Firestorm - 13. FS Chapter 13

“Thank you, Staff Sergeant Benning, for an informative talk about life in the Australian Army” the headmaster announced loudly, and everyone applauded, the cadets stood up and snapped to attention, as I walked off the staged and marched down the gymnasium to the back door. Stopping just before the door and turning around, I listened to the headmaster, as he announced that assembly was now over, all students with the exception of the cadets, are to make their way to their first classes.

On hearing this, I stepped out of the gymnasium and stepped to one side, to make way of the exiting students and teachers, when the headmaster appeared, he stopped and smiled. “It is good to see you again Mitchell, you can have half an hour with the cadets, before they need to return to class” he said to me, and I re-entered the gymnasium, where the cadets and cadet commander were waiting near the stage.

“Hello Staff Sergeant, we were informed the other day, that we are participating in the large cadet camp in September, and that you are involved with organising it” one of the senior cadets said to me as I approached them, “Yes that is correct Cadet Warrant Officer, under the supervision of my commanding officer, Lt Colonel Harding, I am, along with three corporals assisting me, we have put together a training plan.

I cannot give you any details on what you will be doing, during the camp, only that it will be quite challenging for everyone involved” I replied, “Staff Sergeant, if I am not mistaken, the patch on your uniform arm is Special Operations Command, so does that mean you are assigned to the Special Air Services? And what are the other two ribbons on your chest” another cadet warrant officer asked.

“Yes, I am with Special Operations Command, in the Special Operations Engineers Regiment, the second ribbon is the SG – Star of Gallantry, is just one down from the VC or Victoria Cross, I can’t say why I received this award or the other one, which is the OM – Order of Merit, which I am told is one down from a knighthood” I replied. “Wow, that is awesome, you must have done something right” another cadet responded, and I gave a little chuckle. I am lucky I guess, that my CO sees that I have talents and skills that benefit the Army, and that is why have had so much extra training, and rapid promotions.

My CO wanted me to enter the Defence Force Academy, to become an officer, but I declined the offer, as I am happy with what I am doing now. If you do decide to join the Army when you have completed your schooling, I will not promise you that you will do as well as me, but I will say that you will become super fit, you will learn to shoot firearms.

Once you have completed basic training, you will be able to choose an area of Army that suits your talents and skills. This may be anything from administration, communication, mechanics, legal or military police, catering, mechanics, engineering, medical, intelligence, signals, infantry, artillery and a number of other areas” I said. After a few more questions, I announced that I needed to get moving, and I was thanked for coming.

After leaving the school, I called in back at Aunty Jean’s place, letting her know that I would be spending a few days doing some country touring, and I packed a bag of clothes for four days of travels. With the bag and my swag included, I set off north-eastwards onto the Great Eastern Highway, until I reached the town of Toodyay, less than two hours later.

From there I headed north towards my home town of Ballard, less than an hour away, As I drove down the main street, it was reasonably quiet, for a Monday morning, and I continued on to the north end of town and turned right at the first gravel road, on the outskirts of town, and less than one kilometre later, I turned right again into the front driveway of my parent’s small property.

I saw my mum step out onto the front veranda, having heard a vehicle approaching the cottage, which looked like it had been renovated in the past two years of my absence. When she recognised the blue 4wd vehicle, I saw her approaching and smiling, as I slowed and stopped. Exiting the vehicle, Mum wrapped me in a tight hug, “My dear boy, it is good to see you again” she said to me with tears flowing down her cheeks.

“Hello Mum, it is good to see you too, where is Dad?” I replied as I returned the hug, “He is inside on the phone, organising supplies for the farm” Mum replied as we walked towards the house together. I saw my father had just finished his telephone conversation as we entered, and on seeing me he rushed towards me. “Hello son, it is good to see you, we have been following your career with regular contact with my sister. We are both very proud of you, and what you have achieved” my dad said to me as he shook my hand.

“Thanks Dad, I have been lucky that I have a very supportive commanding officer, who seems to see my abilities, and is trying to get me to continue learning” I replied, as we sat down in the lounge, and Mum went to the kitchen to prepare lunch. “How long are you staying with us? I have a fair bit of fencing work that needs doing” my dad said to me, “I have 3 days to spare, so just point me in the right direction” I replied.

After lunch, Dad and I loaded up the farm ute with rolls of barbed wire and wire netting, plus all the required tools, and we set off to do some work on replacing a large section of rear boundary fence. Firstly, we had to cut off the old rusty barbed wire, and rolling it up, so it could be stored away, then we cut the three lots of plain wire from the fence, and rolling it up like the barbed wire.

Once the fence posts were bare of old rusty wire, we tied on the top strand of new barbed wire, and tied the top of the new wire netting to the fence posts, completing it just as the sun was setting. As we entered the cottage, I could smell some delicious cooking, and Mum told us to wash up, as dinner was ready to be served. Over the next two full days, Dad and I removed the old fence and installed new wire fencing for the full rear boundary, and the side boundary closest to town.

Over dinner each night, I explained the work that I was doing in the army, with firearms training, and planning a major cadet training camp, due at the end of September, on the first week of school holidays. I also recommended some changes to the property, in particular the protection of the cottage and sheds, in the case of a major fire emergency, and I convinced my parents to invest in a bigger water tank, a water pump and installing a sprinkler system, that will soak the buildings and land around it with water, for protection against a wildfire.

After nearly three days of working on the farm, and spending time with my parents, I had a final dinner at home, before heading back to the city well after dark, so that no one in town would notice me. During the time at home, I made a point of not going into town, so as to avoid any possible confrontations, as my parents had informed me that there was still a lot of bigotry in town. A boy in town who is three years older than me, and who is well known for being a bully, I was informed had somehow managed to win a position in the local council.

At the age of 21, he is the town’s youngest ever elected shire councillor, and from what I have heard from my parents, he was still causing a lot of problems, including not recognising GLBT people and banning any activities in that area, and I was not very happy when I heard this. When I arrived back at Aunty Jean’s, I let her know that I was back, before retiring to my room, for the night as I was feeling quite tired from all the past few days of farm work.

The next morning, I slept in till 0800, and Aunty Jean had breakfast ready as I appeared. “How are your parents?” she asked me as I began to eat. “I am sure you know that they are well, since you keep in regular touch with them, Aunty” I replied. With still two days left of leave, I decided to take some time to just relax, and I went for a walk along the river foreshore, which was just over two blocks and 420 metres away from the house.

After a long walk along the foreshore, walking 10 km’s return, I glanced at the Tennis club across the road from my aunt’s street, and seeing people playing on the courts, I decided to enquire about being a member. I was directed to the Cub captain, and after some discussion, and being informed that the adult membership fees were, I filled in the membership forms and paid the fees.

“What is your line of work? Are you able to attend the social tennis on Saturday’s and the Men’s social games on Thursday afternoons?” the club captain asked me. “I can’t promise to be here every week, but I will try, and I am in the Army” I replied with a smile. “Well that is a first, we haven’t had any defence personnel in the club before” the club captain responded. Back at the house, I found a note from aunty Jean, saying that she had gone to do some shopping, so I decided to get the lawn mower out, and mow the two small patches of lawn on the property.

Once the lawn mowing was completed, I raked up all of the clippings, plus all the leaves that had fallen and gathered, and pulled up the few weeds that were showing. Just as I was putting away all of the gardening tools, Aunty Jean appeared with a tall glass of water. “Thank you for doing this for me, I didn’t want to bother you about this, because you have been so busy with work, I was going to get a gardener to do it next week” Aunty Jean said to me with a smile.

“I am sorry that I have left it so long to get it done, yes I guess with work, it slipped my mind that the place needed some work done, is there any maintenance jobs that need doing?” I replied with a smile, as I took another drink from the glass, and after a cleaning up, and returning indoors, Aunty Jean had lunch prepared. After lunch, I let my aunt know that I decided to take a drive south, to explore some of the forestry tracks in the Darling scarp, and that I might be staying overnight.

Making sure that I had my hydration pack with me, backpack with a change of clothes, along with some hiking snacks, a weather jacket, my compass, first aid kit, pocket knife and a small torch, I decided to leave my mobile behind, as I headed out of the city. About 95 minutes after leaving home, I arrived at the small town of Dwellingup, and calling into the local store, I bought some more snacks, and food, so I could camp overnight, before I parked at the post office.

I gathered my hydration pack, a backpack, and grabbing my army tent, just in case, and I headed out of town following the Bibbulmun Track southwards. With it being the middle of winter, I was not expecting too many people to be on the track, and as the time and scenery passed, I was spending a lot more of the adventure. After 4 ½ hours of solid hiking, I arrived at the Swamp Oak overnight camp, just before sunset, located 26 kilometres from Dwellingup, which I found to be empty, and I gathered some wood and started a small fire in the fire ring, just near the shelter, and using my large tin cup, I heated up the small packet of tuna a rice for my dinner.

Once I had eaten, and washed up, I heated up some water, to make a cup of tea, as I listened to the sounds of the bush. Although there was no sign of rain, it was getting quite cold, so I decided to camp in the shelter, where there is protection from the chilling air and the cold ground, and I lay down on the hard bed platforms, and continued to listen to the sounds of the bush. As I was starting to drift off to sleep, the sound of a twig breaking, snapped me back to fully awake, and I held my breath, and listened carefully for any more sounds, and I soon heard the sounds of footsteps.

“Hello, anyone in the shelter, we need help” I heard a voice say and I sprung up to my feet and grabbed the small torch from my backpack, and dashed out of the shelter, where out of the darkness I saw two people approaching, a lady and a boy aged about 11 years old, who was struggling to keep the lady standing.

Rushing towards them, I scooped up the lady in my arms, and carried her the last thirty metres to the shelter, carefully placing her down on a bench bed, where she took off her backpack. “Thank you, my name is Angela Parker, this is my son Tom” the lady said to me. “Nice to meet you both, my name is Mitch. Tom at the other end of the shelter there is a pile of wood, near a fire ring, can you see if you can restart the fire, it should still have plenty of hot coals on it.

Start with small twigs and bark first, then put bigger pieces of wood” I said to the boy. Once Tom went to do as I suggested, I turned my attention to Angela, “Now young lady, let’s see what you have done, tell me where you hurt?” I said, “My ankle hurts badly, I twisted it about two hours ago, and we have been struggling to get to this shelter, before it got too dark” Angela replied.

“Ok, I am a qualified Emergency first responder with the Army, so I can help you as best as possible, then in the morning, we will see about getting you to Dwellingup, so you can get some medical help” I said to Angela, and I looked towards the other end of the shelter, and saw that Tom had the fire going again. “Not too much fire wood buddy, we need to keep this shelter here and not burnt down” I said with a smile.

Once I had retrieved my first aid kit, I removed Angela’s boot carefully, and looked at her ankle, which was very badly swollen, and using some cool water from my hydration pack, I soaked some gauze, and placed it on the ankle, to let the coolness of the gauze, to help reduce the swelling a little. Tom returned, and I smiled to him, “Hey buddy, can you do me a favour and set up your camp for yourself and your mum.

While I treat your mum’s ankle, show me what you have available for food, so I can cook up some dinner for you both” I said to the lad. Once I had Angela’s angle tightly strapped, and her foot propped up on her backpack, I went to check on the fire, and I prepared some dinner for Angela and Tom, before cleaning up and spreading out the coals, to reduce the fire.

Once Angela and Tom were settled down for the night, I returned to my bed, and settled down for the night myself, and I quickly drifted off to sleep. I was shaken awake by Tom at some time of the night, and it took me a few moments to remember where I was.

“What is it Tom, is your mum ok?” I said, when I saw his worried face in front of me. “It’s Mum, she is breathing strangely” Tom said to me, and I jumped out of bed and rushed to Angela’s side, and saw her rapid breathing, sweating and looking very white.

“Angela, wake up. Angela, do you remember being stung or bitten at any time yesterday?” I asked her, suspecting that may be the cause of her condition, “I felt a sting once, about an hour before I injured my ankle, I thought it was just a branch flicking up and hitting my leg” Angela replied. Going to my backpack to retrieve my torch, I spotted a SAS Sat ear piece at the bottom of my backpack, and I grabbed it and placed it in my ear then grabbed the torch.