Springbank - 4. Spring Ch 4

“I see you have found our little songbirds,” a new voice said from behind, as Davies arrived in the room, “I have indeed, and if you please, can you finish the piece that you were playing when I arrived,” I replied as I sat down to enjoy the mini-concert, with Davies sitting next to me and the lads sat nearby. “Remind me to arrange for a baby grand to be delivered here, so we can have more music on the property,” I whispered to Davies who looked shocked at first then smiled and nodded his head.

After enjoying three pieces of music, the small audience which had expanded by four more when Leah, Gile and the twins arrived, applauded the mini-concert, and we heard a noise coming from outside, as the large sliding doors were open, and on investigating, Davies smiled. “We have five kayaks on the banks of the river with an extended audience,” Davies announced, “Go on, out you go and take a bow,” I suggested to our musicians, which they did, before playing two more tunes as an encore.

After the kayaks had left the area, we all gathered in the main area, “How would you like to perform here on the Saturday of the Avon Descent, I would be happy to pay for your ensemble to perform in from mid-morning for two hours and in the afternoon for two hours, with several rest breaks and food and drinks will be provided? Just tell me what your fee is and I will arrange a deposit to secure the booking,” I said to Alex and Mei Ling, who was surprised by this offer.

“That would be wonderful sir, I would need to check our calendar, to see if we have any prior bookings,” Mei Ling replied, “Good, I will arrange for a baby grand to be delivered here to make it more suitable for your duo,” I responded happily. “So far, we have just staff and your family confirmed to be attending, I will have to get back to you on the family of staff,” Davies said to me, “Good, just don’t make it too big, and I think we will need to upgrade the front gate of the property, to improve security, including putting a chain and lock on the gates asap,” I said to the estate manager. “Will do sir, I have a heavy-duty chain and padlock in the workshop,” Davies replied.

Once on our own, Davies and I sat down to chat, and he informed me that our previous mechanic had been charged and released on a good behaviour bond, and had collected his belongings a day earlier. I was also told that Alex and Mei Ling reside in one of the spare cottages and that she travels into the city to attend University each day, also although the cottage used by Todd is now clean, some repairs are required before it can be used for future guests or staff.

I suggested that the paddock fence where the watch tower is located be upgraded to a post and rail fence, and brought inland by five metres in case of flooding, which does occur occasionally, now that some people are aware of the watch tower's existence. Back at the main shed as I was preparing to leave, with Davies having retrieved the chain and padlock ready to lock the front gate, Giles arrived on a quad bike. “That’s our private quad bike, for the kids to use when not doing homework,” Davies said to me as Giles approached.

“Mr Hudson, I am glad I caught you before you left, I wanted to show you something that is gaining a lot of attention,” Giles said to me, as he retrieved an iPad from his sachel, and handed it to me to view. I saw a video was set to be played and I pressed the play button, with Davies moving closer to have a look as well, as we saw a river view of the watch tower and the sound of classical music. The video clip was about twelve minutes long and was titled Classics on the Avon, and so far there were over 18,000 views of the recording.

“I will make arrangements to have an electronic gate installed at the front as soon as possible if you can get the groundwork for it prepared please,” I said to Davies, “I will get right onto it sir, would stone and concrete pillars with a post and rail fence on either side be sufficient?” Davies asked me, “Yes, that sounds perfect thank you,” I responded and thanking him for all his hard work, I set off for home.

Shortly after arriving home, I received a text message with an attached photo from Davies, with the photo showing footings for the two gate pillars already laid down, on the outside of the existing gate posts and two piles of rocks nearby. “Will start on the two pillars in the morning, and Alex has started welding together a new set of security gates with a fancy design,” Davies had added to the message.

I was surprised at how fast they were to get the project started and wondered if it would be completed before the Avon Descent, which was only three weeks away, as I looked forward to regular updates on how the front gate and the watch tower fence are progressing, as I made a phone call later that evening to London, do discuss this matter with the tenant of the Cobblers Pool property.

It was decided to wait until after the big event, so as not to cause any friction between the tenant and the Avon Descent event, due to part of the team that operates the event having a campsite right next door to the boundary during that weekend. Near the end of another busy week at university, I was looking forward to a relaxing weekend of doing very little, especially since Mum and Dad would be taking my siblings away up the coast for the weekend, allowing me some space to relax and concentrate on my assignments, plus I had work shifts this weekend starting at 4 pm on Friday, which was tomorrow.

“Booking for the second Saturday of August is confirmed for the Owens Chamber Ensemble, from 10 am to 2 pm. Just to let you know, the river level has risen a lot higher, just as we have begun building the 1.5 km of post and rail fencing, the water is very close to the new fence. Front Gate pillars are completed, and waiting to cure before installing the new gates, which look great, Davies.” was the text message I received just as I was finishing cleaning up after dinner that Thursday night, which reminded me that I needed to confirm the delivery of the baby grand piano to the property.

Five days to do the front entry pillars is quite an achievement, and I look forward to seeing that when I am up there next as I set off to my room to do some more studying, as I have a very busy weekend ahead with work. I had just one lecture in the morning, and I would be home before lunchtime, which would give me a few hours to relax before I head off to work. The weekend at work was full on and I was very glad when my 2^nd shift finally ended early on Sunday morning, as I grabbed my gear, and did a double check that I was not rostered on for the Avon Descent weekend, as I had plans to be up on the estate for that.

I took a photo of the roster so I had a record of when my shifts are for the next few weeks, and headed out the door. I had just stepped out of the shower and I was ready for some much-needed sleep when a text message came through from work. “Paramedic C.E Hudson, your roster has changed. You will be required to work on the weekend of the Avon Descent,” the message read, and I groaned, as I sent a response. “Not happening, and if you don’t like that I am not available, then I quit,” and I pressed send before turning off my mobile and going to bed.

I slept for a good 9 hours, waking up shortly after 2 pm, as I yawned and stretched before heading to the toilet, then upstairs to have a shower to fully wake up, knowing I still had assignments that needed to be done. Feeling refreshed and with some toast and a cup of tea, I headed to the study to do some more work. About an hour later the house phone rang, and with an extension in the study, I answered the call. “Hello son, how was your weekend of work?” Mum asked me, “Very long and tiring, and I may not have that job any more, which reminds me… I will tell you about it when you get home,” I responded, as I grabbed my phone and turned it on.

“Ok son, we are on our way home and should be there in about an hour, we will bring dinner home with us, so don’t cook anything, ok?” Mum said to me, just as a series of beeps sounded on my mobile, indicating missed calls and messages. “Sure Mum, I am snowed under with uni assignments. I will see you all when you arrive home,” I replied and after the call, I looked at my mobile.

All but two of the 9 missed calls were from work, and there were several text messages, firstly asking, then demanding that I call the Depot where I am based. I realised that the two other missed calls were from Ambulance Headquarters, and I knew that I would be in trouble, but at this stage, I did not care about it. Nearly three hours later, I heard the vehicle pull into the garage, and with me concentrating on my studies, I had lost track of time and didn’t realise that it had been three hours since I spoke to Mum on the phone.

When I saw that my siblings had been crying, I realised that something was wrong, and my first thought was Gramps, “Is he alright, what has happened?” I asked as I watched my siblings sulk upstairs, and my parent waited until they had gone out of sight before responding. “Gramps had a stroke, luckily one of the station staff was with him when it happened, and he was flown by RFDS to Perth, where they are doing all they can for him at the moment, we ill know more in the morning,” Dad said to me, as I started to get upset.

After a bit of a chat, I gave up on my assignments and watched a bit of television. I wasn’t feeling very hungry when Mum called me for dinner, but I joined the family at the table anyway and none of us felt like talking at all. Once I had finished cleaning up the kitchen, I headed back downstairs, where I decided to head to bed early as it was the start of a new week for studies, and I didn’t want to fall behind, not that I would since I was near the top of the class in all subjects. During breakfast the next morning, my mobile rang with the caller ID saying it was work. “I am sorry for the text message yesterday, but my Grandfather is in Hospital after having a stroke, so will not be available for any shifts for the next few weeks,” I said when I answered the call.

“That is not good enough, you need to come into work and fill in a form to get leave,” came a response. “As I said yesterday, not happening. I accepted this job on the condition that my family and my university studies come first, no matter what… This was agreed to by the company, so you have to stick by that agreement, and as I said before if you don’t like that, then I will quit. I have to go now as I have a family to be with at this difficult time, goodbye,” I said before ending the call.

After my first lecture for the day was completed, I headed home, where I washed and ironed my three sets of uniforms, before driving to Ambulance HQ, where I delivered my resignation, Company ID and my uniforms, before walking out of the building for the last time, and I headed back to the university to study at the library before my next lecture in the early afternoon.

I received one last text message from my former workplace, “We are sorry that you feel that you need to resign, I am sure we can come up with a compromise, as we don’t want to lose a talented paramedic like yourself, please reconsider your decision,” the message read. “My decision is final. Family and University studies first, as was agreed on when I was considering employment. Since you or any members of the company failed to express any concern about me and my grandfather’s health, this will be my final message. This and all numbers from the company will be blocked and removed from my phone. C.E Hudson.”

Once I had sent the message, I quickly blocked all the numbers to do with work before deleting them from my mobile phone book, before getting back to my studies, and although I was struggling a bit, I did manage to finish my most urgent assignment and attend the second lecture for the day, before I headed to the hospital to visit Gramps. Dad was in the room when I arrived and he nodded to me as he kept reading the latest stock reports that he had on his iPad. When he finished reading, he said to Gramps that I had arrived to see him, but I saw no response from him, which had me worried, although seeing his chest rising and falling, I knew that he was probably in a coma.

Dad informed me that before leaving home, he had taken a call from my work, wanting to speak to me, and he said to them that I had not arrived home yet and that he would pass on a message that they had called. I informed Dad that I no longer worked for the Ambulance company and that with the estate, I didn’t need to work for them any more, as I have income from the estate, and plenty of work there too, which Dad agreed was probably a good thing.

I headed for home after half an hour at the hospital where Dad remained for a bit longer, and as I drove towards my home, I saw a vehicle parked on the side of the street, that was clearly an Ambulance company vehicle, so I kept driving past and turning down Ellem Street towards the park and river, where I parked, before dialling a saved number on my mobile.

“Mum, I know you have visitors there at home, as I just drove past and kept driving. You can Tell them that I am not interested in talking, and let them know that if they try to contact me ever again, I will be talking to my Barristers about filing a harassment complaint. That is final, I have made my decision as I told you both last night, so please tell them to leave and to never come back or make contact in any way, as I would like to get home and relax, before getting my nose into my books, goodbye,” I said when Mum she answered and I hung up so she wouldn’t say anything to me about it.

I waited fifteen minutes before leaving the carpark and heading for home, only to see as I drove past the street, that the vehicle was still parked on the side of the street near the house, so I kept driving, where I turned down Mill Point Road, and onto Canning Highway, with a set destination in mind. When I arrived, I called home again, “Mum, have they gone?” I asked when she answered the call. “Hello son, for some reason they are sitting in their car parked outside still. What on earth is going on?” Mum responded.

“They can’t seem to accept that I quit the job and that I will not be coming back no matter what they say,” I replied, “Oh, that is not good, so what are you going to do?” Mum asked me, “Save a recording of the security disk from the moment they arrive in their vehicle, and everything after that, up until now, then email that recording to me. I am outside the local police station about to head in," I replied. “Oh! Ok, I will do that right away, and we will talk about this when you get home,” Mum said.

Lucky for me, I had recorded or saved all calls, messages and correspondence since all of this began, and I had sent a copy of everything to the Barristers in London, who were my next call. “Good afternoon, Thompson, Hudson & Kent, how may I direct your call please,” a nice sweet voice asked when the call connected, “May I speak to Lloyd Thymes please, this is Cooper Hudson from Western Australia speaking,” I replied, “Just a moment sir, and I will see if he is available,” came the response.