Blades / Blades (ePub)

Julian Moreland, aged 12 3/4, lives in Darwin with his widowed father, Craig, a flying instructor in the army. They are very close, sharing a love of fishing and helicopters. Craig retires, moves to Melbourne for civilian work and is killed in a car accident. Julian is placed in foster care until the funeral. Arrangements are made for him to live with Craig's friends in Darwin. But upset that Craig is buried in Melbourne he runs away to become a street kid. For two months he lives rough. Then he is drawn to a local airport & meets Arthur Cameron the man who hired his dad. Arthur takes him in. On a hot day in March, he passes a parked car with a baby locked inside. The car catches fire. Julian smashes his way in grabs the baby & turns to run as the car explodes. He is badly burnt shielding the baby and taken to hospital. When told Julian's an orphan, the wealthy grandparents of the baby he saved offer to adopt him and pay for helicopter flying lessons when he is old enough.

Julian, doing Year Eleven is seventeen.His flying instructor, Arthur, sees Julian is a 'natural'. Whilst at Uluru, Julian meets a holidaying American family and becomes attracted to their fifteen year-old daughter, Alison. Julian, Alison and brothers Barry & Colin save a baby missing in the scrub. The next week, Julian reads news reports the boys are missing in mountains. He has a hunch as to where they are, flies into a remote river valley. He finds the boys before the weather gets bad. Colin has a bad gash on his leg which becomes septic. When Julian flies them out. Colin is very ill. Grateful, the Cliffords invite Julian to spend his next school holiday with them in L.A. Julian arrives in L.A. Colin is in hospital. They drive him to visit Colin. Alison now has her licence, and drives him sightseeing to Venice Beach where he frees another child locked in a car in the sun. Julian is permitted to fly helicopters in the USA and flies one for KMAC while the pilot is away. Julian does traffic reports. His accent on air makes him popular with listeners. His feelings for Alison deepen. Due to hot desert winds brushfires break out north of L.A. The radio station tells Julian to fly three reporters there. He is the first to arrive late afternoon. Next day fires flare up with the wind. All helicopters assist. Julian carries fire observers. They spot an arsonist then watch as fires engulf a town and save the life of a woman fleeing. Julian assists a ground team searching for backpackers missing in the area. For the next four days carryies fire spotters fire fighters & equipment.Thoughts of Alison persist in his mind. On the fifth day the winds drop. Julian is sent back to L.A. Exhausted he is welcomed home by the Cliffords. At L.A. Airport there is a sad farewell. Julian takes Alison aside, asks her to marry him when older enough. Julian returns home plagued by bad memories of the fires. The memories lead to nightmares and a need for alcohol. The signs of a problem are there but missed by adults. Giving evidence to the U.S. via video link about the fires does nothing to help his alcohol abuse. It is not until he assaults his best friend that he is diagnosed with PTSD, and placed in detox with on-going counselling. With support from family Julian comes to terms with his demons. He passes final exams, becomes a helicopter pilot, & gets a Green Card. Finally, he marries Alison before working in America and Australia flying water-bombing helicopters until their return to Australia to live with their children. Julian flies rescue helicopters, having had enough of fighting fires.