Drowning in Her Eyes (8 page)

“You mean Ruth
,
”
s
aid Marci,
“and if you think I would abandon you, you haven
't learnt much in the last eighteen years.
” He gazed into those brown eyes again. His heart swelled with love. He felt very humble in her presence, and, for the umpteenth time, thanked God for bringing her into his life.

“Ok
ay
,
” he said,
“this is what I want to do. Firstly, I would like to show you and the kids a little more of our great country. I am sure that the experience will be better than any school education, at least in the short term. Then I would like to take them on a voyage to a foreign country, again for the experience. Perhaps we could even live abroad for a short time. Secondly, I want to keep my condition from the children. I don
't want to spoil this experience by having them all weepy and sad.
”

“I think Susan knows,
” replied Marci,
“She has said nothing but she sometimes looks at you in a wistful way. I think she senses that the younger two do not need this bu
r
den right now. I will do whatever you want, my love, to see you enjoy your last years. There will be plenty of time to mourn when you are gone.
”

The family conferences that followed were long and convoluted. Finally, the prospect of a year away from school was too tempting for Sarah and James Junior. Susan had graduated from Las Lunas High and was planning for co
l
lege. She thought it would be good to have a year off study, especially if travel was involved. They decided they would like to see the Mountain States, the Grand Canyon, Yello
w
stone Park, California and the Pacific coast. Jimmy wanted to return to his roots in Montana to see the country of his youth, and pay his last respects to his long dead parents. Moreover, he had a private trip planned to Washington, to visit Arlington and some of his shipmates who had already departed this world. Marci was pleased with the progress they had made. She had come to like the idea of getting the kids out of school for a while, especially Sarah, whose a
t
tachments to her beaus were beginning to look dangerous to her.

Jimmy had to tell Bob Phillips what had happened and what he was proposing to do. Bob and the Directors were genuinely sympathetic, and offered him as much help as he needed. They gave him a generous severance payment.
Ji
m
my had not been to his office since that fateful day at the hospital. Now he returned one last time to tidy up his affairs. Margaret greeted him, tears in her eyes. He told her of his plans, but admitted he was unsure of the overseas destin
a
tion.

The Master Sergeant did not hesitate.
“Australia,
” she said with some authority.
“I was there during the war. It is a lovely place with a relaxed attitude to life. I saw some of their soldiers in New Guinea. They were the bravest men I ever saw, tough and self-
reliant. They didn
't like U
.
S
.
offi
c
ers much, though.
”
Jimmy was sympathetic; he and the other seamen hadn
't liked officers m
uch either.

A week or so later, he was invited by a friend to attend a Rotary
Club dinner
and was surprised to find two visiting Australian Rotarians there. They proved to be friendly and garrulous and Jimmy took a liking to them immediately. He asked abo
ut where to go in Australia.

“Brisbane, mate
;
fair dinkum, it
's the best city in the world. Best beer, too.
”

“Bloody oath, mate,
” said his compatriot
.
You can
't go wrong with Brissie.
”

Therefore,
the Baker family
—
after a long last look at their country
—
entrained for San Diego to begin the adve
n
ture of their lives.

* *
*
*

There was activity on the wharf below. Captain Er
n
shaw looked down and saw a taxi come to a halt near the gangway. The cabbie began to haul a seemingly endless a
r
ray of lugg
age on
to the dock. He called to his Second O
f
ficer,
“Peter, take a couple of our chaps down and help our guests embark. Smack it about now.
”

The Second Officer departed at the double
,
and soon the passengers and their luggage were aboard. Ernshaw noticed the last to board was the father of the family. He paused at the head of the gangway and snapped a smart salute to the quarterdeck and the Red Ensign on the taffrail
.

Hmm
, thought the Captain,
an old seafarer for comp
a
ny. Should be jolly interesting
.

In the passenger accommodation, the Bakers sorted themselves into their allocated cabins. With eight cabins, there was room for all, and more to spare. Jimmy and Marci took the larger stateroom, while the three others each occ
u
pied a single berth. James Junior could not believe he had a separate bathroom. How wonderful it would be
—
no more trawling through the endless female clutter of powders, p
o
tions, lipsticks, hair dryers, curlers and other things
,
the pu
r
pose of which he could only imagine. A knock on the cabin door interrupted Jimmy and Marci. Jimmy opened it to a smart looking seaman.

“
Beggin
' yer pardon, sir. Skipper says oop to smokin
' room for drinks afore dinner.
” Jimmy thanked him. On his last ship, it was Jimmy running such errands.
How about that?

The Captain was courtesy personified
. He greeted his passengers
and soon they were settled into comfortable chairs. Ernshaw looked at Jimmy.
“You were a sailor?
”

“Yes sir
,
”
s
aid Jimmy,
“I spent most of the war on co
n
voy escort duty in the Atlantic.
”

“By Jove,
” said Ernshaw,
“so did I. We must get toget
h
er and talk over old times. Now we must not bore the others with old war stories. Let me tell you about our voyage. We
'll be stopping over in Hawaii, Fiji, and Auckland before we f
i
nally dock in Brisbane. It will take about eight weeks, so r
e
lax, and enjoy the cruise. You will have about three days shore time in each port while we load and provision. I b
e
lieve you have been ill, Mr. Baker. I hope the salt air will r
e
turn you to good health. Well, duty calls. Anything you need, just ask one of the crew. Our Second Officer, Peter Lewis, will be directly responsible for your comfort. Make sure he complies, yes?
”

The Bakers went in for t
heir first meal of the voyage.
“
Dad,
”
said
James Junior, looking at the silver service,
“were th
e meals like this in the Navy?
”

Jimmy smiled at his family.
“Only for the Admirals,
” he said.

Meanwhile, a small item buried in the newspapers r
e
ported the deaths of three U.S. military advisors in a small country in Indochina. Most people did not see it. Those who did thought not
h
ing of it.

Goondiwindi, Queensland, Australia
—1963

Helen Riordan had been worrying about her children to no avail. With the departure of Amy O
'Neil, Helen had breathed a sigh of relief. Her contacts in the bank had i
n
formed her that Amy and her family were gone for good. She had been convinced that Jack had been doing more than kissing Amy, but as the weeks went by, her worries faded away.

She had discovered that Denni was determined to go to Queensland University in Brisbane to study science, and had convinced Paddy of the value of this move.
“She
'll have to live in one of the Colleges,
” he said,
“I
'll not have her sha
r
ing a house or flat with a pack of deadbeats.
”

Paddy had taken umbrage at what he
called
dirty u
n
shaven lefties
who adorned the front pages of the papers r
e
cently.
“How come they can spend all day doing that sort of thing? Shouldn
't they be studying?
” The student unrest that had first emerged in Europe and then America was begi
n
ning to stir in Australia. He didn
't want his daughter mixing with pot smoking hippies, as the papers described them.

They made no decision about Jack. Paddy wanted him home as soon as possible, and while he was ready to talk about further education, he was adamant that his son was not going to the army.
“Not even as a General,
” he would say. One of his drinking mates, a veteran of World War
Two
and Korea
,
joked with him that Jack was too smart to be a Ge
n
eral. Paddy
's normal good humour deserted him.
“Oh, shut your bloody trap, Alf. I don
't want to talk about any army, not even the bloody Salvation Army!
” This was not an is
o
lated incident. Helen had noticed Paddy was more often than not in a bad mood. She put it down to the pressure of the children
's future and the lack of recent rain. Then he began to complain of indigestion, refusing to eat Helen
's famous lamb curry, a special favourite of his. Finally, Helen co
n
fronted him over his health.
“Paddy, I
've made an appoin
t
ment with Dr
.
Thomas for you on Tuesday to sort out this indigestion thing. I think it
's time to do so,
” she said.

“
Don
't be bloody silly, woman,
” he said.
“There
's not
h
ing wrong with me that a couple of inches of bloody rain won
't fix. Anyway, I think I
'm busy on Tuesday.
”