CHAPTER 1

Eddie MastersDown Under

Eddie Masters listened to the strange sounds ashe gazed with half-closed eyes at the blue water rushingby. The wind, the seagull's urgent cry, a ship's whistle blast in thedistance. He could hear and feel the sea thumping the bow andside of the boat as it dipped and rolled with an uneven rhythm.And the sound of chatter, people talking and joking. Two men inthe row of seats in front of him wallowed in empty conversation.And the thought occurred to him that he might throw up.

He had become a night person since he had been workingwith the show, and in a way he looked like a night person. Thiswas too early for him right now, and he was in no mood to readthe paper as some did or to make vapid conversation with theperson in the next seat. So he sat and waited and thought aboutwhat might be his next move. Lately, the last two or three weeks,he had been thinking more about getting home to the States.He had even gone to United Airlines to buy a ticket only tofind that his two credit cards were maxed out. Well, he kind offigured that.

Eddie had not exactly been living a frugal life since the showclosed and that asshole Bunny had left him to clean up the messwith the promise that he would send funds from the States assoon as he got back. Yeah sure, you can rely on people in showbusiness, right? Why did he think he could trust Bunny? Thename alone was a dead giveaway. Too late to worry about thatnow. He needed money. Worst case, he figured Tommy Shugwould stake him to a ticket, but that was a last resort, and thisstuff he was doing now would hardly do the job. And then therewas Cassie.

'It's taking longer to get into Sydney today, must be a headwind,' one of the men in front of him commented.

'Do you know that you say that every morning, you knowthat?' the other man said. 'Hell, I wish you'd take the train. Weget in at the same time every day.'

'Think so? What's going on over there?'

'Fifteen more minutes and we'll be off this ferry. Oh that, acard game.'

The Manly-to-Sydney ferry pushed through the wind andwhitecaps of Sydney Harbour at a good rate. Spectacular viewsof the city and its environs could be seen by the commuters ifthey so desired, but few were looking. They had seen it hundreds,maybe thousands of times, and like Eddie they were not payingmuch attention to the huge bridge or the famous opera house asthe boat turned the headland and made for the docks.

Eddie Masters looked different from the other people onthe ferry and not just because of the Armani suit. Most of thesepeople were well dressed, businessmen and women, office types.This was not one of the very early trips, more the nine-to-fives,the business crowd. He had not seen the harbour, bridge, oropera house hundreds of times. In fact this was only his secondtime on a boat of any kind, the first, the Staten Island Ferry,there and back. The harbour and opera house and all the restwere beautiful but he was not sightseeing. Nor did he showany interest in what was going on with the other passengersincluding big Jim Church and his two sons, Young Jim andBert. The Church men also looked different. They appearedto be yokels out for a day in the city. Their clothes were cleanbut a little ill fitting and pretty much out of date. The old man,over eighty, sported a long, flowing beard that was whitish greyexcept for a small shock of red hair near the shaggy end. A goldwatch chain was strung across his still mighty chest, the typeof watch and chain not seen in the city for sixty years or more.Big, tough, rough-hewn men no doubt, they stood out as hicksand certainly out of place anywhere beyond the gate post of anoutback Australian farm.

The three Churches and one or two of the passengers werediscussing the card game that was in progress. Eddie paid littleattention or, to be more accurate, seemed a little irritated by thepeople who were beginning to bunch up around Young Jim andthe other players. One game was over and Young Jim picked upthe deck.

'Boys, did you ever see jack and his mother?' he said idly andto no one in particular. 'Here, I'll show you. Let's see now, howdoes it go again?'

Young Jim, young a serious misnomer because he wasover fifty, took the jack and queen of hearts, and placed themtogether in the middle of the deck. Then, with big, rough hands,he gave the cards a clumsy shuffle.

'Here,' he said, 'anyone can shuffle the cards but no matterhow much you shuffle you can't take jack away from his mother.They just won't be separated no matter what, here, take 'em.'

A couple of the passengers shuffled the cards. One, a shortman, with an umbrella hooked over one arm, gave the cards agood mixing, after which Young Jim placed the deck face downin the centre of the table. Then he began to turn the cards overslowly, one at a time. The jack of hearts appeared after just a fewcards had been turned. People watched with mild but mountingcuriosity.

'There he is, the jack,' Young Jim affirmed. 'The next cardis goin' to be his mother, the queen, and I'm willin' to bet she'sthere. The next card to turn over is goin' to be the queen ofhearts, an' like I say, I'll bet on it.'

Eddie now seemed a little curious. He stood up for a betterview and moved in just behind two men to watch the action.Some of the people made bets, small wagers of just a dollar ortwo. Then Young Jim turned for a private word to his father;thus, both men had their heads facing away from the table fora few seconds. Eddie leaned in between the two men standingin front of him and cut the cards, placing one cut on top ofthe other. There was a hush for a moment. One or two of thepassengers seemed as if they were about to say something, butnobody did. To the undecided after the shuffle this looked like agood thing. Now, after the cut, it looked like a sure thing. Eddiemade a bet. Other players made bets, bigger bets. Young Jimturned to the old man again.

'Do you have enough to cover all this, Dad?' Jim asked.The old man leisurely removed a huge roll of money from aninside coat pocket and carelessly moved his thumb so as to letthe notes fall over one after another. He nodded. Eddie lickedhis lips. Then, after a moment, he pushed his way to the frontand dove a hand into his pocket, took out all his money, abouta hundred dollars, and slammed it down on the table. Big Jim,without moving his head, gave Eddie a curious stare and then letgo with a loud belch and a Sydney Greenstreet shrug. A hint ofgreed registered on some faces at the sight of the old man's wadand a number of onlookers became players. Wagers fell quicklyonto the makeshift table.

'If these clodhoppers want to throw their money...