Free Coasts of Cape York by Christopher Cummings Page A

World War Two.”
    â€œOh yeah? Can I read it?” Willy asked, mildly interested. He noted that the title of the magazine was Classic Wings. Then he saw Graham looking around in a distracted way. “What’s the matter Graham, are you still wondering how we caught all you army cadets on that field exercise a few weeks ago?” he teased.
    Graham scowled. It was obviously a sore point with the army cadets. They had been challenged by the air cadets to try to sneak up on a number of targets guarded by the air cadets and most had been detected and captured. Willy had played a prominent part in the Air Cadet’s victory by setting up various electronic detection devices and by using one of his radio controlled model aircraft as a reconnaissance UAV. Suddenly Graham stood up and pushed his way past Andrew and walked off.
    Willy stared after him. “Sorry Graham, I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings,” he called.
    Graham appeared not to hear him and kept on walking. Willy looked around the group to check if any of the other army cadets was upset. None appeared to be. “What’s biting Graham?” he asked.
    Stephen answered, “Just the latest true love in his life.”
    â€œOh yeah? Who is she?” Willy asked.
    â€œCarol Battersby. She’s in Pete’s class,” Stephen answered.
    â€œThe skinny one with freckles and a haircut like a coconut?” Stick queried.
    â€œThat’s her,” Stephen replied. “He must need his eyes tested.”
    Barbara shook her head and said, “She is a very nice person; nicer than some people I know.”
    Stephen laughed but he blushed too. “They say beauty is only skin deep, but ugly goes right to the bone.”
    â€œDon’t be horrible Stephen!” Marjorie cried. “She is a very kind girl.”
    The bell for morning classes rang at that moment so Willy stood up and shook himself free of Marjorie. She pouted and hinted she wanted to see lots of him at lunch time. That caused a ripple of laughter and good natured teasing from those who heard. To Willy’s embarrassment Barbara looked from him to Marjorie and back again in a way that made his hopes fade.
    To counter balance that Willy made a point of walking to class with Barbara and Roger. As they did Willy glanced towards Marjorie and saw that she had an anxious look on her face. ‘She’s worried I still like Barbara,’ he decided. That gave him a twinge of guilt because he and Marjorie were now so intimate.
    Class was nothing special. Willy found school work both easy and fairly boring. The only teacher to ask about the rescue was Mr Conkey, his Geography and History teacher. Mr Conkey was also the captain commanding the school’s army cadet unit and that gave him extra status in Willy’s eyes. The fact that Barbara had joined the army cadets a few months earlier was a small regret for Willy. ‘She should have joined the air cadets,’ he thought. But he was glad she had joined something as it seemed to have steadied her down and helped her get her life back on the rails. Earlier in the year she had been developing a real reputation for bad behaviour and for going out with boys.
    At morning break Willy sat with Noddy, Stick and Marjorie. It was an entirely routine ‘little lunch’ and that had a very depressing effect on Willy. ‘A man has died, and his murderers are still on the loose and nobody here cares,’ he mused. It was a very sobering lesson in the ‘life goes on’ aspect of life and of how focused on themselves most people were.
    The middle session classes were just as routine and boring: Chemistry and Maths B. Willy just sat and did the work mechanically, then daydreamed. He tried to make the daydreams positive: always him as the hero and nearly always involving aircraft and flying and the rescue of a beautiful maiden- usually Barbara. Being able to see her from diagonally behind did not