Drowning in Her Eyes (7 page)

* *
*
*

Amy O
'Neil was the daughter of one of the local bank managers. Jack met her a
t a church dance
and was impressed with her maturity. She seemed to be more sophisticated than other
girls
. She had come from Brisbane when her father transferred to the bush. She was eighteen
years old
and had seen a lot more of life than the others, especially Jack Riordan
.

Amy suggested they take a walk half way through the dance. Jack wasn
't so sure about that. His mother was in town and had arranged to pick him up when the dance fi
n
ished. What if she came early to chat with friends and watch the dancing
?
She would notice he was missing and there would
be serious questions to answer.

Helen always knew when Jack was lying. Nonetheless, they slipped out into the warm summer night. The heat of the day had ebbed away, leaving a gentle cool breeze coming off the river. Amy took Jack by the hand. At her touch, he felt a fizz of excitement surge through his groin. They soon reached the riverbank
where
there was a
gentle descent to a small beach
popular with the local fishermen and well screened from the street by a thicket of wild sunflowers.

For a moment, Jack hesitated, but Amy moved up to him and gently kissed his mouth. She pressed close to him and he could feel her softness along the length of his body. Her soft breasts pushed against him. He could feel her erect
nipples
and realised with a thrill that she wore no bra. She kissed him harder, hungrily, her tongue exploring his mouth. He replied in kind as they slipped to the soft grass.

She leaned over him, pulling down the straps of her dress, exposing her breasts to his eager lips. As he took
her
in his mouth, she began to moan softly. Her hands raced over his body unfastening his clothing, stroking his chest and stomach, moving ever nearer to his throbbing groin. He could feel his erection threatening to burst through his tro
u
sers. So did Amy; in one swift motion, she stood up and stepped out of her dress, revealing her smooth stomach and a pair of tiny white panties. She discarded these with one hand then she tugged his pants down below his knees with the other. For a moment, she stood proud and tall in the soft moonlight then knelt down beside him and began to stroke him. He ran his hand up her legs to her soft inner thighs; she moaned again and spread her legs. Jack found the mound of tawny gold hair and the warm, wet, slippery folds of her sex. She gasped loudly and rolled to straddle him. For a moment, he felt himself push at her, then plunge into her
sweet warmth.

Amy rode him, grinding against him until he came in a great rush. Amy was cry
ing out,
“Oh, God. Oh, yes, Ooooo
…y
es!
”
He could feel her contracting around him as her orgasm took control. Afterwards, they lay together. He could feel her sticky wetness against his thigh. She looked tenderly at him.
“That was your first time, wasn
't it?
” she said, with a secret smile.
“Never mind, it happens to us all eventually. You were good for a first timer. I
'll have to teach you all I know.
”

She stood up and ran down to the water, slipping in u
n
til only her shoulders showed.
“Come on in,
” she said.
“The water is nice and we need to clean up.
” Jack joined her in the wonderfully cool water and began to wash himself down. Amy swam over to him and put her arms around his neck. She began to rub herself against him and he felt his erection stirring. Amy began to kiss him again; she ran a hand down his body and took his penis in it, stroking it gently until it was rock-
hard. She slipped down a little further, then, pla
c
ing her arms around his neck again, she locked her legs around his waist and took him inside her. This time it was slower and not so urgent for Jack. Amy came in a murmu
r
ing rush of words.
“Oh, I need, I want, Oh, God, I want it.
” She came to a shuddering climax.

As they walked back to the school dance hall, Jack looked for the first time at his watch.
“Shit,
” he said
.
“I
'm half a
n hour late. Mum will kill me!
”

Amy smiled.
“Why don
't you blame me?
” she replied.
“Anyway I want to meet your mother.
”

“Not now. She
'll guess what we
've been doing.
”

Amy, undeterred, followed Jack to the car where Helen stood waiting.
“Where have you been, Jack? You should have been here long ago. Dad will be waiting for us. And who is this?
” said Helen, looking Amy up and down.

“Hello, Mrs. Riordan,
” said Amy with a knowing smile.
“It
's so nice to meet you. Jack and I have hit it off really well. I
'm Amy O
'Neil. My Dad is relieving manager at the National Bank. I believe you have your account there.
”

Helen said,
“Nice to meet you
,
Amy, now we must be on our way. Can I give you a lift?
”

“No
,
thanks,
” she replied,
“It
's only a short way. Goo
d
night, Jack, thanks for the walk.
” She gave him a prim han
d
shake, turned on her heel and walked away.

Helen looked at Jack suspiciously.
“What have you been up to, my boy?
”
s
he
asked
.
“That girl is a bit too saucy for her own good. I
'd watch that one if I was you.
”

For the rest of the summer, Jack and Amy took every chance to meet and make love. She gently taught him things he had
n
'
t believed possible, teaching him all he needed to know to pleasure her. The things she could do with her lov
e
ly body knew no bounds. As February approached, Jack pr
e
pared for his last year at school. He drove into
town for one last visit to Amy.

“Let
's make this one special,
” she said; and she did. Jack said he couldn
't wait for the school holidays to come.
“I won
't be here,
” said Amy.
“Dad
's being transferred back to Brisbane.
”

“I can come to Brisbane, if I have to,
” said Jack.
“I can get the train.
”

“I don
't think so, honey,
” said Amy.
“I guess it
's all over now. It was fun while it lasted, but all good things end. At least you
'll know all the right moves when the next girl comes around.
” She gave him a chaste kiss on the cheek, and w
ith a cheery wave, walked away.

Jack never saw her again.

San Diego, California, USA
—1963

Captain John Ernshaw, master of the
SS Golden Ray
, stood on the bridge wing and surveyed San Diego harbour. This was a busy place, filled with the blaring horns of tu
g
boats and the bustle of cross-
bay traffic. Over there were the Marine Base and Naval Air Station, and several troopships lay alongside. Recently, there had been an increase in activ
i
ty at both establishments.

Ernshaw was a spare man with iron-
grey hair and a mil
i
tary bearing. The four gold rings on his jacket sleeves showed the tarnish of many years at sea. On his left breast, he wore the blue and white ribbon of the Distinguished Se
r
vice Cross along with a row of service ribbons, prominent amongst them the Atlantic Star. The DSC had been awarded for gallantry in 1941, when he had driven off a U-
boat pack, sinking one and ramming a second, resulting in a large nu
m
ber of prisoners and most of the boat
's codebooks being hauled aboard.

John Ernshaw was a humble man and credited his d
e
stroyer
HMS Cutlass
and its crew with the award as much as himself. If asked about the decoration, he usually said it was for a
‘
bit of a muddle in the North Sea.
'
They gave it to the wrong chap and couldn
't take it back.
”

SS Golden Ray
was a passenger cargo ship of around
twenty-
thousand
tons displacement
,
driven
by two oil-
fired steam turbines
capable of a cruising speed of
eighteen k
nots
. It was
being fitted with stabilisers
. A
smooth sh
ip in most weather conditions, s
he could accommodate eight passe
n
gers. There was not much call for berths right now: bigger and faster aircraft had taken much of the international pa
s
senger traffic. This is why the Captain was waiting for his five passengers with great curiosity. It was unusual for five members of the one family to travel together.

Captain Ernshaw had received a phone call from the ship
's agents a week ago. The passengers were arriving by train today. There was notification that one of the passengers may need some special medical attention, and they provided details to
Golden Ray
's
surgeon, along with a list of medic
a
tions required on board for the voyage. His information was that two of the passengers were attractive young women and that his crew was to be on its best behaviour. Ernshaw grunted at that. If any of his
Jolly Jack Tars
took liberties
he would keelhaul them, and they knew it.

* *
*
*

The objects of Captain Ernshaw
's curiosity had been planning for a couple of months by the time he received his phone call. Jimmy and Marci had talked their respective heads off after he had recovered from his devastating visit to the hospital.
“Marci,
” Jimmy had said,
“we have to face this head on and make the most of what we have while we still can. I have a few ideas, myself, but you have to decide first what you want to do. You have to face the prospect of being tied to an invalid for a few years, and following me like that girl in the Bible. You know,
‘Whither thou goest, so doth I
' or something like that. I have some unusual requests to put to you all, and I don
't want you to be tied down.
”