All Alone - 15. Alo Chapter 15

The next morning, I remembered that my phone was still turned off, and so I switched it on, and soon it began to beep with heaps of messages, 4 missed calls, 3 voice messages and two text messages. I looked at the missed calls, one was from the Station sat phone, another two were from my neighbour Dave, and one was from the accountant in Carnarvon, so I decided to contact him first.

When I was put through to the accountant, he sounded very tired, “Not sleeping very well?’ you must be working too hard” I commented, “Good morning to you too Mr Templeton, as you can expect Jem and Angela are furious that a court order has frozen their insurance pay-outmoney, and they have been forced to stop all projects, even when some of them are half completed. I said to them, that I had explained it all to possible actions that may be taken if they refused to pay off some of the loan.

Jem is now furious with Angela for not informing him first about this, and I had to put up with a full on verbal fight over the phone, now Jem wants to make a part payment of the loan, he is offering a $250 thousand repayment, if the court order to freeze the money is lifted, so they can at least finish off the backpackers hostel, so they can get some money flowing in again” the accountant informed me.

“Ok, I will accept the $250 thousand repayment, but I will only release a small amount, say $50,000 for them to finish the current backpacker building being constructed, no more, and I want another $250 thousand repayment in three months’ time, only then will I consider lifting the court order” I responded.

“I think that is an ideal compromise, I will pass it onto them, bye for now” the accountant replied, before ending the call. I called the lawyer in Carnarvon, asking him to contact the accountant, to coordinate the agreement that has been made.

Next, I looked at the first text message, “Lloyd, we are sorry for what Nicholas did to you, and for believing what he said to be true, we know now that he is the one who caused you to end up in hospital, please forgive us.

We understand now why you didn’t want to see us, when you came to collect your belongings. If you are in contact with Matt and Greg, please tell them we are sorry for what our son put them through also.

We are struggling to get ahead with the building projects, as our loan company has frozen our insurance money, long story, but we may have to sell up, as our main finances are almost dried up due to the cyclone damage. Regards Jem and Angela”.

The second text message was from Dave Henderson, “I am sorry about the behaviour of my farm worker – Pete, he is no longer employed with me, due to that incident, please let me know when you want to finalise the arrangements for handing over the main farm, regards Dave H”.

Another text message arrived, just as I finished reading the one from Dave, and this was from the accountant, “Jem and Angela have reluctantly agreed to your terms, they have faxed me an authorisation to release $250 thousand, as a repayment for the loan, the lawyer has called me, I will sort it with him, so he can organise the lifting of some of the funds from the insurance pay-out”.

Next, I listened to the three missed calls, two were from Dave Henderson, in regards to the farm hand being sacked, and asking for a time to finalise the deal for me to take back the farm, the third was from Jem and Angela, who were apologising for their son’s actions, and asked if there was any chance of me coming back. Once I had heard and read all the messages, I deleted them all, before taking Angus for a walk, and going to have some breakfast.

When I returned, I packed up my overnight bag, and loaded it and Angus into the vehicle, before I headed south down Indian Ocean Drive towards Perth, arriving in the mid-afternoon.

Once I had found a parking spot, which took some time, I walked into the building where my former job was located, and the receptionist was someone I did not know, “Can I please speak to the Administration Manager please” I asked nicely.

“Do you have an appointment?” she asked me in a rude tone, “No I don’t but I know she will see me” I replied, which caught her off guard,that I knew that the admin manager was a woman.

“Sorry but she has meetings all day, maybe you can book an appointment for next week” the receptionist replied. I decided to go over her head, so I left the reception area, before pulling out my phone and dialling the number.

“Mr Hamilton please, Lloyd Templeton speaking” I said, “one moment sir, and I will see if he is available” the receptionist replied, as I watched her from a distance, through the glass wall in the lift foyer, when the call connected and I heard my former boss I smiled, and I walked back into the reception area.

“Hello sir, I am back in the city, and wondered if…” “come on by and lets’ talk” my former boss said interrupting me as I approached the reception counter, “I am already here sir, but you have a very rude and arrogant receptionist, who won’t let me see my replacement” I said, as I looked directly into the eyes of the receptionist.

“Lloyd please aim your phone towards the receptionist… Rachel, you are to let Mr Templeton pass this very instant, and report to my office in twenty minutes” I heard my former boss say before he slammed the phone down. Luckily, I still had the phone well away from my ear, as I pocketed the phone and smiled.

“Thank you, I know the away” I said to her, as I made my way down the corridor towards my former boss’s executive office, where the door was already open, and the boss was on the phone again, as he indicated for me to enter.

“Yes deal with her for me please, I have had a very reliable complaint about her just now, so that is it, she is finished, she has had enough chances and warnings, get rid of her now” I heard the boss say, and he put the phone down softly, “Sorry about the slamming of the phone, I have had enough of that girl, she thinks she can get away with anything, because her daddy is on the board of directors, well not anymore” the boss said to me.

“Mr Clayton’s daughter?” I asked and the boss nodded his head yes, “Oh ok, sorry about that, but she is really bad at customer relations, I am surprised you even allowed for her to work here” I said, “Yes me too, I just won’t accept any family members of the executives anymore, so, what are you doing in Perth?” the boss said.

I explained the situation with me being assaulted on the cattle station, by the owners 19-year old son, and how I ended up in hospital for eight days, and I asked what I should do about it. “Not to worry my boy, we will do this for you Pro Bono, and I will get Marcus to do the case for you, let’s get you back in here tomorrow morning at 8am, so you can discuss it some more with him” my former boss said.

“But sir, he is a QC, isn’t that going a little overboard” I asked, “No my boy, it tells them that we are very serious about this matter, now off you go and we will see you tomorrow” my former boss replied, and I headed out of the building, wondering what to do next.

Eventually, I decided to book into a motel for two nights, and I once I had checked in, I took Angus for a walk along the river, to get some exercise and for a toilet break, before going to a shop to collect some more food supplies for Angus, and a retractable leash, as the one I had was too small.

I spent the rest of the day just relaxing, taking Angus for walks around the city and down to the ocean, before we returned to the motel room and after feeding Angus, I went to a nearby restaurant for some dinner, and I retired to bed early once I had returned. The following morning, I brought Angus with me this time, and after a toilet break, we went straight to the law office, where there was a new receptionist in place.

“Good morning Mr Templeton, you are expected, can you make your way to conference room three please, and would you like me to mind your lovely dog while you are in the meeting” the receptionist said to me, “Thankyou young man, that would be good, his name is Angus, and he has just had a toilet break so he just needs a quiet place to rest” I replied to the receptionist.

As I entered the conference room, Marcus and my former boss were chatting, “Good morning sirs” I said as I entered, “Good morning Lloyd, let’s get started shall we” Marcus the barrister replied, and 45 minutes later I had given a full description of events, and gave the names of the Price brothers, and their current place of employment.

I was informed that Nicholas Dalworth had pleaded not guilty, when he was arrested and charged with Assault causing bodily harm, and that his court case is next week at Geraldton. I said I would contact the Price brothers, and make sure that they are available, in case they need to attend as witnesses.

After the meeting, I collected Angus, and we headed back to the river for a good long walk, and we had an early lunch, and relaxed for the rest of the afternoon, and I sent a text message to Matt to let him know about the court case. “Hi Matt and Greg, I will be settling back onto the family farm, and Pete has been sacked by his employer, so I would like you both to come onto the farm and work for me, if that is still you wish, Regards Lloyd”.

“Yes, yes, yes” came a reply soon after, which made me laugh, as I began to reply, “Give your current employers a week’s notice, and I will see you both in just over a week’s time” I typed before hitting the send button. Next, I sent a text to Dave Henderson, to let him know that I was moving back to the family home in a few days’ time, and that we can discuss the matter of the farm in a week or two, to give him time to get organised.

Two days later, I arrived back in Geraldton, and I went to Solar and Wind Energy supply store, and bought some solar panels to be installed on the main house roof, along with an inverter, and power storage batteries, that can be connected to the solar panels and the wind turbines that I still have in the back of my vehicle, and I arranged for a day for delivery and installation in just under a weeks’ time.

The storage facility, where all the family furniture and belongings are stored, I arranged for them to be delivered to the farm in a two days’ time, and in the meantime, I would stay in the cottage, until all the furniture has arrived and been installed.

When I arrived in Northampton the following day, I did a major food and household supplies shop, including new linen, and then set off north to the farm, arriving shortly after 11am, and I could see that the cottage had been freshly cleaned, and was gleaming, as I entered the small lounge room.

Leaving Angus to wander around on his own, I began to bring in my luggage, and supplies, and after an hour, I collapsed onto the lounge, pleased that most of the basic unpacking that I needed to do was completed, and that I could now just relax.

The following morning, while waiting for the storage company truck to arrive with all the family belongings and furniture, my mobile rang, and the caller ID informed me that it was the accountant, Mr Hutchinson in Carnarvon, so I pressed accept.

“Hello Lloyd speaking” I said, “Hello Lloyd, this is Michael Hutchinson speaking, do you have a moment to chat?”, “Yes, I am waiting for the truck to deliver all of the family belongings and furniture, which has been in storage, since my parentswent overseas” I replied.

“Lloyd, we have a new development, regarding Coral Coast Station. I had a call from Jeremy and Angela early this morning, they have informed me, that with the insurance money frozen, and with very little money saved, and the new backpackers nearly completed, and the huge loan, that they have outstanding with Galea Investments, they are no longer financially capable of running the station, and they are going to put the station up for sale.

When I reminded them that they cannot sell the station, unless they have agreement with Galea Investments, they said they are not sure what to do. They have admitted that they are in a huge mess, and they are considering just walking out, and let Galea Investments take over control” Michael said to me.

“I see, well instead of just walking off the station with nothing, how about letting them know, that in return for the insurance money being included in the deal of Galea taking control, that they can muster all stock and sell it, with them keeping all the money from the sales, that way they won’t walk out with nothing” I suggested.

“I think that is a good offer, and a lot more than a big bank would offer, I will put that to them and let you know, bye” the accountant said, and I frowned, as I realised that I may soon be the owner of an 850,000-acre cattle station.