---------------------------------------------------------------------- The Old Valley Road Hotel.
By Wombat. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Any constructive comments are appreciated. I'm at 'bungala_wombat@yahoo.com.au'. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear Nifty Readers, If you enjoy this story or others on Nifty, please send a generous donation to Nifty.org at 'http://donate.nifty.org/donate.html' to help support and maintain this free service full of wonderful stories so it may continue to remain available to everyone.
Thank you all, Wombat ----------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 7 - 'A Rainy Day' Part 27.
------------------------------------- Part 87: Mardi Gras and Steam Art -------------------------------------
Ellis enrolled at the University of Sydney for a Bachelor of Arts degree. For his first year he chose to study Philosophy, French, German and History. He asked to be placed in Bill's tutorial group and got in straight away. Doctor Gould had a reputation for being a hard task-master so most students tried to avoid his tutorials. Ellis had no such qualms. Bill made it clear that he expected Ellis to take the lead in tutorials because he was more than twice the age of the teenage first-year students and had much more maturity and confidence.
Bryn was delighted as the university surrounded Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. He looked forward to seeing Ellis during the day for lunches and so on. He could get a cheap meal at the university eateries because Ellis was a student and he could spend time out of the hospital with his beloved partner.
Towards the end of summer, Bruce wanted to paint 'en plein air' a picture of Ellis on a beach. One hot summer weekend afternoon in February he took Ellis in his car to Bondi Beach. Bruce set up his artist's materials and easel while Ellis changed into his very brief Speedos swimming costume and stretched out on a beach towel to do some sunbaking.
Bruce quickly constructed a beach scene with the muscular Ellis lying on his back in the foreground. He would finish the painting later in his studio.
Ellis plucked up the courage to hold a party in his penthouse before Orientation Week which marked the start of the academic year at the University. Bryn liked the idea. Marica offered to look after the catering and the drinks. Ellis accepted her offer without hesitation.
He and Bryn invited Roman and Bill as a matter of course as well as some of their friends and people from the hospital. Ellis made a point of inviting Geoffrey who declared he did not like parties. However, both Bryn and Ellis managed to persuade him to come along. Ellis invited some of the people from the apartment building like Sabine and Hermann Kretschmer as well as Alison and Clint. In all about fifty people had accepted the invitations. Marica told Ellis that would be a good number that would fit comfortably in the penthouse. She said she would supply the catering staff from her extended family, her husband, sons and nephews. Ellis expressed reservations about having children as catering staff but Marica assured him that they all would be men over the age of eighteen. They were all legally adults.
Preparations began the afternoon of the party. Zoran Brcic, Marica's husband appointed himself as barman while the young men set up the living room ready for the party. Marica took over the kitchen with Zoran's sister Ljubica.
Zoran was a good-looking broad-shouldered man who looked younger than his age with a very fit, lean and strongly muscled build. He was more muscular than his strongly built sons and nephews. He had thick straight black hair that hung over his intense smoky grey eyes under thick black eyebrows. He was about the same height as his wife and Ellis and Ellis thought he looked smoking hot.
As promised, Zoran and the young men all wore close fitting-white T- shirts and close-fitting jeans. Their outfits displayed every muscular bulge of their strong bodies. Three of the young men had flaming red hair like their mother Marica and the rest had black hair with brown, grey or blue eyes. All were good-looking.
Sabine and Hermann Kretschmer arrived precisely on time. Hermann was attired in a grey suit while Sabine wore an informal white dress with pink polka dots. Ellis and Bryn greeted them at the door and Zoran presented them each with a glass of champagne. Ellis observed that Herman appeared to be somewhat ill at ease. There seemed to be some tension between him and Zoran. Sabine was quite relaxed. Because no other guests had arrived, she opened the lid of the grand piano, sat down and started playing Mozart sonatas. Roman and Bill arrived soon afterwards with Terry. They gravitated with glass of drink in hand to the piano. Geoffrey arrived soon afterwards and joined the group around the piano. Ellis introduced them all.
People arrived in dribs and drabs. It was not long though before most guests had arrived. The living area was comfortably full.
Bruce Wyndham arrived with his camera. Terry teased him for looking like a tourist. Bruce retorted that he never wanted to miss a good picture.
Bruce was agog to see all the very handsome young men who were the catering staff serving drinks and hors-d'oeuvres. He commented to Ellis that he felt he had gone to heaven and was surrounded by all these beautiful strong muscular angels.
He asked several young men from the Brcic clan to be artist's models for his paintings until Zoran came up to him and angrily demanded to know what he was doing. Bruce looked quite frightened being confronted by Zoran. Ellis saw what was going on. He remarked that it looked like Bruce was going to get punched in the face and asked Bryn to get Marica from the kitchen. He took Roman with him and intervened. Zoran angrily declared that he was not going to let that damned queer mess around with his boys. Marica arrived. She knew Roman and introduced him and Zoran. Roman explained to Zoran that Bruce really was an artist looking for models. He pointed out Bruce's paintings hanging on the walls of Ellis's penthouse. He explained that Bruce was too professional an artist to mess around sexually with his models. Zoran turned on his heel and stalked off. Marica laughed and said that her husband was a real fireball. He took some getting used to. Marica told her boys that Bruce really was above board and it was alright for them to be models if they wished. She returned to the kitchen.
Ellis remarked to Roman on the lack of apology from Zoran.
Roman replied with a laugh, "Well, he's a proud Slav like me."
Later on Ellis observed Terry conversing with Hermann in German. Terry appeared to be enjoying himself annoying Hermann by camping it up outrageously.
As the evening progressed and people became more relaxed, Geoffrey sat down at the piano and commenced playing pop tunes from The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Animals, Rod Stewart, Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Eric Clapton, The Who, Carol King, Creedence Clearwater Revival and so on. People quickly gathered around the piano and started singing along with him. Their rendition of the Rolling Stones song 'Ruby Tuesday' raised the roof. Geoffrey certainly appeared to have a wide repertoire. The piano sounded magnificent with its lid raised.
When Geoffrey played the Leonard Cohen song 'Hallelujah', Sabine sang it with an utterly glorious silky mezzo-soprano voice. Everyone else including Geoffrey stopped singing and listened in wonder but Geoffrey continued playing faithfully. It was sheer magic.
When she and Geoffrey finished, everyone else clapped and cheered. Sabine beamed. Geoffrey smiled shyly.
Ellis looked around for Hermann and saw him sitting on the sofa looking distinctly glassy-eyed. Hermann did not respond to everyone else's loud appreciation of his wife. Ellis wondered how much Hermann had had to drink.
When later Geoffrey played the Billy Joel song 'Piano Man', Sabine's voice soared and everyone else stopped singing and listened rapt. They did however join loudly in the chorus. Partway through the song Ellis noticed that Bryn had tears running down his face. Bryn's voice wobbled and faded away.
When the song finished, everyone were loud in their appreciation of Sabine and Geoffrey.
After the applause finished Bryn eased his way through the crowd and wrapped his mighty arms around Ellis. His tear-filled eyes locked with Ellis's eyes.
"Ellis, mate, I love you," he declared in a strong voice. "I love you more than anything else in the world. You are just so wonderful and you've made my life so worth living. I wouldn't give you up for anything."
The room fell silent.
Bryn continued: "no matter how far away you go, I'll follow you anywhere. Even if you go a million galaxies away I'll follow you. I'll follow you right across the universe no matter how many billions of lightyears I have to go, 'cos I love you."
With that he wrapped Ellis in a bear hug that squeezed the breath out of Ellis. Ellis could feel the wetness on his cheeks from Bryn's tears.
The silence in the room continued.
"What brought that on?" Tom's voice was heard asking.
Someone shushed him. Tom grumbled.
Then Claire declared in a tearful voice, "Bryn, you're so beautiful. You really are. It's so beautiful to see you so much in love. You are so beautifully human."
There was scattered applause which gathered strength until virtually everyone was clapping and cheering.
It was not until well after midnight that people started drifting off home. Sabine looked angrily at her unconscious husband sprawled snoring drunkenly on the sofa.
"I don't want him home like this!" she declared. "May I leave him here with you tonight please?"
"Sure thing, Sabine," replied Ellis. "No worries."
She thanked Ellis and Bryn profusely and departed.
It was starting to lighten in the east over the water when the last guests left the party. Marica, Zoran and the boys did some preliminary tidying up.
Marica looked at Hermann's unconscious form on the sofa with disgust.
"Look at that fat German pig!" she said, her voice thick with loathing.
"What's going on?" asked Ellis innocently.
Zoran came over. His handsome face twisted into a snarl as he looked upon Hermann.
"He treats us like, er, under-people. Is that the right English word?" he said. His grey eyes smoked with anger.
"Do you mean the German word 'Untermenschen'?" asked Ellis.
"Yes," said Marica and Zoran in unison.
"Well, to me you are both lovely people," replied Ellis with feeling. "And Marica, I'm so glad I've got you keeping house for me. I really do appreciate very much all what you do for me and Bryn."
Zoran came over, wrapped his strong arms around Ellis in a bear hug and kissed him hard on the lips. Ellis felt his cock stiffening as he responded in kind and wrapped his arms around Zoran's strong hard body.
Then Zoran looked at Ellis and declared, "You are my friend, no?"
"Yes, you are my friend," replied Ellis.
They kissed once more. Ellis's stiffening cock felt uncomfortable in his underpants as he responded. He found himself enjoying the kiss.
When they separated, Zoran looked down at the prominent bulge in the front of Ellis's slacks.
He laughed and said, "Ellis, you are a passionate man, yes?"
Bryn laughed as he put his hand on Ellis's shoulder and declared, "He most certainly is a passionate man! That's one major reason why I love him so much."
"There's always room in a man's heart for one more," said Zoran smiling.
"I think we should go home," declared Marica.
She arranged with Ellis and Bryn to come back with Zoran and the boys that afternoon to clean up the penthouse.
Bryn looked at Hermann's unconscious body sprawled on the sofa snoring loudly.
"He is a real fat German pig," declared Zoran contemptuously.
Bryn raised an eyebrow.
"We can't leave him here like this," he said.
He picked Hermann up off the sofa.
"Golly, he's no lightweight!" he exclaimed. "I reckon he'd weigh a fair bit more than me."
"He's solid fat," sneered Zoran. "And you, Bryn and Ellis, are both solid muscle like me!"
"Thanks," replied Bryn. "Anyway I'll stick him on one of the spare beds upstairs. He can sleep it off in a bit more comfort."
"You are a good man," declared Marica. "He does not deserve it."
Bryn carried Hermann upstairs into one of the spare bedrooms.
The Brcic clan trooped out.
Ellis and Bryn awoke about midday. They got dressed and went downstairs to the cafe for a late brunch. To their surprise they saw that Geoffrey was there and joined him. A little later they were joined by Alison and Clint who complimented Ellis, Bryn and Geoffrey on a most enjoyable party. It was one of the most relaxed and comfortable they had been to in a long while.
Sabine joined them. She looked surprisingly fresh. Ellis complimented her on looking so good. She laughed and kissed him on his cheek. Everyone complimented her on her singing voice.
Sabine asked after her husband. Bryn replied he had checked on Hermann before they came down and Hermann was still snoring his head off on the bed in a spare bedroom where Bryn had put him. Sabine rolled her eyes and thanked Bryn and Ellis for looking after him. She said that he was better off where he was.
After they had finished their meals, they saw the Brcic clan arriving to clean up Ellis's penthouse. Marica stuck her head in the cafe, saw them and came over to their table accompanied by Zoran. Ellis got up and hugged them both as did Bryn.
Up in the penthouse, all the Brcic men stripped off their shirts and set to work. When Ellis asked why, he was told that was the tradition for Croatian men when they are working hard. He and Bryn did the same. Ellis was rapt to be surrounded by all these very strong fit lean muscular men who were all stripped to the waist and were good- looking with broad shoulders, slim muscular waists and slim hips. Most had black hair but three men had flaming red hair. They were clearly Marica's sons. The Brcic men admired Ellis's and Bryn's massively muscular bodies but were not overwhelmed by them.
Zoran did not look out of place among the younger men of his clan and he appeared only a little older. Ellis complemented him on his youthful appearance and strong splendid body. He admired Zoran's spectacular abdominal muscles and his muscular arms.
Zoran flexed both his arms in a double biceps pose.
"Impressive," commented Ellis.
"Yep. 45 centimetres (17.5 inches) of solid muscle," replied Zoran.
"You're getting into bodybuilder territory there."
Zoran grinned and patted his belly.
"I have abs of steel," he boasted. "I can withstand a gut punch from the most powerful man."
"Go on. Punch me in the guts. Give me your hardest," he challenged Bryn.
Bryn unleashed a powerful punch to the pit of Zoran's stomach. Zoran gasped and staggered backwards. Ellis saw the look of pain in Zoran's eyes.
Zoran laughed. "That was a sissy punch," he taunted Bryn. "That is what I expect from a big limp-wristed sissy girl like you."
Ellis saw a dangerous glint in Bryn's eyes. He worried.
"Er, Bryn...," he started.
"Dad, he'll kill you with those huge muscles of his," called out a redheaded young man in a worried voice.
"Zoran!" Marica's voice rang out like a gunshot.
She strode over to Zoran with her face set like concrete and an angry glint in her eyes. She let fly with an angry torrent of Croatian while wagging her finger in his face.
To Ellis, Zoran looked for all the world like a big sulky muscular teenager being scolded by his mother. Ellis saw that all the young men were grinning at their father's or uncle's discomfort. They understood what Marica was saying. Ellis felt frustrated that he could not understand a word.
When Marica had finished berating Zoran, she turned to Bryn and said tartly, "Thank you Bryn for not killing my husband."
The young men laughed with relief.
After everyone had been cleaning up a while, Zoran sidled up to Ellis and asked, "Do you think Bryn really would have killed me?"
"Well, yes, he could've easily," replied Ellis. "He is well known for punching the punching bags at the hospital so hard that he made them burst open. If he hit you that hard, you might have burst open too and died."
"Do you think I am a fool?"
"You live dangerously."
"I am a man," replied Zoran and walked off.
A little later in the afternoon, Hermann appeared at the top of the stairs. His grey suit was rumpled. His reddish blond hair was dishevelled. His pale blue eyes were bloodshot. He descended the stairs carefully.
Ellis greeted him with, "Good afternoon, Hermann. How are you feeling?"
"Hmpf! What are these people doing here?" was the reply.
"They're very kindly helping me clean up after the party last night," declared Ellis firmly. "Would you like me to mix up some liver salts for you? It would help you feel better."
"No!"
"May I suggest that you get something to eat at the cafe downstairs before you do anything else? They are open until after dinner tonight."
"Hmpf!"
Hermann headed towards the door into the lift lobby. The well-muscled shirtless Zoran opened it for him and held it open with a supercilious smirk. Hermann walked through with as much dignity as he could muster.
After Zoran had closed the door behind Hermann, Bryn commented, "Is he hung over, or what?"
Zoran laughed.
"I only hope he doesn't go to his apartment and try and get Sabine to get a meal for him," remarked Ellis. "She'll bite his head off if he does."
"I don't know how she puts up with him," remarked Marica. "She is a much nicer person than he is. He is such a pig!"
"I agree with you there, Marica. When I was in London though, all the German people I knew there were really nice and they were good fun like Sabine. But then you get good and bad people from every country like you get good and bad Australians. In London nearly all the English people I knew were really nice but then I came across some really horrible English people who'd make Hermann look like a civilised human being."
"Impossible!" laughed Zoran. "How can that be?"
"Very possible. I beat up quite a few of them."
"You a fighter, Ellis? I don't believe it!" Zoran exclaimed. "A cute guy like you?"
"You'd better believe it, Zoran," said Bryn. "He is very dangerous in a fight. He's nearly as strong as I am and he's lethal with his fists."
"Why didn't Ellis carry Herr Kretschmer upstairs and not you?"
"Because it was easier for me. I'm bigger and I've got longer arms than he has. Besides, Ellis might've accidently stuck his thumb up Hermann's fat bum."
That occasioned loud shouts of laughter from the Brcic clan. Some of the young men rolling around on the floor holding their sides laughing with tears streaming from their eyes. Zoran leant against the piano bent double with laughter. Even Marica was shaking with laughter.
When everyone had settled down again, Marica commented, "Then I suppose he may wonder why he has pooh in his underpants."
That caused another round of unseemly mirth.
When the penthouse was cleaned and tidied to Marica's satisfaction, Ellis handed her a wad of cash and the Brcic clan departed.
Ellis started his courses at Sydney University. Orientation Week was a new experience as were the first weeks of lectures and tutorial. Bryn and Ellis were delighted to have each other's company on the way to work on the mornings that Ellis had lectures or tutorials. Ellis found it very convenient to park his car in the hospital carpark using Bryn's doctor's parking permit.
Roman asked Ellis and Bryn if they would take part in the Sydney Gay Mardi Gras Parade. Bryn said that he had already been approached by one of his medical friends to march with the gay doctors and that he was going to march. Ellis was miffed that Bryn had not said anything to him but quickly forgave him. He agreed to participate. Roman was delighted when Ellis said he would march wearing his Captain Marvel costume.
Ellis duly suited up in his Captain Marvel costume for the parade. Bryn dressed for the occasion in a set of surgical scrubs but without the cap. The scrubs had shortened sleeves and were close-fitting enough to show off Bryn's spectacular bodybuilder's physique especially his magnificent huge arms. Just to make sure no-one missed the point, Bryn wore a stethoscope around his neck.
Some of the parade marshals recognised Ellis in his Captain Marvel costume and Bryn as well. They had gone to Roman and Bill's New Year's Eve party. Ellis had not fully appreciated the impact that his appearance in his costume had made at the New Year's Eve party. AIDS was still a very big issue and people were dying regularly from AIDS- related illnesses. The media was in the habit as in Britain of running sensationalised stories to frighten people into buying more newspapers. AIDS was made out to be lurking in every dark corner. Right-wing Liberal Party politicians were calling for the Gay Mardi Gras to be banned and the Murdoch newspapers ran a furious campaign demanding that the Gay Mardi Gras Parade and after-party be stopped.
One 'Christian' minister, The Reverend Jeremiah Jordan, who was also a New South Wales state politician was leading prayer meetings praying to God to make it rain on the parade. The same man was also calling for all homosexuals to be locked away in concentration camps. He echoed some Conservative politicians in Britain. He was saying things like homosexuals were an abomination upon society and will bring down God's wrath to cause the destruction of Western Civilisation.
Bryn had already acquired a certain amount of fame as the doctor devoted to searching for a cure for AIDS and Ellis was his Captain Marvel, the man who was immune to AIDS and who donated the bone marrow for Bryn's research into AIDS immunity. Ellis stood out in his Captain Marvel costume.
The parade organisers insisted that Bryn and Ellis, the AIDS doctor and his superhero boyfriend be at the front of the march as two of the leaders.
The weather stayed fine and warm. The parade was a kaleidoscope of colourfully and extravagantly costumed men, scantily clad men showing off their buff bodies, others dressed as fairies, nuns, particularly the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, lion dancers, figures from Hindu mythology, animal costumes both real and mythological, Greek and Roman gods, goddesses and heroes, characters from film and literature, and others that beggared imagination.
A large crowd of people watched the parade. The great majority were supportive, giving the V-sign, clapping and cheering the marchers loudly.
There were a few hecklers including a 'Christian' preacher and his supporters waving banners reading slogans like 'God hates Fags' and 'Faggots go to Hell!!!!'. Ellis thought it was just like the Protestants to import hate-filled hellfire-and-damnation preachers from the United States of America.
Many television crews were there recording the parade. The parade organisers made sure that the reporters understood the significance of the research that Doctor Bryn Powys was undertaking and the donation of bone marrow by Captain Marvel aka Ellis de la Mare who was immune to AIDS.
It blew Ellis's mind that there was so much love, joy, excitement, open campness, energy, mutual support and pride in being gay. All the parade participants were out and proud no matter how what costumes they wore, feathered confections, skimpy glittering pants, frocked up, glittered up or whatever. It was a rush. Everyone was colourful. Everyone mattered. Everyone was together. Everyone was in it no matter what their body shape was. And everyone loved him. The memory of that Mardi Gras stayed with Ellis for the rest of his life.
As Easter approached, Bruce Wyndham asked Ellis if he were willing to model for him by being a fireman shovelling coal into a big old steam locomotive on its Easter outing. The locomotive was a preserved 4-8-2 D57 'Mountain' class, one of the biggest, heaviest and most powerful of the New South Wales Government Railways steam locomotives and it was going to haul a long excursion train full of passengers up into the Blue Mountains west of Sydney.
Bruce wanted to paint a picture of a strong fireman shovelling coal into the firebox of an old-fashioned steam locomotive. He was an active member of a railway historical society to which he was also a generous donor.
On Easter Monday Ellis got up while it was still dark. Bryn stirred sleepily and Ellis kissed him goodbye. Ellis had a big breakfast, packed a change of clothes and rode his motorbike to the railway museum cum loco depot. There he met the engine driver Andy who announced he was seventy four years old. He then met Frank the fireman who looked to be in his late fifties. Both men had previous experience with steam locomotives when the NSWGR was still running them. They went through the ritual of lighting the fire in the firebox and getting it hot enough to turn the water in the boiler to steam. Wood was used to start the fire. When the fire was strong enough, Ellis put on his leather gloves and started shovelling coal onto the fire. He mentioned that the shovel he was using was pretty lightweight.
"Keep shovelling, mate. Back in five," said Frank and disappeared out of the cab.
He returned about quarter an hour later with a much larger shovel fitted with flanges on the sides and back.
As he climbed into the cab, he said, "This is the famous hundredweight shovel. It's just what this hungry monster needs to feed her," and patted the firebox.
He went on, "Trouble is, not many men are strong enough to use it. I reckon you might just be, Ellis. You look pretty muscly."
Ellis took it from him and used it to shovel coal from the tender into the firebox. After a few misfires where he hit the shovel on the sides of the firebox and scattered coal all over the floor of the cab much to Andy's teasing, he managed to aim true. He had only a few inches or centimetres clearance on each side, not much.
Frank turned on the funnel fan to force air into the firebox and the flames through the boiler fire tubes and exhaust up the funnel.
Ellis set to with a will and vigorously shovelled coal into the fire with the hundredweight shovel. Frank told him how to get a nice even bed of glowing hot coals and get the boiler steaming nicely.
Ellis quickly worked up a sweat and removed his denim jacket. His bare sweaty torso and arms glistened in the glow from the firebox.
"Muscly bugger, aren't you, mate," commented Andy.
"You don't look like you're having any trouble with that hundredweight shovel," remarked Frank.
"Nup. It's a good size," replied Ellis.
"Jesus, you're a bloody strong bugger!" exclaimed Andy. "I can't say I've seen too many men shovelling a hundredweight of coal at a time the way you do. There is a mechanical stoker on this old girl but it hasn't worked for years. Normally we have two men firing her. Good thing you're on board. Frankie can put his feet up today."
He laughed. "Took your bloody time getting your aim right. This place is a bloody mess with bloody coal all over the shop."
"You want me..." started Ellis.
"I'll clean it up in a sec just to keep old grizzleguts here quiet," said Frank. "Just keep shovelling, mate."
The sun had well and truly dawned on a warm and humid Sydney day by the time Andy decided the locomotive had enough steam up to move under its own power. He cracked open the throttle and the big Mountain- class locomotive slowly eased its way out of the engine shed. Suddenly the safety valve lifted and the air was filled with the roar of escaping steam.
"Got more than enough steam," shouted Frank.
An old diesel shunter ran back and forth shunting rakes of passenger cars onto the back of the loco tender. Finally it had assembled a long train of passenger cars behind the waiting locomotive.
"I reckon we've got just about all the passenger rolling stock in the museum on behind us and some borrowed cars too," commented Frank.
"You'd be right too," said Andy. "It's a pretty motley old collection we got behind us."
The locomotive whistled and pulled the train out of the museum railway yards onto the main line. From there it was a nonstop run in towards Central Sydney then the train backed slowly into a very long platform at Sydney Central. Already there were passengers waiting to board the train.
"Hey Ellis, why don't you give the ladies a thrill and get up on the tender and shovel the coal forward?" suggested Andy with a smirk. "Don't bother putting your jacket on. Give the ladies even more of a thrill when they see that muscly bare chest of yours."
"Yeah, Ellis, the coal does need to be shovelled forward," said Frank.
Ellis climbed up the ladder onto the tender and shovelled the coal forward as he was asked. He could hear cameras clicking and whirring. It did not take long for him to do the task.
As he was climbing down off the tender to the click and whir of cameras, he heard Andy jeer, "Well look who's here. It's Brucie Woosie!"
Ellis looked around and saw Bruce with Bryn, Roman, Bill, Terry, Bertie, Leonie and an obviously pregnant Claire. Bryn and Bill both had large rucksacks on their backs. Leonie, Bertie and Roman were all carrying picnic hampers.
"Oh damn! It's you, Andy. Just my rotten luck to have you as my driver today," complained Bruce.
"Well Brucie, I'm your limo driver for today," replied Andy. "So like it or get out and walk!'
Some Japanese tourists standing nearby were rendered helpless with laughter.
Bryn extracted a large bag from his rucksack and handed it to Ellis.
"With love from Marica," he said. "It's food. She said you'll need feeding up if you're shovelling coal all day."
Ellis peered into the bag. "Oh bless her," he exclaimed. "I forgot."
"Thought you might've."
"Hey Brucie! Your pretty muscle boy can sure shovel coal," declared Andy. "I never seen a man shift coal like he can. I'll have him fire for me any day."
"Ellis, you're looking a bit grubby there," laughed Claire.
"Hey, lady, the way he shovels coal, it's not surprising," stated Andy. "He's only been at it for a few hours and already he's starting to look like a blackfellow."
Ellis looked at Bertie. "What are you doing here?" he asked.
Bertie and Terry looked at one another, held hands and smiled.
"Bertie and Terry are together now," said Claire. "That's why."
"Oh, I see," said Ellis with a smile. "Have fun then."
"Thank you, Ellis," chirped Bertie.
"Oh gawd!" muttered Andy and rolled his eyes.
Bruce clambered into the cab, his Leica camera with flashgun and equipment bag slung around his person. Bryn followed him.
Andy greeted him with, "Brucie, you look like a fucking tourist with all that camera clobber slung around your neck."
"Watch your language, Andy," reproved Bruce. "Those Japanese can hear us."
"And they'll be looking the f-word up in their dictionary wondering why they can't find it," interjected Ellis.
Bryn caught Frank's eye and they both started laughing. Bruce rolled his eyes.
Andy looked Bryn up and down.
"Big bugger, aren't you?" he commented. "Maybe you could help your mate here fire this old girl."
"Get a bit crowded in here with these two musclemen shovelling coal as well as Bruce getting underfoot," observed Frank.
"Yeah, well. Might be a bit crowded. The smaller fellow does pretty bloody well on his own."
Bryn was fascinated by all the dials, knobs, taps and levers in the locomotive cab. Andy cheerfully explained them. Ellis listened too.
"There'll be a test afterwards," Andy told Bryn. "See how much you remember."
Bryn stayed until Andy announced that the train would be leaving in ten minutes and suggested that Bryn find his seat. Bryn did so. Almost simultaneously the platform loudspeakers announced the same message. Frank suggested to Ellis that he put more coal on the fire. Ellis set to work with his shovel until the boiler pressure gauge showed just about maximum pressure.
At the appointed time, the guard blew his whistle and waved his green flag. Andy gave a long blast on the whistle that caused the station pigeons to take fright and fly off up into the sky with the multiple rattle of wings. Andy cracked open the throttle and with a few sharp chuffs and much hissing of steam, the big Mountain-class locomotive started moving forward slowly. The safety valve lifting and letting off steam added to the noise.
Andy eased open the throttle more and the locomotive gathered speed out of the Sydney Central station yards. The train behind the locomotive rattled over the points.
"You can tell we've got a load on board from the rattling sound the carriages make going over the points," observed Andy.
The train gathered speed out of the station yards and headed westwards towards the Blue Mountains at an easy canter. The uneven triple beat of the steam locomotive's exhaust echoed back from the surrounding buildings. The fire in the boiler was burning well. Ellis needed only to throw the occasional shovelful of coal onto the fire.
"You'll really be earning your money once we get up into the mountains, young man," remarked Frank. "It's just as well you're strong as you are. We'll be needing all the steam we can get."
"That's for sure," interjected Andy. "And Frankie gets to sit on his fat arse all the way while you do the hard work."
Bruce laughed.
"Hey," protested Frank. "I've got to watch the boiler."
He laughed.
Bruce got a few more photographs of Ellis shovelling coal into the firebox.
People lined the railway track and waved as the steam train thundered past. The train passed through stations like Newtown, Croydon, Strathfield, Parramatta, Blacktown and Mount Druitt laying a trail of steam and smoke as it went.
Once past Penrith and over the Nepean River, the grade steepened. Andy opened up the throttle and the syncopated triple beat exhaust of the locomotive deepened into a throaty bark that echoed off the walls of the railway cuttings. Ellis worked hard shovelling coal into the firebox and keeping up the boiler pressure. Soon his bare torso and arms were dripping with sweat. Bruce got very excited taking photographs of the muscular hard-working man glistening with sweat shovelling coal into the roaring fire in the firebox. Ellis was illuminated dramatically by the bright orange glow from the open firebox door. Bruce kept exclaiming excitedly what wonderful pictures he was getting. Every so often he would pause in his rapid-fire photography to reload his camera with another roll of film.
The locomotive was hauling a long heavy train packed with passengers. It was not overloaded because it was built to haul long heavily-laden coal trains through the Blue Mountains. Even so, the driving wheels would slip on dew-slicked rails. There would be a loud dramatic burst of fast puffing. Andy would ease right back on the throttle and drop sand from the sand box onto the rails in front of the driving wheels until the wheels regained their grip. He had so much boiler pressure that he had to be very careful with the throttle otherwise the driving wheels would slip again. He suggested that Ellis take a break from shovelling coal into the firebox. His long years of experience in driving both steam and diesel locomotives showed.
Frank drew Ellis's attention what he called the 'mike freaks' lining the open front platform of the leading car. Ellis looked back and saw a cluster of fur-covered microphones on long booms sticking out from the front of the leading car.
Frank asked Ellis to get up onto the tender and shovel the coal forward. Ellis did so. Once on the tender he saw many microphones on booms sticking up out above and to both sides of the car platform.
Someone wolf-whistled him and was immediately shushed by the other men on the platform. Ellis looked back and grinned. He finished shovelling the coal forward and climbed nimbly down back into the cab.
The train slowly rounded a sharp corner and came to the bottom of a long curving slope. The locomotive needed all the steam it could get so Ellis busily shovelled coal into the open firebox. Andy had the throttle close to fully open and the deep sharp bark of the locomotive's syncopated off-beat exhaust echoed from the rock walls of the railway cutting. It was a long hard slog for the locomotive. Andy commented that it was a real hands and knees job for the locomotive. Ellis shovelled coal without a pause. He was glad of the hundredweight shovel.
Sweat poured from his body. His powerfully muscled arms and torso glistened in the dramatic light from the firebox. Bruce scuttled around the cab taking photographs and exclaiming what wonderful pictures he was getting. Every so often Frank would scold Bruce for getting in the way.
Andy laughed and commented that he was waiting for Bruce to have an orgasm and wet his pants. Bruce ignored him. Ellis kept on shovelling.
Ellis was able to take a break when the train was on level track. He scoffed the slices of quiche and frittata that Marica made him. Shovelling coal had made him ravenously hungry.
The train arrived at Katoomba. The passengers disembarked. Some explored the town. Other stayed around and watched the crew prepare the locomotive for the return trip. After the locomotive was turned around, a front-end loader dropped buckets of coal into the tender. Then the locomotive backed up to the water gantry and the tender filled with water.
When all the preparations had been completed, Ellis washed the coal dust off the visible parts of his body. He did not bother putting on his jacket and strode topless through the town to the park. He was conscious of people photographing him as he strode through the streets. He ignored them. At the park he joined the others for the picnic.
Bryn complained that he had spent most of the trip getting cinders out of the eyes of crying children. Claire retorted that was a gross exaggeration and that she had got more cinders out than he had. She told Bruce off for telling the train crew that there were two doctors on board. Ellis said to Bill that Bill should be grateful that he had not been included as the third doctor.
The return trip was downhill most of the way. Ellis did not have to work nearly as hard as before.
The syncopated rhythm of the locomotive's exhaust got to Ellis. He started dancing around the cab in time to the beat. He really got into the beat thrusting out his arms and swinging his legs. Frank watched with amusement.
Ellis noticed Bruce watching him with an expression of intense longing on his face. Bruce's eyes filled with tears.
"My God, Ellis! You're a sexy man," sighed Bruce after a while.
"Better watch out, Ellis. Brucie's got the hots for you," laughed Andy.
"Shut up Andy!" snapped Bruce angrily.
Ellis had not seen Bruce so emotionally wrought.
"Oh Gawd, Andy! You certainly know how to spoil a bit of fun," observed Frank.
Andy glowered at him and looked out the window.
Bruce appeared close to tears. He stood at the rear of the cab behind Frank staring out at the passing scenery through the gap between the locomotive and the tender.
Ellis threw several unnecessary shovelfuls of coal into the firebox. Silence fell over the cab apart from the beat of the exhaust, the hissing of steam, the occasional blowdown and the roar of the fire. Then the cab filled with the sibilant roar of escaping steam when the safety valve lifted.
Back at Sydney Central the passengers disembarked. Bruce left the cab without a word.
After all the passengers had left, the train departed back to the depot and museum. Ellis rode with them throwing the occasional shovelful of coal on the fire.
Back at the depot he had a long hot shower. He was glad that he had brought a clean change of clothes. Dinner was provided at the depot by the ladies who were members of the museum society. By the time he had finished dinner, night had fallen. Ellis returned to his penthouse through the dark streets on his motorbike.
Life at university proved full for Ellis. He asked Sabine to tutor him in German as well as the tuition he was receiving at the university. Often his piano lessons were conducted in a mixture of German and English. It turned out that Marica could speak fluent German as well. Often the piano lessons would turn into three-way conversations in German. Ellis participated fully. The result of his extra tutoring was that he received high scores for his assignments. French was more of a struggle but even so, he was scoring better than average.
In the philosophy course in the first semester one of the subjects was Ethics. In the philosophy tutorials Bill lived up to his reputation as a hard taskmaster because he expected a high standard of work from his students. Once Ellis understood what was expected, he did well.
He and Bryn regularly lunched together in a university eatery near the hospital. The other students noticed. They certainly noticed when Ellis and Bryn had a cuddle and a kiss before Bryn returned to the hospital. They knew that Bryn was a doctor from the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital.
One day near the end of an ethics tutorial, Maria Funicello asked Ellis who the doctor was with whom Ellis was so friendly. Ellis replied that the man was his partner.
Wayne Johnson, a strongly built jock taller than Ellis, vented his disgust at the nature of Ellis's relationship.
That started an angry discussion until Bill held up his finger and said "Peace, brothers and sisters."
Bill then smirked and said, "That brings me to the topic of your next assignment. The topic will be 'The Ethics of Homosexuality'."
Many of the students including Wayne groaned.
Bill turned to Maria and said, "Now, I don't want to see a regurgitation of the Catholic teachings on homosexuality. I was brought up a Catholic too and I know exactly what the Church teaches. The same applies to the teachings of the other churches as well. From all of you, I want to see your own thoughts on this topic. You may quote from the doctrines of your particular church but I want to see evidence that you have actually thought about the topic and you can put together a reasoned argument. That is all for today."
"Bastard," muttered Wayne as he glared at Ellis.
Ellis raised a clenched fist at Wayne. His big biceps bulged.
"Ellis, please don't make a mess of Wayne," said Bill with a smirk. "He's an up and coming member of the university rugby team. And, Wayne, Ellis is a very dangerous man to pick a fight with so please don't. He is heavily into martial arts. I know Ellis well. He was a couple of years ahead of me at school."
Wayne raised an eyebrow and glared at Ellis
As the students left the room, Wayne growled at Ellis, "Just you wait, you fucking poofter. I'll get you."
"I'm waiting and I'm trembling with fear," laughed Ellis.
"Wayne, I don't think that's a good idea," said Maria.
Bill overheard her.
"Yes, Wayne," he declared. "I agree with Maria. It is most definitely not a good idea. Violence, physical or otherwise, and threats of violence have absolutely no place in any philosophical discussion. If violence intrudes into a philosophical discussion, then it is no longer a philosophical discussion, by definition. If I see any evidence of physical damage to either of you, I shall be most unimpressed. Is that understood, gentlemen?"
"Yes, Bill," replied Ellis.
Wayne mumbled something incomprehensible.
Emily Chi, one of the other students voiced her concern. "Wayne, I hope you're not a gay basher too. It's been awful that we've had these people coming on campus and bashing gay men and no-one is doing anything about it."
"I agree with Emily wholeheartedly," stated Bill. "I definitely don't want to see any of you indulging in that sort of behaviour."
Wayne gave a wry smile and left the room.
A few days later Ellis was walking to the hospital to meet Bryn after an evening history lecture. It was dark. He walked past the trees and bushes surrounding one of the university ovals.
He heard Wayne shout, "There's the poofter. Get him!"
More than a dozen young men ran out from the trees and surrounded Ellis who crouched into a karate stance. Ellis was ready.
The men rushed him all at once. Ellis saw that some of the men were wielding baseball bats. He became a whirl of flying hands and feet. Some of the men screamed in pain when Ellis broke bones and destroyed joints. Others gasped and fell when they received a karate jab or a flying foot in the belly. Ellis found that they were harder targets than the bully boys in London. The men attacking him were all big, tall, strong, fit and muscular. All were taller than Ellis. None of them had the cushion of fat over their bellies like the thugs in London. However, Ellis was stronger than when he was in London. He hit them hard.
Very soon he was the only man standing. He was surrounded by bodies lying on the ground writhing, screaming, gasping or grunting in pain. Some were in so much pain they could hardly move let alone scream.
A woman screamed. Other women screamed. Ellis looked up and saw a group of young women not far away. One of the women was gabbling excitedly into her big clunky brick of a mobile phone.
Ellis turned his back and walked away towards the hospital.
Once inside the hospital he made his way to the laboratory in the Immunology Department where Bryn was working. The people he passed in the corridors looked at him curiously.
In the laboratory Bryn greeted him with, "Your shirt's ripped. What happened?"
"Got into a fight."
"Who was the lucky fellow?"
"Wayne and his mates from the rugby team."
"Shit! You alright? Apart from your shirt that is."
"Yeah. I'm fine. No worries on that score."
"What about the others?"
"A bit unwell."
"I'll bet! You're fucking lethal, mate."
Bryn had not eaten. Neither had Ellis. He did not feel like eating so soon after the fight. The two men were planning to go and eat at a restaurant that Bryn wanted to try out. However, when Ellis arrived, Bryn was in the middle of an experiment that was taking longer than he expected. He wanted to wait until its conclusion. When it became clear after some time the experiment was not going to come up with the expected result, Bryn sighed and said, "Well, that's another bright idea that bit the dust."
"Bummer," said Ellis sympathetically.
"That's science, mate. You win some, you lose some. At least I know now what's not true."
"What, about my immune system?"
"Yeah, kind of. I thought that if I could stimulate a certain biochemical pathway in normal T-cells, they could beat off HIV like yours can. But they can't and yours can and I still can't work out why. I've been working on this experiment for over a month now and it turns out I was going up a blind alley. Well, like I said, that's science. Let's go and get something to eat."
"Sure thing."
Bryn shut down the equipment and they left the laboratory.
As they walked the hospital corridors, they met up with Doctor Hugh McCain who was striding along with a grim expression on his face.
"Problems?" asked Bryn.
"Yes!" retorted Hugh. "A whole bunch of guys have come into emergency with some serious injuries. Apparently some bloody madman attacked a bunch of Uni rugby players and beat the crap out of them."
"Golly! How many?" asked Bryn.
"I'm told about sixteen."
"You mean one guy took on sixteen rugby players and really made a mess of them? Far out!"
Ellis did not say a word.
"Yes," replied Hugh. "A fleet of ambulances was needed to ferry them here from some oval in the university. Emergency is just about full."
"Golly!"
"Enjoy your evening, fellas," said Hugh acidly. "I'm going to be a busy boy fixing up some badly dislocated hips, some badly dislocated knees and shoulders, various broken bones, etcetera, etcetera. With luck I may finish operating by morning."
"Shit a brick!"
"My sentiments precisely. Good night. I have work to do."
They parted company in the corridor. Ellis and Bryn headed to the hospital carpark.
When Bryn was sure that no-one was within earshot, he exclaimed to Ellis, "Fuck mate! You don't know your own strength. You're bloody dangerous. You took on sixteen rugby players, whom I assume were all big strong young men and won! Not only that you beat them all to a pulp! Fuck me!"
"You taught me well," replied Ellis.
"Er yeah, maybe too well."
They ate at a Chinese restaurant on Oxford Street in Darlinghurst. Ellis had learnt how to use chopsticks from Yoshi Nakamura and was keen to show off his recently acquired skill.
Not long after they returned home, two policemen arrived and spoke to Ellis about the alleged assault occasioning grievous bodily harm that Ellis had committed upon the rugby players. They detailed the serious injuries that Ellis had inflicted upon the rugby players. Bryn stayed with him. Ellis made it clear to the police officers that the rugby players had attacked him because he was gay; he was the 'poofter' that they had gone for. He described the conversation in the philosophy tutorial a few days previously and mentioned the tutor Doctor Bill Gould and the students Maria Funicello and Emily Chi who had participated in the conversation. He told them that Emily had raised the issue of the gay-bashings that had been occurring on campus in the previous weeks.
One policeman, Senior Constable John Hunter according to his nametag, was a lean tanned fit man of average height. He had a shaven head and dark eyes with dark eyebrows and he had an intimidatingly intense and focussed manner. His partner, Constable Rory McLachlan, was a tall fit young man with sandy red hair, blue eyes and freckles. Ellis thought that he was rather cute, unlike his senior partner.
Ellis did not waver under S/C Hunter's hard questioning but suggested that the police officers speak to Bill, Emily and Maria. He told them that Bill had made it clear to Wayne that he strongly disapproved of physical violence and that both Emily and Maria had supported him. They expressed their concern about the threats that Wayne had made to Ellis mainly because Ellis was gay.
Ellis made it patently clear that he was the one that the rugby players had attacked at Wayne's instigation. It followed on from the threats Wayne had made during the philosophy tutorial in front of the tutor and the other students. He told the policemen that some of the men were wielding baseball bats which could have done him serious injury.
He was able to defend himself because he had become skilled in both judo and karate. He had been taught by Bryn and Professor Nakamura.
Bryn pointed out that Ellis had a big advantage because of his great strength. Ellis in the heat of the desperate situation of being attacked by sixteen big strong young men was much more likely to inflict serious injuries upon his attackers than a person with a smaller build. Ellis was faced with the choice of inflicting injuries on his attackers while defending himself or submitting and being badly beaten and injured or even killed by his attackers who greatly outnumbered him. Bryn declared that no-one could possibly blame Ellis for taking the action he did. Because Ellis had to contend with so many attackers who were all bigger than he was, his best strategy was to disable his opponents as quickly as he could. That was the strategy he followed.
The issue of gay-bashing gave the policemen pause even though the attack on Ellis had backfired and the attackers were the ones injured. The attack was tied in with the other gay-bashings that had occurred on the university campus.
After a while the policemen appeared satisfied with Ellis's account. They departed.
The following weekend, Roman and Bill invited Ellis and Bryn to join them for dinner at a waterfront restaurant overlooking Sydney Harbour. When Ellis arrived, he noted that Bill appeared subdued. Roman was his usual lively self.
After desert, Bill told Ellis and Bryn that he had been visited by two policemen about the fight in which Ellis had inflicted severe injuries upon the rugby players. He had told the policemen about the threats that Wayne had made to Ellis during the philosophy tutorial. He also told the policemen of Maria's and Emily's roles in the exchange and the policemen had gone and visited them. Bill expressed his profound disappointment that the disagreement had ended in extreme violence and that Ellis's opponents had suffered such serious injuries.
Bryn came out strongly in defence of Ellis. He pointed out that Ellis had no choice but to defend himself. If he had submitted to his sixteen attackers he was likely to have been killed. If not then at least he would have suffered severe and very likely permanently incapacitating injuries. He was glad that Ellis had come through without injury.
The Sydney newspapers devoted a lot of space to the story about Ellis beating up the sixteen rugby players. Ellis was identified as the Captain Marvel who marched in the Gay Mardi Gras parade. The newspapers described him as the gay gay basher basher.
At the next philosophy tutorial Bill announced that Wayne Johnson had withdrawn entirely from his first year course at university. Wayne had both his collar bones broken when he had got into the fight with Ellis. He also sustained a shattered right elbow and broken upper left arm bone. He had both his arms immobilised in horizontal splints and was unable to write. One of the students commented that Wayne was like a bird with two broken wings.
Ellis really struggled with his philosophy assignment. After the fight he felt flat, dispirited and uninterested.
Bryn tried hard to jolly Ellis along but met with little success. Ellis felt guilty about the injuries he had inflicted on his attackers. However, Bryn pointed out in his usual robust manner that Ellis had to defend himself vigorously otherwise he would have been seriously injured and likely permanently incapacitated. Ellis could have been killed and the perpetrators would have got away scot free. It was likely that the rugby players had been responsible for the other gay bashings on the campus. It was noteworthy that the bashings on the campus had stopped since Ellis smashed up his attackers.
Finally Ellis managed to complete his assignment and handed it in. He typed it up on Bryn's computer and printed it using Bryn's dot matrix printer. Bryn had given Ellis a typing tutor program which Ellis had used to learn to type.
When Bill handed the assignments back after marking them, Ellis was chagrined to see that Bill had given him a score of D. Bill had scrawled all over the printed pages in red ink with comments like 'Far too emotive! Emotion is no substitute for a rational argument! Try using a valid philosophical argument rather than appealing to the emotions. Too many words! Way too wordy! You are not expected to defend yourself against Catholic dogma! Enough of Jesuitical casuistry! This is NOT a philosophical argument!'.
Ellis went and saw Bill afterwards in Bill's office. Bill took pains to point out that Ellis's low mark was most definitely not a result of the fight he had got into with Wayne and his friends. The reason for the low mark was the lack of any valid philosophical argument. Bill said that he understood that same-sex relationships were a subject very close to Ellis's heart. It was something Ellis had had to struggle with and defend vigorously. It was tied up with Ellis's deep emotional ties to his lovers, Sashi, BJ and Bryn. Bill knew how much Ellis loved Bryn and Bryn loved Ellis. He said he could see that Ellis was a man of very strong and deeply passionate emotions. However if Ellis was to discuss homosexuality rationally, he had to take a step back from his gayness and the men whom he had loved, the strong emotions of his love and discuss the basic ethics of same-sex relationships using the philosophical principles that Ellis had learnt during the course in Ethics. Bill told Ellis he had given Emily Chi an A+ for her assignment and recommended that Ellis ask Emily if he could read it. Emily's assignment was half the size of the paper Ellis had written but she had put together an excellent and tightly argued rational argument in defence of same sex relationships. Bill mentioned that Emily had gone to an Anglican school in Kuala Lumpur even though she had come from a traditional Chinese background. She had started her argument from Christian (Anglican?) principles and from a meta-ethical viewpoint developed her argument through utilitarianism. Bill thought it was a work of genius, particularly in one so young.
Ellis plucked up the courage to ask Emily if he could read her philosophy paper. She was flattered that a man twice her age wanted to read and learn from her paper and willingly lent it to him. It was an eye-opening experience to read her cool logic. Ellis had spent half his life reacting against Catholic teachings and Emily took a totally different viewpoint. Ellis was not familiar with Anglican teachings but he knew that the Anglican Archbishop of Sydney had spoken out strongly against the evils of homosexuality. Emily did not mention the Archbishop once. Ellis admired Emily's coolly independent philosophical approach.
A friendship developed between Ellis and Emily. She was interested to meet Bryn and she liked him immediately. She frequently joined Ellis and Bryn for lunch.
After the salutary experience with his last assignment on the ethics of homosexuality, Ellis considered more carefully what he wrote and his marks improved a lot.
Bruce finished his paintings. Roman invited him to exhibit his paintings at Roman's gallery along with a group of other artists. When hung, they attracted a lot of interest and they featured Ellis as a model. They were the pictures of Ellis sunbaking in a very brief swimming costume on Bondi Beach, the one titled 'Apollo carrying the dead Hercules from Hades up to Mount Olympus' that depicted the naked Ellis carrying the naked Bryn and as well as the picture of Ellis stripped to the waist shovelling coal into the firebox of the D57 'Mountain' class steam locomotive. All Bruce's paintings were big. The smallest was the one on Bondi Beach that was about a metre (yard) square. The biggest was the one of Ellis stripped to the waist firing the steam locomotive and that was about three metres by two (10 feet by 6.5 feet). It was a dark dramatic painting and Frank was recognisable in the background at the well-detailed controls. In all three of his paintings Bruce had depicted Ellis true to life as an impressively muscular man with big hard muscles bulging with power. The Bondi beach picture showed Ellis with a prominent bulge in the front of his racing briefs. The Apollo and Hercules painting showed both men with big penises as well as their impressive musculature.
The day came for auctioning the paintings. Many people came. The auction room was quite crowded. Ellis managed to persuade Bryn to take the day off from work and come with him to the auction. Bill joined them.
Ellis was immediately recognised as the model in the three paintings by Bruce Wyndham.
One lady commented that the artist had not exaggerated the size of Ellis's muscles. She thought he had.
Another lady said she was interested in the Apollo and Hercules painting. She asked how Bryn managed to look so convincingly dead. Bryn replied that he was dead drunk. The lady gave an embarrassed laugh.
A man came and asked in a strong Russian accent if Ellis was Russian. Ellis replied that he was not. His ancestors had originally come from Normandy with William the Conqueror and had settled in Yorkshire in England not far from York. Ellis also had ancestors from Scotland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway and Sweden, many of whom were seafarers. Bryn stated that Ellis had a lot of Viking blood in his veins. The Normans were originally Vikings who had conquered the French and settled in northern France. Over time they had acquired French culture to prove that they had become civilised and no longer barbarians. Bryn also pointed out that the progenitor state of Russia was Kievan Rus which had been founded by Viking adventurers. The Vikings, or Varangians as they became known, would have produced many children. The modern Russian state had grown out of Kievan Rus over many centuries and that Viking genes would be quite widespread in the Russian population. It was not surprising that Ellis could be taken as Russian.
The man was surprised. He had not known about the origins of Russia.
After the man had gone, Bryn commented that it was not surprising that Ellis was so deadly in fights. He said that Ellis was a berserker, a throwback to the savage Viking warriors of the Dark Ages. Because of his strong Viking genes Ellis flew into a berserk fury when he was attacked by many people and he would win at any cost to his opponents.
Ellis was sceptical of Bryn's hypothesis. He reminded Bryn that Roman had described him as a lovable bullshit artist. Bill chuckled. Bryn put his arm around Ellis's shoulders and quietly declared his undying love for Ellis. He loved Ellis's wild Viking passion that stirred him to the core of his being.
The auction commenced. Roman was the auctioneer. He had become very experienced over the years and he worked the room well. He kept up a continual patter and expertly built up the drama before each fall of the hammer. Bidding was lively.
Bruce's painting of Ellis sunbaking at Bondi Beach fetched $1500, less than expected. Bill made the comment that perhaps the painting was a little too homoerotic for the cafe socialists.
The painting of Apollo carrying the dead Hercules came up next. Bill commented that it was even more homoerotic than the Bondi painting. Nonetheless, bidding was keen. There were many bidders. Finally the painting went for $16,500 to the lady from the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Bill remarked it was a nice safe classical mythological theme where homoeroticism was perfectly acceptable.
There was much interest in the picture of Ellis firing the 'Mountain' class steam locomotive. Bidding was brisk. Ellis saw that the Russian man who had asked if Ellis was Russian was making determined bids. However, the Russian had equally determined competitors. Ellis noted that several Chinese men in expensive suits were bidding as well. In addition there were some phone bidders as well as some colourfully dressed individuals who were also bidding keenly.
The lady from the Art Gallery of New South Wales dropped out at $40,000. Bidding continued unabated. There were gasps when a Chinese man bid $100,000.
Straightaway the Russian man made a bid of $125,000. There was dead silence in the room apart from Roman's patter. Nobody dared move even though Roman tried to encourage further bids.
Roman started the count-down to accepting the Russian's bid. No-one else said a word. People held their breath. With dramatic flair Roman banged down his auction hammer and announced, "Sold! Sold to Mr Onyanov of the Soviet Embassy in Canberra!"
There was a moment of stunned silence and then the room was abuzz. Ellis saw that the Chinese bidders were shaking their heads.
"Well, you can pick my jaw up off the floor," Bill commented. "That must be a record for a living artist. It certainly is a huge record for Bruce."
None of the paintings by the other artists attracted six-figure bids like the Wyndham painting of Ellis stoking the Mountain-class steam locomotive. But then all sold for more than the Wyndham painting of Ellis at Bondi Beach.
-------------------------------------- Continued in Part 88. --------------------------------------