Fox Is A Lion

By Osran Morson

The Fox Is A Lion is an action adventure story bridging 2 continents, Australia and Africa, and a ship.

Based on a true incident, this story follows an abused eleven year old migrant boy who escapes from an orphanage in Australia circa 1956.

After being severely punished by a School Headmaster, Miles Taylor's mind snaps inside, having had enough of being continually punished unjustly. He sets his mind to find his Father who is somewhere in Africa doing humanitarian work for the African people. With the authorities in hot pursuit, he manages to avoid capture in the Australian city suburbs and then stows away on a ship. In Africa the Zulu nation take the boy's plight seriously and help him cross the wilds of the African jungle to find his Father.

In the background Miles Taylor is being pursued by the Police, Government Authorities, World Newspapers and wild animals.

"I thought it was fantastic and would make a good series. Miles' escapades are a thrilling action adventure." â Lorraine K. Western Australia.

• Language: English
• Publisher: eBookIt.com
• Release date: Apr 26, 2016
• ISBN: 9781456623135

Book preview

The Fox Is A Lion

by

O.H. Morson

The Fox Is A Lion by O.H. Morson

(Genre: Fiction, Young-Adult, Action & Adventure)

© Copyright 2013 O.H. Morson

All Rights Reserved

All rights reserved; no part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher

Copyright © O.H. Morson 2013

The Fox Is A Lion characters, names and related indicia are trademarks of and © O.H. Morson.

The moral right of the author has been asserted.

Publisher: eBookIt.com

ISBN 9781456623135 Ebook Edition

First printing September 2014

Contents

CHAPTER 1 – THE FIERY HEADMASTER

CHAPTER 2 – TIME TO DISAPPEAR

CHAPTER 3 – AVOID CAPTURE

CHAPTER 4 – THE RESCUE

CHAPTER 5 – AN OCEAN VOYAGE

CHAPTER 6 – CONFESSION TIME

CHAPTER 7 – THE CAPTAIN'S DECISION

CHAPTER 8 – ESCAPE INTO AFRICA

CHAPTER 9 – ZULU CHIEFS

CHAPTER 10 – ZULU RESCUE

CHAPTER 11 – ZULU TRAINING

CHAPTER 12 – UNDERCOVER BUS

CHAPTER 13 – BORDER CROSSING

CHAPTER 14 – ZULU WAR

CHAPTER 15 – VICTORY

CHAPTER 1 – THE FIERY HEADMASTER

27 boys, all lined up at the school rear assembly area, were being yelled at by the Headmaster, Mr McManus, for being 5 minutes late for school.

Mr McManus was terrorizing the boys by waving a cane in front of their faces and yelling, very loudly, every bit of hatred he could think of about boys from orphanages.

You Home’s Kids are always trying to get away with something, with such farfetched excuses, barked Mr McManus. You are all going to be punished right now. Each of you is going to be caned twice, one on each hand; one for being late and one for telling lies.

That is when the crying started. Some were bawling loudly, others just wimping and shaking all over. They were kids from primary school grades 4, 5 & 6.

Three boys were caned, then came Miles’ turn. You could hear his knees knocking as he was shaking all over and about to cry.

Whack! Miles cringed with pain.

Miles yelled, NO! pulling away both his hands and hiding them behind his back and stepping backwards away from the threatening cane.

Miles yelled out loud again, scaring all the birds out of a tree, This is not right, you are caning us for something we didn’t do. Being late was not our fault, we were held back at the Home because someone had stolen a box of oranges.

Miles paused to wipe away a few tears then very quickly put his hands behind his back again, Ring Mr Ronkin at the Home and he will explain.

Mr McManus was glaring with eyes like knives, cutting Miles in two. He was bright red in the face and slobbering a bit from the mouth.

Miles Taylor, I know you well, don’t I. Just because you are eleven years old, you think you know everything. You think you can talk your way out of this, as you have tried previously and failed. You’re an agitator Taylor and it wouldn’t surprise me at all if you were the ringleader and organized all of this. Well it is not going to work and you are going to be caned the same as the rest of your kind.

He glared at all the other boys threatening them by waving his cane at each of them.

The reason I know you are lying Taylor is that there are twenty-seven of you here. Where is the twenty-eighth boy? He arrived on time, but all of you thought you would be clever and give some tall story why you were late. Well that doesn’t work with me, I know that you Home’s Boys lie and cheat.

He started to poke Miles in the chest with his cane.

Taylor, hold out your hand right now.

Miles stepped back out of range of the cane, Donald is the fastest runner in the school and we had no hope of keeping up with him. Grades 1, 2 and 3 went to school by bus. All the other primary school kids had to run the four miles barefoot in single file. We couldn’t run on the footpath because the hot weather had melted the tar, and with the prickles in the side grass meant we have to run single file on the narrow strip between melted tar and prickles. That slowed us down enormously.

Mr McManus was getting angrier, staring at Miles with razor blades. He stepped closer to Miles to try to jab him again with his cane, but Miles kept backing up and staying out of reach.

There was no way we could have kept up with Donald. He was too fast for us, said Miles.

You are breaking my heart, said Mr McManus, glaring at Miles trying to get close enough to whack him with his cane. You could write a book with all that rubbish. Stand still! Stop moving backwards, and take your punishment. Put out your hand Taylor.

Miles backed up some more in defiance.

Go to the end of the line, I will deal with you last, after I have punished all these other mongrels.

Miles went to the end of the line, which gave him a big breathing space before the Headmaster would cane him again. The Headmaster continued caning each boy, once on the left hand and once on the right hand. As he got closer to Miles, the crying got louder and louder.

Mr McManus kept yelling out loud, Stop crying or I will cane you again.

The crying would fall silent for about ten seconds and then start again.

Miles was becoming very agitated and trembling all over; his caning was getting closer and closer.

Finally, Mr McManus stood in front of Miles, but before addressing Miles, he yelled at all the other kids.

Don’t move an inch, stay in line until I have dealt with this dissident.

Turning to Miles, he commanded, It is now your turn, Miles Taylor, put out your right hand, face up.

Miles put both hands behind his back in defiance.

Mr McManus was becoming more and more furious, and redder in the face, jabbing Miles on the chest several times with the end of his cane.

Miles backed up some more, refusing to obey him.

The whole school was watching the goings on from their classrooms. There were kids hanging out of windows everywhere. Even the teachers were watching.

Mr McManus turned towards the school pointing his cane at them and started yelling.

Get back inside and back to your desks or I’ll cane all of you!

As Mr McManus turned back, Miles backed up some more, keeping out of reach of the cane.

Stand still, said Mr McManus. You’re a dissident Taylor, go to my office right now and I will deal with you after I’ve dealt with the rest of these liars and cheats. You are in big trouble disobeying me, especially in front the whole school.

Go on, move yourself, now!

As Miles turned to go, Mr McManus whacked him twice on the back of his legs. Miles was wearing shorts so the cane hit bare legs making Miles jerk forward, nearly falling to the ground.

Angrily Miles turned around saying, That hurt, and grabbed the cane and snapped it in half, then started abusing him, You stupid old man. See if you can cane anyone with this.

Miles threw the two halves of cane at Mr McManus.

You’re nothing but an ignorant old man who hates everybody. You just want to hurt people especially kids. No wonder all the kids and the Teachers hate you.

Miles then started running towards the school back entrance.

Mr McManus chased after him.

The other twenty-six kids took this opportunity to escape, and ran out of the schoolyard and into the bush to hide.

Mr McManus was puffing and panting and gave up the chase. He turned and started yelling at the disappearing kids who were now fading into the surrounding bush.

Come back here this minute you mongrels. You’re in big trouble.

He was bright red in the face and sweating profusely, collapsing onto the ground to recover. It looked like he was having a heart attack.

One of the Teachers came rushing out to help him.

The kids were hanging out of the classroom windows again yelling Good onya Taylor, Yeah, Yeah.

Miles went into the Headmasters Office and stood there for a few minutes to catch his breath and muttering to himself, ‘Stupid old bastard.’

There were about six canes standing upright in a wicker basket by the side of the desk. Miles started breaking each one in half and throwing the pieces onto the desk. Two of them wouldn’t break but remained bent at an angle.

Miles felt shaken by the incident and was tense. He could feel his knees shaking, almost knocking each other. He was starting to get a bit apprehensive about what would happen next. He raised his aching left hand to see the damage. It was bright red, swollen and shaking too. He wiped away several tears and pulled himself together. Miles noticed a glass of water on the desk and drank it down with one gulp.

Miles started to think about what had happened, ‘Mr McManus was wrong to cane everyone. We were all innocent. Speaking up and defying the Headmaster was the right thing to do. We didn’t have to put up with that sort of abuse just because we were from an orphanage. The repercussions of my actions meant that I was going be caned again, with ‘six of the best cuts’, plus be expelled from school; then a further ‘six of the best cuts’ from the Headmaster, Mr Ronkin, at SwanLake Boys Home.’

Miles was starting to gain strength in his convictions and continued thinking, ‘I am determined to make my point that the ‘Home’s Kids are not second class citizens or sheep to be pushed around. We wanted to be treated properly like any other kid and educated to become responsible Adults.’

The Kids at the Home came from all sorts of situations such as no parents, parents in jail, immigrants waiting for their parents to come from overseas, and many other reasons why Parents dump their children in a Home! The year 1956 was a new period for Australia as they were taking in thousands of migrants who were displaced people from many countries in Europe, mostly from England.

The Headmaster, Mr McManus, couldn’t come to grips with a group of children who had no parents to discipline them. He was an old Teacher and no compassion left to help these displaced kids. He just hated them all.

Now that Miles had vented his anger at Mr McManus, Miles started thinking whether he was on the right track or not. It would be much better to disappear for a few days, tell the story to a Newspaper and then the Police would have to be involved. The truth would come out and show up the injustices of Mr McManus. In addition, it would be less painful on Miles as it would be unlikely that they would cane him again.

Miles made his decision. Firstly, get out of the school immediately, before Mr McManus comes. Secondly, report the incident to the Newspapers, and thirdly, disappear for a few days.

Miles noticed a cardboard box labeled ‘Lost Property’. Inside there were all sorts of kid clothes and shoes. He was barefooted and the only thing he needed right now was shoes. Miles grabbed a pair of sandals then left the school via the front entrance, walking calmly and casually, heading towards the main road. He looked back to see if anyone had noticed. Nobody was looking his way.

The whole school was looking out the back at Mr McManus lying flat on his back with several teachers shading him with large towels.

As Miles left the school grounds, he started walking a bit faster, trying not to arouse any attention. When he reached the road, he started running down the road to get out of sight. He was free. He put on the sandals, which would stop the melted tar from burning his feet. His hand was swollen which made it difficult to do up the sandal buckles. He was in pain from both his hand and the backs of his legs where Mr McManus had caned him.

A few tears appeared as he thought about his Mum and Dad, but quickly dispensed with the thought of that luxury, as he had a lot more urgent things on his mind, that of escaping and not being caught.

*********

Miles’ parents were overseas. During their divorce in England, they sent their three boys, nine, eleven and fourteen, to Australia as migrants. Miles was the middle child. The plan was for the children to go to Australia first to a Migrant Home and then the mother would follow them in a month’s time, after the divorce.

Their Mother had taken them to Australia House in London for an interview prior to migrating. The Immigration Center had given them a rosy picture of the Migrants Home in Western Australia, ‘A new land, and a new start in Australia’.

A photograph of some boys at the Home showed them running around without any shoes on. Miles had commented that that was for him, No Shoes, that’s fantastic! When do we leave?

The boys went by ship leaving their parents behind. Their Father went to Rhodesia in Africa on contract as a nurse for a Gold Mine Company and their mother went to live in London. The Immigration people were giving her a hard time with the ‘Assisted Passage Scheme’. They wanted her to pay the full fare to travel by ship from England to Australia! The cost to become a migrant to Australia using the ‘Assisted Passage’ scheme was ten pounds, whereas the whole price for tourist class was two hundred pounds.

Miles collected his thoughts of the past and shut them away, locking the door behind them. There was no point in dwelling in that area as it wasn’t going to help him escape. Miles’ priority was to find a Newspaper and tell the story.

Miles was now well away from the school and started to hitchhike by waving his arm with his thumb up at the passing cars. He heard some police sirens and quickly ran into some nearby bushes to hide. The Police were searching for him!

An Ambulance with sirens wailing had arrived at the school to attend to Mr McManus. The kids were not yelling anymore and had resumed classes. Even the twenty-six kids who had hid in nearby scrubland were back in class.

The Sirens went silent which gave Miles a chance to think what to do next. He still thought a police car was at the school and would commence a thorough search of the area. It was time to move to a different area and fast.

Miles crossed the road and immediately headed into thick bush, out of sight. He located a convenient tree and watered it, thinking, ‘I’m sure the tree wouldn’t mind, as it is a hot dry day.’

Staying out of sight, Miles pushed further into the bush and sat down to collect himself. He could feel his heart was racing, as was his mind, along with nervous shaking and sweating all over. He felt that he was in serious trouble, not only for refusing the Headmaster, but also for running away. At that moment, the events of the day caught up with him, and tears welled up in his eyes and he started to cry. He sobbed for quite a while wondering what to do, then fell asleep.

*********

He awoke very quickly with a sharp pain on his leg. A large ‘sergeant-ant’ had its nippers buried into his leg trying to cause as much pain as possible.

Ouch!

Several others were running up his leg ready to do the same!

Miles brushed off all the ants and moved away from that spot. He was in enough pain without the ants venting their anger and adding pain. He picked up a big stick and started poking the ants and poking down their ant hole. Well did they get angry. The ants started swarming out of the hole, running like mad in every direction trying to find the enemy. Several ants dug their nippers into the stick and Miles was going to be their next target. Miles dropped the stick and moved away very smartly.

Miles was far enough away from the road to travel in the open paddock without anyone seeing him. He jumped a fence and started walking very fast. There were a lot of cows with various patch patterns of black, brown and white, eating grass and taking no notice of him at all. With this many cows about, Miles was a bit apprehensive about meeting up with a Bull.

Keeping close to the fence, he headed off across the paddock heading towards the mountains. The mountains were calm looking and gave him a chance to think more clearly about what he was going to do.

He could hear a snorting sound getting closer and closer. Miles nearly jumped out of his skin. There behind him was a goat ready to butt his brains out! An angry Billy goat, with huge horns, that did not like intruders one bit. Miles froze on the spot. The goat was staring at him, a bit like Mr McManus, but the goat did not have a cane and Miles was slightly higher. Miles tried to scare it away by waving his arms up and down, which had no effect at all. The goat started to huff and puff some more and moved closer. Miles jumped over that fence in a flash of light.

This side of the fence was a bit more original scrubland. There were lots of trees and bushes, but no easy pathways. Miles kept walking, keeping very close to the opposite side of the fence. The goat was still following very closely. Miles tried throwing bits of sticks, gum nuts, tufts of grass and yelling to no avail. The goat liked the tufts of grass and started to eat them. Miles had found the goat’s weakness, grass. Therefore, he started throwing lots more tufts of grass over the fence, about thirty or forty. When the goat wasn’t looking, Miles took off, running as fast as he could. The goat was happy chewing the new grass and Miles was happy, as after a while he was able to cross back over the fence where it was easier to walk.

There were sounds of motor traffic up ahead, so Miles started running again. Eventually he came across a busy road with a lot more traffic than the school road.

Glancing back down the paddock, Miles could see that the Billy goat had the company of his harem of lady goats, and they were all gorging themselves on the pile of new grass.

Miles started hitchhiking again. It wasn’t long before a car stopped and asked him where he was going.

Can you take me to the Midland Hospital, said Miles. My brother has been taken there after having a serious accident at High School.

Hop in, said the driver. I’m going past the hospital on my way to Perth.

Miles climbed into the car. Thanks. My Mum was supposed to pick me up half an hour ago.

What happened to your brother?

I don’t know. All I know is that it is serious and an ambulance took him to the hospital.

What does your mother do for a living? he asked.

She has a temporary job as a waiter in a roadside Café. She is looking for something that pays a bit better.

Where do you live?

We live close to the Midland shops, said Miles.

All went quiet.

Miles was thinking, ‘Thank God for the silence.’ He was having difficulty thinking up lies fast enough to make them sound real.

After a while, the driver said, We are nearly at the hospital.

He had noticed that Miles’ left hand was swollen and bright red.

What happened to your hand?

Miles explained how a sergeant-ant had bitten him on the hand because he was poking a stick down their ant hole. I’ve got another bite on my leg

What’s a Sergeant-Ant?

They are ants about an inch long, said Miles. They are either black or red. They have huge nippers on their head. The red ones are the most aggressive and sometimes they have big red and black ant wars. The Reds usually win and take a few blacks as slaves. The reason for poking a stick at them was that I was trying to rescue a black slave ant, but the Reds were too smart and one of them bit me on the hand. After that, there were thousands of red ants heading my way, bent on creating some pain. That’s when I received the bite on the hand and leg. I didn’t stay around to see what happened to the slave.

Is it sore?

Yes it hurts, but I’ve had a few before and they go away after about half an hour.

There was a bit more silence. Great as Miles was running short of things to lie about again.

The driver stopped at the front entrance of the hospital.

Thanks a lot for the lift, said Miles. It is going to be interesting to see what my brother has done to himself. Hopefully my Mum has arrived and everything will be okay.

Miles shook hands with the driver. He had a very strong grip, nearly crushed Miles’ hand to bits!

Work on that hand shake, he said. It’s one of the best indications of what sort of person you are. See you later.

Miles thanked him and jumped out of the car, waving goodbye as he drove off.

As Miles was walking towards the hospital entrance, an ambulance pulled up and several hospital nurses came out to help a man on a stretcher inside. It was Mr McManus.

Miles followed them inside, keeping a good distance away and out of site. They took Mr McManus up a lift, which stopped at floor two. Miles went up the stairs to the second floor and arrived just in time to see them wheeling the stretcher into one of the rooms. It was room R205.

Miles went back down stairs, out of the hospital and started walking to the Midland town center. He came across a huge paddock full of junk, old cars, rusty boilers, stacks of old railway sleepers.

Miles came up with a great idea to harass Mr McManus. At the side of the paddock was a shed. He went inside.

Hello, anyone here?

There was no answer. There was no one about.

After a bit of investigation of all the junk, Miles had managed to gather up enough bits and pieces to play a prank on Mr McManus.

Miles had to shorten some of the bits, as they were too long. He put all the bits into a large brown paper bag. He then went back to the hospital, climbed up two flights of outside stairs and entered at level two. There wasn’t any one at this end of the hospital so he made his way to room R205. Inside was Mr McManus, lying in a bed fast asleep. There were no hospital people about at all.

Miles left his bag inside, and went into the corridor to find a ladder. In a cleaning room he found a small step ladder and returned to the room.

Miles’ plan was to pin a lot of canes to the ceiling right above Mr McManus so that when he woke and looked up he would see all these broken canes on the ceiling, which would scare the wits out of him.

In the brown bag, Miles had string, thumbtacks and a lot of broken bamboo canes, which Miles had broken into three-foot