SOMEDAY SOON by David Crookes

terrifying
predator had given up the chase.
    From where he stood, Koko could see the
silhouette of Faraway out on
the water. He saw shadows moving on the deck, then he heard a
splash and knew the dinghy had been lowered. He crept down as close
to the shore as he dared. After a few moments he saw the dinghy and
heard a voice call out.
    ‘Who is there…? Is that Mr Joe…?’ The voice
belonged to Sunday.
    Koko called back. ‘It’s me, Koko. I must come
aboard. Watch out for croc’s.’
    ‘We heard them.’ This time it was Monday’s
voice. ‘I got Mr Joe’s rifle.’
    Koko watched as the dinghy glided in toward
the shore. Monday stood in the bow, the rifle raised defensively.
Sunday was at the oars. When the dinghy reached shallow water Koko
quickly clambered aboard. Monday gave Koko the rifle and sat down
in the stern. Sunday pulled hard on the oars and the boat moved
back out into deep water.
    ‘Me and Monday bin takin’ turns on watch,
like Mr Joe told us,’ Sunday said between oar strokes. ‘Monday wake
me when he heard the croc. Why you come in the middle of the night,
Mr Koko?
    ‘There are people looking for me,’ Koko
said. ‘They blame me for the bombs because I’m Japanese. Joe told
me to come to the boat. He said to tell you he’ll be here later. If
anyone comes asking for me, you must tell them I’m not
aboard Faraway , all
right?
    As soon as he was aboard, Koko went to the
galley and made a pot of tea, then he sat alone outside on the deck
in the moonlight nursing a cup in his hands. Just before dawn he
got up and went below to a tiny cabin in the forepeak of the vessel
where he lay down among a pile of sail bags with his grief until
mercifully, sleep overtook him.
    An hour later Koko was awakened by the
throbbing of an engine. For a moment he thought Faraway was underway but a quick look through a
small porthole in the cabin told him the vessel was still at anchor
and the noise was coming from an approaching naval launch. Two
ratings and an officer stood on her deck. Koko could see they were
preparing to board Faraway . He
dived back into the sail bags and burrowed underneath them. Moments
later the throb of the launch’s engine stopped and he heard the
scuffle of feet on the deck above him.
    ‘ I’m Lieutenant Commander Grimshaw,
Royal Australian Navy. Is the master of this vessel
aboard?’
    ‘ No, Mr Joe in town. No one on board
but Monday and me.’
    Koko could hear the voices of the lieutenant
and Sunday clearly.
    ‘I have orders to commandeer this
vessel,’ the lieutenant continued. ‘I have here a document
detailing the terms and condition of secondment. It states that the
ketch Faraway is to be given
up to the Navy here in the Port of Darwin with her entire inventory
intact. In the absence of her master I am obliged to nail this
notice to the mast. Please draw it to his attention, when he
returns. He will see that it allows for the removal of all personal
effects from the vessel within twenty four hours, after which time
the Navy will take formal possession of her. Do you understand what
I have said?’
    ‘No, boss.’ Sunday said. ‘But I show Mr Joe
the paper when he come back.’
    Koko heard footsteps moving around the deck
and the sound of a hammer at the mast. Moments later the engine of
the launch roared to life and the little craft sped away.
    *
    Chatter from the Aboriginal children woke Joe
from a short sleep just before dawn. He got up and went outside. It
was a hot sultry morning. He filled a galvanized tub with water
from the rain catchment tank in the back yard and the children
began washing themselves while Faith made a makeshift breakfast
from an assortment of tinned food left in the house.
    While the children were eating, Joe went out
to the garden shed and was glad to see his BSA motorcycle had not
been stolen and used in the Adelaide Stakes. He straddled the old
machine, unscrewed the petrol cap and shook the bike from side to
side. There was a faint sloshing