Chapter 18

The lorries were soon trundling along at a respectable 20-25mph (30-40km/h).

While that may not seem fast, with the roads being rutted, hilly and barely sealed, it was a good pace. The convoy slowed to 15mph (25km/h) as they passed through Betano.

Running over people’s kids, pigs, cows, and chooks was not the done thing. The team wasn’t surprised that the village’s early risers scurried inside when they heard or saw the trucks.

Once out of the village, they picked up their pace again. It was about 6mi (10km) to the Rib River and the bridge. The convoy had to slow frequently due to the condition of the roads.

They were all glad the country was entering the winter season, such as it was. Here that just meant less rain, as 30^oC (86^oF) plus or minus about 3^oC (5.4^oF), was the norm, most days of the year.

They pulled up short of the rather rickety, single-lane bridge. David and Jacky jumped out of the truck and went to scout it out. Within moments of walking away from the area near the trucks, they disappeared.

Meanwhile, the rest took a break to stretch their legs and nibble from their rations. Anton went to rouse on the men for joking and kidding around when he realised it was all an act.

These men were as alert as any soldiers he had ever been in contact with. They were supposed to be elite Japanese soldiers and afraid of no man. So, they acted like it and spoke like they were, in Japanese.

Anton suspected that he wasn’t running this show.

Anton was startled when Jacky and David walked back to the lorries, not ten minutes later.

They squatted down with the men, and Jacky said, “It’s all clear for the next few miles. Let’s push on for the next ten miles and then pull up for morning tea. I believe there is a larger town called Same, not much further up the road. I would prefer that we not stop there.”

“They may have patrols, but they shouldn’t stop us. Another three miles on is the next small town, Holarua. We are most likely to find our friends in the mountains between the two border towns that are about seven miles from Holarua. I think that will be a good place to have lunch.”

The men nodded and clambered aboard the trucks.

The convoy passed through Same and Holarua unmolested, even though they did get plenty of looks.

Several other lorries just like theirs were parked in the two towns, and they did see soldiers, but they and the locals weren’t bothered by a small convoy going through. It seemed as if this was very normal around here.

Ned kept an ear to his ‘spell’ modified radio in case of any chit-chat about them passing by, was said. He didn’t know exactly what Jacky did to his radio, but it automatically cycled through the frequencies. It stopped if it picked up anything intelligent.

If he didn’t think the conversation was important, he just had to twist the dial again. He did take note of the frequencies that he heard the most chatter on. It always amused that idle chit-chat could tell a man a hell of a lot.

The next 7mi trek was mostly uphill, and the lorries did labour a bit. Most of the road left a lot to be desired. They even had to stop so Jacky and David could clear a small landslide in one spot.

They passed through the small village on the Manufahi side of the border with the Ainardo Province and climbed up through the switchback. A fairly straight section led to the border, and about a half-mile later, Jacky had Abe stop, as he was now driving.

Jacky and David jumped out and then performed some magic that had the other soldiers grinning. They flattened out a single lane road about 100 yds (91m) long in total and some 20yds (18m) deeper into the forest from the main road.

It became a nice pull-off area that was more than long enough for the two lorries to drive into and out of again. From the road, the green trucks were not visible. The trees and Jacky’s shield would also diffuse the smoke from their campfire.

The clearing was also wide enough so that they could set up camp behind the trucks and under the shade of the eucalyptus trees. David and Jacky had even stacked up the bushes they cleared into usable firewood.

The men quickly had the lorries pulled up in the lay-by, and then they were busy setting up a camping area and their tents.

They soon had lunch cooking.

Anton approached Jacky.

“May I ask why you picked here?” Anton asked Jacky as the men were busy getting a fire lit.

Now that he was out of the truck, Anton could feel that the place he wanted to go to was very close. He couldn’t believe his luck.

Jacky turned and looked to the south, and then he frowned thoughtfully as he replied, “It feels as if we need to be here.”

Anton realised that if he could feel the portal, then Jacky, who had also travelled through one, could too. He noticed several of the men also stopped every so often and looked to the south. It was like an itch in the back of your head. It was almost as if it were calling to them.