I meant to find the place where all good things begin
– Lord Huron
To smell her scent and watch her dancing in the wind
And I when I die I want her lying by my side
In my grave.
Sydney – June 1997
Camilla just gotten back from the supermarket when she ran into Alison in their apartment. It was an unwritten rule of the flat that Friday nights were fend for yourselves affairs as far as dinner was concerned. Throughout the week, the six undergraduates in the Cowper St apartment in Randwick attempted to plan dinners and share food. However, Fridays were often chaotic with sudden party invitations and dates changing plans at the last minute.
Camilla would have asked Alison if she wanted to share her meal, but this night Alison clearly had other plans. Alison, a cute 20-year-old, was dressed in a camouflage uniform and black ankle length boots. Her shortish blonde hair and feminine facial features were the only giveaway that a girl lay beneath her military garb.
Alison smiled broadly at Camilla and chatted away like nothing especially interesting was happening to her that night. Camilla idly thought about how Alison could have been dressed up for a night out, but looked just as comfortable wearing her heavy black boots and camouflage uniform.
“What is on this weekend?” Camilla inquired. “It looks like you are moving out with all that stuff.”
Camilla was observant. Next to the front door, Alison had set down her webbing, pack, and green echelon bag. It was literally every piece of army equipment Alison owned, all packed and seemly in neat order.
“Queensland!” Alison said excitedly. “I’m going to the jungle training centre in Canungra. It’s going to be amazing!”
“Will you get to go to the beach?” Camilla asked, genuinely not understanding where Alison was going or what she would be doing.
“I doubt it. We are going to be in the bush the whole time. I don’t even know if it’s near a beach.”
“I don’t know how you keep up with your study with all these army trips you do.” Camilla said.
“It’s only June.” Alison replied. “I still have a month before mid-year exams. So I’ll have two weeks to study after I get back. I’ve never failed a subject in my life, and I’m good at cramming. I should be fine as long as I don’t get any other distractions. And besides, it’s not like I have a busy social schedule.”
Camilla could have nodded in agreement, but she didn’t. Alison was more than pretty enough to meet any guy she wanted but, at that moment, she was single. And besides, it wasn’t like Camilla was seeing anyone either.
“Oh well. Hope you have fun. Are you going tonight?”
“No, just to the depot now and then there is a bus taking us from to Penrith. The plane leaves from Richmond tomorrow.”
“Penrith and Richmond! Could the army pick more boring places to build its bases?”
“Probably not. What are you doing tonight?”
“Not much. You know me; always the bridesmaid.”
“That’s not true.” Alison looked at her watch. “I have to go. I’m getting a lift into the depot and they are meeting me out front in five.”
“In five? Gee Alison, you are so army!”
“Thank you!”
“See you later, ‘Private Benaud.’”
Canberra – June 1997
The drive to the bus that night was quiet; uncomfortably quiet. Normally, Christian would have driven himself, but a bus was waiting for him and they had ordered him to use it. The bus would transport him to Penrith in outer western Sydney, which is close to the mountains that once posed a challenge for early explorers trying to reach the interior of Australia. Sydney ended at Penrith.
But that was the 19th century. Christian would leave Sydney this time in a much more modern way; in the back of a Royal Australian Air Force transport plane. A first time for him and probably most of his soldiers, too. That was the reason that he was now heading to Penrith in the bus on a Friday night. Christian would meet up with the rest of the company in Penrith and Richmond air base was a short drive from there. That is where they would leave from the next day en route to Queensland and also where they would return two weeks later. There would be hustle and bustle aplenty after he arrived to prepare for the flight to the camp in Queensland.
But that was later, and right now the car was quiet. Beth was driving him in for the bus tonight, but she was not happy to be doing it. There had been a time when she would have gladly driven Christian the twenty minutes along Canberra’s wide open and rarely busy roads. But that was a long time ago. They had been together for five years and things between them were no longer good.
Christian was glad to be getting away. He had two reasons for wanting to go: visiting the Land Warfare Centre and getting away from Beth. They barely spoke anymore, even though they lived and worked together. It was like they were just sharing the house for convenience. They even drove to their office in separate cars. It was getting ridiculous, but neither of them had had the strength to pull the trigger on their relationship yet.
When Beth’s car arrived at the army depot in the city, Christian got out and took his bags from the boot. Beth sat in the driver’s seat, not bothering to unbuckle her seat belt and step out of the car.
“I’ll see you in two weeks,” Christian said, trying to be pleasant.
“Bye,” Beth said with little enthusiasm and barely looking at him. Even the tiniest gestures were now an effort. Every small favour was now a chore. There was no farewell hug or kiss.
Christian shut the car door, and then she was gone. He picked up his bags and carried them to the waiting bus. He placed them in the cargo bay and ambled over to the driver, who was checking names off his list.
Looking at the driver, he said, “Lieutenant Holland reporting.”
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