Consulate Boy - 5. Consulate Chapter 5

On return to Hobart, we take a trip up to the peak of Mt Wellington, and we checked out all six viewing towers, which provide us with a spectacular view of Hobart, the River Derwent and the mountains. As we were heading back to the car park where the bus is parked, a man started storming towards us, and I saw in the corner of my eye a woman moving away, just as I saw Eric and Anita come rushing towards us, and it was at that point I saw hidden underneath their jackets guns in holsters.

The man changed direction towards the woman, and yelling began in that direction, as we all suddenly realised that Eric and Anita were not actually part of the tour group, but more likely our protection detail. “Ok, I just saw guns in holsters, who are you really?” I asked Eric and Anita quietly so none of the other members of the tour group heard, and Mum and Dad looked shocked at my question, before looking at their new friends.

“We are your protection detail, Australian Federal Police Officers. We are married to each other and we are from Darwin, pulled into this assignment because we are from the Northern Territory, which makes our cover more believable,” Anita replied, as they produced their ID Badges, which they discreetly showed to us.

“When that man started to head in your direction at a fast pace, we thought you were all at risk of harm, and that is why we reacted the way we did, but thankfully it was a false alarm. We will be travelling with you back to Flinders Island, where we will be nearby if you need us for the next week until the school term commences. By then we will have completed a survey of the school and most of the island,” Eric added.

“Well, I wish we knew about this beforehand, but also I am glad, as we were able to relax fully, which has been great,” Dad said in response, and Mum nodded her head in agreement. “Thanks for keeping an eye on us, it has been a wonderful short holiday,” Mum said. “Maybe you can keep an eye on the kids next week, while Grace and I are at work preparing for the start of the new school term? We will be working just mornings as far as I am aware,” Dad said to the two officers.

“That will not be a problem, happy to do that for you, we are staying in one of the apartments, where you were supposed to be staying. You had us a bit worried when you disappeared suddenly, so soon after arriving, we had to do a bit of snooping to find you,” Eric replied, which had Mum and Dad chuckling, “Yeah, sorry about that, my in-laws, sprung that surprise on us with no notice too,” Dad replied.

Eric and Anita went back to being tourists again, as we boarded the coach and headed back to Hobart, where we relaxed for two hours before our farewell dinner since it was our last night of the tour, and everyone will be heading their separate ways after breakfast in the morning. At Hobart Airport at lunchtime the next day, our family plus our security detail boarded a plane to Flinders Island, where we had our separate vehicles parked there.

The next day, the whole family went to the school, where we were enrolled into the school and given a tour of the facilities, while Mum and Dad got to work preparing for the start of term next week. Over the next four days, Eric and Anita showed us around the island in more detail in the mornings, and in the afternoons, when the parents were home, we just relaxed and started doing chores around the property.

On Friday afternoon, I walked inside the house where Mum and Dad were chatting and they stopped talking when they noticed me, “What is that? What will we be surprised about on Monday?” I asked about what I had overheard when I walked in. “Well, we were going to wait until you find out on Monday, but it won’t hurt for you to know now. I was going through the enrolment list for new students to the school, there are six additional new students, including you and your siblings,” Dad replied.

“It appears, that two certain boys who have a good amount of influence on their parents have relocated here on Flinders Island, although their fathers will travel to Hobart for work four days a week,” Mum informed me, “The Artise boys are here on the Island?” I asked surprised. “Yes, they enrolled at school yesterday, but their new home is near the Lady Barron Settlement, so it is a 26-kilometres school bus ride to school each day for the boys,” Dad informed me.

“Wow, that is awesome. How did they convince their parents? Actually, what do their fathers do for work?” I asked, and both of my parents smiled. “They are in the same line of business as Eric and Anita actually, and that is why I am kicking myself for not picking up on them being Federal Police when we first met at the start of the tour,” Mum answered, which made me chuckle.

“Bit hard to kick your own butt, Mum,” I commented, which had all three of us laughing, just as Helena and Kerwin walked inside, and wondered what the heck is going on. “Good news, the three Amigos will be back together again on Monday,” I announced to my siblings, and both Helena and Kerwin groaned. “Really Dad? The Artise cousins are here on the island?” Helena asked.

I smiled and nodded my head happily, and Helena groaned again, before heading for her bedroom. “Well, that went well,” Mum commented, “How come they are here Mum?” Kerwin asked, “That’s easy son, the boy's fathers, have jobs that are very flexible on where they can work from, and the boy’s seemed to have a lot of influence on having them relocated,” Dad replied, and once again I nodded my head happily, as Dad handed me a business card from his top pocket.

“On the back is the number you need,” Dad said to me, “Can I call now Dad?” I asked, “Yes, go ahead, but don’t make it too long,” Mum replied, as I dashed to the house phone in the kitchen and quickly dialled the number on the back of the card. “Hello stranger, so they told you ahead of Monday, did they?” the familiar voice of Jonah said on answering the call.

“Hey Jo, yes, I just found out the news. Where is Martyn? This is so awesome, I was dreading not seeing you guys anymore,” I replied, “Hey to you too my friend, it is good to hear your voice again, Martyn is at his place at the other end of the property,” Jonah said in reply, as we chatted for a good half hour before a shout from Mum told me to end the call. “About damn time too,” we heard Helena say from her bedroom, “Helena no cursing please,” Dad called out in reply, “Sorry Dad,” Helena responded.

Before ending the call, we agreed to meet up tomorrow morning, at their place in Lady Barron, and Mum agreed to take me there at about 9 am tomorrow, which made me very happy. After the call, I wondered where exactly the Artise families lived. “Mum, where do the two Artise families live?” I asked, “They own a B & B business on the east side of the Strzelecki National Park, about eight kilometres southwest of Lady Barron,” Mum replied.

“Really? How did they manage that?” I asked, the two boy’s grandparents own it, and are ready for retirement, so in a way, all the stars aligned perfectly for them to come to Tasmania and take over. One family has the main house, while the other family has what is called the top house, leaving three cabins available for guests,” Mum replied.

I spent the whole day on the Artise property the following day, talking about everything that has happened since we last saw each other while exploring the property, and even hiking through some of the National Park next door, and Mum came and collected me just before 5 pm. For all of Sunday, I sorted through m new school uniform and books, getting ready for school the following day, which I was very nervous about, but I was also happy to be hanging out with my two good mates again too.

On our first day of school on Flinders Island, which has far fewer students in each class, which felt very strange, but in a way, I was able to concentrate on what the teacher was saying. As it turned out, our last class for the day, was foreign languages, and the Artise boys and I had enrolled on the French class, just to see if there would be a repeat of what happened at our last school in Canberra.

The French teacher was a lot more fluent but not a native speaker of the language, which I was pleased about, but there were still some errors happening. I decided to put her to a small test and raised my hand to speak, and in fluent French; “Excuse me Miss, but is it not proper to say it the other way?” I asked, and there was total silence for a moment before Jonah put his hand up and contradicted me in fluent French, then Martyn spoke up to put his bit in on the correct way to say the phrase.

The three of us stopped and waited for a response from the teacher, who paused for a long time… “Ok you three, is this some sort of comedy prank, or something? Because your French is far better than my own,” the teacher asked in English. I stood up and smiled, before saying in English. “I am sorry for our little cheeky display Miss, May I introduce my two good friends, Jonah and Martyn Artise, who are first cousins, originally from Switzerland, and I am Mateo Edwards, Australian but fluent in several foreign languages,” I said to the teacher. “The Consular Boy, yes I have been warned about you,” the teacher responded.

“Warned Miss, or advised by a staff member?” I asked, and the teacher smiled. “Sit down Mateo, let us continue with the lesson shall we,” the teacher replied, as I sat down and glanced over to my mates, who were smiling broadly too, and the teacher returned to the lesson. “I hear that you and the Artise boys discussed the French language with your teacher this afternoon?” Dad said to me as he entered the house. “Yes, Dad, but it was all fun, and the teacher was really cool about it,” I replied.