Drowning in Her Eyes (27 page)

“But you know, don
't you? Why don
't you tell me?
”

McKenzie would not meet his gaze.
“I can
't,
” he said.
“I made a promise.
”

Jack pleaded.
“Professor, you must tell me what you know. Susan and I intended to marry. She is going to have my baby, for Christ
's sake!
”

This time there was genuine surprise on his face. He looked at the boy. He had been a good student, and he liked him. God, he thought, how terrible for him, how terrible! Mackenzie was a kind man. He remembered meeting Jack at dinner. He remembered his wife remarking on his relationship with Susan Baker.
“I wish Ellie could find a boy like that,
” she had said. Now, he was going to deceive this young man. No, damn it, he thought, I cannot send him away with nothing. He looked straight at Jack.
“They have gone back to the United States. They left here two weeks ago. I can tell you no more than that. This conversation is over. Goodbye, Mr. Riordan. Good luck to you.
”

* *
*
*

John Starr
, he thought
.
W
hat happened between John and Sarah? What did
he
know? He did not know where John lived, so he went to the restaurant and found Tony Starr in his kitchen.
“Aren
't you the young bloke that used to go out with Susan Baker?
”

“Yes,
” said Jack.
“I
've just been told the family left town. Is that right?
”

“So John says.
”

“Can I speak with him, please?
”

“He
's at home at the moment. He
's having a bad time of it.
” He thought for a minute, looking at Jack.
“Maybe that
's not such a bad idea. He needs to talk to someone. I
'll give him a ring and tell him you
're coming.
”

The Starrs lived on the other side of town. Jack knocked on the door; John
's mother opened it.
“Come in,
” she said.
“He
's in his room
;
I
'll take you there.
”

John Starr looked frightened.
“I can
't tell you anything. If I do, I will never see Sarah again. She made me promise to say nothing to you.
”

“Do you know where they have gone?
”

…Silence
.

“Why won
't you tell me? Tell me damn you, tell me! My whole life depends on it!
”

…Silence
.

Jack walked over to John, grabbed him by the collar and dragged him to his feet.
“Tell me you little prick, or I
'll beat it out of you!
”

…Silence
.

Jack dropped him in disgust. This boy was terrified of something, but it was not Jack Riordan. He wondered what Marci had said to him.

*
*
*
*

He drove back to Robb College, despondent, broken hearted. He stuffed some things into his car and headed for Goondiwindi. It was late at night when he arrived at
Ballinrobe
. His mother came to the door, surprised to see him. She looked at him; she saw the fatigue, the sadness, the shock.
“Jack, whatever is the matter? You look awful!
”

He fell into her arms.
“Mum,
” he said,
“Mum, it
's Susan. She is gone. I cannot find her. Oh God, I can
't find her.
”

Armidale, New South Wales, Australia
—1965

Jack had promised his mother he would complete his studies and he intended to do so. Early March saw him back at work. There was plenty to do. His course was comprehensive with most of his weekly timetable taken up wit
h lectures and laboratory work.

Life in Robb College was good. Each block had a common room where the residents could meet, to discuss serious topics, to host parties, or conduct post mortems on functions they had just attended. There were many social events, dinner dances and formal balls, or just informal drinking parties. Jack attended most of these with his group of friends from his block. On these occasions, he felt obliged to take a partner. Sometimes his libido warred with him for there were plenty of pretty and willing girls from whom to choose. He managed to resist. The functions held by the women
's colleges were the worst. In a reversal of common practice, the girls invited their partners. He was always popular. There were two classes of girls from his point of view. Some chose him because they knew their virtue would not be jeopardised. Others looked on him as a challenge. A pretty partner who made it obvious she wanted to have sex with him occasionally propositioned him when he delivered her to her home. At these times, he was sorely tempted, but he could not. He knew he would be with Susan no matter who was in his arms.

Some of these girls felt spurned and reacted badly, suggesting there might be doubt about his sexual preferences. Most understood him and some became good friends, non-
threatening escorts when he needed one. Overall, he enjoyed these social outings, even though he tended to drink too much.

Wallgrove Camp, New South Wales, Australia
—1965

Corporal Jack Riordan sat at a table in the lecture hall and listened to the young
s
econd
l
ieutenant who was attempting to deliver a lecture on company tactics. He did not know much about his topic. This officer was typical of many who came to the
r
egiment from the suburbs. They knew the theory, but lacked practical knowledge, particularly in man management and field craft
. It was
something he would complain about all his army life. Some officers like this young fellow were fast-
tracked for promotion and spent almost no time in the ranks. Others, like Jack, would make their way up through the ranks, commanding a section, graduating to platoon
s
ergeant and living with the men at the same time, man management skills acquired along the way, sometimes hard earned.

The final week of the senior NCOs course was at D Range at
Holdsworthy Military Reserve
. This complex houses the School of Military Engineering, the Military Police HQ, the RAEME and the RASC. There are extensive workshops and Quartermasters Stores. There are four areas of bush land used for practical exercises. D Range includes a stretch of the George
's River, towering sandstone cliffs, thick vegetation and few roads.

This year, the candidates took turns at being platoon
s
ergeants with their
p
latoon
c
ommanders feigning indecision, lack of control over their men and general lack of knowledge and indecisiveness. The aim was to place the candidates in situations where they had to use their initiative to take control and make decisions.
An
enemy
firing live rounds was part of the exercises. Jack assumed command of his platoon and commenced his exercise. The officer who wrote the scenarios for these exercises had a sense of humour; some of his characters included Private Parts, Corporal Punishment and Major Disappointment. Jack
's task was to navigate to a point about ten miles from the base camp. The platoon was to complete a complex course involving a deep river crossing, a stiff climb to a high point known as
that bastard of a hill
, followed by a forced march to their final objective. Along the way, they were in
enemy
territory, subject to harassing fire and ambushes.

From the start, his officer was feigning illness and after a mile or so, declared that he could not continue. He told Jack to carry on without him. He gave Jack his compass that he had marked with the three waypoints. He gave Jack a map that was intentionally out of date. All went well along the first stage. A few stray rounds went fizzing over their heads. Then there was an
ambush. A forward scout called
contact right
and the lead section went into the standard drill. For some reason, Jack had a bad feeling about this. He had a gut feeling the
enemy
had deliberately exposed themselves on the right when they really intended to attack from the left.

There was a rattle of blank rounds from ahead as the lead sec
tion attacked the ambush point.
Swiftly, Jack sprinted to his rear section and took them into the scrub wide to their left. A hundred yards in, he pivoted right on his axis of advance and moved ahead. He had guessed correctly, taking the
enemy
section from behind. The patrol carried on to the river crossing. The crossing point was wide and deep, but not running fast. They had to float their equipment across on rafts fashioned from their bedrolls. Jack was not a strong swimmer. He sent most of the men across first, following behind, clinging to the large raft carrying the bedrolls. He only just made it, dragged exhausted from the water by a mate.

The steep hill was a problem. The cover thinned out towards the summit and exposed all approaches to defenders on the top. Jack took a good look at the map but was unable to see anything he could identify within his field of view. He called his section commanders in for a conference. Finally, he took a good look at the map legend. It said
‘Ordnance Survey 1938
'. Shit, he thought, this bloody thing is way out of date. One of the section leaders said,
“If there
's anyone up there, they will see us half way up the hill. What do we do now?
”

Jack said,
“We can
't see what
'
s on the other side of the hill, and the bloody map is useless. Bill, take your section on a tour right round the hill for a look. We will remain here. If there
is
anyone on the hill, he won
't see you if you keep well inside the scrub line.
” It took an hour for his patrol to return. Bill reported that the scrub was much thicker and reached further up the hill on the rear side. Moreover, there was a deep cleft in the rocks providing cover almost to the summit. Jack smiled. This might be just the opening they wanted. Jack had his platoon form a perimeter.
“We
'll w
ait here until dark,
” he said.
“
No talking, and no smoking. When we move out, I will go with
three
section in the lead.
one
section second,
two
section in the rear.

As darkness fell, they moved out. It took an hour to move stealthily through the scrub. The forward scout came back, excited.
“The gully is just up ahead, Jack. I think there may be someone up there. I
'm pretty sure I saw the glow of a cigarette.
” They crept up the gully, hugging the ground and moving at snail
's pace. Jack took the lead. Ten yards from the top, he paused. There was no sound, no lights, and no fire. Then he saw the smoker. His face glowed, briefly illuminated as he cupped his cigarette in his hand and took a draw. Jack slid back down to the man behind him.
“I am going to see if I can sneak up on that piquet. When I grab him, the rest of you swarm up to the top as quick as you can. Just hope there aren
't more than a section of them!
”