Desert Air - 8. DA Ch 8 - Family Relocate

“Tango Juliet 1959 to MB Police mobile one, over,” I called over the UHF radio, “MB Mobile 1 to TJ 1959, receiving you, Mr Parkinson is with me on the ATV as his vehicle got a little waterlogged on the second creek crossing, over,” the sergeant replied.

“Roger that, I have seen his vehicle, what is your location, over,” I responded, “We have crossed the bigger creek and are at the Hillside road crossing, over,” the sergeant replied, “Jexon, this is Hedley speaking, this guy is good, he has brushed away all tyre marks at the junction, can you let us know which way he is heading please, over”, “Righto Mr P, I will be there momentarily, over,” I replied.

Changing channels, I made another call, “Kendrik Air to Hillside Station, over,” I called, “This is Mary speaking, is that you Jex, over,” came a quick response, “Yes, I want you to round up all of your siblings that are home and our mum, get in a vehicle and head south, stay on the east side of the creek, over,” I said urgently.

“Why Jex, over” Mary asked, “Just do this now please Mary, it is urgent that you all get away from the homestead right now, grab some clothes for everyone and a bit of food, I estimate that you have about 30 minutes before he comes, do you need to be out within twenty minutes at the very most, over” I said.

“This is Amanda Kendrik speaking, why is my daughter crying, over,” My mum said over the radio, “Ah good, Mum, this is Jex, get all the family, some food, clothing, maybe everyone’s swags and get in a vehicle and head south, stay on the east side of the creek what ever you do, don’t try crossing any creeks, there is a man being chased by the police, he fled Corunna Downs and he has turned onto the Hillside access road, over”.

“Copy that Jexon, how long do we have to get ready, over” Mum asked, “Twenty minutes tops, please go now, over,” I replied, “Ok, we are getting ready now, over and out,” Mum said. I knew that it takes at least an hour to get from that creek crossing to the homestead, so it would give mum and the siblings fifteen minutes heads start, as I changed the channel again.

“… Come in damn you Kendrik, why are you not answering, over,” came the voice of Sergeant Brooks, “I am here, I was talking to Hillside Station on their station channel, I have told them to grab some stuff and flee south, as it looks like he is heading for Hillside Station, over,” I responded.

“Hmm, good idea but let me know before you change channels. So how far behind are we, over” Sergeant Brooks asked. “I would say you are about thirty minutes behind him, he is crossing over Shaw River just before the airfield, over” I replied, as I grabbed the sat phone and pressed the fast dial number.

“Hello Jex, what’s the problem,” Dad said when he answered the call, “We have a maniac on the loose, heading south on the Hillside road, I’ve already called mum and told them to get out of the homestead and head south, but not to cross over any creeks, which will give them some distance, what is your location?” I replied.

“Sounds like you are in your plane, where are you at the moment?’ Dad responded, “I am tracking him by air. He is at the Shaw River Airfield still heading south for the homestead,” I replied, “ok, call Mum back, tell them to take the Bonny Downs road south, to the outstation, it is a better road, and better crossings, so it will be safer than the station tracks, we will head towards that road ourselves from where we are and meet them there, fly carefully son, and thanks,” Dad said before ending the call.

“I called mum back, catching them just before they were leaving, and I relayed the instructions from Dad, and I told them to take the two hand-held radios from the office, and change the radio in the kitchen to channel 1 then turn it off.

“MB Mobile one to TJ 1959, over,” came the call over the radio, “Receiving you sergeant, the target vehicle is still heading south on Hillside road, and I have been in contact with Hillside one, and he is heading over to the station track that his wife and the kids are heading on, over,” I said, now realising that giving information over the radio was not exactly safe, as the man we are chasing may be listening.

On the VHF radio, “MB Mobile this is Tango Juliet, over,” I called, “Receiving you Kendrik, why the change of radio’s over,” was Sergeant Brooks response, “Because he may be listening into our conversation. Mum is travelling another direction that I will keep to myself for now, and my Dad is on his way to meet her, so from now on, I will use the UHF to keep you posted on his movement, over” I said, “Message received, over,” Sergeant Brooks said, sounding not too happy.

“Sergeant, he is still heading south for Hillside station, I hope that no one is home there,” I said on the UHF radio, “I will get onto them to see if anyone is home and if so to lockup and hide, over,” Sergeant Brooks replied, “Roger that, I have to return to base to refuel, over,” I added.

“Roger that, thankyou for your assistance, over and out,” the Sergeant said, and I turned east and went down low for a while before heading for home, hoping that the sound of the plane won’t carry to the man we were chasing.

After landing, I taxied straight to the shed, where the avgas is stored, parking as close as possible to the shed, and I shut down the engines, before jumping out and grabbing the drum trolley, and wheeling it to the plane, and I started to pump some fuel in.

I had only used about a third of fuel, but I wanted to top it up as I wasn’t sure when I would get to refuel again, and once I was done, I raced to the homestead to make sure that the family had left, which they had, and dashing into the cottage, I found my swag and going into my room in the homestead, I grabbed a bag and stuffed some clothes in it, then to the pantry in the kitchen, where I grabbed six 1 litre bottles of water, some apples, bananas and two loaves of bread, which I stuffed into my bag and raced back outside again.

Once everything was loaded up, I pushed the plane back away from the shed, which took some doing, before I jumped in and started the plane up and taxied to the runway and took off, heading south-west for five minutes then turning south-east at low altitude, looking over my shoulder, as I left the ground, I could see dust from a fast moving vehicle heading for the homestead, so I had left with just ten minutes to spare.

About twenty minutes later, after passing over the station vehicle and swaying my wings, I landed on the road at the outstation, five minutes later, which was the first time by air, and I stopped just short of the turnoff to the outstation, facing the direction that Mum was coming from, unaware that Dad was already there, with the vehicle in the shed, out of site.

A loud high pitched whistle caught my attention and looking in the direction of the outstation buildings less than a kilometre away, I saw Rhodes waving to me, and I waved back, just as the sat phone rang. “Jex here,” I said when I answered the call, “Hello son, did you see your mother in your travels?” Dad asked, “Yes she is about five minutes away, that is why I landed on the road to get her to stop here,” I replied, “Ok, follow here in, any news on what is happening?” Dad asked.

“Yes, I stopped at home to top up on fuel, and I grabbed a few things of mine that were not collected, and when I took off, I was about ten minutes ahead of the man the police are chasing. We think he may be listening in to our conversations on Channel 12, so I called the sergeant on VHF and relayed to him that I had directed my Mum and siblings to an alternate direction, which I would not say where,” I replied.

“You don’t like Paul Brooks do you?” Dad asked, “No, and I do remember him from school, he was a cruel bully and tormentor, so I was glad when you moved me to the grammar school in Geraldton,” I replied, “I am sorry, I had no idea,” Dad responded, “Why do you think I did the barrel rolls when he was in the plane, it was payback for what he did to me for those two years at Broome,” I said smiling, remembering the event so clearly.

Dad laughed out loud, and I could hear his laughter echoing from the buildings, “I understand now, and well done, but I think that is small compared to what he deserves,” Dad responded, “Me too, but it is a start,” I said as I heard a vehicle approaching, “They are here,” I said before ending the call, and I climbed out of the plane, as they came around the corner and right away slowed down, seeing a plane on the road, and they turned onto the outstation road and stopped.

“Not a good spot to park the plane dear, is Dad here?” Mum said from the driver’s seat, and she looked hot and tired, and I indicated towards the buildings, so Mum continued on, while I jumped into the plane, started it up and taxied up the road to the main buildings, and I went around to the back where the main shed is located.

The main group of buildings consist of a small three bedroom house, a two bedroom cottage, and two small sheds, where Dad’s ute was parked in one of them, further away, there is a two bedroom house and a one bedroom cottage, and two small sheds, while the main shed is behind the main house, along with some old machinery and other bits and pieces.

Dad had both brothers with him all morning, so Mum only had to deal with Mary and Julia, when all the drama started, and we gathered in the main house, which we use on occasions during mustering, or a family bush weekend holiday that we have mid year, when it is cooler.

“Ok, now that the family is all together and safe, Jex tells me that when he went home to refuel, and take off again, he saw the bad man about fifteen minutes behind him, so we are glad that you are all here,” Dad began.

“I mentioned to the sergeant, that he was still heading south for Hillside and asked him if the people there are home, in case he was listening in, and suggested that he call them and tell them to lock up and hide,” I added, “Which was clever, now what did you manage to bring with you?” Dad responded.

“Not much I am afraid, the girls were scared and crying, so I had to grab a few things, load them up and flee,” Mum replied. “I dashed into the homestead and grabbed my swag, some clothes, a loaf of bread, some bottles of water and fruit,” I said.

“Oh good, you are wonderful, all I managed was some clothes, I did get all but your swag as I couldn’t find it in time, and I just dropped all the cans and biscuits from the pantry onto a box and brought it with us,” Mum said.

“Right boys, go and grab the swags and the box of food from the ute, and Jex go and bring in what you grabbed, so we can work out what we do have,” Dad instructed.

Ten minutes later we discovered that Mum had thrown in 5 packets of biscuits, 12 cans of soup, 8 cans of tuna, 2 packets of pasta, 1 packet of spaghetti, 2 packets of rice, a bottle of cordial, 4 cans of baked beans, 4 cartons of 2 litre UHT milk and 3 packets of cereal.

“Well, I guess that will have to do, until this drama is over. Boys I want you to grab some large branches, and sweep all tracks leading up to the buildings off the main road, hopefully he heard the radio and guessed that the family is well away from him now, and he won’t think to cross the big creek and head down this way,” Dad said.

“I did sweep the tracks crossing over the big creek and a little bit further, so he wouldn’t follow us this way,” Mum announced. “Well done dear, that is clever thinking,” Dad replied smiling, and Mum gathered all the food and stored most of it away, before she made some tuna sandwiches for us all for lunch.

After lunch, the family arranged where we would be sleeping tonight, with Mu & dad and the girls staying in the main house and us boys would be in the cottage, and once we had finished organising that, we regathered in the main house to discuss plans for the rest of the day.