The Mind Man

Chapter one

1984...

The attack on Adam Henderson was swift and brutal; and was wholly premeditated.

The victim didn't stand a chance. A shoulder rammed into the center of his back from behind, slammed him into the metal lockers and sent him to the ground, striking his forehead on a padlock on the way down. Adam fell upon the bare timber boards in a mixture of agonizing pain and complete surprise. Pulling himself up quickly into a fetal position he shielded his face with his hands for fear of further blows. None came. Slowly Adam lowered his hands below his face and observed his attacker for the first time.

Standing over him was the tall, skinny frame of Roxley Hart, the self-titled school bully. Adam's back ached and when he touched his head he felt the stickiness of blood in his hair. Roxley pulled a foot back to pre-empt a kick in mocking jest. Adam recoiled but felt metal against his back. Tears welled in his eyes. There was no escape. He was wedged between the row of lockers, the legs of Roxley and his bullying accomplices, two of the Tambini brothers who stood on either side.

"I hate you Roxley...I wish you were dead," Adam managed to protest between sobs.

Roxley raised his head and laughed.

"Oh, yeah and what are you going to do about it from down there, eh, loser?" His tanned, thin face was helmeted by straight brown hair, crudely cut above the eyes and around the back of his head below his ears. It shook and slithered like a garish cartoon character when he moved. This combined with a crooked tooth resting upon his lower lip contributed mistakenly to a mischievous, impish look even though his real intentions were on the most part deadly serious, fueled by anger and aggression.

"I don't like you Henderson," he sneered without waiting for a reply.

Adam felt a warm wet sensation in his groin area and glanced down to confirm the worst. Roxley's eyes followed and his face lit up with glee which turned to laughter when he saw the wet patch on the shorts. The Tambini brothers were quick to join in their friend's mirth.

"Ha, ha, ha...Hendo has wet himself. Look fellas; Hendo needs a nappy. Come on let's leave the baby to cry." Roxley turned, brushing between his two friends and loped off down the corridor out of sight. Luca and Tony concluded the altercation with some mocking sniggers and jeers of their own before dashing off to find their leader.

Some students who had stopped to watch the commotion grinned and muttered to one another but then became bored and wandered off chatting about other things.

Adam hauled himself off the floor, brushing the tears from his eyes. He felt his head again. A formidable lump was forming just below his hairline and was concealed by a sticky matt of hair. He yanked up his shorts tightening the belt around them and tugged his shirt down hard to conceal his wet crotch. Adam held himself up against his opened locker door while he composed himself and took stock of his predicament. Apart from his forehead, pain came from his back between his shoulder blades but he decided it was merely a dull ache and nothing appeared to be broken. The humiliation he had endured was of more concern. At this thought he abruptly stood upright and slammed his locker shut. He joined the throngs of other students making their way out of the buildings at the end of the school day to find their way home.

Ardlethan was a small rural Australian community, home to Adam and almost five thousand other people. It resembled an island in an ocean of wheat which stretched to the horizon in every direction. Only a paved road and a single railroad track linked the town to neighboring service centers many miles away on either side.

The school was situated almost at the very heart of the town and even though Adam lived in the last row of houses before the wheat fields commenced, he only had to walk a couple of blocks to reach his home. That afternoon his thoughts were elsewhere and he was surprised to find himself turning into his street. The asphalt came to an end and he sought amusement from kicking stones along the road with scraped and battered leather shoes on the remaining stretch of gravel. He slowly passed the row of little fibro houses that baked in the late afternoon sun, as they stood faithful guard over the expanse of golden crop opposite, patiently waiting the return of the giant yellow and green John Deere harvesters which would soon systematically comb the land of its grain.