Job Vacancy - 8. JV Chapter 8

Once we had everything stored away, Mrs Hill asked Mum to join her, as they drive the car to a multi-storey carpark on Paradise Road, which is just over a kilometre away so that the car doesn’t get flooded, and they returned about half an hour later via taxi cab, and instead of trying to climb over the barriers, they took the stairs at the front up to the 1^st level garden, and through the door into the garden lounge, which is now the only way to get into the house, as we had finished double sandbagging the back kitchen door, to a height of 1.5 metres.

We have also placed two layers of sandbags, along the front of the doorways to the store room and the laundry, just in case there is a break in the barrier to the courtyard, and meanwhile, I stayed with my siblings in the sunroom, which only has one window looking out to the street, with the window sill being approximately 5 feet or 1.5 metres above street level.

When Mum and Mrs Hill arrived back, I left my siblings with them, while I headed to the office, to check on emails and messages, with Mr Wright entering the office a few minutes later. “Anything important to report?” Mr Wright asked me, as he shuffled over to the leather chair, and sat down, as it was near the small fireplace which was going, and I had been keeping stoked up, so it is nice and warm.

“Just a few emails requesting media appearances on radio and television in Canada, Scotland, London and also Italy, but they can wait until you are feeling a lot better,” I replied. “Yes, those bloody media hounds can just damn well wait, anyway, we are stuck here for at least a week depending on how bad it floods,” Mr Wright replied. “Also, a message from Mr Julian Atherton, to thank you for a lovely meal, and a chance to escape the chaos at his home” I added, which had Mr Wright chuckling.

“Poor man, doesn’t have visitors very often, and to have five family members just drop in for a stay, has him a bit on edge, let’s invite him over for dinner again in a few days, so he can get away from the family, that is depending on how things go with the flooding of course,” Mr Wright commented, and I nodded my head in understanding, as I made a note to add that to the list of things to do today, and wondered if there was a past relationship between the two.

By lunchtime, the grounds were waterlogged with all the rain, and when there was a brief pause in the rain, I went out into the garden, to check the level of the river, and I was shocked to see that the water level was at the top of the riverbank, and I took a few photos with my phone, before heading back inside again.

“How does it look out there?” Mrs Hill asked me when I entered the kitchen, where preparations for lunch were almost complete. “Not good I am afraid, the water level is up to the top of the riverbank, I am glad that you moved your car, Mrs Hill, as it may have been fully underwater by nightfall,” I replied.

During lunch, the rainfall became heavier, and it continued for the whole afternoon, which made everyone feel down in the dumps, having to be confined indoors for goodness knows how long. Mum managed to keep Aiden and Michaela entertained during the afternoon, while I kept as busy as possible in the office, trying not to look at the miserable weather outside the window.

When I did glance out the window, I was shocked, that I could no longer see the road, which was now fully underwater, but I was not sure how deep it is, and I was about to leave the office for the day when the telephone rang. ‘Wright Enterprises, how may I help you,” I said answering the office phone, which is on a separate line from the house phone.

“Is that you Davies? I need to speak to Preston urgently, this is Julian speaking” came the response, which came with a worried tone. “He is upstairs resting at the moment, can I take him a message?” I replied.

“Yes, please go and ask him right away if I and my family can come over there for shelter, my cellar is flooded, and there is water coming into the main part of the house,” Mr Atherton said to me, “Oh that is not good, just hold for a little bit, and I will rush upstairs and relay the news to Mr Wright straight away,” I said, and not waiting for a response, I placed the phone on the desk, and rushed out the office door.

When the elevator reached the first floor, I dashed out and walked straight into the suite's private lounge without knocking, and there was no sign of the boss, so I walked up to the bedroom door and knocked. “Yes, is that you Davies?” came a response, “Yes sir, sorry to disturb you, but I have Mr Atherton on hold on the phone, he says his cellar is flooded and water is coming into the rest of the house, and he is requesting shelter for himself and his family,” I said.

“Yes, yes, of course, he can come and shelter here, ask him to bring any spare dry firewood, fuel for the generators, and all of his food supplies, as I fear they will be here for some time, and let Mrs Hill know, so we can reshuffle the accommodation.

Get your Mum, your sister and your brother to move down to this level, as it has three bedrooms and two extra bathrooms so that Mr Atherton can have the attic and the rest of his family can have the 2^nd floor rooms. I am feeling a little tired, so I will leave it up to you to arrange it all with Mrs Hill,” Mr Wright asked me, and I nodded my head in understanding, and left his room, closing the door quietly as I left.

Back in the office, I picked up the phone hoping that Mr Atherton was still there, “Hello sir, are you still on the line?” I asked, “Yes, I am, although the line is getting a bit scratchy, what was his response?” Mr Atherton replied. “Mr Wright said yes you can all come over here for shelter.

He asks that you bring all of your food supplies, any dry firewood that you may have, and any petrol also, as we have two inverter generators, to keep the fried and freezers going if we lose power,” I replied.

“Good, the water has risen some more since you have been gone, so we need to raise most of our furniture and gather the supplies before we come over, which will be in the truck, so we know we can get through, we will be over in about one or two hours, see you then, and thank you,” Mr Atherton said, before ending the call.

As I walked into the kitchen, it was full of activity, and I wondered if they already knew what was about to happen. “Hi hon, yes we know about the evacuees arriving, the children are packing up their stuff and moving it downstairs, and I am helping Mrs Hill prepare some extra food, before we go and get the 2^nd floor bedrooms ready,” Mum informed me.

“Ok, I will go up and help Michaela and Aiden to move. Mr Wright is feeling tired so he will be remaining in his suite tonight, I will be back once the kids have moved locations,” I replied, and I headed towards the elevator, to go to the 2^nd floor.

Nearly two hours later, we had the whole family moved down to the first floor, and we were ready for the extra guests, when we heard the distant sound of a truck horn outside, so Mrs Hill, Mum and I headed out into the garden, where it was still raining, but not as heavily, and a truck was parked in the street, very close to the footpath.

Heading for the front gate, we rounded the corner, and I stopped and saw that the tyres of the truck are ¾’s underwater, which I estimated to be about 750 mm. Julian I already knew is a short man in stature, and when he climbed down from the cab, the water was almost up to his waist, which was a huge shock.

I watched as he carried firstly his mother, then sister-in-law out of the cab and onto the steps above the water line, where they came up to us at the top of the stairs, where we had umbrellas at the ready. Once Mr Atherton had finished carrying his teenage nephews, he and his brother moved around to the back of the covered truck and opened the back door, and began bringing out several suitcases each.

Once they were handed to me, I carried them to the door to the Garden lounge, and placed them inside, before returning to the garden gate, where another load of luggage was waiting for me.

Eventually, we had 8 suitcases, three eskies of frozen food, three boxes of refrigerated food, 4 boxes of dry food, three bags of firewood, and four twenty-litre fuel containers of petrol offloaded the truck, and safely placed indoors. While doing this, Mum and Mrs Hill were assisting the evacuees to the kitchen, to get warmed up, and towel dried.

With all the luggage and supplies now inside, Mr Atherton said that he was just going to move the truck to the public car park behind the house, so it doesn’t block the road.

When everyone was finally indoors, and Julian and Kingsley had been handed towels to dry off, while warming up in the kitchen, Mrs Hill called for everyone’s attention. “Right, Mr Atherton and family, we have allocated your rooms on the second floor. Mrs Atherton senior, you will have the second bedroom on that level, with its bathroom, Mr & Mrs Kingsley Atherton, you have the master bedroom, also with its bathroom.

Masters Benjamin and Luke Atherton, you will be sharing the last bedroom on that level, with a shared bathroom, while your uncle will have the small bedroom and bathroom in the attic. Your luggage is already mostly up on the second floor, so just three at a time, take the elevator to the second floor and get settled, and we will serve you some dinner in about half an hour,” Mrs Hill announced.

“Thank you, Mrs Hill, you are an angel and a saint,” Julian Atherton said to the housekeeper, who blushed a little at the comment, “What rubbish, now off you go, and get settled,” Mrs Hill responded, making a shooing motion with her hands to the guests.

Once all the guests were heading upstairs, I asked Mrs Hill for the master keys, so I could lock the doors to the study and the offices, and the external door between the family lounge and Mrs Hills' upstairs balcony, which she handed over to me, and suggested that I keep hold of them, as they were the spare set.

I was on the first floor having just locked the external door and I had exited the family lounge, when Julian came dashing down the main stairs, and stopped when he saw me. “Where is he, where is Preston?” he asked urgently, “Why, he is not well and needs rest,” I responded.

“Can you go and inform Preston, that my neighbours, Tom and Julia Carter, who he knows, and is godfather to their two boys, are also being flooded, and need a place to stay,” Julian said to me, “Ok, grab your truck and go and collect them and their luggage, bed mattresses and any supplies they may have, including dry firewood and food, while I inform Mr Wright and Mrs Hill that we are to have more guests,” I replied, and Julian dashed down the last set of stairs towards the ground floor.

I sighed, knowing that this was going to be one very trying time for everyone in the house for the next few days at least, as I walked into the suite lounge room, where Mr Wright was sitting in his comfy chair, in front of the fireplace reading some notes.

“Sir, I thought you were supposed to be resting,” I said to my boss in a cross manner, and Mr Wright just chuckled, Now, now my boy, don’t get all overprotective, I am feeling ok at the moment. Was that Julian I heard talking to you just now?” Mr Wright replied, and I spent the next few minutes explaining that Julian’s neighbours are also coming to stay and that I would organise for the Carter boys and Atherton boys to share the recreation lounge, while Mr and Mrs Carter can have the other bedroom, and I mentioned that I had locked the doors to the study and the offices.

“Yes, that is fine by me, I will leave it all in your capable hands. I know the Carter family; they are very nice people. I have known them for nearly 16 years now,” Mr Wright said. “Anything I can get you, before I go and get the new arrivals organised?” I asked.

“Yes, ask Mrs Hill to get me a hot Cocoa, and just a light dinner for me tonight please,” Mr Wright replied, and I smiled before leaving the room.

By morning the next day, the flood levels had peaked at just 30 cm below the window sill of the office, and with the assistance of Mum and Mrs Hill, we all managed to cope with having the additional nine guests in the house.

It was four days later that the water levels had dropped down to the top of the river banks again, allowing traffic to move about in the area, and for cleanup to begin, with all the flood damage. Julian’s truck was undamaged and was able to be used to assist with moving people away from flooded areas, to designated shelters, so that their homes could be cleared out of damaged furniture, carpets etc, and work to remove the tons of mud that has accumulated in the homes and businesses that the floods had broken into.

Although the floods had gone into Carter and Atherton family homes' basement, it had only reached a height of 30 cm’s on the ground floor, so the damage was mostly to just the floor coverings, as most of the furniture in both houses had been moved to higher ground, so it was only another 3 days later, once all the mud had been removed, and the carpets and vinyl flooring had been pulled up, that they were able to return home and get back to a semi-normal routine.

At this house thou, we did have some water damage happen to my quarters, with water getting into the lounge room, destroying most of the furniture and the carpet flooring, and I had used the access door from the patio on Mrs Hill’s side of the courtyard to access the house, via the family lounge on the first floor, since the half a metre of water in my small lounge room had blocked access for me to exit out onto my verandah and the courtyard, which also had a small amount of water about ankle deep.

Thankfully the sandbags had stopped any water from entering the house from the hallway leading from the garages to the main entry hall on the ground floor, but once the water had receded, it was visible to see that the water level was quite high inside the three empty garage bays.

We spent a good three weeks having all of the lounge room of my quarters repaired, and refitted with new furniture, along with installing water-tight doors, for the front of the house, the back kitchen door, and the gate in the courtyard to the side driveway was also replaced with a watertight door.

Water-tight doors were also installed at the back of each of the three garages, to stop any water from getting anywhere near the house from the front passageway, and all external windows on the ground floor were replaced with thick double-glazed windows, to protect the house from water damage, from possible broken windows.

As this was happening, Mr Wright informed Mrs Hill and me, that we would all be returning to Western Australia, which will be the main base for Mr Wright from now on, and that he would be limiting his travels overseas to a bare minimum.

Although Mrs Hill was a little uncertain about this, she was looking forward to experiencing a new life in a new country, even though it is halfway around the world.

Mum and I were a little concerned that this would mean that my father would cause more problems with the family, but, he assured me that he would be taking steps to make sure that nothing happens, with Mum, my brother and my sister taking up residence in the same apartment block as myself and Mr Wright in Dalkeith.

Even if he was able to get into the building by trickery, he would not be able to get access to an elevator or the emergency stairs, unless he has a pass card or keys, which would be difficult, as all residents in the apartment block had strict rules in regards to access to the building.

We spend a month getting everything that needed to be packed in the house, with Mum assisting Mrs Hill with everything, that needs to be shipped to Australia, while my siblings continued with their temporary schooling. The house was now on the market, with all the furniture included, and Mr Wright already had a vacant two-bedroom apartment of his available for my family to use, with my brother Aiden to share my apartment, but he would have his meals with Mum and Michaela.

By the time we arrived back in Perth, and resettled into the apartments in Dalkeith, it was almost the start of the school summer holidays, so it would be another six weeks before Michaela and Aiden needed to return to school, which they were very thrilled about, but Mum insisted that they do some homeschooling, so as not to get behind in their studies, so she had them enrolled into some summer school classes, to make sure they kept up with their level of schooling.

For me, I settled into a new routine of manning the business office, two doors down from the apartments, and Mr Wright spend his time between his apartment and the office, writing a new book, that he hoped to be out by the start of Autumn, and Mum took up part-time work, at my old job at the restaurant, while Mrs Hill kept busy with keeping the three apartments looking neat and tidy, cooking for all of us, and doing all the shopping.

Mr Wright said that it is difficult having two families slit into two apartments and himself and Mrs Hill in another apartment, so he was now looking into buying a big house, so we can all live in one house together, making it a lot easier for everyone.