Chapter 14
Helping the Collier’s
Hardship and disaster was fast becoming a memory. With providence
finally taking a turn to improve prospects, and life’s many challenges slowly
turning positive results, the many neglected recreational indulgences could be
appreciated. Don recovered from his injury and sought the company of friends
once more. They swung back into all the typical routines of weekend play. This
days games placed them between the school grounds and Sam’s place, off the
highway and deep into the bush where a team of bedraggled ‘collier’s’ toiled
making and selling charcoal; they had been processing the stuff in the same
area for years. Not many knew of their existence because their hours of work
were long and would go unnoticed when they did surface from the bush. It was
always in the dark of morning when they started, and at day’s end few witnessed
the handful of thin, wiry, sooty, black grimy men totter out of the airless humid
bush and evaporate in different directions in what seemed to be a vanishing
act; none had cars and it was doubted a home of any substance. One of the
workers, probably the caretaker who lived on the premises of the charcoal-pit,
housed himself in a makeshift ‘humpy’ made of barked saplings cut to size for
the frame, and tin and boards for the roof and walls. It was one room only, no
water or electricity, about nine foot square with a six inch steel round pipe
for a vertical flue providing a narrow path for the smoke rising from the dirt
floored fireplace. This is where he cooked and kept warm.
Don and his friends occasionally helped professionals undertake the
delicate process of piling billets of wood end on end to form conical piles,
then cover each pile with moist clay and dirt while ensuring air could be
manipulated through the bottom and up through the middle of each one; a fire
was lit at the bottom and made to slowly burn upwards and outwards by
controlling the oxygen intake. This process turned wood into charcoal and had
to be carefully regulated to stop it incinerating the wood to ash. It was hot
sweaty work, especially in summer when the temperatures away from the fire
reached over ninety degrees Fahrenheit. The dense bush locked out wafts of air breaking
through, and failed to allow natural processes to cool the dripping
perspiration on the men. The filthiest part of the job was removing the outer
substance to collect and stack the charcoal. Don and his mates saw fit not to
exert themselves too much in this section of the operation because it was too
hard and dirty for boys so young; they would skedaddle for home in a timely
manner and always got into trouble from their parents because of their begrimed
state. Water was a scarce resource, especially in the dry season. The era was
before the supply of township mains so waste was frowned upon. Problem being;
their grungy bodies had to be cleaned. The water in the copper soon became
tainted, offering it as useless for the next person. Fresh water was needed to
replace the old and the copper burnt more fuel in the re-boil. Work in the coal
pit was not seen as a popular pastime by their parents.
The area surrounding the charcoal district was abundant in wildlife with
red and black ‘Bull-Ant’ nests and ‘Funnel Web’ vestibules prolific. Adaptation
and confrontation with native creatures like the nasty crawlies growing and
living in natural vegetation, together with the variety of snake species and
the host of dangerous types of aquatic creatures was inevitable for those
dwelling in Australia. Most learn to
espouse a healthy respect for those species which can inflict pain, injury, or
take a life, but even privileged knowledge in their habits did not distract Don
and his friends from carrying out imperceptible acts of callosity on arthropods
like myrmecia (Bulldog ants) and other small creatures. Myrmecia can grow to
about one and half inches long and probably one of the most dangerous ants in
the world; it bites with its jaws and stings its victim at the same time with a
release of formic acid through an abdominal stinger. Some can jump and all are
fast and aggressive when disturbed. Don and his mates enjoyed planting
‘firecrackers’ in their nests and negotiated expeditious escapes to seek a
margin of safety, this was achieved by running to part a distance between
themselves and the fractious airborne ants. Not always were they successful in
attempts to eliminate the ants defensive mechanism, sometimes the blast would
launch an ant or two onto the runner causing instant pain and instigating
frantic gestures symbolic of a simpleton. With each ant having the ability to
sting over and over again the burning sensation following each injection was
agonizingly painful. Being truly territorial and utilizing extensive tunnel
systems to escape or attack prey they proved very protective, even to the point
of positioning sentinels around their mound. For another pastime Don would
catch a few red ants and put them on the edge of a black ants nest, then watch
the sentinels raise the alarm, swarms would emerge from the mound to protect
their turf and in doing so fight anything ferociously until victory or death.
The hunt for the ‘Funnel Web’ spider was just as ludicrous, Don was
fortunate never to be bitten from the many close calls. In numbers the ‘Bull
Ant’ has been known to kill people and animals, but it takes only one ‘Funnel
Web’ bite without treatment, and sometimes even with treatment to inflict
excruciating pain or death. The spider can grow to about five centimetres long
and the venom it inflicts through its fangs can offer all sorts of
complications to the health and wellbeing of humans. The burrows they defend
are not easy to spot for the uninitiated, they are about as round as a two
shilling piece and usually have a silk like entrance, but this was not always
the case as they nest under logs, in crevices or can be found just wandering
around. They have been known to sit quiescent anywhere; in shoes, swimming
pools, clothing, or in places completely unexpected, thus giving cause for
panic when detection is realized. Any sudden flurry may cause the spider to
react defensibly with a bite, if one was in striking range Don knew it best to
stay calm and not annoy it. Looking directly down into a ‘Funnel Web’ hole one
can see the eyes staring upwards and the silhouette of long fangs at the front
of the legs. Often small ‘firecrackers’ were detonated to try and dislodge them
from their nest, but the result was ineffective because it would kill them or
send them deeper into the burrow. They always tunnelled an escape exit
somewhere and one had to be careful not to stand near or over the hole because
they would attack in ferocious battle to defend their habitat. Even if the
spider was killed in the blast there was never evidence to prove their fate and
they would not come out if wounded, so Don invented another strategy to coach
them out, a piece of grass was used to titillate the opening, the spider would
become curious and stick its head out, but once they identified the danger they
quickly reversed to the safety of their tunnel. He experimented with numerous
artifices to catch the spiders alive and found the best modus operandi to be
the use of petrol. Only a small amount was required, it was poured down the
hole, and then he would sit away from the spider’s peripheral vision of exit
and wait. Only a minute or two passed before the spider cautiously departed the
safety of its shelter. Don had to remain very still until it was satisfied the
coast was clear, as it ventured out wholly to escape the effects of the fuel he
would close the hole with a stone and cover the spider with a glass jar. After
forcing it in the jar with a stick and pouring a little water in to dilute the
petrol he secured the lid. Then, what was considered to be fun for a child; two
were placed together on the ground to fight. When he was through with his
macabre entertainment a match would be struck and thrown on them. The flame
slowly burned the watered down inflammable causing popping and low crackling
noises. These activities kept him amused on many occasions and paved the way
for future homicidal outcomes.
The ‘collier’s’ did not mind the presence of youth hanging around the
workplace and confirmed this with proud responses in conscientious efforts
through praise and friendly communication. None had a secondary school
education and most had no education at all. They simply did what was taught to
them by their father’s; making charcoal. Their broader knowledge was limited
only to the local area and bush heritage, they did not have enough money to
change their lifestyle, travel or buy luxuries, but they spoke of many such
dreams. They were hard, rough men, who had no time for the shenanigans and
provocations from the opposite sex. Bias and bigotry initiated conversations
crude and calumnious, and often construed attacks towards their own partner, or
women they once knew. Talk persisted in reference to sexual encounters, female
stupidity, a woman’s lack of understanding, and a lack of common sense they
believed every woman demonstrated. They united in labelling women as useless by
commenting;
“They are only good for
fucking and can’t do even that right most of the time, their own body even
rejects them on a monthly bases; and they don’t ever stop bloody winging - ever.”
Don was at an impressionable age and whether the mixing with people like the
‘colliers’, together with his locality of development in general had in effect
any influence on his upbringing is probable; but uncertainty of relevance
regarding the extent it influenced his future behaviours is debatable. He had a
loving family and enjoyed every moment he spent with them, and from the area in
general he took many pleasures and many disappointments in the friendships and
bond he shared with peers such as Weepy, Sam and Fran. Where he lived should
have prepared his growth for the appreciation and veneration of all living
things; it was not to be.
This may be a sceptic and premature assessment so early in the story
because he was not to know, in his future his virtue was to be tested. Within
each of us rest circumstantial, social, psychological and intellectual
phenomenon possibly effecting detraction from sane reasoning to deprive a good
socially accepted character from moral standards. Don’s life to date may have
suffered a deep seated emotional disturbance from the witness of his father’s
murderous crime aboard the ship from England,
and he had an ongoing adverse union of interpersonal situations with Sterge and
friends, but he did not yet exhibit any real pathological or sociocultural
dilemmas, or not yet lost anyone dear to him or been deprived of discipline or
parental love to cause such syndromes, and was given the best affordable from
his family. Maybe biological abnormalities, genetic, mental or emotional factors
and the billions of neurons and the many glial cells occupying a brain can
defect and trigger neurobiological and innumerable disorders, if this be the
case it could cause irrational dysfunctional behaviours with unforgivable and
unredeemable predatory actions. Even the lack of neurochemicals such as
abnormally low serotonin or endorphin or hormonal indifferences can inhibit the
perception of various stimuli thus allowing a person to function outside social
norms. It is impossible to reason Don’s forthcoming behaviours, but whatever
really actuated future events is immaterial because it resulted in turning
septic his moralistic judgment, and considering the atrocities he will commit
as a decision of revenge, it paved the way for what could be termed a
‘sociopathic personality disorder’, but then, and even today Don would dispute
the fact he was in any way cruel, misogynistic or disposed to psychological
variability’s, in any case he would rebuff the term ‘psychotic’ because he knew
what he was doing and could rationalize each part of his decision making
processes.
As for the future of his friends, Weepy, Sam, Fran and to some extent
Sterge, Don will later reveal hypocrisy of the Pharisees in explanation for the
reasons pertaining to their psychotic behaviour and not his. He believed the
crimes they later commit with innate unmerciful attitudes could well have been
supported and even germinated by the mundane and regressive lifestyle of not
only the company of the charcoal men but their whole social upbringing and
seclusion from main social order. The bush had no means for them to further
themselves and the lack of rules and regulations gave them sovereignty over
their own liberties.
Comprehension of this passage above analysis regarding Don’s past and
future impeding dilemmas can only be seen as explicable when his whole life is
looked at in context with upcoming mitigating circumstances. When evil within
is activated by the demoniac monstrosities of friends it affects his stable
‘modus vivendi’ and causes traumatic change; – read on. WATCH THIS BLOG!
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