New Beginings - 4. NB Chapter 4

After a short lunch break, we made our way to the second location in Claremont, and we managed to get the recording completed in just over 1 ½ hours, now that we knew how to set up, and do the singing, which Kyle joined in as a background singer, but out of picture from the video recording, which is what he wanted, so he wouldn’t get any more hassles from school. On Sunday morning, we attended church in Fremantle, but be stayed low key, sitting at the back of the church, and singing very softly, so as not to be noticed.

At the end of the service, we stayed back after all of the congregation exited the church, and the minister, closed and locked the doors, once he had returned inside, after placing a sign on the door, “Closed for Private event”, and seeing us still seated in the pews, he frowned then smiled, “Are you the young men that are doing a recording in the church today?” the minister asked us, “Yes sir, we are the singers, the technical team should be waiting outside the side doors, with their equipment” Kyle replied.

Twenty minutes later, we were fully set up, and the organist was ready to play the selected two songs, which Reverend Davies had chosen, along with all the songs she chose for the whole project. When we exited the church once the recording was completed, I was feeling tired and drained of energy, and after saying goodbye to the tech team, we walked the two blocks to where we had parked the car.

After nearly two hours of driving, we arrived in town, and I dropped off Kyle and drove home, and quickly did the chores, before having a shower and going to bed, I was just too tired to eat anything. When I woke up in the morning, and looked at the clock, it was already after 8am. I jumped out of bed and quickly dressed, as I dialled Kyle’s mobile. “Hey, can you get your mum to let the school know that I will be late getting into school, I accidentally slept in” I said quickly, and I heard Kyle chuckle.

“Mum had a battle getting me out of bed this morning too, we are on our way to school now, about fifteen minutes late, I will let her know. See you later, bye” Kyle said and he ended the call. Once I had milked the cow, fed the poddy calves, and the chooks, I raced back inside to quickly shower and get dressed into my school uniform, and dashed to my car.

I arrived at school just before the end of the first class, and I made my way to the administration building to report in late. “Thank you, Mr Davenport, we received a message from the chaplain that you would be late to school today, I will record you as arriving late, and attending classes from now on” the receptionist said to me, with a stern look on her face.

During the week, Kyle and I kept our distance at school, so as to give no hints of knowing each other more than attending the same school, and when it came to Friday, with a long drive into the country approaching, I packed my weekend bag, and drove into town, where I would be staying overnight at the rectory, as we would have an early start in the morning. “When are we meeting up with the tech team Rev?” I asked Kyle’s mum, using the shortened name that most of the students at school called her, as we sat down for dinner.

“How about you call me Annette, when there is just us around” the Rev said to me with a smile, “Very well, I guess I can do that” I replied, “The tech team will meet you at the Pioneer motel in Armadale at 8am, and you can drive down to Kojonup together from there, the rector of the Kojonup church is expecting you at 11am, and at the Mt Barker Church at 4pm. You are booked into the motel there for overnight, and you are expected at St John’s in Albany at 11am” Annette announced to us.

“That won’t give us much time to get back to Toodyay on the same day” I commented, “If you take the Albany highway to just north of Arthur River, then turn right to go to Narrogin on the Great Southern Highway, that will take you up to Northam and Toodyay, it should take you about 5 ½ hours” Annette said to us. “Ok, that sound possible, but boy am I going to be tired, Annette can you get someone to look after my animals for the weekend please” I commented, “Already sorted, your neighbour Mr Edgar has agreed to buy the stock off you, and he will collect them in the morning, and leave me with a cheque to pass on to you” Annette announced.

After a very long and tiring weekend, we arrived back at Toodyay at 8pm, and after dropping Kyle off at his place, and having a quick chat with Annette, I headed home to the farm to get some rest, as I still have to go to school in the morning. As another school week came to a close, I prepared for another busy weekend of travelling and singing. It was a little easier at home now that I didn’t have any animals to worry about, and after changing out of my school uniform, I went for a walk down to the river, which was still running quite fast, after all the rain we have had in the past two weeks.

The next morning, I arrived at the rectory at 8 am, and the media tech crew had just arrived, and after a brief chat, we climbed into our vehicles, to make the 1 ½ hour journey north to Moora. When we had finished at the church there, we stopped at a little café, before we started the 3 ½ hour journey further north to Northampton, and by the time we had finished the recording there, it was already late afternoon, and I was getting quite tired.

Kyle telephone his mum, and she agreed to postpone the trip to Rottnest for the following Sunday, and she informed us that she had arranged for the school chapel to be closed early Saturday new week, to allow for us to record our songs, and that we would do the St Georges chapel straight afterwards.

The media crew said they would travel as far as Jurien Bay this afternoon, and stay overnight there, while Kyle and I decided to stay in Geraldton, which was only half an hour away, and we would take out time travelling back to Toodyay tomorrow. When Kyle and I arrived home, mid-afternoon the next day, we were both exhausted and after dropping off Kyle at his place, I headed home and after a quick microwave dinner, I headed to be to get a good sleep, so I am well rested for school the next day.

Kyle let me know that the choir boys at school were not hassling him so much, which I was pleased about, and with just one more weekend left of recording songs in chapels, I was looking forward to when the project was finally over, and I could concentrate on completing my studies, and working on what to do with my future, On the Thursday evening, the house phone rang, and thinking that it was probably Kyle calling, I answered it, and when I heard the silence, I knew that it was probably Sebastian calling from Switzerland.

“Hello Huon, this Joachim speak, I ask you speak my brother, he very sad, we know not to do” I heard a child’s voice say in broken English. “Joachim lo so italiano, dico ancora una volta” I said to Joachim, asking him to repeat what he said. “Seb, è molto triste, la nostra nana è andata in paradiso, e Seb è triste ogni volta” Joachim said to me in Italian, telling me that their granmother has died, and that Seb was sad all the time.

“Dov'è Seb, posso parlargli per favore”, I said asking where Seb was and could I talk to him. “Non sappiamo dove si trova, siamo al posto del tuo prossimo, finché non ritorna” Joachim said telling me that they didn’t know where their brother was and that he and his were at their neighbours till he gets back. After a few minutes of discussions, we ended the call, with Joachim agreeing to call me to let me know when Seb returns.

After the call I stared at the phone, wondering why Seb would just abandon his brothers and dissapear like he had done. Two days later, Kyle and I were back at our school, early on the Saturday morning, with the media tech crew, and with just the school organist and Annette being the only others permitted to be inside, we completed the recording of two songs, as quickly as possible and quietly slipped out of the chapel and out of the school grounds.

Less than half an hour later, we arrived at St Georges Chapel at the University, and we were let in by the chaplain, and we quickly set up the equipment and got to work to record the two songs. When it was completed, Annette took us to Fremantle, where she had arranged accommodation for us at Rottnest Lodge, and that we had access to the small Anglican chapel after the morning service.

With our overnight bags in hand the ferry arrive just before noon, at the island, and we checked into our accommodations, before we had a quick lunch at the restaurant. With it being a nice spring day, we decided to do some exploring, as I had never had the chance to travel to Rottnest Island before, and I was looking forward to seeing as much of it as possible.

From the tourist information building, we learnt that the best way to get around the island was on the bus, so we walked to the bus stop and boarded the next bus, which runs every 45 minutes, and our afternoon of exploring the island, and checking out the little critters that roam freely around the island. The tech team would be arriving on the ferry in the late morning the next day, so we have alot of spare time to relax, and we even checked out some of the better swimming places, which was awesome.

We easily found the chapel that we would be singing in tomorrow, and we were both surprised at how small it was, made of local sandstone, with a white paint coating, the chapel looked like that it would only be able to hold about twenty people in it, and I wondered if it would be suitable for making recordings, but since it is locked, we would have to wait till tomorrow.

After enjoying a wonderful afternoon, we had a light dinner at the restaurant, before taking an evening stroll along the beach and through the settlement, which was very pleasant, before we retired to our rooms for the night, and for the first time in quite a while, I had enjoyed a very restful night of sleep, feeling happy and relaxed when I woke in the morning.

After having a delicious breakfast, we packed our overnight bags, and had them stored away as arranged, till it was time for us to leave, and we made our way to the chapel to attend the Sunday morning service, arriving just as the minister was getting prepared. “Good morning Reverend Allenby, I am Kyle Davies, my mother is Reverend Annette Davies” Kyle said as we entered the chapel.

“Yes hello Kyle, and yes I know your mother, we were at theological college together, and you must be Huon Devonport” the minister said with a smile, “Yes sir, the tech team that will be doing the recording, will be arriving at about 10am” I replied as I looked around the small chapel, and I stepped towards the centre of the chapel to see check the accoustics, belting a few notes to see how it sounded.

Kyle and I were pleasantly surprised by how good the accoustics were for such a small building. “Wow, that is some voice you have there” Reverend Allenby stated, “That it is, you are welcome to stay and listen while we are recording after the service” Kyle replied, “Well, I was going to go and have some morning tea while you were doing, that but yes I may do that” the minister replied.

“Will there be anyone else attending the service, this morning?” I asked, “Well that really depends on if any of the staff that work on the island decided to attend, some times we may get one or two, and we usually have to do without the assistance of organ music, and we do’t have anyone to play” the minister replied. “I can help you with that sir” Kyle replied with a smile, as he walked to the small organ in the back corner.

Kyle and the minister spoke for a few minutes about the three hymns that we would sing during the service, which would last about 45 minutes, and funny enough they were songs that we had recorded last weekend. No one else arrived, so it was just the three of us for the service, and I enjoyed the service, and even Kyle’s organ playing was pretty good too.

After the service, once Reverend Allenby had finished packing up everything, we sat and chattered until the tech team finally arrived, and one of them was looking very well, and we were informed that he was sea sick for the whole trip over. When the recording was completed, marking the end of the project, Reverend Allenby locked up the chapel and said farewell to us, and the tech team, Kyle and I went and had some lunch before the tech team made the journey back to the mainland.

Meanwhile Kyle and I took one last walk along the beaches and the settlement, before we collected out luggage, and made our way to the main jetty, to make the trip back to Fremantle, and from there we caught the train to the city and onto Midland, where Annette will collect us to bring us back home. As Annette was driving, I noticed that she had a big grin on her face, “Ok Rev, Spill it, what is going on?” I said in a little annoyed manner.

“I was going to wait till we get back home, but I guess I better let you know, we have secured something a little more useful for your recordings. As you may know ABC television broadcasts a Sunday morning Service on channel two at 11am, and the media tech crew have secured in inclusion of yoru recordings, as part of the Sunday service broadcast for the next few weeks” Annette announced.

“Wow mum, that is amazing, that will really put those choir members in their place” Kyle replied with a smile, “Yes but they may start bullying you again?” I added, “I will deal with that, at our next choir rehearsal tomorrow” Annette said to us. “How are you going to do that?” Kyle asked.

“Well telling a little fib, I will be announcing that two students from the school, who are not members of the choir, are featured in a television special on the ABC on late Sunday mornings for the next few weeks, and I will be insisting that all members of the choir and their freinds make no attempts by any means, to discover who these students are, and that any breaking of this warning, will result in instant suspension from the choir” Annette announced.

“Yeah right, as if that is going to stop them Mum” Kyle said, “I have already spoken to the Headmaster regarding this, and he is supportive of my warning, and if nessesary he will expand that to a school suspension” Annette replied. “Well that should cover it” I responded, hoping there will be no trouble after this announcement is made on Tuesday, and once I collected my vehicle from the rectory, I drove home, to relax for the rest of the afternoon.

Just as I stepped into the house the telephone rang, and I rushed to answer it, on hearing a delay, I decided to speak in Italian, to make things easier, “Ciao, Huo parlando” I said after picking up the phone, “Ciao questo è Seb parlando” Sebastian replied. “Hello you, where did you dissapear too, that got Joachim and Louis very worried” I said changing back to English, Yeah, sorry about that, I needed to have some me time, after Nanna had died. I spent a few days hiking and camping in the mountains, I arrived back this morning my time” Seb replied.