Earl - 4. Earl Chapter 4

The next day everyone set off back to Pindar, with Uncle Charles joining them, as he wanted to see this place where Tyler was brought up over the past 17 years, and he was quite shocked at how big and open the place is. After just six days, Charles announced that he would like to return to Perth, as it is to open and remote and hot for him, so Tyler drove his uncle back to Geraldton, so he could catch a flight down to Perth.

On his return home, as the family sat down for dinner that evening, Tyler thought about all that has happened. “Mum, Dad, I was wondering, if we could talk about a few things,” Tyler began. “Go on son, we are listening,” his dad replied.

“I really love it here, and I want to come back and run things eventually, take over the family business so to speak. What I want the most is for you guys to not have to struggle any more. Did Uncle Charles tell you about Bothal Estate and what the two combined are worth?” Tyler said to his parents.

“Yes, son, we are fully aware of all of it. Your dear late mother told us everything, including that she used to get a small income from the estates for being part of the family. I am not sure if you know this, but your Uncle Charles left it up to us to handle your late mothers’ belongings when she was killed.

She owns a three-bedroom detached house in Hurst Avenue, Highgate, about 9 kilometres north of Central London, with no mortgage on it, and from the investments, she made from her family income, all taxes have been kept up to date on it. We sold her little car, and all of her personal belongings were boxed up and put into storage at our request, while the house has been rented out, on and off for the past 15 years.

We arranged for some renovations about two years ago, to update the look, to make it more attractive for renters, and it brings in a good steady income, which we have been investing for you” Tyler’s mum announced. “Great, yet another thing that I have inherited, this is getting way out of hand.

Anyway, getting back to what I was saying, I don’t want you to be struggling any more, I now have the means to invest in the station, and I want to do as much as possible to make it the best cattle station in the whole state.

Dad, I want you to draw up a wish list, of everything you want no matter how big or small it is, that will make things better, including installing additional water bores, tanks, troughs and water lines, plus any pasture improvements of any kind. I will have Uncle Charles set up something so that you can pay for everything right away,” Tyler announced.

“That is very generous of you son, but should you not wait until you have seen everything and have a better understanding of what your new life entails?” Tyler’s father stated, “No dad, this has always been my home, and I want to continue living here so, once you have everything running smoothly, especially with the new grazing land that we bought two years ago, I would like us to have some station managers in place, so you both to have a long and well deserved holiday,” Tyler responded.

“That will be very nice dear, but that will all depend on how the season goes,” Tyler’s mum responded. “No, it’s or buts, you are both going on that long holiday, no matter what the cost is. To start off we can put a broadacre linear reticulation system on Pindar farm and a year or two later on Sandy Gully.

I have done some research, and we can have an overhead linear reticulation system, that covers a width of 50 metres, and with 9 of the systems operating, we can reticulate the whole of the eastern half of Pindar farm, producing 5,000 acres of good quality hay for our properties and any other properties in the district, at a reduced rate of course,” Tyler announced.

That sound good on paper son, but what about all the water needed for something like that, you would need to tap into the aquifers and for that you need a water license, and for a project that big, I doubt that the state government would allow it, especially way out here,” Tyler’s father said.

“Yes I see your point there, what about our Sandy Gully property, that is right on the coast, we could build a desalination plant, to convert seawater to freshwater, and use that to water the crops, and the water would then return to the aquifer or the ocean” Tyler suggested.

“Yes, that would be the more sensible proposal, and it wouldn’t need a water license either,” Tyler’s father responded. “Good, so do I have permission to go ahead with planning the desalination plant and cropping say 1,400 acres for starters?” Tyler asked, and his parents looked at each other before agreeing to the project.

The bi-annual triathlon was the biggest one since the event started three years ago, and this time it was a 16-year-old lad from Mullewa who won the senior cup, which everyone was pleased about, and once the race was out of the way, Tyler and Lucas began packing in preparation for their trip.

On the morning of Christmas eve, a plane flew over the homestead, before landing at the station airstrip 2.5 kilometres to the north, and Tyler jumped in to one of the station utes, to go and see who it is, half expecting it to be Uncle Charles, even thou he had said he would be spending Christmas in Perth where it is mildly cooler, but sure enough it was Uncle Charles, and he had a large bag, which no doubt contained Christmas presents for everyone.

Tyler let his uncle know that Christmas lunch would be with the Carrington family at the pub, with about three other families from the district attending, which Uncle Charles thought was a great idea, as it is ‘the more the merrier’, as the old saying goes.

Boxing day was spent just relaxing on the station, and recovering from all eh overeating from the day before, and this is when Uncle Charles announced that the charter company that flew him to the station, would be coming the following morning to collect them and take them to Geraldton, saving Tyler’s parents the trip into the rural city.

After the sad farewells from both families, Uncle Charles, Tyler and his best mate Lucas climbed into the six-seater plane, along with their luggage, and taking off the plane headed west towards Geraldton, where they would spend a few hours relaxing, before catching the late afternoon flight to Perth.

After a bit of a rush around to do some clothes shopping and getting it, all washed and packed into the once nearly empty suitcases, the lads spend the late afternoon and evening, swimming in the hotel pool, as it would be too cold to do any swimming for at least 4 months in England.

During dinner that evening, Tyler announced the surprise to his best mate, that they were not going directly to England, but instead making a few stops along the way.

Tyler informed Lucas that they leave Perth at 5.30 tomorrow afternoon, and fly to Singapore, where they have a 3-hour layover, before heading for Europe, with the next stop being Zurich, Switzerland, arriving at 8 am the next day, where they have nearly two full days to explore.

From there they will board a plane once more at 7.30 in the morning, and with a one-hour stopover in Brussels, they would arrive at the East Midlands Airport, just south of Nottingham, at about 10 am local time on New Year’s Eve.

The journey was long, but the two-day stopover in Switzerland was a great adventure for the two lads, who went snowboarding for the first time ever and had an awesome time. When they arrived at the East Midlands Airport and passing through customs, they were asked if they have anything to declare, and with Lucas being in a cheerful mood, he decided to make a smart comment.

“No mate, my dog here is fully house trained,” he said with a huge grin and indicating towards Tyler, who was not amused by the comment, nor was his Uncle Charles, who immediately stepped forward and told Lucas to be quiet. “I will give the instructions thank you, Sir,” the Customs officer said to Charles, and he opened his mouth to speak but instead just retrieved his business card and passport, and handed them over.

“My name is Charles Finch, High Court Judge retired, I do apologise for my travel colleagues’ unfortunate comment, it was not called for and most definitely not appropriate, considering…” Charles said to the Customs Officer, who glanced at the details in the passport before handing it back.

“Considering what, Your Honour?” the officer asked Charles, and this is when Tyler retrieved one of his business cards and handed it over. “Considering that my best friend here should be a bit more respect for my new title,” Tyler said and the Customs officer looked at the card and looked surprised.

“I heard there is a new Earl of Portland, welcome to the United Kingdom your Lordship,” the Customs officer responded, as he gave a slight bow of his head. “Thank you, officer, now regarding this Australian idiot friend of mine, can you please leave it to me to deal with his punishment?” Tyler asked, and the Customs officer smiled broadly, “as long as it is a good one, your Lordship,” the customs officer responded.

“What do you think Uncle Charles, are you able to order for him to be sentenced to transportation to the Australian colony?” Tyler asked, and Lucas looked shocked at this comment, and the Customs officer, Charles and Tyler just laughed.

“Sorry nephew, but that was banned too long ago, so it isn’t possible, what about making him march to the River Trent and make him walk the plank,” Charles suggested. “Aww come on, I am really sorry for the comment, please don’t do anything bad,” Lucas begged.

“Maybe when we go and visit my second home at Bothal, we can tie him up to the castle flag pole?” Tyler suggested, “Castle? Hey wait up, you didn’t say anything about owning a castle too?” Lucas said surprised, “Yes, well I don’t have to tell you everything,” Tyler replied.

“Ok, you can all go through, thanks for the laughs your lordship, and enjoy your stay in the UK,” the Customs officer said, and Charles thanked him and they set off through the airport terminal and towards the long-term parking area, to collect Charles’s car.

With a 65-minute drive ahead of them, the two lads relaxed as Charles began the drive home, and about twenty minutes later he turned on the radio, to listen to the news. “Good morning and welcome to the 11 am news, a report just come in, that the new Earl of Portland has arrived in the UK, coming in on a flight from Zurich via Amsterdam.

It is reported that the new Earl is just a teenager, probably about 18 years old, and he was accompanied by an elderly gentleman and a lad of similar age to his Lordship. No media crews were available at the East Midlands Airport at the time of their arrival, and the management of the airport refused to release any security footage of their arrival, to determine what he looks like. In other news…”

Charles turned the radio off as Tyler growled at the news of his arrival being broadcasted, as he wanted to stay unknown for as long as possible. “You know this is all your fault if you had just kept your smart-arse comments to yourself, as we passed through customs,” Tyler said to his friend.

I am sorry my Lord, it will not happen again, I promise. I will be the best-behaved best friend you ever had,” Lucas responded sadly.