Challis - 01 - Dragon Man Read Online Free PDF Page B

of a Dragon Rapide lying in
pieces in a barn north of Toowoomba. Hed paid ten thousand dollars to buy the
wreck and a further fifteen hundred to have it trucked down to Victoria. There
was a serial number, A33-8, as well as an old VH registration, but Challis knew
nothing else of the particular history of his aeroplane. He knew that in 1934
de Havilland had flown the prototype at Stag Lane, in the UK, as a faster and
more comfortable version of the DH84 Dragon, with Gipsy Queen 6 motors instead
of the Gipsy Major 4s, but who had imported his Rapide, and what had she
been used for?

    He turned on a lathe. Several pieces
of the airframe had been damaged, sections of the plywood fuselage casing were
lifting away, the six passenger seats had rotted through, and both motors would
need to be rebuilt. He was also attempting to find new tyres, and had asked a
machinist to manufacture a number of metal parts to replace those too rusty to
be restored. It could all take years. Challis was in no hurry.

    A woman came in, smiling a greeting.
The dragon man.

    Kitty.

    Challis knew that Kitty wasnt her
real name, but derived from Kittyhawk. They exchanged pleasantries, then Kitty
fetched overalls from a hook on the wall and went to the other end of the
partitioned space, where the fuselage of a 1943 Kittyhawk fighter sat on the
concrete floor, next to an engine block. The only other restoration project in
the room was a 1930 Desoutter, which was close to completion.

    Challis returned to his lathe work.
Behind him, Kitty began to remove the sludge from the engine block. It was
companionable working with her. Challis felt some of the blackness lift away.
He didnt have to account for himself here. He didnt have to apologise for, or
hide, his obsession with the Dragon. Here it was as if he didnt carry his
whiff of people who had died terribly or committed terrible things. He was
simply Hal Challis, who liked to fly aeroplanes and was restoring a 1930s
Rapide.

    The moon was out when he finally
drove home. The eyes of small animals gleamed in his headlights. The telephone
was ringing in his hallway.

    Yes. He never said his name.

    Hal?

    His sense of calm left him. Some of
the days badness came leaking in to take its place. He dropped onto the little
stool beside the phone. Hello, Ange.

    She didnt speak for a while. An
early Merry Christmas, Hal.

    You, too.

    I thought, I might not get an
opportunity to ring you next week. Everyone here will be hogging the phones on
Christmas Day, so I thought, why not call you tonight, get in early.

    Good thinking, Challis said. He
wished he had a drink. Look, Ange, Ill take this in the kitchen, okay?

    If this is a bad time Ill

    No, nows fine, just wait a moment
while I go to the kitchen.

    He poured Scotch into a glass, stood
the glass on the bench top, stared a moment at the wall phone next to the
fridge, then let out his breath.

    Im back, Ange.

    Im trying to picture your house.

    Its just a house.

    A catch in her voice. Not that Ill
ever see the inside of it.

    Ange, I-

    I imagine somewhere peaceful and
quiet. I miss that.

    Yes.

    Im not a bad person, Hal. Not deep
down inside.

    I know youre not.

    Temporary madness.

    Yes.

    I cant really believe it all
happened like that. Like a bad dream.

    Yes.

    You do forgive me, dont you?

    I forgive you.

    The answers came automatically. Hed
been giving them for years.

    She said, in a wondering voice: Youre
an unusual man, Hal. Other husbands wouldnt forgive their wives, not for
something like that.

    Challis swallowed his drink. So,
Ange, will your mum and dad come on Christmas Day?

    Change the subject, why dont you?
Mum will, Dad wont. He doesnt want to know me. She broke down. God, seven
years, and he hasnt been once to see me.

    Challis let her cry herself out.

    You still there, Hal?

    Im here.

    The night was still and dark. The
house was like an echoing shell around him.

    You dont say much.

    Ange

    Its okay, Hal, I have to go
anyway. My