Mike Dixon

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„So. You‟ve just completed a round-the-world trip. When I was your age, only the very rich could afford such luxuries. I was lucky because I worked for the government and they paid for my overseas trips. Perhaps I should say the taxpayers did.‟ He gave a little chuckle and was about to say more when a voice cut him short. „Was your journey profitable, David?‟ David turned and found himself staring into a heavily powdered face, surmounted by a beehive structure of dark hair. It was his Aunt Grace. Although more of his grandfather‟s generation, she had once been married to his Uncle Charles. „Profitable … Aunt Grace?‟ „Gracie means did you get anything out of it,‟ his grandfather said. „You went to America to take a look at the dive shops.‟ „Oh, yes. That was very useful.‟ „Did you go anywhere else?‟ Grace asked. David felt a tinge of alarm. „I had a look at Disneyland, Aunt Grace.‟ „Did you visit any other places?‟ Her tone was inquisitori- al. „I dropped into San Francisco to see some old school friends.‟ „Anywhere else?‟ „Well. New York. That‟s where the plane landed.‟ „I see!‟ She nodded, as if satisfied her questions had produced the desired result. As a small boy David had been terrified by Grace and he had not warmed to her over the years. She never ceased to remind him of a Manchu empress in an old movie in which people lost their heads if they showed disre- spect for the ruling class. 27
A silence ensued. David raised his glass and was about to toast his grandfather when a grey Porsche entered the driveway. The car stopped. A man and child got out and walked towards the house. The little girl was neatly dressed and very pretty. Her long blond hair, high cheekbones and jet-black eyes gave her an almost elfin appearance. She was Sue Lynne‟s daughter and her father was David‟s cousin, Harald. The latter gave David a chilling glance. „Uncle David!‟ The little girl reached out a hand but her father continued to drag her along. „Anne! My sweet!‟ Grace bent down to kiss her. „Say hullo to Grandmother,‟ Harald prompted. „Hullo, Grandmother.‟ The child waved in Grace‟s direction. Then her eyes lit up as David‟s mother appeared. „Auntie Cecilia!‟ she broke away and ran towards her. Harald stared at his daughter, wrapped in Cecilia‟s embrace, and directed his fury at his cousin. „David! I want to speak to you!‟ „Okay. Sure …‟ „Not here … upstairs!‟ Harald turned to Sir George. „Get them out of here.‟ To David‟s surprise, the old man did as he was told. Turning away obediently, he led Anne and Cecilia into the drawing room. Grace shut the door and stood beside it like a sentry. David folded his arms. „What‟s bugging you, Harald?‟ „You‟ve been shafting my wife.‟ 28
Page 2 and 3: Curtin Express by Mike Dixon Copyri
Page 4 and 5: Mike Dixon Mike either started off
Page 6 and 7: 18 August 1942 CHAPTER 1 Sting olon
Page 8 and 9: „You‟ll soon be called for boar
Page 10 and 11: CHAPTER 3 Doris he notice on the te
Page 12 and 13: amongst the few remaining buildings
Page 14 and 15: The girl glared at him disdainfully
Page 16 and 17: watched as Doris went to a cabinet
Page 18 and 19: „But Charlie is in America?‟
Page 20 and 21: David had quit university and his g
Page 22 and 23: There were two girls. One was in he
Page 24 and 25: A row of lifts greeted him when he
Page 26 and 27: stone to higher things. The lift ap
Page 28 and 29: CHAPTER 5 avid trudged up the slope
Page 30 and 31: He surveyed the garments on the rai
Page 34 and 35: David feigned surprise. „I don‟
Page 36 and 37: CHAPTER 6 Tim moke filled the air a
Page 38 and 39: David wrapped the towel about his w
Page 40 and 41: „How did the Chinese fit in?‟
Page 42 and 43: Tim grabbed the parcel and hurried
Page 44 and 45: „The maps aren‟t here. I‟ve s
Page 46 and 47: Humphrey took an instant liking to
Page 48 and 49: umphrey took his gear to the Landcr
Page 50 and 51: They were a well-matched pair. Tim
Page 52 and 53: „Only these insects.‟ Humphrey
Page 54 and 55: CHAPTER 8 Montague Island t was 8.3
Page 56 and 57: David was in charge of one of the i
Page 58 and 59: The optical prescription of his mas
Page 60 and 61: The spear left Tim‟s gun and the
Page 62 and 63: „How ya going, Humptie?‟ He did
Page 64 and 65: CHAPTER 9 Problems avid sat in a co
Page 66 and 67: The man had a self-satisfied voice
Page 68 and 69: „Oh! My God! I had no idea … I
Page 70 and 71: ‘They set the rules. So what do y
Page 72 and 73: They introduced themselves and foll
Page 74 and 75: Facing defeat, Tong Yee took the go
Page 76 and 77: 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
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„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 128 and 129:
The boat was drifting at about one-
Page 130 and 131:
His feet sank into ooze and his fin
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Report appearing in the tabloid Pic
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CHAPTER 16 Aghast lizabeth Hansen l
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He ran into the kitchen and pulled
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„Yes,‟ Kirstin nodded. „Okay.
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„I knew Charlie.‟ Kirstin smile
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„I was able retrieve Colonel Bigu
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twitched like an injured crayfish.
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CHAPTER 18 Curtin Girls irstin dash
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to affect a French rather than an I
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„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
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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
Page 178 and 179:
His other ear was tweaked. „Somet
Page 180 and 181:
particularly irksome. He was determ
Page 182 and 183:
The scented tea was not to Kirstin
Page 184 and 185:
Cecilia launched into a diatribe ag
Page 186 and 187:
direction. She put down her book an
Page 188 and 189:
CHAPTER 25 Gipsy Rose Lee he mist b
Page 190 and 191:
Kirstin looked out over the pond an
Page 192 and 193:
man skin and she‟d spent time adm
Page 194 and 195:
CHAPTER 27 Rebirth he rain had stop
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„One day, as he was walking along
Page 198 and 199:
CHAPTER 28 War Council he butchers
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amounts being destroyed. Even today
Page 202 and 203:
„Item twelve. Charlie is engaged
Page 204 and 205:
CHAPTER 29 Wombat‟s Den A cold fr
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sions. „You are going to teach me
Page 208 and 209:
CHAPTER 30 Old Archives ourteen day
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face in the wing mirror. A moment l
Page 212 and 213:
The driver returned to the van and
Page 214 and 215:
„I went to look for her after bal
Page 216 and 217:
Janet stopped in her tracks. Someon
Page 218 and 219:
211 „Mrs. Hansen! We‟re the pol
Page 220 and 221:
„I‟m all right!‟ „There‟s
Page 222 and 223:
CHAPTER 31 Aftermath amantha Fische
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CHAPTER 32 Interview room he room w
Page 226 and 227:
She returned to her seat and brough
Page 228 and 229:
CHAPTER 33 Doldrums irstin put down
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CHAPTER 34 Late night call I t was
Page 232 and 233:
CHAPTER 35 Unexpected call he telep
Page 234 and 235:
By the third day he could recognize
Page 236 and 237:
She recounted the whole story. At f
Page 238 and 239:
David remained silent. „You know
Page 240 and 241:
They reached the creek and crashed
Page 242 and 243:
Barry turned the engine back on and
Page 244 and 245:
„It‟s nice out there,‟ he sai
Page 246 and 247:
The words died as the edge of the s
Page 248 and 249:
„Relax, mate!‟ It came from a s
Page 250 and 251:
David drove the van. He followed th
Page 252 and 253:
In the light of day David was able
Page 254 and 255:
„We arrested Janet Pulnitz and he
Page 256 and 257:
CHAPTER 40 Homestead avid threw asi
Page 258 and 259:
evealed a figure that still retaine
Page 260 and 261:
He‟d seen enough. The crocodile f
Page 262 and 263:
The pair continued to argue. David
Page 264 and 265:
Huge termite mounds stuck up all ar
Page 266 and 267:
David guessed that Daryl intended t
Page 268 and 269:
CHAPTER 41 Bugged W hile David was
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going to Townsville and they knew I
Page 272 and 273:
Noelene was worried that their empl
Page 274 and 275:
eaten by his dogs. He watched the o
Page 276 and 277:
flection, he decided not to worry a
Page 278 and 279:
„I thought I‟d take the horse d
Page 280 and 281:
He awoke and looked around. The hor
Page 282 and 283:
them for a while before realizing h
Page 284 and 285:
To her annoyance, a man in a dark s
Page 286 and 287:
„You‟re looking very distinguis
Page 288 and 289:
„Perhaps they‟re not too far fr
Page 290 and 291:
„So. You‟re writing a history o
Page 292 and 293:
A Rolls Royce was standing in the d
Page 294 and 295:
„There‟s been a bust-up between
Page 296 and 297:
Alan reached for the mouse. „They
Page 298 and 299:
„You said it was a most unusual f
Page 300 and 301:
The album contained photographs goi
Page 302 and 303:
CHAPTER 45 Hurricane hile Kirstin w
Page 304 and 305:
The thought was sobering. Charlie h
Page 306 and 307:
pursuing vehicle. Tracer bullets ra
Page 308 and 309:
David guessed Kim was the pilot.
Page 310 and 311:
David thought she‟d be glad to se
Page 312 and 313:
„I‟ll be with you in ten minute
Page 314 and 315:
Kirstin lent forward. „Was Footsi
Page 316 and 317:
CHAPTER 47 Harald oelene led the wa
Page 318 and 319:
„You said there were guns?‟ „
Page 320 and 321:
The plane landed and taxied to the
Page 322 and 323:
„Suits?‟ Humphrey said. „Yeah
Page 324 and 325:
knowledge of guns and military tact
Page 326 and 327:
They scrambled along the creek. Noe
Page 328 and 329:
The child broke loose and ran to hi
Page 330 and 331:
did his best to listen to the voice
Page 332 and 333:
The torch reached the boards above
Page 334 and 335:
stay on his feet. The next flash sa
Page 336 and 337:
„That‟s right.‟ David felt fa
Page 338 and 339:
CHAPTER 48 Stalemate avid peered th
Page 340 and 341:
He pointed the big animal towards t
Page 342 and 343:
minutes before blacking out but his
Page 344 and 345:
„I don‟t know.‟ The old man s
Page 346 and 347:
gun and she‟d run ahead with it.
Page 348 and 349:
The whine of an engine was coming f
Page 350 and 351:
The shed was in chaos when he got t
Page 352 and 353:
He dived in and struck out. His mai
Page 354 and 355:
e cast out to sea then he slumped i
Page 356 and 357:
CHAPTER 50 Caged bird hief Investig
Page 358 and 359:
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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