Mike Dixon

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The boat was drifting at about one-and-a-half knots in a north-westerly direction. He breathed a sigh of relief. The boat was heading towards shore. With any luck he‟d see land when the sun came up. Day dawned and he hardly noticed. His fears had been of sharks, hyperthermia, sunburn and dehydration. After fifteen hours he‟d not seen a shark, he was cold and it was pouring with rain. He reached for the fishing line and cast it over the side. To his relief it soon touched bottom and the current was in his favor. Hours passed, the sun came out and he was no longer cold. Trees appeared on the horizon. David saw them through the haze of mucous that had built up around his contact lenses. He fumbled for the fishing line and went through the motions of measuring depth and current. The weight hit bottom almost immediately. He looked at his compass, played out the line and started counting. If he‟d not been so tired he wouldn‟t have bothered. He was in shallow water and the line was dragging to the side. David recalled that currents did that when they approached land. They couldn‟t run ashore so they turned. Their next trick was to head back out to sea. He‟d imagined himself cast up on a sandy beach but that wasn‟t going to happen. The current wouldn‟t take him there and the wind wouldn‟t blow him there. The inflatable was too low in the water to be blown anywhere. His mind numbed and a wave of nausea swept over him. Fears of hyperthermia flooded back. He was overheating. If he didn‟t do something he‟d be too weak to do anything. His fingers yanked at the zip of his wetsuit. The jacket came off and he loosened the straps holding the bottom in place. His mind was made up. There was no point in staying where he was. 122
The shore was only a mile or so away. That was no great distance. If the sharks got him that was his karma. If they didn‟t, he‟d wade to shore and find a track that led some- where. After that it would be just a matter of time before he reached safety. He slipped into the water and started to swim, glancing up every so often to check his position. Visions of a sandy beach spurred him on. He kept telling himself it was only a matter of time before he got there. A tree appeared. He swam towards it and recognized a mangrove. More appeared. Then more. To his horror, they increased in number until they formed a dense thicket. He had arrived at a most terrible place. David knew about mangrove swamps. He‟d seen them from the air. They were vast and impenetrable expanses of tangled vegetation cut by meandering waterways. He had entered crocodile country and the risk from sharks hadn‟t gone away. 123
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Curtin Express by Mike Dixon Copyri
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Mike Dixon Mike either started off
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18 August 1942 CHAPTER 1 Sting olon
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„You‟ll soon be called for boar
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CHAPTER 3 Doris he notice on the te
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amongst the few remaining buildings
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The girl glared at him disdainfully
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watched as Doris went to a cabinet
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„But Charlie is in America?‟
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David had quit university and his g
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There were two girls. One was in he
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A row of lifts greeted him when he
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stone to higher things. The lift ap
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CHAPTER 5 avid trudged up the slope
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He surveyed the garments on the rai
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„So. You‟ve just completed a ro
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David feigned surprise. „I don‟
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CHAPTER 6 Tim moke filled the air a
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David wrapped the towel about his w
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„How did the Chinese fit in?‟
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Tim grabbed the parcel and hurried
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„The maps aren‟t here. I‟ve s
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Humphrey took an instant liking to
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umphrey took his gear to the Landcr
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They were a well-matched pair. Tim
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„Only these insects.‟ Humphrey
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CHAPTER 8 Montague Island t was 8.3
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David was in charge of one of the i
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The optical prescription of his mas
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The spear left Tim‟s gun and the
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„How ya going, Humptie?‟ He did
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CHAPTER 9 Problems avid sat in a co
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The man had a self-satisfied voice
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„Oh! My God! I had no idea … I
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‘They set the rules. So what do y
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They introduced themselves and foll
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Facing defeat, Tong Yee took the go
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There were video cameras to record
Page 78 and 79: For a moment Cecil was subdued. Hum
Page 80 and 81: t took a while for David and Tim to
Page 82 and 83: Tim let more air out of the tires.
Page 84 and 85: They ordered a couple of beers and
Page 86 and 87: „We‟ve arrived in paradise!‟
Page 88 and 89: David had no way of judging the fir
Page 90 and 91: avid drove the next day. Tim was in
Page 92 and 93: CHAPTER 11 Footsie hey reached Cook
Page 94 and 95: David checked that everything was s
Page 96 and 97: Floppy Hat was something else. The
Page 98 and 99: „You do like to show off your sup
Page 100 and 101: CHAPTER 12 Gloom hile David and Tim
Page 102 and 103: „What about the parcels? Those yo
Page 104 and 105: „No worries!‟ Tim increased the
Page 106 and 107: „Further to the right,‟ Tim tou
Page 108 and 109: Tim interrupted his thoughts. „Th
Page 110 and 111: The Pagets were a strange family. D
Page 112 and 113: Then everything changed. Tim took h
Page 114 and 115: To make matters worse, the Captain
Page 116 and 117: „Do you think Footsie was someone
Page 118 and 119: The sounds of the tropics were new
Page 120 and 121: He came close to the chain but not
Page 122 and 123: „The bloody thing‟s stuck!‟ M
Page 124 and 125: CHAPTER 14 Kirstin investigates Tha
Page 126 and 127: CHAPTER 15 KARMA avid glanced at hi
Page 130 and 131: His feet sank into ooze and his fin
Page 132 and 133: Report appearing in the tabloid Pic
Page 134 and 135: CHAPTER 16 Aghast lizabeth Hansen l
Page 136 and 137: He ran into the kitchen and pulled
Page 138 and 139: „Yes,‟ Kirstin nodded. „Okay.
Page 140 and 141: „I knew Charlie.‟ Kirstin smile
Page 142 and 143: „I was able retrieve Colonel Bigu
Page 144 and 145: twitched like an injured crayfish.
Page 146 and 147: CHAPTER 18 Curtin Girls irstin dash
Page 148 and 149: to affect a French rather than an I
Page 150 and 151: „Clarence! This man is stalking m
Page 152 and 153: he phone rang on Kirstin‟s desk i
Page 154 and 155: „Do you think Doris worked in Tow
Page 156 and 157: CHAPTER 19 Mug shot amantha Fischer
Page 158 and 159: Police chief Endicott parked his ca
Page 160 and 161: CHAPTER 20 Trauma ary Longboat exam
Page 162 and 163: Humphrey emerged from a toilet cubi
Page 164 and 165: „I‟m told this was a popular pl
Page 166 and 167: She pushed herself up to her full h
Page 168 and 169: „We‟d been doing a bit of it ou
Page 170 and 171: had it they were going to be destro
Page 172 and 173: „I‟m on holidays.‟ „Looking
Page 174 and 175: Humphrey was entranced. He‟d alwa
Page 176 and 177: There was a bandstand and it looked
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His other ear was tweaked. „Somet
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particularly irksome. He was determ
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The scented tea was not to Kirstin
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Cecilia launched into a diatribe ag
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direction. She put down her book an
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CHAPTER 25 Gipsy Rose Lee he mist b
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Kirstin looked out over the pond an
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man skin and she‟d spent time adm
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CHAPTER 27 Rebirth he rain had stop
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„One day, as he was walking along
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CHAPTER 28 War Council he butchers
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amounts being destroyed. Even today
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„Item twelve. Charlie is engaged
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CHAPTER 29 Wombat‟s Den A cold fr
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sions. „You are going to teach me
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CHAPTER 30 Old Archives ourteen day
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face in the wing mirror. A moment l
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The driver returned to the van and
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„I went to look for her after bal
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Janet stopped in her tracks. Someon
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211 „Mrs. Hansen! We‟re the pol
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„I‟m all right!‟ „There‟s
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CHAPTER 31 Aftermath amantha Fische
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CHAPTER 32 Interview room he room w
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She returned to her seat and brough
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CHAPTER 33 Doldrums irstin put down
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CHAPTER 34 Late night call I t was
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CHAPTER 35 Unexpected call he telep
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By the third day he could recognize
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She recounted the whole story. At f
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David remained silent. „You know
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They reached the creek and crashed
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Barry turned the engine back on and
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„It‟s nice out there,‟ he sai
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The words died as the edge of the s
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„Relax, mate!‟ It came from a s
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David drove the van. He followed th
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In the light of day David was able
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„We arrested Janet Pulnitz and he
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CHAPTER 40 Homestead avid threw asi
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evealed a figure that still retaine
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He‟d seen enough. The crocodile f
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The pair continued to argue. David
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Huge termite mounds stuck up all ar
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David guessed that Daryl intended t
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CHAPTER 41 Bugged W hile David was
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going to Townsville and they knew I
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Noelene was worried that their empl
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eaten by his dogs. He watched the o
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flection, he decided not to worry a
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„I thought I‟d take the horse d
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He awoke and looked around. The hor
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them for a while before realizing h
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To her annoyance, a man in a dark s
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„You‟re looking very distinguis
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„Perhaps they‟re not too far fr
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„So. You‟re writing a history o
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A Rolls Royce was standing in the d
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„There‟s been a bust-up between
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Alan reached for the mouse. „They
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„You said it was a most unusual f
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The album contained photographs goi
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CHAPTER 45 Hurricane hile Kirstin w
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The thought was sobering. Charlie h
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pursuing vehicle. Tracer bullets ra
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David guessed Kim was the pilot.
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David thought she‟d be glad to se
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„I‟ll be with you in ten minute
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Kirstin lent forward. „Was Footsi
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CHAPTER 47 Harald oelene led the wa
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„You said there were guns?‟ „
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The plane landed and taxied to the
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„Suits?‟ Humphrey said. „Yeah
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knowledge of guns and military tact
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They scrambled along the creek. Noe
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The child broke loose and ran to hi
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did his best to listen to the voice
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The torch reached the boards above
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stay on his feet. The next flash sa
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„That‟s right.‟ David felt fa
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CHAPTER 48 Stalemate avid peered th
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He pointed the big animal towards t
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minutes before blacking out but his
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„I don‟t know.‟ The old man s
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gun and she‟d run ahead with it.
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The whine of an engine was coming f
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The shed was in chaos when he got t
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He dived in and struck out. His mai
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e cast out to sea then he slumped i
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CHAPTER 50 Caged bird hief Investig
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EPILOGUE The little girl clutched h
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THE SINS OF THE FATHERS are handed
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Mike Dixon

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