Drowning in Her Eyes (26 page)

She cried for most of the way to Honolulu.

Goondiwindi, Queensland, Australia
—1964

Dear Mrs. Riordan

I am sorry to have to send this letter, but I must set things straight. I will never agree to Susan marrying Jack. After due consideration, I feel that she would be foolish to marry an Australian. She would be too far away from her family. Susan will be returning to the United States very soon. She has accepted this, and has promised me that she will abide by my wishes. She does not want to see Jack again.

Marci Baker

Helen looked up from the letter in her hand, tears blurring her vision. How could this be? She loved Susan as a mother loves a daughter. Jack and Susan were so happy! She must hear this from Susan
's own mouth. She hurried to the telephone. The Baker
's telephone did not answer. Lil
's telephone did not answer. What could she do? Jack would be home soon. He would sort this stupid situation out.

Meanwhile, on the tenth day of November, Australia announced that the 1
^st
Battalion, the Royal Australian Regiment
,
would be sent to combat duty in the Republic of South Vietnam. This decision and subsequent ones would cost billions of dollars and more than
five hundred
young Australian lives.

Wallgrove Camp, New South Wales, Australia
—1964

Jack was worried. He had tried to phone Susan a dozen times from the pay phone in the mess hall. All he could get was the
‘number disconnected
' signal. He begged the orderly room clerk for permission to use the company phone. He got the same result. He phoned Bernadette, but Aunt Lil and her family had gone to Sydney for an extended holiday and no one answered. He phoned his mother, but storms had brought trees down on the phone line and he could not get through. He had written several letters to Susan. There were no replies.

The recruit course went on. Every morning, they paraded, and then men and their huts
were
subjected to thorough inspection. Petty offences became capital crimes. Every afternoon, men marched off to Defaulters
' Parade. In the second week, the firearms lessons and the shooting ranges were of much more interest to Jack. They fired their rifles in a full range shoot at man-
sized targets. Mostly, they missed. In order to be accurate
,
its owner must zero a rifle and none of these rifles was, since they were not on permanent issue as a personal weapon. Jack was disappointed at his result. The range officer said,
“Private Riordan, have you even hit the bloody thing?
” There was a mess of torn target in the bottom right. The range officer threw it away in disgust. Jack said,
“Hold on a minute sir, let me have a look.
”

There in the corner were six holes, so close together it looked as if it was a single large hole punched through the target. Jack took it to the range officer.
“Look, sir, I hit it with every shot, the rifle is off. It
's shooting low and to the right.
” The officer looked at the target then at Jack and repeated his father
's words of long ago.
“Bugger me, how did you do that?
” he said.
“You
've shot a perfect group!
”

Training continued. They learned how to break down and reassemble a GPMG M60. When they could do it in the regulation time, they wore blindfolds and learned to do it in the dark. They did the same with their rifles. They were introduced to the Browning 9mm pistol, and the Owen Machine Carbine. They learned the different grenades, M26, Smoke, and White Phosphorus, a fearful weapon, nicknamed
‘Willie Pete
' an
d they learned how to use them. A
ll the time, the drilling and marching went on. They went everywhere at the double, they force-
marched twenty miles, and then did a cross-
country night march to test their map reading and navigation. They learn
ed
about the use of field radios and voice procedure.
They learned basic first-
aid.

Every afternoon, the defaulters marched off at the double. However, there were fewer of them every day now. When the change started it was barely noticeable, but within a day or two, the members of C Company, 2
^nd
Recruit Battalion, had become soldiers. They presented immaculately, their drill was perfect, and they passed their weapons assessments and were fiercely proud of their status as Australian soldiers, entitled to wear the distinctive slouch hat.

Before leaving Wallgrove, Jack received a summons from the orderly room. Major McIntosh wanted to see him. He entered the orderly room and saluted the officer of the day;
“wait,
” said the officer. Soon the company c
lerk told him to go to the m
ajor
's office. Jack entered and saluted.

“At ease
p
rivate,
” said the
m
ajor.
“I have been reading the individual efficiency reports from your course. Your instructors report that you performed more than creditably. I have promoted you to
c
orporal, effective immediately. You will attend the senior NCOs course in May next year and report back here for the next recruits
' course in December, where you will be the senior firearms instructor. Well done!
”

Bugger me
, thought Jack.
Corporal Brennan was not such a bad bloke after all!
He left the orderly room filled with pride. His main concern now was to get back to Armidale to find Susan. Where in hell was she? They had never been out of touch for so long. He hurried to his hut to pack up. However, he still had to complete the Q-
store Parade. One of the great mysteries of army life was the Quartermaster
's Store. Hell, they even had a ribald marching song about it. When returning items
to
the store, all of them had to be folded correctly, packed in the approved manner, complete in every respect, and clean. However, when items were drawn
from
the store they were usually unfolded, half-
packed, incomplete, and dirty. Consequently, returning took longer than drawing. Jack waited impatiently for his turn. The soldier in front of him in the line had lost an entrenching tool and was completing what seemed at least a dozen forms. Finally, he got his turn, and in addition, drew an issue of the insignia of his new rank, and then he almost ran to the transport pool, just catching a lift to the railway station. He wished he had been able to bring his ute to the camp. Now, he faced a long convoluted train ride to Armidale.

Armidale, New South Wales, Australia
—1964

The journey ho
me was interminable. Jack could
n
'
t sleep. At
eight in the morning
, he arrived in Armidale, found his ute in the station car park, and hurried to Susan
's house. There was no VW in the driveway, no lights showing. He hammered on the door. There was no answer. He went around to the back of the house and got the same result. He pounded on the door
,
calling her name repeatedly. The next-
door neighbour leaned over the fence, watching curiously.
“Hey, Digger,
” he called.
“Them Yanks is gone, mate. Left a coupla weeks ago.
”

“Where did they go? Did they say anything?
”

“Dunno, mate, they never said nothin
' to me.
”

Reluctantly, he returned to his car. Then he noticed for the first time a sign that said,
‘For Lease. Contact Highlands Real Estate
'. Highl
ands Real Estate had an office on
Main Street. It was closed. Jack went to a caf
é for coffee and breakfast. He crossed the street again. The office was still closed, but there were lights on and he could see a woman inside. He knocked loudly. She ignored him. He pounded on the door. With a look of annoyance, the woman came and opened the door. She was middle
-
a
ged, heavily made up, and looked as if she regarded customers as annoying pests, ever ready to spoil her day.
“We
're closed,
” she snapped
.
“
W
hat do you want?
”

Jack pushed his way past her into the office, despite her protests.
“Where have the Bakers gone, tell me!
”

“If you continue on in that vein, I
'll get the police to throw you out. I can
't tell you confidential things about our clients anyway.
”

Jack took a deep breath.
“Look, I
'm sorry
…
” He looked at her name badge.
“Mrs. Franz, I
'm in a bind. My fianc
é lived in that house. I must know where she is, I must.
”

He was such a good-
looking boy, she thought, and he looked all-
in with worry, close to tears.
“I don
't know,
” she said, feeling sorry for him.
“They left the house a couple of weeks ago. Mrs. Baker said there was no need to leave a forwarding address.
”

Jack stumbled from the office in a daze. What had happened? Where were they? Who would know?
” Bernadette...She would know. He sped off for Aunt Lil
's house. There was nobody home. He drove out to the university. In the registrar
's office, he asked about Susan
's enrolment for next year. They told him they could not disclose students
' confidential information. It was a dead end. What else could he do? He racked his brains, who...who...who would know? Then he remembered Professor McKenzie. He hurried to the zoology department and asked reception if he could see him.

“Professor McKenzie is in a meeting. If you come back after lunch, say
around two this afternoon
, he may be able to see you.
”
Two
seemed like days away. When he returned, the receptionist offered him
an appointment in thirty minutes. T
he young woman on duty looked at him. She saw a handsome young soldier. He looked strained, exhausted, at
a
breaking point. Her heart moved.
“Can I get you a cup of coffee while you wait?
” she said.

He looked pathetically grateful.
“Thank you; that would be nice.
”

* *
*
*

Professor McKenzie remembered him at once, and greeted him with congratulations.
“Well done, young Riordan, you scored well in zoology.
” Jack vaguely remembered his examinations. They seemed part of another, distant, life. He mumbled a reply.

“Now,
” Mackenzie said,
“What can I do for you?
”

“I can
't find the Bakers. Do you know where they are?
”

A furtive look came into McKenzie
's eyes.
“I
'm afraid I really can
't say.
”