Read The Cadet Corporal for Free Online

course took them down a gentle slope into a tangle of gullies and small bushes. The only real guidance other than the compass was the flicker of car headlights over to their left whenever a vehicle went past along the highway. There were so many bushes and small washouts that Graham completely forgot to worry about snakes. So, apparently, did Andrews as he made no further comment. After five minutes of shuffling along they reached the edge of a gully. In the starlight Graham could see it was only a couple of metres wide but it looked to have steep sides.
    â€œTake your time going across this,” he cautioned.
    To no avail. Andrews slid down with a sharp thud and a cascade of sand and pebbles. “Ow! Aargh! I think I’ve broken my leg,” he cried.
    Graham had been just about to climb out the other side. A stab of alarm made him spin around. He whipped out his torch and turned it on. Andrews was half lying, half crouching in the bottom amid a cloud of fine dust. “Which leg?” Graham asked anxiously.
    â€œUh! I dunno,” Andrews replied. He squirmed and struggled to his feet and looked down at both legs.
    â€œNeither,” Graham said, relief adding an edge of sarcasm to his voice.
    â€œI could have!” Andrews grumbled in an injured tone. He rubbed his right leg but had no difficulty climbing out of the washout. This time Graham kept the torch on till everyone had safely crossed. Then he turned it off and told them to have a drink while they recovered their night vision.
    The compass march was resumed. The section went up over a wide gentle ridge through very open bush. The soil was sandy and almost devoid of grass. Up to his right Graham saw the glow of the officer’s fire. ‘This is the ridge which comes down from our bivouac area to the highway,’ he thought, relieved to be sure of where they were.
    A hundred paces on, just as they were starting to go down the long gentle slope on the western side of the spur, Dianne suddenly said, “I need to go to the toilet. Can we go back to camp please?”
    Graham gave a short laugh he was so surprised. “We are in the middle of an exercise. We can’t go all the way back just so you can go to the dunny.”
    â€œBut I really need to go. It is urgent,” Dianne wailed.
    â€œIf you’d mentioned it when we were back at that gully you could have gone easily,” Graham said. “The girl’s latrine was just near there.”
    â€œBut I need to go! Can we go back please?” Dianne persisted.
    â€œNo! Just go over behind a bush somewhere. We will wait here,” Graham replied.
    Dianne was plainly appalled. “I can’t just go out here! Not in the bush! Not in the dark! I need a toilet.”
    With an effort Graham bit back a sarcastic retort asking why she was different from other girls. “It’s dark,” he said. “No-one will see.”
    â€œNothing much to bloody see anyway!” Halyday added.
    â€œShut up Halyday!” Graham snapped. “Look Dianne, take Kirsty and use your torch. Find a clear spot and then turn the torch off till you want to come back,” he said, exasperated at all the song and dance about what he thought was such a trivial thing.
    â€œBut something might be there!” Dianne wailed.
    â€œA big snake might bite you on the bum,” Halyday said, then snickered.
    â€œShut up Halyday! Oh hurry up!” Graham cried. He knew time was slipping away.
    Kirsty took out her torch and switched it on, then said, “Come on Di.”
    To Graham’s relief Dianne followed Kirsty off into a fold on the ground behind a bush. ‘I wonder how the time is going?’ he thought. To his dismay he saw it was already 2040. He knew that there were seven legs in the course and he had to get around in 120 minutes. That allowed about 15 minutes for each leg; to do the calculation and then walk the half kilometre or so. ‘We should have covered