Cockatoo Read online

  Table of Contents

  CHAPTER 1

  CHAPTER 2

  CHAPTER 3

  CHAPTER 4

  CHAPTER 5

  CHAPTER 6

  CHAPTER 7

  CHAPTER 8

  CHAPTER 9

  CHAPTER 10

  CHAPTER 11

  CHAPTER 12

  CHAPTER 13

  CHAPTER 14

  CHAPTER 15

  CHAPTER 16

  CHAPTER 17

  CHAPTER 18

  CHAPTER 19

  CHAPTER 20

  CHAPTER 21

  CHAPTER 22

  CHAPTER 23

  CHAPTER 24

  CHAPTER 25

  CHAPTER 26

  CHAPTER 27

  CHAPTER 28

  CHAPTER 29

  CHAPTER 30

  CHAPTER 31

  CHAPTER 32

  CHAPTER 33

  CHAPTER 34

  CHAPTER 35

  CHAPTER 36

  CHAPTER 37

  CHAPTER 38

  CHAPTER 39

  CHAPTER 40

  CHAPTER 41

  CHAPTER 42

  CHAPTER 43

  CHAPTER 44

  CHAPTER 45

  CHAPTER 46

  CHAPTER 47

  CHAPTER 48

  THE NAVY CADETS SERIES

  THE AIR CADETS SERIES

  THE ARMY CADETS SERIES

  COCKATOO

  The Navy Cadets

  CHRISTOPHER CUMMINGS

  ALSO BY

  C. R. CUMMINGS

  THE GREEN IDOL OF KANAKA CREEK

  ROSS RIVER FEVER

  TRAIN TO KURANDA

  THE MUDSKIPPER CUP

  DAVY JONES’S LOCKER

  BELOW BARTLE FRERE

  AIRSHIP OVER ATHERTON

  *COCKATOO

  THE CADET CORPORAL

  STANNARY HILLS

  COASTS OF CAPE YORK

  KYLIE AND THE KELLY GANG

  BEHIND MT BALDY

  THE CADET SERGEANT MAJOR

  COOKTOWN CHRISTMAS

  THE SECRET IN THE CLOUDS

  THE WORD OF GOD

  THE CADET UNDER-OFFICER

  THE SMILEY PEOPLE

  COCKATOO

  The Navy Cadets

  CHRISTOPHER CUMMINGS

  Cockatoo

  © Copyright C. R. Cummings 2012

  The right of C. R. Cummings to be identified as the moral rights author has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright Amendment (Moral Rights) Act 2000 (Commonwealth).

  This eBook edition 2013

  DoctorZed Publishing

  www.doctorzed.com

  Cover design

  © Margaret Weber | Dreamstime.com

  Cataloguing-in-Publication information

  Cummings, C. R.

  Cockatoo

  For teenagers

  eISBN-13: 978-0-9873452-6-4

  1. Navy cadets – Queensland – Fiction.

  2. Teenagers – Queensland – Fiction. I. Title

  This book is copyright. Apart from fair dealings for the purposes of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission.

  Map 1: Atherton Table Lands

  CHAPTER 1

  KOOMBOOLOOMBA

  Dawn on the lake 5 kilometres south of the Koombooloomba Dam in Far North Queensland.

  The first golden kiss of sunrise was just tinting the tree tops across the still waters of the lake. Being April there was a hint of chill but the clear sky and high humidity bore the promise of a hot day to come. Tina Babcock, 14 and a navy cadet, shifted to a more comfortable position in the ‘Canadian’ canoe she was in and felt that her plan was at last working.

  The object of that plan was to get the boy seated behind her to notice that she existed. The boy, fair-haired, blue-eyed and in the same class at her school, was Andrew Collins. Andrew was the same rank in the Navy Cadets as Tina, an Able Seaman, and both were in their third year in the cadets and in Year 10 at school.

  Sitting in the front of the canoe was Tina’s red-headed friend Sarah, another class-mate and also an Able Seaman. It had taken quite a bit of behind-the-scenes manoeuvring to arrange it so that Andrew had ended up in the same canoe but Tina had managed it. Andrew had been a bit grumpy but as there were only four canoes allocated to the Port Watch it had not been all that difficult. It also seemed, from Andrew’s attitude and comments, that he was quite unaware of what had been arranged.

  ‘Oh! If only he would notice me!’ Tina thought. She had been in love with Andrew ever since she had first laid eyes on him but he did not seem to be aware that she was anyone special. An almost crippling shyness prevented Tina from making her feelings known and she was just hoping that being together might change things for the better.

  But so far it did not seem to have. All the previous day Andrew had spoken more to his male friends in other canoes than to the two girls in his. It wasn’t that Andrew didn’t like girls either. To Tina’s jealous chagrin there were quite a number of serious rivals for his affections, and comments and stories had fuelled her annoyance and made her a little desperate.

  One of those rivals was in one of the canoes following along behind- the golden-haired English girl Jennifer Jervis. Andrew had been smitten by her for a year but so far she had not reciprocated his interest. In fact it gave Tina malicious pleasure to note that Jennifer was happily helping to crew the canoe of the unit Coxswain, Cadet Petty Officer Michael O’Leary. That Andrew was not pleased by this had been very obvious the previous day when the expedition had set out.

  The canoe expedition was a weekend camp being run by their part time, volunteer Navy Cadet unit. The group comprised four adult staff and 22 cadets. They had driven up from Cairns the previous morning, lunching in the small town of Ravenshoe before driving south for 40km along the winding bitumen road through dense tropical rainforest. On the way they had detoured to visit the Tully Falls Lookout and to view the actual Koombooloomba Dam, a large concrete structure.

  The group had then taken to the water in 8 ‘Canadians’, plus a power boat for safety. For nearly five hours they had paddled south to the far end of the lake. This was about 10km and by the time the group had arrived at their planned campsite it had been almost dusk and Tina had been feeling quite exhausted. She was no athlete and the unaccustomed exercise had tested muscles and raised blisters.

  The trip had been interesting enough, the lake being a flooded valley in the mountains, with numerous islands and winding inlets snaking off into the overhanging jungle. What had really interested Tina were the birds. She was thrilled to watch the hundreds of wild birds. In particular she loved watching the cockatoos. To her delight she had seen dozens of white sulphur-crested cockatoos as well as large numbers of black cockatoos. She actually thought that the black cockatoos with their red beaks and flashes of red under the wings were the most impressive but loyalty to her own pet cockatoo ‘Beaky’ made her admire the white ones.

  The ducks, pelicans, cormorants and water-waders all gave her pleasure just to watch and it had been a rewarding experience to see so many in the wild. She was now experiencing this again as the canoes glided along almost silently on the mirror-calm water. Whole flocks of water birds were bobbing quietly on the water, or were pecking along among the mud and reeds on the lake’s margins.

  With a requirement to be back at the vehicles at the Dam by 11:00 so as to be back in Cairns by 2pm the group had risen before daybreak and packed up in the first grey light of dawn. Breakfast was to be at an island half way along the lake and the cadets had set off happily enough, only a few grumbling about not eating and about the cold. As it was not even cool enough to need a
pullover this last was pooh-poohed by the majority.

  As soon as it was light enough for safety the canoes had been launched and now they were skimming quickly along, their bow waves rippling the otherwise glass-like surface of the water. To begin with it had been a bit of a race but the novelty of that had quickly declined as most were too unfit. Even so Tina’s canoe was now well ahead of the others, the nearest being at least 200 metres behind. Of the motor boat there was, as yet, no sign.

  Andrew had taken the role of captain and Tina was content to let him but she did wish it was just her and him alone in the canoe, and with no other canoes on the lake. She pondered this little fantasy for a few minutes and found she was at a loss to know what to do if that was in fact the case. ‘I still wouldn’t be game to tell him how I feel,’ she thought.

  Again she shifted her position, uncomfortably aware that the sore muscles were returning with depressing speed. Chafed and constricted by her buoyancy vest she fidgeted to make it more comfortable. She did not like wearing buoyancy vests or lifejackets. Part of the reason was that her breasts were quite large for her age and she had trouble doing the vest up over them. This was not only uncomfortable but she felt it made her look bulkier and fatter than she wanted to. She was well aware that her waist was not as slim as she desired and she feared that in the buoyancy vest she would look even worse. With a huff of annoyance she wriggled to try to make the vest more comfortable, then resumed paddling.

  By then they were skimming close to the end of one of the many jungle-covered peninsulas and Andrew steered them to cut through a stand of dead trees which were sticking out of the lake. These were a relic of the drowning of the valley when the dam had been constructed way back in the 1950s and Tina studied the bare grey trunks with annoyance. Such environmental destruction would never be tolerated now and she was glad of that.

  The canoe suddenly rocked as it slid against a submerged log. Sarah cried out in fright and Tina held her paddle ready to keep the balance. She frowned and called over her shoulder, “Careful Andrew, you nearly had us over then.”

  Andrew laughed and replied, “She’ll be right. It was only a stump I didn’t see.”

  “Here’s another one coming up,” Tina warned, her anxious eyes detecting the darker shape in the black water.

  In truth she didn’t much like the lake. The water was quite cold and dark and the shores were black muddy soil surrounded by the gloomy wall of dark rainforest. The thought of having to swim in the black looking water did not appeal at all. She pointed to starboard and said, “Do we have to go through these dead trees. Can’t we detour around them?”

  “We could,” Andrew conceded. “But then the others would catch up more quickly.”

  Tina stopped her protest and between paddle strokes concentrated on watching for snags. Andrew steered the canoe to shave the tip of the point, then swung them to port around it, the canoe almost grounding as it did.

  “Look out!” Sarah suddenly cried.

  “What?” Tina called, her eyes searching ahead.

  Then Sarah cried out again and the canoe began slowing suddenly. Tina felt a surge of panic as she tried to back-paddle. Then she felt something drape over her and catch at her. ‘A net!’ she noted with astonishment. The thought of being tangled in a net and drowning sent a spasm of near panic through her.

  The canoe came to a standstill and then rode back a metre or so. Sarah struggled to extract her paddle from the net which was now tangled around it. Tina stopped moving and studied the net. At first she had thought it must be a fishing net but now she saw that it was not in the water but was strung up in the air between two dead trees. It was made of such thin, fine nylon that it was all but invisible. The net was so finely made that Sarah’s struggles had torn part of it.

  “It’s a Mist Net!” Tina cried in surprise.

  “A what?” Andrew asked as he put his paddle down and reached for his clasp knife.

  “A Mist Net, a net made of such fine threads that it looks like mist from a distance,” Tina replied. “People use them to catch insects and birds.”

  Now that she looked at it more carefully Tina noted that the net was all but invisible against the sky but showed up clearly against the black water. She grabbed at it and was able to lift it away from Sarah’s head. Sarah still had her paddle entangled and her efforts to free it tore more of the net. Tina noted that the net was strung up between two dead trees and must have been at least five metres high and ten wide.

  “I wonder who put it here?” Andrew said.

  Sarah heaved herself free of the net and then again tried to free her paddle. “University researchers perhaps?” she suggested.

  Tina studied the net and considered this, but another idea moved her to speak. “Bird poachers use them too,” she said.

  “Bird poachers?” Andrew asked. He hauled on part of the net and pulled the canoe up against one side of the net, then began to cut at it to free Sarah’s paddle. The thin mesh proved surprisingly strong when twisted in a bundle.

  “People who catch native birds and sell them on the black market,” Tina replied. “I was reading about them the other day.”

  “Why would anyone bother?” Andrew asked as he cut at the end of the net.

  “Australian native birds are worth a lot of money in places like England and America,” Tina replied.

  “Huh! Can’t imagine that,” Andrew replied. He had now freed Sarah’s paddle and proceeded to pull at the net so that it tore free from the top of the dead tree next to them.

  “They are,” Tina insisted. “It’s against the law to own or sell most Australian birds and they can’t be taken out of the country.”

  “Why not?” Andrew asked.

  “Because they are rare or endangered,” Tina replied.

  “Rare! There are millions of the buggers!” Andrew replied incredulously. He dug his paddle in and started the canoe moving, sliding it forward over the net, which now hung in the water.

  Tina resumed paddling as well. She was feeling troubled about the damaged net, which was now only attached at the bottom between the two trees. “Shouldn’t we try to fix the net?” she asked. “It might be part of a research project.”

  Andrew muttered a reply which was interrupted by Sarah calling out, “Lookout! There’s another net just ahead.”

  Tina saw this one and they back paddled and changed direction to avoid it. They slid past the left side of the second net so that they almost grounded on the shallows. As they did Sarah pointed over the side.

  “There’s a dead bird caught in this one.”

  Tina looked and saw the white feathers and shook her head with regret. She loved birds and hated to see them hurt. “Oh dear! It’s a white cockatoo,” she said.

  She was about to say more when a sharp, flat sound made them all look suddenly to their left.

  “That was a shot!” Andrew said.

  Sarah pointed to their left along the shore of the next bay on their port side. “There. Oh look! What’s going on?” she cried.

  Tina looked and tried to work out what it was she was seeing. The first thing she noticed was a power boat over against the beach. Then she heard a second shot and saw people. Her first thought had been that the people must be shooting at birds and that started her anger rising. Then she realized it was altogether more serious.

  Running along the beach towards them, perhaps 200 metres away, was a man dressed in a short sleeved khaki shirt and khaki shorts. He was being pursued by three other men in non-descript grey, dark green or black clothing. That the man in khaki was trying to escape was at once obvious. Tina opened her mouth to say this but her voice was choked off by a gasp of alarm as another shot was fired. The man in khaki stumbled and pitched forward on his face.

  Sarah cried in dismay and Tina gasped, then cried, “They shot him!”

  All the while the canoe had been gliding towards the men and they were now only about 100 metres away. Temporarily stunned by what she had just seen Tina could
only gape and wonder. She noted a boat trailer and the rear end of a brown 4 Wheel Drive vehicle protruding from the edge of the jungle near the motor boat. She also studied the three men.

  At that moment the three men became aware of them. Tina saw one of them grab at the sleeve of the second one and point towards them. Only then did it begin to dawn on Tina that they might not just be observers of the drama. A stab of fear caused her heart to begin to hammer.

  Andrew had obviously made the same deduction as he was already back paddling and now hissed, “They just shot that man and we are witnesses. Let’s get out of here!”

  “Oh surely they didn’t!” Sarah gasped.

  “They did!” Andrew snapped. “They just shot him and we saw them do it. Now start paddling, port side, fast!”

  Tina obeyed, digging her paddle in and hauling back with all her strength. Even now she was still bemused by the unreality and suddenness of the event. She saw the first of the three men reach the figure sprawled on the black sand and noted that he was carrying a gun of some sort. To her growing alarm she saw him glance at the body, then continue running towards them.

  The man, dressed in jeans and a dark green shirt, yelled as he ran, “Hey! You kids, we are the police! Come here!”

  That caused another stab of concern to Tina and she half turned to gasp at Andrew, “What should we do?”

  “Paddle like hell!” Andrew replied. By this time they were moving fast and were starting a wide, sweeping turn out away from the beach.

  “But he said they are the police,” Sarah cried, her voice trembling with anxiety.

  “I know he did,” Andrew replied, “But that doesn’t mean they are.”

  “But we could get into trouble!” Sarah wailed.

  “We already are!” Andrew replied grimly, paddling for all he was worth.

  “But if they are the police and we don’t go back won’t they arrest us or something?” Sarah cried.