Chapter 01

Chain Reactions

It’s a nice sunny Monday morning in early April. Jim Dean calls to his ten year old son, Mack, to get him a cold drink from the cooler in the cab of the logging truck. Mack opens the cooler while Jim is hooking up the last chain to hold the logs in place. In a moment Mack is standing beside his father waiting to hand him the cold drink while his father puts tension on the chain before he ties down this end of it. Both react when a loud twang of snapping metal breaks the quiet of the forest.

Mack’s head turns to look where the sound came from. Jim lets go of the tensioner to grab the front of his son’s shirt. With a mighty heave he spins around to toss Mack three metres to land by the cab door while the two cans of drink go flying off into the surrounding forest. Jim is staggering and off balance when he dives for the ground under the truck, he’s off balance due to the time and effort he used to toss Mack away from the trailer. Jim is only halfway to the ground when the steel chain flies over the stack of logs to whip into the back of his head as it slams him the rest of the way to the ground.

The shocked boy’s feet hit the ground and he spins as he falls over, twisting his ankle. He’s facing back down the side of the truck when his rear hits the ground, so he sees his father hit by the flying metal. The chain continues to whip about like an evil snake. Mack knows not to go near a whipping chain or cable. Getting up off the ground he climbs into the cab of the truck and he grabs the hand microphone for the citizen band (CB) radio. He pushes the special red button of the emergency alarm on the box added to the side of the radio. He turns up the volume while he waits for a count of four before he speaks into the microphone.

For many kilometres around Mack the wail of the emergency siren rips through the air and the noise of the equipment in use. On hearing the sound they hate the loggers stop work. They turn off the equipment and down tools to wait to hear the message while moving toward their trucks. The voice of a scared boy comes through the radio, loud and clear, “Medical emergency. Sandy Knoll Camp Bravo Two. Medical emergency. Sandy Knoll Camp Bravo Two.” The logging sites here are called camps, a holdover from the very old days of living on-site while logging. They’re identified by an area name, grid reference code, and a number. All of the loggers know the codes for the camps in their area.

Marker Hanson and his brother Hammer are walking to Marker’s utility truck when the boy starts to talk. They both know the boy’s voice so they change to a sprint to pass those who started nearer to the ute. They race down the sides of the ute. They’re fast to open the doors and jump into the vehicle. Marker starts the truck and shoves it into gear. Three other men are tumbling into the back of the ute when he stomps on the accelerator and the truck leaps forward. They speed off and are at sixty kilometres per hour (kph) when Marker enters the fire trail to the clearing they’re in. At speeds of up to eighty kph Marker flies down a dirt track rated for twenty to twenty-five kph. The men in the back hold on tight while they pray he doesn’t lose control of the ute on the tracks.

In a fraction of the time it should take to travel there Marker is hitting the brakes when he nears the truck with his friend lying beside it. While the ute skids to a halt he says, “Hammer, grab my camera and take photos of everything.” He leaves the ute while Hammer reaches behind the driver’s seat for the camera Marker keeps there. He’s soon exiting the vehicle too. The men are climbing over the side of the ute. They critique Marker’s driving style while they wonder how he kept the ute on the rough narrow backwoods dirt tracks at those speeds.

Marker glances at Mack while he races to Jim. Mack is leaning against the cab with the microphone in his hand and tears streaming down his face. Marker kneels beside his lifelong friend to check for a pulse. He finds exactly what he expected when he saw the damage, no pulse. He stands and looks at the chain. He feels the weight of the world when he turns to walk over to Mack. Taking the microphone he activates it and says, “No need to hurry to Sandy Knoll Bravo Two, it’s too late.”

Other loggers acknowledge the report while they slow, turnabout, and go back to their work. It’s one thing to lose time and money to try to save a fellow logger, but there’s no point in doing so when it’s too late. Marker drops the microphone and he wraps the boy in his arms. Mack leans into him and sobs. The radio comes alive with a woman saying, “Ginger, collect your lunch at Sandy Knoll Farm. I’ll be with Irene.”

Another ute enters the camp and six men climb out of it. Hammer leads a limping Mack to the ute and has him get in as he says, “Jack, take Mack home, please.” The driver nods. “Mack, we can’t move anything until after the safety inspector’s had a look. I’ll bring your dad’s gear home.” Mack nods his acknowledgement of what he’s told while he climbs into the ute. As the ute drives away Marker turns to the ten men in the camp with him, “Right, the chain gave way. We need to find the broken link. It would’ve flown away when it snapped. It looks like it went on the far side, so let’s go there, form a line about a metre apart, and get looking. Hammer, take photos of everything while we search. I want clear evidence of the search and the find.”

One of the men looks up, “What’s wrong, Marker, chains go every now and then? We all know that.”

“Davy, I don’t know about you, but I’ve been in this industry since I was old enough to walk. In all that time I’ve heard of chains giving way every few months, and in each case it’s been a chain that hadn’t been inspected for rust or damage for months. I’ve never heard of a chain going only two days after being inspected and found perfect! Hammer, Jim, and I checked all of these chains on Saturday afternoon. Jim knocked one chain back, painting three links to go. He got one of his spares and we checked that. All four were perfect when we put them into the cab on Saturday. Someone had to have tampered with one of them since then.” The men are shocked and scared. They move to follow Marker’s orders because he’s their crew leader, plus the implications of what he’s said really frighten them.

They move to the back of the truck and form a line abreast to start a close search of the ground while Hammer takes photos of them. Several minutes later one of the men near the truck calls out when they near the cab. Marker moves up from his supervisory position behind them.

Davy points to a fresh looking dent in the back of the mudguard of the tractor’s rear passenger side. He asks, “Was that there before?”

Marker stops the line and tells Hammer to take photos while he and Davy look at the ground under the truck where they think the link may have gone. Davy soon points to a broken chain link. It’s on the ground near the other side of the truck. So Hammer takes some photos from this side before they move around the truck to have a closer look. Marker gets a torch out of the truck cab before walking around the truck.

Hammer takes photos of the link then he moves under the truck to get some closer ones. Marker shines the torch on the link, and swears. He can see the clean edges where someone cut into the side of the link for about two thirds of its thickness. Hammer gets a lot of photos while the men take turns to examine the cut link. None are happy about this. It’s a clear case of murder since the cut link will give way when someone is beside the truck tensioning the chain. Whoever cut it had to want that!

Davy steps back and says, “Hammer, until we know who did this, and why, I’d take things real careful if I were you! Since this is your truck we don’t know if the person who did this was after you or Jim! How many people knew he was borrowing your truck today?”

Marker replies, “It wasn’t broadcast, nor was it kept quiet. I know of about fifteen or twenty people who definitely know, and another twenty or so who could know. There were a lot of people hanging around on Friday afternoon when Jim asked to borrow the truck for today.”

The men are standing and talking when Jack returns, with Ginger’s lunch too. They wait for the ambulance, police, and the local industry safety inspector. It’s a half hour before they arrive, then a further hour while they go over it all. The local cop is upset when Marker insists he gets the district detectives and Scene of Crime people involved because it’s a murder. Two hours are lost while they come from the city on the plain below the mountains. By the time they’re finished and the site is tidied up there’s just enough time for the men to get back to their camp to pack up for the day, which they do. Hammer drives the truck home while Marker takes his ute after loading Jim’s gear into the back of it.

Sandy Knoll Farm

It’s a beautiful Monday morning while Irene Dean is baking cakes and pies to eat during the week. The local radio station’s country music provides a nice background noise for her. The CB radio base-station in the next room is louder than the music when the men talk to each other over the radio; most of it’s finding out where someone is. At the start and end of the day the CB is a constant loud chatter of men talking, but during the day it’s very quiet. About lunchtime you often hear women confirming where their husbands are while they take them a hot lunch.

Irene goes to the doorway when the emergency siren sounds. While the wail is annoying she’s glad one of the locals thought of the idea and put it into practice. With a normal CB radio it’s hard to tell if a message is urgent or not unless you listen real close to each of the messages transmitted, and that’s something the loggers don’t have the time to do. One local lad, the son of a logger, came up with a special box to attach to the side of any CB radio. The unit plugs into the sockets for the external speaker and the microphone, the unit has a red button on the side with a special programmed chip in it. The speaker and microphone then plug into this unit. When the button is pushed it sends a coded pulse recognised by the other units like it where the signal triggers a recorded wail of a siren at full volume. If you don’t have a unit attached all you hear are some beeps and pulses. This means the loggers can ignore the radio when not chatting on it, unless they hear the siren wail.

When she hears her son’s voice declaring a medical emergency Irene drops the cup of flour she’s holding as she staggers to a chair. She sits down while she waits, and worries. A couple of minutes later she hears Marker say it’s too late. Her whole body shakes when she starts to cry.

A bit later a car stops, a door slams, a knock on the door. Irene sits and cries. The back door opens and a large woman walks in, Mrs Sherri Walker picks up Irene and sits down with Irene in her lap. She cuddles her while she cries. Irene is about the same size as Sherri’s thirteen year old daughter so it’s no trouble to hold her. A little later Jack arrives with Mack. Sherri moves to the lounge so she can comfort them both at once. Jack leaves, taking the hot lunch for Sherri’s husband from her car.

About an hour later Mrs Hanson arrives with her eldest daughter. They set to cleaning the kitchen as the forgotten cooking is a real mess. Once that’s done they set about cooking a full meal for those who’ll be out at the farm for dinner tonight. Jemma knows Marker will bring Jim’s gear here and she’s arranged for his brother to bring his family and her family out too. Several other families of loggers will be by to see what they can do to help, so will many of the family’s non-logging friends. All will need food and drink. After checking supplies Jemma calls Jedda, her sister in-law, with a list of food and drink to bring out.

Evening

By sunset Irene and Mack have cried themselves out and had some sleep. It’s now time to wake them up because lots of people are here. Jemma hadn’t seen any need to wake them up when her family arrived or when the Walker family returned, but the trickle of well-wishers is now a flood. They both look like walking dead, but that’s to be expected.

A couple of trestle tables have appeared; they and the dinner table are covered with a range of drinks, finger foods, and snacks to eat. About a third of the people who live within fifteen kilometres of town are here to grieve with their friends. Some are here because their children are friends with Mack, some because they know Irene through the church or the Country Women’s Association, and many are logging families whose men worked with Jim. The main topics of conversation are how they can help Mack and Irene, along with the murder of Jim. Most people arrive, talk to Irene or Mack, and then go home. Others stay for a little longer while they talk to other visitors about how they can help Mack and Irene.

Hammer is without his truck for a few days while the police go over it for clues. They met him at the sawmill when he dropped the logs off. This murder has top priority and the senior detective is out at the farm to interview their only witness. So at eight o’clock Marker and Hammer take Mack to the den and stay there while the detective investigating the murder takes his statement and asks a few questions. This is a very quiet community and district with little violence, except for drunken fights on Friday and Saturday nights. But the last few months have seen a few violent assaults that may be race crimes. The Police Area Commander is determined to stop any such crimes in the region.

The police ask Mack to tell his story. They write it down. They have him go over a few points and hand him a written copy of what he said. He reads it and signs it. They ask a few more questions. But there’s very little he can tell them, apart from watching his father check the chains a few days earlier and telling what he saw today. They’re very interested in pinning down what the noise sounded like, and are very concerned about how sharp and loud it was. After about half an hour they leave. Mack sits there and has a drink while trying to collect himself. A bit later he asks, “Mister Hanson, why’s the sound the link made so important?”

Marker replies, “If the link had been rusted through and very weak the sound it makes when it snaps is different to that of a good link that’s been weakened. We found the link and it showed someone had cut it to make it give way. Your statement on the sound confirms it wasn’t an old and rusty link that gave way. That makes this a murder. The police now have a problem. They don’t know if your dad was the intended victim or if the person who did this was after Hammer because it was his truck the chains were with.” Mack nods his understanding. “I’m not too happy with the cops over this. Both Hammer and I had told them your dad checked the chains on Saturday and that chain is one he got from his box as a replacement and we all checked it. It seems you saying he checked them Saturday is more acceptable than our saying so. The bastards!”

Mack thinks on this for a moment then he asks, “Mister Hanson, do you think they may have thought you might be lying to cover a possible case of negligence in the care and maintenance of the chains? My confirmation of the checks and replacement means that isn’t possible.”

Marker gives him a long look before he slowly nods yes. “You could be right, Mate. I’m just so used to them not accepting our word on things, so I see it as another case of them not believing us due to our skin colour. Thanks for clearing that up for me. I can see how they may think we’re covering our own errors, but you give independent verification. Since you’re now the man of the house I expect you to call me Marker from now on, and call Hammer by his name too. OK?” The smile Mack gives back is weak, but it’s accepted while he nods his agreement.

Missing Mack

Mid-afternoon a few days after Jim’s death Irene calls for Mack to help her with something, but he doesn’t answer her. This worries her as he went for a walk that morning and said he’d be back by lunchtime, a couple of hours ago. She goes outside looking for him. She can’t see him on the house plateau so she checks the shed - still no Mack. It’s so unlike Mack not to do as he says so she’s beginning to get worried. She calls his mobile phone, but it doesn’t answer, so this is now a very big worry.

In desperation she gets on the CB radio to ask if anyone has seen Mack. One logger at Sandy Knoll Camp Echo One thinks he saw Mack pass by near them just before ten o’clock. That’s almost at the far edge of the forest area connected to the farm.

Marker gets worried when he hears the enquiry over the radio. He puts Jack in charge of the crew as they’re in ’clean up’ mode at the site and Jack can boss that OK. Marker sits in his ute and pulls a map out. He looks at the map while trying to work out where Mack might be headed as he knows all of Mack’s usual hunting spots are much nearer the house. He uses a ruler to show a direct line of march from the house to Camp Echo One and extends that line. It hits the junction of the two roads making up the front and side borders of the forest area known as Sandy Knoll Farm. On seeing this he has a good idea of where Mack is.

After picking up his radio Marker says, “Irene, I think he’s at Blue Dog. You know how he often visits the truck! I’ll go over to check it out.”

“You’re probably right! Thanks, Marker.”

Ten minutes later he parks his ute beside the burnt out truck Mack is named after. Walking up to it he can see Mack slumped over the wheel, asleep. Marker reaches in and shakes him. It takes a few hard shakes to wake him up. Mack turns to look at Marker. It’s clear he’d cried himself to sleep. Mack looks at the sun. He realises it’s afternoon and he meant to be home hours ago. He climbs down and gets into the ute. Twenty minutes later Mack is back at home and is soon asleep again, but in his bed this time. Marker heads back to his work.

Funeral

The Coroner releases Jim’s body on the Thursday after his death since the autopsy was short and simple. But the inquest is still a few weeks away because it’s not that simple and the police investigation is still going on. Irene organises the funeral for late morning on the Saturday of the next week, making it nearly a fortnight since Jim died.

Jim was one of those people who planned everything he could, even a prepaid funeral, all organised by him some years earlier when he buried his parents. Irene has one too. Jim’s planning makes it a lot easier on Irene and Mack while his life insurance policy helps with the bills.

The memorial service is at the church in the Wood Valley township before going to the crematorium in the city of Rivers. Those who wish to go to the city form a convoy to drive there. The ashes are given to Mack because Jim wants them spread on a flower garden at the farm.

Most of the town turns up at the church. Only Jim’s closest friends go to the city. One thing that stands out to many of the locals is the high number of tribal Elders who attend both services, both are a thorough mix of whites and Aboriginals. People are used to seeing mixed groups at Dean and Kelly family activities but they aren’t used to seeing so many of the senior tribal members at the activities as a group.

Jim, Irene, and Mack are of typical Celtic stock, about as white as you can get without being an albino, as all of their ancestors are from Ireland and Scotland. Most of Jim’s friends are from the Aboriginal community of the area. Thus people from both groups are often at his house. Mack wonders why the whole community doesn’t mix so well, except when the Dean family is involved; or, in the past, the Kelly family too.

The only sour note is when they exit the church at Wood Valley after the service there. Mr Parks, the richest man in the area who owns many businesses and forest leases around town, approaches Irene to offer his condolences. That’s OK, but in the next breath he offers to buy the farm and forest they own for two million dollars. Irene doesn’t know how to reply but Mack knows how to deal with this, and he’s very glad to do it!

Mack glares at Mr Parks as he says, “Hammer, please help Mum to the car.” With surprise at Mack’s commanding tone Hammer takes Irene’s arm from him and he helps her walk to the car. Mack glances at Marker, signs for him to stay with him, and he turns to Parks while Marker moves up beside him. A small crowd gathers around them when Mack stops. It’s clear Mack is angry while saying, “Mister Parks, are you just plain stupid or a very idiotic and insensitive vulture? You offered Dad four million bucks a month ago. Now he’s dead you offer Mum half the price hoping she’ll take it without thinking. I’ll give you the same answer Dad gave you! If you want our forest land you can have it for fifteen million dollars. That’s the offer, take it or leave it, and piss off.”

Irene can hear him and she smiles at his answer. Marker’s mother is on her other side to Hammer and hears it, so she smiles and says, “I told you at his birth, your son is small, strong, solid, tough, and dependable, like the truck.” Irene glances at her while she remembers Mack’s birth.

Mrs Hanson is the leader of the local tribe’s women and she goes to the birth of all of the tribe’s children. She often suggests a name for the child. Mack arrived a week early while Irene was over visiting Jemma, Marker’s mother was there too. The birth was quick and both women acted as midwives. The elder Mrs Hanson looked at the baby boy and said, “This boy’s like that old blue and white truck your grandfather used to drive - small, tough, strong, and dependable. Name him for the truck. Irene smiled and named her son after the old Mack truck two generations of her family drove until it was killed in a major bushfire. The wreck still sits where it died, as a sort of memorial. It saved the lives of over thirty men by driving through the firewall of the bushfire that trapped them in the forest that day. The truck was badly damaged in the process but it kept going until they were safe from the fire.

Those in the crowd try hard not to smile at the anger on Parks’ face when he turns around and stomps away. He had hoped to make the deal cheap, but all he got was a major embarrassment; and from a small boy too. The rest of the day for the Dean family goes as expected.

Note: The inquest held later finds Jim Dean was murdered by a person or persons unknown. The case is still open.

Life Goes On

On a Saturday in mid September the year after Jim Dean’s death Irene goes outside looking for Mack because he didn’t reply when she called him to get his lunch. It doesn’t take long to find him. She knows he’s not left the house plateau area, which is open to view for most of it. He’s not in the house, nor in sight, nor near the dam, so that leaves only the large equipment shed they use as a garage. She walks over to the shed. There he is sitting on a folding chair while sharpening the blades on Jim’s big chainsaw. All of the other logging gear is spread out around him and it’s obvious he’s been giving it all a full check and service.