New Beginings - 11. NB Chapter 11

“Huon, good you are here at last, come and meet Jose” Margaret said when she saw me entering, As we shook hands, I felt that I was going to like this young man, he was very handsome, tall and he appeared to be strong. “Hello, its good to meet you at last, I have heard a lot about you, since I started working here” Jose said with very good English, and I was a little unsure how to reply to that, since I had only just learnt about him.

“I hope it was all good things that you heard” I ended up saying in reply with a smile, and he chatted about the village in northern Chile, where he comes from. He said that he came from a very poor family, and that struggled with getting a decent education, and trying to find work, as there was very little work available in his village.

“That is when Tom and I spread the word around the Falklands, asking for anyone with family or friends who would like to Work on Douglas as a farm hand, and this is when Jose’s uncle and aunt on West Falkland, called Jose’s family in Chile and suggested that maybe Jose would be able to do the work, so we agreed to have him fly to the Falklands, and he was perfect for the job and we employed him on the spot” Margaret explained.

As we ate dinner, Tom updated me on what had been happening on the farm in the past few months, and now that I had arrived, he wanted me and Jose to spend the first week doing a thorough inspection of the whole boundary fence, and make all of the necessary repairs. The following morning was Christmas day, so we drove into town to attend church, and I sang quietly, so as not to be noticed, for which I received a nudge in the ribs from Mary who was next to me, knowing how well I sang.

After the service, Tom, Margaret, Jose and I enjoyed a Christmas lunch at the Lafone Lodge, with Mary and family, which was a wonderful time, and we returned to the farm in the late afternoon, in time to feed the horses and milk the cow, and having a light dinner, since we had eaten so much at lunch time. Once I was back at my cottage, I made a phone call to Australia, where it was 8am in Western Australia.

“Rectory, Kyle speaking, Season Greetings” I heard a familiar voice say and I chuckled a little, “Hi Buddy, Merry Christmas to you and your mum as well” I replied, “Merry Christmas Huon, did you have a nice day?” I heard Annette say, “Yes thanks, church in the morning, followed by Christmas lunch with friends, before we drove back to the farm to feed the horses” I replied, just as there was a knock on the door, and Margaret walked in.

“Hang on a sec, my boss just walked in, and she doesn’t look too happy” I added. “Hi, sorry for the interruption with your call home, hello and Merry Christmas to who ever that is. Huon, I just got call from Mary, you were spotted leaving the church this morning, and Mr Wagner has been asking around, wanting to know if it was you, and where you can be found, as you requested, everyone that he spoke to has said they don’t know of any one by your name” Margaret said to me.

“Damnations” I said in response, before I remembered that Rev and Kyle were on the phone listening, “Oops, sorry Rev, did you hear what Margaret said, and she is my boss by the way?” I said into the phone, “Don’t worry about it, I have heard Kyle swear a lot worse than that, yes we heard everything, and wish your family there a Merry Christmas from us too” Annette responded.

Margaret was standing next to me by now and heard the reply, and she smiled, so I put the phone on loud speaker, “Thankyou, this is Margaret speaking, how are things in Western Australia this Christmas day?” Margaret said, “Very well so far, our day is just starting, thankyou, and its nice to meet you, I am Reverend Annette Davies, and my son Kyle is here too” Annette replied.

“Nice to meet you, so what are we going to do about this problem with Mr Wagner, now that he has seen Huon in the settlement?” Margaret said, “Well I guess I can just stay out here on the farm until it is time for me to return to WA in late January, that won’t be a problem, since there is plenty of work to do here” I responded, “Well we know now that the ships itinerary is, that it arrives back in Albany in mid March, and leaves again late August, so that that means he will be here while you are at university” Kyle said.

“We know they arrived here in mid October, and that its leaving in mid February, of which Huon is here for about 5 weeks of that time from mid December to late Janurary, so we just have to try and keep him hidden during those times that the ship and Huon are in the same area, including during mid year holidays” Margaret said.

“Ok, I have to get ready for Christmas day service, lets all talk again soon, and see if we can mash out a plan, bye for now” Annette said and she ended the call. “This is getting way out of hand, I need to put a stop to this, but not here, I need to do it back home in WA” I stated out loud.

As the weeks passed, I kept myself busy on the farm, Jose and I were getting along really well, and he was teaching me Spanish, which was learning surprisingly fast, he would join us on the evening horse rides, with the horse that Tom and Margaret bought for Jose to ride, a Quarterhorse gelding, by the name of Angus.

Every few days, Mary would telephone me to update me on what Sebastian was doing to try and find me, and just a week before I was due to leave to head home, she informed me that the part time shop assistant, had accidentally revealed that she had seen me in church, and that I worked on a remote farm, but she didn't know the farms name or location.

I was not very happy with this news, but with only several days left before I fly out, there was not much I could do, except ask Mary, to try and get that shop assistant to keep her mouth shut. Jose drove me into town, when the day came for me to leave Stanley, and he gave me a hug goodbye, and told me that he would miss me, which caught me by surprise a little, and once I was on board the plane bound for Santiago, I was relieved that it would be at least 6 weeks before I need to worry about Sebastian.

While I was heading to the customs area at Santiago Airport, my phone beeped to indicate a missed call, and I looked at the screen, and saw that it was from Annette, and there was a text message that said, “Call me when you can, Rev” and I frowned when I saw the text message, knowing that it was probably not good news. Once I had cleared customs, and I was in a taxi, on my way to the hotel, I dialled the number for the Rectory, but there was no answer, so I rang Annette’s office number, and just received a recorded message.

“Huon here, I am at my first overnight stop, call me when you get this message” I said and ended the call. About two hours later, as I was resting in my hotel room, after a delicious dinner, my mobile rang, and I answered it right away, “Hello, Huon speaking” I said thinking it was Annette calling me back. “At last, I have managed to get you” I heard a accented voice say, and I knew right away who it was, and I hung up, before pulling the battery out of the phone, and placing the phone and battery into my suitcase.

I headed downstairs to the main lobby of the hotel, and in Spanish, I asked if there was a place that I can buy a new I Phone at this time. I was informed that there was only the airport, so I decided to wait till I get there in the morning for my next flight, before going to a public phone to make two phone calls, the first was to Margaret, to let her know that Sebastian Wagner had managed to get my mobile number, that my my phone was turned off, and I would be changing numbers when I get home.

The second call was to Annette’s office, where I got the answering machine again, and I left the same message as I gave Margaret about my phone. I had a 18 hour stop in Auckland after arriving from Chile, so I decided to wait till then to get a new Sim card for my phone, and I went to bed, since I had an early start in the morning. I slept for half of the flight over the Southern Atlantic, as I was now getting use to this long haul flight, that I was making at least twice a year.

Once I had cleared customs at Auckland International Airport, I went directly to the duty free shopping area, where I found a phone shop, and I bought a new sim card for my I Phone 6s, and once I had transferred all my phone contacts to my new sim card, I destroyed the old sim card. Next, I made my way to the hotel that I had booked a room for 14 hours, and I sent a text message to Margaret and to Annette, to let them know that this was my new mobile phone number.

Once I had checked into my hotel room, I went out to do some shopping, to get some late Christmas presents for Annette and Kyle, and a light snack at a small cafe, which was not very busy, so I was able to just relax, and I jumped a little when my phone rang, and I looked at the caller ID, which said Rev on the screen. “Hi Rev, how are things in WA, I am at my second stop, so I’m over half way home” I said answering the call.

“Hello Huon, sorry about the delay in getting back to you, it has been a very busy few days here in Toodyay” Annette said to me, sounding a little tired, “Why, what has happened?” I asked sounding a little concerned. “We had another fire emergency in the district, we seem to be getting too many of them in the last few years, any way, we had two seperate fires this time, both caused by thunderstorms, one was east of town near Katrine, the other one was on your property.

I am sorry to be the one to tell you, but over 300 acres was burnt during the fire, including your home and all the other buildings in the homestead paddock, the orchard and vineyards are also gone” Annette announced to me, and I was in shock at the news, not sure what to say. “Huon? Are you ok?” Annette said, “Err, yes I’m abit shocked thats all” I eventually said.

“Your neighbours were away at the time, so it was quite some time before the fire was noticed, and it had burnt alot before fire crews managed to get to your place. There was no stock damage, just a few fences destroyed, and the machinery that you had in your shed, luckily your vehicle was at the rectory, so that is one small blessing” Annette said to me. “If you don’t mind, can I stay at the rectory, until I get things sorted at home” I said trying to force back tears.

“You are always welcome to stay here, and Kyle will be thrilled to have you around, I presume that you have insurance cover for bush fires?’ Annette replied, “Yes, I will call my lawyer, he has all the documentation for that sort of thing. I will stay at a hotel in the city for a few days, and I will catch the train up to Toodyay, when I am ready” I said to Annette, “Ok dear, we will see you when you get here, bye for now”.

I was still shocked at the news that I had just received, knowing that the family home that I had grown up in, was no longer standing, and it after a while I went and had a long hot shower and rested for the rest of my time in Auckland, before it was time to head back to the airport, for the flight to Sydney and onto Perth. At Auckland airport, I made a online reservation for a hotel in Perth, and that was finalised before the boarding call announced it was time to board my flight to Sydney.

I was fairly tired by the time I had arrived in Perth in the late afternoon, I guess it was mostly emotional from loosing my family home in Toodyay. When I was in Sydney for a few hours, I called the lawyer, explained what had happened and arranged a time for a meeting the day after I arrive in Perth. Once I had booked into the hotel, I had a long shower and went to bed, to catch up on some sleep.

When I woke the next morning, I had another shower and dressed casually, and as I was checking for the power recharger for my phone, I found a large yellow envelope in the front pocket of my suitcase, which I had no idea how it got there. Reluctantly, I carefully opened the envelope and inside I found a document.

“Falklands Island Department of Immigration and Customs, This is acknowledge that Mr Huon A Devonport, from Toodyay, Western Australia, has been granted a Permanent Residency Permit to the Falkland Islands, as part owner of Douglas Farm, East Falkland, on this day and year”.

I was a little confused about what this meant, and with it being 8am, it was still not too late to call Tom and Margaret, so I retrieved my phone and dialled the main house number. “Douglas Farm, Tom speaking” I heard the familiar voice say, “Tom, this is Huon, I am in Perth, and I have just discovered this yellow envelope, with a FI document in it, can you please explain this for me?” I said to Tom.

“Well my boy, when you came to work for us for the first time, we had to apply for a permit for you to work on the islands, and recently after some discussions with Margaret we made a decision. As you know we don’t have children, and we hope that on day you will take over running the farm, when its time for us to retire, and to do that we needed to organise a more permanent arrangement, so we have made you a part owner of the farm, and that made it easier for us to get a Permanent Residency Permit for you” Tom explained.

I was a little shocked by this announcement, firstly that I was being made a partner in the farm, and that I have been given permanent residency. “Wow, I don’t know what to say, thankyou. I guess that means I don't have to worry about visas and permits any more” I replied, still in shock by the news. “Hello dear, are you ok?” I heard Margaret say, “Yes, just a little surprised, are you two really sure about this?” I replied.

“Yes we are, we have been hoping for someone to come along and take pride in running the farm, and you do that every time you are here, plus you get along well with Jose, and he tells us that when he wasn’t sure of anything, you would show him how it is done, until he fully understood” Margaret said to me, and I smiled, “Yes it takes a bit of time to explain things to him, but as you know I am learning Spanish from him, so that makes it easier” I replied.

After a few more minutes of chatting we ended the call, and prepared to go and attend a meeting with the lawyer, to discuss the insurance of the farm, and getting repairs made to all the damaged fencing. I was pleased when the lawyer informed me that the insurance would cover everything, including a large amount to cover lost personal property, as well as all the machinery that was destroyed, which hadn’t been in use since my dad had died.

I spent the rest of the day doing some more shopping, and back at the hotel I booked a ticket for the train to Toodyay for the following morning, which leaves at 8.55am, arriving at Toodyay just after 10am. I spent the rest of the day just relaxing, and I watched a few movies on television, to pass the time. I still had a few days before I was due back at University, for the start of my second year of studies, so I was not sure what I would do.