Airship Over Atherton Read online

  He didn’t know. Desperately he cast about for a plan. He noted that their weight had pulled the airship down on its nose so that the bicycle hung against the netting. “If I can climb up I will be able to puncture the balloons,” he told himself.

  But could he reach them? In his heart he doubted it. To climb up over Marjorie he would only have her person, and her flimsy cotton dress to grip. ‘It will rip under my weight!’

  Gulping with fear Willy looked down. They were now at least 50 metres up and were still slowly rising. He also noted they had begun to drift down the field. Stick and Stephen looked incredibly tiny. They capered about, waving their arms helplessly and shouting encouragement.

  Marjorie squirmed. “I can’t hold on much longer,” she whimpered.

  “Try!” Willy pleaded. “I’m going to climb up over you to let gas out of the balloons. Hang on. Here I come.”

  He reached up and attempted to get a grip on Marjorie’s leg above the knee. With a desperate heave he was able to haul himself higher. He clawed at her clothing to get a firm hold.

  Rip! The dress tore. He let it go and started groping at her body, trying to decide what to hold on to.

  “Hurry!” she screamed. “I’m slipping. My fingers are starting to cramp!”

  ‘Dead!’ Willy thought. He swallowed and hunched his muscles involuntarily.

  Bang!

  Willy twitched in fright. What was that?

  Bang!

  Through eyes blurred by fear he looked around. A man stood below him on the field. It was Uncle Ted. He had?- yes, a gun.

  Bang!

  Willy clearly saw the puff of smoke from a gun barrel.

  They were coming down!

  “Hang on Marjorie. Hang on! We are coming down,” he cried. He looked up. Yes! Uncle Ted had shot holes in the balloons. He could even see one and could hear the gas hissing out.

  Bang! Willy saw a balloon twitch and a hole appeared in it.

  Thank God! They were saved!

  He looked down and saw that Stick and Stephen were getting rapidly larger. Then Stephen had his ankle. Next moment he was on the ground and Stick grabbed Marjorie. The balloons and netting began collapsing on top of them.

  Stick jumped up and pushed the balloons away. Willy had a glimpse of Stephen slipping Marjorie’s hair free of the snap-catch. Willy let go of Marjorie’s ankle and she curled up in the dust in a sobbing heap.

  Stick kept pushing the balloons aside. Stephen bent over and twitched the remains of Marjorie’s skirt over her. Willy lay back and closed his eyes. His fingers curled up and the muscles of his forearm went into cramp. He began to shake and tears trickled out.

  Uncle Ted spoke from beside him: “I wondered where you kids were- and what you might be up to.”

  Willy opened his eyes and looked up. His uncle stood there, gun under his arm and his grey eyes twinkling. He shook his head in disbelief as he looked at the subsiding mass of the airship.

  Trembling with reaction Willy sat up. “Thanks Uncle Ted,” he croaked.

  “What is this contraption then?” the farmer asked.

  “My... my airship,” Willy replied. He stood up and realized he was shaking like a leaf. He looked at the airship. It had now sagged into an untidy tangle of ropes and netting over the bicycle.

  “Hmmm!” Uncle Ted mused. He took out a pipe and began to fill it. “Leonardo would have been pleased; but I doubt if the Montgolfier brothers would have been impressed. I’m not.” His tone hardened. “It was a bloody silly thing to do. You could have killed young Marjorie here. You are damn lucky I was up and about early and had my gun handy.”

  “Yes Uncle Ted. I’m sorry,” Willy replied in a small voice. He wiped his tears and turned to look at Marjorie. She still sat on the ground and was sobbing. Dust from the ploughed field was streaked down her cheeks by her tears.

  Willy’s father ran into view around the corner of the big shed. “What on earth is going on? What was that shooting?” he called. Willy’s mother and Aunty Isabel followed.

  “Help Marjorie up you kids,” Uncle Ted ordered. Stephen and Stick took her arms and hoisted her to her feet. She was still trembling and sniffling. Uncle Ted quickly explained what he had seen to the other adults.

  “I heard Marjorie scream- thought it might be a snake so I grabbed the gun- just as well too. Then I saw this thing lift up above the machinery shed. I couldn’t believe my eyes! There was this enormous bag of balloons going up in the air with this pair dangling at the end of a rope underneath it. Willy was hanging onto Marjorie’s ankle and it obviously wasn’t a controlled ascent. So I blasted a few holes in the balloons and brought them down to earth.”

  As Uncle Ted described the event to his parents Willy relived those awful moments and shuddered. The two women took over with Marjorie, leaving the boys to stand crestfallen and uneasy.

  Willy’s father turned to him. “So that was what the two gas cylinders in the trailer were for? I thought they were only oxy gear for Ted. You could have told us you know! It sounds as though it might have worked, if you’d had a bit of advice and supervision.”

  “Yes Dad,” Willy murmured.

  “Where the devil did you get this hare-brained idea from?” Uncle Ted queried.

  Willy blushed with embarrassment. “From watching the ‘Mythbusters’ on TV. They did an experiment to see how many balloons it took to lift someone,” he mumbled.

  “Mythbusters!” his father cried in astonishment.

  Stephen now spoke up: “I think our ground-handling drill needs improving.”

  “That is an understatement!” snorted Uncle Ted. “I seem to remember reading once that it took hundreds of men; whole battalions of them, to get those big airships, the Zeppelins and what-not, safely out of their sheds.”

  “Quite right. I think a bit more research is needed William,” Dr Williams said. “And a bit more trust and honesty too.”

  “Yes Dad.” Willy blushed and hung his head. He had kept the whole project secret because he was sure his parents would veto it.

  Dr Williams looked at the tangle on the field and shook his head. “Now, let’s secure the wreck. After you have cleaned up and we have had breakfast we will salvage what we can. Then we will talk about this,” he ordered.

  Stick untangled the mooring rope and they dragged the wreck over to the side of the field. The mooring rope was clipped around a large tree and the group made its way back to the farmhouse.

  Two hours later they were back in the field. Marjorie, recovered and now dressed in a new blouse and jeans, came with them.

  As they untangled the ropes Willy asked: “Can we have another go please Dad? We’ve got some spare balloons.”

  “No you may not. We will pack the whole contraption up. Then you will show me your plans and tell us how this wonderful scheme originated. Then we might do some research. If I can be convinced an airship can be built and flown with reasonable safety we might, I stress might, set about doing it properly.”

  So all the balloons were deflated and the damaged ones sorted, the ropes untied and coiled, the net rolled up, the bicycle dismantled; and the whole lot neatly stowed back in the trailer. Then they returned to the farmhouse.

  Over morning tea on the wide east veranda Willy described how he had seen a photo of a pedal-powered blimp on the cover of the Aircraft Magazine. He produced the magazine from his suitcase and it was passed around. The TV ‘Mythbusters’ program was described. Then Willy took out the sketch pad with the plans.

  Uncle Ted shook his head and gave a wry grin as he studied these. “You’ve got a great future Willy- if you don’t kill yourself first,” he commented.

  Willy watched his father’s face as he studied the photo and plans. Seeing the change in expression caused his hopes to rise. ‘He’s interested,’ he thought. He asked: “Dad, can we please make a real one?”

  “I’ve told you what we will do- some proper research first,” his father replied. “Now you kids go off and play- something sensibl
e this time.”

  The four friends went off to sit on the back veranda to listen to music. Marjorie came and sat beside Willy. She sat so close her arm touched his. He tried to move away but she moved to keep the contact. She said: “I’m sorry Willy. It was a good airship. It really flew. It’s just that I was terrified.” She gingerly touched her scalp where some of the hair had been ripped out.

  “Thanks,” Willy replied. “It wasn’t your fault. You did try. I’m sorry I nearly got you killed.”

  Marjorie leaned against him and gripped his arm. “That’s alright,” she said, but she sounded a bit upset still. Willy felt a bit perturbed at her closeness and was very conscious that her left breast was pressing against his arm. It gave him uncomfortable thoughts and he started to get aroused, which was very embarrassing with Stick and Stephen present. He tried to think of some way to get her to let go which wouldn’t hurt her feelings but was unable to think of one.

  So Willy sat and endured the pleasurable torment for the next hour. ‘Blast Marjorie!’ he thought. He didn’t love her but he found his mind was starting to dwell on her more and more; and increasingly with sex as the uppermost thought. He had never had sex, indeed had little experience of girls, but he knew he wanted some.

  ‘But not with Marjorie. It is Barbara I love,’ he mused. He was dimly aware that if he showed Marjorie any attention she would be encouraged to redouble her efforts.

  After lunch the adults went off to visit an orchid nursery in Mareeba. Before they left Dr Williams said to them: “You kids stay out of trouble. We will only be a couple of hours.”

  As the adults drove away Stephen said: “What will we do? I’m bored.”

  “Let’s have a swim,” Stick suggested. It was a hot afternoon so this idea was accepted.

  “I didn’t bring any bathers,” Willy said.

  “Nor did I,” Stephen added.

  “Just swim in the nuddy,” Stick said. “Marj won’t mind.”

  “I might,” Marjorie replied with a sniff.

  Stick jeered. “You never have in the past,” he replied disdainfully.

  This sent Willy’s mind into a tailspin of conjecture and he eyed Marjorie speculatively. So, he noticed, did Stephen. That nettled him a bit.

  Marjorie solved the problem by saying, “Swim in your shorts. They will soon dry in this weather.”

  So they prepared, to the extent that Marjorie went and put on her bathers and collected towels. Then they trooped off down to the creek. It was only a small creek but it flowed clear all year and there was one nice pool which was neck deep. A rope hung from an overhanging branch as a swing.

  When they arrived the boys took off their shirts. Marjorie undressed down to a skimpy white bikini with red polka dots on it. The top straps of this were tied behind her neck. From the way she wobbled and appeared to be in imminent danger of spilling out at any moment Willy suspected she had deliberately tied it too loose.

  That thought made him scowl. He was feeling quite ambivalent about Marjorie and she, so it seemed from her flirting with Stephen, about him. She spoke to Stephen more and giggled a lot as he splashed her with water and dunked her. Willy waded in, finding the water colder than he had expected. He watched Stephen grab Marjorie again, and wondered if the annoyance he felt was a residue from his guilt over the morning’s debacle; or jealousy.

  Willy looked at Marjorie as she scrambled dripping up the creek bank. ‘Her bum is a bit too big; and her thighs look a bit too pudgy for my taste,’ he thought. And her legs had that puffy whiteness with a few freckles that repelled him. He had noticed that this morning when he was dangling from her ankle.

  She grabbed the swing and splashed into the water, then scrambled out again, bouncing around and flaunting herself in a very revealing way. The sight made Willy’s mouth go dry with desire and he licked his lips and felt as though he was afflicted by an itch.

  Stick scrambled out of the water to grab the rope for another swing. Stephen then climbed out and also swung out to drop into the pool. Once he was in the water again he grabbed Marjorie and dunked her in such a way that he must have been able to feel her roundness. That made Willy aware that he wanted to grab her too. By this time he was quite aroused- and fairly angry. What was Marjorie trying to do? Was she just a hot little tart? Was she teasing just for fun? What was her game? In his frustration and annoyance Willy tried to ignore her.

  With a conscious effort Willy turned his thoughts back to airships. He began to brood over what had gone wrong. ‘Dad is right. We need a better design. And a safer method of ground handling.’

  Then his attention was directed back to the others by Marjorie’s shrill scream. Stephen had tried to swing out on the rope but Stick had grabbed his leg and he came off to land with the painful splat of a belly flop. He surfaced looking angry and blinking water from his eyes. “Bugger you Stick, that hurt!” he shouted.

  Stick realized he had had made a mistake and had the sense to apologize but for a few seconds there was tension in the air. Marjorie looked from one to the other and said, “Oh don’t fight you boys. Come on, let’s play tiggy. I will be in.”

  That at least eased the situation and for the next few minutes there was a lot of mad scrambling and splashing. The rule was established that they could not leave the water. Marjorie made a big effort to catch Willy but he managed to evade her and she finally caught Stick. He then leapt across the pool and tagged Stephen.

  Stephen at once turned to chase Marjorie, quickly cornering her in the shallows near the swing. Marjorie giggled and scrambled out of the water and grabbed the swing. Stephen tried to grab her. She swung out and landed with a splash. Stephen dived in and chased her. Willy felt anger flare; and jealousy- and desire.

  Marjorie scrambled across the pool and grabbed Willy. “Save me Willy! Save me!” she called; half incoherent with laughter. She climbed around behind Willy and clung to him. He felt her smooth flesh apparently all over him and he was simultaneously angry and thrilled. He was intensely conscious of her breasts pressed against his shoulder.

  Stephen splashed across and stood in the shallow water in front of them. Marjorie yelled, “Leave me alone Stephen! That’s enough.”

  That prompted Willy to place himself between Marjorie and Stephen. Stephen tried to push him aside and for a few seconds the boys pushed and shoved at each other. As they did Stephen growled, “Get out of the way!” This was in such a hostile tone that Willy felt it was a direct challenge. He stared at Stephen, aware that the whole incident was getting out of hand. Stephen was plainly in the grip of lust. But so was Willy. He was angry- but also very aroused, and very jealous.

  Stick saved them. He came rushing across the creek. “Take it easy you two. Let’s play something else.” He grabbed at Stephen’s arm.

  Stephen glared at him, then ran off and dived under the water. Stick chased him and a wrestle resulted. Willy and Marjorie watched. Willy became aware that he was gripping Marjorie around the waist, and that she still clung to him.

  “Sorry,” he croaked.

  “That’s alright,” Marjorie replied. Their eyes met. Both were breathing rapidly. She was very close and Willy tried to read her eyes. ‘I wonder if she will object if I kiss her?’ he thought. The urge to touch her, to hold her, was now very strong. Reasoning that the worst that would happen would be a slap and hurt pride Willy put his theory to the test. Summoning up his courage he firmly pulled her closer and kissed her full on the lips.

  To his delight she did not resist or pull back. Instead she put her arms around his neck and kissed him in return. Willy had only had a few kisses from girls and never anything like this. He felt desire surge. Lust pounded in his ears.

  Cold water showered over them. “Stop that you two!” Stick cried laughingly. “Help me cool them down Steve.”

  Stick and Stephen grabbed them and dragged them into the water, pushing them under. Willy let go of Marjorie in the struggle, but angrily noted that Stephen had hold of her. He struggled to his feet an
d went to her aid. He pushed Stephen over. Then Stick pushed him and Marjorie over. They went down in a tangle of arms and legs.

  Willy struggled to the surface and began splashing water at Stick and Stephen. Marjorie came up spluttering and joined in. Water flew and Stick and Stephen were temporarily driven back. Then they counter attacked. After a few minutes the game subsided from temporary exhaustion. Willy swam over to sit on some rocks in shallow water. Marjorie came over and sat next to him, so that her leg touched his. She rested her arm on his thigh and pressed against him.

  Stephen swam over and began talking to them. To Willy’s relief he seemed to have calmed down and was not antagonistic. But Willy was sure that Stephen was trying to impress Marjorie and that he was jealous of the fact that Marjorie was sitting cuddled up against him. She was gripping Willy’s left arm so that her right breast pressed against it. Out of the corner of his eye he could see it bulging up. It all made him very embarrassed- and confused. But he had to admit he liked the experience. His heart was hammering away and all the water notwithstanding, his mouth was dry.

  ‘I don’t like Marjorie,’ he told himself. ‘I am in love with Barbara!’ Barbara was his own age and he thought she was female perfection. That Barbara was only dimly aware of his existence was a fact he preferred to ignore. His plan was to ask her for a date; on the theory that, once she got to know him, she would fall in love with him. So he didn’t want Marjorie- a mere Year 8 (although it was hard to keep that in mind with those big boobs of hers bulging up before his eyes), spoiling his chances.

  As they sat talking Stephen kept trying to impress Marjorie with jokes and smart remarks. Willy was irritated and jealous. Marjorie made no comment but gave Willy a hug and put her other arm around his shoulders.

  Finally Stick stood up. “Come on. I’m getting cold. Let’s go back to the farm.”

  “I don’t want to,” Marjorie answered.

  Stick snorted. “Give it a break Sis! Poor Willy needs a rest. Let him go for a while. Come on Steve.”

  Marjorie stood up and turned to face Willy, bending over so that all he could see was cleavage. She kissed him and took his hands and pulled him to his feet, then pressed herself against him.