Indian Ocean Drama - 12. Orc Chapter 12

Within a month, we had commenced the flights from Broome to the Indian Ocean Territories of Australia, and the Australian Government had ceased flights from Asia into Christmas and Cocos Keeling Islands, forcing the Asian tourists to travel to Darwin and Broome first, which had more stricter Boarder security measures in place.

I had decided to not have flights from Darwin to Broome, as that is fairly well covered by other airlines, instead I would be soon starting flights from Broome to Denham, via Exmouth, in the smaller business jets, that can seat 14 passengers, with the Broome to Exmouth flight taking 2 hours, and the Exmouth to Denham flight taking 1 hour, that will be three days a week from Broome, on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, and return flights the following day.

IOA – Indian Ocean Air, was now providing 3 flights a week from Broome to the Chagos Archipelago, with a refuelling stop at the Cocos Keeling Islands, taking 8 hours in total departs Broome at 8am, on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, with return flights on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, with the first stage of the flight taking 4 hours, and the second stage taking 4 hours, with a maximum of 46 passengers on each flight.

Flights from Broome to the Cocos Keeling Islands, with a stop at Christmas Island, takes 7 hours to complete, which departs Broome 3 hours after the Chagos Flight, on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and returns the following day.

I had also distributed the first lot of money to the Shires of the Cocos Keeling Island, Christmas Island, and the Chief Council of Chagos Archipelago, to assist with improvements to the three island groups, to tidy up the islands, and improve the presentation for visiting tourists.Thinking that this was a one - off gift, each council made sure that the money was put to good use.

About three months later I received an unexpected email from the Wagner twins. “Dearest brother in law, it has been decided that the Ocean Research tower, that was located offshore from Serpent Island, Italy, will be given away as a gift, and after advertising world-wide and receiving tens of thousands of requests for the tower, we have selected the successful applicant, that being the CI Resort, Ethel Beach, Christmas Island.

Yes, that is right, the manager at the resort had sent in an application, unaware that you are the owner, and Wagner International is the former owners of the Resort. The manager plans to have the tower anchored just 80 metres off Ethel Beach, and it will be used as an executive retreat. Regards Louis and Joachim Wagner”.

I printed out the email, and placed it in the lad’s private lounge, for them to see when they return from a shopping trip in Denham, chuckling to myself, at the thought of their reactions.

I had recommenced studies in Law, having already completed one year, and the Justice of the Peace Training Course, with 2 years remaining for the BA in Law, then another 3 years for a master’s in law. It is a long journey of studies, but I knew that I was bright enough to get through it.

So, for the next two years, after having worked on the accommodation businesses in Denham, being in a better condition, I made regular trips to Perth, to attend essential lectures, that could not be done online. The trip entailed catching the IOA flight from Denham to Broome, via Exmouth,then a Qantas flight to Perth, although it was longer in travel time, it was a lot cheaper for me in the long run. I had bought a small apartment in East Perth, and bought a small car, to make getting to the University in Crawley, a lot easier.

Wyatt and Xavier were really enjoying their new life in outback Western Australia, and I had given them a project of their own, to plant salt resistant Eucalyptus trees and shrubs, all over the property, with reticulation piping, to keep the trees watered in the harsh sunny conditions.

Low shrubs were planted along the top and sides of the hill, so as not to interfere with the solar panels and the satellite dish, while the low land areas, were planted with a variety of Eucalyptus trees, spaced 4 metres apart, with over 5600 trees and shrubs planted, turning the property into a Eucalyptus forest, and making it impossible to see the house from the front gate, or most parts of the bay.

Wyatt and Xavier were very proud of their little forest, with most of the trees being 1.5 metres tall, when they were planted, and two rows of trees that are 3 metres tall along the fence line.

The lads had left small pockets of land unplanted, so as to have three - 6 metre diameter hexagon gazebos built there, that have half walls and two entry points, seating around the inside wall on four sides, plus a round table in the middle, where a gas fired barbeque is positioned in the middle to provide outdoor cooking facilities.

Each of the seats, are unusually wide at 800 millimetres, and are 2.4 metres long, to seat a maximum of 5 people per seat, with cushioned seats, that can be used as a mattress for a total of 4 people to sleep on, in each gazebo. Each gazebo is at least 300 metres away from the main house, and the other gazebos, and each one has solar panels on the roof, to provide lighting and power points.

After two years of hard studies and a heck of a lot of travelling, graduation day had arrived for my BA degree in Law, and the twins and I flew down to Perth for the event, to be held Hackett Hall at the Crawley Campus of the University, and a little under an hour later, after all the speeches had been made, and most of the names of my classmates had been read out, my name was called out, and standing from my seat in the second row of graduates, near the front of the hall, I walked up to the stage to receive my degree from the Universities Dean of Law and the Vice Chancellor.

“Although Mr Lewis is a rural student, he has managed to be the top of his class in all subjects and is the winner of the Philip Lionel Sharp Memorial Prize in Law, congratulations Mr Shaw” the Vice Chancellor announced, as he handed me the Award Certificate. This is when I heard lots of cheering, which I expected to be coming from Wyatt and Xavier, as I searched for them in the crowd, and soon spotted them.

What I was surprised to see, was the Wagner twins sitting next to them, being just as vocal and loud with their cheers and applause, but what I had not expected to see was… as I felt faint and started to black was seeing the face of…

When I came too, I was in a small room somewhere, and a doctor was checking my vitals, close by were Wyatt, Xavier, Louis and Joachim, and the face of my presumed late husband – Sebastian, and I fainted again.

When I came to the second time, there was just the Wagner twins in the room, and they both had worried looks on their faces. “What… what are you guys doing here, and was I imagining it, or did I really see Sebastian?” I said, “Hello Lewis, we came to see you graduate from university, and it is a long story, but yes that is Sebastian, and he is alive and well, and he has been in hiding, after the staged accident, we will tell you all about it once you have rested” Joachim replied.

An hour later, I was discharged from the University’s nursing post, and the twins were there to take me to a hotel where they had hotel suites, and together we sat down, and over the next twenty minutes they explained that Sebastian had received several death threats, and three attempts made on his life.

So, it was decided by the three brothers, that they would stage his accidental death, and sneak him out of Switzerland, and into Lichtenstein, where he has been in hiding for the past 2 ½ years, until the Interpol Authorities had investigated, and eventually caught the Italian Mafia gang members, who had made the threats and attempted murder hits on Sebastian.

Now that they had been tried and convicted and are now in a maximum-security prison for a very long time, that he was finally able to relax and re-join the world once more.

When I looked up and spotted Sebastian standing at the doorway, I stood up and rushed into his arms and started crying, so pleased that Sebastian was not dead, as I had missed him so much, even after we had separated.After dinner in the suite and some more crying, the twins went to their adjoining suites, and Sebastian and I went to bed together, where I fell asleep quickly, in the arms of my husband.

The End