recovered magnificently!’
I chuckled. ‘Well, in fact I’ve been ‘recovered’ for many hours, but I didn’t think it appropriate to ask the girls to clear the table straight after dinner, then clear out themselves, so I could demonstrate the extent of my recovery to their mother.’
She laughed. ‘Very interesting. But you’re right – very unseemly.’
Without much further messing around, we shed clothes again and retired to the huge daybed which was open to the stars. We took our time getting to know each other this time, so the result, when it arrived, was even better than the first time.
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After finally separating, we collected clothes, decided not to wear them, but did decide to sleep in our own beds that night, and tenderly parted company in the saloon.
Thursday
I was up early, as usual, to feed Jasper before he helped himself to contents of the fridge, and to have a mug of tea while I checked the upper decks over. Janice must have slept in, since it was Zoe who joined me as I was eyeballing the anchor chain.
Nothing had changed, and with the clear water we could see the chain stretched out along on the sandy bottom right up to where the anchor was dug in well out of sight.,
‘Sleep well?’ I asked her.
She gave me a grin, ‘Yes, thanks. It’s a lovely bed, but Jasper really does take up an awful lot of room.’
I smiled, ‘I did warn you. I usually make him sleep in his own bed up in the forepeak.
Even though my bed is big enough for three, he still insists on getting close as possible.’
‘Yeah. That’s exactly what he did to us. He wasn’t content to sleep in the middle either
– he was either all over Angie or all over me. Still, he’s a real darling – we love him heaps.’
Then she looked directly at me and asked, ‘Is Mum going to move in to your cabin to sleep with you?’
I answered her directly, ‘I don’t know. I’ll leave that up to her.’
‘But would you like to share with her?’ she insisted on knowing.
I smiled, ‘I certainly would, but only if that’s what she wants.’
Zoe grinned happily, ‘Excellent! She will, trust me. This is really good!’
Still grinning, she bounced away across the trampoline and headed down below.
I was about to go below, when Janice wandered forward, a gentle smile on her face.
‘Hello,’ she said, half shyly, ‘or good morning.’
I gave her a kiss, ‘Good morning to you, too.’
‘Has Zoe been talking to you?’ Janice asked.
‘Yeah. She has. Did she front you as well?’
‘Yes. About sleeping together?’
I nodded and chuckled, ‘Yes. That’s the question we’ve been asked.’
She shook her head. ‘The little minx!’
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‘They’re both keen to push us together,’ I commented, ‘although I thought we were doing quite well by ourselves.’
Janice laughed. ‘We’re doing extremely well together, thanks very much. Best ever, in my opinion.’
I laughed at her enthusiasm. ‘Well. I must admit it’s been rather special for me too, but do you want us to share a bed?’
She spoke frankly, ‘Yes, I would! But what about you? I mean... you’ve had three quirky, female runaways foisted on you out of nowhere – we’ve taken over your boat, are spoiling your cat and now messing with your privacy.’
I smiled at her. ‘You can mess with my privacy in that way any time you like, but with what we’ve been doing together and enjoying, sharing a bed each night isn’t going to ruin my independent lifestyle. So, move on in.’
That earned me a very big hug, as the girls suddenly appeared and were very happy.
When they’d untangled themselves, they headed off to make a special breakfast to celebrate.
It was an excellent brekkie and afterwards they sent Janice to move her gear into my cabin. Having a lot more space than the stern cabin, she could hang up more tops and had more drawers to stow things, so she needed to raid the suitcase storage. Having a private dressing room and a much bigger bathroom was another bonus.
At one point, she said, a little shyly, ‘I haven’t actually shared a bed with anyone for a very long time, but I’ll try to be good.’
‘Don’t worry,’ I said, with my best evil grin, ‘I already know you’re very good.’
With all the domestic happenings, I decided we’d stay put for the rest of the day and night, then head across the top of Tasmania to Three Hummock Island in the northwest, first thing next morning. It was a 140nm run, so the first thing was to check the weather. Zoe wanted to see how trip-planning worked, so I explained the process of deciding how, when and where to go to avoid being caught out in bad weather.
We saw that a strong cold front was approaching from the southwest, and would probably pass through our present location on Friday night or Saturday morning.
Therefore, our anchorage would be badly blown out, so we had to move tomorrow, Friday, anyway. Ahead of the front we could expect strong northerly winds, which would give us a fast run to Three Hummocks Island where there was a well-sheltered anchorage on its east coast called East Telegraph Bay.
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I expected the south-west winds behind the front could last several days, so we might have to stay at Three Hummocks for a while. With plenty of supplies aboard, spending days in a remote location was good.
Based on the forecast wind, I figured we could make the run in about twelve hours, but it would be a wild and wet ride.
With all this worked out, I briefed Janice and Angie on the weather and the sailing plan we’d just worked out.
‘We have to move out of here by tomorrow anyway, because it will become quite uncomfortable with the northerly blowing, and dangerous when the front hits,’ I explained. ‘But, as there’s plenty of daylight tomorrow, we should get to a safe anchorage before dark.’
Janice nodded thoughtfully, ‘Okay. That sounds like a good plan, especially if this spot won’t be so nice by Saturday.’
‘That’s about it,’ I replied, ‘but we should get going at first light, which is just before 06:00. That means actually being ready to go at 06:00.’
‘However,’ I smiled at Angie, who frowned at the thought of having to get up so early,
‘unlike on land where you have to get up and pack your gear, we've got everything with us, so I’ll do most of the work. Those who feel the need to sleep in, can if they want, but there’ll be a lot of noise once we get moving. With a strong beam wind, we’ll be moving fast, so it’ll be wet up top as well! No sunbaking I’m afraid.’
I added, ‘It’ll also mean wearing lifejackets if you move around outside the cabin, and all hatches and portholes will be closed and fastened.’
I’d already shown them the lifejackets with the auto-inflate function which are worn like a vest with an integrated harness. I left them to carry on because the phone rang. It was the SatPhone and a blinking light told me it was an encrypted call, so I shooed everyone down below.
CHAPTER 13... Firebird... Flinders Island...Thursday
‘Private work stuff,’ I said with a grin, so Janice took the girls down to continue messing up my cabin, while I quickly fitted a small headset and hit the answer encrypt button.
There was the usual series of weird sounds, and then Sandy said, ‘Hi, Harry.’
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‘Hi, Sandy and Greg too, I presume,’ I replied, happy to be back in contact with my trusted friends.
There was a moment’s hesitation, before Sandy spoke again, ‘Actually Harry, no Greg!
He’s not here so I’m doing this by myself.’
‘Okay, what’s happened?’
‘We forwarded the enquiry to the ACP as discussed, under Greg’s name and authorisation, and first thing this morning, our boss delivered a message personally to Greg, that he was not to take any action or request any furt her info from the ACP on paedophile rings until further notice, since he may, quote ’compromise an on-going Commonwealth Police investigation’ unquote. He also told Greg he was under orders from the highest level, to pack a bag as he was transferred on temporary duty to the Commonwealth Games security detail in Brisbane.’
She started to sound a bit agitated. ‘I mean, that’s just so much bullshit, Harry. Private companies are handling all the Games security, with Brisbane coppers providing just a few uniforms for show. No other Local Area Commands have been involved at all, and certainly not Southport!’
‘Righto, steady Sandy’ I replied, trying to calm her down. ‘Where are you now?’
‘I’m out in the carpark, hanging half out my car window so this stupid SatPhone gets a good look at the fuckin’ satellite, and trying to look as though I’m chatting with my Mum.’
I chuckled at her imagery. ‘Okay. This is the red flag we were dreading, but I didn't think there’d be such a quick and strong reaction.’
‘This means the top dogs in the ACP really are monitoring this whole thing very closely,’
Sandy said in a subdued tone.
‘Yes it does, or at least they have others placed to report any unusual activity to them immediately,’ I commented, ‘but Greg will be fine and so will you, if you keep your head down. Did he leave you the contact details for his friend at the ACP?’
‘Yes. He did,’ Sandy sounded calmer.
‘Great! I’d like you to contact Annette by whatever means seems safest – land-line phone is probably the best at the moment, and tell her there is now a red alert on this.
She’s not to ask direct questions about paedophile activity, unless it’s something she’d routinely ask, and even then, she should do it through one of her staff.’
‘Okay, got that.’
‘It’s very important that she looks up the records for human trafficking, both into and out of Australia. Since this is her job, they won’t risk trying to shut her down. She should look for Indian and Thai children coming in, and possibly Caucasian girls out, maybe to 76
the Middle East. We need to find where the kids go when they come in, particularly if they’re being sent to Melbourne.’
A nasty thought suddenly popped into my head. There were a few disconnected things which had been said, which suddenly joined up to create this nasty thought.
I carefully said to Sandy, ‘Another thought. I don’t know if Luke has been under investigation before this, but if he has, we need to know if there have been any intercepted enquiries, like emails, text messages or Skype calls directed to Luke, particularly from the Middle East, about the availability of teenage, blonde Caucasian girls in Australia. The enquiries may be in a basic code, but she’d be across that type of communication. It would make it a lot easier to build a case if we could come up with something which tied Luke directly to the ring.’
‘That sounds like you have some situation in mind,’ she probed.
I was reluctant to discuss this with Janice yet, so Sandy was my sounding-board.
‘Yeah,’ I replied hesitantly, ‘I’ve just connected a few dots and something even worse is a strong possibility.’
‘Go on,’ she said impatiently. ‘Spit it out!’
‘Okay, let’s play the what-if game.
What if Luke’s good behaviour toward the girls has been a sham all along?...
What if he just wanted them relaxed and happy with their wonderful Daddy, to keep them close?...
What if the girls’ photos have been circulating for years?...
What if he’s been cultivating a market for two teenage, blue-eyed blonde, Caucasian virgins?...
What if that market was in the Middle East where they can afford to pay top dollar for fresh, unblemished white goods?...
What if Luke’s rage and expensive manhunt is so intense because there’s an auction pending with a huge offer at risk because he doesn’t have the girls?...’
Sandy was silent a few moments, ‘Ah shit! They really are nasty thoughts, but your reasoning makes sense. Of course, you realise this puts you and the ladies in even more danger?’
‘Yes, I do.’
‘And that you’ll need to keep moving even more often, and maybe visit more remote areas?’
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‘Fuck it, Harry!’ she cracked up a bit. ‘I really wish you’d take this more seriously.
You’ve got a mob of Luke's bad-guys hot on your trail, and, if your theory is correct, some Middle-Eastern billionaire with a penchant for having his share of the promised 72 virgins a bit early, is about to chuck a giant wobbly. And, it’ll be wholly directed at the person standing between his royally-diseased groin and twin overhead virgin pussies!’
‘Ah...yes. I do appreciate your concern, Sandy, especially when it’s expressed so eloquently.’
She had the grace to laugh at my feeble reply.
‘Let me go and get this other ball rolling with Annette. I’ll call you when I get something new.’
‘Thanks for your work Sandy, and hang in there.’
‘Cheers for now. Keep your head down and stay dry!’
When I had a chance, I told Janice that I’d bring her up to speed later, so the rest of the day passed pleasantly. The ladies fluffed around with girly stuff, made morning tea and lunch, while I checked the boat and made ready for a heavy sail. There wasn’t really much to do as we’d only been at anchor a couple of days.
We went ashore for a walk and let Jasper have another good run. While the girls went hunting for shells, I managed to tell Janice most of Sandy’s phone call, but not my idea about Luke selling the girls. That could be too much, too soon for her still-fragile mental state.
Back on board, I hoisted the dinghy, removed the outboard, and secured it with heavy webbing straps in its protected storage under the daybed.
Janice and the girls did some sun baking on the foredeck, taking advantage of the comfort of the trampoline and the warm breeze, where I joined them with a beer later in the arvo. When prompted, Janice asked for a white wine, while the girls asked for Lemon Ruskies. When Janice approved, I fetched. On the way forward with the drinks, I suddenly realised that it was a very domesticated scene, and moreover found myself enjoying it.
In a rare moment of introspection, it came to me that my love of solo voyaging, with just Jasper for company, had left me a rather lonely person.
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The evening meal was happy, and we followed it with another hilarious game of cheating Monopoly. It was an easy decision not to stay up late, given the active day and early departure in the morning. It was also the first night Janice and I would sleep together. She seemed a bit nervous and the girls were excited for some reason, which made for a different retiring routine. We sorted out the ‘who-sleeps-on-which-side’ bit –
I said I always slept naked, so after some indecision, she gamely said she would too.
I made a final circuit topside, checking all was secure, noting that the breeze had picked up a little, and backed slightly into the north, but we were still just within a sheltered position with the anchor well set.
I told Jasper he was confined to either his or the girls’ bed, then stripped in my/our dressing room and climbed into bed. Watching Janice dither about taking her clothes off was entertaining, but when she finally did, the sight of her wandering back and forth between dressing room and bathroom several times was particularly stirring and I said so. But when the girls came to say goodnight, I had to quickly pull the doona up to keep them from sighting the affected portion of my anatomy. I was only partially successful, and raised a lot of giggles – Janice included. She continually found my efforts at modesty around the girls highly amusing.
Their choice of sleeping attire didn’t help my condition either, being just longish T-shirts with obviously nothing underneath. They had to climb up on the bed to chat, and the liberal display of jiggling breasts and pink bits was very disconcerting. After a round of goodnight hugs and kisses, which now included me, they finally slithered off the bed, showing more flesh, and were persuaded to go to their bed in the other hull, taking the great lump of cat with them. Janice discretely pointed out that as only a few meters separated the two forward cabins horizontally, and with an open deck hatch above each bed, we needed to be careful what we discussed in bed. Or any other incidental sounds we might make.
Finally, we were alone and I turned out the light, the open hatch above us letting in a gentle, cooling draft of air. Janice cuddled up beside me and wanted to be kissed. So we did for a short time, until the provocative wriggling of her naked body caused rather more basic instincts to take over. Finally sated, satisfied and whatever else, we lay back with the sheet pushed to the bottom of the bed and let the breeze cool our perspiration We drifted off to sleep like that and I was only dimly aware of Janice pulling the sheet up in the wee small hours as the night air cooled.
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CHAPTER 14... Firebird... Flinders Is – Three Hummock Is...Friday am My internal alarm clock woke me around 05:00 and Janice stirred too as we were still wrapped around each other. The feel of her warm bare skin almost tempted me into a repeat last night’s performance, but I reluctantly settled for a cuddle and a few rubs of her firm bum.
‘You can stay here, if you want,’ I said softly, ‘but things will get noisy when the anchor gets raised. The chain stows just beyond where our pillows are – I think I forgot to tell the girls about that.’
She giggled, ‘It’ll do them good to get up early, but I’ll get up anyway and make some tea.’
I offered to let her use the bathroom first, but her response was, ‘Don’t be silly! I only need to pee and have a quick wash – there’s plenty of room and it’ll be quicker if we go together.’ She was right, it was quicker, but I wasn’t quite used to sharing a toilet with a female, even if it was just peeing. The female washing process was a bit different as well as it went way beyond just a face and hand wash, but as she was unconcerned, I was determined to pretend I wasn’t either. I guess I could get used to anything.
That piece of new intimacy over, we dressed and headed up top; Janice to the galley, while I unlocked and opened the cockpit doors. Given our location and the darkness, I decided to motor clear of the bay, so I started the engines to let them warm up, then went on deck to check the weather. The wind had increased, was warmer and had backed a little further, now NNW at twelve to fifteen knots, signifying the front was definitely approaching and we were getting out just in time. It would be a day of fast sailing!
By the time I’d disconnected the mooring bridle that kept us stable at anchor, then winched in the rest of the chain, the girls were up and dressed. They presented me with a welcome mug of tea as I turned Firebird away from the beach and carefully picked our way out of the bay.
It wasn’t long before the rocky islets and other hazards were clear astern and I could shut down the engines. Since she had already steered the boat, I parked Zoe on the wheel, while I set about raising, then setting sails and fully lowering the lee dagger board. With the way I’d set the systems up, this didn’t take long and I explained each move to Janice and Angie as well. I thought it wise to only raise the main to the 75%
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mark, and set only the inner staysail until I saw how the boat behaved in the rising breeze.
Once clear of the land, the wind quickly rose to 25 kts, with some gusts over 30 kts.
After trimming the sails to balance the helm, we were soon making a comfortable and exhilarating 18 to 22 knots, with a moderate beam swell.
The windward bow flicked some light spray across the deck, but because we weren’t punching into the swell, the ride was more like a smooth series of swoops over the swells. My three crew were initially a bit concerned as the rising wind made some weird whistling and howling noises around the carbon mast and rigging, but were reassured once they saw how flat we were riding and experienced the exhilarating feeling of a big cat at speed in a strong breeze.
To Zoe’s disgust, I talked Janice into taking the wheel for a spell, and after a bit of coaching, she felt the excitement of hand-steering at speed. As the sun made its slow climb up into the cloudless sky, the breeze steadied at Force 6, a strong breeze with some higher gusts, but Firebird only heeled slightly and I felt comfortable with the sail settings.
Nevertheless, I didn’t stray too far from the mainsheet traveller quick-release and instructed the crew in its use as the quickest way to de-power the mainsail.
Despite the swoopy ride, Angie managed to boil the kettle safely and served another round of tea with toasted crumpets and honey for breakfast. Two of us were in the cockpit at all times, and I relaxed the rule about lifejackets, so long as everyone stayed well within the cockpit confines.
After breakfast I put Janice on the wheel again, so the girls, wearing lifejackets over their bikinis and tethered safely to the lifelines, could go forward to the bows.
There they had a genuine wet and wild experience, being pelted with a constant stream of spray from the windward bow, although the thrill of laying on the trampoline in these conditions was extreme. Just hanging on with the bows swooping up and down was a chore, and by the time they returned, they were exhausted, but fizzing with excitement.
‘Mum! Mum!’ squealed Zoe. ‘You’ve got to try it. That’s the best thrill ride I’ve ever been on!’ Janice looked dubious until Angie joined in.
‘Come on, Mum. We’ll come back up with you. You’ve got to try it. It’s so much fun!’
So Janice went inside the saloon and to my surprise, stripped down to just her brief panties and put her lifejacket back on over bare skin. She made a lovely sight and the girls applauded her choice of gear.
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