NB - A New Chapter - 5. ANC Chapter 5

“Yes Mr Wagner, I am fully aware of who you are, I was at the service yesterday, and I enjoyed your friends singing during the service” the Magistrate replied, which made me smile, “Thank you for your kind words ma’am, I will let Kyle, who was Huon’s best friend and Xander, who is Huon’s son, know of your compliments” I responded. “Now tell me Captain Kingsley, what is the reason for this interesting display of costume today?” the Magistrate asked Paul.

“Well ma’am, when I contacted Mr Wagner, to let him know that the police had called to let us know that the youths responsible had been caught, and asked if we wanted to press charges, I was informed by those gathered at Laphone, where they are staying, that they were just talking about me, when I contacted them, discussing what to do with the youth if they were caught, with the suggestion of Captain Blue Beard putting them to work scrubbing decks for two weeks.

Although I knew it was all in good humour, I thought I would play along with the idea, just to cheer everyone up after the challenging day yesterday, and that is why I am dressed this way” Paul explained, which brought some tears to my eyes, knowing that he was doing this for me, and I mouthed the words thankyou to him.

“Ok, now Mr Wagner, what are your plans with the Southern Explorer?” the magistrate asked me, which caught me by surprise a little, “err, we are setting sail on Wednesday for Cape Town, to resupply, then we are heading for our new base in Western Australia, to start work as a boutique cruise ship” I replied. “I see, and what’s the travel time from Stanley to Cape Town?” the magistrate asked, and I was starting to see why she was asking me these questions, and I smiled.

“Around 13 to 15 days Ma’am, depending on the weather” I replied. “Very good, Mr Wagner, I will be recommending to the Senior Sergeant that he charge the six youths, all males, aged 17 and 18 years old from South Africa on Schoolies holidays, with Criminal damage, and I will be recommending two weeks community service. Now Sergeant, do you have any recommendations on what that community service should be?” the Magistrate asked, and I saw the Senior Sergeant burst into a huge grin.

“Ma’am, may I recommend 15 days of ship duties, onboard the Southern Explorer, as it takes them back to their home country, with full board and meals included, as long as that is agreeable by Captain Blue Beard and Mr Wagner, and this be regarded as a deportation, so they do not return” the police officer said, which had me and Paul laughing.

“I am sorry for laughing ma’am, I just didn’t think this would actually happen, I am happy to transport these rascals back to their home country, with 3 meals a day, 8 hours of work each day, and a comfortable place to sleep” I said to the Magistrate.

“Very well, Sergeant, if you can show these gentlemen to the Courtroom, we will deal with this right away, then go and bring the six young men before me” the magistrate said as she stood up, and we bowed our heads as she left the conference room, before we all burst out laughing again.

“Senior Sergeant, can we please record this court hearing, otherwise, no one on the ship will believe us” Captain Paul asked, “usually that would be up to the magistrate, but if you do it discreetly, and that it not be released to the general media, then yes I think it will be ok” Senior Sergeant Glass replied, before leading the way out of the conference room, and down a passageway, and through a door, that lead directly into the courtroom, not very far from the front.

I might wait just outside until the sentence is just about over, before I make an appearance, to see what reaction the boys get” Paul said to me and I nodded my head, as he walked towards the back main entrance of the court room, and I sat down one row back from where the Sergeant was seated. A few minutes later, three constables entered leading the sixyoung men into the court room and sat them down at the table on the other side of the court room, and a man rushed into the courtroom, and sat down beside the boys.

“Sergeant, what’s going on with that guy outside?” I heard the man ask the police officer, knowing that he was talking about Paul, and Sergeant Glass just smiled. At that moment, there was three knocks on a door, and the courtroom clerk called for everyone to rise, which we did.

“Ma’am, I have just been informed of this court hearing, so I have virtually no information on what it is about” the man opposite said, who I now guessed to be the lawyer representing the young man. “If I may ma’am, Mr White, if you look down at your client’s feet, you will see their shoes and lower pants splatted with green paint, I have here, the large can of paint, that it comes from, the paint was thrown onto the ship Southern Explorer at the main jetty this morning, with two witnesses seeing these six young men fleeing the scene” Sergeant Glass said to the lawyer.

“Oh, I see” the lawyer said before turning to the young men, “Were you read your rights, and did you ask for a lawyer?” we heard the lawyer whisper to the young men, “Yes, but since we were drunk and too stupid, when we did it, there was no point denying what we did, so we confessed willingly” one of the young men replied.

“Is this gentleman, one of your witnesses, and the gentleman outside the other one?” the lawyer asked the Senior Sergeant nervously, “Yes to both questions, the gentleman behind you is Mr Wagner, the owner of the ship, and the gentleman outside is the ships Captain, both were on the bridge, on watch when it happened, and the accused are each charged with one count of Criminal damage, I am recommending two weeks community service” the Senior Sergeant replied.

The lawyer turned to the six young men, who nodded their heads in agreement to the recommended sentence, before facing the magistrate again, “Ma’am, my clients plead guilty to the charges and accept the recommended punishment, the lawyer said, and the Magistrate and the Senior sergeant smiled, as I quietly chuckled.

“Very well, I find the case proven, for criminal damage, your six men will surrender your passports, which you will get back when you arrive home in South Africa, I am ordering your deportation from the Falkland Islands, with a 6 year ban from returning, you are to remain at your accommodation on the island, till 0900 on Wednesday morning, where you will be escorted to the Southern Explorer, to serve two weeks of community service, while the ship is sailing to Cape Town, South Africa, under the supervision of the Ships captain, who has just entered, Captain Blue Beard, I mean Paul Kingsley…”.

“Holy Shit” all six young men shouted, interrupting the magistrate, when they saw Paul walking down the centre aisle of the court room, in his costume. “As I was saying, you will be given accommodation onboard the ship, and required to work 8 hours a day, for the entire journey, with three meals a day, and you are to do as you are told while on the ship, do you understand my ruling?” she said to the six men, and they nervously nodded their heads yes.

“Ma’am, I thank you for your leniency on this case, even though it has a very unusual, but interesting outcome” the lawyer said with a big smile, now understanding the little joke of the costume, “Good all settled, and young men, if I hear from Mr Wagner, that you have not served your sentence properly, the local authorities in Cape Town, will make sure that you redo your sentence in a adult prison, do I make myself clear” she said sternly to the six young men, “Yes Ma’am, perfectly clear” one of the young men responded, and the case was closed, and we all stood up.

Paul made a growling sound as the six men were escorted back to the cells, so they could be processed, making them get even more nervous, and once the door was closed, Paul, the court clerk and court reporterand I all burst out laughing, and even the lawyer gave a big smile. “For my only second case ever, no one is going to believe me, about this case” the lawyer stated, and I revealed my phone, to show that I had recorded it all, and smiled.

I followed Paul back to the ship, where the crew were finishing removing all the green paint of the side of the ship and giving it a new coat of grey paint over the top, to cover any left-over stains. “So where do you suggest we put these rascals, as you called them?” Paul asked me, as we entered the elevator to head up to the Storm Lounge.

“I was thinking the two triple cabins on A deck and put restrictions on them to stay on the main and A deck only, they are to be onboard for work not for recreation, so I suggest we keep them away from the lower deck” I replied, and Paul nodded his head in understanding.

Once seated in the storm lounge, I looked around and sighed, “It is good to be back here after so long, oh also Paul can you make sure those two cabins have just the basics, so use crew linen only, and they can eat in the recreation lounge on the forward main deck, just set up some temporary tables and chairs for them, and make sure the pool and spa are drained, so they can’t use them either” I added.

“Thanks for letting the officers and crew to have some time off, the crew are looking a lot more relaxed now, after two days off, and I better go and change out of my costume, before I scare some of the crew” Paul said to me, as he stood up, “Also Kyle and Reverend Annette will not be joining us, so put Mrs O’Malley in the Royal Suite, as she will be with us for some time, and young Xander can have Kyle’s suite next door to me” I said as the Captain was departing, “Very good sir” Paul said with a small salute as he headed to C Deck, to go and change.

I went into my suite and booted up my computer, plus read a few emails that had been sent to me from Switzerland, sending a number of replies and viewing emails from the travel agency in Albany, before I closed it down, and left it on my desk in my cabin.

Returning to the Storm lounge, I used the internal phone to call for a steward, and ordered some morning tea, and I watched some television while I waited for the steward to arrive, pleased that it was Anthony, the Chief steward.

“Afternoon sir, your morning tea as ordered” Anthony said as he placed the tray on the coffee table and began to pour my tea. “Anthony, I would like you and your stewards to keep a close eye on young master Alexander, who prefers to be called Xander, he is in a bit of a fragile state at the moment, and the crew will be informed shortly, that we will have 6 young men joining us on the trip to Cape Town, who I prefer to have no contact with my young cousin what so ever” I said to the Chief Steward.

“Has this got something to do with the Captain being dressed up as blue beard sir?” Anthony asked, “Oh, you saw him like that did you, come and sit, and I will show you a video clip that I recorded that will explain everything” I said as I indicated for him to sit next to me, which he hesitated at first. When the video clip ended, Anthony had tears rolling down his cheeks and he had collapsed onto the floor laughing out loud, and I just smiled and watched.

“I am so sorry for my behaviour sir, but that is the funniest thing I have ever seen” Anthony said when he had finally calmed down, stood up, and straightening up his uniform, as best as he could. “That is fine, you better go and wash your face and change into a clean uniform, before you return to your duties, you don’t want the owner and captain to catch you in an untidy manner, do we” I said to him casually.

“No sir, and thankyou for sharing that” Anthony said as he quickly disappeared to go and do as I had suggested. After a restful afternoon, I returned to the accommodation, where Xander and my brothers were playing card games, and I was pleased that Xander was settling into to being part of the family. When we sat down for dinner about an hour later, I was silent for a while as I was thinking of what I had to say.

“Ok Mr, spit it out, what is on your mind” Annette demanded, “Oh, sorry, deep in thoughts, after dinner, I have a little video clip to share with everyone, but it is not to be copied or shared with anyone else, also with the Southern Explorer leaving on Wednesday, I thought that maybe you, Annette and Kyle would be keen to return home to Western Australia, so I have chartered a plane to come and collect you at 1100 hours on the same day.

I have booked your overnight accommodation in Santiago, and Auckland, and from there it is a direct flight to Perth, so you should arrive at about 1800 on Friday evening Perth time” I announced, “That is nice dear, you didn’t have to go to all that extra expense, we could have waited till Saturday’s regular flight, but yes it will be nice to get back home again, and we have some special guests staying at Deepdale next week, so I need to get ready for that” Annette replied with a big smile.

“Is that the same surprise visitor that you sprung on Huon when the house was brand new?” I asked Annette, “Yep the very same” Kyle said smiling, “That reminds me, when they called to ask if they could come and use the building, that is when they learnt of Huon’s passing, and they wish to pass on their condolences to you and the family, and that special prayers would be said for him and your family” Annette said to me.

“Thank you for that Annette, please pass on my thanks to him” I responded, “Who are you talking about Seb? Who is going to be staying at the Deepdale house soon?” the twins asked me which made me smile, “Why His Holiness, the Dali Lama, of course” I replied, which shocked everyone in the room, except Annette, Kyle and myself of course, and we chuckled on seeing their shocked expressions.

“I’ve heard about him, isn’t he the religious guy from Tobat, or someplace like that?” Xander said, and I chuckled at this, “It is Tibet, and yes that is correct, he is their spiritual leader, and a friend of Reverend Annette’s” I replied, “Wow, that’s cool” Xander replied as he continued to eat. After dinner, everyone had a good laugh, after seeing the video clip, once I managed to connect my phone to the big screen television, and with just one day remaining, before we all leave the island, I decided to call it a night.

Turning to my brothers, “Oh guys, by the way, when we get to Cape Town, there will be some packages waiting for us, from Switzerland, namely a lot more of our clothes and belongings” I said to my brothers, who were pleased to hear this, as they said goodnight to me.

The following day at breakfast, Tom and Margaret joined us, since it was our last full day on the Falklands. “So how are you enjoying retirement, and who had the farm now?” I asked Tom and Margaret. “We are loving it, we have made a couple of trips to the UK, via the Ascension Islands, and in regards to the farm, it is owned by a UK company, and they have managers running the farm” Tom replied.

“Would that company be Davies Property Investments UK?” I asked trying to keep a straight face, and the shocked look on Tom and Margaret’s faces made me smile, “How do you… no wait, that isn’t you by any chance?” Margaret asked, and I chuckled, as I glanced over to Kyle.