All Alone - 33. Alo Chapter 33

“Oh, I am sorry boss, do you want me to leave you on your own?” Matt asked.

“No please stay, it was some news that was quite unexpected. I thought I was a widower with no children, now it appears that I have two sons, who are living with relatives of Sarah’s in Queensland, and if my maths is correct, they would be about 5 & 7 years old now” I said.

“Wow, firstly your brother in law and nephew turn up out of the blue, and now this” Matt said quietly.

When I checked the envelope again, I found a single photograph, of two boys, that according to the hand-written note on the back, was taken just before Sarah had died. “Our Boys, Toby and Isaac Templeton”. A few minutes later my phone rang, and the caller ID said it was Chilimony Farm.

“Hi Davis, how are things down on the farm, are you settling in ok?” I said as I answered the call.

“Yes everything is great, did you find the envelope, that I left in your luggage?” Davis asked.

“Yes, I read it about fifteen minutes ago and you have no idea what it is about?” I replied.

“No until today, which is the anniversary of Sarah’s passing, which is when I could open the other envelope, that is addressed to me. I had no idea that she had two sons, that are yours, I remember Aunty Gloria and Uncle Tim saying that they had adopted two boys, when they were very young, but I had no idea they were yours, until I opened my letter about half an hour ago” Davis said to me.

“Will you help me to get them to me?” I asked.

“You bet ya, I will. I will do everything I can to unite the boys with their natural father, and included in my envelope is a picture of the two boys, Troy and Isaac, and their original birth certificates, with you listed as their father” Davis said to me.

“Well, I guess that will help a lot, now the former owners of this station, Jeremy and Angela Dalworth, had been staying at the backpackers during the long weekend, but I was so busy, I only saw them once, anyway I am going to appoint them farm managers of Galena Estate, so you won’t have to worry about keeping an eye on the big farm, and once that is in place, we can travel to Queensland, to collect my sons” I said to Davis.

“That is fine, but we will have to do it during these school holidays or wait for the mid-year holidays, as I have just got Alistair settled into the district high school here” Davis said.

“Yes, of course, I will see if we can do it next week, or we will have to wait till the July holidays” I replied, and we chatted a little bit more before ending the call. Matt was still sitting next to me, with concern on his face.

“I think, I will have to make a rush dash to the east, can you mind everything here, and look after Angus for me, oh and also Dave and Sue will be taking over as station managers, for my new station just east of Carnarvon” I said to Matt.

“Yes, sure thing, we will still have Chris and Troy here, so not a problem” Matt replied.

“One other thing, if that so- called nice bloke mechanic rings up, and says he is delayed one more time, tell him he can forget the job, as it is no longer available” I said to Matt, who nodded his head in understanding, before leaving the bedroom.

About an hour later, I called Jeremy. “Hey mate, sorry I didn’t get back to you over the weekend, things went crazy with that fire and all, anyway, I am calling to offer you and Angela a job, with the same condition that Nicholas is not to be on the farm at any time, no matter, if I am on the property or not.

The property had been leased out for twenty years, and the broadacre farmer has left it in a real mess, with the house being condemned, so I will have to arrange alternate accommodation for you, are you interested?” I said to Jeremy when he answered the call.

“Yes, I am definitely interested, do you have any more information on the property?” Jeremy replied, “Well it is called Galena Estate, and it is just over 11,600 acres in area, and is located about 56 kms NE of the nearest town of Northampton, which is my home town.

The farm is currently getting cleaned up, and when done, I will have fencing contractors upgrading the boundary fences all the way around, so it is suitable for cattle. While the fencing is happening, I want pasture to be planted in all areas, where there use to be crops, and the crop stubble should be enough to protect the pasture from any wildlife, life kangaroos and emus.

My family farm is just 40 kms south and a little west of the estate, and there is a cottage there that you can use for your accommodation, but the main house is occupied by my brother in law and nephew, who is in charge of that farm on Chilimony Road, and you are not to interfere with the management of that farm in any way” I said to Jeremy.

“Yes, that is fine, I agree to that, thank you once again for the chance to get back to working on the land” Jeremy said happily. After that call, I rang Davis back, to let him know about the new managers for Galena Estate, and that they will be using the cottage for their accommodation, until a new house is built, to replace the one that is about to be demolished.

When the day came for the VIP guests to leave, they came to the visitor centre to speak to me. “Mr Templeton… Lloyd, we have enjoyed our short stay very much, and I must say that you have provided a service that I did not expect, for such a remote location.

I wish to thank you and your staff for all they have done to make our stay and enjoyable one, and I give you this as a reward, to be distributed amongst all of your staff, and I want to let you know that your station will be highly recommended to friends and family in Europe” Mr DePaul said to me, with Sue and David present.

“Thank you, sir, it has been an honour having you, and we wish you a safe journey home” I responded.

After they left, we went into my office, and in the envelope was a total of 3,180 €, and after a quick calculation, I worked that out to be, a whopping $5,000 Australian, and another calculation dividing that amount by the 8 staff, not including myself, and it came to $625 each as a tip for their three day stay.

“What about you boss, don’t you deserve some of this money pot” Dave asked me.

“No, it should go to all the staff, as they have been working hard lately, especially during the long weekend” I replied. “Well, it is quite a surprise, and I thank you for the bonus” Sue added.

“I will have to have it converted, which I will do next time I am in Carnarvon. In the meantime, you both need to prepare for your move to Doorawarrah, and you will be taking the Colorado with you, as your main station vehicle” I said to them. The caretakers and the lads were really surprised by the bonus’s that they would be receiving, once the money is converted, and I heard the lads discussing what they would do with their extra money.

I spent most of the day in my office, organising the trip to Brisbane, and I had managed to secure the services of a Barrister, thanks to connections with my former employers in Perth, and the cost was surprisingly less than I expected.

I had made a few calls to Davis, to let him know what I had organised, which was for me to drive down to Carnarvon, in two days’ time, on the Saturday night, and the following day, I would fly down to Perth, while I had arranged for them to catch the bus down to Geraldton, and fly down to Perth on Saturday, to stay a night, and a couple hours after I arrive in Perth, we would fly to Brisbane, arriving there at 5pm local time.

I had booked us in to a hotel in the centre of the city, that was not too far away from the Barristers chambers, and we would relax for the rest of the day, and at 9am the next morning, we had our first appointment with the Barrister, to discuss our options on the matter of my two sons.

Once I had everything organised, I contacted the building company in Geraldton, who were building the cyclone coded transportable ablution blocks, of which two were completed. I had also organised for a earth moving company in Carnarvon, to bring up a loader, two trucks, a grader and a heavy roller, to collect and transport gravel to continue the building of a solid gravel road, from the Southern Caretakers camp, all the way down to The Lagoon camping area. All which will be done while we are away in Queensland.

After the long journey to Brisbane, I was feeling quite ill, and I knew that it was only because I was anxious. The following day, after a reasonable night’s sleep, the three of us headed to the Barristers office, where we are expected and shown t a small conference room.

After an hour of talking with the Barrister, and one of his associates, and with all the letters, photos and birth certificated presented, we were asked to return to our hotel and that they would let us know, when a hearing date has been set.

It wasn’t until the following afternoon, that I received a call from the barrister’s office, to let us know that a custody hearing in the Family Court, would be heard in two days’ time, once the other party has been informed, and that a summons to appear has been issued to the other party.

Davis said that he was not sure that they would attend, and that instead, they would try to flee, and so he decided to make a special visit to his Uncle and Aunt, to check on them. According to Davis, they were still living in the same home in the upper-class area of Southport, that they have lived in for the past twelve years, so it was not hard for Davis to find them, as he and Alistair nervously approached the house.

With Davis giving last minute instructions not to say anything about me, or why they are here in Queensland, as I sat in the hire car, not far away, watching everything from there.

When they returned to the car, less than ten minutes later, Davis did not look to happy. “We better go to the nearest police station, as I think they may try and run, they were not happy to see me, and totally ignored Alistair, they would not let us into the house, but I did see suitcases in the hallway” Davis said once they were back in the car, and he gave direction to me, to the nearest police station.

Fifteen minutes later, we sat down in a meeting room, and explained everything to the duty sergeant, and produced copies of the birth certificates, letters and the photo, as well as giving the full names of Davis’s uncle and aunt, and the registration number and description of their car, the police agreed that they would put a call out to stop the car if it is seen driving south to the New South Wales border, which is just an hour to the south, and we had let the house almost half an hour ago.

We decided to wait at the police station, to see if there is any news of them trying to flee, and ten minutes later, the Duty Sergeant came back to us, and by now Davis and I were looking very worried.

“It appears that your concerns on them fleeing were correct, they were stopped on the Gold Coast Highway, just south of Currumbin Creek, and just 5 ½ kms from the New South Wales border, it was when their details were checked, the red flag came up, that they are wanted for questioning” the Sergeant said to us.

“So, what happens now, and where are the boys?” I asked, “all of them are on their way here to Southport Police Station, so I ask you to stay here in this room, while we investigate the situation, or go back to your hotel, and we will call you.

Mr & Mrs Carrington, who I believe are your father’s younger sister and brother in law, will have to answer some very serious questions. Regarding your two cousins, and the two boys in question, Toby and Isaac Carrington, they will be put into temporary foster care, until the court hearing has concluded” the sergeant said.

“Their birth name is Templeton, not Carrington” I said to the Police officer, “Well that is yet to be determined” the sergeant replied before leaving the room. Davis convinced me to return to the hotel with them, as it would be a lot more comfortable, and once again we waited.

As the sun was setting, Davis’s mobile rang with an unknown number, “Hello Davis Carter speaking” he said cautiously, as he put it on loud speaker. “Hello, cousin, it has been a long time” came the voice of a teenage boy, “Timothy? Is that you” Davis responded.

“Yes, it’s me, and they are sending us to foster care, because of what Mum and Dad did. Davis, we don’t want to go, Marcus is shit scared, can we stay with you?” we heard the boy say, “Now Tim, you know how your folks feel about swearing” Davis said.

“Sorry, it’s just we are not sure what is going to happen to us, and Marcus has been crying the whole time…” he said before being interrupted, “What are you doing on the telephone and who are you talking too… Hello, who is this?” the voice said, which sounded a bit familiar.

“This is Davis Carter speaking, and you are on loud speaker” Davis replied, “This is Sergeant Hill, of the Queensland Police, Southport, who is with you?’ the voice replied, “I am here Sergeant, Lloyd Templeton speaking” I added, “Ok, so why are you talking to the Carrington boys?” the Sergeant asked.

“They called me sir, I didn’t even know they had my number, as it has been turned off for the past three months, until we arrived in Brisbane yesterday” Davis replied, and we heard some talking happening in the background.

“Timothy here admits that he managed to get the phone number from his mother’s mobile phone, in the blocked numbers list, and he has been trying to call for months, as their parents have been mistreating Toby and Isaac for some years now, and they are worried about them” the Sergeant said.

“I suggest you get my boys to medical care immediately Sergeant” I commented, “Yes, it will be organised right away. “Now about the older boys, I have had difficulties finding temporary foster care for them, and I have spoken to the duty Justice of the Peace, who has suggested that you Davis look after them, but only on the condition, that Lloyd Templeton stays in another hotel in the city, and not speak to the boys in question until after the court case tomorrow” the sergeant stated.

“I will happily agree to those terms Sergeant, I will organise for the boys to stay here, and I will pack and move out to another hotel right away” I replied happily, “Good, now one last thing, an ambulance has arrived, and will take Toby and Isaac to the Children’s hospital in the city, where they will probably stay overnight, and until the court case has concluded, Mr Carter, can you come and collect your cousins please” the sergeant said.