Firestorm - 32. FS Chapter 32

After moving out of the assigned accommodation on Christmas eve, I booked Angela and the boys into a motel, in Vancouver for six days, to allow me two days over Christmas with the family, and then time to travel by vehicle, with a small box trailer, with all our belongings, including some stuff that we had shipped over from the UK, that was still in boxes. Saying farewell to my family, I began the long drive north-north-east, which I was expecting to take 2 ½ days to complete, with 7 hours of driving the first two days, and 4 hours on the last day, to make sure I arrived their safely.

By now I had managed to get use to driving on the wrong side of the road, with the driver seat being on the opposite side also, so I was hopeful that the journey would be uneventful, how wrong I was. By the time I reached the town of Chasm, a distance of 400 kilometres, which took 5 hours to complete, I was exhausted, so I found a decent motel, and booked in for the night. After a shower and a hot meal, I called Angela, to check in on her and the boys.

They were happy to hear from me, and that I was safe, and I said that I would reach the city of Prince George by early afternoon tomorrow. The next morning, I found that I had a flat tyre, so the first thing I had to do was change it, then find a mechanic workshop to repair the tyre, I decided to get a second spare just in case, and once that was sorted, I continued my journey northwards. This part of the journey was taking me into the mountains, so I slowed down a little, to stay safe, as the roads are a little slippery, and after 4 ½ hours, I was pleased when I drove into the City of Prince George.

Once I had eaten a late lunch, I checked into a motel, and had a long hot shower, before looking at my road map to estimate, hopefully my last part of the journey. I was disappointed to see that it was at least an 8-hour journey to Fort Nelson, so I looked for a town to make another overnight stop, and decided on Fort St John, which would be a 5-hour long journey.

I rang Angela, and told her the bad news, and she said that as long as I arrived there safely, she didn’t care how long it took me to get to Fort Nelson, and she announced that she would change the airline tickets for two-day’s time, to make sure I have arrived there first.

Day three saw me drive on a very windy mountain highway, so I slowed down as much as it was safe to do so, and six hours later I arrived in Fort St John, once again very tired from the journey. I called Angela right away, to let her know that I was safe, and after the call ended, I checked into the motel, showered and went straight to bed, not bothering to eat any dinner.

The next morning as I was having a large breakfast, I looked over the road map, and I estimated that I had a four-hour journey ahead of me, which I was pleased about. I decided to contact the Realty agent, and let him know that I would be in Fort Nelson by 1pm, to pick up the key for our rental house for the next two years, before I started the journey.

Just out of the town of Pink Mountain, I had another flat tyre, so I found a safe place to park and quickly changed it, before continuing, and I was disappointed when just north of Prophet River, I had yet another flat tyre, and I wondered if I would be able to reach my destination, just 80 kilometres away with no spares. I decided not to risk it, so I turned back to Prophet River, where I had both tyres repaired, before making the last stage of my journey.

Feeling very tired from the long 3 ½ day journey, I found the Realty office, and after signing the rental agreement, I was given the address and the keys to a fully furnished three bedroom and study home. Entering the address into my GPS, I hit start, and followed the directions. With it being mid-Autumn, it was already quite cold, with snow covering a lot of the ground, which was something I had to get use to when we were in England, but here in Canada, there appears to be a lot more of it. When I found the Maxhamish Crescent, I was surprised to see, that the houses were quite large, and in good condition.

Our new home was a one level stone and corrugated iron roof home, with nice green lawns around it, looked like it has been kept in good order, and wasn’t very old, as I parked in the driveway, and made my way to the front door, holding my phone up to video record it, after giving Angela a call, so she could see what I was seeing. I went through the whole house, front yard and back yard, and we were both extremely happy with the house we had been assigned, and it was very nicely furnished as well.

After doing the tour on the phone for Angela, I began to have a closer look at each room, when I heard a car pull up in the driveway, and I was surprised that it was the Realty agent. “I am sorry Mr Benning, but there has been an error with the paper work, the Canadian Fire Service have changed your accommodation, if we lock up this house, I will show you the two-bedroom apartment that has been allocated to you and your family” the Realty Agent said to me.

“When I heard him say two-bedroom apartment, I was not happy, as I was handed the address, and asked to follow him, and a few minutes later we arrived at a three-level apartment block, with the grounds looking scruffy. I was led to the top floor apartment and the agent opened the door to Apartment 22. Taking out my phone, I turned on the video recorder and filmed the apartment, as we walked through it. Once I had been shown around, I turned off the video recorder and pocketed my phone, before turning to the realty agent.

“My family and I will not be moving into this apartment, I will be contacting my superior in Australia, to inform him of the unsuitable accommodation, that the Canadian Fire Service and the people of Fort Nelson are expecting us to live in. Good day to you” I said and I walked out of the apartment and back to my car, leaving a shocked realty agent standing in the apartment.

Once in the car I dialled Angela’s mobile number, “Hello my love, we are just packing up, getting ready to catch the flight tomorrow morning” Angela said as soon as she answered the call. “Cancel the flight and book into the motel for another week, the realty agent told me that he house was incorrectly allocated to us, according to the Canadian Fire Service, who I think are trying to pay as little as possible for accommodating us, as I was shown a small two-bedroom apartment straight afterwards, that was not clean, is smelly, and in a three-level block of units” I responded.

“So, what are we going to do?” Angela asked me, “Well I am tempted to head back to Vancouver, and all of us fly back to Perth, but I think I need to speak to Brigadier Murdoch, and let him know of the situation, I will book into a motel for a couple of days, and see if we can get this fixed, I will let you know, as soon as I know what decision has been made” I informed Angela.

After the call, I looked at my watch, and estimated it to be about 6am in Perth, so I dialled the mobile number of the Brigadier, who had added his number in case there were any issues. “I hope you know it is 5am here, whoever this is” I heard a sleepy voice say, “Oops, I am sorry sir, I got the time differences wrong” I responded, forgetting to identify myself, “This sounds like Warrant Officer Benning, is that correct?” the Brigadier asked.

“Sir, yes sir, and once again I am sorry for waking you, but I have a problem with the accommodation here in Canada, for the basic training we had very basic accommodation, with basic furnishings, and we put up with it because we knew it was short term, at the moment, my family is still waiting in Vancouver, and will fly up to Fort Nelson, when I have the accommodation sorted, I arrived here about two hours ago” I replied.

“Where is this place, Fort Nelson, and what were you allocated by the Canadian Fire Service?” the Brigadier asked me, “Sir I will send you a video clip of the two bedroom apartment that was allocated to us, when I had seen inside, I informed the Realty agent that I would not be accepting the apartment, and that I would be contacting my superior in Australia” I replied, “Very well send me the video clip and I will look at it, then get back to you once I have had some coffee, goodbye” the Brigadier said and he ended the call.

I sent the video clip to the Brigadier’s mobile, and while waiting, I drove away from the apartments, in search of some accommodation at a motel, and I was booking in when I received a call back. “Benning, I agree with you, the apartment is too small and in an unsuitable condition for you and your family, leave it with me, and I will sort it out, now what are you doing in the mean time?” the Brigadier stated, “I have just booked into a motel for three days sir” I replied, “Very well, I will speak to you again in a day or two, congratulations on your CSM award by the way, goodbye” the Brigadier said, and ended the call.

I was pleased to be able to have undercover for the trailer, so it was protected from the weather, and carried my two main suitcases to my comfortable motel room, which was very nice and clean. After a hot shower, I changed into some warmer clothing, and went for a walk around the town area, and I found the local secondary school, not that far away, and I decided to make some enquiries, for getting Tom in.

“Yes sir, how can I help you”, the lady at the reception desk asked as I entered the administration area, “Yes, I would like to enquire about enrolling my stepson into this secondary school” I replied, “Another Australian, we have four other families here, I am guessing you are on some sort of exchange programme” the lady responded, and I smiled when I heard this, “Yes ma’am, I am actually a Warrant Officer in the Australian Army, but I am on a two year posting to the Canadian Fire Service, which is an area of qualifications, I wish to expand on” I replied.

“Well Mr…” “Mitchell Benning Ma’am” I said realising that I had not introduced myself, “well Mr Benning, can you tell me your stepson’s name and age, and previous schooling” the lady asked. “Thomas Parker is his name, he has just turned 13, and he has spent the past two years attending a local school in North Yorkshire, England. Where I have been posted for the past two years, my wife and two boys are currently in Vancouver, waiting till I can secure better accommodation, before flying up” I replied, I said as I retrieved a recent photo of us, taken at my send-off party less than a week ago.

“That is a beautiful family you have there, how old is your youngest son?” the lady said after looking at the photo that I presented to her, “just gone 12 months ma’am, Simeon Parker Benning is his name” I replied with a big smile. “You appear to have a lot of medal ribbons on your chest, in this photo, including a new one” the lady stated, “Yes ma’am that is the Conspicuous Service Medal, the one next to it is the Conspicuous Service Cross, which looks similar” I replied.

“What it these three on the other end?” the lady asked, “they are the Order of Merit, the Cross of Valour, and the Distinguished Service Cross” I replied, “It sounds like there are some interesting stories attached to those” the lady said with a smile, “Yes there is, but unfortunately it is classified, so I can’t tell anyone about it” I responded.

“Oh, that is a shame, right, now getting back to Thomas, I see no problem with him being enrolled at this school, although we are not like the USA, where they start in late August, we resume the school year in early September, so school resumes on January 2^nd, from the Christmas break” the lady informed me. “Ok, that is still four days away, so we will see if we can get sorted by then” I replied, as I was handed some enrolment forms that needed to be filled in.

“What is your policy on Bullying at your school?” I asked the lady, and she spent the next ten minutes explaining the school’s policy in great detail, “Ok, that is good to hear, now Tom knows how to defend himself, and he will do so if he is being bullied, and I will be fully supportive of his actions, if this happens” I announced to the lady.

“I think you better speak to the deputy principal, to discuss this, as it is not my area of expertise” the lady said and she went off to find the deputy principal, who was a very tall lady, immaculately dressed, with very little makeup on, and I was lead into her office, down a short hallway. For the next twenty minutes, I explained that Tom and his mother had gone through some tough times before they met me, and even for a while afterwards, which resulted in Tom missing a lot of schooling.

When he entered the Primary school in North Yorkshire, he defended himself against bullies, just enough to neutralise the issue, and the teachers had witnessed what he had done, and accepted it as defence, with very little harm. The deputy sounded interested in Tom’s methods of defence against bullies, and asked to meet with him, as soon as he arrives up from Vancouver.

With Tom’s enrolment sorted, I walked back to the motel, and re-entered my room, and noticed a side door that was locked, which I presumed was to the adjoining room, so I went to the reception to ask about it, where I was informed that the adjoining room has a second bedroom, bathroom and a larger lounge area, and I asked to book both rooms for a period of one month, which the motel receptionist was happy to do.

I rang Angela, as soon as I returned to my room, and explained that I was in a motel that has a family suite, with the main motel room, with a double bed, and bathroom, and the adjoining room having a bedroom and lounge room, and another bathroom, which I have booked for a month, I mentioned about enrolling Tom into the local secondary school, and suggested that she organise a flight up to Fort Nelson, as soon as she can.

A few hours later, Angela rang back, to say that there were a few cancellations, and she managed to get seats on tomorrow’s only daily flight, that leaves at 10.05am, stopping at Prince George for half an hour, and arriving at Fort Nelson at 2.30pm. I informed Angela, that I would be at the Airport to meet them there, and she said she was happy that they were coming up at last. After the phone call, I collected the key for the connecting door, and I was pleased with its size, before I went to my trailer, and brought in some of the family’s extra luggage, and some toys for the boys to play with, to keep them entertained.

Angela had a portable cot for Simeon, so he would be sleeping in that, and would be sharing a room with Tom, who was happy with that arrangement, which I was a little surprised about. With the trailer half empty, due to me moving some of the more essential belongings into the motel suite, I now had plenty of room for all of the luggage of the family, that would come up on the plane the next day.

After another hot shower, I dressed warmly and headed over to a nearby restaurant for some dinner, and while eating I nearly choked when I saw the news broadcast. “A diplomatic incident has been developing late this afternoon, when the Canadian Embassy in Australia received an official complaint, about how Australian Servicemen and their families have been accommodated in sub-standard housing, while on exchange programmes in Western Canada.

It is believed that a very high-ranking officer in the Australian Army was informed of this, when contacted by one of these exchange servicemen earlier today, on further investigation, it has been discovered that a total of five families are affected by this issue, just in the town of Fort Nelson, in the far North-east of British Columbia.

We have learnt that the Municipality of Northern Rockies, are responsible for allocation of accommodation for these exchange personnel, and when contacted by us this afternoon, they would not comment” I heard the news reader say, just as my mobile began to ring, and looking at the caller ID, I saw that it was Angela. “Hi, yes I just saw the news, I nearly choked on my dinner” I said right away.

“I presume the high-ranking officer, is your friend the Brigadier?” Angela asked, and I chuckled at this comment, “Yes, I think it might be, I called him earlier, he wasn’t too pleased about being woken up at 5am their time, I sent him the video footage of the two-bedroom apartment, and he wasn’t too happy, and told me to leave it with him to sort out” I replied. After a quick chat with Tom, we ended the call so I could finish my dinner, and I headed back to the motel, noticing that the temperature had dropped a lot more in the past hour.

The next morning, I returned to the secondary school, and asked to speak to the deputy Principal, where I informed her that the family would be arriving by plane this afternoon, and I also asked for contact details of the other four Australian families. “Funny that you should ask, I had calls from two of the families this morning, after last night’s news broadcast, which I presume you had something to do with” the deputy principal said with a smile, as she handed me a sheet of paper, with the contact names, addresses and phone numbers of the 4 Australian men.

I thanked the deputy principal, and made my way out of the school, and back to the motel, before I dialled the first number on the list, “G’day, this is Les speaking” A voice said that was clearly Australian, “G’day Les, this is Warrant Officer Mitch Benning, Australian Army, and probably the cause of last night’s news report” I replied. “G’day mate, welcome to Fort Nelson, it is good to have another Aussie in the district” Les said happily.

“Mate, I got your number from the Secondary school, I hope that is ok, I only found out about you guys yesterday, when I was enrolling my stepson into the school, and only last night on the news report, about you guys being in the same situation as me” I said, “That is fine Mitch, the blokes and I are meeting after work this arvo, to discuss the situation, now I know who is responsible for the diplomatic incident, maybe you can come and fill us in on the details on what is happening” Les said to me.