The Pacific by Watt Peter

Author:Watt, Peter [Watt, Peter]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Amazon: B0069A6U0O
Publisher: Macmillan Australia
Published: 2011-11-01T23:00:00+00:00

TWELVE

Lukas had been lucky enough to locate an anchorage in the mouth of a swampy creek hidden amongst mangroves. The rain that pelted down raised a mist, further concealing the Riverside. Lukas had sent the crew and PIB men ashore to cut saplings to hide the boat, and when they had finished she was almost invisible to those ashore and at sea.

Lukas ensured all weapons were stripped, cleaned and made ready for action, and he was pleased to see his father nod his approval at such careful preparation.

‘Rabasumbi and I will go ashore and conduct a recce,’ Jack said, arming himself with his Owen gun and spare magazines of ammunition. He strapped a large knife, honed to a razor’s edge, to his webbing belt, along with a couple of Mills bomb grenades primed for use. ‘Corporal Gari will be in charge of the boys while I am gone.’

Private Rabasumbi armed himself with a Bren gun, grenades and a deadly sharp-edged machete. On top of his personal weapons, the PIB soldier carried a cumbersome radio. It was one of three that Mel Jones had been able to barter from a marine unit months earlier. The radios only had a range of around three miles with the aerial fully extended, but they could be carried by one man. At thirty-eight pounds it was a considerable load for a soldier, but Private Rabasumbi had carried heavier loads in the past.

‘Take it easy, old man,’ Lukas said with a grin as his father and the PIB soldier clambered over the side of the boat and splashed into the shallow, muddy water of the creek. The rest of the men scanned the waters, rifles ready, for any sign of the big saltwater crocs that inhabited these mangroves.

‘Just remember the tide,’ Jack said over his shoulder. ‘You don’t want to be hung up in the creek.’

Lukas felt a little annoyed that his father would remind him of something so simple. He felt like a little boy being taught how to handle his trading schooner. Then he realised from the expression on his father’s face that he was only worried for him and he regretted his irritation. He was worried for his father, too. Who knew what the recon mission would find – there could be a platoon of Japs out there, just waiting for his father to step into their ambush. Lukas shuddered. It didn’t bear thinking about.

*

Jack and Rabasumbi began squelching their way through the tangle of mangroves, the glutinous mud sucking at their boots. They fought their way inland, the rain showing no sign of letting up, and eventually encountering solid ground. They trudged on, following a compass bearing that would take them towards the Japanese outpost. According to Jack’s calculations they would arrive at the village midafternoon, when they still had light to observe the enemy dispositions and plot an effective means of assault.

Both men moved cautiously in the thick underbrush, thankful that the weather would help muffle the sound of their movement.

Private Rabasumbi was at home in the jungle.

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