All Alone - 30. Alo Chapter 30

“Wonderful, do you mind if I tag along, as I also own Galena Estate, on Brooks Road, the land that he has been leasing for twenty years, and I haven’t seen it since I was 11 years old.” I replied.

“That is why I came looking for you, and I have asked the Shire Building and Health inspector to tag along as well, as I have had a number of complaints about the children that live there” the Sergeant replied smiling.

I text Davis to let him know that I will be busy for a while, and to just relax, before starting the 45-minute journey northwards towards the farm, that I had only visited a few times in my childhood, when my dad went out to inspect the farm.

When we arrived at the farm, the main house was very rundown, and looked like it was about to fall over, and there were about 6 kids of various ages running around with not much clothing on and no shoes. I could see right away, that the Sergeant and his police partner, Constable Hayward, were not very happy, as they stepped out of their vehicle, and I decided to stay in my car and wait to see what happens.

I saw the constable make a call on the radio, before joining her boss, and they walked up to the front door of the house, where a very well-built woman came out and was throwing her arms around all over the place, which was quite comical.

“Do you know any Italian by any chance?” the constable asked me when she approached my car.

“Just a little high school Italian, I am afraid” I replied.

“Well that is good enough, come with me please sir” the constable replied, and I reluctantly exited my vehicle and followed her to the house, where I was now aware that the woman was speaking rapidly in Italian.

“Scusami, puoi dirmi dove posso travare tuo marito?” (Excuse me can you tell me where I can find your husband?) I asked nervously in very rusty Italian, and she began to talk rapidly, which made it impossible for me to understand, and I sighed in frustration.

“Pala monto lentamente per favore, capisco solo un po” (Speak very slowly please, I understand just a little) I said when she stopped talking. “Dov’e tuo marito?” (Where is your husband) I added.

“Angelo o’ in citta’ e manda i lavatory a casa” the woman said slowly and clearly, which I was able to understand.

“Finally, she says Angelo is in town, sending workers home” I said to the police officers, before facing the woman again,

“Che tipo di veicolo guida?” (What sort of vehicle does he drive) I asked the woman,

“Toyota Grigio” the woman replied.

“I think I understood that bit, a grey Toyota, I have seen it around town, I have been meaning to do a roadworthy check on that vehicle for some time” the Sergeant replied, just as the vehicle in question arrived.

“Grace, can you do the vehicle check, while I talk to him” the Sergeant said to his offsider, as the big Italian man walked up to us, and I stepped back behind the sergeant.

“Mr Angelo De Luca?” the sergeant asked, knowing full well, that it was, and handed him the summons.

“Si. What is this? Why are you here, I do no one any harm” Mr De Luca said in broken English, as he opened the document and frown?

“What is this, I don’t read English to good” Mr De Luca added, and I stepped out from behind the police officer, as the Shire Council building, and health inspector stepped out of the house and handed the sergeant a piece of paper from his folder.

“Mr De Luca, my name is Lloyd Templeton, this is my land that you have been leasing for the past twenty years, from my late parents and now me, and more recently my family farm on Chilimony Road, what you have in your hand is a court summons, declaring that your lease agreement, is no longer valid, and as such, you have 6 hours to vacate this property, and my other property, for a number of breaches to the lease.

I had no intention of renewing the lease on this farm, and my family farm, but now you are being evicted today, taking with you just what you personally own, I wish to inform you that I have made a second request by the courts, to seize all farm machinery, to pay for all and any damage that you have caused to both farms, and you will receive anything left in cash” I announced to the Italian man.

“Mr De Luca, I am the Shire Building and Health inspector, and I am hereby condemning this house, as not fit to be lived in by humans, let alone animals” the shire inspected said immediately after what I said.

“Your vehicle has also just been given a yellow sticker, which means that your vehicle is not roadworthy, and all faults must be fixed within 7 days, or it will be impounded” the Constable added.

“Wait, you say, I can no longer farm here, that my family and I cannot live here and that my vehicle is faulty, and I soon cannot drive it?’ Mr De Luca stated.

“Yes, that sums it up perfectly” the police sergeant said.

“Mama Mia” Mr De Luca said, and his wife came up to him and started demanding answers, in loud Italian.

Eventually after about 5 minutes, Mr De Luca was looking very pale after the barrage of yelling from his wife, who then straightened up her dress and walked towards me, which had me worried.

“Per favore signore, poti me e’ i bambini in citta, per vedere la preistenza di aiiuto?” she asked me slowly so I could understand.

“This is one for you Sergeant, she is asking us to take her and the children to town, to see the priest for some help” I said translating what she said.

“Il Marito e’ un uomo inutile e’ non si cura di me o dei bambini” she added, “She says that her husband is a useless man and doesn’t not care about me or the children” I said translating.

At that point, Mr De Luca stormed off towards the sheds. “Mr Templeton, would you mind if I ask, if you can assist Constable Grace with transporting the De Luca family back into town, I will stay here and keep an eye on Mr De Luca” the Sergeant asked me.

“I see no problem with that but what about my farm and this mess?” I replied.

“We will sort that out for you, as best as we can, oh and Grace, can you please ask the local Justice on duty, if he can put a stop on all De Luca bank accounts please” the Sergeant asked and with a nod of the head, Constable Grace, headed to the police vehicle.

I turned to the women, “Mrs De Luca, can, per favore riunisci tutti i tuoi bambini e i touoi vestiti, perche’ presume che non tornerai” (Mrs De Luca, can you please gather all of your children’s and your clothes, as I presume, you will not be returning) I said to the women, who looked at me sadly, nodded in understanding and headed towards the house.

Twenty minutes later, with Mrs De Luca and three children in my car, and the remaining three in the back of the police car, we headed back to town. Once we had dropped off the De Luca family at the catholic church, much to the shock of the senior priest, I headed back to the motel, to try and relax.

A few moments after I lay down on the bed, there was a knock on the door, and reluctantly I opened it, to see a smiling lady and three men standing there. “Mr Templeton, my name is Dawn, I am the local Lions Club president, and these men behind me are some of the other committee members.

We understand that you have had an unfortunate situation happen on your family properties north of town, and we are here to help” the lady said.

“Wow, talk about fast news and action” I stated, as I stepped aside to let them into my motel room, “It helps that our junior police officer is a member of the club, she called us, soon after arriving on your property and seeing the condition of the house” Dawn stated.

“Well, I don’t know what to say, I am still in shock and what I have discovered, and a little uncertain on what to do” I stated. “Could you start, by telling us a little about yourself, we know that you attended the local primary school before going off to boarding school, as I remember you and your parents at local social functions Dawn said.

“Yes well, I use to work as an administration manager for a law firm in Perth. I am a widower, with no children, and I now own the lease for Coral Coast Station, where I have been living and struggling, as we have had a Cyclone, Earthquake and two fires in the spate of 6 months” I replied.

“Well, that is putting you through a very rough time, I heard about the cyclone destroying most of the station buildings, how are you managing up there?” Dawn said.

“I have some great staff, that have been helpful, you may know David and Sue Henderson, and their son Oliver, they are my next-door neighbours to the main family farm on Chilimony Road, and they have been working for me on the station for a short while” I replied.

“Yes, I thought that was Dave and Sue that I saw earlier today” one of the men stated.

“Yes well, we travelled down here for business, and we planned to stay in the family home overnight but discovered it to be illegally occupied and in a real mess, so we have been saying here. We were planning to head back to the station tomorrow” I said.

“Well dear, Grace has given us a run down on what has happened today up at the larger farm, including bringing down the De Luca family and dumping them at the church, which I am sure Father Delaney would have been shocked about” Dawn said smiling, and I laughed.

“That is an understatement, you should have seen his face when we arrived, totally priceless” I said.

“I bet it was, anyway, we are aware of what is happening on the Brook Road farm, George here is the local JP who signed the order to freeze all bank accounts of the De Luca family, so all we want to do is help you, in any way” Dawn said.

“Well, that would be very much appreciated, but where to start is the big question” I stated.

“Don’t you dare start that song George” Dawn said, and the others laughed.

“George loves the music of the Sound of Music, and he is a very talented singer” Dawn said, and I nodded my head in understanding, as George looked a little disappointed.

“Well I am hoping that the family farm, is not to badly destroyed, although seeing just the front inside and the outside of the main house, and I think it has now been vacated by the farm staff, that Mr De Luca employed, so that would be good” I said, and I retrieved the house keys and handed them over.

“We will do a photographic inventory of the house, and anything else that needs repairs, so you can pass it onto your insurance company, I doubt if Mr De Luca is insured” Dawn said, and I thanked them all once again, as they left, and Alistair appeared as they left, and I was about to close the door.

“Is everything ok Uncle Lloyd?” my nephew asked me, “I have a mountain of problems, but nothing that you can help me, with thanks nephew” I replied.

“Mr and Mrs Henderson are back, and they said that their house and farm is in good order, with nothing damaged” Alistair informed me.

”That is good to know” I responded.

We ended staying for another two days, of which I spent one day on the family farm, giving the Lions club volunteers information about what I remember, on how the farm was before it was leased out just a few months earlier. It was amazing at how quickly they had cleaned up the house, there was only a small amount of furniture damaged, and they found all the family personal possessions stored away in the back bedroom, which was good to know, and only three windows had been broken.

There was, two large metal dumper bins outside, that were full of rubbish and any broken furniture that was not able to be repaired, and on my last day in Northampton, I made a quick call to the main farm, and found the house spotlessly clean, and even the garden was looking a lot better than before, with the dumper bins gone, and a note left on the kitchen table.

“Dear Lloyd, we hope that this meets to your satisfaction, we have also cleaned the cottage, which sadly has most of its furniture broken. All windows have been repaired, and we would gladly recommend a local person, to act as caretakers while you are on the station. A work crew will spend a few more days, checking all the boundary fences, and make the necessary repairs. Regards Dawn, Northampton Lions Club”.

I was thrilled to see the family home back the way it was, with all the family possessions back where they were before, or close to it, and this made me happy that strangers had done this for me, out of the kindness of their hearts. Back in town, just before the bank was due to close, I went inside and asked to speak to the branch manager.

“I wish to make an anonymous donation to the local Lions Club, as a thanks for everything that they have done for me” I said, once seated in the manager’s office. “I see, and how much are you wanting to donate?” the bank manager asked, “I think $5,000 for starters” I relied, and the manager looked shocked.

“Well Mr Templeton, that is a very generous donation, and I am sure that it will be appreciated, I happen to be the local club treasurer, so on behalf of the local Lions Club, I want to thank you” the manager said to me, before I made the transaction.

That evening, during dinner, I informed Dave, Sue, Davis and Alistair that we were heading back to the station in the morning, with an overnight stop in Carnarvon. After dinner, as we went to our separate motel rooms, Davis stopped me before I entered my room.

I was wondering if there is anything else we could do, for you that is not in a hot and dangerous environment, like the station” Davis said to me, and I chuckled at what he said.

“Well, I do need a caretaker for the family farm, and to monitor all improvements, and repairs that I will be organising” I replied.

“That is what I was hoping you would say, we do appreciate that you have rescued us from danger, and from personal turmoil, but I think station life is not suited to Alistair and me” Davis said.

“I understand, I agree, you either love it or hate it, so how about I employ you as my farm caretaker, I will arrange for a 4wd vehicle to be delivered to you in the next few days, and I can pay you say $475 per week, to mind the farm, keep all the buildings in good order.