Corker's Creek

By Douglas Gellatly

There’s something endearingly raw about Corker’s Creek ... and what lies beneath its cover is not all tranquil.
In the small rural town of Corker’s Creek in the Wimmera district of Victoria, Australia, Rory Clark is the local GP and his life-partner, Danny Adkin, is a paramedic based at the nearby rural city of Horsham.
Between them, Rory and Danny find themselves entwined with the personal lives of many of the town’s characters.
There’s the cheerful Indian supermarket proprietors, Raj and Saraswati Singh;
The hairdresser and town gossiper, Hetty Crackjaw;
Curtis Sturrock, the self-important farm machinery dealer, and his idiosyncratic wife, Delma;
The pharmacist and local Councillor, Byron Bright, and his compulsively anxious wife, Mindy;
The town grump, Muriel Ferguson;
The landed gentry, Heiner and Anna Watkins;
Carl and Keri Jagger, the farm tenants at ‘Corker’s Creek Park’, where Rory and Danny live;
Monica Selby, the publican and her not-quite-right son, Alfie;
The farm-stay owners, Maureen and Frank Sondheim and their troubled daughter, Cynthia;
And, along with others, there’s also Daphne the emu.
In their first year at Corker’s Creek, Danny and Rory are drawn into ever increasing tension as the good citizens of the town and district navigate around each other – or collide.
The story ends with an unexpected event, which piles on top of other unforeseen events.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Douglas Gellatly
• Release date: Oct 27, 2014
• ISBN: 9781311117915

Douglas Gellatly

*** The collection of all three books is now available in PODCAST format - see belowDouglas Gellatly was brought up on a farm in the Wimmera district of Victoria, Australia. During the course of his life he has experienced working as a farmer, medical research institute field station manager, funeral director, travel consultant and cafe proprietor.He now lives in central Victoria with his husband, Jon, where they operate a small food preserving business from fruit and vegetables grown in their own garden at Clunes, which is Australia's only International Booktown.After a life-time of living life, Douglas took up writing in his late sixties and has now completed three novels, "Lake Brambruck", "Golton Island" and "Corker's Creek". All are gay-themed and set in the Wimmera district of Victoria, Australia. His third novel, "Corker's Creek" completes "The Wimmera Trilogy"."Mount Zero" is the boxed set of Douglas Gellatly's first three novels, and constitutes "The Wimmera Trilogy." It was released in January of 2015.All his novels are free as individual stories or in the boxed set.His aim is to write stories that entertain the reader, and he loves to hear back from readers.ANNOUNCEMENT, ANNOUNCEMENT: In 2020, Douglas commenced his podcast show, Mount Zero - The Wimmera Trilogy with himself as the narrator.The podcast is an adaptation of his e-book collection, "Mount Zero".It is available through Spotify, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Podbean, TuneIn, and on Amazon Music in the USA, UK, Germany and Japan.You will find the "audio-book" links for Spotify and Google Podcasts at the bottom left of the Mount Zero page here in Smashwords'If you do not have a Spotify account yet, you will be given the opportunity to create an account .. it's easy to do and podcasts are free. And similar applies to all the podcast providers.(*** Note that it's best to listen to the trailer first ... Happy listening, or reading, or both!

Book preview

Corker's Creek

A Novel by

Douglas Gellatly

Copyright © 2014 by Douglas Gellatly

Smashwords Edition

This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to where it was purchased from and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously.

Certain parts of the Wimmera have been altered for the purpose of this story.

Cover photography and design by Douglas Gellatly.

Email: [e-mail]

URL: www.douglasgellatly.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/doug.gellatly

Twitter: www.twitter.com/#!/DouglasGellatly

Dedicated to the memory

of my parents,

Gordon and Irma Gellatly

CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

Chapter 1 Alfie

Chapter 2 A Dinner Invitation

Chapter 3 Vagaries

Chapter 4 Facing Difficulties

Chapter 5 Revelations

Chapter 6 Dining In Style

Chapter 7 Looking To The Future

Chapter 8 Nature’s Hand

Chapter 9 Mrs Mindy Bright

Chapter 10 Acceptance And Denial

Chapter 11 The Mysterious Woman

Chapter 12 Celebration

Chapter 13 The Agricultural Show

Chapter 14 Daphne

Chapter 15 Storm

Chapter 16 Crash

Chapter 17 The Funeral

Chapter 18 Singapore

A Final Word

Acknowledgements

I am grateful for the assistance given to me by the following individuals and institutions:

Clunes and District Agricultural Society, Inc.; Dr Jo Love; State Library of Victoria, Melbourne; National Library of Australia, Canberra; Dr Imran Khan; Anglican Church of Australia; The Elizabeth Hotel, Singapore; Paragon Medical, Singapore; Din Tai Fung, Singapore; Raffles Hotel, Singapore; Jason Gabriel. Particular thanks to Jon Lock for his tolerance and support as I have written this story.

Chapter 1

Alfie

"Do you mind? That’s my table you are sitting at!"

Rory and Danny were shocked at the abruptness of the comment just flung at them, and wondered what they had really done wrong.

"Every time I come to eat at this bakery I sit at this table—it’s the only table I feel comfortable at," she persisted, pointing down at the table over which Rory and Danny were facing each other.

Very well. I’m sorry, we’ll move, Rory said politely, and he and Danny rose from their chairs just inside the bakery window. We didn’t see any ‘Reserved’ sign, so just sat here, he continued.

For me, such signs are not needed in this town, she said, lifting her chin haughtily.

The two men looked across to the barista; he was busy making their coffees and had observed what had just passed. They indicated to him that they would move to one of the tables outside, under the shop’s verandah. As they went through the door they looked back to see that the assertive woman was wiping the chair that Danny had been sitting on with her finely embroidered handkerchief.

I’m sorry about that, and I wasn’t able to intervene because I’m here by myself while my wife is two doors down, at the hairdresser’s, the barista said to Danny and Rory when he arrived with their caffè lattes. As I haven’t seen you here before, you probably won’t be familiar with Mrs Mindy Bright. She’s the wife of the local pharmacist and can be a bit, um, abrupt sometimes. By the way, my name is Michael Sumner, but please call me Mike, and this is our bakery.

We should introduce ourselves too, Rory said. I’m Rory Clark and this is my partner, Danny Adkin. No doubt you’ll be seeing more of us because we like a Saturday morning coffee if we can fit it in.

Are you just visiting Corker’s Creek?

Not really, Rory replied. We moved into this district during the last week. Last night was our first night of living in the house on the farm known as Corker’s Creek Park. We’ve been living and working in Horsham for the last eighteen months, and will now commute to work from here; it’s only a forty minute drive.

Since the auction sale for that property, when it went to an undisclosed buyer, the whole town’s been wondering what is happening out there. Did you buy it?

No, but some people who we know did, and we are leasing the house from them.

What’s happening to the farm then? Mike asked.

"That’s about to be advertised for ‘Lease by Tender’ in the Wimmera Mail-Times and the plan is for it to be leased out as a farming property, with everything available by way of all the six hundred hectares of land, the sheds, the silos and stock yards, but not the house."

So, you must know the owners then, the baker surmised.

You could say that, Danny said, speaking for the first time and smiling.

Are the people of this town likely to know the new owners?

Probably, Rory offered, but said no more.

With this, the baker went back inside to get behind the counter again, speaking briefly to Mrs Bright as he went past her.

Just then, Rory’s mobile phone rang. It was Max calling to say that he and Richard were on their way to Corker’s Creek and would be there in about five minutes. We are at the bakery right now; would you like us to order some coffees for you both? Rory asked.

Yes, please, Max replied. Danny went in to order the extra coffees and on his return journey scored a disdainful look from Mrs Bright.

Not long after, Richard and Max pulled up nearby in their Ford Fairlane sedan, which doubled as a mourning coach for their funeral business, and came across to occupy the other two chairs at the table Rory and Danny were at. As they sat down, Richard asked, How did your first night at Corker’s Creek Park go?

Great! Rory and Danny chorussed together. Rory continued: It was so nice and quiet again, just like we remember at Golton Island.

And there were curlews calling in the night not far away, Danny added. It was such an eerie, but restful sound.

Mike came out through the bakery door bearing the two new caffè lattes. Now here’s some faces I think I recognise, he said. You are the funeral directors from Horsham aren’t you?

That’s right, Max replied, realising that, as funeral directors they had a public profile in the district. We’ve just come over to Corker’s Creek to visit these two, who are our relatives—and to have a look at where they have placed their furniture.

Hi, then. I’m Mike Sumner, but I’m not sure which is which of you, other than that one is McPherson and the other is Clark.

Don’t worry, we get that all the time, Richard said. I’m Richard McPherson, and this is Max Clark, Richard said, holding out his hand. They each shook hands with Mike, then Richard explained: Our link with these young men is that Rory is Max’s nephew.

Mike looked to Rory and Danny and said, I see where you fit in now, and I’m sorry, I should have said this earlier: welcome to Corker’s Creek. I hope you have a good time here.

After Mike left them to take further bread, coffee and cake orders inside, Danny said, We’ve caused a bit of an upset in this town already with that woman you are able to see just inside the bakery window. She rather rudely claimed some ownership of the table she is at; we had been sitting there, and she essentially hunted us off. Richard and Max, in the next short while, noted Mrs Bright as they pretended to be looking around at the general scene, which included the body of water filling the creek on the far side of the narrow park across the road.

How did you handle the situation? Richard asked.

We politely moved out here.

"Every small town has its share of odd people," Richard commented.

"Well, we’ll let you know as time goes on if there are any more odd people in this town, Danny replied with a grin. You know, we’ve already been more or less asked by Mike who the new owners of Corker’s Creek Park are."

How did you answer that one? Max asked.

As simply as possible and by giving very little away, Rory replied. I’m sure Mike has assumed that we must know the owners. We haven’t let on who, but my guess is that he will have already worked that out by seeing you sitting here; I get the feeling he’s fairly sharp.

They chatted on for a while and when they finished their coffees Richard said, "While we are here, I want to do two things before we drive out to the farm. One is to go to the newsagent next door and get today’s Saturday Age as it at least has some decent articles worth reading, and the other is to go for a walk with you beyond the Post Office intersection to go and have a look at the Corker’s Creek Health Service building that you will be working at, Rory."

When he left the Royal Melbourne Hospital, where he had gained a lot of medical skills, and during which time he had done further studies in Dermatology, Rory and Danny moved to Horsham. Rory joined a Horsham clinic known as the Pointfort Medical Clinic, which had five other doctors plus ancillary staff; he was a junior General Practitioner in the team. Danny, at the same time transferred from a Melbourne ambulance station to the Horsham ambulance station. The pair had been living in rented accommodation in Horsham until now.

When the Corker’s Creek Hospital closed and became primarily an aged care facility—known as Girrakool Aged Care Centre—provision was made for doctors’ consulting rooms within the building to be used on a week-day basis, and it was to be known as the Corker’s Creek Health Service. The doctors from the Pointfort Medical Clinic in Horsham gained the rights to provide the doctors on a regular basis. All the business arrangements surrounding that deal were going on at the same time as Richard and Max sold their terrace house in Arden Street, North Melbourne, where Rory and Danny had lived while they were in Melbourne. They then had sufficient funds to purchase the farm known as Corker’s Creek Park, which became their next investment property, and straight away the house on the farm was let out to Rory and Danny with the intention of both young men commuting to work in Horsham by car.

As Rory was going to be living in the Corker’s Creek district, it was put to him by the management of Pointfort Medical Clinic that he may like to carry the major role of being a General Practitioner within the town, with no or little out-of-hours work. He was offered three days a week at the Corker’s Creek Health service and he opted for Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays; the other two days he would be at the Pointfort Medical Clinic in Horsham where he would do most of his Dermatology consulting and treating.

The four men rose from the table under the bakery verandah, feeling aware that they were probably being talked about by those nearby. Richard went into the news-agency and bought his Saturday paper, then they continued walking past the hairdresser’s and the garage on the corner of the main street, Queen Street, and Marnoo Road. They crossed over to the Post Office and then walked past the pharmacy, making comment to each other about the lady who Rory and Danny had encountered in the bakery. Danny asked in a general way, I wonder how long it will be before we see the pharmacist’s wife again?

Not too soon, I hope, Rory responded.

The next building, with a broad frontage, was the new Corker’s Creek Health Service facility, which had, immediately behind and linking with it, Girrakool Aged Care Centre; Girrakool's own main door faced the street behind. The four men stood on the street looking at the building, and Richard said, So, this is where you will be spending the majority of your time, Rory. From the outside it looks quite nice—have you checked out the rooms inside yet?

Yes, all of our crew from Pointfort Medical Clinic who will be involved here came over on Wednesday of this last week and we had a familiarisation session.

So, next Monday is the first day of the new arrangement, is that right? Max asked.

Yes, two of my colleagues plus a receptionist and a nurse from Pointfort will be here that day, and my first day will be Tuesday, along with another colleague from Pointfort.

Are you looking forward to it? Richard asked.

Yes. I’ll have more responsibilities in that I’ll be working more by myself, but it will also be good for my own development. And if anything tricky comes along, I’ll still have at least one colleague there at the same time, and we can always be in touch with each other from the wider team through our computer system at any time, or by phone.

Do you have appointments yet? Danny asked Rory.

I think so, but I have not studied any of them yet; I’ll get here good and early on Tuesday morning to familiarise myself with their medical records, but I’ll know on Monday through my own computer how many appointments there will be.

The group talked on for a while about the new era coming up for Rory and before they walked back to their cars for the drive out to Corker’s Creek Park, Max looked across to the Anglican Church next door and said, We’ve had our share of funerals at that church; in this town funerals either happen in there or at the Public Hall opposite the bridge as we are coming in to town from Horsham.

***

The two cars arrived at Corker’s Creek Park at much the same time. It’s good to have you boys living here now, Max said as they all gathered in the car park area on the northern side of the house, toward the farm sheds.

The large, long, rectangular modern house, clad in corrugated iron and with a wide jarrah-decked verandah all around it was impressively situated on a low rise, which placed it above any known flood level. A wide, tree-lined bend in Corker’s Creek behind the buildings partly encircled the house and sheds, which made the whole area very picturesque. The garden, which consisted mainly of Australian native plants—including some big trees—surrounded the house and was enclosed by a neat low fence of chain mesh which stretched along the road frontage and past each end of the house from the road to the creek behind the house. As the men looked at Rory and Danny’s new home from the car park, the only other building in the house yard was a twin car garage, also clad in corrugated iron. A short concrete path linked the house to a small door at the rear of the car shed.

Max and Richard, come and be our guests, Rory said and led them in through a side gate, across the garden and up three steps to the verandah. A door at the farmyard end of the house was obviously the common door; there was also an ornate front door on the house, which faced the road, and another door along the rear wall of the house which served the kitchen and laundry. They immediately entered a large living area. Over to the right through a wide opening was the kitchen. A wall which partly enclosed the kitchen was already the backdrop for Rory’s ‘Memorial’ piano, the instrument which had been bought for Rory at the time that his parents, brother and sister were all killed simultaneously in a road accident when Rory was still fifteen and attending Horsham High School, boarding with Ivy Pasco and otherwise in Max and Richard’s care at Golton Island. Other pieces of tasteful furniture decorated the carpeted room, which included a polished wooden dining table with six chairs.

Come and have a look at how we have set the bedrooms up, Danny offered. They walked on beyond the front entrance. Beside the front door was an office with two desks and two computers, and other office furniture. As they proceeded along the broad hallway, on the right they went past a laundry room which adjoined the kitchen, and had a door into the kitchen near the back door; there was a modestly sized bathroom and then a bedroom. On the left there were two bedrooms, and at the end of the hallway, a large general purpose room.

What we have thought we would like to do, Rory announced, if it’s okay with you two, since you are the owners of this property, is to make the bathroom bigger by extending it into the bedroom beside it, and in turn extending the bedroom on to occupy half of the general purpose room at the end. But going back to the bathroom, we thought we would like to do what you have done with your bathroom at Golton Island and put in a big glass outer wall and make the bathroom very open, and with a linking door between bathroom and bedroom.

And what about a bathroom for the other bedrooms? Richard asked.

Ah, we’ve thought about that too. We reckon on a new bathroom to occupy the other half of the now general purpose room at that end of the house.

And the cost of all of this would be met by…? Max asked, eyebrows raised and smiling.

Us, Rory replied. We are both earning good money now, and if it would make the house more liveable for us, we’d like to do it, but only if it’s okay with both of you.

I’m sure we can talk more about this, Max said, looking to Richard, but on the face of it, it all sounds feasible. And because the house is up on stumps rather than being on a concrete slab, extra plumbing will be easy.

That sounds promising for us, Rory responded, and of course we would want to talk with you about the project every step of the way. Richard?

"I like the idea too, especially as it would be no cost to Max and myself. That was a sort of joke, but it won’t hurt you to contribute anyway and I can see the introduction of a second bathroom as a plus by way of property value."

We reckon that too, Rory said. As you can see, we are occupying the bedroom next to the bathroom, and you would have seen that the other bedrooms are set up for guests, which we hope will include you from time to time. But, right now, let’s go to the lounge room to talk about other things.

Danny said: The morning’s moving on; would you like to stay for lunch?

Richard automatically glanced at his wrist watch and said, That sounds like a good idea.

After lunch they all went out into the large back yard. There were fruit trees in an orchard and the remains of the previous owners’ vegetable garden.

Danny said, I’d like to rejuvenate that vegetable garden. I can see the remnants of beans, sweet corn, tomatoes and a few other things. There’s also a clump of rhubarb and an asparagus patch that could have been there for a long while.

Just by looking at it, the soil’s pretty good, Richard observed, and you will have an endless supply of sheep manure from under the wool shed—as long as the new tenant has sheep, that is. Furthermore, Max and I might help ourselves to the same source of garden fertiliser; all it needs is for us to get under the shed and scrape the dry pellets of sheep shit out.

They wandered on from there right down to the edge of the creek, and stepped into the shade of the mature eucalyptus trees flanking the creek. As they were looking down at the curved, dark waterhole below them, Rory said, looking back toward their own cars, Someone’s just driven into the yard.

They all looked across to see a man and a woman getting out of a modern utility that was coloured metallic burnt orange. We are down here, Rory called out to the new arrivals, and their party all walked back toward them.

By the time they were close enough to speak, the tall, sun-tanned man and his shorter female companion, also sun-tanned, had entered the yard.

Hello, the woman said. We have heard that there is someone living here again now. Although we live nearly three kilometres from here, we are your nearest neighbours, and we just wanted to come across to introduce ourselves and welcome you to the district.

I’m Carl Jagger, the man said, his blue eyes smiling, and this is my wife, Keri.

We’re pleased to meet you both, and thanks for the welcome, Rory said, and perhaps I had better introduce all of us. This tall man here is my uncle, Max Clark, and the equally dignified looking man beside him is his partner, Richard McPherson. Beside me is my partner, Danny Adkin, and I’m Rory Clark. Phew! That was a mouthful. They all shook hands. Keri’s strong handshake went close to matching her husband’s.

The names McPherson and Clark go together in a funeral directing business in Horsham, Carl said. Are you them?

One and the same, Richard responded.

So, do we take it that you are the new owners of Corker’s Creek Park? Keri asked.

That’s right, Max answered, amused at the up-front questions coming their way and thinking, this must be a country thing.

Who is going to be living here, then? Keri continued.

Danny and I, Rory offered, and we had our first night here last night.

At lunch time today we had a phone call from my brother-in-law, Keri’s brother, Carl announced, "and he told us that he had heard that this farm will be let out soon—that a For Lease by Tender advertisement would be placed soon in the Wimmera Mail-Times."

We’ve only told one person that, Rory responded. So, this must mean that you, Keri, are a sister of the local baker, Mike Sumner?

That’s correct.

There’s no doubt about bush telegraph, Richard commented. It certainly works, and often with amazing speed—it almost beats high-speed internet broadband.

Anyway, why we raised that subject, Carl added, is that Keri and I would certainly be interested. We’ve been looking for more land to farm, and in fact did bid on this property at the auction, but it turns out it was you who beat us.

And that’s the way things go at auctions, Richard said. "But just to fill you in a bit more, therefore, we are expecting our agent to have that advertisement in next Friday’s Wimmera-Mail-Times. We would like to continue with that approach to letting this place out."

That’s fine, and we would do the same if we were you, Carl said.

Then Keri asked with a smile: Now Rory and Danny, our brand new neighbours, do you both work in Horsham?

Yes, we have for the past eighteen months, Rory replied. Danny is an ambulance paramedic based in Horsham, and will continue doing that, commuting from here. For myself, I have been attached to the Pointfort Medical Clinic for the same eighteen months, but I’m about to move part of my time to the newly organised Corker’s Creek Health Service. You will have seen in the paper that Pointfort Medical Clinic will be providing the general practitioners for the Health Service—I’m one of them.

So, you’re a doctor? Keri asked, surprise showing on her face.

Yes.

How often will you be in Corker’s Creek, then? Carl asked.

Personally, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, but there will be other colleagues here too so that the Health Service is fully staffed every week day.

That’s good, that we will have doctors in the town, Carl said. I’ve been thinking about this new set up, and wondering how it will go. If we’ve got a local bloke there, I reckon that’s even better. And of course, the health facility—as it always has in the past—covers a much wider area than just the immediate Corker’s Creek district.

They talked on about general things for a while before the Jaggers left, and as they were on the point of departure Rory said to them, "Thanks also for mentioning in our discussion, the need for us to appreciate who’s who in the zoo of this district; we’ll tread lightly." Carl and Keri both smiled.

***

Rory and Danny woke the next morning to the calls of a large flock of noisily chattering corellas flying nearby. Soon after, as they lay together in bed, Danny said to Rory, Hey, today’s the fourth Sunday of the month. Shall we go down to the monthly Farmers’ Market in Corker’s Creek after breakfast?

That sounds like a good idea, Rory agreed. We’ve never done that before, and I guess the sooner we get there, the better choices we will have for whatever produce is available.

When they arrived into the town, the long park between Queen Street and the creek—which was always full within the town because the water was held back by a weir—was lined with stall-holders’ tents, tables and trailers. The scene was colourful and vibrant.

Danny and Rory parked their car and set out to see what the stall-holders had on display. There were offerings of organic vegetables, eggs, jams and sauces, honey, hay and grain, cakes, seedlings, apples, citrus fruit and grapes, olive oil, cheese, wine, poultry, pigs, soap—all being marketed directly by the various producers. There was a mobile coffee vendor too, but Danny and Rory opted to have another coffee at the bakery, which was open and buzzing with customers, before they did any market buying.

The pair ordered two caffè lattes and took a table outside again. They could see that Mike had engaged extra staff for market day, and that they were all busy attending to orders. They surmised that the slightly older woman behind the counter was Mike’s wife, and wondered if any of the teenagers working the floor were their children. From where they sat, Rory and Danny could see a crowd of hundreds of people wandering past the stalls. No nearby parking spots were to be seen and later arrivals were having to park further away. Behind the stalls, nearer to the creek, a small group of youths was amusing themselves by kicking a football to each other.

Rory and Danny finished their coffees and crossed the road again. They purchased some eggs, a bag of grapes, a bag of apples, a tub of honey, and had just purchased a bottle of home-made tomato sauce when they heard, from the direction of the youths behind the stalls, Help! Help! Alfie’s in the water and he can’t swim!

Rory and Danny quickly ran in the direction of the call. The youths and others were gathered at the water’s edge. They heard someone say, The ball went into the water and we kidded Alfie into going and getting it; we didn’t know he can’t swim.

Which direction did you last see him? Danny asked, his eyes rapidly searching the surface of the creek.

Out in the middle, near where the ball is floating. He just went under and we haven’t seen him again, one of them offered.

Someone else called, I think I can see him, just below the surface to the left of the ball.

Danny grabbed at his pocket, handed Rory his mobile phone, kicked his sandals off and dived in. He swam quickly to where he, too, had seen something just below the surface. He bumped into a body, grabbed and lifted the teenager up to get his head above water. He wasn’t breathing. Danny felt no pulse at the boy’s carotid artery. He swam as best he could, clutching the inert boy to him and keeping his head up.

At the water’s edge, Rory—having put their market shopping and his own and Danny’s phones down on the ground—stepped into the water up to his thighs to help Danny drag Alfie up onto the bank. Danny quickly rolled Alfie face down, gave his upper back a thump to clear any water from his airway, then rolled him face up and started CPR, cardiopulmonary resuscitation. While Danny pumped Alfie’s chest rapidly, Rory felt for his pulse—he only felt a faint pulse that matched Danny’s pushing. After about twenty seconds Danny stopped pushing, tilted Alfie’s head back, lifted his chin by pushing the angle of his jaw forward, pinched Alfie’s nose shut and blew, with his lips covering Alfie’s, twice into his open mouth, enough to see his chest rise once, twice. Alfie lay unresponsive. Danny went back to pumping his chest, looked to Rory and said in broken speech as he thrust down repeatedly on Alfie’s chest, Grab…my phone and…call triple zero…and get an…ambulance…from Horsham.

Rory did as Danny bade and mentioned to the operator his own and Danny’s qualifications. At the end of the call Rory told Danny that an ambulance was on the way, then said, I’ll give you a break, the ambulance could be half an hour at best—I’ll pump, you breathe.

Rory took over the resuscitation pumping, then, after about twenty seconds, Danny breathed twice into Alfie’s mouth again. After that happened four times, they swapped so that Danny resumed pumping and Rory did the breathing.

After what seemed an eternity, and a few changes of role, but was only about eight or nine minutes, Alfie coughed, and coughed again. I think we’ve done it, Rory said quietly to Danny. Danny eased back with the pumping. Rory felt for a pulse again—it was there.

There’s a pulse, roll him over on his side, Rory said.

Danny grabbed Alfie’s wet clothes at his shoulder and pelvis and rolled him, crooking his upper leg to stop him rolling right over. The two men—and all the onlookers—saw Alfie cough some more, regain colour and open his eyes There were murmurs of relief amongst the onlookers.

Alfie started crying, moved his arms and mumbled, I want my Mum. Where’s my Mum?

Someone in the crowd, pointing toward the hotel said, She’s coming, she’s running.

Rory looked across to see a medium-sized woman with large breasts and dyed red hair nearing them. Alfie? Alfie? Is he all right? Is my boy all right?

Are you his mother? Rory asked.

Yes, yes. Is he alive?

Yes, he is, thanks to my friend here, Rory said, and we have an ambulance on the way too.

How did this happen? God, I wish we had a doctor in this town, she exclaimed. How did it happen? she asked again.

A youth of about seventeen stepped forward and said, We were just fooling around with the football, and it went into the creek. We encouraged Alfie to go and get it for us. We didn’t know he couldn’t swim. I’m so sorry.

"Didn’t you understand that he is too simple to even learn how to swim?" the mother asked angrily.

We didn’t think, and he wanted to go and get it, so we egged him on.

Fools! Of course he would want to go and get it; he loves water, it fascinates him, but he can’t swim. The youth retreated from the mother’s verbal attack.

By this time Alfie had revived more and was wanting to sit up. His mother knelt and hugged him.

Alfie coughed some more and his mother looked up to Rory and Danny. She said, Thank you ever so much for saving my boy. He’s a little bit handicapped. I don’t know you.

"I’m Rory Clark, and this is Danny Adkin. It was Danny who jumped into the creek to rescue Alfie, and he has led the resuscitating too. In a way it was fortunate that he was here. He’s an ambulance paramedic and knew exactly what to do. I’m only a doctor, but could help a little bit. By the way, it should not be too long before the ambulance is here. Alfie seems okay to me now, but I would suggest strongly that he goes to Accident and Emergency at the