Free Coasts of Cape York by Christopher Cummings Page B

help. From that position he could admired the curve of her hip and thigh and the soft swelling of her right breast straining at the material of her shirt.
    â€˜She is lovely!’ he sighed. ‘I wonder?’
    At lunch time Willy met up with Marjorie in the library. They sat in a corner away from the prying eyes of teachers and others and held hands (Strictly against the school rules!). That got Willy all aroused and hopeful but Marjorie ruined his hopes by reminding him that she had a part-time job babysitting after school.
    When the pair emerged from behind the bookshelves after a solid ‘pash’ they found Stephen sitting on his own reading. He looked up and said, “Hi Willy. Hi Marjorie. Come up for air have you?”
    Marjorie giggled. Willy could only go red and snort, uncomfortably aware that he was very aroused. Hoping it wasn’t noticeable he said, “What are you reading Steve?”
    â€œMy aircraft magazine,” Stephen replied. “You will find it very interesting Willy. It has a photo of a restored ‘Catalina’ in it.”
    Willy was interested. At his request Stephen flicked over the pages and showed him the photo. He saw that it was a different ‘Catalina’, and earlier version which had no blisters on the rear of the fuselage. This one was painted red and yellow and had been used for aerial fire fighting in Spain and was now being restored.
    As he read the short article Willy’s eyes also noted the next article. This showed a wrecked single-engine aircraft half covered in sand. Out of curiosity he quickly scanned the short article. It was an account of how a squadron of American ‘Airacobra’ fighters had come to grief on a ferry flight during World War 2.
    â€œI’ve heard about this,” he said. His eyes then took in some of the details: eleven ‘Airacobras’ left Townsville on 26 th April 1942 to fly to New Guinea. They refuelled at Cairns and Cooktown but then got lost and put down all along the east coast of Cape York Peninsula. The article stirred dim memories of stories he had heard.
    Pointing to the photo he said, “This wreck is still there then?”
    Stephen nodded. “Apparently. I think there are half a dozen others too.”
    â€œYou’d think someone would have recovered them,” Willy commented, bending down to study the photo in more detail.
    â€œNot worth the effort maybe?” Stephen suggested. Then he added, “I did read somewhere that they recovered the machine guns and radios and so on at the time.”
    â€œPity, I could do with a machine gun or two,” Willy joked.
    â€œIt’s not a very clear photo,” Stephen said. “There was something odd about ‘Airacobras’ wasn’t there?”
    Willy nodded. If there was one subject he knew about it was types of aircraft. “Yes. They had the engine behind the pilot and a long drive shaft went forward to the propeller in the nose.”
    â€œAh! Yeah. Now I’ve seen one of these. Where would it have been?” Stephen commented.
    â€œBeck’s Air Museum in Mareeba,” Willy replied.
    â€œThat’s right!” Stephen said. “It is a funny looking plane with a pointy nose. The one he has is restored but not flyable, right?”
    â€œI think so,” Willy answered.
    â€œIt belonged to some famous ace who shot down half a dozen Japanese planes didn’t it?”
    Willy shrugged. “Not sure. I think so. He could visualize the tiny Japanese flags painted on the fuselage but wasn’t sure how many.
    Stephen looked thoughtful. “Hmm. We are going up to Mareeba this weekend. I wonder if I can persuade Mum and Dad to visit Beck’s?” he said.
    â€œHaven’t you army cadets got your end-of-year Passing-out Parade on this weekend?” Willy asked. Then he grinned as he remembered the previous year’s parade.
    â€œYes we have, on Saturday afternoon,”