Forever Warrior.
Prelude — Prelude to the final battle
Chapter 1. The Pharaoh and Moses. (1400 BC).
Chapter 2. Joshua and the battle of Jericho (1256-1271 BC.).
Chapter 3. The Philistines (1033-1008 BC.).
Charter 4. Tzun Tzu’s ‘Art of War’ (500 BC.).
Chapter 5. Alexander at Gaugamela. (358-322 BC.).
Chapter 6. Hannibal at the Gates of Rome, (260-202 BC).
Chapter 7. Caesars Battle of Alicia. (80-52 BC.).
Chapter 8. Soldier of Christ. (3BC- 33AD).
Chapter 9. Boudicca, England’s Warrior Queen. (38-61 AD.).
Chapter 10. The children of Masada (62 to 73AD.).
Chapter 11. Dark ages Clovis. (400 AD).
Chapter 12. Byzantine empire. (540 AD).
Chapter 13. The Prophet Muhammad. (591-624 AD).
Chapter 14. Life of a Viking. (865 AD).
Chapter 15. Harold, Last English king. (1066).
Chapter 16. The unholy Crusades. (1163-1192).
Chapter 17. Genghis Kahn. (1194 -1214).
Chapter 18. The Ottomans & Dracula. (1421-1460).
Chapter 19. Samurai battle of Sekigahara. (1574-1601).
Chapter 20. Life of a pirate. (1682-1722).
Chapter 21. Soldier of Irish humanity. (1724 – 1746).
Chapter 22. Soldier of the French Revolution. (1769-1794).
Chapter 23. Gettysburg and Wounded Knee. (1842-1890).
Chapter 24. World War 1. (1891-1918).
Chapter 25. World War 2. (1918-1939).
Chapter 26. Korean War. (1940- Present time).
Chapter 27. Secrets of the ‘man cave’.
Chapter 28. Buried inheritance.
Chapter 29. Life force gone.
Prelude to the final battle.
This view of the ocean was what old Frank had always wanted and now had. This old soldier lived a peaceful existence with his wife on a small farm near the township of Tully in Queensland Australia. There was a sharp rise from the sandy beach to where the cottage was situated, allowing a panoramic and majestic view of the Pacific Ocean. Frank knew that he was getting old and would not live forever and did not fear death as he had been a soldier for what seemed forever, and was certainly more acquainted with death than any other person he knew.
It was in Korea after he was grazed in the head by a Chinese bullet when he was being nursed back to health that he had found the love of his life, ‘Doris’. She was his nurse and they fell in love. Frank was a Canadian and often spoke to Doris of the dream that he had always had, and that dream was to have a cottage on a little farm which overlooked the ocean where he could sit enjoying the ocean breeze with the love of his life and to grow old there after having raised a family.
Doris was an Australian nurse and had told Frank of white sandy beaches and the beautiful easterly views of the Pacific Ocean that could be found in Queensland Australia, and as time went by and the Korean War came to an end; Frank migrated to Australia and married Doris and they purchased a small farm with a cottage overlooking the ocean. They had raised two sons, Darren and Ray and one daughter Patricia and had managed to put all their children through university. Their children were now professional people and more than content with their occupations and the lives that they were living.
Frank, one day, decided to ask his three children to come and spend a few days with their mother Doris and himself, as they wished to discuss the future with them. Frank was overjoyed when he received their replies which informed him that they would all come up, and that they would all arrive together by train.
He emailed them that he would pick them up at the train station on their arrival in his van and was very much looking forward to meeting them. Frank knew full-well that it was now time to tell them about himself. He had always known that this time in his life would eventually come and felt that he could not wait any longer.
He smiled as he realized that what he had to tell them would be a hard sell, even to a person of low intellect, let alone three well-educated young people.
The train pulled into the station and finally all three of their offspring alighted the train, and after the customary hugs and kisses, Doris suggested that they stop at the local cafeteria and coffee shop for a cup of coffee before starting the long journey home. They were lucky to find a table and chairs large enough to accommodate them all, after realizing that the shop was unusually busy. This coffee shop was the social hub of the little township of Tully where many people knew each other, some very well, and others by sight only.
There were many tables with steaming food and coffee as many locals who slept in late would come here to have a late breakfast.
As they sat sipping the locally famous cappuccinos, five dirty brazen loudmouthed young men entered the cafeteria. They immediately attracted the attention of all the patrons while pushing through the seated customers with careless abandon and by knocking over chairs and disturbing the beverages on many tables and the language that they used was obviously not suitable for polite society.
There was a man and his wife quietly sipping coffee and sitting at a table near the side wall. This man who was obviously annoyed by their attitude stood up and informed the five young men that he was an off-duty police officer and that if they did not leave the cafeteria immediately he would place them under arrest.
The spokesman of the group turned to the solitary policeman and exclaimed, “You, a lone copper, is going to take on the five of us? What a laugh. Just sit down or we will knock you down.”
The policeman realized that he, on his own, was no match for these five muscular young farm hands, and so turned to the able-bodied men in the restaurant and asked for some men to help him throw them out. There were many abled bodied men in the cafeteria but there was no movement, except for old Frank who slid his chair back and stood up. Moments later as his two sons were also in the motion of standing, Frank instructed them to remain seated and only to come to his aid if required. His two sons who seemed bewildered, knew better than to disobey the old man’s instructions.
There they were, the policeman and old Frank against five large and agile young men. The policeman knew old Frank and was very friendly with him as he often stopped in at the cottage when doing his rounds for a chat and a cup of coffee, while also enjoying the ocean views from old Frank’s veranda.
John the cop looked across at Frank and with an understanding smile spoke, “Frank I appreciate the offer but you are too old, and together we are still no match for these young punks, and I am beginning to wonder if any of these cowardly male patrons are worth getting beat up for.”
Old Frank replied with the confidence of a much younger man, “John, if you are not feeling up to it today, then I will take care of the four smaller ones if you can take care of the big one.” For a split second, you could have heard a pin drop and before John could even offer a reply, old Frank took a cast iron cover off a trolley of warm food that had been wheeled over beside a large table, (With a bit of imagination it looked like a shield carried by the Romans in a bygone era). Frank also lifted a meat cleaver from the apron of a young butcher, who must have been so proud to display his occupation, that he did not have the sense to remove his apron and tool belt before having coffee in the café located next door to his place of work.
Frank, in an instant, flipped over his meat cleaver so that the dull rounded side faced forward, and then began to advance. The lid which Frank used as if it were a normal attachment to his arm was forced forward with such force into the face of punk number one, that he was instantly unconscious.
The second young man grabbed Frank’s shield but lost his balance as Frank constantly moved forward thus having to place his punk hand on a table for stability. In that instant, the dull rounded side of the meat cleaver came smashing down on four now broken fingers. Frank then raised his shield to the left and the meat cleaver to the right leaving his centre vulnerable. When punk number three moved forward to take advantage, the young farmhand was quickly kicked in the groin by Frank, forcing a body movement that moved his head down towards to ground whereupon Frank flipped the meat cleaver to the sharp side and cut off a small piece of this young man’s ear, and then the shield came down on his head leaving only one offender.
Number four had an expression that showed unbridled fear and as he turned to run, an older lady who was sitting at a table with a simmering pan on a table warmer emptied the contents onto the man’s groin area which forced him to buckle over and scream with pain. She then levelled the empty pan onto the young man’s head with enough force to drop a buffalo.
She spoke to Frank with a voice that was loud enough to be heard down the street, “Just because the men in this place are old sheilas, doesn’t mean we old sheilas are.”
Frank smiled and then turned to John who was still aghast as to what had happened, “John, do you want a hand with the big fellow, or are you okay with him.”
John just smiled and before he could reply, this mountain of a young man put his hands forward and asked to be arrested. John looked at the fear in this young man’s eyes and laughed, “I’m off duty now, so just sit down until I finish my coffee and then I will take what is left of you five to jail.” John sat down and with no sense of urgency, rang the on-duty police from his cell phone and told them to come down to the cafeteria and tidy up and to bring an ambulance.
Frank then asked the waitress to put the young man’s ear into some iced water for when the medics arrived. Everyone then went back to their table, leaving the cause of so much disturbance quietly lying on the floor. Soon the police and ambulance arrived and took care of the offending victims that were still laying undisturbed on the floor.
One of the on-duty policeman came over to John, “John, what the hell happened here?”
John replied, “The wrath of God just descended from the heavens. I will put it all in my report tomorrow.”
Old Frank had made it back to his table where there was a look of astonishment on the faces of all. The oldest son Darren enquired of his father, “Where did all that originate from, you fought those four punks like it was an effortless walk in the park?”
Frank deep in thought finally replied, “That reminded me of the battle of Alicia when I fought with Julius Caesar, except that this was quite enjoyable and the former was not.”
His youngest son Ray looked at his brother Darren and rolled his eyes as though their old father was losing it, while their sister Pat motioned to her brothers to make nothing of it.
Curiosity could not let Ray stay quiet, “Pop where in the world did you learn to make moves life that?” But before he let his father answer, he continued, “Remember when I was eighteen and you were annoying me. I was really peeved off with you and I was going to teach you a lesson, so I raised my fists to you but was then overcome with emotion, and broke into tears instead of punching you out. Looking at this display of your fighting skills, I may have made a wise move by not fighting you.”
Old Frank laughed and then replied, “You forget, I was a soldier in Korea where I met your mother. I feel that I have always been a soldier, when in fact I would have liked to be almost anything else, but I was always a soldier.”
Frank and his family were just getting ready to leave when John the policeman, who had finished his coffee had then meandered over to Frank’s table and put his hand on old Frank’s shoulder, “When I come over for my usual cup of coffee and a chat, you had better make a large pot of coffee, because, my old friend, you certainly have a lot of explaining to do. I was in such awe when you were dispensing those four punks that I just stood there in a daze. If the big fellow would have made his move at that exact time, I would have been caught totally off-guard.” John smiled and then continued, “Thanks again old timer, or should I say, old Gladiator.”
John made his exit in order to meet up with his wife who was already outside. Frank and his family also rose from their table and made for the door and as they were about to leave, the crowd began to cheer and applaud. Frank showed a slight smile that was hard to see on his well-worn features and continued out of the door.
The journey was over two hours to where the cottage was situated near the ocean and it was approaching lunch time when they stowed all their gear into their various rooms. It was quite a large cottage as each of their children had their own room since child hood. Every time another child was born, Frank and Doris had added another room to the cottage.
Finally, with the unpacking done they settled down to lunch. As they had been to Tully, there were many fresh pastries on the table which Doris had purchased while in town. Doris usually made her own pastries, but when going to town she always brought back a few fresh delicacies from the bakery.
They were soon all seated, and sat enjoying the fresh pastries with a fresh pot of tea when, Darren asked, “Well pop, what are we doing here? I am sure you didn’t invite us up here just to watch you beat the crap out of four deserving punks. Why are we here?”
All the offspring looked at their father Frank, awaiting his reply. “I have written a book about my life and have a publisher who is going to publish it. I also have a movie producer who looks like he may make it into a movie. I have told you about some experiences I had in Korea, but that is only a small part of my existence. I would like you all to take turns in reading my book out loud to the rest of us, as I have had quite an existence, much more than many people would think possible, and now it feels that it is all finally coming to an end. It is finally time to share my life’s story with you. The book is titled, ‘The Forever Warrior’.”
Pat looked at her father, “Dad, we actually know very little of your life, this will be very interesting.”
Doris, “You can all go out onto the balcony where you can get the ocean breeze. I have heard his story many times, so I will clean up while you start.”
The scripts were neatly bound and their seemed to be many small volumes, some thick and others thin, when Pat began to read.