Earl - 2. Earl Chapter 2

Allowing a few moments to allow Tyler to let all the information sink in, Charles continued. The ancestral home is known as Welbeck Abbey in Cresswell, just 32 kilometres South-East of Sheffield, and 55 kilometres North-West of my home, in Hougham near Grantham.

The abbey was opened in 1140 AD, at the time of King Edward the 1^st, and the estate consists of 15,000 acres, of which most of it is leased to a neighbouring farm for a period of ten years, and this was just renewed.

At the front of the estate are a number of outer buildings which have been converted into a number of businesses, which bring in some additional income to the estate, and which has helped cover the costs of all Death taxes.

They include a Woollen mill, a Garden centre and café, a Farm Shop, an Art Gallery, Pond supply store and a Brewery. Just a few months ago, his Lordship signed an agreement with the National Trust, who are now responsible for the management and upkeep of the main abbey, and for the past few years he has been living in his little hideaway home, that not many know about, where he could relax and be just an ordinary person,” Charles said.

“That sounds interesting Uncle Charles, can you tell me some more about this other home?” Tyler asked, “Well I managed to have a quick look at the place before flying down here, it is a 1600’s farmhouse, known as Mill Farm. It is located 56 kilometres South-East of the abbey, on the outskirts of the village of Marston, and just 2 kilometres south of my home at Hougham.

It has three floors, but the top floor is very narrow, as it takes up just the centre section of the roof space, with a bedroom, lounge and bathroom. The first floor is not that much bigger, with the master bedroom and ensuite, two bedrooms and a shared bathroom, while the ground floor has an entry hall, reception lounge, dining room and kitchen and breakfast room at the front.

At the back on this level, there is a utility room, bathroom and pantry behind the kitchen, a conservatory, behind the dining room and a family lounge behind the reception lounge. Also, on the property is a separate double garage and a summer house with storeroom.

Your predecessor chose well, as it is a very solid house with a lot of old character, and although it is located right on the main road, it is a well-suited comfortable home for an Earl, that is not too big and monstrous to live in, like the abbey,” Charles stated.

“I am glad to hear that you are living very close by Uncle Charles, as I have never been to the UK before and it sounds a little scary taking up this new role as an Earl, owner of a huge property in UK standards and the enormous Welbeck Abbey, I am keen to see what it looks like,” Tyler replied.

After skipping school for two days, so as to get to know my great uncle Charles, and to find out as much information as Tyler could about his new inheritance, he was delivered back to the school, while Uncle Charles travelled back to the station with Matthew and Katherine.

“So how come you disappeared so suddenly for two days, and no one knows why?” Lucas asked his best friend Tyler, whose parents run the Pindar pub, just down the road from the station. “I can’t tell you much, as it is all very hush-hush, all I know is that once I have completed my exams, I am travelling to England to spend some time with my Uncle Charles,” Tyler whispered in reply.

A week later, swat week had arrived, where they would return home and spend the next week doing revision in preparation for final exams, and with Lucas’s mother, Mrs Carrington coming to collect them, the boys packed up all of their belongings, and less than an hour later, they were heading east for the small community of Pindar.

It was hard to concentrate on revision, when there is so much happening on the station, so on Monday morning, Tyler let his mum know that he was going into Pindar to spend a few days with Lucas, and so with a bag of clothes for a few days, Tyler jumped into his vehicle and headed into town, not bothering to warn the Carrington’s of his plans.

Lucas and Tyler had known each other since kindergarten, at the age of 4, where they would spend half a day playing and learning things with the small number of other kids in the district. When it came to starting primary school, both boys had to travel to the town of Mullewa, 30 kilometres to the west, to where the nearest primary school is located.

The boys were almost brothers because they spent so much time together, they played the same sports in primary school and at grammar school, which is cricket in the summer, athletics in the autumn, grass hockey in the winter and swimming in the spring.

On holidays, when they were younger, they would race their bikes from one end of the loop road into the centre of Pindar to the other, which is a distance of 900 metres.

When they were older and attending Grammar school, they did what was nicknamed the Pindar Bi-annual Triathlon, which was a bicycle sprint from the north end of the loop to the south end, then a 700-metre running sprint to the dam just north of town, followed by four laps of the 50 metre-long dam, with a marker peg on the other side of the road as the finish line.

After the mid-year race during the winter holidays, in their second year in Grammar school, the rest of the community caught on about this event, and so the second Saturday of the summer holidays, just a week before Christmas, two hours before sunset, Tyler and Lucas were preparing for their last competition for the year.

As the allotted time approached, a dozen cars arrived and parked outside the hotel, while Tyler and Lucas were loading their bikes onto the back of the spare station ute that Tyler uses for work, and as they drove out of the rear yard of the hotel and saw the crowd gathering, they were shocked.

Tyler’s parents had made up a sign from old sheets that read – PINDAR Bi-Annual Triathlon, and even the station hand was there to watch. Most of the people gathered the boys knew very well, as they were station and farm owners and workers from the district. Some people were parked along the length of the loop road, waving to them as the boys drove past, heading for the start line.

Mr Carrington was there at the starting point and informed the boys that he was the self-appointed official starter, which made the boys laugh. “Using a shotgun, firing into the air, the race officially began, as the boys sprinted the ten metres from the other side of the main road to their waiting bikes, and they headed off on their first leg of the race, with spectators on the side of the road cheering them both on.

After just three short minutes, the boys had reached the west end of the loop road, where a marker had been placed on the side of the loop road. From there, the lads sprinted back in the direction of the pub, where they would turn north and head for the dam. As they neared the pub, Mrs Carrington and Tyler’s mum held out plastic cups of water, to make sure that their sons drank enough water, as they turned and headed north, with a convoy of vehicles following to the dam.

Once there, the boys removed their sneakers, stripped off their shirts and dived into the dam, to begin their four laps, before wading out and sprinting to the finish line, which was now two posts with a piece of ribbons across it, and it was a close call, but Lucas had won by just a nose, much to the delight of all the spectators gathered.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, the trophy presentation will be held back at the hotel,” Mr Carrington announced in his loud deep voice, so everyone headed for their vehicles to make the short trip back into Pindar. When Tyler and Lucas arrived, having been delivered by Tyler’s mum, they were amazed to see a small silver cup sitting on a small table on the front verandah of the hotel.

“As father of the runner-up, it is my honour to present to you Lucas Carrington the winner’s cup of the inaugural Pindar Bi-annual Triathlon, congratulations,” Tyler’s dad announced to everyone gathered, and he handed over the small silver cup which is about 15 centimetres tall.

“This is totally unexpected, and thank you for this. My best friend here, and I have always been competitive, and we have always been closely matched in everything that we do, so when we started doing firstly the bike race on the loop road, and then now this three-part event, we had no idea, that it would end up being a local community event. We just do this for fun between two great mates, but on saying that, I look forward to the next race in July next year,” Lucas said to everyone, and there were cheers from all the spectators.

Nearly three years later, the bi-annual event had grown, with a total of 28 boys in two age groups, with the younger group being 12 to 14 year-olds and the older group of 15 to 17 year-olds, coming from Mullewa to Yalgoo, of which most of them attend the same grammar school, and up to about 50 spectators coming to watch, followed by a giant BBQ dinner outside the pub.

The boys learnt that both families had pitched in to buy the original Winner’s Cup, and a year later when the race was divided into two races for two age brackets, a second cup was purchased which was slightly larger for the senior group of racers. After a week of revision of everything that they had learnt throughout the year, both boys returned to school to completed the last stage of their schooling, the dreaded final exams, which would be spread out over a 2 week period, and a few days after the last exam is over, there would be the graduation ceremony at the school.

On the morning of that ceremony, both boys’ parents were in Geraldton, having arrived the evening before, and together with the boys, they went to a restaurant for brunch, to celebrate the end of school. What surprised me, was that Uncle Charles was there waiting for us, and he stood up when he saw us approaching.

“Uncle Charles, this is indeed a big surprise,” Tyler said as he approached and shook his hand, before being pulled into a hug. “I couldn’t miss the most important day of your life, could I?” the older man replied smiling, and he presented to Tyler a narrow flat jewellery case, which looked like the kind that contains military awards and honours, and Tyler sat down and placed the case in front of him, and stared at it.

“Well go on, open it up, we want to see what it contains?” Lucas said after nudging his best friend in the ribs, and Tyler looked firstly at his parents then at his uncle, who all smiled and nodded their heads, to say that it is ok, and Tyler took a deep breath and sighed.

Looking around to make sure that no one else was in hearing range, Tyler looked at Mr & Mrs Carrington, then to his best mate. “Mr & Mrs Carrington and Lucas, the reason that my great uncle Charles is here is that about a month ago, a very distant relative of mine passed away, and Uncle Charles here came all the way to Australia to inform me that I had officially become the heir of my late relative.

I am not sure if it will be before or after Christmas, but I will be going to England with my Great uncle when he returns, and I may not be back for some time,” Tyler began to explain. “This sounds very mysterious dear, what exactly have you inherited?” Mrs Carrington asked.

“I guess I better introduce my uncle properly. May I present, His Honour, Charles Finch CVO, High Court Judge retired,” I announced, and Charles cleared his throat to speak. “Now my turn, to make introductions,” Charles started.