At Sea - 18. AS Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Jay turned on the crane to take the slack, once this was done, Lennard climbed up and with the chainsaw, he sat down halfway between the cable and the end of the tree, just over the water, and he started the chain saw and began to cut the bottom half first, before starting on the top half, just half a metre past the side of the boat.

When the 1.5-metre thick tree log was cut free it landed heavily on the deck and rolled a little before stopping, Lennard carefully climbed back on board, and Jay lowered the tree end into the water, until it came to a stop, and the cable loosened, Sam using the dinghy went up to the tree to release the cable, so Jay could wind it back up. The other side was done the same way, and after nearly two-hours work, we had free passage through the fallen tree, with two 1.5-metre long logs and a 14-metre long log sitting on the deck.

With the dinghy secured back in place, we carefully sailed past the fallen tree, and backed up into the Pieman river, so we were facing downstream once more, and we headed towards the open sea, and up the West coast to the Arthur River and home. Jay was not surprised when he saw a parks and wildlife vehicle waiting at the main town jetty, as we approached town, and he told me to moor the Trident at the town jetty.

Once secured, and the motor was off, the two rangers walked down the jetty, not looking too happy, and Jacq stood next to her husband with a number of photos that she had just printed, showing the reason for the logs on our deck. When Jay explained to the two rangers on what had happened with the storm, and showed them the photos, plus offering to hand the logs over to the Parks and Wildlife service, the rangers stepped away and had a private discussion which lasted a good five minutes, before they returned.

“Sir, we accept your photo evidence and explanation on what happened, as being the truth, and it has been decided, that you will remove the logs from your deck at your expense, and gift them to the community, and no fine or conviction will be made” the senior of the rangers said, “That we will be happy to do, sir” Jay responded, and the rangers left.

“Now, how in the hell are we going to do that” I asked Uncle Jay, “I guess we will just have to hire a big crane to come down and lift it off” Jay replied, and I just nodded. While Lennard and the lads were busy unloading all of the scrap that had been removed from the three cabins and the now multi-purpose room, jay arranged for a crane to travel down from Launceston, to off load the two small and one very large logs off the deck.

The community had come down to the jetty to see these logs, and after a discussion amongst some of them, it was decided to place the logs in the nearby park, for kids to climb all over them, so that is where the crane placed them, and soon all the kids in town were climbing all over this huge Huon Pine log.

By the time the logs were finally removed from the deck, Lennard had closed off the main doorways into the two cabins, and made doors into the centre lounge from those two cabins, he had also installed a U-shaped lounge, shelves, corner cupboards and a large screen television.

He had also installed a double bed into one of the cabins, now that all the plumbing had been removed from both cabins, and replaced with book shelves and corner cupboards. With the changes to the guest cabins completed, Lennard began work on the multi-purpose room, with the flooring changed from carpet squares, to wooden flooring, with markings included for a half basketball court.

He would be installing a foldup basketball hoops, and along the front wall, were there is a store room adjoining, a doorway was made, to provide direct access to the store room, which will hold some foldup tables, stackable chairs, a foldup table tennis table, and some exercise gym equipment.

While all this work was happening, Jacq was busy working on the company website, adding a heap more photos, including those of the Danish royal family on both trips, plus photos of the ship wrecks that have been visited so far, and also the photo of me and mum standing on the sand bank enjoying the sunny afternoon.

Jacq also included changes to the number of guest cabins available, stating there is 1 x Royal cabin, on the bridge deck, and 1 x Executive Cabin, 1 x VIP Cabin with a double and twin beds plus private lounge, plus 4 twin cabins, all on the mid deck, along with a theatre lounge, formal lounge and dining room also on this deck.

Below there is a research work room and office, and a multi-purpose recreation and gym room, plus an outside large work deck on the main aft deck, with separate crew living quarters, in the forward main deck area. Lennard had all the work completed in just two short weeks, with the help of Sam and Marcus, who made it a lot easier for him.

The Trident now looked fantastic, with all the new improvements, and once we set up the gym gear and took some photos of the equipment, then packed them away and brought out the table tennis table, took some photos, then had the lads play a bit of basketball, so some more pics could be taken, and finally, the tables and chairs were set out, with table cloths on the tables in a conference layout and a function party layout, where photos were also taken, and all of these were added to the website.

When I was checking the emails later that day, once all the upgrades had been completed, and photos had been taken, I found an email from Frederik. “Hello Skipper and Nav, I like the new look of the yacht, and look forward to checking it out when we come to visit next time, Frederik”, I smiled as I finished reading this and made a mental note to show the email to Jay.

With no bookings, we finally had a chance to relax for a while, and Jay decided to give the engines a full service, which would take 6 full days to complete, and he asked me to assist, so I could learn about boat diesel mechanics. On the second day of working close together in the engine compartment, I plucked up the courage to ask something that has not been spoken about for many years within the family.

“Uncle Jayden, I know it’s a touchy subject for you and Aunty Jacqueline, but could you tell me what happened with your son, my cousin Brodie?” I asked nervously. There was a long period of silence after I asked the question, and I patiently waited, hoping that my uncle would reply, as he kept working, and when there was no sign of him saying anything, I headed out of the engine compartment, and after cleaning up, I went to the formal lounge, where I sat at the piano and started to play some classical tunes.

About half an hour later, Mum, Aunty Jacq and Uncle Jay, who had washed up and changed, sat down to listen to me play, and after playing three tunes to them I stopped. “That is beautiful son, you should keep playing so you stay in practice” Mum said to me with a smile.

“Carlton, you are right that we don’t speak of Brodie any more, I guess it hurts us every time we think of our dear boy, who would be 22 now” Aunty Jacq began to say, and she turned to her husband to continue. “He was just six years old, when he disappeared in that river, you were just four at the time, so you probably don’t have any memory of him. He was a very adventurous boy, and loved to explore, we did warn him constantly about the dangers of swimming alone, he could swim, but not very well.

When we realised that he was missing, and we began to search for him, it was Jacq who found his shirt and shoes by the riverbank. It had been raining earlier in the day, so the edge of the banks was slippery. The police think that he just slipped and fell in, and that he probably hit his head on the way in or panicked and drowned.

They swept the river bottom for a distance of two kilometres, but there was no sign of his body, so we just don’t know what happened to him” Jay said to me, and Jacq was quietly sobbing, with mum comforting her. “Officially he is listed as missing presumed drowned” Jay added after a few moments of silence.

Meanwhile three months earlier and 3510 kilometres away, on the other side of the country, in the small town of Coral Bay, in Western Australia, another event was taking place. A car accident just 64 kilometres north of town on the junction of the Exmouth and Burkitt Roads, has resulted in two adults in one car being killed and one young adult being seriously injured, while the truck driver received minor injuries.

Now three months after the accident, at a major hospital in Perth, 22-year-old Bryce Hunter, had come out of his coma, and his injuries were healing slowly. A few days later two police officers arrived in his hospital room, to interview him. “Mr Hunter, can you please tell us what you can remember about the accident that you were in three months ago?” the senior officer asked.

“Mum, dad and I were heading up to Exmouth to do our weekly shopping trip, I was half asleep, so it was only when I heard Mum’s warning shout, that I looked up to see a truck in front of us, turning onto the main road in front of us” the young man said.

“That is the conclusion, we came up with, after our investigation, thank-you for confirming that for us, now there is one other thing, after a few enquiries, we have learnt that there is no record of your birth under your name, and blood tests of your so-called parents, have confirmed that they are not your blood relatives.

So, this puts us in a situation, to find out exactly who you really are?” the 2^nd officer said to the young man, who looked shocked at this news, on top of being informed the day before, that the people, he thought were his parents, had died in the accident. “What has happened to the business at Coral Bay?” Bryce said after some moments of thought.

“Some of your family friends have rallied around, to set up a roster to keep the business operational, they have been informed that you are out of your coma” the senior officer replied. “So how do we work out who I really am” Bryce asked, “We will do a DNA test, and see if we get a match with anyone on our system” the 2^nd officer replied.

“We understand you are a paraplegic from a swimming accident when you were a child, do you remember where this accident happened, and how old were you?” the senior officer asked Bryce, “I think I was six, in my first year in primary school, I don’t remember where it happened, but we had to move to Perth to get specialist treatment, I was in hospital for 3 months” I replied.

“Ok thankyou Bryce, we will keep in touch as our enquiries continue, to find out your true identity” the 2^nd officer said, and waved farewell to Bryce, who stared out the window thinking about what he had just learnt, and over the next few days he struggled to cope with all the emotions that were swimming in his head.

Back at Arthur River, while Jay, Jacq, the crew and I were preparing for a 6-day shipwrecks diving charter, the sat phone on the bridge rang, and me with being the closest, I rushed up the stairs to answer the call, “MV Trident, Nav speaking” I said as I picked up the phone, “Err, I would like to speak to Mr Jayden or Mrs Jaqueline Henderson please” the caller asked.

“This is Carlton Henderson, their nephew speaking, can I help?” I asked, “No just get me your uncle please” the call responded, “hold please, I will get him” I replied, and I headed down stairs. “Jay, the call is for you, sounds very official, and he was a bit arrogant about it” I said, as I arrived in the dining area, were Jay and Jacq were seated and talking over a cup of tea.

Both of them stood up and started to head for the stairs, “You better come with us” Jacq said and I followed them upstairs to the bridge. “Hello, this is Jayden Henderson, my wife Jacqueline and nephew are here to listening in” Jay said as he picked up the phone.

“Mr Henderson, this is the police in Perth, Western Australia, we have some important information for you, do you recall giving the police in Glenbrook, in the Blue Mountains, a sample of your DNA, when your son Brodie went missing” the caller said, “Yes, but Brodie drowned in the river when he was six years old” Jay responded. “It appears Mr Henderson, that he didn’t drown.

A paraplegic young man, who was in a car accident a few months back, has come back as a match to your DNA, after it was discovered that, who we thought were his parents, were killed, there was no sign of a birth certificate, and then no blood group match. The young man has come out of his coma, and is still recovering in hospital, but it appears that he is your missing son” the officer said.

There was a long period of silence, as everyone tried to absorb this unexpected news, “Are you certain that he is our son?” Jay asked, “We would like to double check, so if you could go to your nearest hospital and get a DNA test done, and ask for the results to be sent to me, we can find out for sure. I suggest you stay put where you are, until the results are back, before we go any further with this” the officer said.

After the call ended, Jacq was sobbing, and I gave her a big hug to comfort her. After some time, Jacq went to her cabin to lie down, Jay called the clients to cancel the charter, and I headed downstairs to the galley, where Amanda and the lads were chatting in the galley. “Jay and Jacq have just had some unexpected news, and the charter has been cancelled, I suggest we go into town and give them some space, I said to the crew.

The crew and I spent the remainder of the day looking around town, having lunch at the café, and staying away from the ship. When we returned in the late afternoon, there was a note on the servery bench, “Thanks for giving us some space, we are going away for a few days, I will let you know when we are coming back, Jay and Jacq”.

“Well it looks like we have some free time, so what I am going to do is give you guys, some paid shore leave, so start packing for five days leave” I announced to Amanda and the lads. “Are you sure about this?” Amanda asked me, and I smiled, “Yes, I am going to lock up and take a few days off too” I replied. Once the crew had packed and left, catching the late afternoon bus to Launceston, I decided to spend a night on my own, before I catch the morning bus to Launceston.

Before making myself some dinner, I made a few phone calls, before I sent a text to Jay, “I have given the crew five days paid leave, they left for Launceston late today, I will lock up and spend a few days on the mainland. Take your time, no rush in coming back, love Carlton”. Soon after finishing my dinner, as I was cleaning up, I received a text back from Jay.

“Thanks for that nephew, we will stay in touch, we have gone to New Zealand for a short holiday, back in just under two weeks, love Jay and Jacq”. The next morning, I caught the bus to Launceston, and a short while later I flew to the mainland, then another flight west to Perth, where I had booked into a motel for a number of days.

After a good night’s rest, I spent the morning, looking around the city, King’s Park and some of the beaches, which are spectacular. After a relaxing lunch at a beachside café in North Fremantle, I headed back to the city, and went to the main hospital on the edge of the city, where a few enquiries had given me the information that I needed.

Arriving on the fourth floor of the hospital, I walked up to nurse’s desk. “Hey, my name is Carlton Henderson, I am here to see my cousin – Brodie Henderson, I think he is also known as Bryce?” I said to the nurse. “Mr Henderson, I am Officer Dale Langley, I’m in charge of this case, we spoke on the phone the day before yesterday” a man behind me said, as I turned to face him.

“Oh, hi, can you tell me anything about how my cousin is?” I responded, “He is recovering well, we are just waiting for results from the two DNA tests, between your uncle Jayden and Brodie, to confirm my suspicions. We have done some investigations into the deceased couple, who brought Brodie up, and it appears that there are no records of them ever having any children, in fact we found out they couldn’t have children” the officer informed me.

“Uncle Jayden and Aunty Jacquelin, don’t know that I am here, they have gone to New Zealand for a short holiday, as the news has been quite upsetting for them. Can I see my cousin now please” I asked the Officer, “As long as it is ok with what his doctor, says that it is ok” the officer replied. A few minutes later I was allowed to enter Brodie’s room, where my cousin was sleeping, so I sat down in a chair and watched his sleep.

I was surprised to see how similar he looked to me, which made me smile, then wonder if this is why Jacq and Jay were helping me so much as I grew up without a father. I must have dozed off, as I was startled by the sound of movement in the room, and I saw my cousin looking at me with a frown. “Who are you, and why do you look so similar to me?” Brodie said, “That would be because our fathers are brothers” I replied with a smile, “So we are first cousins?” Brodie asked.

“Yes mate, you are two years and two months older than me. Your real Mum and Dad, my uncle Jayden and Aunty Jacquelin are on a short holiday to New Zealand, as this news of you being alive all this time, has been quite a shock for them” I said, as I stood up and stood closer to the bed and held out my hand.

Brodie grabbed my hand and pulled me down to him for a hug, and he burst out crying, so I held onto him tighter, and let him get it all out.

Once Brodie had recovered, I sat on the edge of the bed and smile, “Thanks for that, I thought I had no family left, and now I discover that I have real parents, and an awesome first cousin” Brodie said to me, “Plus my mum as well, her name is Elizabeth.

My dad died when I was 12, he was a merchant seaman, and was killed in a work accident, so Jay and Jacq have been helping mum with looking after me” I said. “Sounds like a close family, that I look forward to meet” Brodie relied with a big smile.

“Do you know how much longer you will be here in hospital, Brodie?” I asked, using his real name for the first time in front of him, who smiled, “I think I like that name better, than my old name” Brodie said to me, just as there was a knock on the door, and a man in a business suit stood at the doorway. “Mr Bryce Hamilton, I am your family lawyer, I need to speak to you about your parent’s last will and testament” the man said as he entered.

I put my hand on Brodie’s shoulder, and stood up, “My name is Carlton Henderson, I am his first cousin, and the people who brought up Bryce from the age of six onwards, were not his real parents, so you may have a legal issue there” I said to the lawyer. “I can confirm that, I am Officer Dale Langley, we have the results of the DNA test, the patient and this young man are definitely related, so Mr and Mrs Hunter, are not legally related” the officer said as he walked in.

“I see, well that could cause some issues, although it does specify that Bryce Hunter is the sole beneficiary of their will, which is the house and business in Coral Bay, and over $15,000 in savings” the lawyer said. “Give me your business card and we will discuss this at another time” the officer said to the lawyer, and a few moments later the lawyer and officer left the room.

“I don’t think I want anything to do with the Hunter inheritance” Brodie said to me, “That is your decision cousin” I said with a smile, just as the doctor and a nurse entered. “Well it seems we have a change of name to one of my patients, how are you feeling today Brodie?” the doctor said as he entered, “I am feeling much better, now that I have a real relative with me” Brodie replied.

“You know, you guys could be mistaken as twins” the nurse added with a big grin, which made Brodie and I laugh, and I noticed that our laugh was also similar. “Well I have good news for you Brodie, you are nearly completely healed from the car accident injuries, what I have noticed is that you have partial movement in both legs” the doctor announced, “Yes that started about six months ago, but I had been keeping it to myself, and doing a lot of exercises to try and get more strength in my legs” Brodie replied.

“Well that is good to hear, now Carlton, are you able to look after your cousin when he gets discharged tomorrow?” the doctor asked me, “Yes sir, I will be happy to look after him, I have a cousin that I never thought I had, so that is a big yes” I replied, “Ok, I will see you tomorrow before you leave” the doctor said to us, as he and the nurse left the room.

Brodie and I said nothing for a while, absorbing everything that has happened today. “Err Carlton, there is one very important thing I will need before I leave the hospital” Brodie said to me breaking the silence, and it took me a moment of thinking before I realised what he was saying, “Shit yes, I better get a new wheelchair organised for you, I will be back later” I said and I dashed out of the room.

After a quick chat with the nurses, at their reception desk, I was directed to the Occupational Therapy Department, who would be able to recommend a place, where I could buy a new wheel chair for Brodie, and jumping into a taxi, I headed to the mobility store to do some shopping.

After a good look around the store, I chose the light weight Fusion Convertible Wheelchair, plus a fold up shower chair, to make life easy in the shower. Once I had both chairs already packed in boxes, I loaded them into a taxi and headed to my motel, where I unpacked and set up the wheelchair, so it was ready for use tomorrow.

Folding the wheel chair for easy transport, I caught a taxi back to the hospital, arriving shortly after 6pm, and I wheeled the new wheelchair into the hospital and up to the fourth floor. “Hello Carlton, he has been asking when you are returning, nice new wheelchair you have there” the nurse said with a smile when she saw me arrive. “I hope he likes it” I responded as I headed towards Brodie’s room.

As I entered the room, and found the bed empty, I started to head out the room, when I heard a noise coming from the bathroom, “Brodie, are you ok mate?” I shouted as I approached the door, “Carlton, help please” came a reply, and I found the door unlocked and inside I found Brodie naked on the floor. “Don’t worry about the towel, just get me into the chair, then you can help me get dry” Brodie said to me.

Once I had Brodie in the chair, I placed a towel over his privates, and grabbed a second towel, and began to dry him, helping Brodie to stand up so I could dry his backside, back and upper legs, and he dried his crotch area. Once dry, I helped him to dress, then carried him back to his bed, and got him comfortable, just as a nurse walked in, “Is everything ok?” she asked.

“I fell just after I shut off the shower, luckily my cousin here came to the rescue” Brodie replied, and I blushed a little at the comment, “That’s what I am here for cousin, to help look after you, till you are more mobile” I said as I pointed to the new wheelchair in the corner.

“Oh wow, for me?” that looks awesome, thanks cousin” Brodie said excitedly, “Your welcome, do you want to give it a try?” I replied, and he nodded his head yes, so the nurse and I helped him out of bed and into his new wheelchair, and we secured the Velcro’s belt around his waist, before he raced out of the room and down the hallway at high speed.

A few minutes later, he returned from another direction, after doing a lap around the corridors, coming to a screeching halt, just a few feet from me. “This is awesome, it is light and easy to handle, I love it, thank you very much” Brodie said to me with a huge smile on his face, after I had taken a couple of photos from my phone, I stepped to one side, to let him pass, so he could return to his room, where I helped him back into bed.

We chatted for about half an hour till Brodie fell asleep, and after checking in with the nurse, to make sure that the wheelchair will be safe in Brodie’s room, I said goodnight and headed back to my motel room, to get some takeaway dinner. Once I had showered, I headed to bed to get a good night’s rest, so I was refreshed for tomorrow.

When I woke up this morning, I dressed and made my way to a café for some breakfast, before returning to the motel to confirm the booking of the adjoining room for Brodie, before calling a taxi to go to the hospital, and as I arrived, I saw a lady being wheeled towards the front door by a man, in an identical wheelchair that I bought yesterday.

Quickly I dashed to the front reception desk, “Quick, can you please call hospital security, that couple that are leaving have stolen my cousin’s brand-new wheel chair, check with the fourth floor, my cousin’s name is Brodie Henderson” I said to the lady at reception, before I followed the couple out of the hospital, and towards the public carpark.

Suddenly I had three security officers catch up to me, “Mr Henderson, the wheelchair has been confirmed as being missing, where are they, and do you have proof of purchase? one of the officers asked, “Over there, they just stopped at that car. Yes, I have photos of my cousin Brodie in the wheelchair yesterday, and I have a receipt here in my wallet” I replied.

As I stopped, two security officers dashed forward to intervene, while I showed the other officer the photos on my phone and the receipt, before we continued to catch up, where the couple were being questioned. I was given the wheelchair, and told to return it to its owner, while they detain the couple until the police arrive. As I approached the reception desk, I smiled and thanked the lady for her fast assistance, and I headed upstairs to the fourth floor.