As you probably gather, I was not the fighting type. It was probably some sort of record that I had not had a single punch-up in all my years at that school. Of course, all this was in line with my reputation as a gutless wonder. Now I was about lose my virginity.
    Nor was I able to keep the matter completely secret. I consulted my three witnesses—Letch, Stretch and Ivan the Hallinan.
“Why would he want to fight me?”
“Because you’re weak as piss. The most gutless of all gutless wonders, remember?”
“But I’m twice his size. And three times stronger. And ten times smarter. I’ll kill him.”
“No you won’t. You won’t hurt him at all.”
“No. I s’pose I won’t. And you reckon he knows that?”
“Only possible reason.”
That evening, we four made our way toward the dilapidated shelter shed on the far side of the school yard.
“I reckon this is like the Emden,” I said thoughtfully.
“The what?”
“Emden. First world war German battle cruiser that was sunk by HMAS Sydney off Western Australia.”
“It’s naked terror that’s causing him to rave like this.”
    I explained. I had read a slim volume recounting the battle in 1914 called The End of the Emden, which told of the bravery of the Germans, of how the Emden was hopelessly outgunned by the Sydney and of the long adventure of the survivors who made their way back home through hostile waters in a small boat. Patriotism is always a matter of perspective.
“You mean our navy actually sank a German raider?”
“All by themselves.”
“The Anzac tradition will never die.”
“The point is, the two ships manoeuvred for ages, as the Sydney tried to bluff the Emden into making a fight of it, so she could blow her out of the water.”
“The point being?”
“That’s how Myopic manipulated us into this. So it must be because he reckons he has superior firepower.”
“Well, you do have a reputation for being as weak as piss.”
“But I am twice his size.”
“So was Goliath.”
“If he’s gonna break the rules and use a weapon, why does he want witnesses?”
“Oh shit! There’s gonna be a whole gang of ‘em waiting there for us!”
“Don’t be bloody silly. Myopic hasn’t got any friends.”
“Well, what then?”
“I don’t know. But it’s gotta be a trap of some sort, so stay alert.”