Blades Series

Julian Moreland, aged 12 3/4, lives in Darwin with his widowed father, Craig, a colonel and helicopter flying instructor in the army. They have a close relationship, sharing a love of fishing and flying in helicopters. But Craig, who is in his late forties, has been in the military for thirty years. At Christmas, he retires from the army, and moves to Melbourne for civilian work in mid-January. On the afternoon of their arrival in Melbourne, Craig is killed in a car accident. He is placed in foster care until the funeral in Melbourne, and arrangements are made for him to live with his father's old friends in Darwin. But upset that his father is buried in Melbourne not Darwin, he runs away to become a street kid.      For the next two months he lives rough, avoiding the homeless, the gangs, and the drug addicts. Finally, he is drawn to Moorabbin Airport, and meets Arthur Cameron, the man who hired his father. Arthur takes him in, and helps Julian with his grief. One day, Julian saves a young boy from a vicious dog, and escorts him home, only to be confronted by the boy's older brother and two gang friends. He is accepted into the gang when they hear about the dog attack, and starts hanging out with them. He also confronts the man responsible for his father's death.       On a very hot day in late-March, they pass a parked car with a baby locked inside. Shortly afterwards, the car catches fire. Julian smashes his way into the car, grabs the baby, and turns to run just before the car explodes. He is badly burnt, shielding the baby from the blast, and taken to hospital. Whilst recovering, he has his thirteenth birthday, and makes friends with the first four men to help him at the scene, a photographer with the international paparazzi (the baby's cousin), two policemen, and the doctor now treating him. When told that Julian's an orphan, the wealthy grandparents of the baby he saved offer to adopt him, and pay for helicopter flying lessons when he is old enough.   

Julian, now doing Year Eleven at a private school, is celebrating his seventeenth birthday. Due to a compromise, he has obtained his fix-wing licence, and is now about to commence his rotary-wing (helicopter) endorsement. His instructor is Arthur Cameron, who quickly realises Julian is a 'natural'. He completes his endorsement training by the end of April despite a potentially fatal crash. In the July holidays, he accompanies his photographer friend to Uluru (Ayers Rock) area as his pilot on an aerial assignment. Whilst there, Julian meets a holidaying American family, the Cliffords, and becomes very attracted to their fifteen year-old daughter, Alison, and she to him. Her father, Matt, is a colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps. That night, Julian, Alison and her younger brothers Barry, Colin save a young child missing in the scrub. The following week, Julian reads news reports stating that two of the Clifford boys, Colin & younger brother, Dale, are missing near Mt. Baw Baw in northeast Victoria. He has a hunch as to where they might be, flies into a remote river valley south of the official search area, and explores it on foot for two days. He finds the boys just before the weather gets bad so he can't fly them out. Colin has a bad gash on his leg which becomes septic. When the bad weather, Julian is able to fly them out. Colin is still alive, but very ill. In gratitude, the Clifford family invites Julian to spend his next September/October school holiday break with them in southern California as their honoured guest. His decision to go places his mental health at risk  

Julian arrives in Los Angeles to be met by the whole Clifford family, except Colin, who is in hospital with complications. He is especially pleased to see Alison. They drive him to the hospital to visit Colin. Alison now has her driving licence, and takes him sightseeing next day to Venice Beach, where, as they are about to head home, he frees another child who has been left locked in a car in the sun. Julian then passes the required flight test and theory exam, and is permitted to fly helicopters in the USA. A friend of Matt's who runs a local radio station, KMAC, lets Julian fly the station's helicopter while the regular pilot is on leave. Julian does traffic reports twice daily. His accent on the radio makes him popular with listeners, as his feelings for Alison deepen.       Due to a prolonged dry spell, and strong hot winds from the desert, a brush fire breaks out in mountains north of L.A. The radio station tells Julian to pack a bag and fly up there with three reporters. He is one of the first to arrive in late afternoon. Next morning the fires flare up with the wind. All available helicopters are requested to assist, including Julian's. On that first day, in the morning, Julian carries two fire observers. They spot an arsonist. Then, they watch from the air as the massive fire engulfs the town where Julian spent the night, and save the life, at the last second, of a woman fleeing the inferno. In the afternoon, Julian assists a ground team in a search for backpackers missing in the fire area.       For the next four days, he flies several hours per day carrying fire spotters, ferrying fire fighters and equipment, and carrying-out evacuations. All the while, thoughts of Alison persist in his mind, especially when in danger. The Cliffords watch the action on TV. They see Julian in the thick of it, and are worried about him. On the fifth day, changes in the weather ease the situation. Julian is sent back to L.A. with the thanks of the authorities. Exhausted, he is welcomed home by the Clifford family, especially Alison. On his last day, the staff of KMAC give him a surprise farewell party. Later that evening, at L.A. Airport, there is an emotional farewell with the Cliffords. Julian takes Alison to one side, and tells her quietly that when they are both older, he wants to come back and marry her, She is delighted, and says 'yes', but it will be their secret until the time comes.  

Julian returns home to face a storm of controversy over the dangers he had faced at the fire front whilst under eighteen, originating mainly with California's child welfare agencies, and also a plague of bad memories of what he had seen and felt during that time. These memories lead to nightmares and a need to self-medicate with alcohol. All the subtle warning signs of a growing problem are there, but get missed by the adults in his life. And his requirement to give evidence to the U.S. authorities via a video link concerning his time at the fires does nothing to help his slide into binge drinking and alcohol abuse, and the deterioration in his behaviour that inevitably results. It is not until he seriously assaults his best friend from Darwin, Brian, on Boxing Day that he suffers a mental collapse, is diagnosed with a juvenile form of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and placed immediately in detox for three weeks followed by intense on-going counselling. With a lot of support from family and friends, Julian comes to terms with his demons. He passes Year Twelve, becomes a commercial helicopter pilot, and gets a U.S. Green Card. Finally, he marries the girl of his dreams at a wedding ceremony three years later in Melbourne, before working in America and Australia flying water-bombing helicopters, until their eventual permanent return to Australia to live with their children. Here, Julian commences flying rescue helicopters, having had enough of fighting major forest fires.