Outback Corporation - 15. OBC Chapter 15

“Yes, we have already worked that out so you don’t get left on your own without extra help, I will see you in a few weeks, bye for now” Chris said and he left the conference call, and Dad and I chatted a little more before I said goodnight to him. “Yes, that is right, regarding the dates” Hannah said as she walked into the dining room from the kitchen, “Good, I can hand the boys over to their uncle if they misbehave” I replied.

I was pleased that the bunk house was ready for it’s first guests, although, it had been regularly by my boys as a play area when it is raining, as there is plenty of space to run around in there for the three older boys, while the younger three are taking their daily naps.

BRYCE” S POV

Just over a week later, feeling very tired from their long journey across the Pacific and across Australia, Bryce, Declan and the four boys stepped out onto the arrivals hall area of the domestic airport, and were suddenly swapped with cameras and reporters.

“Mr Silverton, what have you been doing for ten years, since your son took over managing your cattle station empire?” one of the reporters asked when a handful of microphones were shoved in front of Bryce, and Declan gabbed his partners hand and gave it a little squeeze before letting go, which had been spotted by some photographers.

“If you quieten down, I will make a statement, and I will not be answering any questions after that” Bryce said as he stepped to one side so that the family could escape the media pack. Once all was quiet, and Declan and the boys were well away, Bryce cleared his throat. “For the past ten years, I have been residing in British Columbia, Canada, where I have a number of farms and a hospitality accommodation business, with my new partner.

I have been following my son’s career, as he continues in the pastoral business, which I am happy to say is still growing, and doing well, even with the ups and downs of seasons. During my time away, my son Kyle has been the Managing Director of the two companies - Murchison Pastoral Investments, with over twelve million acres, and Western Desert Pastoral Company, with over twenty-five million acres in pastoral lease land, which he has been running smoothly with the assistance of the other senior company director, my cousin – Christopher Silverton.

I have retired from the company, and my son is now in full control of the two companies, which he is managing from another location in the state. As you may recall, I have a number of half brothers and sisters, and they and their families are assisting with managing the large number of stations, here in Western Australia and now also in the Northern Territory.

I am very proud of my son and his achievements, including the successful regional schools rodeo, held earlier in the year, and I know that he and his son’s will continue to run the business successfully in the future, thank you, that is all” Bryce said, as he pushed his way through the crowd of reporters, ignoring all questions, and headed for the main doors.

Bryce read the text message on his phone as he exited the terminal, “Go straight ahead from the exit, taxi waiting for you in the main carpark, see you at the hotel, D”, and Bryce followed his partner’s instructions, and he was soon on his way to the hotel, and he dialled a number on his phone.

KES’S POV

“Hey son, it’s me, just to let you know, we have arrived in Perth, I will call you later, when I get to the hotel, as I need to discuss something with you, bye” Dad said to me as soon as I answered the call, and I stared at the phone for a few minutes, after the short call ended. Half an hour later the phone rang again, and I quickly answered it. “Hello Dad, what is going on?” I asked right away.

“Sorry about that, we were mobbed by the media, when we arrived in Perth arrivals, somehow they found out we were arriving from Sydney, I made a formal statement to them, and answered no questions, so expect a nice big story in tomorrow’s paper, I will see you all tomorrow” Dad said to me.

“Ok dad, thanks for the warning, bye for now” I replied and ended the call, then I went to find Hannah and Joseph and warn them that the media might find out the number for the house.

“That is fine, we will just answer any calls in German, that way they won’t know it is your place” Joe commented, which made me chuckle, I forgot that your mum had taught you extra languages as a kid, yes that would be handy thankyou” I replied. I sent a text to all the relatives on the stations, “Dear family, I just had a call from Dad, the media mobbed him at the airport, so he gave them a statement, please do not answer any calls other than from within the company, I will have my mobile on divert from now on, so just text me if you need to speak to me. Kes”

I received a reply from everyone, and diverted my phone to Messagebank, before going out to check on my older sons in the bunkhouse, while Hannah was watching the three younger ones who were having a nap at the moment.

The next day, just after lunch time, using two vehicles, Joseph and I drove into town, where we did a little bit of shopping, before heading to the regional airport, to collect Dad and his family, and as we entered the building, I saw a large group of people gathered, some of them holding camera’s, and I turned and exited the building right away, with Jo following me.

Retrieving my phone, I sent a text message to Dad, “Media is waiting for you at Esperance Airport, suggest that you try and loose them, get the taxi to take you to the corner of Myrup and Fisheries Roads where Joseph will meet you, while Declan and the boys take another taxi to corner of Blumann and Campbell Roads, I will collect them and we will meet at the farm”.

“Change of plans, there is a heap of media there, I have sent a warning message to dad, this is what we are going to do instead…” I said as I gave Joseph his instructions on what to do. Once I had told Jo the plans, I left the airport, and travelled to the meeting point, 20 kilometres away to the south east, with the airport being 22 kilometres north of the town of Esperance.

Jo casually re-entered the airport, and he sat down and read a paper, totally ignoring the media, till the plane landed and taxied to the terminal, when he saw his uncle Bryce exiting the plane, he left the terminal, and send a quick text message, “Plane has landed, and I saw Uncle Bryce before I left the building”, and I sent a message back, “Ok, I have received a message from Dad to say he had received my message, and to go ahead with the media escape plan”.

Jo’s trip was just 7 kilometres to the east, turning left about a kilometre down from the airport, and he took his time driving down the gravel road, till he came to the junction, where the taxi will stop. Just five minutes after arriving, Jo saw a vehicle fast approaching, and it looked like it was a taxi, so he turned around and headed up Campbell road, and turned into the nearest farm driveway, where he saw the taxi following, with two other cars behind them, but they stopped at the farm gate, as the taxi continued to follow me.

JOSEPH’S POV

When we arrived at the house and sheds of the farm, a man came out from the shed to see who the visitors are. “Hello sir, I am so sorry for this interruption, but I have a huge favour to ask you” Jo began to say when he climbed out of his vehicle and went to meet the man, as the taxi approached.

“My name is Joseph, I have a cousin who is a small farmer in the area, but his father is a very famous pastoralist is the state, we are trying to avoid the media, who have followed us from the airport, and I was wondering if it was possible to retreat here for a few hours till dark, then try and sneak away” Jo explained to the farmer, just as Declan and his four sons climbed out of the two taxi’s along with their large amount of luggage.

“I see, well come to the house and lets have some afternoon tea” the farmer replied, just as his wife appeared, “I am Martin, this is my wife Andrea” the farmer said as he made the introductions, “Hello, my name is Joseph, my cousin is Kyle Silverton, you may know the name” Jo replied, “Yes, we do indeed, his father is on the front page of today’s main paper” Andrea replied.

“May I introduce Mr Declan Grovedale, a business partner of Uncle Bryce’s from Canada, and Declan’s sons” Joe said introducing the others, as we were led into the house, and we sat down around the large kitchen table, where we were all served tea and cake.

“We do apologise for this intrusion, our plans to avoid the media didn’t quite work as we hoped, we quickly put together a plan, as soon as we spotted the waiting media at the airport, but it didn’t work” Jo explained, “Well at least they didn’t enter the property, that is something to be thankful for” Martin said, as he glanced out the window, where he saw a few vehicles parked at the front gate about 800 metres away.

A number of trees in the garden and paddock restricted the view a little, which was good, but he decided to close the curtains anyway to avoid any long-distance lenses. “We have a back entry to the property, which comes out onto Gibson Road, from there you can go back to the main highway” Andrea suggested. “That would be very good thankyou” Jo replied as he was handed today’s main paper, with a large picture of just Bryce.

“Pastoral Baron returns to Perth, after ten years in Western Canada” was the headlines attached to the photograph. “I haven’t seen him in three years, and he has a few grey hairs now” Jo commented as he looked at the photo of his uncle, before reading the article.

“Cattle Baron, Mr Bryce Silverton, gave the media a brief statement, when he arrived at Perth airport yesterday. Mr Silverton has spent the past ten years living in British Columbia, Canada, where he has taken up a farming and tourism business.

In the statement, he said that he was retired from the pastoral business in Western Australia, and that his son – Kyle was now the managing director of the two companies, but he runs it from another location in the state, with family members running the many cattle stations around the state and now in the Northern Territory. Calls to Mr Silverton Jr, at Pondana Station for a comment, have gone unanswered.

It appeared that he maybe travelling with friends, but they went separate ways at the airport, and retreated to separate city hotels. Mr Silverton stated that he has been following his son’s career in the pastoral business, including the region schools rodeo that was held on the main station earlier this year, and he is proud of his son’s achievements, and that his grandsons would most likely follow in the same footsteps as their father, grandfather and great – grandfather. The media were unaware that Mr Silverton had grandsons, and it is not known how many there are”.

“Bloody media, sorry ma’am, it’s just they just keep hounding us on a regular basis” Joe said, “That is fine dear, just relax and we will find a way to get you out of here and where ever you are going” Andrea stated, with a smile.

“I am sorry I cannot reveal where that is for security reasons, but I can say that the family does have a holiday property in the region, excuse me for a moment, I need to make a call” Jo said, as he stood up and headed towards the back door.

KYLES’S POV

“Hey Joe, where are you guys, we are waiting for you” I answered, when I saw Joe’s call ID show up on my phone, “Sorry cousin, but we had the media following us, and we are hiding at a farm just east of the airport, with media at the front gate” Jo explained.

“Oh, I see, well Dad managed to get the taxi driver to lose the three media vehicles that were following him, and I met them at the designated meeting place, with the taxi driver receiving a nice bonus for his efforts” I explained.