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another small country in Indochina. Most of the weapons had come from Russia and China.

Chapter 3
Collision Course

    Goondiwindi, Queensland, Australia —1963- 64

    November was hot as usual, but the summer storms were late this year. Paddy walked around with a scowl on his face. The cattle and sheep were running out of feed and lo s ing weight on the dry grasses left over from the spring flush. “I don ’t know what I ’ll do with those bloody cows and calves if it doesn ’t rain soon. There ’s nothing left in the back paddock, and bugger all in Long Tom ’s, ” he said to Jack . “ What do you reckon we can do? ”
    Jack thought for a while. “Bob Anderson, you know him, works for th e Shire Council? ” Paddy nodded. “Well Jim Brown was talking to him the other day and said there was good feed on the stock route down towards Thallon. If that ’s the case, maybe we can find a drover and walk them around for a month or so. ”
    â€œGood thinking, mate. That might work. Fancy a few weeks in a swag? ”
    Bugger it , thought Jack. What have I talked myself into here ? I don ’t want to go, not now when that new she i la at the Pharmacy has just arrived in town. “I ’ve dug a hole now! I suppose I ’ll have to go, won ’t I? ”
    Paddy smiled. “Do you good , mate. Anyway, if you join the army you ’ll be digging holes all bloody day and all bloody night, you silly bugger. ”
    Jack felt a surge of hope. “You mean I can join the a r my, Dad? ”
    â€œNot a bloody chance, my boy. We need you here. I ’m not as quick on my feet as I used to be. However, it ’s off to uni versity for you if your mother has her way, and she usua l ly does. ”
    Crestfallen, Jack went off to prepare horses and dogs, blanket roll, and supplies. A week later, he was on the road with two hundred cows and their calves, and an old drover named Ned Scully. Ned had been around stations and cattle for near sixty years. He proved to be good company and r e galed Jack with many tales of the outback and its characters. Around the campfire at night, they discussed all kinds of topics. One night the World Wars came up. Ned had been too old for World War II . Instead, he had enlisted in the Volunteer Defence Corps, a kind of h ome g uard. “We had no rifles at the beginning, just broomsticks to drill with. Then, when we got rifles, most were from the First World War and they wouldn ’t bloody well shoot straight. They gave us all ten rounds of ammo and told us not to waste it. The Japs must have been shitting themselves! ”
    Jack was more than interested in this conversation. “Did you go to the First War? ” he asked.
    â€œNah, I went to join up in 1915, but they said me eyes was no bloody good. ”
    â€œYou should have gone back in 1917, ” said Jack . “If you could have crawled across the doorstep they ’d have ta k en you. ”
    â€œFuck ‘em. The bastards had their chance. ”
    Once more nature intervened and good rain began to fall. They turned the cattle for home. As they went, the rain went with them, turning the roads into quagmires. They a r rived home a week before Christmas, exhausted, wet, and filthy. Paddy drove down to the stockyards to meet them and was pleased to see how well the cattle had done. He paid off Ned, who rode off with the rejoinder: “Thanks, boss, and you owe me a good bottle of rum for putting up with this young fella. Christ, he can talk. I couldn ’t get a bloody word in! ”
    â€œJeez, Dad, he hardly shut up the whole bloody time, ” said Jack.
    â€œDoesn ’t like competition, old Ned, ” said his father. “T hat was faint praise coming from him. ”
    * * * *
    They drove back to the homestead in companionable s i lence. As they pulled up to the veranda, Paddy said, “That was good thinking, about putting those cattle on the