NB - A New Chapter - 9. ANC Chapter 9

Once I had given Xander a full tour of the apartment, which didn’t take long, as Xander was running around exploring every room, I suggested that we all sit down in the lounge and chat for a few moments.

“Oh, oh, big brother has something big planned for us” Joachim said, and I smiled at him. “Yes, in fact I do, I had a good reason to come here this weekend, and that is mainly to show you something special, so first thing tomorrow morning we are going for a drive to Escholzmatt, which is about an hour drive east of here” I announced.

“And what exactly is at Escholzmatt, apart from it being very close to the Alps” the twins asked in unison, “Well I bought a small farm about 5 kilometres north east of there, it has a large house, two barns, a small shed and a garage for vehicles, on 15 acres of land” I replied. “So, we are going to be cattle farmers now?” Xander asked, which made me laugh.

“Not quite young cousin, after our recent trip to the Falklands, and being reunited with Sophie, I thought it would be a good idea to have her a little closer to us, so once she has passed quarantine in the Falklands and then in the UK and Switzerland, I will have her floated up to the farm, where she can enjoy retirement, and we can visit her a lot more often” I replied.

“That is a great idea brother, and I am sure if Huon is watching us from above, that he would be very happy too” Louis said, and he and Joachim stepped forward and gave me a hug, and Xander joined in, and I was happy that everything was starting to get better for the family with Xander now included.

The following day, we climbed into my car, and took the motorway for a short distance, before turning onto the number ten highway east, climbing an extra 410 metres into the mountains, and once past the town of Escholzmatt, it opened up to beautiful countryside, with the Alps mountains standing over the farmland.

When I turned off the main road, onto a narrow concrete driveway, and about 200 metres ahead, we could see a large old barn, and a little further back, to the right, we could see a large three level house and two more large barns and a small storage shed.

As we arrived at the house a middle-aged couple appeared, and they waved a welcome to us. In German, I greeted them and introduced my twin brothers, and my young cousin, explaining that he only speaks a little Italian and no German at all, as he is from the Isle of Mann, west of England.

We were invited into the house for some morning tea, and I explained to the twins and Xander, that Gertrude and Harold, are the current owners of the farm, and they have agreed to stay on as Caretakers, when the sale is finalised, and to look after our precious horse – Sophie, when she arrives, as well as a dairy cow, chickens and goats. When asked by Gertrude how I was related to the young man, I smiled.

“Xander’s grandmother, who he has never met, and my mother were sisters, my mother fell in love and married a Swiss businessman, while Xander’s grandmother married an Australian Farmer” I explained, after a short period of silence Gertrude smiled.

"You both have the same eyes, and nose, it is easy to see that you are related” she said to me and the twins chuckled, when they heard this, while Xander looked confused as he didn’t understand a word of what was said in German.

The twins, explained everything to Xander quietly, while I continued to chat to Harold and Gertrude about the farm, giving them instructions to build a strong post and rail yard, behind the large barn behind the house, and to build a fence for a 5-acre paddock for Sophie, so she had plenty of running and grazing space.

Once we had concluded business, we were given a tour of the two main barns located behind the house, and a quick look around the area that I wanted fenced off for the paddock, before thanking our hosts, and climbing back into the car, for the journey back home.

After stopping for lunch at a café before arriving home, we had a short rest, before we climbed back into the car and we began showing Xander in and around the city of Bern.

When we arrived at the second castle that we visited that day, I was very interested in what the place looked like, as my grandmother had told me the stories of how the family owned the castle from 1732 through to 1934, with five different branches of the family, of which our family was connected to the last family member to own it, till his death.

When the twins were looking at some large paintings of five men, they both stared at the paintings for long periods of time before looking at the next one in line, and I watched and waited for them to make the expected comment, but it didn’t come until after they left the castle, just as it was closing for the day and we were back in the car.

“Sebastian, why is it that the twins were staring at those five paintings for so long, and why they look so similar to you?” Xander asked me,before the twins could ask me roughly the same question.

“You remember me saying that we have nobility in our blood” I asked and I saw the twins nod their heads in the affirmative, “well for just over 200 years, this castle was the home of five members of the family, those five men in those painting to be exact” I replied with a big smile.

“Holy sheep dip” the twins chorused, “Sebastian, what is sheep dip?” Xander asked, and the twins and I burst out laughing, and poor Xander had to wait for me to calm down before I could explain to him. “It is a process of treating sheep, to stop them from getting fly strike, and it is a regular expression that Kyle uses, which often results in him receiving a slap on the back of the head from his mother, for cursing” I explained.

Xander fell asleep during the 45-minute drive back to the apartment, and it took a few shakes to wake him up, when we arrived home. Once we had all showered and changed, we headed to a nearby restaurant for dinner, and we had a very enjoyable dinner, when my mobile began to vibrate, indicating a call, and when I saw the called ID I smiled, and answered the call.

“Hello Buddy, you must have good listening from that far away, we were just talking about you earlier” I said into the phone, “Oh really, what have I done now?” Kyle responded, “Nothing buddy, it is just that a few hours ago, when I told the twins some history about the family, they said together – Holy sheep dip, and Xander asked me what sheep dip was.

I explained what it was and that it is also an expression that you use, which usually results in you receiving a clip over the back of the head, from your mother for cursing” I replied, and Kyle burst out laughing.

“That is so true, Xander if you can hear me, never curse, as it gets you into lots of trouble” Kyle responded, and Xander smiled when he heard this and said ok. “Now, what is the reason for your call this evening” I asked, “well I… wait a minute, did you say evening, where are you guys?” Kyle replied, sounding surprised.

“Oh yeah, I guess we forgot to inform you of our change of plans, Xander, the twins and I are currently having dinner at a restaurant in Bern, Switzerland” I replied.

“Ok please tell us why you are in Switzerland, and not here in Australia or on the ship” came Annette’s voice, having noticed that Kyle had put us on loud speaker, “Hello Rev, its’ nice to hear you again.

I wanted to set up a home base in the UK, for the family, so it was fairly close to the Isle of Mann, when Mrs O decides to return home from her cruises, so we bought a house in Battersea Park, just across the road from the Thames River, on the south banks of the river, we move into the new place in just over a weeks’ time.

We decided to have a weekend away in Switzerland, so as to show Xander, where we come from, and we have spent today looking around seeing all the sights, including a couple of castles.

I also bought a little farm, not very far from our Swiss home, and I am currently organising to have Sophie shipped to Switzerland via the UK, so we can see her more often, she is only 9 years old, so she is still reasonable young.

The farm overlooks the Swiss Alps, and there is plenty of green pasture for her, so I am hoping she will settle into the new place easily, since the climates are fairly similar, with the Falklands roughly 52 degrees South, and Switzerland being roughly 47 degrees North, the only main difference is that the Douglas, Falkland Islands are at the most, just 6 metres above sea level, while the farm near Escholzmatt, Switzerland is 850 metres above sea level” I explained.

“Well yes, that is a huge difference, especially if you are close to the Swizz Alps, and it is almost winter there now, so I presume there is already a lot of snow on the peaks” Annette replied, “It is still quite cold in the evening and nights, but we are in Autumn up here, with the northern Summer approaching” I replied, correcting Annette on the seasons.

“Right now, getting back to the reason why I originally called you” Kyle said to me, and I waited for him to continue, “Well as you may have guessed we have our two-week mid-year holidays starting in just under two weeks, and I was going to ask if I could join you on the ship for that time” Kyle added.

“I have a better idea mate, how about you join us in Switzerland for an Autumn holiday instead, if you give me the date of your first day of holidays, I can make all the arrangements for you” I replied happily.

“Wow, that would be so awesome, thanks Sebastian” Kyle replied, “So tell me my friend, the friends of yours that you did that kayak trip down the upper section of the Avon River, those years back when you were still in high school, do you keep in touch with any of them?” I asked as I built up an idea of a great holiday for Kyle.

“You mean the lads from the other private schools? Yes, I do actually, three of them are attending the same university, so I see them from time to time, they are Jake from Scotch College, Ben from Trinity and Simon from Christchurch and we get together once a week, for a social evening, just to catch up on news on each other’s lives” Kyle replied.

“That is good to know, how would you like to ask them to join you for an all-expenses paid trip to Europe this coming mid-year holidays” I asked. “Wow that would be awesome, but isn’t that a bit too much short notice?” Kyle asked me, “Not if you get your butt into gear and ask them, so I can arrange the Visa’s and plane tickets” I replied.

“Well Mum is nodding that it is ok for me to go, so I will have to ring you back once I have contacted the other guys” Kyle said to me, “Sure mate, I will be waiting for your call back, see ya” I said and I ended the call.

“Lads, how would you like to go on a Mediterranean Cruise for a week, with Kyle and three of his friends” I asked my twin brothers and Xander, “Wow, really, that would be so great, thanks cousin” Xander responded, and the twins smiled and chuckled at his enthusiastic reply.

When we arrived back at the apartment, I went to my room to start searching for a suitable cruise that we can take, and to make some enquiries about availability, and after nearly an hour of searching, and lots of telephone calls, I was able to secure a motor yacht for a 9-day cruise in the Mediterranean starting from next Monday, to allow travel time from those coming from Australia.

The following morning, soon after I had woken up and had a quick shower, my mobile rang, and it was Kyle calling, “Good morning to you Kyle” I said to him, and there was a period of silence. “It is fine mate, it is just after 7am here and I have been up for about twenty minutes, now what I can do for you, if I haven’t already guessed” I responded.

“Well, I have had a chat to my three friends, and they are all very keen to come on the trip next week, but only one of them has a current passport” Kyle informed me.

“Well I suggest you get a move on and get the applications done today if you can, and I need their full names, dates of birth and home addresses, so I can get their visa’s and airfares sorted, as the flights will be on the Saturday, the day after you finish school Uni semester” I replied.

After a quick ten minute chat, I had all the required information, and Kyle said that he would meet with his friends later and would head down to the post office to fill out some passport application forms, and hope that they arrive in time.

With just thirteen days till their departure date, I just hoped that they will be able to get the two passports delivered in time for them to travel. During breakfast, I mentioned what I had planned to Xander and the twins.

“I have found a luxury yacht to take us on a 9-day cruise, you guys flying out in 13 days’ time, and the yacht is called Sunrisers, and it is a 90-metre yacht with 6 charter guest cabins, and an owners suite, with a total of 4 decks, and it looks more like the old-fashioned steamer cruise ship, instead of the more modern sleek cruise ships that you see these days.

Xander and I will can take a VIP cabin each, and the twins can have a double cabin each, that will leave the other four from Australia, to have the remaining two twin cabins, to be shared. It will be nice to be on a yacht that we don’t own, or have to worry about, so we can just relax and enjoy being spoilt rotten, this yacht has a total of 24 crew, which is a lot for a small yacht that size, so we should be well looked after” I said the twins and Xander.

Once we were back in London, later that afternoon, we gathered in my hotel suite to discuss plans. “I was thinking during the flight back, would it be best that we store away all of our belongings, and head back home to Switzerland, that way we can save a bit of money with accommodation, and it would be nice to spend some time back home, after being away for nearly a month” Joachim suggested.

“I like your home is Switzerland, it is really nice” Xander added to the conversation, and I looked to Louis for his input on the idea, “I agree with my twin and cousin, lets stow everything and head home, maybe we can have Mrs Cooper come here and spend a few days with us too, before we go on our cruise, and she can stay here for a holiday, before we move into our London home” Louis suggested, and Joachim nodded his head in agreement.

“Very well that is what we will do, Joachim, can you change the flight details for Mrs Cooper, and also let her know of the changes, and I will make the arrangements for storage of our belongings and to organise flights back home to Switzerland for tomorrow morning” I announced.

Once I had completed everything that I needed to do, I contacted the real estate agent dealing with the house that we had bought in Battersea Park, to let them know that we will be away when the date of settlement arrives, and that we would be returning about a week later. The agent said that it was perfectly ok, and that to have a safe trip to where ever we were going.

Happy with everything being arranged, I relaxed in my suite, and watched a little bit of television, and I must have dozed off, as I was woken by the telephone ringing, with the twins telling me to hurry up and get organised, as we were having dinner out tonight.